NEW DELHI, July 12: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today said it has no animosity against banned cricketers like Ajay Jadeja and Mohd. Azharuddin, who were imposed five-year and life ban respectively by it from playing competitive cricket for their alleged involvement in matchfixing.............more

Steffi Graf is pregnant,
says German paper

BERLIN, July 12: Former world number one Steffi Graf is pregnant and is due to give birth to a baby .........more

Musharraf to miss the
‘pitch’ Gen Zia laid

JAIPUR, July 11: Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf will miss the "pitch" his predecessor General ......more

Shoaib, Sohail to line
up against Australia

TAUNTON, (England), July 12: Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former captain Aamir Sohail ......more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 12: State’s top ranking peddlers Maninder Singh and Bhavna Arora remained.......more

Army recruitment rally
begins at Zorawar Stadium

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 12: A recruitment rally sponsored by the Dogra Regimental Centre, for the Dogra youth......more

China poised to host
Olympics for first time

MOSCOW, July 12: China, home to the world’s biggest population and an alluring market for blue.....more

Reformed Ponting to
captain Australia
for first time

TAUNTON, (England), July 12: Ricky Ponting, a former ‘bad boy’ of Australian cricket......more

BCCI: No animosity against Jadeja, Azharuddin

NEW DELHI, July 12: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today said it has no animosity against banned cricketers like Ajay Jadeja and Mohd. Azharuddin, who were imposed five-year and life ban respectively by it from playing competitive cricket for their alleged involvement in matchfixing.

The BCCI, through its counsel Kapil Sibal, told Justice Mukul Mudgal’s court that the cricketers were handed out bans because there was a reasonable doubt on their conduct. "They were icons and there was a public outcry against them," he added.

The board made its decision based on reasonable suspicion, it could base its assumptions on material which could be good enough to create doubts in its mind but not necessarily admissible in a court of law.

Yesterday, the BCCI submitted in the court that the writ petition moved by Jadeja was not maintainable in law.

The board, through the counsel of its chairman K K Venugopal, said the board was not ‘state’, as defined under Article 12 of the constitution, so the civil writ petition filed, under Article 226 of the constitution, by the cricketer was infructuous. A writ under Article 226 could only be issued against the state, he said.

Mr Venugopal said the board was only a society affiliated with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Jadeja could at best file a civil suit and fight the case in the realm of contract.

Jadeja had filed a writ petition, in February this year, against the five-year ban on him to play cricket imposed by the BCCI.

Jadeja’s counsel P P Malhotra said he was entitled to file the suit as the board was ‘performing the functions of the state’ as it received Government land on subsidised rates, earned money from such land, received tax concessions, got security cover and performed the state’s function of promoting sports (cricket).

Mr Malhotra also said jadeja received only 99 pages of the 300-paged report of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Commissioner K Madhavan and got no opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses who deposed before the CBI.

Jadeja’s counsel said there were no charges of match-fixing or under-performance against his client and merely knowing somebody who was a punter was no crime.

On May nine, the court had allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to intervene in the case.

According to a report submitted by the CBI on October 31 last year, Jadeja is alleged to have established close contacts with bookies for fixing cricket matches.

The court, meanwhile, asked the Union of India to give a clear cut view of whether it held BCCI as performing the functions of the state or not. The Government had held divergent views in the High Court and the apex court.

The BCCI, in December last year, had imposed a life ban on former captain Mohd. Azharuddin and a five-year ban on Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma and Jadeja for their alleged involvement in matchfixing. The cricketers are also barred from holding any positions in cricket governing bodies or their affiliates. (UNI)

Steffi Graf is pregnant, says German paper

BERLIN, July 12: Former world number one Steffi Graf is pregnant and is due to give birth to a baby boy in November, bild newspaper said today.

The mass circulation daily said Graf’s mother Heidi had recently told friends in Southern Germany about the pregnancy.

