Sports

Melbourne, January 21: Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova upset former champion and ex-world number one Justine Henin 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday.

The 11th-seeded Henin was one of the tournament favourites but she was never in front against two-time Grand Slam winner Kuznetsova, despite some late stumbles from the Russian in a thrilling second-set tiebreak.

Henin had reached at least the fourth round of all Grand Slams she has contested since her return to tennis in January 2010, following an aborted retirement.

Karachi, January 21: One of the main accused in the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 in Pakistan’s Lahore has claimed that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had plan to take the visiting players hostage and bargain for the release of some of its detained members.

Abdul Wahab alias Omar, who is under detention, told Geo News that the operation against the Sri Lankan team was planned in Waziristan.

Melbourne, January 21: Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said Ricky Ponting can still make runs and regain his lost form like Sachin Tendulkar if he gives up Australia’s captaincy.

Ponting failed with the bat during Australia’s recent Ashes humiliation, returning a dismal 113 runs at an average of 16.14, including a highest score of 51 not out in the second innings of the first Test at the Gabba.

The figures compare poorly both with his Test career figures of 12,363 runs at 53.51, including 39 centuries, and his career return against England.

Lucknow, January 21: Uttar Pradesh’s Mohammad Kaif and Madhya Pradesh’ Naman Ojha rescued Central Zone from what was a poor start to their innings in response to East Zone’s 427. Central lost both their openers with the score just four, and then their captain, Rajasthan’s Hrishikesh Kanitkar, was out, leaving them 55 for 3.

Kaif and Ojha took their time, taking 37.5 overs for their 114-run unbeaten stand. Kaif, who was recently bought by IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, scored 78, while Ojha reached his half-century by the end of play.

Oval, January 21: Andrew Strauss opted to put Australia into bat at Hobart after heavy morning rain cleared to leave a bright and breezy afternoon. England made two straight swaps to their team with Matt Prior, recalled to the World Cup squad two days ago, replacing Steve Davies and James Tredwell coming in for the injured Graeme Swann.

Melbourne, January 21: Promising Australian batsman Usman Khawaja will hone his skills with Derbyshire in the upcoming English domestic season after signing a deal with the county side.

The Pakistan-born Khawaja became the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia when he made his debut this month in the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Khawaja, who boasts six first-class centuries on an average of a fraction over 50, made 37 and 21 in Sydney, showing impressive poise under pressure in a match Australia lost by an innings.

Mumbai, January 21: Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has named dashing teammate Virender Sehwag and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the two major game changers in the Indian squad due to their ability to dominate the opposition bowlers and hit the ball with power.

“There are a number of players in our team who have the ability to change the game. Virender Sehwag is one of them. Every time he is batting we know that he will dominate all the bowlers. He has changed the game for us during difficult situations,” Harbhajan has been quoted as saying by a media release.

Port Elizabeth, January 21: With their nose slightly ahead, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not overtly worried about the poor show of his batsmen in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa and said the team has learned to cope up with the absence of big players.

India are playing the series without the opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar also returned home mid-way due to a hamstring injury and paceman Praveen Kumar is also missing.

But Dhoni said the absence of stars is a blessing in disguise for the younger crop of players.

Kolkata, January 21: Eleven days after the auctioneer brought down his hammer for the last time at IPL players’ auction in Bangalore, a ray of hope has emerged for Sourav Ganguly, who was ignored by all the 10 franchises.

New Delhi, January 20: Sports minister Ajay Maken Thursday said his top priority would be to see India better its performance in the 2012 London Olympics and has asked his officials to make a blueprint for the athletes’ preparation.

The government earmarked a whopping Rs.678 crore for the athletes’ training for the two major events Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games last year and Maken said the momentum should be maintained in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

New Delhi, January 20: Sports minister Ajay Maken Thursday said he will talk to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding it being registered as a national sports federation.

‘The BCCI has been around for a long time. They have been controlling cricket in this country for ages. I would like to speak to them on their registration with the ministry,’ he said.

Maken’s remark came after the BCCI Tuesday called themselves an ‘autonomous’ body affiliated only with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

New Delhi, January 20: Listing his priorities after taking charge of the sports ministry, Ajay Maken has said he would like India to better their Beijing Olympics performance in the 2012 London Games and has asked his officials to make a blueprint for the athletes’ preparation.

The government earmarked a whopping Rs.678 crore for the athletes’ training for the two major events last year and Maken said the momentum should be maintained in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

New Delhi, January 20: Taking charge as the new sports minister, Ajay Maken backed his predecessor M.S. Gill’s controversial age and tenure restrictions for sports federations but said he wants to adopt a ‘non-confrontational’ approach while implementing the ruling.

Maken also expressed his desire to see former players and young administrators with a sporting background at the helm of the federations.

New Delhi, January 20: New sports minister Ajay Maken Thursday said the issue of non-payment of bills to the Australian companies for their work during the Commonwealth Games would be sorted out within 10 days.

