Mirpur, March 15
Some betting websites are rating India as one of the prime favourites to win the Twenty20 World Cup. This defies logic, for India's recent record in international cricket has been quite bad. And they've played only one Twenty20 International in the last 14 months.

But then, T20 cricket defies logic, and India's star batsman Virat Kohli believes that not playing international T20 matches won't be a factor at all.

At today's pre-tournament meet with the media, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin discussed India's prospects for the tournament.

The qualifying phase of the tournament begins tomorrow, while the main tournament will begin on March 21, when India would take on Pakistan.

Kohli says that the team's lack of recent international T20 matches would be compensated by their experience in T20 cricket at home.

“It is true that we have not played too many T20s. But we played a lot of it in the IPL. So no one should have problems dealing with it,” he said.

Kohli, who led India in the recent Asia Cup in Bangladesh, said that the team would have the right blend of youth and experience in the XIs for the tournament.

“The World Cup is a huge opportunity for us to become a team," he said. Rahane too said that the team banked on the IPL experience of its players.

Rohit Sharma added that experience may not really matter too much in T20 cricket. "We were an inexperienced team in 2007. No one expected us to perform so well that time," he said. “We have some good players this time as well.”

It is true that we have not played too many T20s. But we played a lot of it in the IPL. So no one should have problems dealing with it. The World Cup is a huge opportunity for us to become a team— Virat Kohli

Mumbai, March 15
Batting-great Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that ICC must organise more Tests if the traditional format is to survive and credited Twenty20 cricket for making the five-day matches more result-oriented these days.

Tendulkar said after being voted Cricketer of the Generation by a cricket portal on Friday.

“The ICC should take notice of it and organise more Test matches if they want Test cricket to survive. (However), I still believe Test cricket is in good hands, players are producing unbelievable cricket,” Tendulkar said.

“If you see all across the world, most of the Test matches, they have results, very few Test matches are drawn games nowadays and that is due to introduction of T20 as well. “It is complementing each other," the 40-year-old added.

Tendulkar said for the beginners Twenty20 was the ideal format to follow and added that Test cricket should not be forced on players.

“If you want more guys to follow cricket, T20 is an ideal format to introduce people to cricket. And then gradually go on to ODIs and Tests. “You can't force someone to like Test cricket or be passionate about it. It is got to be within. If it doesn't exist with some individual, you should not force him, leave him, let him play ODI and T20 cricket. The guys who are passionate about Test cricket should play Test cricket."

But he made it clear that nothing was more challenging for a player than proving himself in Test cricket. “Test cricket is the ultimate challenge when it comes to picking up wickets or scoring runs. It is one format where bowlers are constantly trying to get you out,” he said.

“In Tests, you require planning, vision and execution. It doesn't happen that much in T20 cricket. You can face three balls and get back to the pavilion as a hero,” he said. — PTI

Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), March 15
Five-time world champion Viswanthan Anand continued his fine form and crashed through the defences of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan to notch up his second successive win in the Candidates Chess tournament here.

Not many experts had given Anand a chance coming in to Candidates after he lost the world championship match against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in November last.

However, the ‘Tiger from Madras’ has not only proved his critics wrong but has also emerged as a serious contender even though it is still early days in the 14-round tournament.

With 2.5 points in his kitty from the first three games, Anand is likely to be joined by Peter Svidler of Russia in the lead. Svidler enjoyed a commanding position against compatriot Vladimir Kramnik in their match.

The other two games in the eight-player double round robin tournament ended in draws. Former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria missed out on his chances against top seed Levon Aronian of Armenia while Dmitry Andreikin signed peace with fellow Russian Sergey Karjakin after playing solidly as white.

With 11 rounds still to come, Topalov and Aronian are on 1.5 points and Kramnik has the same score with a game in hand.

Andreikin and Karjakin both have one point from three outings and Mamedyarov is currently at the bottom with just a half point in his kitty so far.

The fact that the victory came with black pieces was icing on the cake for Anand. Playing the Modern variation in the Slav defense, Anand had little trouble equalising out of the opening and Mamedyarov was also looking at dynamic possibilities after losing the previous round.

It was in the early middle game itself that Anand sensed his chances. Mamedyarov could not find any way to improve other than king side pawn advances and that met with a timely breakthrough by Anand leaving weaknesses on white's king side.

On move 24 Anand deployed his queen in an attacking position and Mamedyarov realised that he was already much worse. The pressure got to the Azeri Grandmaster sooner than expected as he caved in through a blunder on the 26th move itself. Five-time world champion Viswanthan Anandwrapped the issue in 31 moves. — Agencies

Pretoria, march 15
Police photographs of a bare-chested Oscar Pistorius standing in his garage on blood-stained prosthetic legs and wearing shorts covered in blood, taken shortly after the athlete fatally shot his girlfriend, were shown to the court at his murder trial Friday.

Prosecutors displayed two photos on TV monitors in the courtroom, with the first of the muscled double-amputee Olympic athlete standing facing a camera. There are blood stains up to the knees of his limbs and his shorts are also bloodied, but his naked chest appears to be clean of blood.