Graf, 32, and her partner, American tennis player Andre Agassi, have been together for two years. She has often talked about her fondness for children.

Bild said Graf’s management company in Mannheim, Stefanie Graf Marketing Gmbh, had declined to comment.

It responded to a faxed query from bild by saying: "Frau Graf has no comment on personal matters."

Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam singles titles during her career and was ranked number one in the world for a record 378 weeks, spends most of her time away from Germany.

She has a strained relationship with the German media, however, partly because of her irritation at the coverage of her father’s tax evasion trial and subsequent conviction.

Her father peter was released from a Stuttgart jail in 1998 after serving half of a three year and nine month sentence for tax evasion.

Steffi Graf won Wimbledon seven times and retired in 1999 just weeks after winning the French Open.

Meanwhile, German magazine Bunte reported yesterday that Graf is planning to hold a big party at her brother’s house in Florida on July 14, adding that there was speculation about a marriage.

Bunte said her father peter and mother Heidi would both be there, the first time the divorced parents have been together in years.

The magazine said Graf and the 31-year-old Agassi, winner of seven Grand Slam tournaments, were currently working out the details of a prenuptial agreement. (REUTERS)

Musharraf to miss the ‘pitch’ Gen Zia laid

JAIPUR, July 11: Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf will miss the "pitch" his predecessor General Zia-ul-Haq had laid more than a decade ago, but cricket diplomacy could be back during the much-awaited Indo-Pak summit.

The famous cricket diplomacy played its part in reducing tension on the border when Gen. Zia came here in 1987 to witness the Reliance World Cup match between India and Pakistan.

Back then Gen. Zia had been invited by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president S Sriraman and World Cup organising committee chairman N K P Salve when they visited Pakistan.

According to Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Kishore Rungta, gen. Zia was on a "purely private trip".

Gen. Musharraf, who will arrive here on July 16, comes on the invitation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for Indo-Pak summit at Agra on July 15.

The summit could see resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries. India last played a test match in Pakistan nearly 12 years ago. The last visit of the Pakistan cricket team to India was in 1999 to play in the Pepsi Cup. The Sawai man Singh Stadium here hosted one of the matches.

Like Gen. Zia, Gen Musharraf too will visit the Dargah of Sufi Saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer, before returning home.

Rungta said the RCA had sent a formal invitation to Gen. Zia, which was promptly accepted by him. An enthusiastic Zia had landed in Jaipur with a large contingent in three aircraft. He stayed at the Rambag Palace hotel.

The RCA hosted a dinner in Gen. Zia’s honour at the Rambagh Palace. Nearly 150 guests came to the dinner. When he expressed his desire to see the historical ‘Amer Fort’ quick security arrangements were made for the visit, Rungta recalled.

The General was presented with a diamond-studded gold button by the vice-president of RCA and when he hesitatingly tried to fix the button on Gen. Zia’s Sherwani, he was asked to open the buttons of the Sherwani. "Yeh mardon ki chhati hai," (this is a man’s chest) Gen Zia told him.

When the Pakistan president returned home, the tension had died down on the border.

Gen. Zia wrote a letter to the RCA president P M Rungta thanking him for the "wonderful arrangements" made for his journey and hosting a banquet in his honour."

Writing in his own hand, the General extended an invitation to him to visit Pakistan with his family as his guest. The Pakistan High Commissioner would keep in touch with him for arranging the visit, Gen. Zia wrote. The visit never materialised.

Gen. Zia presented gifts to the Rajasthan Governor, the Chief Minister and the top officials of RCA. He also brought fruits in huge quantity as gifts.

During his visit, he was treated as a "state guest" by the Rajasthan Government and at the eleventh hour, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi deputed Union Minister Ram Niwas Mirdha to receive the General at the airport.

It is to be seen whether cricket makes its presence felt when Gen. Musharraf and Mr Vajpayee meet.(UNI)

Shoaib, Sohail to line up against Australia

TAUNTON, (England), July 12: Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former captain Aamir Sohail are to line up against Australia in their three-day tour match against english County Somerset starting tomorrow.