‘I have directed secretary sports to speak to the government nominees in the Organising Committee to thoroughly verify legitimate payments and I have given them 10 days time to sort out the issue,’ Maken told reporters immediately after taking charge of his new portfolio.

New Delhi, January 20: Former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin has joined the growing list of celebrities on social networking site Twitter.
Azharuddin, a veteran of 99 Tests and 334 ODIs, will be available as — twitter@mpazhar — to his fans.

Azhar, a Congress Member of Parliament from Moradabad, will soon be launching his website to connect with the people of his constituency. The website — www.AzharCoIn — will be launched on his 48th birthday next month on February 8.

London, January 20: India got home by the skin of their teeth in the third one-dayer against South Africa, at Cape Town, with the heroes of the match undeniably Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.

The latter order batsmen’s aggressive approach evidently turned the tables on the South African who had been dominating upto a point. But did the batsmen go overboard in the task to stave off defeat and snatch victory?

London, January 20: Under-fire Ricky Ponting can still plunder runs at Test level despite his recent run of outs, much as India great Sachin Tendulkar regained his best form after a two-year dip, but he can do so only if he resigns Australia’s captaincy, said former English skipper Nasser Hussain.

Ponting failed with the bat during Australia’s Ashes humiliation, returning a dismal reward of 113 runs at 16.14, including a highest score of 51 not out in the second innings of the first Test at the Gabba, and his return was symptomatic of a fading star.

Cape Town, January 20: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was all praise for Harbhajan Singh’s batting pyrotechnics which ensured their victory in the third ODI against South Africa, and said he considers the off-spinner an “all-rounder”.

India pulled off a two-wicket thrilling win Tuesday and now lead the five-match series 2-1. The visitors chasing a target of 221 runs were 93-5 at one stage but Yusuf Pathan scored a smashing 59 and Harbhajan chipped in with 23 after the fall of Pathan to guide the team home.

New Delhi, January 20: S Sreesanth and Rohit Sharma’s omissions from India’s 15-man squad for the forthcoming World Cup has left the legendary Wasim Akram surprised.

“Sree has been bowling quite well in recent times and has picked wickets in Test matches. He runs in, comes close to the wicket and has comeback with a much-improved attitude. I would have definitely included him in the World Cup squad,” said Akram.

Sreesanth was a big influence in the recently-concluded Test series against South Africa, keeping the Proteas at bay with his aggression.

New Delhi, January 20: Some of his Bollywood peers own one. But Saif Ali Khan says he has moved on from his dream of owning an Indian Premier League (IPL) team since he’s “not a billionaire” and wants to focus on acting and production instead.”We were at one point considering getting involved (in IPL), but now I think it’s quite a blessing in disguise that we didn’t, you know. It was far too expensive,” Saif told IANS in a casual chat in his hotel room in the capital.

Shah Rukh Khan owns an IPL team, so do Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta. But Saif has stayed away.

Miami, January 20: Guyanese batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been recalled to the West Indies squad for the World Cup starting on the Indian sub-continent next month, the West Indies Cricket Board said on Wednesday.

Sarwan was dropped for a tour of Sri Lanka in November after the selectors expressed concerns over his fitness and he has not played for West Indies since a one-day series against South Africa last June.

Durban, January 20: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lauded Yusuf Pathan for his blistering innings and said with more experience the dashing all-rounder can become a good match-finishing batsman for the country.

Pathan produced a terrific 50-ball 59 run innings last night to help India chase South Africa’s total of 220 with 10 balls to spare after being precariously placed at 93 for five at one stage.

Antigua, January 20: Veteran batsman and former skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan was recalled by the West Indies for the World Cup on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old was dropped from the tour of Sri Lanka last year and hasn’t played for the national team since the home series against South Africa in June 2010.

Sarwan, who took over the captaincy from Brian Lara after the 2007 World Cup before being succeeded by Chris Gayle, is one of the West Indies’ most experienced players having featured in 156 ODIs, scoring 5,098 runs.

Dhaka, January 20: Bangladesh were on Wednesday forced to drop pace spearhead Mashrafe Mortaza for the World Cup due to lingering doubts over his fitness for next month’s tournament.

The 27-year-old former captain, who sustained an injury in his right knee during a domestic match in December, was excluded from the 15-man squad for the showpiece event.

“There is little chance that Mortaza will be fit before the World Cup,” chief selector Rafiqul Alam told AFP, adding that chief coach Jamie Siddons supported this assessment.

Karachi, January 20: Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis has become the latest to join the growing list of people to express his surprise over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to delay naming of the captain for the 2011 World Cup while announcing the 15-member squad.

“This is also surprising to me. I don’t know what reasons the board could have for delaying naming the captain but personally I feel it would have been better to announce the captain along with the World Cup team,” Waqar told Geo Super from Wellington.