2011 World Cup to be formally inaugurated

The 2011 World Cup, to be staged in India, Sri Lanka as well as Bangladesh, will be formally inaugurated in Mumbai on Tuesday in the presence of with the big shots of the International Cricket Council .

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat and the 2011 World Cup Central Organising Committee Chairman as well as ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar would be in attendance at the logo presentation of the grand event, according to reports available in the media.

The organising committee, with its headquarters in Mumbai , is as well slated to congregate prior to the official launch.

Historic Win For Bangladesh

Bangladesh registered a momentous win by defeating West Indies by 95 runs. It was a dream debut for Mahmudullah who destroyed the West Indies batting order by his guile as an off spinner claiming five wickets for 51 runs from fifteen overs.

The 23-year-old played a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s triumph over West Indies with his fine spin bowling. Requiring 277 for a win the West Indies could muster 181 in their second innings about 20 minutes prior to the conclusion of play on the fifth and final day at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex in Kingstown.

Test Cricket not under threat from other formats: Ganguly

Rejecting the suggestion that Test cricket was facing crises, ex- India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Thursday affirmed that the five-day game was not subjected to severe danger from other shortened versions of the game and a player would at all times regard it as the definitive variety of cricket.

With the T20 format of the game acquiring recognition at a rapid pace among, an apprehension has been emerging that the conventional edition of the game was in threat of decay and would cease to exist, but Ganguly was averse to the suggestion.

Ganguly told the media on Thursday at Oxford, where he is participating in the ICC's History Conference.� Test cricket will survive and other cricket will also survive because Test cricket has to survive,", Ganguly noted, adding "Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket and I know for sure players will be remembered with what they do in Test matches," .

Ganguly admired the present Indian team under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and maintained that the squad possessed the qualities to remain at the peak of world cricket.

India's most triumphant skipper stated, "India is a fantastic team at present. If they keep performing as they have in the last two or probably three, four, five years, in future they will definitely be the number one in the world.�

Sania triumphs in Challenger title in USA

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza bagged the USD 50,000 ITF title in Lexington, USA following an upset victory over top seed Julie Coin, in only her second Challenger event. Sania seeded second in the competition, overpowered France's Coin 7-6 (5) 6-4 on Sunday. The tennis ace took part in a Challenger contest quite sometime ago in 2003.

There was additional news for Sania who in recent times got betrothed, to cheer about. Sania who is 22years of age moved up three places to 80th in this week's WTA singles rankings. But her position slipped 10 spots and stayed 49th in the WTA doubles roll.

Disappointment for Sania at Vancuover ITF event

August 10: Higest ranked Sania Mirza's pursuit for a second consecutive ITF title concluded in disenchantment as she wasted a one set lead to be defeated by home favorite Stephanie Dubois in the finals of the USD 75,000 Vancuover Open.

Sania went down 6-1 4-6 4-6 against a resolute Stephanie, who stated that the Indian tennis star appeared worn-out after playing strenuous quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Canadian rivals. With an enthusiastic home crowd supporting her strongly, Stephanie performed a outstanding revival after being thrashed by Sania in the opening set. Both the tennis stars fought hard to cling to their serves in the match but it was Sania who suffered for the errors she committed the Stephanie enhanced her performance at critical periods.

"I think that the other Canadians tired her a little bit, they had a really good match, (both) of them," said Stephanie. Sania expressed her gratitude to the few Indian followers who were present to encourage her in the encounter."I guess it helps that we're a billion of us," she light heartedly said.

Sania conquered the ITF title in Lexington, USA in the previous week. The Indian who is vulnerable to injuries is on a revival track after recovering from a wrist operation. Sania bagged USD 6,080 for her performance.

Chetan progresses to 2nd stage of World Badminton Championship

August 11: India’s Chetan Anand trounced Korean Ji Hoon Hong in the opening round men’s single in the World Badminton Championship being staged in Hyderabad. The 15th seed has advanced to the next stage after vanquishing his Korean opponent 21-8, 21-16 at a first round contest that took place on Monday night.

India’s top expectation in men’s singles Chetan Anand offered the solitary merriment for the crowd, on an otherwise dejecting opening day for Indians, at Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad where the World Badminton Championship is being staged. Chetan’s tactics with a mix of offence and defence served him in good stead. His spectacular smashes and swift movements puzzled the Korean, who seemed to be out of form for the major part of the game apart from a short period in the second segment when he offered some resistance. But, after Chetan recovered his form, his performance was outstanding

Prior to Chetan’s triumph, the men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas was eliminated in the first round 13-21, 21-23 to the 14th seeded Japanese pair of Kenichi Hayakawa as well as Kenta Kazuno. In another contest, the mixed doubles duo of Arun Vishnu along with Aparna Balan was also beaten in their opening round game against the Japanese pair of Noriyasu Hirata along with Shizuka Matsuo 14-21, 20-22 and Aditi Mutatkar was tamed by her German rival Juliane Schenk 8-21, 12-21.]

