Rajkot, Dec 14: Virat Kohli may replace Yuvraj Singh in Tuesday’s ODI series-opener against Sri Lanka if the left-hander fails to recover from his finger injury, according to Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Indian team management is playing a waiting game and will decide only on Tuesday morning if Yuvraj, who has suffered a finger injury, can be drafted into the final XI.
Washington, Dec 14: Management consultancy firm Accenture on Sunday announced that it would discontinue its sponsorship agreement with scandal-tainted golfer Tiger Woods.
“Given the circumstances of the last two weeks … the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising,” Accenture said in a statement.
New Delhi, Dec 14: The Indian Cricket Board on Monday shifted the second one-dayer of the five-match series between India and Sri Lanka to Nagpur after police in Visakhapatnam expressed inability to provide security for the tie in the wake of political crisis in Andhra Pradesh.
Agitations are on in Andhra Pradesh over the issue of the formation of a separate Telangana state.
Salta (Argentina), Dec 14: India overcame a two-goal deficit to eke out a 3-2 win over Argentina and finish with the bronze medal in the Champions Challenge hockey tournament here.
Their hopes to qualify for Champions Trophy dashed after the semifinal defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan, the Indian team was trailing 0-2 inside the first half an hour before V Raghunath (35th minute), Gurbaz Singh (54th) and Dhananjay Mahadik (69th) sounded the board to complete the win.
London, December 14: England’s cricketers have capped an Ashes-winning year by being named as Team of the Year in the 2009 BBC Sports Personality Awards.
“It is a truly great honour,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, who was one of ten sportspeople nominated for the individual award, which was won by the Manchester United footballer, Ryan Giggs.
Bangalore, December 14: Kevin Pietersen’s South African origin is likely to cause him to face another hostile reception during the first Test against the Proteas, starting on Wednesday.
South African captain Graeme Smith warned as much, though he said that there was no bad blood between the South African players and the England batsman.
Pietersen, who was born in Pietermaritzburg and made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa, was given a tough time on his last tour in 2005.
Melbourne, December 14: Chris Gayle has added to Nathan Hauritz’s worries before the Perth Test by saying the offspinner doesn’t turn the ball much and is “like I’m facing up to myself”. Hauritz will line up in just his third first-class game at the WACA in Wednesday’s series-deciding encounter.
Karachi, December 14: Pakistan threatened to shoot themselves in the foot by gifting wickets to Martin Guptill – yes, you read that name right – before they rallied through a 128-run stand between Mohammad Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal.
If the morning belonged to Guptill, the afternoon session, interrupted by rain, saw Pakistan making slow but steady progress.
Melbourne, December 14: Stuart Clark has conceded his international career is all but over, but says recent opportunities to captain New South Wales have convinced him to play on. Clark, who has been overlooked by national selectors since Australia’s defeat at The Oval, has identified IPL and county cricket stints among his new career objectives, along with leading the Blues in the absence of first-choice skipper Simon Katich.
Vishakhapatnam, December 14: The second One Day International Cricket match between India and Sri Lanka, which was scheduled to be held in Vishakhapatnam ACA-VDCA Stadium here on December 18, has been cancelled, according to ACA Organising Committee Official sources.
The official sources said today the match was cancelled due to the on going agitation on Telangana issue and unavailability of security forces as they are engaged in maintaining law and order in the state.
The sale of the tickets had been put off and the match would be shifted to Chennai, the sources added.
Rajkot, Dec 14: Explosive batsman Yuvraj Singh today consulted an orthopedic surgeon after feeling pain in the little finger of his left hand.
“The Indian Team management will take a final decision on Monday whether Yuvraj would play or not, after looking at the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon,” Niranjan Shah said.
India and Sri Lanka teams arrived here on Sunday for the first one-day international of the five-match series, beginning on Tuesday.
Chandigarh, Dec 14: After achieving the number one status in Test cricket, Indian cricketers will strive to end the year on a high by winning the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, says offspinner Harbhajan Singh.
“We played an excellent game this year. We will strive hard to win the ODI series with Sri Lanka and end the year on a winning note,” Harbhajan told reporters here after launching a drug awareness campaign.
“We will not drop our guards and become relaxed and keep trying to win matches in future,” the seasoned tweaker added.
Dubai, December 13: Fresh after claiming the number one Test spot, India can narrow the gap with ODI table-topper Australia if they win the One-day series against Sri Lanka but they also risk going down the list if they lose the five-match series starting in Rajkot on Tuesday.
In the individual rankings, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has to perform very well to defend the number-one spot in batting list while Yuvraj Singh can return to the top-three and Virender Sehwag can regain a top 10 spot with some stellar performance in the series.
Mohali, December 13: Kerela speedster S. Sreesanth, who is down with swine flu, will remain in hospital here for the next two to three days, hospital authorities said Sunday.
