Sports

New Delhi, January 07: After first ever series draw in South Africa, India managed to retain its numero uno position in the latest ICC Test rankings.

Despite losing a rating point after the drawn three-match series against South Africa, India managed to Top position.

According to the ICC statement, India is ahead by 11 ratings with 128 ratings points to South Africa.

England jumped to the third place after Ashes win. England also narrowed the gap with 115 ratings points and now just two ratings points behind Graeme Smith’s side.

Sydney, January 07: Australia’s Michael Clarke Friday quit Twenty20 cricket in the aftermath of the Ashes disaster and said he took the decision to focus on Tests. Australia lost the Ashes 1-3 after they were bundled out for 281 in the second innings of the Sydney Test.

Clarke, too, had a horrible series, scoring a lone fifty in eight innings. Clarke said his shaky form in Tests was one of the reasons he quit the shortest version of the game. All-rounder Cameron White was announced as the new captain.

New Delhi, January 07: After a hiatus of five years, Narain Karthikeyan is all set to make his long-awaited comeback in the Formula One circuit after he earned a race driver”s seat with the Hispania Racing Team (HRT) for the 2011 F1 season.

India”s first F1 driver, Karthikeyan”s last stint as a race driver was way back in 2005 with Jordan and since then he test-drove for Williams F1 in 2006 and 2007.

As expected, the 33-year-old Indian driver was ecstatic about fulfilling his dream of being the Indian driver on the grid of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.

Sydney, January 07: Dominant England claimed their first Ashes series in Australia for 24 years with their third innings victory over the home team in the final Sydney Test.

England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory early on the last day after victory was assured when they had Australia seven wickets down on Thursday`s close.

It was England`s first series victory Down Under since Mike Gatting`s team beat Australia 2-1 in 1986-87.

The tourists posted their highest-ever score in Australia on 644 and dismissed the hapless hosts for 280 and 281.

New Delhi, January 07: A Delhi court is likely to pronounce tomorrow the quantum of sentence against six HuJI militants, including 3 Pakistanis, who were convicted for conspiring to kidnap cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in 2002 to secure the release of two jailed terrorists.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pinki would hear the arguments on sentence against the convicts.

Earlier, the court had convicted the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) terrorists under various provisons of stringent anti-terror law POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) and other penal laws.

Sydney, January 07: Pace bowler James Anderson will be rested for England’s Twenty20 series against Australia and the first three one-day internationals of the seven-match series, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.

Anderson, the leading wicket-taker in the five-test Ashes series, would head home on Saturday and return to Australia on January 22 ahead of the fourth ODI in Adelaide four days later, the ECB said on their website.

Steve Finn will remain with the squad in Anderson’s absence before joining the England Lions tour of the West Indies.

Sydney, January 07: Captain Andrew Strauss saluted his players for an “outstanding” tour after England completed a crushing innings and 83-run victory on Friday to win their first Ashes series on Australian soil in 24 years.

Australia’s last three batsmen were dismissed shortly before lunch on the fifth day to seal the five-Test series 3-1, and England celebrated wildly in front of thousands of joyous supporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“It’s been an outstanding tour so far,” said an elated Strauss, whose quick-fire 60 on day two set the tone for his team’s record innings of 644.

Bangalore, January 07:With doubts and disputes seemingly coming to
an end, the stage is set for the players auction for the cash-rich
Indian Premier League IV to be held in the city on January 8 and 9.

BCCI sources confirmed that there would be no postponement of the auction and the event would be held as scheduled during this summer.

The continuance of the domestic league, which has attracted top cricketers in the world, was in doubt in the recent months for more than one reason.

New Delhi, January 06: Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about non-payment of dues from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) — the franchise he represented in the first three editions of Indian Premier League.

“Yes, Sangakkara has written to the BCCI about non-clearance of his dues. The matter came up for discussion during yesterday’s governing council meeting,” a senior official told PTI today.

Cape Town, January 06: Indian batsmen battled the testing morning session, facing South African speed merchants with caution, as India went for lunch at 53 runs for the loss of Virender Sehwag on fifth and final day of the last Test of the 3-match series here at Newlands.

Indian batsmen adjusted well to variable bounce and movement on weary fifth day pitch, with Gautam Gambhir dropping the anchor from one front and Rahul Dravid proving an able ally on another to guide India without much worries in a session which saw India batting to set their eyes for a draw rather than victory.

Sydney, January 06: Australian opener Shane Watson is dreading the prospect of a record third innings defeat against a rampant England in the last day of the final Sydney Ashes Test on Friday.

Once again the hosts have been thoroughly outplayed by England, who were just three wickets away at Thursday’s close from clinching their first series win in Australia in 24 years, having already held on to the Ashes urn.

Melbourne, January 06: India’s Somdev Devvarman has been given a wildcard in the 2011 Australian Open, starting Jan 17, and he will make his maiden appearance at the Melbourne Park. Kai-chen Chang of Chinese Taipei is the other Asian player to be handed a wildcard, in the women’s singles, Tennis Australia announced Thursday.

