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Confident India up for One-day test
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IPL ‘transparency’ a capped secret
Ranji Final: Kanitkar leads from the front
‘I will miss Chennai and Dhoni’
Lee, Hussey expected to make World Cup cut
Messi wins FIFA world player award
Becks ready for pay cut to play in EPL
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Confident India up for One-day test
Durban, January 11 Dubbed challenging to start with, the African safari has been reasonably successful for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men, who avoided a Test series loss in the country for the first time earlier this month. But there have been problems to deal with and they have mostly been about players' fitness. Already missing key players such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the injury list has only grown longer with the pace duo of Praveen Kumar and S Sreesanth in doubt for tomorrow due to hand and elbow problems respectively. It is the final ODI series that India and South Africa play before the World Cup starting February 19 and both the sides would look to settle their squads for the big event through these five matches. The series is a golden opportunity for the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina to make a case for World Cup selection. They did well for themselves and the team by guiding India to a fine 21-run win in the Twenty20 match on Sunday with valuable batting contributions. The absence of biggies such as Sehwag and Gambhir now gives them an opportunity to hog the limelight in the ODIs as well but also creates the pressure of performing and performing consistently. The series will see the return of the iconic Sachin Tendulkar to the Indian one-day fold after close to a year. The last time he played an ODI, Tendulkar became the first batsman in the history of the game's format to strike a double hundred. For the off-colour Yuvraj Singh, it is the final chance to convince the selectors that he is the same destructive force which won India many a matches before the stunning slump of form. On the bowling front, the ever-reliable Zaheer Khan will spearhead the attack after being rested for Sunday's Twenty20 international but his back-up seems a little weak given the uncertainty over the availability of Sreesanth and Praveen. Teams (from): India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/keeper), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, S Sreesanth. South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
— PTI |
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IPL ‘transparency’ a capped secret
After the IPL, Tiwary got to play in the Indian team for a couple of games (Rayudu did not) and thus became a capped player. So, now Tiwary has been bought for $1.6 million by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rayudu, thanks to some strange IPL rule, will have to be satisfied with Rs 20 lakh per season. Since he is not a capped player. This vague rule about uncapped players is something that is making a mockery of the league's claim to transparency. Young Manish Pandey (of RCB) became the first Indian player to slam a century in the IPL but he remains an uncapped player and therefore entitled to only Rs 20 lakh per annum. He is bound to feel aggrieved. In fact, he will be crazy not to feel so. The rules framed by the IPL Governing Council (read largely by BCCI President-elect N. Srinivasan) say that the uncapped players can get only between Rs 10 and 30 lakh per annum, depending on their experience. Actually, it is these uncapped players who will form the backbone of all the teams as only four foreign players can play in the XI. The other seven have to be Indians. So logically, there should not be such a huge difference in the money that they get. Srinivasan, very shrewdly, has ensured that most players of his franchise fall in the capped category (like Badrinath and Sudeep Tyagi just about make the cut). R. Ashwin and Murali Vijay are good players but they got the chance to play for India and prove themselves. But the deserving Pandey has not got a look-in so far. So, he remains in the uncapped category. The chief selector of the Indian team Krishnamachari Srikkanth is the brand ambassador of Srinivasan's IPL team. Nothing more needs to be said on how most Chennai Super Kings players become capped players earlier than the rest. Now Pandey, after his stellar performance in the earlier editions of IPL, is being chased by most franchises, who are offering him far greater money than the 20 lakh he is otherwise entitled to. If he accepts these offers, he breaks the rules. If he doesn't, he loses out on a vast amount of money. Rayudu's case is a little different as he was associated with the ICL earlier and needs to wait longer to get capped. This is again a wonky rule because if you have been allowed in the IPL, why are you not allowed to be a capped player? By limiting the amount of money uncapped players get, the IPL is encouraging a lack of transparency. Players like Pandey, Rayudu and Rajat Bhatia deserve much more than Rs 20 lakh and are bound to fall for bigger (underhand) offers. Let the rules of the marketplace apply. Let these players go to the highest bidder as well. Let there be a level playing field. If Tiwary gets $1.6 million, it's quite unfair to give Pandey only Rs 20 lakh. They are both equally talented. |
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Ranji Final: Kanitkar leads from the front
Vadodara, January 11 Night watchman Vivek Yadav (4) was giving Bist company when stumps were drawn at the Moti Bagh stadium here. Earlier, openers Aakash Chopra (34) and Vineet Saxena (31) forged a 67-run partnership to give Rajasthan a slow but solid start. The duo played patiently and worked the ball around for ones and twos, punctuated by occasional boundaries to keep the bowlers at bay. Chopra was concentration personified as he made Baroda bowlers toil hard by his impregnable defence but at the stroke of lunch the former India opener was dismissed by left-handed spinner Bhargav Bhatt in the 36th over. Chopra was trapped in front of the wicket as he tried to sweep a Bhatt delivery that landed in the line of stumps. He hit just two fours in his 111-ball innings. Kanitkar then joined Saxena at the crease as Rajasthan went into the break at 73 for one in 38 overs. Rajasthan lost Saxena to the first delivery after lunch. The right-hander was a casualty of a terrible mix-up with his skipper. However, Kanitkar and Bist then ensured that there were no more hiccups and shared a 117-run third wicket partnership to stable the Rajasthan ship. On a day when runs were difficult to come by, Kanitkar showed glimpses of aggression right after Saxena's departure, cracking two fours off Murtuja Vahora at square leg and cover boundary respectively. Vahora was again at his receiving end in the 45th over, when Kanitkar guided a leg-side delivery down to the fine leg boundary and then brought up the team's 100 with another four off the bowler.
