England aim for Ashes whitewash | latest sports news in india

Chester-le-Street : England will bid to complete the second half of their Ashes mission when they face arch-rivals Australia in the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street starting Friday..

The drawn third Test at Old Trafford left England an unassailable 2-0 up in the series with two to play and meant they’d retained the Ashes.

But it left open the possibility of a shared series, something that hasn’t happened in an Ashes campaign since
1972.

It took England just 14 days to hold on to the urn this time around -- the quickest they’ve settled an Ashes series in their favour since the end of the Second World War.

However, England coach Andy Flower was far from satisfied. “I suppose it is (a great achievement). But for me it’s all about winning this series, so it is still alive with two Tests to go,” he said.

In Manchester, Australia produced a much-improved performance with England collapsing to 27 for three on
Monday’s final day before rain ensured a draw.

The result meant Australia had ended a run of six successive Test defeats -- their worst for 29 years -- and avoided equalling their all-time record losing streak of seven straight Tests set by the 19th century teams of 1885-88.

Former Australia captain Allan Border said it looked like the tourists had “drawn their own line in the sand”, in much the same way his side did during the 1986/87 series, where, having lost the Ashes, they won the final Test in Sydney before starting 16 years of unbroken series dominance against England in 1989.

Australia named a 12 on Wednesday where Jackson Bird was added to their Manchester XI amid concerns over the ability of injury-prone seamer Ryan Harris to play back-to-back Tests.

As for England regularly losing top order wickets with few runs on the board this Ashes, Flower said: “There are good new-ball bowlers on both sides.

“Of course, we’d like to be none down in that early period of play. But we’ve recovered well, and I think good sides do that.”

Meanwhile the DRS generated more controversy this series after Australia’s Channel Nine television alleged on Wednesday that England’s Kevin Pietersen was among players on both sides suspected of using silicone tape on their bats to avoid nicks being detected.

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Tips from Dhoni helped in Zimbabwe: Kohli | latest sports news in india

New Delhi: Star batsman Virat Kohli on Wednesday said the tips he picked up from skipper MS Dhoni in the West Indies proved beneficial for him while leading a young Indian team in Zimbabwe, where they inflicted a 5-0 series whitewash on the hosts.

Kohli had captained the Indian side in three One-dayers in the West Indies when Dhoni was sidelined after hurting his hamstring in the first match of the tri-nation series.

“He (Dhoni) is a guy who doesn’t say much. But I keep talking to him about different situations and what I could do and how should I keep myself calm in pressure situations while captaining the side. It helped me chatting to him in the West Indies when he wasn’t playing and I was captaining the side.

All the tips he gave me really helped me,” Kohli said when asked about Dhoni’s influence on him as a leader.

India recorded their first-ever One Day International (ODI) series whitewash on the foreign soil when they trounced Zimbabwe 5-0.

Kohli said he has not been able to speak to Dhoni after Zimbabwe win since Dhoni is presently enjoying a break.

“When he goes away for a holiday it is very hard to contact him. I tried to message him on the phone but I couldn’t reach. I guess I’ll be seeing him soon and speak to him about it (Zimbabwe win),” Kohli told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

Kohli also lauded left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who recently topped the ODI bowlers’ chart in the ICC rankings, saying the consistency is paying off for the Saurahstra-lad.

“I am very very happy that he got the number one ODI bowling ranking. He has worked hard over the past few years. It is really good to see him come up the ranks as I have played U-19 cricket with him.

“I was the captain when he played with me in the U-19 World Cup. It’s really good to see him grow in international cricket with all of us. I hope he keeps up the good in the future,” Kohli said.

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‘Make spot-fixing criminal offence’ | latest sports news in india

New Delhi: Former India captain Rahul Dravid wants match-fixing and spot-fixing to be made criminal offences so that it would act as a deterrent to potential fixers.

“I don’t think only education can work, policing it and having the right laws and ensuring that people when they indulge in this kind of activities are actually punished. People must see that there are consequences to your actions. That will create fear for people,” said Dravid.

Dravid, who is prosecution witness in the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal, also stressed the need for educating young cricketers.

The comments by Dravid, who led Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, came in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal involving his three team mates S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.

“My personal belief is that education and counselling at a junior level is really important. I think we’ve got to start early, we’ve got to start young but … that part of it is already being done. I know that India has its own ACSU and even for Ranji Trophy teams this education is given,” Dravid was quoted as saying byESPNCricinfo.com.

On the police case against his three team mates, Dravid said: “The case is still on and I don’t want to make any judgement on whether people are guilty or not and I think everyone has a right to be innocent until he’s proven guilty and I’m glad the police is going ahead and doing what needs to be done and taking it to its logical conclusion.”

Dravid referred to the doping scandal in cycling and said awareness programmes alone were not sufficient.

“Everyone knows it’s wrong, and it’s frightening, having read a little bit about it and the number of cyclists who were doing it. Surely all know it’s wrong. So the only people those cyclists were scared of was not the testers, not the authority, they were scared of the police. You read all the articles, the only guys they were scared of was the police and going to jail. So the only way that people are going to get that fear is if they know the consequences to these actions and the law that will come into play. It’s got to be a criminal offence,” the ace cricketer said.    

