Pacer Mohammad Shami was today ruled out of India's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, raising doubts about his participation in the marqee ICC World Twenty20 that follows the continental tournament.
     Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as replacement for Shami by the selection committe.
     After a long injury layoff, post last year's World Cup, Shami was recalled to the national squad for the tour Down Under, only to be ruled out again by a hamstring injury.
     "The BCCI medical team confirms that Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of Asia Cup, 2016. The decision has been taken to give him more time to recover from the Grade II injury to his left hamstring," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement.
     Shami had not proved his fitness at the time of the announcement of the squad, on February 5, for the two tournaments.
     However senior selection committee chairman Sandeep Patil had claimed at a press conference during the announcement of the team that "Shami had 

Shami ruled out of Asia Cup, looks doubtful for World T20

PTI Automatic

The second game of the just concluded three-match T20 series between India and Sri Lanka was the most viewed T20 encounter in the past five years.
     The match on February 12 at Ranchi was rated 256 TVM (Television Viewership in Millions) on Star Sports network, according to BARC Panel CS4+ Urban calculations, surpassing by a huge margin the 112 TVM mark set by the India-Pakistan T20 game of December 25, 2012 in Bengaluru.
	India won the match played in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hometown by 69 runs.
	"This is a fantastic start to the T20 season of cricket entertainment that will be available on Star Sports up ahead. We have got the Asia Cup (Feb 24-Mar 6) being played in the T20 format for the very first time, followed by India playing host to the ICC World T20 (Mar 8-Apr 3).
	"All the action from these tournaments will be broadcast live on Star Sports," Star India Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Gupta said in a statement.

India-Lanka T20 game in Ranchi breaks 5-year viewership record

India's limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today launched lifestyle brand SEVEN, which will manufacture and market running, training, indoor, and athletic-leisurewear apparel and footwear.
     RS Seven Lifestyle (P) Ltd, a part of Rhiti Group launched its active lifestyle brand, SEVEN, in the capital.
     At SEVEN's launch, Dhoni was announced as the brand's global ambassador.
     In addition to being the face of the brand, Dhoni is closely involved in the design and development of the Seven range of footwear. His insights as an athlete have helped the design team in putting the range together and his inputs will be available to them in the future too.
     Dhoni said, "The SEVEN ambition is all about making fitness an intrinsic part of every city, every town, every school, every home.  In my opinion, you don't have to be a professional athlete to take your fitness seriously. All you need is the motivation to lead an Active Lifestyle.
     "The thought-process and ...

Indian apparel, footwear brand launched in Dhoni's presence

The secretary of unsanctioned Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) Aditya Verma today alleged that top BCCI officials, including president Shashank Manohar, "used him in their battle against N Srinivasan" and dumped the IPL spot-fixing petitioner after their "purpose was served".
     The face of anti Srinivasan movement, Verma has found out that rival cricket association from the state Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) secretary Mrityunjay Tiwary was invited to attend the board's working committee meeting.
     "Today I feel used by BCCI president Shashank Manohar. I have no hesitation in revealing that he did support me fully when I fought against N Srinivasan and exposed the corruption in Indian cricket. He made promise to help Cricket Association of Bihar's affiliation case. Now I find that some of these administrators wear a facade when they are not in power.
     "Everyone is the same," a dejected Verma told PTI after finding that BCCI has virtually "dumped him" in favour of the ...

I have been used by Shashank Manohar and Co: Aditya Verma

India's limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today made it clear that he is not retiring from international cricket anytime soon.
     The 34-year-old Dhoni had called time on his Test career in the middle of the away series against Australia in December 2014.
     Dhoni, who guided India to two world titles -- inaugural World T20 in 2007 and World Cup in 2011 -- besides overseeing the country's rise to the pinnacle of Test ranking, is seeking to regain the trophy he won nine years ago in South Africa.
     "After the Asia Cup T20 and World T20 there is the Indian Premier League. And then the team is mostly playing Test cricket and about five to six ODIs, which will be over quickly," Dhoni said on the sidelines of a launch of a lifestyle apparel brand.
     The World T20 starts from March 8 and will conclude on April 3.
     Dhoni overcame his captaincy woes with back-to-back T20I series wins in Australia and at home against Sri Lanka recently, but his run with the bat remained .

