Senior BCCI official Prof Ratnakar Shetty, who was today banned for five years by the Mumbai Cricket Association, slammed the decision saying it was a personal vendetta and vowed to challenge it legally.
     "I have raised an issue at the AGM of the Association pertaining to the misuse of MCA funds and have done nothing wrong," said Shetty in a statement.
     "This is a personal vendatta by people who want to make sure that I do not contest the next elections and also because their ego was hurt that the two anti club resolutions proposed by the managing committee had to be taken back by the Chairman after he sensed the mood of the house after I raised the issue on behalf of the members," he said.
     "I will fight this kind of undemocratic decisions both within the association and legally," Shetty added.
     The seasoned administrator was banned for alleging that some MCA office-bearers could have sold the tickets for the T20 International between India and Pakistan played at ...

Banned by MCA for 5 years, Shetty vows to fight it out

PTI Automatic

Dinesh Karthik smashed an unbeaten 146 and added 211-runs for the sixth wicket with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91) as India recovered from a precarious position to post a challenging 308 for six in their Champions Trophy warm-up match against Australia here today.
     India scored exactly 100 runs in their last 10 overs as Australia failed to turn the screws after polishing off five top Indian wickets for only 55 runs at the Swalec Stadium.
     Like India's first warm-up game, the lower middle-order batsmen saved the blushes with both Karthik and Dhoni magnificently pacing their innings on a track that had plenty for the batsmen. Their stand came off 191 balls.
     Karthik faced 140 balls and hit 17 fours and a six while Dhoni took 77 balls for his knock, laced with 10 boundaries, including four sixes.
     Karthik's back-to-back centuries, he scored an unbeaten 106 in Birmingham against the Sri Lankans on Saturday, will help him improve his chances for a slot in the playing XI .

Karthik's ton, huge partnership with Dhoni takes India to 308

Keisuke Honda fired Japan into the 2014 World Cup today with a dramatic injury-time penalty which salvaged a 1-1 draw with Australia and made them the first team to qualify alongside hosts Brazil.
     Tommy Oar's fortuitous late strike had looked set to condemn the hosts to an undeserved defeat. But after Matthew McKay handled in the box, Honda drove his spot-kick straight down the middle to earn the necessary point.
	The result left the Asian champions seven points clear and uncatchable in Group B, putting them through to their fifth straight World Cup. It is the first time they have sealed qualification on home soil.
	"I was nervous. I tried to hit the shot to the centre," said Honda. "If it was saved, there was nothing I could do about it."
	Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who joined Japan after the 2010 World Cup, said his attractive Blue Samurai side would "surprise the world" at next year's tournament in Brazil.
	"I came to Japan to bring them to the World Cup -- that was my ...

Last-gasp Honda fires Japan into World Cup

BCCI Vice President Arun Jaitley is not "fully satisfied" with how the Working Committee meeting panned out in Chennai, saying he would have preferred Shashank Manohar in place of Jagmohan Dalmiya as head of the four-member "interim arrangement".
     Bowing to all-round pressure, N Srinivasan had on Sunday agreed to "step aside" as BCCI President under a compromise formula that brought back former Chief Dalmiya as head of a four-member "interim arrangement" to run the Board, more than a fortnight after the spot-fixing scandal rocked Indian cricket.
     "I won't say that I am fully satisfied. The game of cricket is synonymous with fairness and when you have three players being arrested because they are involved in unfair practice which graduates into fixing or a relative of the senior board official is allegedly involved in betting, it casts very serious doubts and calls for a very strong action," said Jaitley.
     "I would have been happier if the time of arrangement had been ...

Jaitley 'not fully satisfied', says Manohar was his 1st choice

The cricketing world was today rocked by yet another fixing scandal with former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful being suspended for corruption, adding another sordid chapter to the spot-fixing saga which has already engulfed Indian cricket.
     More than a fortnight after the spot-fixing scandal broke out in the Indian Premier League, Ashraful's suspension is the latest case of corruption in cricket which has seen a number of cricketers being arrested in recent times.
     "As Ashraful has confessed his involvement in fixing to the ACSU team, so he should not be allowed to play any level of cricket until we get a full report of the investigation," Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters.
     "I have spoken with Ashraful, he told me that he has confessed everything to the ASCU," Hassan said, adding that the batsman had not disclosed details of his confession to him.
     "This is not punishment, this is a temporary measure until we get the full report. We 