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ICC table: Pujara retains 6th slot | latest sports news in india

Dubai: Cheteshwar Pujara continues to be the only Indian batsman in the top-20 list as he has managed to maintain his sixth spot, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the highest-ranked bowler at number eight, in the latest ICC Test rankings issued here today.

With 777 points to his credit, right-handed batsman Pujara is the lone Indian to be figuring in the table, which is headed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla (903 points).

Australia skipper Michael Clarke has jumped three spots at number two after scoring a splendid 187 in the first innings of the third Ashes Test against England that ended in a draw.

If Clarke manages to produce another strong performance in the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street, then he could not only move ahead of Amla, but may also improve his career-high rating of 900 points.

England’s Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are the other batsmen inside the top 20 to make upward movements.
Batsmen outside the top 20 and improving their rankings are Steven Smith in 48th (up by 14 places) and Brad Haddin in 49th (up by two).

In the Test bowlers’ rankings, Ashwin and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha have remained at eight and 10th positions, respectively, while out-of-favour pacer Zaheer Khan could also retain his 17th spot in list.

Dale Steyn continues to rule the roost with teammat Vernon Philander in second place and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath in third position.

England off-spinner Graeme Swann’s match figures of six for 233 in the third Ashes Test has put him ahead of teammate James Anderson in sixth position. But Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris has turned out to the biggest mover in the latest rankings as he has jumped four places to achieve a career-best ranking of 11th.

In the all-rounders’ list, Ashwin has held on to his third position.

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Will buy Kolkata franchise of new football league: SRK | latest sports news in india

ENI Bureau
New Delhi: The Bollywood Badshah’s tryst with the City of Joy continues. After becoming the owner of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan is planning to bid for the Kolkata franchise of the new league promoted by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and IMG-Reliance. 

He said he was interested in buying stakes in the successful Goan I-League club Dempo earlier, but now with a new franchise-based league coming up, he has changed his mind.
“Earlier, I was planning to buy stakes in Dempo and now with the new franchise-based league coming up, I will have a look at it. I would love to own a franchise,” Shah Rukh was quoted as saying by a TV channel.
Asked which city he would buy, SRK said, “I would love to have the Kolkata football club.”
Eight clubs, 176 players, 72 overseas stars and 10 weeks of packed action — that is how the AIFF’s commercial partner IMG-Reliance plans to glamourise Indian football early next year.
The new tournament, scheduled between January 18 and March 30, is on the lines of cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), also managed by IMG. IMG-R have a contract with the AIFF to run the event for 12 years.
Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa and Guwahati have been shortlisted for the auction. Each team will have nine foreign, eight Indians and four Under-21 players, who will be up for grabs in September. Some of the world’s top footballers — David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Raul Gonzalez — could be seen in action in the tournament. There will also be eight icon players and four names will be made public in September before the franchise auction.

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India drub Zimbabwe, make it 4-0 | latest sports news in india

Bulawayo: A merciless India maintained their stranglehold over minnows Zimbabwe as they cruised to a resounding nine-wicket win in the fourth cricket one-dayer to extend their lead to 4-0 in the five-match series on Thursday.

Opting to field after winning the toss, India bowled out Zimbabwe for a paltry 144, and then chased down the target with 115 balls remaining at Queens Sports Club.

For India, leg-spinner Amit Mishra scalped three wickets for 25 runs, while debutant Mohit Sharma (2/26) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/28) picked up two apiece. Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat also accounted for one wicket each.

Rohit Sharma (64 not out) and Suresh Raina (65 not out) were the two main contributors with the bat as the visitors extended Zimbabwe’s winless run.

Raina struck six fours during his 71-ball knock while Rohit found the fence five times and cleared it once during his 90-ball innings.

Chasing a small total, India suffered an early blow as they lost debutant Cheteshwar Pujara with the scoreboard reading 23 for one in the 10th over. The Saurashtra player was bowled by Tendai Chatara while trying to go for a drive to an incoming delivery only to see his leg-stump getting uprooted. Glimpses of the batsman’s talent was evident as he creamed Michael Chinouya for two boundaries through the off-side before being dismissed. Pujara’s wicket was the lone success Zimbabwe tasted as Raina along with Rohit shared a second-wicket partnership of 122 runs to take India home. Playing sensible cricket, the duo of Raina and Rohit brought up the fifty partnership in 61 balls. AGENCIES

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‘Beating Pak was best moment of ‘92 WC’ | latest sports news in india

Melbourne: Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev on Wednesday said that victory over eventual champions Pakistan in the league stages of the 1992 World Cup in Australia was his most cherished moment in the quadrennial event.

“India didn’t play particularly well but if you ask me I would say my best memory is we beat eventual winner Pakistan in a league match. It’s not a positive memory for me, but to say we beat the team which held the trophy makes me feel better,” said Kapil, who was part of the Indian side that beat Pakistan by 43 runs.

India finished a lowly seventh out of nine sides in the 1992 edition which was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The World Cup returns to the Australian continent in 2015 with the two nations once again joining hands to stage the biggest cricketing event to be held in February-March.

Kapil was speaking at the ICC event where captains in that World Cup walked down memory lane and spoke candidly about their highs, lows and regrets.

“The uniforms are my other memory. In the beginning, they looked odd. In the cricket world, we were used to playing in whites.” IANS

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