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Nadal joins tennis elite
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No match-fixing in IPL: ICC
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1.15 cr tax notice to Yuvraj
Chennai beat Wayamba by 97 runs
Bolt targets ‘unbeatable’ 9.4-sec dash
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When Rafael Nadal headed to Monte Carlo for the start of the European outdoor season in April, the biggest question was recover from his knee problems of the previous year, he had gone 11 months without winning a tournament and lost 12 of his previous 14 matches against top 10 opponents. Five months later, the question on everyone's lips is a very different one. Is the 24-year-old Spaniard on course to become the greatest player of all time? It was little more than 12 months ago that the sport was acclaiming Roger Federer as the best in history after he became only the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam titles and overtook Pete Sampras' record haul of 14 major crowns. Nadal, however, not only expanded that elite group of men to seven with his memorable 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open in New York on Monday night, but continued to outstrip his great rival in terms of the age at which he has reached his milestones. At 24 years and three months (Nadal's current age), Federer had won six Grand Slam titles. Nadal has already claimed nine and has won the "career Grand Slam" three and a half years earlier than Federer did. He has also done it at a time when the Swiss has been at his peak. "He has the capabilities already to become the best player ever," Djokovic said in the wake of Monday's final. "He's playing the best tennis that I've ever seen him play on hard courts. He's improved his serve drastically. There's his speed, his accuracy, and of course his baseline game is as good as ever. "He's getting better each time you play him. He's so strong mentally and dedicated to this sport. He has lots of time if he holds on physically for the next five, six or seven years. He has the game now for every surface and he's won every major. He's proved to the world that he's the best at this moment. There's no question about it." When Nadal won his fourth Grand Slam title - all of them at the French Open - two summers ago he was still regarded by some as a clay-court specialist. Winning on grass at Wimbledon a month later changed all that and when he added the Australian Open on a hard court in 2009 he completed the set of Grand Slam titles on different surfaces. However, Nadal had never gone beyond the semi-finals of the US Open, where the conditions and the time of year - after a summer in which he had always given everything in the clay and grass-court seasons - always counted against him. Playing on hard courts also puts enormous stress on Nadal's suspect knees. This year careful management of the problem and a lighter playing schedule have brought him through the summer unscathed. — By arrangement with The Independent
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Mumbai, September 15 Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud also refused to stay today's proceedings of the disciplinary committee. Modi had argued in the petition that two members of the committee — Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin -- are likely to be biased against him and pleaded that they should be replaced. The court, however, held that Modi could raise the issue of bias at a later stage, while challenging the final decision of the committee and the BCCI. The suspended IPL chief had earlier also filed a petition on the same grounds but another division bench in July said he could raise the issue before the committee itself. The committee subsequently rejected his argument on August 11 holding that Amin and Jaitley need not pull out. Being aggrieved, Modi moved the High Court second time but the court did not grant him any relief today. — PTI
BCCI welcomes decision
The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has elcomed the Bombay High Court's decision to dismiss suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi's petition challenging the constitution of its disciplinary committee and decided to continue the hearing in New Delhi.
Modi had demanded recusal of Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin from the disciplinary panel, saying they were biased against him. "We are happy that the court did not give any relief to Mr Modi. The Committee will proceed, the witnesses are already on the list and the meeting would go ahead," BCCI CAO Ratnakar Shetty told reporters. Modi's counsel Mahmood Abdi was unhappy that BCCI did not listen to their request of deferring the hearing to a future date.
— PTI |
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Dubai, September 15 “In particular, over the last 24-36 hours we have noted a number of specific unfounded media allegations about individual players being investigated by the ACSU - a so-called list of 29 players," ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a mail to individual member boards. “This is to confirm that there is no such list and we believe it is simply a way that the media is trying to fish for information without any basis for doing so," he added. "If there were any specific players being investigated by ACSU we would have notified the relevant Member Board." The London-based 'The Times' had reported that 29 players, two of them Australian, were named in a secret dossier, detailing match-fixing and spot-fixing in the IPL's second edition, prepared by the ACSU. Lorgat advised individual boards to dismiss any queries with regards to the reported dossier. "Kindly dismiss such queries and if in doubt please refer any media enquiries to the Head of ICC Media and Communications, Colin Gibson," he said. — PTI
Moots World Test and ODI League
London: Cricket's bigwigs seem certain to introduce a World Test League, with the top four teams playing off every four years. It will be the most radical change in Test matches since they began more than 130 years ago.