Ashraful suspended by BCB for match-fixing

Indian challengers continued to exit from the French Open as Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands were forced to retire from their pre-quarterfinals following a groin problem to the latter, here today.
     Sania and Bethanie, seeded seventh, had annexed the first set but the American encountered a groin issue in the second set and eventually they pulled out with score reading 7-6(0) 3-5 against 11th seeds Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova.
     Sania and Bethanie, who had encountered a back problem yesterday, had overcome American pair of Lauren Davis and Megan Moulton-Levy 1-6 6-3 6-0 in their second round match.
     Sania's defeat means that now Leander Paes is the only surviving Indian in the French Open.
     Paes has lost in the men's doubles but is still alive in the mixed doubles, where he and Jelena Jankovic will take on eighth seeded American Liezel Huber and Brazilian Marcelo Melo for a place in the quarter-finals.

Sania, Bethanie out of French Open, retire mid-way

The second edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League, the local version of the IPL, is to go ahead as scheduled, sports ministry announced here today.
     The ministry spokesman Harsha B Abeykoon refuted local reports which suggested that sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage entertained doubts about the SLPL's second edition taking place.
     "The Ministry of Sports wishes to confirm that Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) on the scheduled dates, from August 10 to September 07, 2013," Abeykoon said.
     The ministry said the Franchises have asked for an extension of their period of lease from 7 years to 15 years, stating that the 7-year period is insufficient to recover their investment on the Franchise.
     "At no stage have the Franchises refused or stated their inability to participate in the forthcoming SLPL 2013. The request made by the Franchises has been referred to the Attorney-General's Department for an opinion based on the existing ...

Sri Lanka Premier League to go ahead as planned

Senior BCCI official Prof Ratnakar Shetty was today banned for five years by the Mumbai Cricket Association for alleging that some MCA office bearers could have sold tickets for an India-Pakistan T20 International at Ahmedabad last year in the black market.
     "Yes. He has been banned for five years from representing any club under MCA's jurisdiction. It does not prevent him from coming to MCA's premises," MCA president Ravi Savant told PTI today.
     "We have not prevented him from earning his bread and butter," added Savant.
     The ban is effective till June 2, 2018 and Prof Shetty is to challenge it in a court of law, it was learnt.
     Shetty is the BCCI's General Manager, Game Development, and the Board's office is in the same building as the MCA at the Wankhede Stadium.
     Savant further said that the ban has been imposed for his allegations against some MCA office bearers, regarding a December 22 T20 match, which have been found untrue after the association conducted an 

MCA bans Prof Shetty for five years

The profile of beach volleyball is expected to get a boost as the country will play host to USD 1.5 lakh prize purse FIVB Indian Open international tournament in Visakhapatnam from September 4-8.
     The four-day FIVB Indian Open Beach Volleyball will see 64 leading teams -- 32 each in men's and women's sections -- from across the globe battling out for top honours, Volleyball Federation of India said in a release.
     The tournament, an event of the international parent body Federation Internationale De Volleyball, would be telecast live by a leading sports network in India and several other international networks in 55 countries. Sports Management company Leisure Sports Management is promoting the tournament.
     Andhra Pradesh government has given the go-ahead to the tournament and chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has agreed to become the chief patron of the Organising Committee to ensure successful conduct of the event.
     Announcing the holding of the tournament in ...

India to host big prize-purse Beach Volleyball tournament

Encouraged by consistent results, Sahara Force India is hoping to break the podium jinx at Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, which will be the 100th race for the side.
     The Indian side is placed fifth in the constructors championship with 44 points, seven ahead of formidable McLaren.
     Paul di Resta has been impressive right from the start of the season and Adrian Sutil has also shown his pace with a fifth-place result in Monaco.
     "I think we are now knocking on the door of our first podium finish since 2009, and it's time to do that all-important step. Montreal would be a great place to do so - it is a track that favours overtaking and our car has shown the race pace to finish among the leaders, so everything is possible," Team Principal Vijay Mallya said.
     "The Canadian Grand Prix also marks the 100th Grand Prix for Sahara Force India. When we started back in 2008 we simply had the ambition to break out of Q1 and we dreamed of scoring points. Seeing where we stand today ..

