Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says instead of running after the BCCI for normalising cricket ties, the Pakistan Cricket Board should focus on converting the national team into a world class side.
     The Indian government has rejected visa applications of the players of Pakistani side Faisalabad Wolves, which was to play in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.
     "I am not surprised that the Indians have not issued visas to the Faisalabad Wolves team for the Champions League. The fact is that until and unless we have normal and friendly relations at the government to government level why do we expect the Indian cricket board to be supportive.
     "I have always said that we don't need to run after India all the time and we need to stop begging on different issues whether it is resumption of bilateral cricket ties, allowing our players for the IPL or our team for the Champions League," Akhtar said.
     The outspoken fast bowler said that BCCI simply followed the ...

Stop running after BCCI: Akhtar to PCB

PTI Automatic

England may have batted for barely 15 overs at Edgbaston before the third one-day international was washed out on Wednesday, but that was time enough for Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson to remind them of his ability.
     The abandonment left Australia 1-0 up with two to play in the five-match series ahead of Saturday's clash in Cardiff, with their 88-run win in Manchester falling between two rain-ruined no results in Leeds and now Birmingham.
     However, of arguably greater significance than Wednesday's raw result was left-arm paceman Johnson's return of one wicket for 20 runs in five overs which came as England slumped to 59 for three before rain stopped play.
     Kevin Pietersen was Johnson's prize scalp, the star batsman unable to get over the top of a short ball and lobbing a gentle catch to square leg.
     Johnson was also unlucky not to dismiss Jonathan Trott as a couple of close lbw decisions went against him after he'd previously dismissed the top-order batsman for 

Johnson gives England timely reminder

After a splendid performance at the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL), Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram today suffered a shock defeat against lower-ranked Chinese Yuekun Chen in the opening round of the China Masters here.
     The world number 24 Indian, who had beaten the likes of world number 13 Wing ki Wong in Guangzhou, before defeating world no 5 Tien Minh Nguyen twice and world number 9 Jan o Jorgensen in the IBL, could not recreate the magic at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium here.
     The Mumbai-based shuttler, who had played for champions Hyderabad HotshotsL, lost 14-21 21-23 to world number 30 Chen in a 36-minute men's singles here.
     Jayaram could not play his natural game as Chen dominated the nets and didn't allow the Indian to come any closer in the first game.
     In the second game, Jayaram recovered from 0-4 down to move to a 10-7 lead at one stage. However, Chen was not ready to give up so easily and after a tough fight, it was the Chinese who ...

Jayaram fails to cross first hurdle in China Masters

Final scoreboard in the day/night third one-day international between England and Australia at Edgbaston today:
	   England
	   M. Carberry run out (McKay) 1
	   K. Pietersen c Bailey b Johnson 6
	   J. Trott not out 28
	   J. Root c and b Voges 12
	   E. Morgan not out 5
	   Extras (w7) 7
	   Total (3 wkts, 15.1 overs) 59
	   Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Carberry), 2-26 (Pietersen), 3-52 (Root)
	   Did not bat: R Bopara, J Buttler, B Stokes, J Tredwell, S Finn, B Rankin
	   Bowling: McKay 5-0-23-0 (5w); Johnson 5-0-20-1 (2w); Hazlewood 2-0-6-0; Faulkner 1-0-3-0; Voges 1.

Cricket: England v Australia 3rd ODI scoreboard

Younis Khan carried on from where he left off in the first Test as he played another solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club today.
     Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the first Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe's first innings total of 294.
     When he reached 50 for the 49th time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.
     Batsmen of both sides played cautiously on a slow pitch. Only five wickets fell in the day, while 222 runs were scored.
     As in the first Test, Younis batted patiently against steady bowling. With several prominent cracks in the pitch he stretched well forward to most deliveries, with bat and pad close together to combat any unpredictable bounce.
     Younis and fellow veteran Misbah-ul-Haq will resume on Thursday, after putting on 67 for the fourth wicket. They ..

Younis shines for Pakistan again

Indian football team's chief coach Wim Koevermans today looked a worried man as he spoke about the side's future, with seven of the current national team players not having any contract with I-League clubs.
     "I am really worried with the situation we have in India right now. It's a threat for national team. Two boys from disbanded Arrows (Allwyn George), five from IMG-R (Syed Rahim Nabi, Nirmal Chhetri, Subrata Paul, Gourmangi Singh, Sandesh Jhingan) and one from Mumbai Tigers (N Mohanraj) will be without clubs.
     "Now what are these boys supposed to do? Just practice? And how do I react to this situation as a national coach," Koevermans said after his team's 0-2 defeat to Afghanistan in the the SAFF Championship final.
     The Dutchman wasn't amused that the AIFF has so far failed to break the deadlock by talking to the I-League clubs.
     "I thought that by now, AIFF would have spoken to the clubs but what I have gathered is that the clubs are not taking these players. You .

