Fatullah, February 26
Virat Kohli won the battle of the captains as reigning world champions India defeated host Bangladesh by six wickets in the second match of the Asia Cup in Fatullah on Wednesday.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim hit 117 off 113 balls, sharing a third-wicket stand of 133 with Anamul Haque (77), to lift the hosts to 279-7 after India elected to field.

Kohli, standing in for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, then smashed 136 off 122 balls to steer India past the challenging target in 49 overs.

The prolific 25-year-old hit 16 boundaries and two sixes in his 19th One-day century, 17 of which have been in winning causes.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim scored a fine ton but it went in vain.

Ajinkya Rahane (73) provided a valuable support to his captain, adding 213 for the third wicket with Kohli after India were reduced to 54-2 by the 13th over of the day-night game.

Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma put on 50 by the 12th over before both batsmen fell in the space of 10 deliveries. Dhawan was leg-before to left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak for 28, and Sharma was bowled in seamer Ziaul Rahman's first over.

Earlier, Rahim hit seven fours and two sixes in his second One-day century before he was dismissed in the final over while attempting a big hit.

Anamul and Rahim came together after opener Shamsur Rahman and Mominul Haque were removed by the 13th over with the score at 49.

Anamul smashed fast bowler Varun Aaron for two sixes to long-on, then reached his half-century with another six off Ravichandran Ashwin over the bowler's head. Aaron, who conceded 56 runs in 6.5 overs, finally found success when he bowled Anamul with the last ball of his seventh over, the 37th of the innings.

Rahim slammed two boundaries and a six when Aaron bowled next, but the batsman was hit on the chest by a full toss delivery later in the same over and needed medical attention on the field.

Aaron, who had sent down a full toss earlier in the match, was not allowed to bowl by the umpires for the rest of the innings and finished with expensive figures of one for 74 from 7.5 overs.

Seamer Mohammad Shami was the most impressive Indian bowler with four for 50 from his 10 overs.

India are without Dhoni for the entire five-nation tournament due to a side strain suffered during the recent tour of New Zealand. — Agencies

Fatullah, February 26
It would be a trial by fire for Afghanistan when the team makes its Asia Cup debut by taking on defending champions Pakistan on Thursday.

Mohammad Nabi's Afghanistan were brought into the Asia Cup after it qualified for the World Cup scheduled next year. And they would look to make a good impression in front of their four sub-continental neighbours. Afghanistan are not expected to go far in the tournament given that they have played just two One-dayers against Test nations, losing both times.

What would count in their favour is the team's understanding of the local conditions given that eight from the current squad have participated in various domestic competitions here including the Bangladesh Premier League. "About half the team has played here and this is a good experience for them and for Afghanistan," said Nabi. "There is no target. We will play good cricket and when the time comes we will win." — PTI

live on star cricket: 1.30 PM

Dhaka, February 26
Shihab Jishan Chowdhury, the owner of Dhaka Gladiators of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), has been found guilty of match-fixing in the second edition of the tournament last year.

Chowdhury was found guilty by an anti-corruption tribunal appointed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to investigate corruption in the 2013 BPL. According to the tribunal, Chowdhury was guilty of “being a party to an effort to fix” a match against Chittagong Kings.

Six others – including players and officials – being investigated were cleared of all charges. Players Mosharraf Hossain Rubel, Mahbubul Alam Robin and Darren Stevens and Gladiators officials Salim Chowdhury, Gaurav Rawat and Mohammad Rafique have been cleared of all the allegations.

Salim Chowdhury is a Gladiators co-owner while Rawat is the CEO of the franchise. Rafique is the bowling coach. A press release from the tribunal stated: “Shihab Jishan Chowdhury having been found guilty of the Art. 2.1.1 charge against him for being a party to an effort to fix the Chittagong match (February 2) shall attend before the Tribunal on a date to be fixed for hearing on sanctions and costs either in person or with his legal representative.”

