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India looking for an encore
Relief for BCCI as court stays CIC proceedings
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Now, men’s doubles players cry foul over slashed price at IBL auction
Sports Ministry tells players to put medals above money
Technology has made umpiring tougher, says Simon Taufel
Phil’s wins benefit British ‘Tax Man’
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India looking for an encore
Harare, July 25 In a perfect start to the tour, India thrashed Zimbabwe by six wickets with Kohli leading from the front, scoring a hundred on Wednesday.
But the win was not without a few glitches with the inexperience of Indian bowlers exploited by a couple of Zimbabwean batsmen. Sikander Raza nearly got a hundred while lower down the order Elton Chigumbura managed to torment the Indians for quite a while with a 34-ball 43 which included half a dozen boundaries. In fact, India`s lead pacer R Vinay Kumar ended up conceding at a rate more than six in his nine overs. But on the brighter side, the rest of the attack made up for his off day with spinner Amit Mishra picking up three wickets in his 10 overs. The Zimbabwean batsmen did not exactly disgrace themselves and posted a decent total which was, however, no match to the sheer individual brilliance of Kohli. Among others, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had a bad day but they too should get some big scores in the series which has been described as being terribly lopsided despite India being a depleted team. Another positive to emerge for India apart from Kohli`s swashbuckling knock, was the half-century by debutant Ambati Rayudu. A veteran of first-class cricket, Rayudu finally got his ODI break yesterday and delivered well with a calculated 63-run knock. If he can continue in the same vein in the coming games, the 27-year-old`s confidence would certainly head northwards. It would be interesting to see whether the Indians stick to the same line-up or try out the likes of batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and spinner Parveez Rasool. For the Zimbabweans, Raza and Chigumbura showed that application and patience can make the home team a lot more competitive than many would perceive it to be. The home team played its full 50 overs, was not all out at the end of it all and did expose some chinks in the Indian bowling attack`s armoury. But their own bowling left a lot to be desired although it is difficult to control an on-song Kohli even for the best of attacks. Prosper Utseya was the lone bowler to make an impact with two wickets in his 10 overs. With a better understanding of conditions, the Zimbabwean bowlers would be expected to produce a better effort, the one in which they at least manage to create some unease for the Indians. — PTI Rayudu thanks Tendulkar for help
Elated after a successful ODI debut following years of struggle, Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu thanked Sachin Tendulkar for helping him through the tough days of waiting. "Sachin (Tendulkar) and Robin Singh especially. They've helped me a lot, and I'd definitely like to thank them for that," Rayudu said. "I always had the belief that if I could get things right and I could get my mind right I could make it into the team one day, and I'm really happy that I got my chance today," he added. The 27-year-old Rayudu scored an 84-ball 63, forging a crucial 159-run partnership with skipper Virat Kohli that guided India to victory in the opening ODI on Wednesday. — PTI Kohli youngest, fastest to hit 15 tons Virat Kohli adder yet another feather to his glittering ODI cap when he scored a hundred — his 15th— against Zimbabwe in the opener on Wednesday. Apart from reaching the milestone quicker than anyone else (109 ODIs), he also became the youngest to reach there. He broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar who had scored 15 ODI hundreds at the age of 25 years. Virat Kohli hit his 15th ODI ton at the age of 24 years and 261 days. Kohli has now drawn level with Virender Sehwag in highest century-makers for India. The duo is joint third behind Sachin Tendulkar(49) and Sourav Ganguly(22) in the list of most ODI centuries by an Indian. — Agencies
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Relief for BCCI as court stays CIC proceedings
