Mumbai, November 25
Destiny is for gods. For men there are opportunities. Despite the circus around him and his milestones, Sachin Tendulkar has shown time and again how human and fallible he is. The stage was set at his home ground, he had batted with authority throughout, the bowling was ordinary and the crowd was pouring in… but then in a blink, he was walking back without the 100th ton.

While Tendulkar was the ‘disappointment’ of the day, Ravichandran Ashwin’s maiden Test ton was enough to bring back the smiles on all the faces in the stadium as India cut into the West Indies’ lead, before being bundled out for 482.

In reply, the West Indies were 81 for two at stumps, extending their lead to 189 runs. Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo were at the crease, after Pragyan Ojha got rid of Adrian Barath and Kirk Edwards.

Earlier, the day started with the Wankhede, for a change, witnessing huge crowds. People were anticipating history. It looked likely, considering the fluency and flourish Tendulkar had displayed yesterday. But Laxman was dismissed off the very first ball he faced. Fidel Edwards bowled one that moved slightly away from the batsman and Laxman poked at it, getting a thick edge that flew to gully and was comfortably caught by Marlon Samuels.

Tendulkar was then joined by Virat Kohli and the two quietly started to rebuild. There were enough anxious faces and voices in and around the stadium and people roared at every single run taken as Tendulkar looked set to make history.

But the last ball of the 87th over by Ravi Rampaul drowned the entire stadium into gloom. Batting on 94, Tendulkar tried to push a short delivery over second slip. But the ball moved away and all he did was to give Darren Sammy a sharp catch. Rampaul, thrilled, ran towards the boundary line, probably realising in time that it could have caused a safety issue. After all, he was the ‘anti-hero’ to an entire nation at that point in time.

There was not a single face in the crowd that could hide its disgust and disbelief. Some even left, giving up the game for dead.

Dhoni came in and was soon cleaned up after misreading a Sammy delivery that didn’t straighten after pitching on off-stump. But then came the real deal of the day. India had wanted a century and they got one with some style, from the bat of Ashwin.

The off-spinner, first with Kohli and then with Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron and Ojha, frustrated the West Indies bowling to score a 118-ball 103, studded with 15 fours and two sixes. He was very well supported by an extremely watchful Kohli, who scored a sensible 52, before losing his head and his wicket to Bishoo.

But Ashwin carried on and despite a few inside edges, he looked in control. He hit Bishoo for two sixes, both over long-on and kept scoring at a brisk rate as India avoided the follow on as well. It was along with last man Ojha that Ashwin finally got to his century. But the very next ball, he pulled one, a badly mistimed shot, only to be caught by Barath off Rampaul.

It was a day that could have belonged to Tendulkar, but he wouldn’t complain. He ‘failed’ on account of the crowd’s expectations, but the team surely wouldn’t mind him scoring 94 in the following few matches as well. 

Scoreboard

West Indies 1st innings 590

India 1st innings

Gambhir c Baugh

b Rampaul 55

Sehwag b Sammy 37

Dravid b Samuels 82

Sachin c Sammy b Rampaul 94

Laxman c Samuels b Fidel 32

Kohli c Fidel b Bishoo 52

Dhoni b Sammy 8

Ashwin c Barath b Rampaul 103

Ishant c Bravo b Samuels 5

Aaron b Samuels 4

Ojha not out 0

Extras (b 1, w 4, nb 5) 10

Total (all out;135.4 ovrs) 482

Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-138, 3-224, 4-287, 5-322, 6-331, 7-428, 8-455, 9-463

Bowling: Fidel 28-4-116-1, Rampaul 24.4-3-95-3, Sammy 26-3-90-2, Samuels 17-0-74-3, Bishoo 40-6-106-1.

West Indies 2nd innings

Barath c Laxman b Ojha 3

Brathwaite batting 34

Edwards st Dhoni b Ojha 17

DM Bravo batting 27

Extras 0

Total (2 wkts; 34 ovrs) 81

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-30

Bowling: Ojha 15-2-27-2, Ishant 5-2-12-0, Aaron 3-0-14-0, Ashwin 8-0-20-0, Sehwag 2-0-3-0, Tendulkar 1-0-5-0.

Mumbai, November 25
Ravi Rampaul might have picked up one of the most important wickets of his life when he got rid of Sachin Tendulkar this morning, but the enormity of his ‘deed’ dawned upon him only a little later, as the crowd made life miserable for him on the boundary line.

“I knew the moment I got him that it was going to get interesting for me now with the crowd,” Rampaul said after the day’s play. “And as soon as I reached the boundary line, the crowd booed and I also had to deal with some abuses. Not abuses that would make me lose sleep, but more like banter from the crowd.

“I know that it must have caused a lot of pain and heartache to a lot of people, but I have a job to do, as does he. I just didn’t realise the enormity of all of it, how I instantly turned into a villain,” he added.

