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 .

Dhoni's fitness a concern as India take on Bangladesh

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard at stumps on day
four of the second Test between New Zealand and Australia here today.
     New Zealand 1st innings: 370
     Australia 1st innings: 505
     New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 121 for 4)
     T Latham c Nevill b Pattinson     39
     M Guptill c Nevill b Pattinson     0
     K Williamson b Bird               97
     H Nicholls c Smith b Pattinson     2
     B McCullum c Warner b Hazlewood   25
     C Anderson b Bird                 40
     B Watling c Burns b Pattinson     46
     T Southee c Smith b Bird           0
     M Henry b Bird                    66
     N Wagner not out                   3
     T Boult c Pattinson b Bird         0
     Extras: (B-2, LB-14, NB-1)        17
     Total: (all out; 111.1 overs)    335
     Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-66, 3-72, 4-105, 5-207, 6-210, 7-210, 8-328, 9-335.
     Bowling: Hazlewood 34-11-92-1, Pattinson 26-8-77-4, Bird 17.1-5-59-5, Lyon 17-3-42-0, Marsh 17-4-49-0.
     Australia 2nd innings:
     J Burns not out  

Christchurch, Feb 23 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on day

Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja had Australia in sight of victory after an absorbing fourth day of the second Test today marked by stubborn resistance from New Zealand and umpire abuse by the tourists.
     With Burns on 27 and Khawaja 19, Australia were 70 for 1 at stumps requiring a further 131 at Hagley Oval here to sweep the series and reclaim the world number one ranking.
     Jackson Bird, with his first five-wicket Test haul, and James Pattinson combined to end the New Zealand second innings at 335, giving Australia a 201-run target.
     David Warner, who has struggled on New Zealand surfaces, was the Australian wicket to fall, caught behind for 22.
     Neil Wagner, using the short ball that provided him with six wickets in the first innings, caught Warner's glove and BJ Watling completed the dismissal down the leg-side.
     Burns offered chances but luck was on his side. On 19, he pulled Henry through square leg where Wagner was unable to hold a difficult chance. On 23, an ...

Australia in sight of victory and top world ranking

The Pakistan Cricket Board has included opener Sharjeel Khan and fast bowler Muhammad Sami in the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup and World T20 tournaments after injuries to Babar Azam and Ruman Raees.
     The expected announcement came late last night through a press release from the PCB, which said that the changes were necessitated due to injuries that batsman Azam and pace bowler Raees had picked during the Pakistan Super League in Dubai.
     The PCB said Babar and Raees were unavailable for both events. Both the youngsters are yet to play in a T20 international for Pakistan.
     According to the PCB, Azam suffered a fracture on his left forearm during a practice session with Islamabad United and he has been advised around three to four weeks rest. Left arm pacer Raees suffered a grade one hamstring strain and is working to regain his fitness.
     "After having looked at the performance of the players in the PSL, the selection committee along with captain Shahid Afridi and ...

Sharjeel, Sami in Asia Cup, World T20 squad

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel outgunned reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton to post the fastest time as the 2016 Formula One pre-season got underway with the first test here.
     The Italian giants are expected to pose an even stronger challenge to Hamilton's Mercedes this season after Vettel showed signs of a Ferrari revival by winning three races last year. The four-time former world champion was nearly half a second faster than Hamilton in a time of 1min 24.939sec.
     "It is better than being last but (being fastest) is not really important," said Vettel.
     "We were happy with the car and how it felt, but it is better to be first in about a month's time."
     However, after dominating the sport for the past two seasons, Mercedes's reliability sent another warning shot to the rest of the paddock as Hamilton racked up a huge mileage of 155 laps -- nearly twice as much as anyone else.
     History also favours Hamilton and Mercedes. Ferrari posted the quickest time on day one ..

Vettel quickest in F1 testing opener

Scoreboard at tea on day four of the second Test between New Zealand and Australia in Christchurch on Tuesday.
     New Zealand first innings: 370
     Australia 1st innings: 505
     New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 121 for 4)
     T Latham c Nevill b Pattinson     39
     M Guptill c Nevill b Pattinson     0
     K Williamson b Bird               97
     H Nicholls c Smith b Pattinson     2
     B McCullum c Warner b Hazlewood   25
     C Anderson b Bird                 40
     B Watling not out                 46
     T Southee c Smith b Bird           0
     M Henry not out                   45
     Extras: (B-2, LB-14, NB-1)        17
     Total: (For 7 wkts; 102 overs)   311
     Fall of wicket: 1-8, 2-66, 3-72, 4-105, 5-207, 6-210, 7-210.
     Bowling: Hazlewood 29-9-79-1, Pattinson 23-8-66-3, Bird 16-4-59-3, Lyon 17-3-42-0, Marsh 17-4-49-0.

