CHENNAI, Feb 9: The finalisation of telecast rights for the India-Pakistan cricket series has been put on hold till next week, BCCI counsel told the Madras High Court today................more

Injuries force Australia to
delay NZ tour selection

SYDNEY, Feb 9: Injuries have forced Australia’s selectors to delay naming their one-day squad for the tour of New Zealand which starts next week..........more

Dravid ton lifts India A
to challenging total

MUMBAI, Feb 9: A captain’s innings of 115 by Rahul Dravid lifted India ‘A’ from a modest start to 294 for 9 in 50 overs against India ‘B’ in the third and concluding league match of the NKP Salve challenger series here today............more

Sania storms into
quarterfinals

Hyderabad, Feb 9: Sania Mirza scored an upset victory over Chinese fourth seed Jie Zheng to storm into the quarter-final of the USD 140,000 Hyderabad Open women’s tennis tournament here today......more

Excelsior Correspondent

Jammu, Feb 9: A group of 45 students of Jammu and Kashmir is participating in Regional Scouts and Guides Jamboree commenced in Union Capital.......more

Rain delays football
competitions

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 9: The continued rain in Jammu kept the participants from various states inside their rooms and forced the organisers to postpone the scheduled league...........more

J&K boys win league
tie in junior
national volleyball

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 9: Jammu and Kashmir boys won their first league match in the 31st junior national.........more

Fransa beats Dempo in NFL

MARGAO, Feb 9: Federation Cup champions Dempo suffered their first defeat as they went down 0-1 to debutant Fransa......more

India beat England by 3 wkts, take 2-0 lead......

Minority community in Ahmedabad urges PCB to allow match.....

BCCI not to finalise telecast rights till February 17

CHENNAI, Feb 9: The finalisation of telecast rights for the India-Pakistan cricket series has been put on hold till next week, BCCI counsel told the Madras High Court today.

The BCCI counsel gave an undertaking that it would not finalise tenders or contracts for telecast of cricket matches to be played in the country, including next month’s India-Pak series, till February 17.

The assurance was given when a petition filed by Zee Telefilms Ltd, challenging a September communication last year cancelling the contract bagged by the firm for telecasting cricket matches to be played in the country for the next four years, came up for hearing today.

Recording the undertaking, Justice K P Sivasubramanian directed the BCCI, former board president Jagmohan Dalmiya and ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) to file their counter affidavits by February 14.

On February two, a five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while dismissing a writ petition filed by Zee challenging termination of the contract, had said that the TV firm could move the Madras High Court for relief.

Appearing for Zee, senior Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve moved the petition filed under article 226 of the constitution, seeking to quash the cancellation order and restraining BCCI from awarding telecasting rights till August 7, 2008 to any other provider.

Salve said the board’s decision cancelling the contract "reeks of corruption, full of malafides and arbitrariness."

He alleged that the contract was cancelled to favour ESS and prevent Zee, an Indian company, from acquiring the telecasting rights for the period October 1, 2004 till August 7, 2008, which included last year’s home series against Australia and South Africa.

He said when the tenders were opened it was found that his client’s bid of USD 260 million (approx Rs 1200 crore) was the highest and claimed that the BCCI instead of asking Zee if it could increase the amount had told ESS to raise its bid and then asked Zee if it was prepared to match the amount.

Salve said his client quoted 308 million USD, which was accepted by the TV rights committee of the BCCI, and told to pay USD 20 million within 48 hours and the payment was made by Zee on September 7, 2004.

However, the committee was made to revise its decision and the acceptance of his client’s tender was cancelled, he said and contended that the reasons given for the action were frivolous and would not bear scrutiny. (AGENCIES)

Injuries force Australia to delay NZ tour selection

SYDNEY, Feb 9: Injuries have forced Australia’s selectors to delay naming their one-day squad for the tour of New Zealand which starts next week.

The party was due to be announced on Wednesday but was put back a day because all rounder Shane Watson had been ruled out with a side strain and batsman Darren Lehmann injured his ankle against Pakistan last Sunday.

Lehmann was expected to recover to win a place in the squad and there was more good news for the world champions when all rounder Andrew Symonds, Australia’s one-day cricketer of the year, was cleared to play.

Symonds missed the match against Pakistan with an achilles problem but has been passed fit for the New Zealand tour which begins with a twenty international in Auckland on February 17.

Selector Allan Border said the panel had decided to scrap the controversial rotation policy and choose the best available team for every match.

Australia have been chopping and changing their one-day side for the past few seasons to give players more time to rest but border said the policy had unsettled the team.

"I think it’s dead and buried," Border told the inside cricket TV programme. " It hasn’t really worked...And as selectors we have to take a little bit of the blame."

"If people need a break because of niggling injury or whatever then so be it, but not rotation." (AGENCIES)

Dravid ton lifts India A to challenging total

MUMBAI, Feb 9: A captain’s innings of 115 by Rahul Dravid lifted India ‘A’ from a modest start to 294 for 9 in 50 overs against India ‘B’ in the third and concluding league match of the NKP Salve challenger series here today.

Dravid paced his innings to a nicety after coming to the crease at the fall of the second wicket in the 9th over and was out in the 44h over for a superbly compiled 115, off only 96 balls. It contained 15 well-struck fours and a sweetly timed six over long on off Ramesh Powar.

The India ‘A’ skipper and Mohd Kaif, who too batted very well and ran singles and twos smartly in making 63 in 75 balls, put on 124 runs in 21 overs for the fourth wicket to give impetus to the innings which got bogged down at 73 for 3 in the 15th over.

