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Pietersen checks in for India tour
simply Sunny |
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Allround Watson tames Lions in their den
Mumbai HC verdict keeps Deccan out
Indian Open
Vishnu advances, to third round, Fatehdeep falls
Stodgy England struggle to 1-1 draw in Poland
IOA affiliates 5 new associations
IOA approves six-fold hike in TA, DA for members
Somdev beaten in first round again
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Pietersen checks in for India tour
London, October 18 The decision to recall the South African-born batsman, the best in the England team, was made after he met up with coach Andy Flower, captain Alastair Cook and other senior players and members of England’s management team earlier this week. “We were keen Kevin should hold a series of face-to-face meetings with team management and senior players before the test squad departs for the UAE and India next week,” England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Hugh Morris said in a statement on Thursday. “The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved. All the England players and management are now keen to draw a line under this matter and fully focus on the cricketing challenge that lies ahead in India.” Pietersen was dropped by England for the third and final test against South Africa at Lord’s in August after admitting sending provocative texts to the tourists’ players. But the batsman denied allegations he told them how to dismiss former captain Andrew Strauss. Strauss quit cricket after South Africa won the test series 2-0. The ECB’s national selector Geoff Miller said it would be good to have an extra batsman in the squad especially as Ian Bell was due to return home for the birth of his child midway through the tour of India. “We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin’s proven international calibre back into the squad for such an important test series,” said Miller. “As we anticipate Ian Bell will return home for the birth of his first child around the time of the second test in Mumbai, the team will benefit from having an extra batsman in the squad.” — Reuters The KP story
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Don’t bash IPL teams, they have won two CLT20 titles
by Sunil Gavaskar With the Indian franchises not quite living up to their billing, the usual talk of rubbishing the IPL has started. The main argument seems to be that since the IPL teams get together only for the tournament in April they do not gel together or have the same sense of unity and purpose that other teams have, and so naturally they are not doing well in the Champions League. This is a laughable argument, for if one looks back at the winners of the last three Champions League, one will find that it is the Indian franchises that have won two out of the three tournaments played so far. So that facile argument of team spirit and unity of purpose just flies out of the window. Then of course the next argument is that on these pitches in South Africa the Indian teams struggle, but the last time the Champions League was played on South African pitches guess who won it? The Chennai team, so again that argument goes for a toss. It would be better if everybody just took a vacation from IPL bashing and look at the positives rather than the negatives. There is nothing in the world that is flawless so the IPL does have room to improve but hey, so do the others, so just go easy on the vitriol and save it for something else. The reason that the non South African teams have struggled is that it is the beginning of the season and not everybody can hit the ground running and so they have been slow to make the adjustment, while the home teams have been better off knowing the weather and the kind of pitches that will be on offer. The pitches all over the world will have a lot more bounce at the beginning of the season since they will be fresh and unused and the new ball bowlers prosper. What has been seen in Durban though is that the pitches are different than in Johannesburg and Capetown and this is mainly because the climate in Durban is more tropical with the sun being quite fierce and so the moisture under the surface gets evaporated quickly and the grass does not stay as much as at the other venues. The turn that the Titans bowlers got will definitely encourage the Delhi team to look at including an extra spinner in their ranks. They have won their first game and they would want to continue on that streak. They have a well balanced team and if their batting clicks then they will have a big score on the board. They also have the bowling balance to exploit any pitch and so will not be easy to score off. With the other Indian franchises not quite hitting the straps it is up to the Delhi team to ensure that the jealous ones are shut up like Chennai did two years back.
