Mirpur, April 2
If Sri Lanka needed an extra dose of motivation to go all the way, they have it in abundance. With Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, the two stalwarts of Sri Lankan cricket, set to quit T20 after this tournament, the team would love to see them off with the World Cup in their hands.

The duo, too, would be charged up to see the team cruising home, not faltering in the final steps as has been the case in the last two World T20 tournaments, in their final hurrah. Sri Lanka lost the semifinals in 2009 and 2010 and the final in 2012.

“Mahela and Sangakkara have been fantastic for Sri Lanka, their records show that. You could see from their body language how desperate they are for the team to do well. They play with huge expectations because of their records and what they’ve done for the country. Whether it’s their last competition or not in this form, they’ve been brilliant,” said Sri Lanka coach Paul Farbrace.

The coach felt that the very presence of these two and other senior players was a blessing for the young side. “Every young cricketer in the Sri Lankan set-up is grateful to have these senior players around them. All of them are giving their time and knowledge not just on the field but off the field as well,” he said. “At the end of the day, you can have as many coaches as you like but players learn from players. It’s up to the coaches to facilitate that learning.”

Apart from their contribution with the willow, their experience gives the team members a huge confidence to be themselves and adjust their plans as the game flows.

“That’s the one thing we have with our side — a lot of confidence. We let them go and play the game. We don’t spend hours and hours breaking the game down. Our plans are very simple and that’s key in this game. You allow players to make decisions throughout the course of the game. If your plans are too rigid, you can actually stop people from performing well,” the coach said.

After paying glowing tributes to the pillars of the Sri Lankan cricket, the coach was quick to dismiss the suggestion that his side may be a little under pressure against West Indies, given they lost to them in the final of the last edition and in the practice game. “It’s a new game, and the past will have absolutely no bearing on it.”

Mirpur, April 2
South Africa seem to have gotten the date wrong for playing the April Fool prank. Who would, after all, buy the story that Shane Warne walked out of his cozy five-star room into the blazing sun, braved the maddening Dhaka traffic just to “turn up at their nets to give them a pleasant surprise”?

Anyhow, that's exactly what the South Africans had to offer on the presence of the spin legend in their nets on Wednesday for almost one hour.

“Well, he just turned up and we were all surprised,” said Hashim Amla, the soft-spoken South African opener.

If his “turning up” surprised Amla, to watch the leg spinner actually bowl to a couple of his teammates would have left him blinking in disbelief!

Whatever may have been South Africa's reason for not admitting to have sought help from Warne, it's clear that all they have on their mind ahead of the semifinal against India is spin. And they perhaps couldn't have thought of a bigger name to exorcise the spin demons that must be giving them sleepless nights.

The Australian, during his almost an hour-long stint in the nets, spoke to South African leg spinner Imran Tahir and part-time spinner JP Duminy, before rolling his arm over for South African opener Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, both left-handers.

Come to think of it, how much difference could a one-hour session make for the bowlers, especially when up against them would be the India batsmen — the spin tormentors whom even the great Warne couldn't rein in. But then, a word to the two from the legend could only be helpful.

Warne didn't restrict himself to offering tips to bowlers alone; he had quick chats with batsmen, too, ambling up to them in his follow through to share a point or two. Perhaps, what he had to tell the batsmen will help South Africa more than his tips to the bowlers, for South Africa's problem is facing India's spinners, not bowling spin to Indian batsmen.

Amla, while admitting that spin will be their biggest challenge, tried to play down the team's apparently frantic preparations — every batsman dedicating half of his practice time to playing sweeps and reverse sweeps.

“It's not something new; we had been doing it in Chittagong too,” he said.

But Mirpur is no Chittagong. Facing spin here will be an altogether different challenge, what with little dew compared to Chittagong and slower wickets.

Mirpur, April 2
Yuvraj Singh may have twisted his ankle a little more than one thought while playing football on Wednesday. The left-hander, who limped off the field with his ankle bandaged, didn’t train on Thursday, with the semifinal clash against South Africa round the corner on Friday.

While the Indian team management explained his absence from training as a “precautionary measure”, the team would be a little anxious until the left-hander takes the field again.

For others, though, after a light and barefoot football session the previous day, it was time to hit the nets and gear up to face the fiery South African attack. Much of the session was devoted to playing short balls, with Trevor Penny giving throw-downs especially to Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane.

Other than that, Mohit Sharma, who played the last game against Australia but isn’t likely to feature in the semifinals, also had an injury scare. He went off the nets but was back after a while.

London, April 2
England made the right decision to end Kevin Pietersen's international career when the batsman was axed in February, the country's Test captain Alastair Cook was quoted as saying by British media on Tuesday.

“Of course you think back and ask if it was the right decision given all that was going on, but in my mind, and alongside the ECB, I know it is the right decision,” the Essex batsman said at his county's media day ahead of the new season.

Cook told the BBC the decision took “a lot of guts and consideration” and added that England’s dressing room would be stronger without the controversial 33-year-old batsman.