Earlier, India A, after being put in to bat by India ‘B’ captain Virender Sehwag, lost their first two wickets - Dhiraj Jadhav (2) and Dinesh Mongia (8) - cheaply to slide to 35 for 2 in the 9th over.

Jadhav was run out backing too far at the non-striker’s end and Mongia edged an angling away delivery from left arm paceman Ashish Nehra to Gautam Gambhir in the slips.

The departure of Satyajit Parab at 73, who fell to Sehwag, brought together Dravid and Kaif who had helped India a chase the stiff 281-run target set by India seniors on the opening day of the tournament with an unbroken stand of 77.

The duo began slowly and then started to go for the bowling which looked totally pedestrian after Nehra and Amit Bhandari were both off the firing line.

Kaif should have departed on 15 with the score on 104 but for wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel’s let off on the bowling of Powar.

Dravid then lofted powar to complete his half century in style in only 45 balls.

At the halfway stage of the innings, India A were 132 for three. The partnership was broken at 197 in the 36th over when kaif top-edged a sweep off Sehwag and Gambhir brought off a simple catch at short fine leg.

Dravid, undeterred by Kaif’s departure, continued to play with aplomb on a good batting strip and reached his 100 with his 13th hit to the fence in only 82 balls.

India ‘A’ lost Dinesh Kaarthick (17) at 231 before Dravid fell to a flick off Nehra, caught easily at short mid wicket.

Nehra impressed the most with a haul of 3 for 43 after the mauling he got from India seniors yesterday while Bhandari too was fairly economical with figures of one for 49 in 9 overs. Sehwag ended up with 2 for 59. (PTI)

Sania storms into quarterfinals

Hyderabad, Feb 9: Sania Mirza scored an upset victory over Chinese fourth seed Jie Zheng to storm into the quarter-final of the USD 140,000 Hyderabad Open women’s tennis tournament here today.

The 18-year-old Indian sensation overcame mid-match blues to oust Zheng 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in an exciting centre court action at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh Sports Complex in the tier 4 WTA tour event.

Sania, fresh from her exploits at the Australian Open, virtually set the stands on fire with her superlative performance. This would be her first quarter-final appearance at this level of an event.

In the first two editions, she had been knocked out in the first round.

The Hyderabad lass now faces a comparatively easier opponent in Israel’s Tzipora Obziler, the world number 115 and unseeded here, who earlier in the day brushed aside Evie Dominikovic of Australia 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last eight stage.

In other matches, Alyona Bondarenko from Uktraine scored a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 win over Hungary’s Melinda Czink to enter the quarter-finals.

After pocketing the first set easily, World No 107 Bondarenko, who had eliminated Indian wild-card Ankita Bhambri in the first round, was challenged in the second set by Czink, who rallied remarkably to level the match winning the second set.

In the decider, however, Czink (128), who had accounted for Indian hope Shikha Uberoi in the first round, was below her par and failed to raise her game.

Martina-Graenefeld

pair reaches second round

HYDERABAD: Tennis legend Martina Navratilova and German Anna-Lena Graenefeld had little trouble in thrashing the Japanese pair of Shiho Hisamatsu and Remi Tezuku to move into the second round of the WTA Hyderabad Open here today.

The 48-year-old Navratilova, playing for the first time on the Indian soil, and her much younger partner never gave their opponents any ray of hope in their 6-2 6-1 win.

And the evergreen player was very happy with her performance.

"Very excited. Pretty good. 6-2, 6-1.... Hope more matches will be like that," she laughed. "We did not give much opportunities. It was fun; it was a learning experience".

Navratilova, who was relaxed on courts and chatted freely with her doubles partner, paid tributes to the noisy crowd.

"They were great. They were passionate and having fun. I get uncomfortable when the crowd is too quiet. The more the merrier".

Navratilova expressed happiness about the facilities here. "It’a an intimate stadium. It’s fantastic. Court plays well. No complaints. It’s a first class tournament".

The 48-year-old was, however, very critical of top players not playing the doubles event.

"It’s a shame that some women’s players were only playing singles and shying away from doubles. While playing in singles and doubles at the same time is too much and demanding on the body, featuring in both helps singles and makes players better in singles," she said.

During her prime days, only if she played continuously for four weeks, did she not play in doubles. Otherwise, Navratilova always played doubles along with singles.

On Sania’s singles victory today, Navratilova said it was a great effort to win the match despite sprained ankle. "Sania hits the ball hard".

Referring to the doubles first round victory, Groenefeld said: "We had lot of fun today. First time we are playing together. We played well. It was a great opportunity playing with her". (PTI)

J&K among 16 states participating in Regional Jamboree

Excelsior Correspondent

Jammu, Feb 9: A group of 45 students of Jammu and Kashmir is participating in Regional Scouts and Guides Jamboree commenced in Union Capital Delhi from today.

As many as 500 students representing 15 states mostly from Northern India are taking part in the National event organized by the Bharat Scouts and Guides Organization (BSG) aimed at to promote and inculcate the sense of responsibility, high morale, service to humanity in a disciplined manner.

The group from Jammu and Kashmir attending the regional level Jamboree was flagged off by the State Commissioner for BSG, I. D. Soni here yesterday on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Housing and Urban Development Ghulam Hassan Mir.

It may be recalled that the group representing border district Kupwara, Baramulla, Jammu and Poonch was imparted 10 day basic training course at the State Headquarter of BGS at Gandhi Nagar which concluded on February 7.

The basic training course was imparted by the ALTOs and senior functionaries of the BSG State Association.