Christchurch, Feb 23 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on day four of the second Test between New Zealand and Australia in Christchurch on Tuesday.

Jackson Bird disrupted a valiant New Zealand fightback with three wickets in six balls including the prized scalp of Kane Williamson on a fractious fourth day of the second Test today.
     But despite Bird's best efforts New Zealand resurrected their drive to save the contest as BJ Watling and Matt Henry stretched the second innings to 311 for 7 at tea, a lead of 176.
     Watling, who has five hundreds to his name, was on 46 with Henry on a Test-best 45 in a 101-run partnership.
     Williamson was out for 97, denied his century after he and Corey Anderson had batted stoically through the morning session before Bird's breakthrough reduced New Zealand from 207 for 4 to 210 for 7.
     Anderson, having put aside his usual attacking instincts to reach 40 in three hours, drove at a wide delivery and edged it on to the stumps with the last ball of Bird's warm-up over before taking the new ball.
     With the new cherry in hand Bird bowled Williamson with a full-length delivery that ...

Bird strikes three as New Zealand fight back

England soccer international Adam Johnson told a court today of his "stupidity" in kissing a 15-year-old girl, but denied allegations of sexual contact with her.
	Johnson, who is accused of sexual activity with a child, gave evidence in his trial.
	The former Sunderland winger has admitted to kissing her.
	Johnson told the jury he knew kissing the girl was an offense, but didn't realize that communicating with her with the intention of kissing her was also an offense.
	Junior prosecutor Daniel Thomas read a statement that Johnson made for police.
	He said Johnson admitted to kissing the girl "fully on the lips" during a meeting in his car on January 30 last year.
	"I accept the stupidity of my actions," Thomas read from Johnson's statement.
	He said Johnson described his actions as "wholly unacceptable," and said he withdrew from any further contact with the girl because of her age and his own personal situation.
	"She's a child and ought to have been safe in my company," the ...

Johnson admits 'stupidity' of kissing girl in court

Indian cricket team Director Ravi
Shastri wants a positive start from his wards in the Asia Cup, and said "winning is habit" which they want to keep rolling in the Asia Cup, which kick starts here on Wednesday.
     India will face hosts Bangladesh in the tournament opener and Shastri feels every game from here on is "important" for his side in the run up to the ICC World Twenty20, starting next month.
     "Winning is a habit so when you are playing good cricket it is important to keep that habit going. Focus on your strengths, focus on your work ethics and make sure that you are not complacent, neither are you overconfident," Shastri told reporters here today.
     India are currently on a roll in Twenty20 cricket having routed Australia 3-0 and then registering a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Sri Lanka at home.
     "We don't want to always come from behind, sometimes we want to start well also. So, hopefully we will be looking to do that in this tournament. Like I said every game .

For Shastri winning is a habit which needs to continue

Bengal Warriors routed hosts Jaipur Pink Panthers 34-18 to register their seventh win  in the
ongoing Pro Kabaddi League, here today.
     The Warriors now have 37 points from 10 games.
     Bengal Warriors defence, led by the calculative skipper Nilesh Shinde with excellent support from Girish Ernak and Bajirao Hodage, was the key to their victory in a match where for once the attackers had to take the back seat.
     As for the home team their chances of getting into the top four have received a serious setback with this their sixth defeat in 11 matches and now have 25 points in their kitty. With three matches remaining only a miracle can help them now.
     At half-time the winners led 11-8 and then in the second half dismissed their rivals twice in the 26th and 39th minutes.
     Substitute Shyam Kumar Sah covered himself with glory by scoring five raid points in five raids that included a super raid of four points in the 38th minute. He also had a hand in one dismissal that gave .

Bengal Warriors rout Jaipur Pink Panthers 34-18

Nava Nalanda High School today defeated Gyan Bharati Vidyapith by 812 runs to achieve a rare feat in Cricket Association of Bengal organised Mayor's Cup inter-school cricket tournament here.
     Batting first Nava Nalanda HS rode on centuries from Sreyas Banerjee, Iman Chowdhury and Dipanshu Sarkar to pile 617/2 in 38 overs.
     There was more misery in store for Gyan Bharati, who conceded 227 runs as a penalty for a slow over rate of seven overs.
     Banerjee blasted 193 from 78 balls with 32 fours and eight sixes while Chowdhury (179 from 77 balls; 24x4s, 9x6s) and Sarkar (176 from 58 balls; 18x4s, 15x6s) remained unbeaten to give the total a late push.
     In reply, Gyan Bharati were skittled out for 32 in 11.3 overs with Sandip Halder being the wrecker-in-chief with a five for 27-run spell to go down by the huge margin.
     Incidentally at the same ground of Northern Park, Ritvik Sinha of Tirthapati Institute scored a colossal 383 in their win against Park Institute last ...