Earlier, Peter Gade and Lin Dan produced a spectacular performance by triumphing in their games without much effort. Gade registered a 21-11, 21-16 triumph over Valerly Atrashchenkov of Ukraine in 29 minutes while the present champion, who plays with his left hand Lin Dan vanquished Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-9, 21-11 in 23 minutes. Dicky Palyama of Netherlands stunned 11th seeded Chulai Bao, who won a silver medal in the 2006 World championship, with a 21-18, 21-14 victory in the men’s singles opening round.

Saina to commence her fight at World championship

August 12: India's ace badminton player Saina Nehwal will commence her fight at the World Badminton championship in second round match in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old, who got a walkover in the opening round, is depending on her home support to stage a powerful exhibition of her talent in the championships.

Saina will be pitted against Anastasia Prokopenko of Russia in the second round.

Prokopenko entered the second round after her rival Olga Konon of Poland failed to turn up for the opening game.

Deccan Chargers to meet Kolkata Knight Riders in opening IPL game

August 12: Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad who won the IPL championship last year will begin their defence of the title in the Twenty20 format of the game by facing Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural game signalling the commencement of the third edition of the Twenty20 League in India on 12th March 2010.

Nagpur, Vishakapatnam, Ahmedabad as well as Dharamsala have been appended as additional locations apart from the eight existing ones with Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals together with Kings XI Punjab taking part in certain matches in these new venues.

India's optimism fades at BWF

August 15: The Indian challenge ended agonizingly last night at the BWF World Championship with its star badminton player Saina Nehwal being vanquished 16-21, 19-21 by No.2 ranked Chinese Lin Wang in the quarter finals of the women's singles at SAAP Indoor stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad.

Previously in the day, Indian mixed double combine of V Diju-Jwala Gutta, frustrated another medal expectation as they went down in their concluding eighth match to No 2 ranked Nova Widianto-Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia.

Both Saina and Diju-Jwala combination were the first Indians to feature in the quarter finals of any international competition.

Open rebellion against DDCA; Gambhir, Ishant unites with Sehwag

August 19: Virender Sehwag's accusation of favoritism and fraud in DDCA on Tuesday sparked a near rebellion against the management with more veteran players like Gautam Gambhir as well as Ishant Sharma warning of resigning from the Delhi Ranji squad. While anxious DDCA officials tried to make light of the looming turbulence amongst the players, Sehwag asserted that more players would back him on the problem creating the likelihood of a face-off just weeks prior to the Ranji season. "More will come out," remarked Sehwag, who is at present in Bangalore going through treatment for his wounded shoulder.

The players are discontented with the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) sports committee which, they alleged, messed up things and also resorted to fraudulent practices. DDCA Sports Secretary Sunil Dev has rebuffed the accusations and proclaimed that he was ready to negotiate with the players and settle the dispute. Besides Gambhir and Sharma, left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra was another veteran player who has joined Sehwag's crusade against the sports committee.

A worried DDCA President Arun Jaitley has urged his officials not to augment the problem and allow things "cool down". "The President wants things to cool down. He will meet Sehwag when he comes back from Bangalore and hopefully resolve all the issues," a DDCA holding a senior position revealed this to a news agency.

Lebanon wins opening match of Nehru Cup against India

August 20: Title holders India let in a goal in the opening stages of the game and subsequently botched the opportunities they got to overcome the setback and went down 0-1 to Lebanon in the inaugural fixture of the Nehru Cup football contest in New Delhi on Wednesday.

It was a poor beginning for India, who were in quest of their second successive title after 2007, as they were vanquished by a fifth minute goal scored by Ali Al Saad playing for the Lebanon defence who shot in a thundering free kick into the Indian goal from just outside the penalty area

The Indian team had control over the proceedings for the major portion of the match barring the opening 15 minutes before a large number of spectators who had turned up to watch the contest under floodlights.

Bhutia guides India to a 2-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan

August 24: Bhaichung Bhutia rejoiced his participation in the 100th game for the nation by putting the ball in the net once and facilitating his team mate to score another goal for India in the home team’s 2-1 triumph over Kyrgyzstan played on a round-robin basis of the Nehru Cup International football contest on Sunday.

With this win India brightened its prospects of obtaining a place in a final stage contest in the five-country competition following their defeat against Lebanon which won the game by a one nil margin in the commencing game at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi played amidst floodlights.