“The provisional suspension imposed upon each of Mosharraf Hossain Rubel and Mahbubul Alam Robin is lifted with immediate effect,” the press release added.

Mohammad Ashraful had earlier confessed that he was involved in corruption in the BPL, as had another player whose identity hasn’t been disclosed. — Agencies

Chennai, February 26
Walking down memory lane, Sachin Tendulkar today recalled writing letters to wife Anjali in the pre-mobile era and found her handwriting "beautiful," which anyone would "watch and admire".

But writing letters to his wife needed some effort. "Hitting a cricket ball came naturally to me. But while writing letters to Anjali, I had to doubly check what I was writing," he said with a sheepish grin.

"In those days when there were no mobiles, and the only mode of communication was landlines or letters, I started writing letters. I started with writing to my parents, and later wrote some letters to Anjali," Tendulkar said during a handwriting promotional event.

While doctors' handwriting is usually not clear, Anjali, who is a doctor by profession, is an exception, the 40-year-old said.

"My wife is an exception because she has a beautiful handwriting, which anyone would admire."

When asked who had the best handwriting among the cricketers, he said: "I think Anil (Kumble) writes quite clearly. Subroto Banerjee is quite skilful."

And who had the worst? “You generally tend to notice only the good things," pat came the reply.

Comparing handwriting skills with batting skills, he said: “Once you learn them, they are there forever… to start anything in life, basics are very important.”

“I can't write with right hand. I hope there is some technology that teaches us to use the right hand as well. But, I can eat with both hands," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 26
Punjab teams began their campaigns with comfortable wins in the men's and the women's sections of the 64th Senior National Basketball Championship.

Punjab men trounced Andhra Pradesh 92-44. Ranbir Singh was the top-scorer with 21 points. Amritpal Singh (16), Palpreet Singh (16) and Lovneet (15) were the other prominent scorers.

Punjab women beat Madhya Pradesh 79-59. Nagma Mirza was the highest scorer for the winning team with 16 points. — TNS

Athens, February 26
Manchester United's dwindling hopes of lifting a trophy this season are dangling by a thread after they produced an abject display to lose 2-0 at Olympiakos Piraeus in a Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.

Alejandro Dominguez opened the scoring with a clever first-half flick and Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell added a sublime second goal to leave United facing a huge task to overturn the deficit in the return match at Old Trafford on March 19.

“That's the worst we've played in Europe. We didn't deserve to get anything,” manager David Moyes told reporters. “I'm surprised, I didn't see that level of performance coming.

“I take responsibility, we have to play better. The players are hurting.”

Defeat at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium represented yet another body blow in an inauspicious campaign for last season's English Premier League title winners.

United are out of the FA Cup and the League Cup and trail Premier League leaders Chelsea by 15 points with 11 games left to play.

Moyes's men looked sluggish and disjointed against an inexperienced Olympiakos side who are bidding to reach the quarter-finals for only the second time in their history.

It was the first time the Greeks had beaten United in five attempts.

Dubai, February 26
India's Somdev Devvarman lost to Tunisian Malek Jaziri in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships on Wednesday. World No 78 Devvarman went down 3-6, 5-7 against his 137-ranked opponent.

On Monday, Devvarman had beaten world No 5 Juan Martin del Potro who retired with a wrist injury after losing the first set. The Indian entered the Dubai tournament high on confidence, winning the $100,000 ATP Challenger Delhi Open on Sunday. Courtesy that win, he jumped 18 places to be 78 in the latest rankings.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Tomas Berdych had an easy time securing a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Berdych, who will face fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, has won his last eight matches. Despite Berdych having trouble with his first serve — his percentage was a ghastly 37 percent — he controlled the match. He lost his serve once, and won 12 of the last 14 points.

“I was working a little more on my return stats than on my service stats,” Berdych said. “The main focus really for the next days is to get my percentage of the first serve back and really find a nice and sweet rhythm for my serve.”

Tsonga won his second-round match by walkover when his opponent, Nikolay Davydenko, withdrew with a rib injury.

Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic upset eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (4), and seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Andrea Seppi of Italy. — Agencies

New Delhi, February 26
Rashid Khan fired a career-best 11-under 61 in the opening round of the $300,000 SAIL-SBI Open to lead the field by a five-stroke margin after the first day at the Delhi Golf Club here today.

The 23-year-old, playing on his home course, went on a birdie spree as he picked up nine of them and one eagle in a flawless card, to launch his full Asian Tour season in style.

Rashid produced incredible golf to set the second best score at the DGC, where Liang Wen-Chong of China had set the 18-hole Tour record with a stunning 12-under 60 in the opening round of the 2008 Indian Open. He had won the title with a total of 16-under 272.

Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera, who won the Standard Charter Open and PGTI Eagleburg Open in the last two weeks, produced a six-under 66, same as Japan's Akinori Tani, to stay five strokes behind, while Australian Scott Barr and Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman were at the fourth spot with a card of five-under 67.

Two-time European Tour champions SSP Chowrasia, S Chikkarangappa, 2009 Indian Open winner C Muniyappa, Sanjay Kumar and England's Steve Lewton were tied fifth after carding a matching 68.

Defending champion Anirban Lahiri faltered on his back nine to bring home a card of two-under 70, along with Mukesh Kumar to lie tied 21st. Among prominent names, Jyoti Randhawa, Manav Jaini, Rahil Gangjee and Himmat Rai — all carded one-under 71 to lie tied 28th. — PTI

Ropar, February 26
Air Force defeated RCF, Kapurthala 4-2 in the inaugural match of the Dashmesh Hawks All India Hockey Festival here on Wednesday.

Air Force started on a brisk note but had to wait until the 31st minute for the first goal, with Lovepreet Singh sounding the board through a fine field goald.

At half time, Air Force were leading 1-0. In the second half, the Airmen showed even more aggression and scored in the 41st and 51st minute to make it 3-0. RCF, Kapurthala woke up minutes before the final whistle to pump in two goals. The resurgence came too late as the Air Force had already pumped in four goals by then.

Twelve teams including BSF Jalandhar, Air Force, CISF, Delhi, PSPSC Patiala, Punjab Police Jalandhar, EME Jalandhar, RCF Kapurthala, Northern Railway, Delhi, Sikh Centre, Ramgarh, ITBP, Jalandhar, Rock Rovers, Chandigarh and Bengal Engineering Group, Roorkee are participating in the festival. The final match will be played on March 2. . — PTI

Dehradun, February 26
Nearly two years after the central government cleared hiring of foreign coaches for the judo teams, the Judo Federation of India (JFI) has roped in two coaches. Korean coach Kawang Sun Yoo will train the senior boys’ team, while the 60-year-old Vladmir Evgenievich of Uzbekistan will sharpen the skills of the senior girls’ team.

JFI president Mukesh Kumar said a memorandum of understanding had been signed among the Ministry of Sports, JFI and the coaches for imparting training to the players. “The MoU was signed last Wednesday after the coaches and their respective governments accepted the terms. The coaches have been hired till 2016 Olympics,” he said.

“In Asia, our position is seventh or eighth. At the world level, we are ranked 20th. Our players are capable of winning more medals and improve the rankings; it’s for this reason we have hired the foreign coaches. For women teams, we wanted to hire a female coach, but couldn’t find one; the ones we had shortlisted were already working with other countries,” he added.

Kumar said the coaches would arrive to take charge once the national camps start in April. The two coaches will work with nearly 50 probables picked for the national camp. “We have three coaches each for the senior boys and girls’ teams. While the national camp for boys will be organized at SAI centre in Patiala, the one for the girls will be held at Bhopal. We are expecting a good performance from our players in the international tournaments after getting trained by coaches of such high calibre.”

The JFI president, however, did not disclose the salary the foreign coaches have been hired at. Kumar said that, based on the performance of the team in the Olympics, the contracts of the foreign coaches will be reviewed.