A second photograph of Pistorius from the waist up and from the left side also shows blood on his shorts and parts of his body, with a tattoo visible on his back. The photographs were taken in Pistorius' Pretoria home soon after he killed Reeva Steenkamp. — Agencies 

Kolkata, march 15
Heavyweights Karnataka will aim to continue their dream run and claim an unprecedented hat-trick of titles in the season, when they square off against underdogs Railways in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final at Eden Gardens tomorrow.

Karnataka have not looked back after their Ranji triumph as they went on to beat Rest of India to clinch Irani Trophy.

They will now be eyeing their maiden title in the one-day format, while Railways will look to bag the title for the second time following their 2005-06 feat.

The southern side boast of a balanced side with both batsmen and bowlers in stellar form. Karnataka have a strong batting line-up, which includes Robin Uthappa, who is leading the run chart with 528 runs at an average of 88.00 including three centuries. They will also have in-form batsmen in Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal.

It was opener Uthappa who contributed immensely to the team's success as his back to back centuries had ensured 300-plus totals at the JU second campus ground in Saltlake in the quarters and semis. Back in his elements, he will look for a dream comeback into national side. — PTI

Melbourne, March 15
Lewis Hamilton captured pole position for Mercedes for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a thrilling finish to a rain-hit qualifying session on Saturday, while Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel failed to make the top 10.

Hamilton saved the best for last with his final lap of a gloomy session after Australian Daniel Ricciardo had stormed to the top of the timesheets only seconds earlier on his first race weekend for champions Red Bull.

The 29-year-old Briton's time of one minute 44.231 seconds on a greasy Albert Park track was just over three-tenths of a second faster than Ricciardo, who upstaged team mate Vettel to the delight of the home fans.

Quadruple champion Vettel, winner of the last nine races of 2013, was only 13th fastest and was frustrated by a crash late in the final session by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen which brought out the yellow flags and forced drivers to ease their pace.

“Today made it so much harder with the conditions, but I'm really happy with the job the team did," said Hamilton, whose 32nd second pole equaled Nigel Mansell's British record. “These cars are much harder driving in the wet.”

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg will start third on the grid alongside McLaren's 21-year-old Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen, who underlined his talent with a poised drive in trying conditions.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso qualified fifth with Jean-Eric Vergne sixth fastest for Toro Rosso. It was the first time Vettel had failed to make the final round of qualifying since he started 11th on the grid in Belgium in 2012, before battling through the field to finish the race second. — Reuters

Basel, March 15
Producing yet another emphatic performance, Indian giant slayer PV Sindhu on Saturday stunned the recently-crowned All England champion Shixian Wang to breeze into the semifinals even as it was end of road for Saina Nehwal at the $125,000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold in Basel.

In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap also booked a semifinal berth with a hard-fought victory over sixth seed Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei.

Seventh seed Sindhu played a dominating game to assert her supremacy over two-time All England Champion with a 21-17 21-15 win in a 45-minute match to set up a semifinal clash with another fast emerging Chinese Sun Yu. It was Sindu's third win over Shixian in as many matches.

However, Olympic bronze medallist Saina had a tough time dealing with the world number three Yihan Wang as she slipped to a 17-21 2-21, her seventh defeat to a Chinese, in a 38-minute match.

Kashyap, meanwhile, took an hour and 14 minutes to tame Tien 21-15 21-23 21-18 — his second win against the Taiwanese — and would face world number 27 Houwei Tian of China in the semifinals.

Sindhu showed once again why she is considered to be India's next big badminton sensation as she produced a beautifully controlled and carefully-paced game to keep Shixian at bay through out the quarterfinal match. The third seed Chinese did fight hard Sindhu was always on guard and marched ahead everytime Shixian tried to claw her way back.

In the first game, Sindhu broke off at 12-12 and in the second game, the Indian never allowed Shixian to grab the lead and from 16-15. But the Indian reeled off five straight points to seal her place in the semifinals against Sun.

The World champion bronze medallist, however, have to be careful against Sun in her revenge attempt as it was the Chinese who had sent her crashing in the opening round of the All England Champion. The duo holds a 2-2 record in international badminton.

Sixth seed Saina, however, who will turn 24 on Monday, could not gift herself a birthday gift as top seed Yihan once again stamped her authority on the Indian. — PTI

London, March 15
Manchester City bounced back from their FA Cup and Champions League exits to beat Hull City 2-0 with 10 men to keep alive their Premier League title hopes on Saturday.

City had captain Vincent Kompany sent off after 10 minutes for hauling down striker Nikica Jelavic on the edge of his own box, but they took the lead two minutes later through David Silva before Edin Dzeko added the second in the 90th minute.

Silva scored with a superbly executed curling shot in the 12th minute after a delicate pass from Yaya Toure and although Hull battled gamely, City made light of their one-man disadvantage and stretched their unbeaten away run in the league to eight games.

Dzeko wrapped up the points from point blank range after a pass from Silva.

The win lifted City in to second place in the table on 60 points, six behind leaders Chelsea who play away at Aston Villa in the day's late kickoff.