Auckland, January 06: Maria Sharapova hit the first speedbump in her injury comeback on Thursday when she was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by Hungarian veteran Greta Arn in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic tennis tournament.

The formerly top-ranked Russian, a three-time Grand Slam champion, has struggled to find her ‘A’ game in her first tournament since last October’s China Open and finally met a player in Arn, 31 years old and unseeded, who could fully exploit her hesitance.

Hyderabad, January 05: With the CSIR-NGRI tests confirming the present Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup is not of pure gold, the disappearance of the original cup is steeped in mystery. Even as old-timers are at a loss of words to express their shock, some members of the present committee seem to be the least worried about the fraud. One member even went to the extent of saying, “The loss is only Rs 24 lakh and we can have a new cup made of pure gold.”

Cape Town, January 05: Faced with the daunting task of holding on the team from falling apart cheaply, Jacques Kallis told the world why he was the reigning king at Cape Town with his 40th Test century.

Standing tall as the only survivor of the day (109*), his effort took the South African total to 341 runs all out at stumps on Day 4 of the final Test of the three match rubber.

The home team had come back strongly in the second session, with the partnership between Kallis and Boucher taking the honours as the duo went on for a centurion stand.

Hyderabad, January 05: Behind the meteoric rise of Saina Nehwal lies the contribution of one lesser-known coach P Bhaskar Babu, who has been coaching the Indian ace shuttler since her initial foray into international badminton.

Apart from the chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, Saina always attributes her success to her coach Bhaskar Babu, who has played a crucial role in shaping her career.

Bhaskar Babu, who has been coaching Saina since 2006, has also played key role in the success of another ace badminton player Chetan Anand, apart from several others.

Cape town, January 05: Harbhajan Singh claimed two early wickets as South Africa reached 121 for five in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day of the series-deciding third cricket Test against India here today.

Harbhajan was the pick of the Indian bowlers with four wickets while Zaheer chipped in with one as the hosts added 69 runs and lost three key wickets in an absorbing pre-lunch session.

Kallis, defying a rib injury, was batting on 33 and Ashwell Prince on 15 at the lunch break with South Africa having a lead of 119 runs.

Pune, January 05: After conquering the cricketing firmament, Sachin Tendulkar may literally penetrate the blue skies with a possible sortie in a supersonic Sukhoi fighter jet.

“A proposal to fly Tendulkar in Sukhoi has been moved to the Ministry of Defence. It will materialise only after the ministry”s approval, Sachin”s consent and availability,” Wing Commander S K Mehta, spokesman of the Indian Air Force (IAF), told PTI today.

He said there were many “ifs and buts” regarding the proposal which is at a nascent stage and no definite date has been fixed for it.

Auckland, January 05: Zimbabwe batsman Grant Flower retired from international cricket on Tuesday to devote time to his coaching commitments.

The 40-year-old Flower in a statement said he wants to make way for the youngsters in the national side and concentrate on his new role of a batting coach for the national team.

“I have drawn the line. There is enough talent coming through and I do not want to hold anyone back,” said Flower in a statement released by the Zimbabwe Cricket Tuesday.

Johanesburg, January 05: In a major setback for South Africa, premier all-rounder Jacques Kallis was ruled out for two weeks due to a rib injury he suffered while batting in the first innings during the ongoing third Test against India.

Kallis, who scored 161 runs in the first innings, got injured after S. Sreesanth’s delivery hit him on the chest at the Newlands Stadium on Monday.

Bangalore, January 05: Woman stabs Bihar MLA to death Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble has opted out of the IV edition of cash rich Indian Premier League (IPL) saying he would not take part in the players auction to be held here on January 8 and 9.

Sources told UNI here today that former India captain decided not to go under hammer citing new assignments he had taken up, including winning the election as the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and Karnataka Wildlife Board Vice Chairman.

Islamabad, January 05: Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir on Wednesday voiced confidence they would again play for their country ahead of a make-or-break anti-corruption tribunal in Doha.

The pair, along with Mohammad Asif, face the hearing on Thursday on charges of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year in a scandal that rocked the sport.

It is alleged that they conspired in the bowling of deliberate no-balls – claims they all deny.

Auckland, January 05: Top seed Maria Sharapova delivered an enigmatic performance and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Auckland Classic with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the other grand slam title winner in the field, was bundled out 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 by China’s Peng Shuai after she squandered a three-game lead in the final set in the first match on centre court.

Cape Town, January 04: Indian master batsman Sachin Tendulkar scored his 51st Test century as he consolidated Indian first innings reply with an unlikely partner Harbhajan Singh to put on 69 runs before tea for the seventh wicket after World’s current best Test bowler Dale Steyn decimated Indian middle-order with spell of the series in the second session of the third day here at Newlands.

Chennai, January 04: Top seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi rolled back the years as they rallied brilliantly to overcome the Canadian-Swiss combo of Frank Dancevic and Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6 (8), 10-4 to enter the doubles second round in the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament here in the wee hours of Tuesday.Coming together on the pro tour for the first time in nine years, Paes, 37 and Bhupathi, 36, winners here four times, the last being in 2002, held their nerves while displaying some of their old magic to turn around a match that nearly got out of hand and win the one hour,