Adelaide, February 14
India paid the price for leaving too much for the end as their tri-series match against Sri Lanka ended in a nerve-wrecking tie on Tuesday despite captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's last-ditch charge to overhaul the target.

India did well to restrict Sri Lanka to 236 for nine but their tense run chase got difficult with the pitch getting a little slower at the end and they were stopped at the same score in a match that saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.

Gautam Gambhir (91) and Dhoni (58 not out) were the top performers for India, while Sachin Tendulkar (15), Rohit Sharma (15) and Suresh Raina (15) got the starts but couldn't turn them into big scores.

Needing nine runs off the final over bowled by Lasith Malinga, India managed two runs off the first, two singles off the next two before Dhoni survived a run-out chance. However, Vinay Kumar was run-out off the fifth ball and it boiled down to four required from the final delivery.

Dhoni lobbed the final delivery towards extra cover and it was headed for a four which Upul Tharanga pulled back from the ropes. It still was three runs for the Indian captain and an exciting tie in the match.

Earlier, for the second game in running, Gambhir missed out on a century but played substantially enough to ensure India got something out of both matches. On Sunday, India beat Australia by four wickets to gain full four points and two from the game now takes them top of the heap with 10 points in the kitty from four matches. Australia has nine points from three matches while Sri Lanka has two from three games.

Gambhir and Dhoni came together at a critical time when India were 118 for four in the 28th over and another wicket could have really put the skates under their feet. But they batted with the calm they are known for and didn't allow the scoring to drop too as 50 between the two came off 58 balls.

However, disaster struck in the 41st over when Dhoni pushed Malinga to mid-on and took off only to pull his steps back. Gambhir by then was down the track a fair distance and Kulasekara with his throw was right on the mark.

Gambhir made his 91 off 106 balls with six fours and for the second match in running, he was denied a century. The pressure now built on India and they became six for 184 in the 44th over when Ravinder Jadeja (3) lofted a catch into the covers, leaving India to score 46 runs off the final five overs.

The 46th over turned out to be a big one for India as Dhoni slammed Thisara Perera for a six and Ashwin drove him over extra cover for a four. In all 13 runs came from this over and the equation came down to 33 from the final four overs.

The 47th over, bowled by Kulasekara, produced five runs and India's equation was now down to 28 from the final three overs. Malinga bowled the 48th over and it was as dramatic as it gets. Ravi Ashwin lofted a high catch but Sangakkara couldn't latch on to it. Two deliveries later, Ashwin still lobbed a catch at short covers. India needed 24 runs from the final two overs. — PTI

Scoreboard
Sri Lanka
Tharanga c Dhoni b Vinay 0
Dilshan c Dhoni b Irfan 16
S’kara c Gambhir b Ashwin 31
Chandimal run out 81
Jayawardene lbw b Vinay 43
Mathews run out 17
Perera c Kohli b Ashwin 5
Kulasekara c Gambhir b Vinay 12
Senanayake not out 22
Malinga run out 0
Herath not out 1
Extras (lb 3, w 5) 8
Total (9 wkts; 50 overs) 236
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-28, 3-79, 4-173, 5-178, 6-184, 7-210, 8-232, 9-235.
Bowling: Vinay 10-1-46-3, Irfan 9-0-38-1, Yadav 9-0-51-0, Ashwin 10-1-30-2, Jadeja 10-0-58-0, Rohit 2-0-10-0.

India
Gambhir run out 91
Sachin c S’kara b Kulasekara 15
Kohli lbw b Perera 15
Rohit run out 15
Raina c S’kara b Malinga 8
Dhoni not out 58
Jadeja c Jayawardene b Perera 3
Ashwin c Senanayke b Malinga 14
Irfan run out 8
Vinay run out 1
Yadav not out 0
Extras: (b-1, w-6, nb-1) 8
Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 236
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-61, 3-94, 4-118, 5-178, 6-184, 7-212, 8-223, 9-233.
Bowling: Malinga 10-1-53-2, Kulasekara 10-0-39-1, Matthews 5-0-35-0, Perera 9-0-45-2, Herath 10-1-33-0, Senanayake 6-0-30-0.

Adelaide, February 14
A glaring umpiring error in the 30th over of the Indian innings robbed India a chance of what could have been their third victory in the ongoing tri-series, here today. The match ended in a tie with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni managing three runs of the final Malinga delivery in the 50th over to level the scores.