Worried about future of players without clubs: Koevermans

The Pakistan Cricket Board is hoping to get some relief when its appeal petition comes up for hearing before the Islamabad High Court on September 19.
     The Islamabad High Court had passed a judgement in July restraining caretaker chief of the board, Najam Sethi from exercising full powers of his position and ordering election of a new chairman in 90 days' time under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
     The single bench court of the court, which passed the judgement on a constitutional writ petition filed by a citizen against the election of Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman way back in May, had also directed the board to include members of the media and a cricket follower on the national selection committee.
     The PCB had filed an appeal against the IHC judgement, terming many of its decisions as detrimental for the sport in Pakistan and sources said the appeal is due to be heard this month.
     "The board is hopeful that it will get some relief at the appeal 

PCB hoping for relief

The Raid-de-Himalaya, which turns 15 this year, would be flagged off by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra singh on October 6 from here.
     The world's highest motorsport rally would take on two most formidable challenges of the Himalayas this year and traverse through the Khardung La and the Wari La, prone to snowfalls and blizzards.
     The Khardung La is located at an altitude of 5,359 meters (17,582 feet) while altitude of Wari La in Ladakh is 5,250 meters (17,300 feet) above sea level.
     The first leg of the event would end on October 6 itself and after taking off from Shimla, the riders will traverse through Matiyana, Nag Jubbar, Kotighat, Kangal, Jhanjeli, Chamola, Luhri, Jameri, Panjvi, Karki, Koti, Batore, Shush, Khanag and will rest at Manali, V C Pharka, Principal Secretary (youth Services and Sports) said.
     The second leg will start from Manali on October 7 and pass through Palchan, Marhi, Rohtang Pass, Gramphoo, Chattru, Chotta Darra, Batal, Chandertal, ..

HP CM to flag off 15th Raid-de-Himalaya on Oct 6

Bangalore's star international golfers S Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi, who turned professional at the beginning of this year, is expected to hog the limelight as special invitees when they tee off in the 5th edition of Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival here tomorrow.
     The festival at the Karnataka Golf Association will also see top amateurs like junior champion Syed Saqib Ahmed and Anisha Padukonein the field of around 450 golfers from Bangalore, Pune, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi at the KGA course.
     Legendary cricketers G R Vishwanath, Erapalli Prasanna, Syed Kirmani alongside former hockey international star Ashish Ballal and tennis star Rohan Bopanna will take a swing during the four-day tournament.
     Over 450 other golfers will be fighting to get one of the five spots in five categories (0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-24) to represent India at the annual World Golfers' Championships to be held in Durban from October 26 to November 3.
     The tournament will .

Chikkarangappa, Khalin to begin campaign tomorrow

The Pakistan Cricket Board is set to earn around USD 10 million (approximately 103 crore rupees) from the sale of media, title and ground rights for its upcoming 'home' series against South Africa and Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates starting from mid-October.
     According to available details, the PCB has managed to earn more than its expectations from the two series which it has been forced to organise in the UAE due to the refusal of the South African and Sri Lankan teams to tour Pakistan because of security concerns.
     "Initially the PCB managed to sell the title, co-sponsor and other ground rights for around USD 1 million and 250,000 dollars," a well-informed source said.
     "Then after a fair and transparent tender and bidding process it sold the media rights for the two series for a total of USD 8 million and 777,000 dollars to a Dubai-based channel and a Pakistani media group who made the highest bids," the source added.
     The PCB's long standing four-year media 

PCB to earn USD 10 million due to SA, Sri Lanka series

The under-fire secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Asif Bajwa resigned from his post today after the national team failed to qualify for the FIH World Cup for the first time since 1971.
     Bajwa, a former Olympian, submitted his resignation to the Executive Board of the federation which met in Lahore to discuss the existing hockey affairs.
     "The house has unanimously elected Rana Mujahid as secretary in the slot left vacant by Asif Bajwa until fresh elections are held for the term 2014-2018," a PHF release said.
     The board also announced that fresh elections at club, district, provincial and national level will be held from October 25th to November 25th.
     Sources said that the board had also decided to change the management of the national team but would announce this after finalising the new officials.
     "Akhtar Rasool has also agreed to step down as head coach and manager," one source said.
     Bajwa, who until recently was adamant that he would not .

