Black protesters in South Africa stormed a university rugby game, sparking a mass brawl with furious white spectators in the latest outbreak of race-related student unrest.
	Video footage showed black protesters walking in a line across the pitch at the University of the Free State during the game yesterday evening, before hundreds of white spectators ran on to try to force them off.
	Workers at the university campus in Bloemfontein city, most of them black, have been protesting to demand an end to outsourcing -- when non-teaching services such as cleaning are taken on by private companies.
	The university confirmed in a statement that the match against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was disrupted in the 17th minute.
	The players and match officials immediately left the pitch, but "the protesters were chased off the field and beaten by the spectators", the statement said.
	The university, which has been closed temporarily, said it "condemns in the strongest terms possible the .

S African protesters beaten after invading university rugby

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A young but mighty Mumbai have history and form firmly on their side when they chase their 41st Ranji Trophy title by locking horns with Saurashtra, who are taking a rare shot at domestic cricket's biggest prize, in the summit showdown beginning here tomorrow.
     While Mumbai will be appearing in their 45th final of the top domestic tournament, it is only the second time that Saurashtra are in the title clash.
     Incidentally, it was Mumbai who put paid to Saurashtra's hopes of a maiden triumph by wrapping the final in three days in 2012-13. That was the only time Saurashtra came close to the title. Mumbai won that match by an innings and 125 runs for their 40th trophy.
     Three seasons later, the scene remains more or less the same and it will take a huge effort from Saurashtra to upset a side which has almost won more titles than the rest of India combined.
     For the record, since 1990-91, Mumbai haven't lost any of the 10 finals they have played.
     Mumbai have at least .

Mighty Mumbai eye 41st title against Saurashtra

Uncertain for tomorrow's Asia Cup
opener against Bangladesh, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today skipped the entire training session of the Indian cricket team here even though he accompanied the side to the ground.
     Nursing back spasms, Dhoni's availability for the match at Mirpur tomorrow is not clear with his vice-captain Virat Kohli 
also refraining from giving a 
clear response.
     While a lot of players don't train on pre-match days, Dhoni normally plays football and does batting practice in the nets. Although, he never does any keeping drills during training sessions, he does gather a few before taking the field on match days.
     In a nutshell, Dhoni can't be ruled out till the playing XI is announced before toss tomorrow.
     Dhoni has been suffering from back spasms which resulted in Parthiv Patel being flown in on SOS basis as cover for the Indian captain.
     While he did not take part in the training session, Dhoni keenly watched his teammates go through the paces 

Dhoni skips practice session but can't be ruled out altogether

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood pleaded guilty to dissent today following a profanity-laced confrontation with the umpires in the second Test against New Zealand, an Australian team spokesman said.
     Tempers flared after a Hazlewood lbw appeal for the wicket of Kane Williamson was turned down. Hazlewood was heard to use a swear word as players angrily converged on the umpires.
     The team spokesman said there was no immediate word on a penalty for Hazlewood.
     The stumps microphones at Hagley Oval picked up the obscenity from Hazlewood and others when the Australians converged on umpires Richard Kettleborough and Ranmore Martinesz.
     Hazlewood's appeal for the wicket of Williamson on 88 was rejected by Martinesz in the last over before lunch and the third umpire Richard Illingworth, after reviewing a replay, agreed Williamson was not out.
     Australian fast bowler Jackson Bird said the angry reaction was down to frustration after a tough morning in the field in ...

Hazlewood pleads guilty to dissent in umpire row

Defending champion Harendra Gupta will look to retain his title when the second edition of the Golconda Masters Golf Championship begins at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Thursday.
     The Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, today announced the second edition of the event which will carry a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh.
     The tournament, which will be preceded by a Pro-Am event on tomorrow, was inaugurated today amidst much fanfare by Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mohammad Mahmood Ali.
     The tournament will witness participation by 120 leading professional golfers from India and its neighboring countries as well as six local amateurs.
     Top Indians in the fray include Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi, Udayan Mane, Rolex Ranking leader Feroz Ali Mollah, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan, Shankar Das, and Abhijit Singh Chadha, to name a few.
     The foreign challenge will be led by 