New Delhi, July 25 The stay was granted by Justice K K Sasidharan while passing interim orders yesterday on a petition by the BCCI challenging the CIC proceedings. “There shall be an order of interim stay of all proceedings pursuant to the impugned (CIC) order in the mean time,” the Judge ruled. “..in view of the same and taking into account the larger issue raised by the petitioner, issue notice to respondents (CIC and RTI applicant) returnable by August 20,” he said. CIC had sent a notice dated July 10, 2013 to the BCCI directing its representatives to appear for a two-day hearing from today after the Board failed to provide information sought by one Madhu Agarwal of Delhi under the RTI Act. In his petition challenging the CIC proceedings, BCCI (Game Development) Manager Ratnakar S Shetty said the Board was not a 'public authority' and it did not enjoy any financial support from the government and was not subject to the superintendence of the government. Citing three earlier judgements by the apex court, in which BCCI was held as an 'autonomous body,' he contended that the impugned proceedings were “totally without jurisdiction,” since the Board did not fall within the purview of the Act 22 of 2005. — PTI
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Now, men’s doubles players cry foul over slashed price at IBL auction
New Delhi, July 25 After star women's doubles players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa's criticism of the organisers for reducing their base price at the players' auction without informing them, Rupesh and Sanave have also complained of getting a raw deal. Sanave and Rupesh, who were ranked 13th in the world at one stage of their career, were picked up by Pune Pistols for $5,000. "It is a shocker for me. I am really sad. In the contract it was clearly mentioned that senior Indian players who have played in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Thomas Cup and Super Series events will have a base price starting from $15,000. But I don't know what happened," Rupesh told PTI. "I never speak up but this time I could not keep quiet. I have to take a stand soon. Sporty Solutionz (joint organisers of IBL) has sent me the contract. They have asked me to sign it and send it back to them but I don't know what to do," he said. Rupesh's doubles partner, Sanave too cried foul over the IBL organisers decision to reduce their base price. "I signed the contract for $15,000 but then I heard from media that our base price was slashed to USD 5,000. That is very difficult to accept," said Sanave. "The organisers said the base price of all senior Indian players, who have played in international tournaments such as Commonwealth Games, will start from $15,000. I really don't understand what went wrong. I got a call yesterday from IBL asking me to sign the contract and then only I got to know about it," he added. Rupesh and Sanave are the latest to express their dissatisfaction over IBL organisers decision to slash the base prices of some Indian players. Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala and Ashwini, who were icon players for the event, had earlier blasted the IBL organisers after their $50,000 base tags were reduced to $25,000 after they went unsold at Sunday's closed bidding. Men's singles specialist Arvind Bhat, however, was satisfied with the amount he had managed to fetch from the auction. "When I had signed the contract my base price was not mentioned but I'm okay with my base price. I think it is great a initiative and I am positive about it," said Arvind, who was bought by Banga Beats, the Bangalore franchise, for $7,500. — PTI
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Sports Ministry tells players to put medals above money
New Delhi, July 25 The players seem to have become mercenaries to the lure of money, as cricketers have done in the case of IPL, and hockey stars for the Hockey India League. The Ministry wants players to give priority to playing for the country and winning medals, rather than vying to get a slot in the money-splurging leagues like IBL and HIL. The Sports Ministry has written to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the National Sports Federations (NSFs) to “curb the tendency” amongst sportspersons for giving “preference to playing in prize money tournaments rather than in tournaments where India participates for medals”. In a communication to Director General of the SAI, Jiji Thomson, and presidents/secretary-generals of all recognized National Sports Federations, the Ministry has noted that “of late it has been noticed that sportspersons, belonging to various sports disciplines, prefer to play in prize money tournaments and avoid playing in tournaments where India as a team participates for medals rather than cash awards”. The ministry has cautioned that “individual players will be able to avail grants given to NSFs by the ministry only if they undertake to play in the Indian team when called upon to do so without reservations”. “If there are specific exigencies because of which they are unable to play, this should be verified by the concerned NSF which thereupon can make an exception at their discretion”, the ministry's advisory stated. The Ministry has asked the NSFs to give wide publicity to these instructions and take necessary steps to ensure compliance.