Speaking for the first time about the axing of Pietersen, Cook said: “We all know how important team culture and team unity is. It was obviously a very big and important decision.”

Pietersen, England's all-time leading run-scorer in all formats of the game, was told of the decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Feb. 4 in the wake of the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.

Cook, 29, said he still could not go into detail on the reasons why England had cut their ties with Pietersen but he expected an explanation to be made public soon.

“I know things will become clearer in a little bit of time,” said Cook. “I know it is frustrating. It is frustrating for me because I have not totally been able to tell my side of the story. People just have to be a little bit patient.”

“It was a brave call and people have been talking as if it just happened overnight,” Cook was quoted as saying by The Independent.

“The last thing we wanted to do was make Kevin a scapegoat for what happened in Australia. That is not what it was about at all. But at some time you have to say this is what we want going forward and that was the decision we made. — Reuters

Karachi, April 2
Pakistan's new cricket chief selector Rashid Latif on Wednesday said relying on senior players had backfired after a familiar batting collapse saw the team crash out from the World T20. The 2009 champions were crushed by the West Indies on Tuesday night, sliding to an 84-run loss after appearing to panic at the start of their chase.

Latif, who took over as chief selector on Tuesday, said Pakistan's decision to select too many senior players at the expense of youth had led to their downfall. “Just like Australia failed in their plans of selecting senior players, Pakistan also fumbled because of selecting senior players,” said the former captain.

He declined to name any players but speculation is likely to focus on Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik, both aged 32 and recalled to the tournament after long periods out of the side. — Agencies

New Delhi, April 2
The star power that world No.1 Malaysian Lee Chong Wei brings to an event is unquestionable. His winning charisma and attitude have made him a national hero of Malaysia. The same star power was at display in the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series on Wednesday when the top seed Lee arrived at Court No. 3 to play his tournament opener against India’s K Ajay Kumar.

The sparse crowd at the Siri Fort Sports Complex was soaking in the winning atmosphere of India’s best bet in the tournament, Saina Nehwal, toying with Austrian Simone Prutsch at the adjacent court. And then Lee came.

The crowd support dwindled for Saina as the fans started flocking the stand where Lee was about to begin his campaign for a third title.

Lee and Saina’s match had started around the same time, but just 10 minutes after world No. 8 Saina left the court following her easy 21-7 21-9 victory over Prutsch, the Malaysian giant was having the customary handshake with Ajay Kumar after his 21-9 21-9 triumph in 24 minutes.

While Saina’s campaign got off to a perfect start, it was heartbreak for world No. 9 PV Sindhu, who lost her opening round encounter to world No. 3 Shixian Wang 15-21 21-12 10-21 in one hour 10 minutes. Sindhu was visibly disappointed, given she had a 3-0 record against Shixian before her defeat today.

“I made a lot of errors which cost me the match,” Sindhu said after her match.

“I lost to her thrice before, so I was not under any kind of pressure. I thought if I lose again, it would not be unusual. I just played my natural game,” Wang said.

Earlier, Parapulli Kashyap shocked the sixth seed Zhengming Wang of China to provide the hosts with a rousing start. World No. 24 Kashyap showed admirable tenacity and patience to overcome a stiff challenge from Wang before prevailing 21-12 17-21 21-12 in exactly an hour.

“I had played him twice before and he is very good at anticipating the opponents strokes. So today, I kept playing at a faster pace and took a few risks and that helped me,” said Kashyap.

The 27-year-old will now take on compatriot RMV Guru Sai Dutt, who got the better of Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei 17-21, 21-16, 21-17. Malaysian Grand Prix Gold finalist Sourabh Varma beat Vladimir Ivanov of Russia 21-16 17-21 21-14.

Chennai, April 2
Viswanathan Anand, who rediscovered his wizardry in the game of 64 squares by winning the Candidates tournament, is now “working on quite a few ideas” to counter the threat of world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in his quest to regain the world title.

“My thoughts are already starting to form. I have got quite a few ideas about what I am going to do. Over the next few months or so I will try to crystallise my thoughts, make some plans. Though April, I am taking a break,” Anand said.

Five-time world champion Anand lost the crown to Carlsen November last, paving the way for a revenge match with the Norwegian. He earned the right to play Carlsen after he won the 2014 FIDE Candidates Chess tournament last Saturday.

“I am not going to make my plans openly. I do not think I should be discussing about it now,” Anand said.

He did say that he was considering a change in his team of seconds, or players who help a champion player prepare for the World Championship. “I would chalk a new path for a new result. I won’t get a new result if I travel in the old path,” he said.

Anand had earlier said that five best games that he plays would put the rival player in trouble. Asked if he had adopted that against Carlsen in the last World Championship match, he said: “I did not challenge him at that level. I would have played somewhere here and there. I had tried this method against (Levon) Aronian and succeeded. I think these kind of matches last month, it was nice. I do not say that I do that in a whole tournament but it is rare that one attempts such manoeuvres.” — PTI

Chennai, April 2
Haryana and Punjab recorded contrasting victories in their pool matches to enter the semifinals of the Hockey India junior men’s National Championship (Division A) here today.