Nava Nalanda beat Gyan Bharati by a huge 812 runs

Bangladesh's international cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife were today indicted by a special court here on charges of torturing their 11-year-old maid, in what could jeopardise the pace bowler's career for life.
	"The judge set March 22 for beginning the trial hearing," an official of the Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal told PTI.
	If found guilty, the 29-year-old pace bowler, who has played 38 Tests and 51 one-day internationals for Bangladesh, and his wife Jesmine Jahan Nrittya could face up to 14 years in jail.
	Hossain has already been suspended from all forms of the game by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on September 13 after a case was registered against him under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
	In line with the court practice, after pronouncing the indictment order today, Judge Tanjina Ismail asked Hossain and his wife whether they would admit their guilt but the couple claimed innocence, the official of the Tribunal said.
	In ...

Bangla court indicts cricketer, wife for torturing minor maid

Former India international Renedy Singh feels merging the Indian Super League (ISL) with the I-League is the way forward for Indian football.
     Talking to PTI, the 36-year-old former midfielder from Manipur said, "The merger cannot happen straightaway. The big stars who come to play in the ISL would not agree to spend one whole year in India. As of now, they are comfortable staying here for three-four months. But, a few tears down the line, the prospect needs to be explored," said the assistant coach of FC Pune City.
     Renedy feels that the current crop of Indian footballers stand to gain alot by training under coaches such as Zico and David Platt (Renedy's boss at FC Pune City).
     "In our times, we did not get that opportunity. Look at Jeje (Lalpekhlua). He is doing so well in the I-League because he got to rub shoulders with great players and coaches in the ISL," he quipped.
     At the same time, Renedy feels that ISL should not prosper at the cost of I-League.
     "The ..

Merging I-League with ISL is the way forward: Renedy

India's first Winter Olympian, Shiva Keshavan, today urged the authorities to come forward and help the athletes who are left to battle all odds in their quest to bring laurels to the country.
     Taking part in a panel discussion under the banner 'International Convention on Business of Sports', organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, the youngest ever athlete to officially qualify for the Olympic Games in luge said, "We sportsmen are always very altruistic. We focus so much on doing well in our respective disciplines that nothing else matters to us. But, the government should come forward and help us nonetheless."
     The 34-year-old athlete from Manali took part as an independent participant in 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics due to the suspension of Indian Olympic Association (IOA). However, as the ban was lifted while the Games were still on, he ended up competing under the Indian flag.
     "I have taken part in five Winter Olympics without 

Winter Olympian Keshavan urges govt to support athletes

Mahendra Singh Dhoni today suffered a muscle spasm prompting the BCCI to include Parthiv Patel as a back-up for the limited overs skipper just two days ahead of India's Asia Cup T20 opener against hosts Bangladesh here.
     The 34-year-old Dhoni suffered the condition during the team's training session here.
     "India ODI and T20I captain MS Dhoni has suffered a muscle spasm in the back during a training session today in Dhaka," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement.
     "The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Parthiv Patel as the back-up wicketkeeper for the upcoming Asia Cup, 2016. He will join the team in Dhaka at the earliest."
     Medium Pacer Jasprit Bumrah did not train on the first day. Parthiv has been summoned as precautionary measure, team sources said, adding, Bumrah is a "little under the weather and advised rest today".
     The 30-year-old left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman, Patel plays for Gujarat in the domestic circuit, and has had a good ...

Dhoni suffers injury, Parthiv called as back-up

A 30-year-old Indian-origin man is among several workers who are still waiting to be paid for the work they did for a now-defunct security firm nearly four years ago during the London Olympics.
	Jatinder Ghuman worked for Britannia Security Service at the 2012 Paralympics as a steward overseeing crowd control, according to a BBC investigation.
	Ghuman claims he is still owed all of his wages nearly four years later, despite working for 14 consecutive days.
	"The amount of money I was looking to get is around 1,500 pounds, for the work I did. We were doing 12 to 13 hour shifts and we were told that if we did five days in a trot (consecutively)... We will actually get a 250 pounds bonus as well. We didn't even get that," he told the BBC's 'Inside Out London' show to be telecast today.
	At least 11 stewards and security guards are owed up to 1,800 pounds each.
	The woman who allegedly hired all of them, Rukhsana Kauser, insists she never directly recruited anyone for the Olympics.
	In ...