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Gros Islet, July 25 Pakistan ended on 243 for six off 49.5 overs in reply to West Indies 242 for seven Wednesday. Opener Ahmed Shehzad led the way for Pakistan with a top score of 64, his second One Day International half century against the West Indies and third overall. Shehzad shared a third wicket stand of 59 with his captain Man of the match Misbah—ul—Haq and 51 for the first wicket with Nasir Jamshed. Shehzad struck eight boundaries off 100 balls before falling to a running catch to long on by Dwayne Bravo as he attempted a pull off Tino Best. Brief Scores: West Indies: 242/7 in 50 overs (D Bravo 48, J Charls 43, M Samuels 45, Junaid Khan 3/48 M Irfan 2/34); Pakistan 243/6 in 49.5 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 64, Misbah-ul-Haq 63, Tino Best 3/48). Mohammad Asif admits to spot-fixing
Following the footsteps of his fellow banned teammates, disgraced Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Asif has also admitted to spot-fixing during a meeting with Subhan Ahmad, the chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board in Lahore. A top source in the PCB said that Asif met Ahmad and confessed that he had indulged in spot-fixing during the fourth Test against England at Lords in 2010. “He (Asif) said he was ashamed of what he had done and his conscience had been troubling him for the last many months but he was scared to speak out the truth,” the source said on Thursday. — Agencies Ronaldo free-kick breaks boy's wrist
A young football fan whose wrist was broken by a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick at Bournemouth has received a shirt signed by the player and his Real Madrid team-mates. AFC Bournemouth took on the Spanish giants in a pre-season friendly at the Goldsands Stadium on Saturday. Among thousands of fans was Charlie Silverwood, 11, who early in the match was hit by a Ronaldo free-kick and later had to undergo surgery on his wrist. Charlie, from Christchurch, said: "It was Ronaldo's first free-kick of the game. It went straight for me so I blocked the ball with the palm of my left hand and the force, I suppose, reverberated up my arm and broke my wrist. “First aiders put his arm in a sling and told him to go to hospital. “Real is a once in a lifetime opportunity - seeing them play your club - so I watched the rest of the match, mostly in pain considering I still had the sling, and afterwards I then went to hospital," he said. — Agencies |
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Technology has made umpiring tougher, says Simon Taufel
London, July 25 Taufel also discussed the benefits of the Decision Review System, which has come under fire during the ongoing Ashes series following a number of controversial decisions. “Decision-making in today's game is in my opinion tougher than when I started umpiring 22 years ago because more people see evidence that we may not get to see on the ground at the time," Taufel said in his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture. “Anyone who watches the game at the ground, on the giant replay screen or on TV, will assess each and every decision of the umpires and also make an overall judgement of their performance,” he said. “There is no doubt we now have a lot more ‘armchair’ experts. Today, everyone umpires the game by watching television. The invasive nature of this broadcasting has a double edge to it — it does put more pressure on players and umpires. Not too much now happens on a cricket field that is not captured by a camera, a microphone or piece of technology,” he added. Taufel, however, insisted that he was not against the use of technology in the game. "The investment by television companies in extra cameras, high-speed frame rates, computer software programs and military infra-red technology, plus high definition has certainly given the spectators a lot more information," he said. “This has the ability to bring out the best in the game and also the worst." “In today's cricket, the decision of the umpire is scrutinised by all these cameras —slow motion, ultra motion, Hot Spot front on, Hot Spot leg side, Hot Spot off side, ball tracking and prediction, Snicko, stump audio, the mat and then by up to three commentary experts," he said. Taufel, now the ICC umpire training and performance manager, is the first umpire to deliver the Cowdrey lecture. — PTI