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KP to Unmukt: Don’t try to hit every delivery
New Delhi, October 18 “You really feel confident when you have a session with someone like Kevin Pietersen. I had an elaborate session in Pertoria where he gave me some valuable tips on technique,” Unmukt said from Durban. “I was trying to hit every ball out of sight and KP told me not to do that as I wasn’t shaping up correctly. He told me that unlike in India where one can accelerate in a T20 game from the first ball, it’s not possible in South Africa. He advised that since I will bat up the order, I should be cautious during the initial phase and then start attacking.” “I should check my shape while trying to play attacking shots,” stated the former India U-19 captain who got a chance to pick the star batsman’s brains. If he got Pietersen to talk on batting, his skipper Mahela Jayawardene gave him a compliment after KKR match that he would remember for a long time to come. “Mahela told me that under circumstances, my innings was one of the best in T20 he has seen. It was a proud moment when something like this comes from a player of his stature.” — PTI
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Allround Watson tames Lions in their den
Cape Town, October 18
Electing to bowl, Sydney did well to stop Highveld Lions to a modest 137 for nine in the Group B match as Mitchell Starc took three wickets for just 19 runs. Opener Gulam Bodi top scored for Lions with a 44-ball-61 while Jean Symes contributed 23 off 16 balls. Except for Dominic Thornely (0) all top-order batsmen contributed in Sydney’s win with skipper Brad Haddin scoring 32 after Watson laid the platform for the win. Watson’s 47 came off 38 balls with seven boundaries including three sixes. He strapping all-rounder will not be play for the side for the remainder of the tournament as he has been withdrawn by Cricket Australia, fearing burn-out. — PTI
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Mumbai HC verdict keeps Deccan out
Mumbai, October 18 Hearing a petition filed by the Cricket Board, Justice R D Dhanuka quashed the status quo order passed by the arbitrator appointed by the High Court to resolve the dispute between BCCI and Deccan Chronicles Holdings Limited (DCHL). On another petition filed by DCHL against termination of the contract of its IPL franchise, the court refused to grant any interim relief, but said the legality of the termination would be decided by the arbitrator. The court’s orders on the two petitions effectively means that the termination of Deccan Chargers’ IPL membership would stand, according to legal circles. The arbitrator, retired supreme court judge C K Thakker, had last week passed an order for status quo to be maintained following which BCCI had moved the High Court in appeal. “Arbitrator had no jurisdiction to grant status quo. On the same day (October 12), the high court had denied extension of time to DCHL to furnish Rs 100 crore bank guarantee as directed by the court on October 1,” Justice Dhanuka said. He further said the arbitrator is not “superior” to the High Court and hence cannot pass an order which overrides the high court’s direction. Criticising the plea made by DCHL before the arbitrator for status quo, the court said, “Once the High Court has rejected relief, the plea made before the arbitrator is not maintainable.” Justice Dhanuka noted that the order passed by another judge of the court on October 1 directing DCHL to furnish bank guarantee was “self operative and protective of the interests of both DCHL and BCCI”. The court also refused interim stay on termination of IPL franchise as sought by DCHL in a separate petition. — PTI
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Kapur fires 67 to lie at tied 3rd
Bangalore, October 18 Macau Open winner Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shankar Das were tied 10th after carding an identical three-under 68, while Chiragh Kumar, Harendra Gupta and Honey Baisoya were further one stroke behind at tied 14th. Among other Indians in the fray, Himmat Rai and Anirban Lahiri carded one-under 70 to lie at tied 22nd spot, while Ajeetesh Sandhu and Ashok Kumar turned in an even-par 70 to be one stroke further behind at the Karnataka Golf Association Course. At the top, Englishman James Morrison and Richie Ramsay of Scotland got off to a spirited start as they shared the opening round lead on five-under 66. Playing from the back nine, Zaw Moe of Myanmar shot back-to-back eagles on holes 11 and 12 to hold the lead for most of the round before making double bogey on the par three eighth hole at the Asian Tour event with a prize fund of approximately $1.25 million. Kapur, who has three top-10s at the Asian Tour so far this season, dropped an early bogey on the third hole, before rolling in five birdies, including one on the last hole, to take a share of the third place along with six others. “If you told me I would shoot a 67 at the start of the day in this breeze, I would have taken it. Golfers are never happy and the way I struck it, I gave myself a lot of chances.” “I’ll take this as a start and hopefully build on this from here,” said Kapur, whose last victory on the Asian Tour was in 2005. — PTI