New Delhi, February 26
Satisfied with the current infrastructure in place, a FIFA team, which is here to inspect stadia, today said India has the potential to host a "tremendous Under-17 World Cup" in 2017, but asked the AIFF to be proactive in its planning and execution.

"All the potential is there to make it a tremendous World Cup and leave a tremendous legacy for youth football in India," said Inaki Alvarez, FIFA Deputy Director and Head of Event Management Competitions Division.

Alvarez had quite a few encouraging words to say as far as India's ability to host the mega-event was concerned.

"It's been a week and we have visited five cities. So far the experience has been very good, very positive... all infrastructure is there, organisation well done. I can say that we are heading in a very good direction," Alvarez said.

Asked what his main areas of focus was, he said: "There are number of aspects... infrastructure, stadium itself, dressing rooms, pitch, TV facilities and various other facilities. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Bhajji can make a comeback to India team: Ganguly
Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly feels Harbhajan Singh can make a comeback if the selectors look beyond those favoured by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "I think Bhajji can make a comeback to the national side in both forms of the game," Ganguly said. Describing Harbhajan as one of the country's top spinners, the former India captain slammed the selectors for not choosing the Jalandhar man over Dhoni's choice. "I believe the selectors don't think much on this (Harbhajan's selection) and especially when you have captain's men around," Ganguly said.

Sharmila consolidates lead after Round Two
Mumbai: Overnight leader Sharmila Nicollet continued her fine form to open up a five shot lead over Vani Kapoor on the second day of the fourth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour 2014 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC), here today. Sharmila was in sublime form today, carding the only under par score of the tournament so far — two-under 68 — to retain the top spot with a total of 139. Vani played another steady round of two-over 72 with a birdie on the 15th, finishing with a total of 144.

Prannoy stuns Kashyap in German Open
New Delhi: HS Prannoy pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his career, as he overwhelmed his higher-ranked compatriot P Kashyap at the German Open Grand Prix Gold on Wednesday. Prannoy won the second round match 21-19 21-18 in 47 minutes. Earlier, Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat entered the third round of the after registering contrasting victories. While it was an easy outing for World No. 34 Pawar, who outplayed Slovenian Iztok Utrosa 21-16 21-12 in just 28 minutes, former national champion Bhat overcame a stiff challenge to stun World No. 10 Yun Hu 21-17 16-21 21-11.

116-year-old Gujjar runs 200 metres in 46.74 secs
Coimbatore: Dharmapal Gujjar, a 116-year-old athlete from Uttar Pradesh, today ran the 200 metres in 46.74 seconds at the 35th National Masters Athletic Championship here. Born on October 6, 1897, Gujjar was the only athlete in this category, as others were younger than him. Hailing from Gudha village in Meerut district, Gujjar, an agricultural labourer, said he had participated in many marathons across the country. He won the 400 metres yesterday. — Agencies

Two bookies arrested for taking bets on Asia Cup
Ahmedabad: The city police today arrested two persons for accepting bets on the Sri Lanka-Pakistan cricket match of the ongoing Asia Cup. "Two bookies, Bharat Thakkar and Prakash Thakkar, were arrested from Sola and Bopal areas of the city respectively," said police inspector M A Patel. "We caught them taking bets on Sri Lanka-Pakistan match. We have seized 17 cellphones, two laptops, an LCD TV, a car and a motorbike from them, worth Rs 10 lakh.”

South Africa dismiss ball-tampering allegations
Cape Town: South Africa have dismissed ball-tampering allegations surrounding their second test victory over Australia after opposing opener David Warner said the Proteas worked on the ball at Port Elizabeth to generate reverse swing. Proteas manager Mohammed Moosagee dismissed Warner's complaint as "sour grapes" and said few took the outspoken Australian's words seriously. "David Warner's remarks are disappointing and discouraging. It takes the gloss off a great Proteas team performance, having come back from losing the first test and then going on to win the next," Moosagee said.