Bhutia, who made his first international appearance in 1995 in the same football competition in Kolkata, struck in the 43rd minute prior to Sunil Chhetri successfully scoring of a penalty in the 57th minute of the game.

The penalty was given when Kyrgyz custodian Matiash Pavel within the penalty area dangerously tackled Bhutia.

Murzaev Mirlan scored for the Kyrgyzstan in the 89th minute but the rivals of the Indian team were unable to add more goals to their kitty.

Gambhir retains top slot as Test batsman

August 25: Swashbuckling Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir on Monday occupied the top slot as Test batsman once more following Kumar Sangakkara along with Michael Clarke going down the grading yardstick owing to their mediocre performances in games played in recent times. Gambhir, who was positioned, third prior to the grading modification, was elevated to the top spot with Sangakkara, who was at the top of the table, performing well below par in the first Test against New Zealand played at Galle.

Clarke could have gained from Sangakkara's dismal performance but the Australian vice-captain's poor batting in the fifth and concluding Ashes Test at The Oval had paved the way for Gambhir, to retain the top spot.

Sangakkara who had occupied the top slot prior to the Galle Test made eight and 46 in the game, which was not adequate to guarantee him of a berth in the top position. Gambhir boasted of occupying the uppermost slot as a batsman in July this year.

India beat Lanka 3-1, strong contenders for final berth in Nehru Cup

August 27: Title holders India put up an exciting performance of aggressive football to defeat Sri Lanka 3-1 in a gripping match played on a round-robin basis on Wednesday and positioned them in a favourable spot for a final berth of the Nehru Cup international competition.
Bhaichung Bhutia the captain of the host side scored in the 25th, along with Gouramangi Singh who found the target in the 69th minute together with Steven Dias who scored in the 85th minute of the match while WDRD Warakagoda put the ball into the goal for the Sri Lankan side in the 61st minute of the game.

The host side, which showed remarkable brilliance as a well knit team for the first time in the competition on Wednesday, could have emerged victorious with a greater goal difference if they had succeeded in converting the opportunities for scoring goals that came their way.

Salman Khan expresses keenness in purchasing an IPL franchise

August 27: Salman Khan could turn out to be yet another Bollywood celebrity to unite with the Indian Premier League conglomerate with the star articulating his keenness for bidding for a franchise for the 2011 version of the cash generating carnival.

Salman got in touch with IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday and deliberated on the process to purchase a team for the 2011 version which will witness the participation of two additional franchises.

Modi revealed that Salman held talks with him on this topic for the past several months but their deliberations were official only at present."We were having a discussion for last few months but this is our first official meeting," Modi observed. Modi noted that even though it was not the right time to make any comment, he thought the tinsel town celebrity was a "serious buyer".

Modi affirmed, "He was interested to know what it takes to own a team, what's the process, when it will be initiated and what's the timeline for it. I think he is a serious buyer.�

India go down to Syria 1-0 in final round robin match

August 29: Syria has vanquished India by a one nil margin in the Nehru Cup football tournament in New Delhi on Saturday. Nonetheless the result is of litle consequence as India has booked a final berth following their convincing 3-1 victory over Sri Lanka.

Syria has also earned a berth in the final following their triumph over Lebanon 1-0 on Thursday. Syria turned out to be the first squad to enter the final with victories in each game. The final is scheduled for Monday.

India emerge triumphant in Nehru Cup football contest

September 1: Title holders India vanquished their opponents Syria 6-5 by means of tie-breaker In the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.

India's custodian Subrata Paul exhibited outstanding brilliance under the bar, thwarting no less than three penalty shots to secure the triumph for the host nation. The match had to be extended to the tie breaker after the two contending sides were locked at 1-1 in the regulation period of the game.

Goalkeeper Subroto Paul was adjudged the man of the match for his fabulous show in the game. India pocketed USD 40,000 for their historic triumph. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has also declared a prize of Rs two lakhs for every player of the victorious Indian squad.

Congregation of 2011 World Cup organising board

September 2: The Central Organising Committee of the 2011 World Cup, with Sharad Pawar at the helm of affairs is scheduled to assemble in Mumbai on Tuesday to sanction the financial plan for the grand occasion apart from deliberating on other topics.

The congregation is ready to confirm the financial plan for the 50-over tournament which will be played across three nations consisting of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in March-April, 2011. USD 115 million has been projected as estimated cost for the cricketing extravaganza.

The congregation is as well ready to deliberate on the action arrangement, host nation security and site scrutiny venture, reports stated. The congregation will be graced by the presence of Pawar, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, President Shashank Manohar, treasurer M P Pandove together with convener Mahbulbul Anam, Lt. Gen Sina Ibn Jamali, Shafiqur Rehman from Bangladesh, with Sri Lanka being represented by Nishantha Ranatunga and Sujeewa Rakapakse and D S D'Silva.

