Anantnag, APRIL 6
The Indian selectors have included Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder, Parvez Rasool, in the 30-member probable squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England, starting June this year.

The probables were announced on Saturday; however a 15-member squad will be announced later on

Expressing joy over his selection, Parvez Rasool said he hopes to make the people of Kashmir proud by making it to the the playing XI.

“It is the prayers of my family and my well-wishers back home,” said Rasool, who is presently in Pune, as part of the Pune Warriors Team in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rasool is yet to debut in the IPL-6; however that obviously has not diminished the selectors’ faith in the all-rounder. He has been considered by the selectors at a time when the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have been left out for the upcoming tournament.

Parvez first caught the selector’s eye after an impressive Ranji season last year, where he managed to play some match-winning knocks, including a couple of centuries. He also picked up 33 wickets for the Jammu and Kashmir side this season.

There has been no looking back for Rasool after the Ranji Trophy. He was picked up for the India A side to play against the visiting Australian side in a warm-up game.

The Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder did not disappoint the selectors and made the most out of the opportunity presented to him. He scalped seven wickets against the formidable Aussies, besides scoring quickfire 36 runs. “It’s a long road ahead of me and I’m working harder than ever,” said Rasool, “finding a place in the playing XI will be a proud moment for me. More importantly, for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

The 24 year all-rounder has left the past behind after he was wrongly detained in 2009 for carrying explosives in his bag, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The forensic science report however cleared him of all the charges and he was released after a brief detention.

Meanwhile, Zargar household in South Kashmir’s Bijbehara township is ecstatic. “He has worked very hard and deserves every bit of success. We all wish that he does well in the upcoming tournament,” said Ghulam Rasool Zargar, Parvez’s father.

He said that there has been huge support for Parvez from the people of Kashmir, “I hope they will keep supporting my son and pray for him like they have been doing so far,” he said.

New Delhi, APRIL 6
Delhi Daredevils were caught in their own petard as Rajasthan Royals romped home by five runs in the fourth match of the India Premier League Season Six at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tonight. Chasing Rajasthan Royals’ total of 165, Daredevils, who looked heading for a comfortable win, lost the plot after the exit of David Warner to fall short by five runs, making only 160 from 20 overs.

Daredevils’ chase were very much on course when David Warner was going great guns, but after he was run out by stand-in captain Brad Hodge with a direct throw, the hosts needed 13 runs from 9 balls. It was still an achievable target, but the middle order yet again made a mess of the opportunity, as the last three wickets fell for seven runs, with the last two wickets falling in the space of two runs.

Warner, who was dropped by Royals’ captain Rahul Dravid at backward point off S Sreeshanth when on three, went on to make a precious 77 (56b, 9x4, 1x6), but his knock went vain as the other batsmen failed to live up to their assigned task. Daredevils suffered their second consecutive defeat, coming on the heels of their six-wicket mauling at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL Season Six opener, to pile on their misery.

Local lad Unmukt Chand, who got out for a first ball duck in his IPL debut against KKR in Kolkata the other day, survived another first ball scare (the second of the innings) off Samul Badree of the West Indies ( making his IPL debut) to make 23 (19b, 2x4, 1x6) before Sreesanth cart-wheeled his stumps off the fourth ball of the sixth over. Though captain Mahela Jayawardene and Manpreet Juneja helped Warner put valuable runs on the board, Royals used Kevin Cooper as a trump card striker, and the tall bowler struck three deadly blows to remove Juneja, Andre Russel and Jonathan Botha to turn the tables on Delhi.

Rajasthan Royals rode on a captain’s knock by Rahul Dravid (65,51b,2x6, 6x4) and his 65-run second wicket partnership with Ajinkya Rahane to post a competitive total, after debutant Kushal Perera of Sri Lanka fell to Umesh Yadav for 14, with the team total on 22.

Brief Scores: (RR) 165/7 ( R Dravid 65, S Binny 40, U Yadav 4/24, A Nehra 2/35); (DD) 160/6 ( D Warner 77,M Juneja 20, K Cooper 3/30)

Chennai, APRIL 6
Mumbai Indians scored 148/6 in 20 overs against Chennai Super Kings in the fifth match of IPL-6 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, on Saturday night.

Electing to bat first, Mumbai Indians suffered early setbacks when Eicky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar were back in the hut with just 17 runs on the board. However, it was Kieron Pollard (57) and Dinesh Karthik (37) who helped the team reach a decent total of 148 runs. Harbhajan Singh, in the end, made a run-a-ball 21. Rest none of the players could reach the double figure mark.

For Chennai Super Kings, Dwayne Bravo (2/44) was the most successful bowler. However, he conceded 11 runs per over in his 4-over spell. Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Laughlin and Ravichandran Ashwin bagged one wicket each.

Mumbai made two changes to their playing XI bringing in Dwayne Smith for Jacob Oram and Pragyan Ojha for Jasprit Bumrah.

Brief Scores:(MI) 148/6 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 57, Dinesh Karthik 37, Harbhajan Singh 21, Dwayne Bravo 2/44); (CSK) 

Pune, APRIL 6
After a disappointing 22-run loss in a low scoring game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their campaign opener, Pune Warriors would be hoping for a better batting performance when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their second match.