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Vishnu advances, to third round, Fatehdeep falls
New Delhi, October 18 Fourth seed Fatehdeep Singh of Punjab suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of Garvit Batra, as after racing through the first set, he failed to consolidate his position, to bow out at 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the boys’ under-16 singles of the Fenesta National Open Tennis Championship at the DLTA court here today. It was a day of upsets as second seed Vishu Prasad also made his exit when S.D. Prajwal beat him in straight sets 7-5, 6-2. Shashank Nautiyal rallied to beat Udayan Bhaskar 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 while Sai Nihik downed Gnana Bhaskar 7-6, 6-4 to complete the semi-final lineup. In the girls under-16 quarter-finals, top seed Snehdevi, second seed Pranjala Yadlapalli and fourth seed Akshara Iska entered the semi-finals. Snehdevi arrested the march of fifth seed Himani Mor 6-1, 6-1, Pranjala beat Nayanika Reddy 6-3, 6-1 and Akshara got the better of sixth seed Devanshi Bhimjiyani 6-2,6-3. Ramya Natrajan upset seventh seed Vanshika Sawhney 7-6, 6-4 to enter the last four stage.
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Stodgy England struggle to 1-1 draw in Poland
Warsaw, October 18 Wayne Rooney's header via his shoulder from a Steven Gerrard corner just after the half hour mark put the visitors ahead but defender Kamil Glik levelled for the Poles, also heading home a corner with 20 minutes remaining. "It's my fault. That's cost us three points," England goalkeeper Joe Hart later said. England, who stretched their unbeaten run against Poland to 15 matches since 1973, top the group on eight points from four matches, with Montenegro second on seven having played a game less and Poland third on five from three. "It's a decent point but we know we can play better than that. I believe this point will be a good one at the end of the day, I don't think any team will get maximum points here," said England captain Gerrard. The match had been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch when officials failed to close the national stadium's roof despite a heavy rainstorm, angering thousands of fans who were kept in the arena for hours. Earlier on Wednesday, the England players and the FA said they would reimburse the ticket costs for supporters who stayed on for the match while the Polish FA said it would set up a refund process. — Reuters
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IOA affiliates 5 new associations
New Delhi, October 18 IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra announced after the meeting that the Ice Skating Federation, Ice Hockey Federation, Luge Association, Modern Pentathlon and the Indian Golf Union have been given affiliation with voting rights. Each association will have three votes, and with the affiliation of these five new bodies, IOA will have 15 more votes, which will play a decisive role in the IOA elections, to be held on November 25. According to sources, the house was almost unanimous in its decision to give new affiliations though the presence of two representatives from hockey created a piquant situation. Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was represented by its secretary-general Ashok Mathur while Hockey India was represented by secretary-general Narinder Batra. The GBM was preceded by high drama when 100 odd Akali Dal workers demonstrated outside the venue of the meeting, demanding the ouster of former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler from the IOA for his alleged role in the 1984 riots. The protesters threatened to come back and wage an indefinite fight.
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IOA approves six-fold hike in TA, DA for members
New Delhi, October 18 Earlier, only the IOA office-bearers were allowed to travel by air. — PTI
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Somdev beaten in first round again
Vienna, October 18 The Indian lost to his wild-card opponent from Latvia 6-7(6) 3-6. — PTI
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Kevin Pietersen has been added to England’s Test squad for next month’s tour to India after being dropped from the team in August over a controversial text-message row.
With the Indian franchises not quite living up to their billing, the usual talk of rubbishing the IPL has started. The main argument seems to be that since the IPL teams get together only for the tournament in April they do not gel together or have the same sense of unity and purpose that other teams have, and so naturally they are not doing well in the Champions League.
Cape Town, October 18
Chasing 138 to win, Sydney Sixers overcame the challenge of impressive spinner Aaron Phangiso (3/14) to reach 141 for five in 19 overs at Newlands.