A spokesperson for Somerset said the pair had been recruited to strengthen the side to ensure Australia were given a good match.

Somerset’s England players, pace bowler Andrew Caddick and opening batsman Marcus Trescothick, have been rested with the second test looming next week.

Shoaib has been playing for a club side in Southern England since June after missing the end of Pakistan’s England tour through illness.

Left-handed opening batsman Sohail, who has not played for Pakistan at test level since March last year, has been playing club cricket in Manchester. (REUTERS)

Nikhil Kesar bags winners trophy in Juniors
Maninder, Bhavna remain on top
Chandpreet wins Junior and Sub-juniors girls titles

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 12: State’s top ranking peddlers Maninder Singh and Bhavna Arora remained undisputed champions, when they defended Men’s and Women’s titles respectively in 2nd Summer Cup Open Table Tennis Championship which concluded at Indoor halls of the M A Stadium, here this evening.

It was an easy to go for Maninder Singh, who won in straight sets against Ajay Ratra, while Bhavna Arora had a close shave when she took on Rashi Anand for the title clash.

Confident Maninder Singh, who has emerged as a strong contender for the Men’s title after Ajay Sharma quit the game to give the young players a chance to fight for the much desired title, faced little difficulty in winning the championship in straight sets of 21-10, 21-9 to side line.

In the Women’s final, State champion, Bhavna Arora had once lost hopes when Rashi clinched the first set 23-25. In the second set Rashi again displayed nice performance, but experienced Bhavna managed to level the score by taking away the set 21-18. In the third and deciding set, Bhavna committed little mistakes and maintained the lead taken by her in the initial stages and won the set and game also. The final score 23-25, 21-18, 21-17.

Junior boys final was again an interesting match played between the arch rivals Nikhil Kesar and Anil Dutta. However, this time, Nikhil maintained his cool and overpowered Anil Dutta in the three set game. The final score: 21-18, 19-21, 21-18.

In the Junior girls final, Chandpreet Kour took her revenge of losing to Rashi Anand in the Women’s semi-finals, beating latter in straight sets of 21-19, 21-18 to claim the winners trophy.

Chandpreet Kour won her second title, when she defeated fighting Shagun Mahajan 2-1. Shagun Mahajan, who has improved her performance in this championship, won the first set. However, Chandpreet Kour fought back in the remaining two games to take away the Juniors trophy. The score: 19-21, 21-11, 21-10.

In the Sub-junior boys, the winners trophy went to Ankur Sachdev, who beat Arjun Datta in straight sets of 21-15, 21-8.

Later, to encourage the budding players, consolation prizes were given besides the winners and runners-up trophies by Mr K K Talwar, Manager, Ambuja Cements for J&K, who was chief guest in the finals. In his brief address, Mr Talwar complemented the organisers, the Jammu and Kashmir Table Tennis Association for organising tournaments frequently for the promotion of the game in the State.

Those who got the consolation prizes include Mohita Singh, Aditya Pardeep, Rishav Sharma, Pranav Mahajan, Tanu Sharma, Kanav Sharma, Riha Sharma, Prashant Khajuria and Depeender Kour.

Those honoured on the occasion were Siddarth Sharma, member State Sports Council, Sheetal Gandotra, organising secretary of the championship and Satish Gupta, TT coach, under whose supervision the competitions were held.

Prominent among others present on the occasion were Ajit Singh Wazir, Sports Officer, Sanjeev Gupta, general secretary, Billiards and Snooker Association of J&K, Satbir Singh, Rajesh Sharma, secretary, J&K Veteran Table Tennis Association, Dr Anil Mahajan, Ram Khajuria, secretary, Tawi Trekkers.

The five-day long championship was fully sponsored by the United Cement Traders, stockists of Ambuja Cement.