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London, July 25 Ahead of his return to London for this weekend’s Diamond League meeting the script was supposed to be all about his happy memories from 12 months ago when the Jamaican lit up the Olympic stadium with another superlative triple-gold medal performance in front of 80,000 dazzled fans. Yet the number one topic was the recent positive dope tests on his fellow Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson as well as that of American Tyson Gay, leading one journalist to ask Bolt if the public could trust the fastest man in history. “How long have you been following Usain Bolt — maybe since 2008?” he said. “If you’d been following me from 2002 you would know I’ve been doing phenomenal things since I was 15. I was the youngest person to win the world juniors at 15, I set a world youth junior record at 17, I’ve broken records in every race I’ve ever done so I’ve proven myself. You could say I’m underperforming right now!” “I was made to inspire people and to run I was given a gift and that’s what I do. I’m going to continue running and using my talent and help the sport.” Bolt is long used to his role as his sport’s beacon of hope and with every failed test his position becomes more important to athletics’ credibility. Next month he will race the world championships in Moscow where his main rival is likely to be American Justin Gatland, a twice-convicted doper now back in the big time. Powell and Gay, the fastest man in the world this year, will be watching from afar and working on their defence that their failed tests were the result of inadvertently taking contaminated supplements. Incredible Regime Bolt was cagey when asked about the latest batch of positive tests and though he stopped short of condemning his rivals, he did issue a reminder of the principle that every athlete is responsible for what they put into their body. “I think there are a lot of details that are still to be discussed, a lot of things that haven’t been said so I’m just waiting to see what happens,” he said. “In life things happen and people make mistakes but as an athlete you have to be very careful and aware, it’s hard but that’s why you have a team to have to help you out with these things.” Powell was said to be on an incredible regime of 19 supplements, including some injectable, but Bolt, who said he had spoken to his compatriot and told him to “stay strong” said he trod a far safer path. “I have vitamins that I take, every athlete does, but I don’t really take supplements,” he said. “I work hard every day go out with one focus and don’t worry about other athletes. I’m not going to stress about it (doping). I know I am clean and I just want to improve the sport and that is what I am going to do. Definitely it’s going to set us back a little bit but I can’t focus on this I still have the worlds ahead of me and everyone is stepping up their game.” Bolt will run the 100metres on Friday in the final event of the night (2048GMT) and return on Saturday as part of a Jamaican 4x100m relay squad. — Reuters
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Phil’s wins benefit British ‘Tax Man’
Chandigarh, July 25 It was also two great weeks for the ‘Tax Man’ as the British refer to them. Mickleson will pay £636,069 in tax according to tax analysts. The five-time major champion will be taxed 45 percent on his earnings to the British for the last two weeks, according to the British policy. The policy is also prevalent in Scotland, which will start collecting its own taxes from 2016. Unfortunately, the HM Revenue and Customs Foreign Entertainers Unit (FEU) states that ‘a person must pay 40 percent tax when the income is more than £32,000 and 45 percent when it is more than £150,000.’ They will also tax his bonuses — which all players receive from club manufacturers and sponsors for winning tournaments and major championships — and endorsements for these two weeks. Apart from that the UK also taxes foreigners for their global sponsorship income. So by the time Mickleson has paid all his taxes, in the US as well, and deducted his expenses he will take home just about 30 percent of his total earnings in Scotland. Jeev Milkha Singh earned £518,000 for his victory at the Scottish Open last year and he paid approximately £250,000 in tax. He was also taxed for any income he procured from sponsors, Indian or global. “It is always a privilege to play links golf in Scotland or England and my Scottish Open win was one of the highlights of my career. But I did get a shock when I realized how much tax I had to pay,” said Jeev. Swimming body to introduce mixed relays
Swimming fans will be able to watch the top male and female athletes competing on the same relay team at major championships after world governing body FINA agreed to introduce a mixed version of the event on Thursday. “The feeling of everybody, swimmers and coaches and technical committee, is that this is a very interesting event with a lot of tactics involved,” FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said. — Reuters |
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comfortable win to start with, the young Indian team under Virat Kohli would look to continue asserting its supremacy over minnows Zimbabwe when the two sides clash in the second one-dayer of the ongoing five-match series here on Friday.