We are knocking on the door of 1st podium: Force India

Ex-IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's counsel Mehmood Abdi today suggested former Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju's name to conduct probe into the spot-fixing scandal and role of Gurunath Meiyappan in the CSK franchise.
     "...In the interest of justice and fair play it is necessary that a person free from the influence of these gentlemen be the chief of the spot fixing probe. Retired Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju is the most appropriate person to fit the position," Abdi said in a statement today.
     "Justice Katju is known for his professed views and action on issues of probity in public life, corruption, fairness and above all impartiality," he said.
     The BCCI had appointed a three-man inquiry commission to look into the charges of spot fixing charges besides looking into the role of board president N Srinivasan's son-in-law and CSK Team Principal Meiyappan, arrested on charges of betting in IPL-6.
     Former BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, who was one of the member of .

Abdi wants Justice Katju to probe spot fixing scandal

The third and final leg of the ITF Men's Futures Tournament-2013 will be held here from June 8 to 15.
     The tournament is incorporated into the ATP Rankings, enabling young professionals to progress onto the ATP Challenger Tour and ultimately the full ATP World Tour.
     The qualifying rounds will be held on June 8 and 9, while the main draw will take place from June 10 to 15, in which entries from South Africa, Australia and Chinese Taipei, besides India have been received, K G Ramesh, President, Coimbatore District Tennis Association, joint organisers with Tamil Nadu Tennis Association and Pro Serve Tennis Academy, said.
     The 378th ATP ranked local lad, Sriram Balaji, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Vijayant Malik, Karan Uday Singh and Praneesh Gunneswaran will be among prominent players participating in the tournament.
     There would be 20 direct entries in the tournament, with four wild cards.
     The holder Suk Jeong-Young of Korea and runner-up Vijay Prasanth from India, are ..

Final leg of ITF Men's Futures to be played from June 8

Indian Hockey's High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans today said India needs to put up a "confident and consistent" performance to secure one of the three automatic World Cup berths up for grabs in the FIH World League Round 3.
     The Indian men's and women's hockey teams will depart for Rotterdam in the wee hours tomorrow to participate in the FIH World League Round 3 (Semi-finals), a 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament, to be held from June 13-23.
     "The men's competition is really very tough but the players should be confident about their own abilities. And if we can show that confidence in a consistent basis, there is no reason why we shouldn't qualify from here," Oltmans told reporters here.
     "I can assure you that we will fight our hearts out to be among the 3 top teams," he added during a function organised to unveil the new playing kit of the men's and women's national team here today.
     Three teams each will qualify directly for next year's World Cup from the 

India needs to be confident and consistent: Oltmans

Seeking to regain form, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma is keen to make an impression in favourable English conditions during the Champions Trophy starting here on Thursday.
     On pitches where the ball is expected to swing and bounce, Ishant seeks to improve his tournament record and resurrect a career that is increasingly under threat from younger colleagues.
     "The conditions here are just right for me. For both batsmen and bowlers it's going to be a challenge," he said, adding: "It's going to be a mental thing this time. If we can bowl in the right areas, the wickets will come and that's been our focus at the nets," said Ishant.
     Yesterday, Ishant worked overtime at the nets at the Swalec Stadium here. He bowled at full steam for close to an hour as India rotated their main batsmen on two adjacent wickets close to the main square.
     Ishant is clearly not in top form. He leaked runs -- a record 66 against Chennai Super Kings -- during the Indian Premier League and hardly ...

Conditions here are just right for me, says Ishant

Despite Pakistan scoring an emphatic six-wicket victory over South Africa in a warm-up game, chief selector Iqbal Qasim still has concerns about the team's fragile batting line-up with the ICC Champions Trophy due to start this week.
     "We won convincingly against South Africa in the warm-up game but I would be lying if I say I don't have concerns about the batting line-up given our recent performances," said Qasim.
     "It is true that our batting might look short of experience but in reality the batting combination being tried out in the lead up matches is pretty experienced. The presence of Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in the middle order is a big plus for the team," he said.
     The national selectors dropped seniors Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi for the Champions Trophy in a major decision citing their recent poor form and have constantly ignored experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq since the T20 World Cup held last year in September.
 

Batting still a concern for Pakistan: chief selector Qasim

Sports channel Sony Six has won the exclusive broadcasting rights for the European qualifiers to UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup across the Indian sub-continent.
     As part of the deal the channel would broadcast 546 international matches in total, over three years, starting with the Euro qualifiers from September 2014 to November 2015 with 10 matches of each national team across 12 match weeks, said the company in a release today.
     In addition to this, the channel would also broadcast the 2018 FIFA World Cup (European) qualifiers from September 2016 to November 2017, it added.
     "These are exciting times for all sports fans and we are delighted to bring such world class sporting events to their homes," said Manjit Singh, CEO, MSM (Multi Screen Media) India, which owns the channel.