Liverpool and Arsenal, who play Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively on Sunday, are in second and third places with 59 points. — Reuters

Lucknow, March 15
Uttar Pradesh registered third consecutive win in the Hockey India senior men’s National Championship (Division A) as they beat Karnataka 2-1 in a nail-biting match of Pool C here today.

The hosts are now sitting at the top of the table.

Both teams started on the offensive but none could score in the limited chances they got. The second half started with Uttar Pradesh increasing pressure on their opponents and in the 58th minute Diwakar Ram converted a penalty corner to help the home team take the lead.

Karnataka came back within seven minutes by converting a penalty corner through BP Chingappa. However, Hamza Mujtaba scored a late goal in the 68th minute to steal the win for Uttar Pradesh.

In another match, Jitender Saroha scored a brace to help Haryana defeat Tamil Nadu 3-1 in Pool D. Saroha scored in the 25th and the 35th minutes to take the game away from Tamil Nadu. Damandeep (65th) added the third before Tamil Nadu got a consolation through Vinod Rayer in the last minute.

In another Pool C match, Jharkhand defeated Hockey Odisha 3-0. After a goal-less first half, Jharkhand tasted success in the 48th minute through Prakash Kerketa. Jharkhand scored twice more in the 53rd and 58th minute to seal the match.

In a Pool A tie, Services Sports Control Board beat Andhra Pradesh 5-2. — PTI

Indian Wells (USA), March 15
Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta upset China's Australian Open champion Li Na on Friday to join Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

The 32-year-old Pennetta qualified for the biggest singles final of her career after a 7-6(5) 6-3 drubbing of an out-of-sorts Li.

Pennetta will face Radwanska in Sunday's final after the Pole avenged her loss to Romania's Simona Halep in Qatar last month with a 6-3 6-4 win on the Californian desert hardcourts.

Li beat Pennetta in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January but the Italian was too good this time. "I think we played really good tennis tonight," Pennetta said. "In Australia I didn't have any chance against her, but tonight I played much better. I just fought and tried my best. Of course I'm happy."

Radwanska, ranked third in the world, sealed the first set with an ace after she broke Halep's opening service game but found herself trailing the second when the Romanian broke.

But the 25-year-old Pole regained control, getting back on level terms then getting a second break and serving out her victory to reach her first final at Indian Wells.

Djokovic eases into semis

Serbia's Novak Djokovic and American John Isner cruised into the last four with straight-sets wins in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic hardly raised a sweat in the Californian desert as he eased to a 6-1 6-3 victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau, before the towering Isner rode his booming serve to a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win over Latvia's Ernests Gulbis. — Reuters

Shillong, March 15
Rangdajied United FC produced yet another brilliant performance to register their third successive victory, defeating Mohun Bagan 3-0 in an I-League match here today.

The home side upset table topper Bengaluru FC and United FC before destroying Mohun Bagan's hope of improving their points tally within a 14 day-gap.

Tomba Singh opened the scoring for his team in the 20th minute when his powerful right-footer from 30 yards left Bagan's keeper Sandip Nandy wanting for more power in his fingers to stop the ball. — PTI

Chennai, March 15
Sanam Singh suffered a 1-6, 6-3, 2-6 loss to top seed Spaniard Enrique Lopez Perez in the finals of the MCC S R Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures Men's tennis tournament here today.

Enrique, ranked 253, made good use of his booming serves to rattle Sanam as he took 77 minutes to beat Indian, ranked 368, at the MCC Courts. Sanam was off colour today as he could win only his first game in the first set but surrendered the initiative as Enrirue held the stage with elan in breaking the Indian in the 3rd, 5th and 7th games with solid three break points in each of these games. — PTI

BRIEFLY

chandigarh
Shiv tied fourth in Manila

A dismal six-over-par 77 dropped SSP Chowrasia down the leaderboard after the third round of the $300,000 Solaire Open, which concludes at the par-71, Country Club in Manila tomorrow. Chowrasia had just two birdies - on the third and fifth holes but made bogeys on the first, fourth, ninth, 12th, 16th and 17th holes enroute to a 77, which took him to par for the week, dropping him to 23rd place at 213. Meanwhile, Rahil Gangjee continued his consistent performance, carding a level par, 71 today to maintain his total of two-over-par for the tournament heading into the final round. Philippino Angelo Que tied Miguel Tabuena for the lead at nine-under-par 204.

kolkata
Let former players decide on new roles: Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly said the expertise of former Indian cricketers can surely be utilised but was not sure if they will have enough time for the challenging job. Asked about Gavaskar's remarks, Ganguly said, “It depends how much time they can give. I think it's an individual decision for every cricketer what he wants do in life. I think it should be left to them,” Ganguly said.

kolkata
Steyn best fast bowler: Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis hailed the South African as the world's best fast bowler and one of the greats seen in the last 20-30 years. “I regard him as one of the best in the world for the last 20-30 years. I don't think even in South Africa, they have produced anybody like Steyn in the past. For me Steyn is definitely the number one bowler,” said Waqar.

centurion
Series win for Australia