Jaipur, April 12
Opener Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha chipped in with useful contributions as Rajasthan Royals registered a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League here today.

After restricting Delhi to 151 for six, Rajasthan overhauled the target with nine balls to spare at the floodlit Sawai Man Singh stadium, to hand over the Daredevils their second consecutive defeat in the league.

Dravid (38) hit six fours and a six in his 31-ball stay while Botha produced an unbeaten 39 off 32 deliveries. With 11 runs required from the last two overs, New Zealander Ross Taylor (18) cracked a four off Ashok Dinda and then hit him for a huge six over midwicket boundary. The hosts made 152 for four in 18.3 overs.

Chasing a stiff 152-run target, Dravid (38) started proceeding on an aggressive note as 26 runs came in the first three overs. Dravid hit two fours off Dinda in the third over to make his intention clear. But Dinda soon got his act together and disturbed Paunikar's stumps with a fullish delivery.

Sehwag introduced Irfan Pathan in the fourth over and Dravid took him for special treatment, clobbering him for two fours and a six to accumulate 15 runs.

Next change van der Merwe also got the same treatment as both Dravid and Botha, who came to the crease after the dismissal of Paunikar, hit him for three fours to take the home team's score past 50 in 5.3 overs.

But ven der Merwe soon took his revenge in the form of Dravid's wicket, who was caught by wicketkeeper Naman Ojha while trying to slice the ball towards point. Local boy Ashok Maneria (22) teamed up with Botha as both kept the scorebord tickling with occasional boundaries.

Maneria was more aggressive of the two as he clobbered van der Merwe for two sixes in the 10th over to bring the asking rate under eight runs per over. Pathan, who hardly looked threatening in his first spell, was again bought back into the attack by Sehwag, and he responded by accounting for Maneria's wicket.

It was a short of length delivery outside off and Menaria punched it straight to Sehwag at short extra cover. Ajinkya Rahane (18), who was included in the playing eleven in place of Stuart Binny, hit Pathan for a six to take the team's total past 100-run mark in 12.1 overs.

Morkel accounted for Rahane's wicket in the 16th over as the right-hander went for an ugly across-the-line hook. Botha and Taylor then took Rajasthan home without any further damage. For Delhi Dinda, Morkel, Pathan, Merwe got one wicket apiece. — PTI

Mohali, April 12
King’s XI Punjab’s obsession with all things Australian is a wee bit hard to understand. They have an Australian captain, Australian coach, many Australian players in their line-up and as if this wasn’t enough, they have now gone ahead and got themselves an Australian bowling coach as well.

Jason Gillespie is now the bowling coach for King’s XI and he will have Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan at his side to make this an all-Australian think-tank for the Punjab franchise. While all this is good enough, there is one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb. In the last match that King’s XI lost so convincingly to Pune Warriors, the other night in Mumbai, there was not a single player from Punjab in their Playing XI.

As Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) prepare to take on the King’s men at the PCA Stadium here tomorrow, the fans of the region would be wondering whether they will get to see any player from Punjab in the starting XI or not.

In their opening match of IPL 4, King’s XI found the going extremely tough. At one stage, their score was four wickets down with just nine runs on the board. Admittedly, they are a better team than what these numbers suggest. But they would have liked to start their campaign on a winning note and that just did not happen.

King’s finished at the bottom of the heap in IPL 3 and went in for wholesale changes this time. The only Indian player they have from the last team is Piyush Chawla and this talented leg-spinner bowled just one over in the loss to Pune Warriors on Sunday night. So, is Chawla in the side to bowl just one over per match?

Anyway, strange though these tactics from King’s XI may seem, Dhoni and his players will hardly have the time (or the inclination) to dwell on these. Their team won the title in IPL 3 (they even won the Champions League in South Africa) and they got off to a flying start this time by coming from behind to beat KKR in their opening match.

After winning that crucial World Cup semi-final against Pakistan here last month, Dhoni is back at the venue and will like to keep the momentum going for his team. The skipper of the Indian team (along with his wife) drove down from Delhi last evening in his Hummer and looked quite relaxed at the net session at the PCA Stadium this afternoon.

“We are not reading too much into the first match that King’s XI played. We are aware that a player like Gilly (Gilchrist) can come along and score big in the match against us. We just have to look at our game and create winning opportunities,” said Stephen Fleming, coach of CSK.

King’s captain Gilchrist acknowledged the fact that his team will be up against a very strong team. “We will be playing against one of the strongest teams of the IPL and will have to be at our best tomorrow,” said Gilchrist.

Another Australian player, David Hussey, will be joining the King’s team tonight and could play the match against CSK. But again, will the home crowd get to see any Punjab player in the King’s XI tomorrow? Unlikely.

Chandigarh, April 12
King’s XI Punjab did not start their IPL-4 campaign on a winning note when they lost their opening match to Pune Warriors on Sunday. But one player performed superbly in that match. 28-year-old South African all-rounder Ryan McLaren smashed a stroke-filled half-century that gave the King’s total some respectability. On the eve of their next match against Chennai Super Kings, McLaren speaks to The Tribune about his team’s strategy for upcoming games.