According to a press release of the ICC, the league throws up the prospect of England and Australia competing in a one-off match for the title of the world's best five-day team. However, both countries will need to improve to achieve that mouthwatering clash, with Andrew Strauss' England rated only fifth and Ricky Ponting's Aussies fourth. The position of the team in the league is likely to be determined by the current ranking system. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "Restructuring international cricket is a significant challenge and these far-reaching proposals are very exciting. The league will help provide context for all Test matches." The first play-off is planned for 2013 and will be repeated every four years.
— ANI |
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` 1.15 cr tax notice to Yuvraj
Chandigarh, September 15 Yuvraj's tax consultant, while refuting the claims of the tax authorities, put the onus on IPL franchise KPH Dream, which owns Kings XI Punjab, for the payment of service tax for availing the cricketer's services in promotional activities during the IPL matches. “We have served notice on Yuvraj Singh asking him to pay service tax amounting to Rs 1.15 crore on money he earned from two IPL seasons and doing endorsements,” a senior official of the Central Excise Department, Chandigarh region, said. The department has calculated an income of Rs 8.51 crore from IPL matches, Rs 99.99 lakh from winning the “Dus Ka
Dum” show last year and Rs 65.30 lakh from promotional activities for two agencies, as per the notice.
— PTI |
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Chennai beat Wayamba by 97 runs
Centurion, September 15 With two victories out of as many matches in Group A, Chennai had inched a step closer towards the semifinal race while Wayamba faces the ignominy of elimination. Sent into bat, Raina scored a blistering 44-ball 87 while Vijay made 68 off 48 deliveries to enable Chennai post a formidable 200 for three in 20 overs. Raina and Vijay complimented each other well and shared a 137-run second wicket stand that came off72 deliveries. For Wayamba Chanaka Welegadara picked up two wickets for 47 runs off his four overs. Chasing the huge target, Wayamba never got off their hooks and were finally bundled out for 103 in 17.1 overs. Wayamba had a horrible start to their run chase as they lost two of their top-order batsmen inside the third over with just 18 runs on the board. — PTI Scoreboard Wayamba
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Victoria beat Central District
Centurion, September 15 Finch was at his destructive best as he clobbered the bowlers for 11 fours and three sixes en route his 60-ball match-winning innings. The 23--year-old right-hander was ably supported by Victoria skipper David Hussey and Andrew McDonald, who made an identical 17-ball 18. Chasing Central District's challenging 166-run target, Victoria rode on Finch's brilliance to romp home in 19.4 overs and bring back their campaing on track after the opening 28-run loss against Warriors in the Twenty20 event. For Central District it is their second consecutive defeat in the tournament after their 57-run loss to Chennai Super Kings and now stands in the brink of elimation. Earlier, riding on captain Jamie How's unbeaten 77, Central District overcame a scratchy start to post a competitive 165 for five. How decorated his 55-ball unconquered stay at the crease with 10 fours and three sixes. Victoria started their chase on a steady fashion with Rob Quiney and Aaron Finch adding 40 runs in 4.3 overs. — PTI
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All-India JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament
Chandigarh, September 15 In other two matches of the day, Air-India beat LIC Club by 30 runs on the LIC ground, Sector 26, while the All-India Electricity Board defeated Indian Income Tax by seven wickets at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium. Pathan, who was later declared man of the match, clobbered eight sixes during his inning while chasing the target of 233 in 50 overs. Reliance-1, who got off on a poor note with losing first wicket on 9 runs, overhauled the target with three balls and one wicket to spare. Earlier, batting first, BSNL were skittled out on 232 in the allotted overs. For Reliance-1, medium pacers Murtaza Vohra claimed 3 for 42 whereas Chetanya Nanda and Abhimanyu Chohan took two wickets each for 48 and 30 runs. Replying, Reliance-I lost their opener Sarabjit Singh (6) with 9 runs on the board. Sunny Singh (32) and Priank Panchal (32) provided some relief with their contributions before skipper Pathan came in to punish the bowlers. Brief Score: BSNL: 232 all out in 50 overs (Arindam Das 89, NS Negi 42, Murtaza Vohra 3 for 42, Chetanya Nanda 2 for 48, Abhimanyu Chohan 2 for 30). Reliance-I: 233 for 9 in 49.3 overs (Yusuf Pathan 60, Sunny Singh 32, Abhimanyu Chohan 39 n o, Joginder Singh 3 for 33, Salil Yadav 2 for 49) II
In the second match, Air-India, which was put into bat first, put on 206 all out in 48.1 overs. LIC’s Siddharth Kaul ripped apart the batting line-up of the rivals, returning with figure of 4 for 23. Only Shafiq Khan made 56 in 51 balls. In reply, LIC were restricted at 169 in 43.4 overs. Air-India earned four points with the win and Shafiq Khan was named man of the match. Brief score: Air India: 206 all out 48.1 overs (Shafiq Khan 56, Siddharth Kaul 4 for 23, Ajay Dalal 2 for 28 and Karanveer 2 for 42). LIC: 169 all out in 43.4 overs (Rajesh Patha 34, Karanveer 32, Atif Ahmad 4 for 38, Mohd Kaif 2 for 19, Sonu Sharma 2 for 40). III
In the third match between Indian Income Tax and All-India Electricity Sports Control Board, which was reduced to 33 overs for delay, Indian Income Tax mustered paltry 158 for 9 in 33 overs. The target was achieved by AIESCB in 29 overs. Brief Score: All-India Income Tax: 158 for 9 in 33 overs (Bhavin Thakkar 36, Jaydesai 33, Ajay Chohan 3 for 17, Rana Chaudhary 3 for 24). AIESCB: 159 for 3 in 29 overs (Charanjit Singh 55 n o, A. Jhunjhunwala 28, Wriddhiman Saha 26, Basant Mohanty 1 for 20, Rohit Dahiya 1 for 30, Rikin Chohan 1 for 34). Tomorrow’s fixtures:
BSNL vs PCC at Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, 9 am All-India FCI vs Indian Railway at Sector 26, 9 am Reliance-I vs BPCL at St John’s School, Sector 26, 9 am. |
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Launch of Games Village today
New Delhi, September 15 The delegates, presently staying in various city hotels, will be participating in the Delegation Registration Meeting beginning tomorrow. The soft opening of the Village on the banks of the Yamuna river has also been scheduled for tomorrow, an Organising Committee source said. "The soft opening of the Village has been scheduled for tomorrow after which delegates will move into the Village. They all are coming for the Delegation Registration Meeting. The Organisers will also take the media on a guided tour of the Village tomorrow," the source said.
— PTI |
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Bolt targets ‘unbeatable’ 9.4-sec dash
Sydney, September 15 However Bolt, in Sydney for 10-year anniversary celebrations of the 2000 Olympics, said bettering the time he set last year in Berlin was not an "obsession". “That's where the record is gonna stay," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph, referring to 9.4sec. "But it's not an obsession. I already have the world record." Bolt, a double world record-holder in the 100m and 200m and the Olympic and world champion in both events, also said he hoped to seal his legacy at London 2012. Bolt is reportedly considering tackling the 400m and challenging American legend Michael Johnson's 1999 record of 43.18sec.
— AFP |
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The ICC today refuted media reports that 29 players who participated in the Indian Premier League were under the scanner of its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit for suspected match-fixing or spot-fixing.
Centurion, September 15
Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay scored breezy half centuries as Chennai Super Kings crushed Wayamba by 97 runs to register their second consecutive win in the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament here today.
Bopanna not to figure in Davis Cup doubles
Mahindra to promote football