Rampaul also said that they had a plan to bowl short at Tendulkar and cause him as much discomfort as possible, and he, along with Fidel Edwards, stuck to it and ultimately were successful. “We had spoken about it to the coach as well. The idea was to make him uncomfortable with the short ball and then try to get his wicket as soon as possible. The ball he ultimately was dismissed off, bounced a little more than usual and we were lucky that he got the edge.” 

New Delhi, November 25
Sachin Tendulkar’s tryst with destiny will now take a back seat, at least for the first three One-day Internationals against the West Indies as the BCCI selection committee has decided to rest him for these matches. Also out of action will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will sit out the entire series, handing over the reins of captaincy to Virender Sehwag.

Punjab leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who was included in the squad for the three Tests, also makes it to the ODI selection, while Yuvraj Singh has not been considered as he has declared himself unfit, a BCCI release said.

The squad: Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel (wk), R. Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma. 

Melbourne, November 25
He considers Sachin Tendulkar the "Rockstar" of Indian cricket and Australia's new-found pace sensation Pat Cummins says he can't wait for a possible duel with the batting icon in the Test series next month.

The 18-year-old, who made a sensational Test debut by taking seven wickets to set up a thrilling series-levelling win for Australia against South Africa earlier this month, is now looking forward to bowl against Tendulkar.

The 38-year-old Tendulkar made his Test debut three-and-a-half years before Cummins was even born. "He's one of the greats of all time, I've grown up watching him," Cummins told 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.

"For someone who is a bit of a pocket rocket, he's not too tall, even against the fastest bowlers he seems to stand up and lift another gear. To get a game, even here in Australia, would be unbelievable. To be versing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid - it's going to be a massive challenge. He's someone hopefully all the bowlers don't get too overawed versing him and I guess you've got to still imagine him like any other batsmen," he added.

India and Australia will square off in a much-anticipated Test series starting December 26. Cummins said he would not "waste time" chalking out a bowling strategy for Tendulkar as the Indian is "too good everywhere".

"It's more imagining the moment of playing people like him, it'd be a massive thrill," Cummins said. "Sachin Tendulkar has got a massive following in India and is a rockstar over there. Someone like him, all the fame, it'd be on a whole new different level versing him," he added.

Cummins might be hot property at the next players' auction for the cash-rich Indian Premier League but the youngster does not want to think too far ahead. "I haven't really thought about it at the moment, it's still a fair while away," Cummins said. — PTI

New Delhi, November 25
An experienced player and sports administrator, Tina Brullo, has been appointed as the competitions Operations Manager for the World Series Hockey (WSH), to be held at nine different venues in the country from December 17 to January 22.

She was the Competitions Manager of the 2010 hockey World Cup held in Delhi and many other events across the world, including F1 races, Champions Trophy hockey, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. She has also significant experience of working with the International Hockey Federation, Cricket Australia and Hockey Australia.

WSH Technical Director Dennis Meredith observed that Brullo, having spent several years in various capacities in sports, from being a player to managing venues and handling competition operations, “brings in a holistic understanding to her role with WSH”.

Meanwhile, WSH has also roped in their third franchise, Sai Grace Sports and Events from Pune, close on the heels of signing franchise agreements with the Chennai and Bangalore teams. 

Patiala, November 25
The final number of players who were found positive for banned substances during the Kabaddi World Cup has reached 52 after the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) declared the results of all remaining samples that were taken during the tournament. Though the actual number is 48, four US players, who refused to give samples, have also been included in this list. The final count includes 10 from England, eight each from Canada and the US, seven from Spain, six each from Australia and Italy, three from Norway and one each from India, Germany, Pakistan and Argentina.

Sources said that NADA had taken a total of 218 samples, which include 32 that were collected during semi-finals and final. An amount of Rs 47 lakh was spent on the sampling process.

Director Sports, Punjab Government, and Organising Secretary of the World Kabaddi Cup, Pargat Singh, said that in the wake of a large number of players having tested positive, they will penalise both the players as well as the teams.

“We will charge a penalty of five per cent of the prize money from the team whose number of positive players is six or less. The teams which have a number higher than six would be charged 15 per cent of the prize money,” added Pargat Singh.

Throwing light on individual cases, S.L. Lotey, Deputy Director, Punjab Sports Department, said that the failed players would not be given any award. “Their share would be deducted from the prize money of the team and after that the team penalty would also be charged. The total penalty that will be charged is over Rs 1 crore.”

He further said that keeping in mind the efforts the coaches and managers have put in for organising this tournament, five per cent of the prize money of the team would be awarded to its coaches and managers. 

Sirsa, November 25
Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak won the All-India Inter-Varsity Men’s Wrestling Championship that concluded at the Chaudhary Devi Lal University here today.