“It was sure disappointing to lose our first match. But it’s just one game out of many to be played this season. And I am sure that our team will work hard to get better results in the next matches,” said McLaren at the team’s hotel in Sector 10 here.

On the one hand, Kings XI Punjab has got no big names in its squad, and on the other they have already experienced a big defeat in its opening match. But McLaren is not disappointed. “Compared to other teams we do not have very big names but we rely more on team work. We have with us experienced Gilly (Gilchrist) to lead, talented players like Karthik and Nayar, and young players like Shaun Marsh and Piyush Chawla - so we are a well-balanced side,” he says.

Talking about the match to be played here tomorrow, McLaren says, “It’s going to be a tough game as CSK has good players. But we are really looking forward to it and hope to do well.”

About the strategy of Kings XI, McLaren says, “We will be looking for a good opening partnership. In fielding, if you drop a catch, you drop a catch. No one does it on purpose. But, we are really working hard on our fielding. And of course, we’ll make bowling our strength.”

“We do not want to make the same mistakes again. I think we will do well from here on,” says McLaren.

Chandigarh, April 12
“The money doesn’t matter, neither does all the hype around it. Winning the World Cup is not about anything else but that feeling of being part of something so special. Something that the country has waited for 28 years.” It has been over 10 days, but still the mere mention of the World Cup win brings the broadest of smiles upon Piyush Chawla’s face. The Kings XI Punjab spinner, is all set to help his team bounce back from the defeat in the opening game against Pune Warriors, as they take on Chennai Super Kings tomorrow.

“Losing the first match was unfortunate, but it is still a long way to go. I am sure we can still bounce back and we will give it our all,” said Chawla.

The leggie, who has been with Kings XI since the first season, refused to compare the three captains he has played under, but had some special things to say about Yuvraj Singh. “All the guys are great players and very good leaders. I have just played one game under Gilly, but we saw how he was with Deccan.

But I still remember, our first season, we hadn’t started off too well, but Yuvraj led us brilliantly. We bounced back and it was a tremendous turnaround. It was really very special.”

Talking about his role with the franchise, he said, “Being a leg-spinner, I don’t look to contain. The only way I can do that is by dismissing the batsman, and that is what I look to do.”

Bangalore, April 12
Skipper Sachin Tendulkar and young Ambati Rayudu clobbered the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling as title contenders Mumbai Indians cruised to a nine wicket victory in an Indian Premier League match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, here today.

Chasing a target of 141, Mumbai Indians reached the target with nine balls to spare. Mumbai Indians now have two wins from as many matches.

On a strip where RCB batsmen struggled to get going, Tendulkar (55 not out, 46 balls, 7x4), Ambati Rayudu (63 not out, 50 balls, 9x4) sent the RCB bowlers on a leatherhunt with an undefeated 110-run second wicket partnership from 86 balls.

They were also helped by some lacklustre fielding by the home team.

It was Davy Jacobs (22, 16 balls, 2x4, 2x6) who started the charge by hitting Zaheer Khan for a couple of fours and two big sixes over long-on and deep mid-wicket.

Jacobs was cleaned up by Dirk Nannes when he backed too far down the leg-side trying to hit over extra cover.

Tendulkar who was watching quietly from the other end then took it upon himself. A signature straight drive off Abhimanyu Mithun started it all. When the spinners came on, he was quick to rock on to the backfoot and hit them over deep mid-wicket.

Rayudu, who was watchful for the first few balls started with a flat-batted boundary over deep mid-wicket off Mithun and then followed it up by charging down the track and hitting the bowler through the covers. The youngster beat Tendulkar to his half-century in style when he lofted Asad Pathan for a boundary over extra cover.

Considered as an India prospect till he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League, the Hyderabadi who now plays for Baroda showed a glimpse of his talent when he clipped Zaheer over mid-wicket for a boundary and followed it with a lofted back drive. He matched the legendary Tendulkar stroke-for stroke as never did MI look in any sort of trouble.

Earlier, Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers added 91 runs for the second wicket as Royal Challengers Banaglore managed to set a modest target of 141 for the Mumbai Indians after being put into bat. Dilshan (59 not out, 52 balls, 4x4, 2x6) carried his bat through while De Villiers (38, 36 balls, 3x4, 1x6) scored some useful runs on a wicket where the ball wasn't coming onto the bat. Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard got a couple of wickets each. — PTI

Patiala, April 12
The tug of war between two prominent Punjab universities reached new lows with the Punjabi University, Patiala, vice-chancellor Jaspal Singh shooting a letter to the Sports Minister, alleging favouritism in the awarding of the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, given to the best sports university in the country, in 2010. The university has demanded that a fresh committee look into the matter and decide the winner as per merit.