Sony Six wins rights for Euro, World Cup qualifiers

Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was today suspended from all forms of cricket after he confessed his involvement in fixing matches, adding another sordid chapter to the spot-fixing saga which has already engulfed Indian cricket.
     More than a fortnight after the spot-fixing scandal broke out in the Indian Premier League, Ashraful's suspension is the latest case of corruption in cricket which has seen a number of cricketers being arrested in recent times.
     "As Ashraful has confessed his involvement in fixing to the ACSU team, so he should not be allowed to play any level of cricket until we get a full report of the investigation," Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters.
     "I have spoken with Ashraful, he told me that he has confessed everything to the ASCU," Hassan said, adding that the batsman had not disclosed details of his confession to him.
     The International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has been ...

Ashraful suspended by BCB on match-fixing allegations

Former speedster Shoaib Akhtar feels the high-voltage ICC Champions Trophy clash between Pakistan and India would be a battle between the former's bowling prowess and the latter's much-heralded batting line-up.
     "For me, this high pressure match is a duel between their batsmen and our bowlers. We have an advantage over them not only in the pace department but also spin bowling," Akhtar said in an interview.
     Pakistan and India will square off at Edgbaston, Birmingham in their Group 'B' league match on June 15.
     Akhtar said the calming presence of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will act as a big advantage for the Indians.
     "Dhoni is a big plus for them despite all the recent controversies. And like always their batting has lot of depth and quality," he said.
     Akhtar, who appeared in 46 Tests and 163 One-Day Internationals for Pakistan and was ranked among the fastest bowlers of the modern era, also heaped praise on India's vice-captain Virat Kohli and described him as 

It's Pakistani bowlers vs Indian batsmen: Akhtar

Just after the spot-fixing scandal broke out, the BCCI working committee discussed at length about a necessary clamp down on players' agents and president N Srinivasan spoke about the need to provide accreditation to agents.
     What Srinivasan overlooked is that his franchise's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's best friend and manager Arun Pandey's omnipresence that managed to raise a fair number of eyebrows.
     As he manages a lot of India players with the star draw being his best buddy Dhoni, a lot of cricketers and officials jokingly call him "Agent Arun".
     When BCCI talks about players maintaining a distance from their agents during cricketing commitments, a small-time left-arm spinner Pandey, clad in Chennai Super Kings' practice gear was rolling his arm over at the Feroze Shah Kotla nets in 2012.
     This was prior to Delhi Daredevils' IPL home game against the Chennai Super Kings. Pandey, who certainly wasn't a part of the support staff, was seen bowling for close to 45 ..

Small-time cricketer to "Agent Arun": Pandey's gigantic leap

Cricket Australia today announced an unprecedented USD 570 million deal with free-to-air television networks Nine and Ten to broadcast the sport -- a 118 percent increase on the previous five-year contract.
     Channel Nine, featuring veteran cricket commentator Richie Benaud, will continue to show Australian home Test and one-day matches as it has done for more than 30 years.
     The network had been in danger of losing the sport after Channel Ten reportedly offered Cricket Australia Aus$500 million for coverage rights for the next five years.
     The bid was well above the USD 45 million Nine has paid annually over the last seven years for international matches on Australian soil.
     "There was never any doubt that Channel Nine was not going to get the cricket," Nine chief executive David Gyngell said.
     Under the new deals, rival Ten will broadcast Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League.
     "The Twenty20 Big Bash League is a great competition and Ten and ...

Cricket Australia in USD 570 mln TV rights deal

The Indian hockey team management orgainsed a special session for the players in the just-concluded national camp in Bangalore to create awareness about corruption in the wake of the recent spot-fixing scandal in IPL 6.
     India captain Sardar Singh informed that a special class was conducted by the team's coaching staff to educate the players not only about fixing but also about dope related issues.
     "Chief coach Michael Nobbs and the SAI head in Bangalore took special classes on spot-fixing and doping about 10 days back. During the session, they told all the players to stay away from unknown people and inform the team management immediately is somebody approaches us with any offer," Sardar said on the eve of the men's and women's team's departure for the FIH World League Round 3 (Semi-finals) to be held in Rotterdam from June 13-23.
     Asked if hockey was vulnerable to corruption just like cricket, Sardar said: "With money coming up in hockey, there is always a possibility. .

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