When Lasith Malinga bowled the 30th over of the day, the Sri Lankan pacer sent down five deliveries after which the umpires indicated over change. The five deliveries in the 30th over had yielded nine runs with Dhoni taking single of the fifth delivery.

With the match ending in a tie, there was every possibility that India could have ended on a winning note had that sixth delivery of the 30th over been bowled.

A solitary umpiring blunder by Englishmen Simon Fry and Nigel Llong changed the outcome of the match which could have gone India's way.

The Indian captain made his displeasure clear but also admitted that they can't make a "big fuss" out of the issue.

"It's done and dusted with. We can create a big fuss out of it but what's the point? It's like a controversy standing right on the edge...just about to happen. What's the point as it's a controversy which is right there and we don't really want to get into anything like that...Hopefully, it won't be repeated, not only with us but not even with any other side," Dhoni stated at the post-match press conference.

"As I said, we have seen in the past. We have bowled an over and we almost changed sides but the third umpire interferred and said "Ok you have to bowl one more bowl in this particular over but it did not happen in this game." I don't know why? Nothing can be done right now," the skipper added. — PTI

Adelaide, February 14
Despite steering India to a last-ball tie in the triangular series match against Sri Lanka, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today took the blame upon himself saying it was his running out of a well-set Gautam Gambhir that cost his side a win.

Needing 237 for victory, India were coasting along at 174 for four when Gambhir was run out for 91, courtesy a wrong call by Dhoni.

"A wrong call cost us the game. I was wrong in calling Gautam for a single and he got run out," a visibly disappointed Dhoni said after the match ended in a tie.

Dhoni, however, played another gem of an innings and remained unbeaten on 58 to help India draw the match and register atleast two points.

Needing four runs to win off the last ball, Dhoni hit Lasith Malinga over the extra cover region for three runs as the game ended with scores of both the teams levelled at 236 for nine.

Incidentally, it was Dhoni who bailed India out in the last over in the visitor's last game against Australia at the same ground on Sunday. He had scored a match-winning unbeaten innings of 44.

And today once again Dhoni proved that his calm and composure at the middle is crucial to India's success in limited overs game.

"What's important is to stay there. I looked to stay till the end because while batting at the No 6 position you know there aren't too many batsmen after you," he said.

"If you have a decent partnership you can stick it out."

Dhoni also said that Malinga, who bowled the last over off which India needed nine runs to win, is a difficult bowler to hit.

"Malinga is very consistent. It is very difficult to hit him with his slinging action. So we were looking to target (Angelo) Mathews (in the penultimate over)," said Dhoni, who was declared the man-of-the-match for his composed innings.

"(The last hit) was a bit difficult here, but in India that would have been two bounces and four. When you need 10 or 12 in the last over your heart rate will always be up." Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said even though they managed to eke out two points from the game, the match was never really in their pocket.

He, however, was happy with the fightback of his team after setting up a 237-run modest target before the Indians.

"We made so many mistakes. We dropped catches and missed run-outs. We never had this game wrapped up," Jayawardene said. "230 was probably not enough but it was a great comeback by the boys. We are happy to get two points," he added.

Jayawardene also backed Malinga, who bowled the last over from which India needed nine runs to win.

"You always back Malinga to do the job for you and he almost did it for us (today)," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 14
Sahara India said on Monday that no corporate was ready to shell out more than 50-60 percent of the current value of the sponsorship of Indian cricket team.

Sahara, which has said it was pulling out of the team sponsorship over the way it has been treated by the BCCI, said that its chairman Subrata Roy sounded other corporates to see if anyone could fully or partially sponsor Team India.

To his surprise, none was willing to pay more than half of what Sahara was paying now, Sahara said in a statement.

"In the last 3-4 days, Subrata Roy and his team discussed the option of assigning full or partial sponsorship with some corporates. This was done because Sahara has committed to continue to support the Team Sponsorship for 2-4 months till a new sponsor is on board.

"We were very surprised to note that though they were interested in the opportunity, yet (they) were not willing to pay more than 50-60 percent of the current value," Sahara said.

Sahara accused the Board of Cricket for Control in India of backing out of a commitment to hold a joint news conference to explain their respective views on the issues that led to it withdrawal of its sponsorship of Team India and for pulling out of the ownership of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Pune Warriors.

The Sahara statement came soon after Board president N Srinivasan told the media in Chennai about the decisions taken at its Working Committee meeting.