— PTI Brief Score: Rajasthan 198 for 3 (Kanitkar 61, Bist 56*) vs Baroda. |
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‘I will miss Chennai and Dhoni’
"I played with them for three years and have several happy memories with the team. My wife is also from Chennai and she is upset with this change but it happens in the game. I will miss Chennai, my teammates and miraculous captain Dhoni," Muralitharan told PTI. "Chennai had an excellent captain, a wonderful team and tremendous support. We enjoyed playing for them and last year was memorable in which we won the IPL and Champions league. I have taken a lot of wickets for them," said the veteran, who has 515 ODI and 800 Test wickets in his kitty. "Kochi is a new venture and we will have new captain and new targets. I am quite excited about this. We will start afresh and try to give our best. I hope to have home like atmosphere in Kochi as well. I hope that people will understand my language (Tamil) in Kochi also," he added. The spin wizard, who took 40 wickets in 40 matches for Chennai in last three seasons, said he wants to extend his IPL career for a few more years. "I want to play IPL for the next two or three more years. I will try to perform with best of my abilities and experience. Team Kochi has put so much faith on me and I will not disappoint them," said the ace off spinner, Talking about Kochi's combination of players, Muralitharan said they need some more young Indian guns.
— PTI |
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Lee, Hussey expected to make World Cup cut
Melbourne, January 11 Chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch after announcing the team for the fist game against the visitors to be held at MCG on Sunday mentioned that the WC squad "will probably be very much reflected in the team we have just announced."
Hilditch however said that there are still some spots to be filled before the final team is announced. "We are still looking at two or three people ahead of that final 15 selection," the chairman told Australian Associated Press
(AAP). "I don't want to be specific, obviously we know the areas we need to be looking at ahead of the final selection," he added. The 34-year-old fast bowler had yesterday hinted that he might hang his boots if not picked for the mega event in the sub-continent. The experienced duo will be making a comeback to the national squad after a gap of more than 15 months. While Lee battled injury woes after his last appearance for the Aussies in October 2009 the Victorian batsman hasn't played a one-day game for Australia since August 2009. Pinning hope on Hussey's return Hilditch said, "We think he'll be well suited for the subcontinent conditions." Hussey was picked by the Kings XI Punjab for the fourth edition of IPL which is scheduled to be held immediately after the World Cup is over. Hilditch was also hopeful that a fit Lee will be a potential weapon in the Kangaroo's
armoury. "Brett has had a longer lead in from injury and obviously we're looking at him to make sure that he's back to his best," he said. Cricket Australia is supposed to announce the final World Cup squad on January 19 with injured captain Ricky Ponting seeming to be definite inclusion. Australian squad for first ODI v England: Michael Clarke
(capt), Cameron White (vice-capt), Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Brad
Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter
Siddle, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson. — PTI |
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Skating events a sham
Dehradun, January 11 As the event progressed on the second day, it became apparent that the Indian team would be the only winners as in two out of the three ice skating events had only home participants. It is literally a host versus host SAF Games in the ice skating events. Out of the three events -- ice hockey, figure skating and speed skating, the last is the only event in which foreign participation took part, that too only to save the hosts the blushes. “We are only playing so that India could win gold, silver and bronze medals,” quipped an athlete from the Maldives . Rightly said, since the Maldives, who have never practiced for any of the ice skating events, are now participating in speed skating. According to the rules, if only two countries take part in a championship, then it is considered a no-competition. To make the number more than two, the novice Maldives team was brought on to the rink. Today’s speed skating saw a bizarre spectacle as two players fell and got injured. A majority of the players were from India while the Bangladesh and Maldives players’ presence seemed like just a formality. The injury to players and less participation was attributed to by the participants to lack of practice at the rink before the Games. It may be recalled that after the National Open Ice Skating events concluded, the Indian team was not allowed to enter the rink for next ten days till the Games began. All-Indian show
The honours on the second day of the ongoing South Asian Federation Winter Games went to Indians as all the positions in the men’s 500-metre speed-skating were bagged by
them. Subodh Patil bagged gold while Harshal Bosle stood second and Lavish Vaidya won the bronze. Skaters from Bangladesh and the Maldives failed to win any medal. The women’s 500m final, which was held today, will be replayed tomorrow, according to Games officials. |
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Messi wins FIFA world player award
Zurich, January 11 "It's a very special day for me," Messi said through a translator on receiving the award at a gala ceremony in FIFA's home city. The 23-year-old Messi amassed 58 goals last year for an exciting Barcelona team which retained the Spanish league title and leads the standings this season. However, he failed to score in South Africa as Argentina exited in the quarterfinals. Iniesta and Xavi, by comparison, starred for eventual winner Spain. "I didn't expect to win it today," Messi said. "Already it's a source of happiness to be here with my friends and even more to win it." The award was renamed this year after FIFA merged its world player award with the Ballon d'Or trophy, which had been presented to the best player in Europe by France Football magazine since 1956.
— AP |
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Becks ready for pay cut to play in EPL
London, January 11
If the deal between Beckham and Tottenham Hotspur goes through, it would be the first time that the 35-year-old will be playing for an English club since he left Manchester United to join Real Madrid in 2003.
Beckham gets 120,000 pounds a week at LA Galaxy, but is happy to accept Tottenham's offer of 65,000 pounds, as they will not change their pay structure. Now, Tottenham just have to persuade Galaxy to let the superstar stay until mid-March - and not demand he returns for pre-season training on February 10, The Sun reports.
— ANI |
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