Gupta looks to retain title in Golconda Masters

An authorised biography of Sepp Blatter written by the shamed FIFA president's former spokesman will be released next month, the publisher said today, four days before an election to choose Blatter's successor.
     "It is really a journey through Sepp Blatter's life," said Alain Diezig of publisher Werd&Weber.
     "Mission Football", which includes many photos, was written by Thomas Renggli, who served as Blatter's spokesman at FIFA before resigning last September.
     "Mr. Renggli has some very personal information from Mr. Blatter," Diezig told AFP.
     The German draft is currently undergoing final edits with publication expected in the coming weeks, while an English translation is due out in June, the publisher further said.
     Diezig added that the book charts Blatter's early years in his home Swiss canton of Valais, his start in sports management and his rise "up the FIFA hierarchy".
     He said the project began long-before May 2015, when the unprecedented crisis ...

Blatter biography to be released in weeks - publisher

Bangladeshi cricketer Mohammad Rubel Hossain has been temporarily excluded from the new central contracts' list for not following the Board's injury rehabilitation guidelines.
     "Everyone but Rubel in the previous contract stays (in the new contract). He has not followed the injury rehabilitation guidelines he was given," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan was quoted as saying in bdnews24.Com.
     The 26-year-old cricketer was axed from all international matches in July last year due to injury. The pacer suffered an injury again while playing a match in India in September. He recovered and played six matches for Sylhet Superstars in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and has been out since December.
     "No one has been selected in his place. He will be able to get in the (central) contract if he can come up with a satisfactory reply. Otherwise he will be dropped," Hassan said.
     Last year, Rubel was put on custody for three days when he was arrested by ...

Hossain faces punishment for not following injury guidelines

Bangladeshi cricketer Mohammad Rubel Hossain has been temporarily excluded from the new central contract for not following injury rehabilitation guidelines.
     "Everyone but Rubel in the previous contract stays (in the new contract). He has not followed the injury rehabilitation guidelines he was given," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan was quoted as saying in bdnews24.Com.
     The 26-year-old cricketer was axed from all international matches in July last year due to injury. The pacer suffered an injury again while playing a match in India in September. He recovered and played six matches for Sylhet Superstars in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and has been out since December.
     "No one has been selected in his place. He will be able to get in the (central) contract if he can come up with a satisfactory reply. Otherwise he will be dropped," Hassan said.
     Last year, Rubel was put on custody for three days when he was arrested by Bangladeshi police ...

Hossain face punishment for not following injury guidelines

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh are among 19 cricketers set to feature in their sixth successive ICC World Twenty20 beginning next month in India.
     There are 29 women's cricketers, including India's Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who will make their fifth consecutive appearance in the mega event.
     In the men's event, Bangladesh will field a team that boasts five players who have played in all the previous five events. They are Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim.
     India and West Indies sides include three players each who have participated in the previous events, which were staged in South Africa, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Denesh Ramdin have played for the West Indies.
     Nathan McCullum, Ross Taylor (both New Zealand), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy (both South Africa), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga (both Sri Lanka), Shahid Afridi ...

Dhoni, Rohit, Yuvraj to appear in their 6th World T20 in a row

Bangladesh limited-overs captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is set to be named as the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) "national goodwill ambassador for youth" on Thursday.
     The appointment will be made official on Thursday following a signing ceremony, the UNDP said in a statement.
     "UNDP Bangladesh will appoint Mr Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as the UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Youth in Bangladesh," the release stated.
     Mashrafe, who is currently the ODI and Twenty20 skipper, said that he had received the proposal a month ago and was extremely excited to receive the opportunity.

Mortaza set to become UNDP's goodwill ambassador

FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali is asking for Friday's election to be suspended in a dispute over voting procedures.
     The Jordanian prince's lawyers said today they are seeking "provisional measures" from the Court of Arbitration for Sport to postpone the vote to select Sepp Blatter's successor.
     The lawyers said in a statement that FIFA turned down Prince Ali's request for the use of transparent voting booths, a move they said will deny "any right to a fair and transparent voting process."
     The statement said Prince Ali took the matter to CAS yesterday.
     The lawyers, Francis Szpiner and Renaud Semerdjian, said FIFA had rejected Prince Ali's offer to have transparent booths sent to Zurich for the vote. They said FIFA was only requesting that voters leave their mobile phones behind when they go to the voting booths.
     "This request is not sufficient," the statement said.
     "FIFA remains silent upon the measures to enforce it and sanctions associated with ...