PHF secretary Bajwa resigns after team's failure

India's bid to win a hat-trick of SAFF Football Championship titles went up in smoke today as they lost 0-2 to Afghanistan in the final here.
     The Afghans, who won their maiden SAFF trophy exacted a sweet revenge for their humiliating 0-4 loss against the same opponents in New Delhi two years back. The winners were helped by strikes from Mustafa Azadzoy (8th minute) and Sanjar Ahmadi (63rd minute).
     India coach Wim Koevermans's gamble of leaving out regular captain Sunil Chhetri from the starting XI didn't exactly pay off although the efforts from Robin Singh and Jeje Lalpeklhua were praiseworthy. It was their inexperience on big occasion that cost India dearly as they fumbled repeatedly on the opposition's attacking third.
     For Afghanistan, it was a moment they had waited for two years having found the defeat in Delhi a hard to swallow.
     A fleet of Afghan Parliamentarians arrived in the afternoon to cheer their team and one of them even went onto the extent of ...

Afghanistan dash India's hat-trick hopes, win SAFF title

Indian shuttler Anand Pawar today advanced to the second round of Adidas China Masters Super Series without breaking any sweat as he got a walkover after top seed and defending champion Chen Long of China failed to turn up.
     The world number 39 Indian must have been expecting an extremely tough encounter against a fancied Chinese opponent, ranked second in the world, but escaped with a walkover.
     In the next round, Pawar faces Japan's Sho Sasaki against whom he has a poor 0-2 record head-to-head. Sasaki beat Song Xue of China 21-16 19-21 21-14 in the first round.
     Ajay Jayaram will take the field in the first round against Chen Yuekun of China tomorrow.

Shuttler Pawar gets walkover, enters Round 2 in China

Pragati Nataraj of Tamil Nadu and Adnya Naik entered the women's singles quarter-finals of the Rs 3.5 lakh DS Max AITA prize money tennis championship for men and women after posting contrasting victories in the second round at the KSLTA Stadium here today.
     The Bangalore-based Pragati, rallied from a set down to beat the Mysore girl Varunya Chandrashekar 6-7(4) 6-2 6-3, while Adnya outplayed Moulika Ram of Andhra Pradesh 6-1 6-4.
     In a contested that lasted over two hours, Varunya posed a tough challenge to Pragati but the latter proved more consistent when chips were down.
     Varunya had her chances in the decider but Pragati, with her solid groundstrokes, grabbed the initiative with an early break.
     In contrast, Adnya was in total control against Moulika. Although the AP girl came up with some neat returns in the second set to put some pressure on her rival, spate of unforced errors saw her lose the grip in the end.
     Earlier in the men's singles first round, ...

Adnya, Pragati enter women's singles quarters in AITA C'ship

India has refused visa to Pakistani team, Faisalabad Wolves, to participate in Champions League Twenty20 tournament scheduled to begin from September 17 in view of abundance precaution.
     The government's decision not to give visas to the Pakistani team to participate in the limited over cricket tournament comes in the backdrop of recent ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LOC) creating tension between the two countries.
      "As a matter of abundance precaution and caution in terms of safety and security, the government did not give green signal for the cricket team's visit," government sources said.
      The Faisalabad team, led by national team skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, was invited to play in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League T20 in India, starting on September 17.
      The Faisalabad team's participation in the CLT20 was confirmed until the LoC issues arose and that led to tensions between the two countries.
      Last year, the BCCI had invited Pakistan 

India refuses visa to a Pak team for Twenty20 tournament

Arjun Singh Chaudhri of Noida was the round two leader by three shots at the PGTI Feeder Tour event being played at the Forest Hills Golf Resort here today.
     Chaudhri carded a one-over-71 on Wednesday that took his two-round total to four-under-136. Delhi's Honey Baisoya was placed second at one-under-139.
     The cut was declared at 12-over-152. Thirty-nine professionals made the cut.
     Arjun Singh Chaudhri (65-71), the overnight leader, continued to be on top of the leaderboard after a fighting 71 in round two. Chaudhri picked up his first birdie of the day with a 15-feet conversion on the fourth. He followed that up with a chip-putt for birdie from 50 yards on the fifth. Arjun missed a one-foot putt to drop bogey on the sixth.
     Chaudhri suffered a major setback on the 13th where he double-bogeyed after a three-putt. He then got back on track with a chip-in for birdie on the 15th and a chip-putt from 35 yards for a par-save on the 16th. The 34-year-old closed the day at .