No international retirement in sight for Dhoni

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has rated Sachin Tendulkar as the all-time best batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, saying the maestro truly deserves to be called "great" at a time when the word is "bandied" about often.
     "For me, he's the greatest batsman after Don Bradman. While I hold Brian Lara in high regard because of his match-winning ability, I don't think any batsman can achieve more out of the game than Sachin has," Ponting wrote in his forward for a book titled 'Tendulkar in Wisden: An anthology'.
     "The word great is often bandied about, but great is something that's achieved over a long period of time. Sachin played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs (and one Twenty20 International), scored 34,357 runs and 100 international hundreds -- that is great.
     "Younger players may reach No.1 over a period of 12 or 18 months -- that's not great. That's having a good year. If you can do it as long as Sachin did, only then you be considered great," he further stated.
     Ponting 

Tendulkar is the greatest after Bradman: Ponting

Emboldened by recent success at home and away, India's limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today asserted that his team is in "auto-pilot" mode and shaping up well for the upcoming big-ticket ICC World Twenty20.
     India blanked Sri Lanka 3-0 at home recently, following their triumph Down Under, which has given the team hope of regaining the trophy it won in its inaugural edition in 2007 under the leadership of Dhoni.
     The 34-year-old said, "We have played T20s in Australia and the at home in recent times. The team is doing well. So, you can say that the team is in auto-pilot mode. Injuries have to be kept at bay. If every player is fit, and every player is in form then it is good for the team," Dhoni said today.
     Dhoni is especially satisfied with the performance of his bowlers and expects them to deliver in the mega-event starting March 8. According to him, they are better equipped to do well in the shortest format than in ODIs.
     "As far as T20 is concerned, our 

Indian team is in auto-pilot mode, says confident Dhoni

Defending champions Mohun Bagan would look to maintain their unbeaten run intact when they face an in-form Sporting Clube de Goa in an I-League football clash at the Vidyasagar Krirangan at Barasat tomorrow.
     The Mariners have not lost a single match this season but come tomorrow their defence will be wary of their former striker Odafa Okolie who has seven goals from five matches this season.
     Four of Okolie's seven goals have come in last three matches as the Sporting Goa captain has been in menacing form and will give the Mohun Bagan defence a challenging time.
     "I don't want to comment on the opposition's defense. You will get your answers tomorrow. As I am a striker, my job is to score goals and help my team win. There is nothing of revenge as such. We are in good position in the table and now my aim is to make that position stronger," Odafa said.
     "Sometime you score and sometime you don't but the most important thing is to get three points. Last year we got the ..

Unbeaten Bagan wary of Sporting Goa

Gaganjeet Bhullar staged a great comeback from a disastrous start and then endured a roller-coaster of a round to card even par 71 and stay with Top-20 at the midway stage of inaugural US$3 million Maybank Championship here today.
     Apart from Bhullar, the only other Indian to survive the 36-hole cut was Rahil Gangjee (72) were the only Indians to survive the halfway cut.
     Bhullar (67-71) was Tied-18th while Gangjee (68-72) was tied-39th. At the top, the 24-yar-old Nathan Holman of Australia produced a solid six-under-par 65 for a two-shot halfway lead at Royal Selangor Golf Club.
     SSP Chawrasia (73-71), Jeev Milkha Singh (76-69), Chiragh Kumar (74-72), Rashid Khan (73-73), Himmat Rai (75-72), Arjun Atwal (76-71) and Shiv Kapur (81-71) made an early exit.
     Holman rolled in seven birdies to double up his overnight lead with a 13-under-par 129 aggregate ahead of Richard Bland of England, who also shot a 65,
     Filipino rising star Miguel Tabuena, Korean youngster Soomin 

Bhullar placed tied-18th, Gangjee makes the cut too

Chess legend Garry Kasparov today shared his personal experiences with the business community at RIE 2016 organised by Entrepreneurs's Organisation.
     Kasparov shared his life experiences with top business magnets across the globe on how life imitates chess.
     His session was titled 'Checkmate: Reading an Opponent's Mind and how life imitates chess'.
     The former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist was in the national capital to motivate and inspire around 600 top entrepreneurs from all across the globe at the Regional Integration Event RIE - ZindaDilli 2016, organised by Delhi chapter of Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO).
     Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov, in 1985, to become the world's youngest chess champion and remained World No 1 for the next 20 years.
     He played IBM's Deep Blue - a super-computer that could analyse 200 million positions per second - and tied 1-1. And when he asked IBM for a tie-breaker game, they refused and dismantled Deep Blue.
     

