Gros Islet (St. Lucia), May 02: England batsman Kevin Pietersen said he won’t hesitate to walk off the field mid-match during the World Twenty20 and fly home if his wife goes into labour with their first child.
Pietersen’s wife, pop star Jessica Taylor, is due May 16 – the day of the World Twenty20 final in Barbados.
Gros Islet (St.Lucia), May 02: Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said revenge will not be on his mind when the defending champions face Australia in the World Twenty20 here Sunday.
Pakistan started their title defence with a 21-run win over Bangladesh at the Beausejour Stadium here Saturday, but the victory was far from impressive.
New Delhi, May 02: Shashi Tharoor lost his job as junior minister in External Affairs over the IPL Kochi row but his links with the key ministry will not be snapped.
The ebullient Lok Sabha MP has been nominated by Speaker Meira Kumar to be a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
Tharoor, a former UN Under-Secretary General, had to resign in the wake of the controversy in connection with the IPL Kochi franchisee.
New Delhi, May 02: Sachin Tendulkar was the cynosure of all eyes during a function here to celebrate ‘Maharashtra Divas’ during which eminent persons from various walks of life were felicitated.
He was mobbed by people and had to leave the function without having his dinner.
Tendulkar came in for praise during the speeches by those on the dais, including an indirect reference by former cabinet minister Vasant Sathe, who said that people honoured on Saturday included ones who deserved to get the ‘Bharat Ratna’.
New Delhi, May 02:
India galloped to a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in their Group C World Twenty20 opener but not before the team from the war-ravaged nation showed promise as if it belonged to the top league.
Chasing a winning target of of 116 runs, India made it in 14.5 overs with Murali Vijay (48) and Yuvraj Singh (23 not out) doing the bulk of the scoring. Skipper Mahendra singh Dhoni (15) struck two sixes to finish the match in a jiffy.
New Delhi, May 02: Politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen who have been occupying the top posts in various National Sports Federations (NSF) for more than a decade will have to step down after their current term expires, the Sports Ministry said today.
St Lucia, May 02: Having rediscovered his touch during India’s seven-wicket win over Afghanistan, left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh said he is getting stronger on the wrist and is ready for action in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup.
The powerfully built batsman made an unbeaten 22-ball 23 but more than the runs he scored, Yuvraj was happy that his injured wrist held good in the game.
“I am getting much stronger now on the wrist and am ready for action,” said Yuvraj.
St Lucia, May 02: Pakistan rode on a scintillating 141-run opening stand between Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal to pile up a competitive 172 for three against Bangladesh in the opening Group A match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup here today.
Butt (73 off 46) and Akmal (73 off 55) showed their intentions clear from the onset and used their long handle to great affect to find fours and sixes at will to lay the foundation for the huge total.
St Lucia, May 02: Chasing a modest total of 116 runs for victory against debutant Afghanistan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni led India side romped home with facile win in the opening Group C match of the ICC T20 World Cup in the Beausejour Cricket Ground here at St. Lucia, West Indies.
India captain brought up the winning runs with well flicked two on a Nowroz Mangal’s gentle off spin with 7 wickets and 5.1 overs remaining.
India, who struggled initially with Gautam Gambhir struggling to get into grove, were helped by Murali Vijay’s well brought up 48 runs.
Bhubaneswar, May 02: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha who was the highest wickettaker in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League is ready to marry Karabee, a PhD scholar, at his home town Bhubaneswar on May 16.
Ojha, who represents Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy and also plays for Deccan Chargers in IPL, met Karabee more than two years ago when she was in the city to pursue her PhD.
“I have just finalised on this. I am very happy for him.
Pragyan knew her more than two years and afterwards he introduced her to me,” Pragayan’s mother Bidyutlata told PTI.
St Lucia, May 01: It will be a historical day for Afghanistan when its cricketing heroes will face Indian lions in a Group C match of ICC Twenty20 World Cup here on Saturday.
Karachi, May 01: Defending champions Pakistan have dropped pacer Muhammad Asif for their Twenty20 World Cup opener against Bangladesh today after he went wicket-less in the warm-up matches.
There are also concerns that the recent financial dispute with popular actress and model Veena Malik has affected him psychologically.
“Muhammad Sami will play in his place and we have finalised the playing eleven for the opening match,” he said.
Sources close to the team said the worst fears of the management had come true and Asif was definitely not at his best in the Pakistan camp.
St Lucia, May 01: South African skipper Graeme Smith feels the first hand knowledge of Indian players that his teammates acquired during the IPL would come in handy when the two sides clash in their Group C match of the Twenty20 World Cup here tomorrow.