Arjun Singh Chaudhri stays three shots clear on day two

Maharashtra Cricket Association is gearing up set to host the first-ever One-Day International at the Gahunje Stadium here when the visiting Australian cricketers would clash with their Indian counterparts in the first match of the best-of-seven series on October 13.
     "This being the first One-Day International match at the MCA Stadium, we want to make it a grand success," said MCA President Ajay Shirke at a media conference here today.
     "October 13 being a Sunday and also Dussera day, the very day when the foundation stone of this stadium was laid a few years ago, we couldn't have asked for more," he added.
     The ticket prices for the game range from a minimum of Rs 750 to a maximum of Rs 6 lakh for the 12-seater corporate box.
     Australia are to commence their tour with a T20 International against the hosts on October 10 at Rajkot and would play the remaining six ODIs at Jaipur (Oct 16), Mohali (Oct 19), Ranchi (Oct 23), Cuttack (Oct 26), Nagpur (Oct 30) and Bangalore .

MCA's Gahunje Stadium in Pune set to host first-ever ODI

Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen will rejoin the Ferrari stable on a two year contract for the 2014 season, the team announced on Wednesday.
     Raikkonen, 33, the 2007 world champion, will drive alongside Spain's Fernando Alonso, the man who replaced him at the Italian stable in 2009.
     "Welcome back, Kimi! read a headline on the team website.
     "Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons," continued the statement.
     He will take over from Brazilian Felipe Massa to form an experienced partnership who can boast more than 50 Grands Prix wins -- 32 for Alonso and 20 for Raikkonen -- and three world titles between them.
     Raikkonen's success in 2007 was the last time Ferrari won a world title, after which British duo Jenson Button, in a Brawn, and Lewis Hamilton, in a McLaren, claimed the championship before Red Bull's Sebatian Vettel began .

Raikkonen joins Ferrari for 2014 - team

Khurram Manzoor made a patient half-century as Pakistan reached 95 for two at tea in reply to Zimbabwe's first innings total of 294 on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan today.
     Manzoor, who was recalled for the Zimbabwe series after more than three years out of the Test team, was on 51 not out at the Harare Sports Club.
     Younis Khan, who made an unbeaten double century in Pakistan's win in the first Test, was unbeaten on 13.
     Manzoor, who survived confident appeals for a catch behind the wicket and leg before wicket early in his innings, showed good timing as he hit nine fours in reaching his fourth Test half-century off 119 balls.
     Mohammad Hafeez made 22, his highest score of a poor year in Test cricket, before he was caught at first slip off left-arm fast bowler Brian Vitori, while Azhar Ali made only seven before he was lbw to the accurate Tinashe Panyangara.
     Pakistan endured a frustrating morning as it took them more than an hour and one ball 

Manzoor leads Pakistan reply

Rejoining his county duty after a brief hiatus, out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir today made a patient 36 during his side Essex's County Championship Division Two four-day match against Kent here.
     Opening the batting, Gambhir played cautiously and faced 132 deliveries, hitting two boundaries at the St Lawrence Ground.
     Gambhir was dismissed by right-arm pacer Charlie Shreck in the 42nd over of the day, caught by Brendan Nash.
     Gambhir's stint with Essex started only last month but he failed to make much impact with scores of 31, 21, 2 and 0 before striking a hundred on August 30 against Gloucestershire in a drawn match in Bristol.
     The left-handed opener, however, had to return home on September 1 because of a tragedy in the family.
     Determined to make a comeback in the Indian team, Gambhir opted to travel to England to regain his lost form.
     Gambhir has not played for India since the home ODI series against England in January. He was later ruled out ..

Gambhir rejoins Essex, scores patient 32

ONGC and Indian Navy posted easy wins in their quarterfinal league round matches of the 126th Durand Cup Football Tournament here today.
     While ONGC thrashed Army Red 4-1, Indian Navy got the better of Air India 2-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium.
     Asim Hasan (39th and 58th minute), Henry Ezeh (65th) and Parvinder Singh (76th) found the net for ONGC, before Vipin T V scored what turned out to be the consolation goal for Army Red in the 19th minute.
     Riyad B and (75th) and Raman Rai (77th) scored for Indian Navy.
     Star-studded Mohammedan Sporting will be playing in the Durand Cup for the first time since 2006.
     They are placed in Group III and will take on Army Green in their opening encounter tomorrow. The other team in this group is another Kolkata outfit Kalighat.
     The winners of the group qualify for the semifinals.
     Mohammedan Sporting, which last entered the Durand final in 1992, are a formidable squad this season and have several star players like Australian 

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