While Haryana registered a hard-fought 2-1 win over Jharkhand in Pool C, Punjab thrashed Tamil Nadu 9-1 in a Pool A encounter.

Ajit Pandit scored three goals for Punjab, Baljinder Singh added two more while Parvinder Singh, Varun Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh and Shamsher Singh added to the agony of Tamil Nadu.

For Haryana, the goals were scored by Karmbir and Nikhil Saroha.

In another Pool C match, Madhya Pradesh beat Uttar Pradesh 4-3. — PTI

New Delhi, April 2
Decisions concerning the appointment of the chef-de-missions for the Commonwealth and Asian Games and constituting a committee to pick the Indian boxing team for the two quadrennial events following IABF’s suspension by the AIBA could be taken in the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) Executive Committee meeting here on Wednesday.

The Executive Committee is also likely to work out the dates of the South Asian Federation Games, which India will host, and the National Games, besides discussing the details of the meeting between newly-elected IOA chief N Ramachandran with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on March 26.

The first meeting of the newly-elected IOA office bearers was first scheduled to take place on March 27 in the capital, but it had to be shifted to April 3 in view of Ramachandran’s meeting with Bach.

Chandigarh, April 2
A fine allround performance helped Delhi defeat Jammu and Kashmir by six wickets for their second consecutive win in the North Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match held here on Wednesday.

Delhi’s bowlers took charge of the match early, and J&K were four down for only 20 runs. However, skipper Parvez Rasool stood tall, making 44 off 38 balls, with three boundaries and a six. His knock enabled J&K to reach a modest 119. Varun Sood (3/14) and allrounder Rajat Bhatia (2/26) did most of the damage.

In the chase, Delhi lost Virender Sehwag (22) and Gautam Gambhir (6) by the eighth over, with 44 runs on the board. Unmukt Chand steadied the innings with 39 off 41 balls. After his dismissal, Bhatia kept his calm and with the support of Mithun Manhas (17) guided the team home. Bhatia made 28 off 16 balls.

Meanwhile, in a match at PCA Stadium in Mohali, Haryana edged out Services by eight runs. It was paceman Ashish Hooda who turned the tide in Haryana’s favour with his five-wicket haul. Haryana put up a competitive 144/7 as opener Avi Barot made 78 from 58 balls. Services had a good start as openers Yashpal Singh (18) and Nakul Verma (46) added 60 runs but they could mange 136 for seven in the end.

Hooda removed both the openers and also scalped Anshul Gupta (6), and later came back to pick up two more wickets.

Results

J&K 119 (Rasool 44; Sood 3/14) lost to Delhi 123/4 (Chand 39)

Haryana 144 (Barot 78) beat Services 136/7 (Verma 46; Hooda 5/22)

With agency inputs

London, April 2
Manchester United and Bayern Munich battled to a 1-1 draw in their Champions League quarterfinal, first leg on Tuesday as the visitors finished with 10 men after goalscorer Bastian Schweinsteiger was sent off.

Schweinsteiger, who fired home the equaliser for Bayern in the 66th minute, was dismissed in the 90th for collecting a second yellow card for a foul on Wayne Rooney, who the Germany midfielder felt had dived.

United took the lead in the 58th minute when the unmarked Nemanja Vidic stretched to clinically head a Rooney corner past stranded goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Bayern equalised when Schweinsteiger, who will be suspended for the second leg, was left unmarked on a break and lashed the ball into the roof of David De Gea’s net after substitute Mario Mandzukic nodded a cross from Rafinha into his path. United had the ball in the net after five minutes when Danny Welbeck slammed home a rising shot from 15 metres but Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo had already ruled that Welbeck raised his foot too high in a challenge with Javi Martinez.

Nadal impatient for return to favoured clay courts
Madrid: Rafael Nadal is eager to get back to his favoured clay after what he called a "good but not fantastic" start to the year with two titles and two runners-up spots. He will be bidding for a ninth title at the Monte Carlo Masters later this month before more clay events at Barcelona, Madrid and Rome and then the French Open. "As always I am coming into the clay swing with the maximum level of hopeful anticipation and I am eager to do well and eager to start training on clay,” he said. “The only thing I can do is try to work hard and get to the clay season well prepared in tennis terms and in good physical and mental shape.”

FIFA bans Barcelona from signing players until 2015
Paris: FIFA, the ruling body of world football, Wednesday banned Spanish football giants FC Barcelona from signing any new players until the summer of 2015. FIFA published this decision on its official website, saying the ban was the result of Barcelona carrying out "breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18". FIFA explained that both Barcelona and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) had "violated several provisions concerning the international transfer and first registration of non-Spanish minors with the club" over 2009-2013.

Monika named among core probables for CWG, Asiad
New Delhi: Senior Indian weightlifter Monika Devi has been included among 26 core probables for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games after she won the gold in the National Championships in Nagpur. Monika, who injured herself during the Nationals that ended yesterday and later hospitalised, won three gold in the 69kg category. — Agencies