Garry Kasparov speaks to entrepreneurs at RIE 2016

Uttar Pradesh leg spinner Piyush Chawla starred in D Y Patil A's comprehensive 93-run win over State Bank of Hyderabad in the 12th IDBI Federal Life Insurance D Y Patil T20 cricket tournament today.
	Chawla grabbed 3 for 15 to spin out State Bank of Hyderabad for 91 in 12 overs, chasing their rivals' impressive 184-8. He was backed up by Vinit Sinha (2-13) and Shubham Ranjane (2-25).
	In other matches, Central Railway defended a small total of 95 against Canara Bank to win by 23 runs while Reliance One was stunned by Mumbai Customs.
	CAG beat BPCL by two wickets off the last ball of the match in another game.
	Brief Scores:
     Reliance One: 70 in 16.4 overs (Balkrishan Shirke 3-11, Deepak Shetty 2-12, Jude Singh 2-20) lost to Mumbai Customs 71-3 in 8.2 overs (Sumit Ghadigaokar 39 not out, Kishore Kamat 2-7) by seven wickets.
	Central Railway 95 in 19.1 overs (Harshad Rawle 23, Nilkanth Parab 22; NC Aiyappa 3-21, Abhimanyu Mithun 2-16, Vyshak Vijaykumar 2-19) beat Canara Bank 72 in ..

Piyush Chawla shines for D Y Patil 'A'

Mahesh Bhupathi and Yuki Bhambri, playing for the first time together as a team, stormed into the men's doubles final of Delhi Open tennis tournament with an easy victory over their opponents here today.
     Bhupathi and Yuki hardly broke a sweat in their 6-1 6-3 victory over the pair of Jimmy Wang of Chinese Taipei and Ze Zhang of China in the semifinals in the USD 50,000 hard court tournament at the DLTA complex.
     Bhupathi and Yuki will face another Indian pair of Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh in the summit clash.
     Fourth seeds Myneni and Sanam defeated top seeded duo of Flavio Cipolla and Divij Sharan of India 6-3 6-3 in the other semifinals today.
     In the men's singles also, Myneni, seeded fourth, entered the semifinals with an easy 6-4 6-1 win over Zhe Li of China in the quarterfinals.
     Myneni will meet second seed Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium in the semifinals.
     Coppejans beat India's wild card entrant Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3 6-2 in another quarterfinals ...

Bhupathi-Yuki team storms into Delhi Open final

Medium-pacer Deepti Sharma grabbed six wickets haul before Veda Krishnamurthy scored a half-century as India women completed 3-0 clean sweep after posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI here today.
     Deepti followed up her four-for in the previous game with figures of six for 20 to bundle out Sri Lanka for a meagre 112 in 38.2 overs. India then crossed the target in just 29.3 overs with Veda Krishnamurthy top-scoring with an unbeaten 61.
     Sri Lanka got off to a good start after electing to bat, with openers Yasoda Mendis (14) and Prasadani Weerakkody (19) adding 33 before Deepti took two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to trigger a dramatic collapse.
     Although captain Shashikala Siriwardene (14) and Dilani Manodara (23) later combined for a 32-run sixth-wicket stand, wickets kept falling and Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for 112 from 94 for five at one stage.
     Debutant Preeti Bose also put up an impressive show, ...

Deepti, Krishnamurthy steer India to clean sweep

India's impressive run the Badminton Asia Team Championships continued as the hosts booked a semifinal berth with a hard fought 3-2 win over former champions Malaysia here today.
     H S Prannoy won the deciding singles after India and Malaysia were locked 2-2 in the five-match quarterfinals tie at the Gachibowli indoor stadium here.
     Prannoy beat Teck Zhi Soo 21-12, 22-20 in a tense match to put India in the semifinals which will be played tomorrow.
     Prannoy, currently ranked 27, won the first game comfortably but his lower-ranked Malaysian rival came back strongly in the second game which turned out to be a battle of wits.
     Prannoy had the last laugh, narrowly winning the second game 22-20, which set off celebrations in the Indian camp.
     Earlier, India's captain Kidambi Srikanth, who remained unbeaten in the group matches, was in his elements once again in the first singles match as he hardly broke a sweat in his 21-14, 21-15 win against Malaysia's Zulfadli ...

Indian men storm into semis of Badminton Asia Team Ch'ships

Well aware that he would not pick up the willow again, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar had discussed his last dismissal with his elder brother Ajit even after his farewell Test against the West Indies in November 2013.
     Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket after playing his 200th and final Test here at the Wankhede Stadium against the West Indies, today revealed how he and his brother dissected his final dismissal.
     "...On the last day of my career as well when I got out at the Wankhede stadium, we still discussed my dismissal and what I could have done. Hopefully, he said don't do that in the second innings," the 42-year-old disclosed.
     Tendulkar said that it was his brother who not only inspired him to take up cricket but continued to encourage and support him throughout his career.
	"Without any doubt it was my brother Ajit who is the reason I started playing cricket. I wanted to become like my brother first. Then I started watching cricket matches and India .

