Dharamsala, May 16
This doesn’t look like a battlefield — snow-covered mountains, lush green fields and breath-taking landscapes. But come Thursday, and the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala will see a battle for survival.

The Kings XI Punjab outfit have moved to their second home and will face defending champions Chennai Super Kings as the hopes of both teams making it to the play-offs hang by the slightest of chances.

The Kings lost to Delhi Daredevils in what was a must-win situation and the dramatic turns that the match had meant that the defeat proved to be a sucker punch of sorts.

It was a game they just had to win and their batting let them down big time. The batting floundered and defending that total was always going to be an uphill task.

KXIP will take heart from Parwinder Awana’s first spell, but the real issue has been the batting. Mandeep has been effective, but the big innings are still eluding him.

Then, there is the case of not finding a steady and more importantly, successful opening partnership. Nitin Saini has shown sparks, but nothing more than that.

Shaun Marsh has also been similarly erratic. The bulk of the scoring has come from David Hussey and Azhar Mahmood.

There is a definite need for someone else to raise up their hand and be counted. There can’t be a better moment to do so than this.

On the other hand, Chennai — after two seasons of domination — are coming to terms with their reduced ability to win matches.

Mike Hussey at the top of the order has made a big difference as has the enigmatic Francois du Plessis.

There is also Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina, but they have not lived up to their potential just yet.

The bowling is a bit of a concern, as despite the presence of IPL veterans like Dwayne Bravo and Shadab Jakati, there is a sense of vulnerability in there.

Another big concern has been the poor form captain MS Dhoni has been going through. He needs a solid knock to probably find his magic as a skipper too.

But if there is one thing that CSK are known for, it is the ability to rise to the occasion.

They are the defending champions and have lots at stake going into the match. They did it last year and will be raring to make a fist of it once more.

But the Kings will take some confidence from the fact that they beat them in Chennai earlier in the tournament and there cannot be a more beautiful place to do the double.

Dharamsala, May 16
The teams of Kings XI Punjab and the Chennai Super Kings arrived here today for their IPL match tomorrow.

In view of the sting operation on spot-fixing, team managements avoided interaction with the media.

The Kings XI team arrived at Dharamsala at 11 am today while the Chennai Super Kings arrived at 3 pm.

Bollywood actress and owner of the Punjab Kings XI, Priety Zinta, also arrived today, but remained away from media gaze.

At the ticket counter in Dharamsala, local people complained of mismanagement.

Till the morning today, the counters showed that all tickets had been sold out.

But then, the counters opened and tickets worth Rs 800 and above were sold.

Local students were left in a lurch as they failed to get tickets priced at Rs 250 meant for them.

HPCA officials maintained that the sale of tickets was in the hands of Kings XI Punjab and they had nothing to do with it.

Kings XI Punjab spokesperson Mohit Khanna said that he was concerned with the cricket team and had no knowledge regarding of the commercial operations.

New Delhi, May 16
When big batters like David Warner, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers converge on a big theatre like the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, spectators would naturally expect some explosive stuff from their blades.

These players can make the best of bowling look innocuous on their day. A run-riot should be on the cards when Delhi Daredevils lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last home match of the Indian Premier League here tomorrow night.

Having taken the pressure of qualifying for the play-off off their back, Delhi Daredevils can approach their penultimate game of the preliminary league of IPL-V in a relaxed frame of mind.

For Royal Challengers Bangalore, however, it will be a do-or-die battle. RCB come to Delhi after suffering a morale-shattering drubbing at home against Mumbai Indians. They are stuck at 15 points from 14 matches and are placed fifth on the points table.

RCB’s ride has been uneven despite Chris Gayle exploding like a tornado with series of big scores.

Daredevils are on top of the heap with 20 points from 14 matches.

A win or loss will not make any difference to the hosts, though they have a score to settle with RCB for their 20-run defeat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 7.

Those were early days in IPL-V, but a numbing defeat for Daredevils nevertheless, as they travelled to the southern metropolis after drubbing Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets in their opener at Eden Gardens.

De Villiers and Muthiah Muralitharan had starred with the bat and the ball, with figures of 64 and 3-25, respectively. Ever since, RCB’s ride has been uneven, often bumpy, despite Chris Gayle exploding like a tornado with series of big scores. Even Virat Kohli, after a string of poor scores, has begun hitting big.

But since that defeat against RCB, Daredevils have gained in strength. The arrival of David Warner has fortified the top-order batting, though the collective failure of the big guns to fire in the last two matches — against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab — has given a cause for concern even though it will not affect their immediate future.

But to keep up the morale of the team, it is essential for Warner and Sehwag to knock off some quick runs in the initial overs, though the duo’s failure has brought out the best in Mahela Jayawardene and Naman Ojha to serve the cause of the Delhi team well.

A win tomorrow will help RCB catch up with the third and fourth-placed teams like KKR and CSK on 17 points and keep them in the hunt for a play-off berth, provided Daredevils give them some leeway.

RCB have won a few matches solely on the strength of Gayle’s brute power batting. RCB also have enough depth in batting and bowling to give Daredevils a run. But Daredevils have lost only two of their seven matches at the Kotla, though some of the wins were really close calls before the hosts closed out in the end.

New Delhi, May 16
Acting swiftly, the BCCI today began the probe into the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked IPL with one of the suspended domestic players deposing before the Inquiry Commission even as the Sports Minister called for a "long-term solution" to deal with the menace.

Barely a day after the BCCI cracked the whip by suspending five tainted players in the wake of the television sting operation which claimed to have exposed corruption in IPL, Ravi Sawani, who is heading the inquiry commission, met Shalabh Srivastava to hear his side of the story on the sting operation.

The meeting, which took place at a five-star hotel, is learnt to have lasted for an hour. There was, however, no official word from the BCCI on the development.