The Sports Ministry had in 2010 declared Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Punjabi University joint winners of the trophy, following which the two had to keep the MAKA Trophy for six months each. The President of India had awarded the universities at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhawan in August 2010.

Following this, Punjabi University had challenged the Ministry’s decision in court and the court had asked the Ministry to re-look into the matter. “The court has asked the Sports Ministry to take up the matter and award points as per merit,” said Jaspal Singh, who still believes that the committee appointed is the same that took the decision in 2010.

Jaspal Singh further said that injustice was done to their university and he feared that the committee comprising of senior Association of Indian Universities (AIU) members would repeat the misdoing. So he wrote a letter to the Sports Ministry. “I have demanded recounting of points and objections raised by the committee are illogical wherein they had raised question marks about certain disciplines being unrecognised,” he told The Tribune.

According to rules, AIU was supposed to subtract certain points for wrong representation by Guru Nanak Dev University, which it did not do. On the other hand, Guru Nanak Dev levelled some wrong allegations against Punjabi University and as a rule it was mandatory to debit from their tally of points. Instead of doing all this, AIU did not mention total number of points and jointly awarded the trophy.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken said that he had received the letter and would look into the matter. “I assure you that justice would be done as the allegations are being looked into,” he said during his recent Patiala visit.

Ropar, April 12
The All India Dasmesh Hawks Hockey Tournament would be held from April 13 to April 17 with fourteen teams from all over the country sweating it out in Ropar.

RPF Kapurthala, BSF Jalandhar, EME Jalandhar, Punjab Police Jalandhar, CISF Delhi ITBP Jalandhar, PSEB Patiala, All India Air Force Delhi, SAI Bhopal, Sports College Lucknow, Western Railways Bombay, Baba Farid Club Faridkot, Rock Rover Chandigarh and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy Amritsar will be participating.

Founder president Hawks Club SS Saini said that Hawks Club Ropar is a premier hockey club established in 1966 to promote hockey in Ropar and surrounding areas. Club has teams under 12, under 14, under 16, under 19 and the senior teams. Every morning and evening more than 100 players are seen in action in the two grounds developed for purpose.

More than 200 players of club have played at national level. Players have been playing for the reputed national teams such as Punjab Police, Border Security Force, Northern Railway, Services, AG Punjab, Punjab & Sindh Bank, Customs XI, CRPF, Combined Universities etc.

At the international level players Baljit Singh Saini, Gurmail Singh, Gursawek Singh, Munish Kumar, Amarjit Singh and Dharmbir Singh have been members of Indian Hockey Team. Recently Dharmbir Singh was a member of Indian Team for Commonwealth Games held in Delhi and ASIAD held in China. He scored 15 goals for the country.

To popularize Hockey among the masses especially youngster, club held exhibition matches among reputed teams and also Hosted foreign teams like Spain, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Pakistan. This activity continued from 1966 to 1972.

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani indicated today that bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries may resume this year.

Asserting that the Mohali semi-final boosted Pakistan-India ties, Gilani, who was talking to the Pakistan team at a reception he hosted to honour the cricketers, said that the semi-final match played between Pakistan and India had proved to be a catalyst in improving relations between the two countries.

Gilani lauded the Pakistan team for its performance in the World Cup which had led them to the semi-final and played down Pakistan's defeat, saying it had played well but the Indian team played better on that day and won.

“It is not the question of winning or losing by one country. In fact the winner was the cricket that brought the people and governments of Pakistan and India together,” he said.

Gilani said negotiations were underway for renewal of cricketing ties between the two countries but said nothing specific has been decided as yet.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer Sobhan Ahmed, however, told reporters that efforts were on to adjust the much awaited bilateral one-day series in the hectic schedule this year.

“Taking time out from the hectic ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) is not easy but we are working to squeeze time from India's busy tour to arrange a brief ODI series,” he added.

Gilani announced a prize of rupees one million for each team player and Rs 500,000 each for the management team in recognition of their efforts. Earlier the Punjab and Sindh governments had each given half-a-million rupees to the team members.

National team captain Shahid Afridi told newsmen that his upcoming tour to the West Indies was important, for which the youngsters had been given an opportunity. He expressed gratitude to the government for appreciating the players.

Chandigarh, April 12
The Imperial Golf Estate, an 18-hole Championship Golf Course conceived by Nicklaus Design, a company created by the legendary Jack Nicklaus has been bestowed a prestigious award initiated by London-based organisation ‘Demystifying India’. The award was presented by Keith Vaz, MP and A. Vekaria, ‘For Excellence in Planning and Design of a Premier Golf Community in Punjab, India’.

The award was accepted by Ariel Podrojski, Head of India for BCRE, Vijay Chowdhry director, Silverglades and RC Bawa IL&FS. At a glittering ceremony held at the House of Commons on April 6.

Speaking at the occasion Vijay Chowdhry, Director Imperial Golf Estate said, “We in India are on the cusp of a sporting revolution, and it is our firm belief that some of the young golfers form the Imperial Academy will don the Indian colors for the forthcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio.”