The Angelo Mathews-led side looked like they would chase down the Hyderabad franchise's paltry 126 runs but lost the plot after a steady start. They would be keen to make amends of their last night's defeat with a win tomorrow.

India senior player Yuvraj Singh, who has got the added responsibility to shoulder batting responsibility in the absence of Australian captain Michael Clarke, would be eager to produce a better show after he scored only two runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The home side would also rely on Yuvraj's left-arm spin as the 31-year-old picked up a wicket in his two overs while giving away only eight runs.

The bowling attack looked impressive with a three-pronged pace attack comprising Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda and skipper Angelo Matthews though the team opted to open the attack with spinner Marlon Samuels in Hyderabad last night.

Kings XI will look to start on a winning note. KXIP have never won opening game in the previous five editions and the side would be keen to change it this year. The team would miss Shaun Marsh, who suffered a hamstring injury in Feb. — PTI

Patiala, APRIL 6
Raninder Singh was today reelected the president of the National Rifle Association of India for another four-year term following the election process.

The son of the former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh was elected unopposed to the post. He bagged an overwhelming support from across the country, getting 517 votes out of 843 for the authorisation to nominate members to the general house.

The former Punjab shooter had defeated Shyam Singh Yadav during his first elections in 2010. In the run-up to the election process, Raninder had faced stiff opposition from Punjab cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who had tried his best to get into the NRAI.

Raninder, who represents Punjab in the NRAI, said he was confident about his win and would make sure that the shooters perform well.

“My focus would be to provide the best of facilities to all the shooters so that Indian shooters bag more international medals,” he stated.

The vice-presidents elected were Ajay Patel (Gujarat), Deep Bhatia (Haryana), Putuul Kumari (Bihar), MS Rana (Uttarakhand) and Kalikesh Kumar (Odisha). Tamil Nadu's DVS Rao has been appointed to the post of Secretary General while Jagmeet Singh Sethi and Darius Chennai have been elected as joint secretaries.

Rao was elected new Secretary General of the NRAI. He was also elected unopposed for this post. Rao was earlier holding the post of Joint Secretary General of NRAI. Avtar Singh, senior most member of the Governing Body, was also elected unopposed as Senior Vice President. Baljit Singh Sethi will continue as Advisor of the NRAI.

All the office bearers and members of the Governing Body except Hony Secretaries were elected unopposed. The election for Hony Sectaries was conducted by secret ballot and six Hon. Secretaries were elected by the House. The proceedings of the House were conducted in presence of Radhica Sreeman, Regional Director, Sports Authority of India, a Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports Observer.

The General Body also nominated seven eminent personalities for their contribution for the promotion of shooting sport in India.

Patiala, APRIL 6
The two-day national boxing trials for selecting Indian team ended on a high note with all top boxers of the country fighting it out in the ring to reserve a berth for them. As many as 17 bouts were held on the concluding day wherein the boxers had to give in their best shot following touch competition in all weight categories.

One weight category which attracted everyone's fancy was 56 kg in which Shiva Thapa was pitted against Durga Rao. Assam’s Thapa, who became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the London Olympics, had a tough time against Rao and the bout was very close.

In the 64 kg weight category, Haryana’s Manoj Kumar, who won a gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, boxed well against Asian Games silver medallist Santosh. L Devendro Singh and Thokchom Nanao Singh lived up to their reputation and staged spectacular performances in trials.

Reigning Punjab champion Sukhdeep Singh won the 75kg category in the absence of Vijender Singh.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi seem to be avoiding eye contact during a felicitation ceremony for Davis Cup stars in Bangalore on Saturday. pti

For Indonesia, both David and Elbert, put in their lot late in the third set. Elbert pushed himself hard, sprinting at either sides of the court, lobbing and smashing to get back into the game. Tomorrow, Somdev is scheduled to play Christopher Rungkat while Yuki will clash with Wisnu Adi Nugroho.

Djokovic starts with a win, Czech Republic dominant

Paris: Lukas Rosol gave defending champions the Czech Republic a commanding 2-0 lead in the quarterfinal clash with Kazakhstan. A set down, he beat Andrey Golubev.World No. 63 Rosol won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), subduing 205th-ranked Golubev in two hours 41 minutes. Jan Hajek had gained the first point of best-of-five match tie for the Czechs when he beat M Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Argentina and France ended the opening day in Buenos Aires knotted at 1-1. Juan Monaco cruised past 13th-ranked Gilles Simon 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-4 at Parque Roca to even the tie after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gained the first point by beating Carlos Berlocq 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. — PTI

New Delhi, APRIL 6
Shiv Kapur braved tough conditions to manage an even par 72 to be tied third while Jyoti Randhawa fired a flawless five-under 67 to jump to sole fifth after the third round of the Panasonic Open India.

Manav Jaini (68) rose from tied 22nd to the sixth spot, which he shares with defending champion Digvijay Singh, who played a third straight one-under 71, and was the only player with three sub-par rounds. Shamim Khan, the No. 1 golfer of 2012 on Indian PGTI Tour, also catapulted up the leaderboard with a 67 with seven birdies and two bogeys as he is lying tied tenth.Randhawa described his round as one the best as he moved from one-over for 2 days to four-under for 54 holes. — PTI