Discussed my last dismissal also with my brother: Tendulkar

Amid rising speculation on who is going to partner Sania Mirza at the Rio Olympics, contender Rohan Bopanna says his sole focus now is to maintain his top-10 ranking till the French Open in June.
     While veteran Leander Paes has already said that he is the ideal painter for Sania, Bopanna said a lot of scenarios can play out before the Rio Games in August.
     "I will play all the big tournaments there are on the calendar before Rio, starting from Dubai to Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Rome, French Open. The aim is to be in the top-10 till the French Open and we will see who can partner who, be it doubles or mixed doubles. So there is a long way to go before Rio," Bopanna told PTI today.
     The qualification for Rio will depend on the rankings published on June 6, while the French Open will be played from May 16 to June 5.
     Bopanna said it is impossible to predict his partner as of now.
     Paes, who has slipped to 52 in the doubles rankings, had earlier claimed that Bopanna ..

Lot of scenarios can play out before Rio: Bopanna

The BCCI today accorded full membership status to Chhattisgarh, making it the 28th affiliated unit of the board that will take part in the Ranji Trophy.
     "The Members approved the recommendation of the affiliation committee of BCCI to grant full member status to Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh. They will be a part of the Central Zone for all the BCCI tournaments," BCCI stated in a release.
     Chhattisgarh has been an associate member for a long time now and with a state of-the art stadium in Raipur, are ready to enter the big league. The meeting was attended by Chhattisgarh Cricket Sangh (CCS) president Baldev Singh Bhatia.
     However, in another interesting move Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), one of the warring factions in the state, was allowed to participate in the working committee meeting. Its secretary Mrityunjay Tiwary attended the meeting.
     Interestingly, another unsanctioned Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), whose secretary Aditya Verma became the face of the 

Chhattisgarh to play Ranji Trophy, Verma's CAB ignored for BCA

BCCI president Shashank Manohar, who is committed to ending the monopoly of India, Australia and England in the ICC, has been asked by working committee to apprised them of the steps that are being taken regarding the financial restructuring of the global cricket body.
     As per the earlier structure, BCCI along with England and Australia were pooling in 80 per cent of the revenues, being the nations that brought the money to the body. However Manohar, as ICC chairman, had made it clear that he wanted equitable distribution.
     While this could lead to a revenue loss for the BCCI, it also did not go down well with the members that the matter was not brought to the table in any of the BCCI meetings before Manohar went for the ICC meeting in Dubai.
     However, the working committee today decided that Manohar and secretary Anurag Thakur should discuss the financial ramifications of such a move.
     "The members authorised the President and Hony. Secretary to discuss the governance 

BCCI asks Manohar to discuss financial restructuring of ICC

Jammu and Kashmir Water Sports Kayaking and Canoeing team returned home with six medals, including three gold in the National Canoe Polo and Dragon Boat Championship in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
     Bilquis Mir, Secretary J&K, Water Sports Kayaking & Canoeing Association applauded the 32-member contingent, who returned home, at a rousing reception here.
     The team won a silver and two bronze also, besides the three yellow metal.
     The players and team officials were also welcomed by Baqar Samoon, CEO, JKAP 12th Bn, Syed Nasir Ahmad, SDPO Nehru Park, Mohammad Shafi Shah (member) J&K Water Sports Association, Nisar Hussain and other members of J&K Water Sports Kayaking & Canoeing Association.

JK team returns home with six medals

The BCCI today unanimously decided to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court pointing out the "anomalies and difficulties" in implementing the Justice Lodha Committee recommendations on the restructuring of the cricket board.
     It was decided in the Special General Meeting of the BCCI that secretary Anurag Thakur will file an affidavit on behalf of the BCCI in the apex court.
     The Lodha Committee has recommended wide ranging sweeping reforms in the BCCI including having only one vote per state, age cap of its officials, no simultaneous posts in state and national body along with restrictions on advertisements in televised cricket matches.
     "The Members authorised the Honorary Secretary BCCI to file an affidavit in the Hon'ble Supreme Court on behalf of the BCCI pointing out the anomalies and difficulties encountered in implementation of Hon'ble Justice Lodha Committee's recommendations," the BCCI said in a release after the meeting.
     It is also learnt that BCCI has told 

BCCI to file affidavit in Supreme Court on Lodha Report

Indian tennis veteran Leander Paes along with his French partner Jeremy Chardy prevailed over Marcel Granollers and Sam Groth in a hard-fought three setter to enter the semifinals of the Delray Beach Open here.
     After conceding an early lead, the Indo-French pair staged a strong comeback to register a 6-3 4-6 10-6 victory over their Spanish-Australian rivals last night at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
     Paes and Chardy will now take on the top seeded US pair of Bob and Mike Bryan in the last four stage.

Page 3242 -