“We have played against India a little bit of late and with a lot of our guys involved in the Indian Premier League, we have first hand knowledge of a lot of their players,” said Smith, who has recovered the finger injury he had suffered during the IPL.
Lahore, May 01: The ICC plans to keep an eye on all matches involving Pakistan during the World Twenty20 championships in order to prevent betting and match fixing.
”We have received a schedule of Pakistan cricket team matches and our vigilance team will be closely observing the developments within Pakistan relating to alleged betting which is a financial crime,” a senior official of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit told the ‘Dawn’.
Gros Islet (St. Lucia), May 01: Nathan Hauritz found an unlikely ally in Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi, who said dropping the spinner could prove costly for Australia.
Australia play their opening match of the World Twenty20 against defending champions Pakistan here Sunday.
Hauritz did not take a wicket in two practice games at Beausejour Cricket Ground, where the pitch is slow and favourable to turn, and looks likely to miss out for the crucial match against Afridi’s side.
Gros Islet (St.Lucia), May 01: Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis feels that the mass suspensions and fines following his side’s disastrous Australia tour have made his side professional.
Pakistan’s performance down under prompted strict measures from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which banned former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan from the national team indefinitely in March.
Former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved were also handed one-year bans, while wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and fast bowler Umar Akmal, who has been ruled out of this tournament with injury, were fined.
St Lucia, May 01: In an unprecedented move, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has barred Indian players from attending late-night parties during the entire ICC World Twenty20 in West Indies.
In a statement, the cricket board has asked the Team India management to ensure that all the players are back in their respective hotel rooms by 9.30 pm.
Shanghai, May 01: Crowds poured into the World Expo 2010 site in Shanghai Saturday as the six-month event opened to the public following a spectacular opening ceremony Friday night.
Tens of thousands of people were queuing before the gates opened, many arriving more than one hour early.
The organisers aim to attract an average of around 400,000 visitors daily, or 70 million by the time the Expo closes Oct 31.
More than 20 heads of state and government attended Friday’s spectacular opening of the Expo, which featured fireworks and music and dance performances.
Mumbai, May 01: The focus would be firmly on the alleged financial irregularities committed by suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi when the Indian Cricket Board’s all-powerful Working Committee meets here tomorrow.
BCCI President Shashank Manohar would brief thecommittee members about the various issues surrounding IPL, which is under the Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate’s scanner for alleged violations of various laws, but there would not be any discussion of these at the sitting, BCCI sources insisted.
Hyderabad, May 01: The media frenzy surrounding Sania Mirza’s marriage to Shoaib Malik may be a reflection of public interest in the subject. Some may however also blame the media for intensifying it. It is akin to the issue as to whether violence in the media breeds violent trends in the society or just reflects the actual situation. One may also ask what is wrong with all this passion in this entertainment-starved nation. The question here is whether it is normal.
Bangalore, May 01: Karnataka Government today said underworld elements and betting lobby were behind the April 17 twin low-intensity bomb explosions outside the Chinnaswamy Cricket stadium before an IPL match.
“Underworld normally has links with betting lobby. Some elements wanted to scare away people and shift the two IPL semi-finals from the city to Mumbai,” Home Minister V S Acharya told reporters here.
The probe into the explosions and recovery of crude bombs outside the stadium was progressing, he said but declined to divulge details.
New Delhi, May 01: Suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has agreed to hand over the documents related to franchise bids and media rights of the Twenty20 league which the BCCI had sought for.
BCCI secretary N Srinivasan had written a letter to Modi asking to return the missing documents to BCCI CAO Ratnakar Shetty and Modi has agreed to do that, a television channel claimed.
Shetty has been authorised by BCCI to look for the missing documents.
Kolkata, May 01: Days after the Income Tax raid, service tax department sleuths of the West Bengal government Friday swooped down on the Eden Gardens to check papers relating to the alleged financial wrongdoings related to the Indian Premier League.
Five service tax officials raided the Cricket Association of Bengal headquarters at the stadium, and scrutinised papers and vouchers pertaining to the cash-rich league, which has become the subject of a multiple-agency probe with allegations flying thick about irregularities.
Mumbai, May 01: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is under scanner of Income Tax department for suspected financial irregularities in the bidding process, is facing death threat with the underworld allegedly conspiring to bump him off, police said.
Modi was on the target list of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim even before IPL season III had begun, police said, adding Dawood’s men had plotted to eliminate him either in Mumbai or Bangalore.
New Delhi, May 01: Laying all controversy to rest, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has clarified that during the Games scheduled to take place in the national capital later this year beef will not be served .
The organising committee replied an emphatic “no” to a query by Right to Information (RTI) activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who wanted to know if beef was a compulsory item to be served during the Games, scheduled Oct 3-14.