MDU garnered 28 points, while Punjabi University, Patiala finished second with 13, followed by Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU), Meerut, with 10 points.

In the events held on the concluding day, Anil Kumar of CCSU won gold in the 60-kg event by defeating Manvishal Shankar of the Shivaji University, Kolhapur. Karam Pal of the MDU and Bhagat Singh of the Devi Lal University bagged bronze in this category.

Krishan, a grappler from Punjabi University, won the 96-kg category, while the silver went to Parvesh of the MDU. Satyavrat of Rajasthan University, Jaipur, and Vishnu of Dr B.R. Ambedkar Marathawada University, Aurangabad, got bronze medals. Manoj Siwach, registrar of the host university, gave away the prizes. 

Haikou, November 25
Ireland lived up to their billing as the tournament's title favourites when they charged back into contention with a four under-par 68 to take a share of the second round lead with Australia at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup here today.

Australia's Brendan Jones and Richard Green could not maintain their overnight advantage after they marked their card with three birdies, three bogeys and an eagle to sign for a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 at the Mission Hills Resort in Hainan Island.

Scotland are single shot behind the Australians and Irish after they carded a 69 to take third place on 132. The Irish partnership of past and present US Open champions, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, dropped two shots on the 11th and 13th holes after they three-putted for bogeys. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Anand scores another draw
Moscow: World Champion Viswanathan Anand's hope of winning the Tal Memorial chess championship is all but over after the Indian played out a draw against Hikaru Nakamura in the penultimate round here. With his eighth consecutive draw in as many rounds in the 10-player round robin tournament, Anand is almost out of the reckoning for a top finish as he has only four points in his kitty out of a possible eight. — PTI

A Ferrari engineer adjusts the front axle of a car in Sao Paulo on Friday ahead of the Brazilian Formula One GP. — AFP

Yifan is world champion
Tirana: Grandmaster Koneru Humpy settled for a draw in the must-win eighth-round game as defending champion Yifan Hou became the women's world chess champion by triumphing 5.5-2.5 against the Indian here. Under tremendous pressure and admittedly out of form, Humpy could not use her white pieces well in the eighth game which was another Queen's gambit declined. The Indian had spoilt many good positions during the course of the match in the Euros 2,00,000 championship. — PTI

Big win for Columba’s
NEW DELHI: Columba’s Club brightened their chances of earning a berth in the Super Six when they trounced Lodhi Club 3-0 in a Group III match of the Delhi Soccer Association B Division League here on Friday. Malcom scored the first goal in the eighth minute, converting a penalty kick, while Bhanu Katiyal accounted for the other two goals, before the interval. In another Group III match, Venus recorded their first victory, when they defeated Shakti 4-0. Saturday’s fixtures: Delhi Students vs New Friends (2 p.m.); BB Stars vs Hans (3.30 p.m.). — TNS

Hockey: India face Belgium
Johannesburg: Forced to play the event after losing out on an automatic spot in next year's Champions Trophy hockey tournament, erstwhile champions India would be desperate to open their Champions Challenge campaign on a perfect note against a tricky Belgium here tomorrow. As hosts, earlier India were to feature in the eight-nation Champions Trophy, before the tournament was shifted to New Zealand by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) citing problems with the governance of the sport in the country amidst the ongoing rift between two national bodies — Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation. — PTI

Indian cricket fans are dejected as Sachin Tendulkar falls after scoring 94 runs in Mumbai on Friday. — AFP

Goa XI underdogs vs Zambia
Margao: Goa XI will go as underdogs when they clash with Zambia tomorrow in the first friendly match in celebration of the golden jubilee of the Goa Football Association, at Nehru Stadium here. Given that the visitors who are ranked 80th, much higher than that of India, Goa XI coach Armando Colaco knows that it will be tough to compete against them especially with cream of the Goan players doing duty for the national team. He has five foreigners in the starting line up to match their rivals who will play an attacking game. "It's long time since we are playing against a foreign team. We are going to start underdog," stated Colaco. — PTI

Black Elephant win
Patiala: Black Elephant Cricket Club defeated Budha Dal Public School by 79 runs in the final of the under-14 Patiala Club cricket tourament at the BDPS Sports Complex. Winning the toss BECC scored 150 runs. Kanwar 59, Simran 25 and Lovdeep 43 not out were the main contributors for the team. In reply BDPS failed to achieve the target and were bundled out for 70 runs. For BECC Arshdeep Singh took 5 for 20 runs. Brief scores: Black Elephant Cricket Club: 149 for 2 in 20 overs (Kanwar 59, Simran 25, Lovdeep 43 not out). Buddha Dal Public School: 70 all out in 12 overs (Vikramjeet Singh 23, Arashdeep Singh 5 for 20, Ramandep Singh 2 for 16). — TNS