Prince Ali seeks postponement of FIFA presidential election

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza today termed the Indian batting line-up as one of the best in the world but said his highly skilled pacer Mustafizur Rahaman can upset any kind of homework done by the visiting batsmen.
     On the eve of the Asia Cup T20 opener against India, the Bangladesh skipper had to field various questions on the 20-year-old left-arm fast medium bowler, whom he feels "can do things which others in his team can't".
     "Mustafiz (that's how Mashrafe refers to him) has many variations of his slow cutters. It is only important as to how confident he is about the execution part. He does he not focus on opposition batsmen and only concentrates on what he knows best. You can do your homework against Mustafiz but it might not work," Mashrafe told mediapersons here today.
     Since his mindblowing debut against India last year, the frail left-arm seamer attracted a lot of attention, but his skipper assured that his feet are rooted to the ground firmly.
     ...

Batsmen's home work against Mustafizur may not work: Mashrafe

The titles keep piling up but Pankaj Advani's hunger remains unsatiated and India's star billiards player will now be eyeing a record sixth Asian title when he competes in the event from March 1 in Colombo.
     He has amassed a record 15 world titles across all formats of billiards and snooker, but the 30-year-old is eager to break his own record of the maximum number of Asian titles.
     A finalist in the previous season after losing to compatriot, Dhruv Sitwala, Advani was the first to admit that the challenge of winning the title after three years would be tough, yet extremely exciting.
     "None of the competitions that I have ever participated in have been easy. Every competition in all formats of the sport has always presented its own challenges and competition and it's the excitement in conquering those challenges that keeps me going," Advani said.
     "Holding a record 5 titles in this championship, I know that working towards another title will be an uphill task with some 

Advani eyes record 6th Asian title next month

Smriti Mehra fired a sizzling three-under 67 to grab the pole position after the first round of the fifth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, here today.
     Three shots adrift, in second position at level par is Gursimar Badwal.
     Smriti had a shaky start and carded a bogey on the very first hole. Thereafter, the professional from Kolkata regained her composure, carding two birdies on the third and eighth holes in her front nine.
     She added three more birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes, which were neutralised by a bogey on the 11th and a double on the 15th. However, an eagle on the 18th hole helped her to secure a three shot lead over Gursimar in the Rs 6,00,000 event which will culminate on Thursday.
     Kapurthala's Gursimar played a cautious round, carding two birdies on the eighth and 18th holes with an equal number of bogeys on the fifth and 11th to take the second position with a score of even par 70 after the first .

Smriti fires three-under to grab early lead

Having failed to make the grade at the top tier Asian Champions League, Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan will begin their AFC Cup football campaign against Maziya Sports and Recreation Club of the Maldives in their 'home' leg match here tomorrow.
     Mohun Bagan had to play in the AFC Cup, the second tier club competition of the continent, after losing 0-6 against China's Shandong Luneng in the second round of the qualifiers of the AFC Champions League early this month.
     The reigning I-League champion side are playing at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium here as the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata has been closed down to prepare it for next year's Under-17 FIFA World Cup and none of the other stadiums nearby are of AFC standards.
     In fact, the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium will also host Mohun Bagan's two other 'home' matches in Group G on March 16 and May 11.
     Despite the disappointment of not being able to advance further in the AFC Champions League qualification round, ...

Bagan take on Maldives in AFC Cup in Guwahati

Senior BCCI vice-president and top DDCA official CK Khanna has been appointed as principal advisor of the Supervisory Committee constituted by Justice Mukul Mudgal for the ICC World T20 matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here.
     "Mr Justice Mukul Mudgal (Retd) has appointed Sr DDCA and BCCI vice-President C K Khanna as principal advisor to Supervisory committee constituted by him for T20 World Cup matches," DDCA vice-President Chetan Chauhan said in a release.
     A 12-member committee comprising DDCA officials will be monitored by a five-man committee consisting of Justice Mudgal, Amrit Mathur (Board Representative), MV Sridhar (Tournament Director), Sunil Valson (former cricketer and GMR representative) and Suresh Chopra (veteran DDCA official).
     The Feroz Shah Kotla stadium will be hosting four matches during the World Cup T20, which is starting with a clash between Hong Kong and Zimbabwe on March 8 at Nagpur.
     On March 23, England will take on a Qualifier in the ..