Indian-origin worker fights for 2012 London Paralympics pay

Long-distance runner Lalita Babar was today named as the Sports Person of the Year  in the
India
Sports Awards 2015.
     The Indian Sports Award were were given away here today at the conclusion of day one of 'Turf 2015-16', organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with the support of the Sports Ministry.
     Babar qualified for Rio Olympics recently im the 3000m steepelchase event 
and is the current Indian national record holder.
     She also won a bronze medal in 2014 Incheon Asian Games and is the current Asian champion.
     Besides Babar, 
gynmast Dipa Karmakar was named as the
Breakthrough Sports Person of the Year while Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India was conferred with the Best National Sports Federation recognition.
     Hockey legend Balbir Singh has been conferred with the Lifetime Achievement award.
     The recipients of the award in different categories are:
     Best Company Promoting Sports (Public Sector): Oil and Natural 

Babar named Sports Person of the Year

The International Hockey Federation (IHF) president Leandro Negre has urged the corporate sector to back Indian hockey to help it get back to its glory days.
     "Like cricket, hockey too can reach the top position if it gets corporate help," the former Spanish goaltender told reporters during the HIL here.
     Negre said the Hockey India League (HIL) has quality and standard that can help the players improve their game.
     "Introduction of HIL has given chance to players to show their skill and prowess, which will augur well in the future," he said.
     Speaking on the expansion of the game, Negre said talks were on with some countries in central America and Africa and the strength of the FIH might go up to 140 from the present 132 countries.

IHF president urges corporates to help India get back to glory

Anirban Lahiri was hit by late bogeys as he slid from a potential top-20 finish to tied 39th at the Northern Trust Open here.
     The 28-year-old Indian ace, was going fine at one-under for 10 holes and six-under for the tournament, when he got run over by three bogeys on 12th, 15th and 16th and suddenly he dropped to two-over here yesterday.
     Lahiri finally finished at three-under for the tournament and in tied 39th place.
     It was his third cut in four starts in 2016, but each week his game has suggested that better results are around the corner. That's the positive he will take into the next week's USD 6.1m Honda Classic.
     Despite the somewhat disappointing finish Lahiri still lies 94th in the FedEx Cup standings.
     Meanwhile, Bubba Watson, proved once again why he is such a dangerous player. Two shots adrift with four to go, the two-time Masters champion, who already has a win in the Hero World Challenge this season, albeit in the calendar year 2015, rallied ...

Late bogeys cost Lahiri, slides to 39th at Northern Trust

Former world champion and world record holder Tejaswini Sawant won the women's 50m rifle prone event at the 16th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship here today.
     Tejaswini shot 618.4 to edge out V Srinithi Abirami of Tamil Nadu and bag the silver medal. Srinithi shot 618.1, just 0.3 points off Tejaswini, while veteran Kuheli Gangulee won the bronze with a final score of 617.7 at the National Games Shooting Range.
     The other events of the day were dominated by shooters belonging to the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) with Om Prakash leading a clean sweep for them in the men's 50m pistol event. Om Prakasha won gold shooting 191.7 while his colleague from the unit and namesake clinched the silver shooting 189.5 in the finals.
     Gurpal Singh ensured none of the medals in the event went outside the unit shooting a score of 164.3 to win the bronze medal. The team gold in the event also went to the AMU, which was a given as all three of their shooters made the final ..

Tejaswini Sawant wins gold as Army dominates Day 2

Pakistan's cricket authorities are making strong attempts to invite a Commonwealth XI side this year in a bid to revive international cricket in the country.
     Najam Sethi, who headed the successful conduct of inaugural Pakistan Super League, told reporters in Dubai that the cricket board was trying to get a Commonwealth side to tour Pakistan.
     "We are in touch with Giles Clarke, President of the England and Wales Cricket Board, because we feel if we can have the Commonwealth side play in Pakistan than we can also have some matches of the second edition of PSL in Pakistan as well," Sethi said.
     The PCB was forced to launch the PSL in Dubai and Sharjah since no top Test team had toured Pakistan since March 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.
     Since then only Afghanistan has sent its team to Pakistan while Zimbabwe came for a short one-day series last May.
     Sethi said that they had been in talks with Clarke and other officials as well to ...

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