Sreesanth was admitted to the Fortis hospital Thursday night with symptoms like sore throat, body ache and high fever. He tested positive for swine flu Friday.
“Sreesanth is admitted in an isolated ward and he is responding well to the treatment. If everything goes right then he will be discharged from here in the next two-three days,” said A.R. Banerjee, director ofFortis Hospital.
Salta, December 13: India’s hopes of booking a berth in next year’s Champions Trophy were shattered as they went down fighting to arch rivals Pakistan 3-6 in a thrilling semifinal encounter of the Champions Challenge I hockey tournament in Salta.
In-form India, who were Group A toppers with an unbeaten record, failed to find the bearings at the last four match.
They dominated for most part of the match but failed to convert the chances that came their way.
Napier, December 13: Labelling Australia as ”beatable”, Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam believes that his side has the potential to overcome the World Champions in their upcoming Test series later this month.
Pakistan, who headed into the third day of the third Test against the Black Caps here today, has not been too impressive but Alam is confident that after India and South Africa, his team can emerge victorious in the series against the Australians, starting December 26.
Mohali, December 13: After leading India to a convincing win over Sri Lanka in the second and final T20 International, star batsman Yuvraj Singh, who turned 28 on Saturday, said that it was his “best birthday” so far.
“This is my best birthday till now. I am very happy the way we played, especially the batsmen,” Yuvraj, who scored a blistering 60 of 25 balls and took three crucial wickets, said.
Yuvraj said that after being set an imposing target of 207, Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had given a good start to the team.
Salta, December 13: Pakistan came out all guns blazing as they hammered arch-rivals India 6-3 in the second semi-final to book their place in the final of the Champions Challenge I Hockey Tournament at Salta, Argentina.
Pakistan will meet New Zealand in the final after the kiwis stun host Argentina 3-2 in the first semi-final.
The winner will qualify for the elite six-nation Champions Trophy in 2010.
In a thrilling encounter, marred by frayed tempers, it was Pakistan who forged ahead when Rehan Butt beat India goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza with a deft touch in the second minute.
Mumbai, December 13 : The Indian cricket board, BCCI, is making it clear that Lalit Modi is no longer needed in the Indian Premier League. According to reports, the current IPL chairman, Modi, may be sacked from his position as a consequence of a move initiated by the top BCCI officials.
Sources claim that the BCCI will scrap the post of IPL commissioner and chairman and the Indian Cricket Board president will instead take over as the defacto IPL chairman.
Melbourne, December 13: Mitchell Johnson is crossing his fingers that the WACA pitch will return to its bouncy ways as he plays a rare game on his home ground. Johnson moved to Perth from Brisbane a couple of seasons ago but still hasn’t appeared in a match with Western Australia, although he is back each year to play in the Test.
Melbourne, December 13: The under-pressure Michael Hussey will return to open if asked, but believes Shane Watson is currently the best man for the top spot. Shane Warne has joined the critics who believe Hussey is on his last legs, with him saying the batsman should have shifted places to fit Watson into the middle order.
Wellington, December 13: Don’t shake your head in disbelief when you look at the scorecard. Daryl Tuffey, whose previous best was 35, almost reached his maiden Test hundred as New Zealand gained complete control of the deciding Test in Napier.
It took a special catch to dismiss Daniel Vettori, and Tuffey was eventually left stranded on 80, but by then they had given New Zealand a first-innings lead of 248. Danish Kaneria took three wickets to complete a seven-wicket haul and the Pakistan openers stitched together an determined 72-run stand, but the visitors still had a mountain to climb.
Mohali, December 13: With the help of superb batting display by its batsmen, especially Virender Sehwag (64) and birthday boy and Man of the Match Yuvraj Singh (60), India has won the 2nd T20 against Sri Lanka to level the two match series by 1-1 with 5 balls to spare.
Yuvraj Singh and Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni(46) partnered 80 runs off 36 balls for the third wicket paced the Indian win.
Mohali, December 12: After failing to capitalise on the chance to level the two-match T20 International series, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara tonight said that the Indians exploited the conditions in a better way while fielding lapses had cost the visitors heavily.
“The Indians exploited the conditions in a much better way. The total on the board (206) should have been enough, but we missed some catches and run out chances. We were not that disciplined in the field today,” Sangakkara told reporters here after Lanka lost by six wickets.
New Delhi, December 12: and the first Indian to win the Junior World Badminton Championship (Pune, 2008).
Saina was also bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award in the year 2009.
Olympic Gold Quest is co-founded by Indian sporting legends Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi. Its mission is to help the nation’s most talented athletes in individual Olympic sports to win gold medals for the country.
World record holder rifle shooter Gagan Narang and four-time World Boxing Champion MC Mary Kom are two of the prominent sports persons supported by Olympic Gold Quest.