Khanna named principal advisor to committee scanning WC ties

Three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington will be the cynosure of all eyes when the 52nd Hero Indian Open returns with Anirban Lahiri looking to defend his title in one of the strongest-ever fields at the prestigious Delhi Golf course next month.
     The 44-year-old Irish, who won The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008, will be competing against a strong field of players from Europe and Asia when the national open is held from March 17 to 20.
     Besides former champions like Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thailand) and Mardan Mamat (Singapore), the Indian field will include Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, SSP Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Rai and Chiragh Kumar.
     Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour for the second straight year, the prestigious event will carry an enhanced prize purse of USD 1.66 million.
     "I am really looking forward to play at the Indian 

Major champion Harrington star attraction at Hero Indian Open

He is among the most dreaded batsmen in international cricket right now but Indian swashbuckler Virat Kohli says he has made peace with one short coming in his
game, that he can't strike big sixes.
     Kohli has hit only 27 sixes in 33 T20 Internationals compared to a whopping 127 boundaries. And talking about his game ahead of the Asia Cup starting tomorrow, the marauding right-hander said he has come to terms with being just a four -hitter.
     "The game plan in my initial days in T20 was to get 10 off 10 and then take off. But I realised that I don't have the kind of shots to hit big sixes. I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot hit big sixes so I focus on boundaries," Kohli told mediapersons ahead of India's Asia Cup T20 opener against Bangladesh, here today.
     "Our team has good momentum going into Asia Cup. We cannot be over-confident and we have to respect every opposition," said Kohli.
     The Indian vice-captain was all praise for Mustafizur Rahaman, the pacer 

Boundaries work for me as I can't hit big sixes: Kohli

Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli today said the Asia Cup starting here tomorrow is a perfect platform to assess the team's strengths, weaknesses and its current standing on the global stage ahead of the big-ticket World Twenty20 next month.
     India lock horns with Bangladesh in the tournament-opener of the Asia Cup T20 here tomorrow, beginning their final phase of preparations for next month's World T20 to be held in India.
     "Going into the World Cup as I said, the conditions are going to be similar and we will probably be playing all these oppositions at some stage. So, as many teams as we play before the World Cup, it gives us a great opportunity to assess what the teams are like, what the balance is like, what  their
strengths and weaknesses are, and where do we stand  compared
to them. You can see it (Asia Cup) as a whole package before the World Cup," Kohli said at the pre-match press conference here.
     India begin the tournament on the back of some very impressive ..

Asia Cup is like a whole package before World T20: Kohli

The jury is still out on whether Pakistan's convicted spot-fixer Muhammad Aamir should have been allowed to play international cricket but Indian vice-captain Virat Kohli is "happy" to find the talented left-arm pacer back in their national team.
     Aamir was banned for five years for his involvement in spot-fixing during the England tour of 2010 and has made a comeback this year after serving the suspension period.
     When Kohli was asked about the game against Pakistan, he did speak about Aamir's return.
     "I don't feel anything different playing Pakistan. It's the same game of cricket. I look at all oppositions with the same view. Matches against Pakistan are certainly competitive. People may feel excited but for players it's the same as any other team. I am happy to see Aamir back, it's good to see that he has realised his mistake, learnt from it and rectified himself," he said.
     Kohli is one of the few non-Pakistani international cricketers who has welcomed Aamir's ...

I am happy to see Aamir back in International cricket: Kohli

India enter the final phase of their preparations for next month's World Twenty20 with the Asia Cup starting tomorrow but a cloud of uncertainty over skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's availability threatens to disturb the side's momentum going into the tournament-opener against Bangladesh here.
     Dhoni has suffered a muscle spasm during the team's training session yesterday, prompting the BCCI to rush Parthiv Patel as his back-up.
     The skipper's fitness is a concern going into tomorrow's match against the sprightly hosts, who have built a reputation of being giant-slayers on more than one occasion.
     The continental championship will be played in a Twenty20 format from the usual ODI keeping the World T20 in mind and the need for the Asian teams to get some much-needed match time before the marquee event starts next month.
     For India, who are considered as title contenders, a good Asia Cup performance will give them the much-needed boost going into the World T20.
     While .

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