While BCCI stated that its hands were tied by rules, Sahara shot back to say that the rules were framed by the cricket authorities. The rules, the company said, had no statutory binding.

"Subrata Roy requested BCCI officials not to elaborate on the rules by saying that any disagreement in sports should be taken in perfect sporting spirit and should be resolved accordingly.

"He further requested the BCCI president and his team that there is no point in quoting the rule book and debating it word by word. — PTI

New Delhi, February 14
Former Australian first-class pacer Joe Dawes will take over as the Indian cricket team's bowling coach after Eric Simons' tenure comes to an end at the completion of the ongoing tour of Australia.

"Joe Dawes has been appointed the Bowling Coach of the Indian team, for a period of two years," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.

A right-arm paceman, Dawes represented Queensland in Australia's domestic circuit in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The 41-year-old got into coaching subsequently and is Queensland Cricket's player professional development manager. He has also had stints as bowling coach of South Australia and Adelaide Strikers (Big Bash League).

In the 76 first-class matches he played, Dawes picked up 285 wickets at average of 25. Simons, who joined the Indian team in January 2010 for a two-year term, is also the head coach of IPL team Delhi Daredevils. — PTI

New Delhi, February 14
The aura is long gone and recent performances have been inconsistent but Indian hockey's former technical adviser Ric Charlesworth, who had a controversial stint with the team, still expects his former wards to qualify for London Olympics during the qualifiers starting on Saturday.

"India still has some very exciting players and can play some fabulous hockey but perhaps they are not consistent enough and they haven't planned well enough for a long time," the Australian said in an e-mail interview.

"I do think it can be turned around. If you mean their aura was their dominance then obviously that no longer exists. When I first played to beat India was exceptional and rare...now it is expected," he added.

Charlesworth had a controversy-ridden tenure with the Indian hockey team and walked out of the job after a major stand-off with the administrators within 10 months of joining in 2008.

The legendary former player is currently in charge of the Australian team, which won the 2009 and 2010 Champions Trophy and the 2010 World Cup and the Commonwealth Games gold medal that same year under his guidance.

Talking about India's chances at the qualifiers, Charlesworth said the hosts should have it easy against oppositions who are at best capable of causing nothing more than an upset or two.

"I expect India to qualify as they have easily the easiest pathway...Canada, Poland and France can cause an upset but against India at home they do not have enough weapons," Charlesworth said.

Charlesworth was technical adviser of the team when India lost to Great Britain at Santiago and failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a shameful low for the eight-time Olympic champions.

Charlesworth feels if India plays the same opposition again there, it would still be a 50-50 proposition. "India still has a balance between youth and experience... (though) experience can be over rated," he said.

"If India had to play GB as in 2008 it would be 50/50 as I believed it was back then...the difference this time is the venue and the opposition," he said.

India will play Canada, France, Poland, Italy and Singapore in the Olympic qualifiers at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Playing in front of home fans, Charlesworth feels, can be a double-edged sword as players will feel the pressure of expectations. "...the crowd can help or hinder...on balance, being at home is usually a plus. — PTI

New Delhi, February 14
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) felicitated former India captains Mahesh Gawli and Climax Lawrence at an impressive function here on Tuesday. AIFF general-secretary Kushal Das handed over specially designed silver plaques and two national team jerseys, signed by all the Indian team players, to the duo.

The national team, who are scheduled to leave for Dubai on Wednesday for a preparatory camp for the forthcoming AFC Challenge Cup, were also present. “They have played 163 International matches between themselves and have been part of so many winning squads. I thank both for their dedication and contribution to Indian football,” Das said.

Mahesh Gawli has played in 82 international matches while Climax has donned the national colour in 81 internationals. While Mahesh has been a part of seven winning squads - two Nehru Cups (2007 & 2009), two SAFF Championships (2005 & 2011), LG Cup (2002), Bristol Freedom Cup (1998) and the AFC Challenge Cup--Climax has been part of five triumphant squads - two Nehru Cups (2007, 2009), two SAFF Championships (2005 and 2011) and the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008.

“It’s an honour to be felicitated by AIFF in such a manner,” Climax echoed, and Mahesh nodded in agreement. AIFF Player-of-the-Year Sunil Chhetri said he has learnt a lot from the duo. “When I first came into the national squad, both of them were established stars. But never for a moment did they throw any attitude. Rather, they were overeager to help me out,” he opined. “They have been exemplary disciplinarians.”