Sawani, a former chief of the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), has been asked to submit his report to the BCCI's Discplinary Committee within 15 days. Sawani is now the chief of the BCCI's Anti-Corruption unit.

Even as the BCCI began its investigations, Sports Minister Ajay Maken sought a proper probe into the spot-fixing allegation and suggested that the BCCI should de-link itself from running the Twenty20 league to avoid "overlapping of interests".

"As I have said, the BCCI should go into the root cause of the problem. They have to handle the investigation because BCCI is recognised by the ICC to run cricket in India. It is their mandate and their duty. They are foremost responsible," Maken said.

"Suspending five players is not enough. BCCI must come up with a long-term solution for this problem," he said.

Maken said the BCCI should also open up its accounts to RTI to bring about much-needed credibility. "They should not submit their accounts to us but they should open their accounts to RTIs. This will bring much-needed credibility to the BCCI," Maken said.

Maken also came out with a suggestion that BCCI should keep an arm's distance from the IPL, citing the examples of English Premier League where the clubs run the tournament instead of the national football body.

"IPL should be at a arm's distance from BCCI. It should not be under BCCI. IPL and BCCI should be away from each other so that there is no overlapping of interests," he said.

Apart from Srivastava, the BCCI had yesterday suspended Mohnish Mishra, T P Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali with immediate effect pending inquiry. The decision was taken after a lengthy tele-conference of top BCCI officials and members of the IPL's Governing Council.

The Cricket Board had swung into action a day after the expose as the issue rocked Parliament and former players and cricket administrators called for strong action to rid the game of even a whiff of a scandal.

Sawani will meet the other four suspended players in the coming days before finalising his report, a top BCCI source said.

Srivastava, who deposed before the Commission today, is a left-arm seamer from UP and was India's highest wicket-taker at the Under-19 World Cup in Lanka in 2000. — PTI

Patiala, May 16
Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Punjab Police DSP (under-training) Manjit Kaur is under a dope cloud and could face a possible two-year ban reportedly for refusing to submit her sample to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) team on more than two occasions.

NADA has served notice on the athlete who would now have to rush to give her sample in the coming few days or face a possible ban.

The ban, if it comes into force, could prove detrimental to the athlete’s continuation as a DSP with the Punjab Police.

Though Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini said he was unaware of the developments, sources said that the state government would wait for the final outcome on the controversy.

Highly placed sources confirmed that NADA was forced to take this step after a year’s wait as Manjit failed to appear before dope testers on more than three occasions in the past year on one pretext or the other.

“Manjit was part of the quartet that won the 4x400m relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and was present in Bangalore when two other teammates of hers were tested and later banned for testing positive. However, she escaped the NADA team on one pretext or the other,” they added.

Manjit’s teammates Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose and Ashwini Akkunji were found guilty of doping in 2011 and are serving their one-year ban while Manjit is currently receiving training for the post of DSP in Punjab Armed Police, Phillaur.

Sources said that in the recently concluded Federation Cup at NIS Patiala where Manjit was present, she openly refused to give her dope test.

She made it clear that she had conveyed to the Athletics Federation of India that she wasn’t interested in continuing with athletics.

However, she bagged a DSP’s post on the basis of athletics.

“I refused to give my tests in Patiala as I was watching my brother compete and not competing myself.

“Someone told me that there was a complaint against me. Before serving the notice, NADA should have taken me into confidence,” Manjit told The Tribune.

“A two-year ban is serious and I am willing to give samples to any team,” she stated.

Rahul Bhatnagar, Director General, NADA, told The Tribune that the athlete was untraceable when her teammates were found guilty of doping.

Officials had maintained that she had left NIS Patiala and had not reported back even during an in-competition test in Bangalore last year.

“Now, she will face the anti-disciplinary panel which will decide her fate. NADA has charged her under Article 2.3 of the World Anti-Doping Agency code, and her notice has been dispatched,” Bhatnagar said.

“Though I have not received any notice but I have spoken to officials. I will rush to Delhi tomorrow and meet NADA officials and will give my samples if they ask,” Manjit said.

Patiala, May 16
MC Mary Kom’s dream of becoming the world champion for the sixth time came to an abrupt end after she lost to Nicola Adams from England in the quarterfinal by a small margin of two points during the 7th AIBA World Women Boxing Championships in China.

Adams held her nerve from the beginning and led the first round 3-2. In the second round, both of them scored three points each and the score was 6-5.

In the third round, Adams again went on to score one point more than Mary Kom and the score reached 10-8. Though Mary Kom tried her best to equalise in the last round, Adams did not give her any opportunity to bounce back. The bout ended 13-11 in favour of Adams.

The fate of both top players of India — Mary Kom and Sarita Devi — hang midway as they will now have to wait for the results of their opponents to see whether they will qualify for the London Olympics.

Meanwhile, in the non-Olympic weight categories, as three out of four Indian players lost their quarterfinal bouts today. Bringing joy to the Indian camp, Kavita Chahal (+81 kg) grabbed a thriller by defeating Semsi Yarali from Turkey by just one point and advanced into the semifinal.

In the light flyweight category (45-48 kg), Pinky Jangra lost to world no. 2 Svetlana Gnevanova from Russia by merely two points (11-13).

New Delhi, May 16
India's Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal registered contrasting victories to advance to the second round of the men's and women's competition at the Allam British Open Squash Championships in London.

While Ghosal defeated junior champion Marwan El Shorbagy from Egypt in straight sets, Pallikal fought back from a two-game deficit to beat another Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy 3-2.

Ghosal had little difficulty in getting past Marwan 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.

He will now face Peter Barker from England in the round of 16 tomorrow.

Pallikal won her match 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 in 70 minutes. — PTI