BCCI CAO and Tournament Director, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, along with International Cricket Council's General Manager (Commercial), Campbell Jamieson both members of the COC, together with I S Bindra, who occupies the position of an advisor in the ICC will as well take part in the congregation. ICC's Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, who will be in Mumbai to release the extensive catalog of aspirants for the world governing council's yearly honours is as well anticipated to take part in the congregation as an elite guest.

Bangladesh to stage 2011 World Cup opening ceremony

September 3: Bangladesh will host the inaugural event of the 2011 Cricket World Cup 17th February with the opening game being played on 19th February in the same nation, the ICC revealed this on Wednesday. The ICC had previously noted that the inaugural ceremony together with the first match of the competition would be played on February 19 in Bangladesh.

Nevertheless the complete match fixture with locations where the games would be staged would be revealed on November 9, it was resolved by the Central Organising Committee (COC) of the cricketing extravaganza that assembled in Mumbai on Wednesday to carry on with arrangements for the contest. The locations where the games would be staged in the three countries that would host the tournament India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; would be scrutinized in October or November, the COC resolved.

The director of the grand event Ratnakar Shetty observed that the congregation was a fruitful one and the coordinators were functioning at a fast tempo to make it a grand triumph. "This was another productive meeting and we have continued to make real progress. We are operating at full steam ahead for what should be a great event in 2011 and there is a great spirit of cooperation among the hosts and the ICC," he affirmed.

The COC also sanctioned the arrangement strategy along with resources for the tournament. The Finance Committee together with the Board of the ICC would have to evaluate all these topics. The congregation which was presided over by ICC Vice-President Sharad Pawar was graced by the presence of ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and participants of the three nations that would host the World Cup.

Sania’s campaign ends in US Open singles

September 3: Sania Mirza's US Open singles challenge faded in the second round with Italian Flavia Pennetta ranked tenth easily beating the Indian tennis star 6-0, 6-0 in a totally one- sided contest at New York on Wednesday.

Sania could not match the power of her rival Pennetta as she registered an overwhelming triumph in the match that lasted for 50 minutes without any resistance from the Indian. Sania committed no less that 28 unforced mistakes in the match that extended to 12 games, in contrast to barely six winning shots, distributed uniformly in both the sets. In the opening game, Sania’s rival broke her service thrice while the Indian tennis celebrity failed to capitalize on the lone break point she got.

In the opening game that lasted for 22 minutes Sania committed 16 unforced mistakes, four times greater in comparison to Pennetta. In the second game, Sania committed 12 unforced mistakes, twice the number committed by Pennetta. Just on two occasions she had an opportunity to break the duck but Sania failed to utilize the game points that came her way in the first and fifth games. On the whole, Pennetta scored 20 winning shots with as many as 13 coming in the second set only.

Paes-Dlouhy pair enters US Open second round

September 3: India's Leander Paes playing with his Czech team mate Lukas Dlouhy entered the second round of the US Open men's doubles contest with a victory over their rival pair of Victor Hanescue and Grabriel Trifu in the opening round of the US Open Tennis competition.

The fourth ranked Indo-Czech duo vanquished their opponents 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4).

Montreal Masters victors Mahesh Bhupathi along with Bahmaian Knowles are yet to commence their fight against the American-Croatian pair of James Cerretani and Lovro Zovko.

Unbeaten double century by Tendulkar

February 24: Sachin Tendulkar, India’s most successful batsman in all versions of the game scored a historic two hundred in the second one day game of the ongoing series against South Africa that will feature three matches. Sachin Tendular became the first cricketer in the history of the one-day version of the game to score a double ton.

Sachin played some scintillating shots all over the ground at the Roop Chand Singh cricket arena at Gwalior where a jam packed stadium witnessed history being created in the one day format of cricket. Playing a stellar knock that was marked by some classic shots, the master blaster of Indian cricket scored an unbeaten 200.

Team India players in Chennai for training camp

July 16: Led by Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian cricket team has begun assembling in Chennai for the two-day training camp prior to the tour of Sri Lanka. While Dhoni, the Team India captain reached early in the morning, five players Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, and Irfan Pathan together with Zaheer Khan were in the city on Sunday afternoon.

The other players are anticipated to reach the Tamil Nadu capital by Sunday night. The training camp which will cover a period of two days will commence from Monday at 2:30pm.

The Indian squad will take part in five One-day internationals and a one-off Twenty20 international all through the tour, commencing on 21st July. The Indian squad will play the T20 match on 7th August which will be the concluding game of the forthcoming Indian tour of Sri Lanka.

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