Divij Sharan and Purav Raja shocked top seeds Nicholas Monroe and Simon Stadler in straight sets to earn a shot at their second ATP Challenger title of the season, here.
     The fourth seeded Indian pair beat the American-German combination 6-4 6-2 in the semifinals of the USD 35000 hard court event.
     Both Monroe (71) and Stadler (70) are inside the top-00 bracket while left-handed Divij and Raja, who played for India in Davis Cup tie against South Korea in February this year, are inside top-150 at 106 and 134 respectively.
     Divij and Raja wrested the initiative from opponents when in the seventh game when they were trailing 15-40. They broke the rivals to take lead which stayed with them.
     An early break in the second set, in the third game, made things easier for the Indians as they went up 2-1 and another break in the fifth game made the writing clear on the wall.
     In all the Indians won 56 points to 46 of their rivals.
     For the title, they will clash with ...

Divij-Purav in summit clash of Leon ATP Challenger

PTI Automatic

Electing to bat, Rajasthan Royals scored 165 for seven in their Pepsi IPL match against Delhi Daredevils here today.
     Brief Scores:
     Rajasthan Royals: 165 for 7 in 20 overs (Rahul Dravid 65, Stuart Binny 40; Umesh Yadav 4/24).

Royals score 165/7 against Daredevils

Top Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap says that he is geared up to use the home advantage to the hilt and win the Yonex Sunrise India Open which will be held here later this month.
     Asked about the pressure on being billed as one of the contenders for the tournament, Kashyap said, "The tag of being one of the tournament favourites is actually a good thing and motivating. At no point do I feel any pressure due to expectations from my fans. It only helps me perform better."
     The world number eight sounded optimistic about his chances in the April 23-28 USD 200,000 tournament.
     "I have a very good chance of winning the tournament this time and am hoping to become the first Indian to win the Yonex Sunrise India Open," said Kashyap.
     The 26-year-old Kashyap qualified for the 2012 London Olympics in the previous edition here. He went on to reach the quarterfinals in the London Games.
     "I always enter a tournament aiming to win and nothing changes in the Yonex Sunrise ...

Kashyap aims to win Yonex Sunrise India Open

Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat against Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match here today.
     Teams:
     Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Unmukt Chand, David Warner, Naman Ojha, Andre Russell, Johan Botha, Irfan Pathan, Manprit Juneja, Ashish Nehra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav.
     Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Brad Hodge, Kusal Perera, Stuart Binny, Ashok Menaria, Kevon Cooper, Siddharth Trivedi, Samuel Badree, S Sreesanth, Rahul Shukla.

Rajasthan win toss, choose to bat against Delhi

Raninder Singh was today re-elected unopposed as president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for a four-year term.
     This is Raninder's second term in office. He was first elected president of the NRAI in December 2010 when he defeated Shyam Singh Yadav by a huge margin.
     The 46-year-old Singh, who represents Punjab in NRAI's governing body, is a trap shooter and has also participated in ISSF World Cups and National Championships.
     He got an overwhelming support from across the country getting 517 votes out of 843 for the authorisation to nominate members to the general house.
     The vice-presidents elected were Ajay Patel (Gujarat), Deep Bhatia (Haryana), Putuul Kumari (Bihar), M S Rana (Uttarakhand) and Kalikesh Kumar (Odisha).
     Tamil Nadu's D V S Rao has been appointed to the post of Secretary General while Jagmeet Singh Sethi and Darius Chennai have been elected as joint secretaries.
     The shooting federation appointed Sanjay Behl to the post of 

Raninder re-elected NRAI president

After a disappointing 22-run loss in a low scoring game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their campaign opener, Pune Warriors would be hoping for a better batting performance when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their second Pepsi IPL match here tomorrow.
     The Angelo Mathews-led side looked like they would chase down the Hyderabad franchise's paltry 126 runs but lost the plot after a steady start. They would be keen to make amends of their last night's defeat with a win tomorrow.
     India senior player Yuvraj Singh, who has got the added responsibility to shoulder batting responsibility in the absence of Australian captain Michael Clarke, would be eager to produce a better show after he scored only two runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
     The home side would also rely on Yuvraj's left-arm spin as the 31-year-old picked up a wicket in his two overs while giving away only eight runs.
	The bowling attack looked impressive with a three-pronged pace attack comprising Bhuvneshwar ...

Pune look for a better batting show against Kings XI

Top boxer Vijender Singh, who finds himself at the centre of a drug scandal, will not be considered for selection for two upcoming international events for missing the trials.
      The beleaguered boxer, who has been accused by the Punjab Police of consuming heroin, missed the two-day boxing trials in Patiala and will not be selected in the squad for the events in Cyprus and Cuba which serve as build-up events for the World Championships at Almaty, Kazakhstan in October.
     The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) said that it may not be possible for Vijender to take part in events without attending trials as it was important to assess his fitness.
     The IABF is currently banned by the international boxing body and Indian boxers can take part in international events under the AIBA flag. Indian officials are also not allowed to accompany the team.
     The IABF hoped that Vijender would come out clean from the drug controversy surrounding him and resume his boxing career.
    .

Vijender not to be considered for two events: Matoria

Despite being a new team, Sunrisers Hyderabad played like a settled outfit in their debut Indian Premier League match against Pune Warriors last night, said the side's pace spearhead Dale Steyn.
     Defending a small total of 126 for six, Steyn grabbed three wickets in a sensational over to help Sunrisers Hyderabad spank Pune Warriors by 22 runs last night.
     "I thought we played very well. We fought well which is a good sign for a new team. In a new franchise, it's normally about discovering yourself, but we played like a team that has been together for long. It was a fantastic win," Steyn reporters at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here.
     The South African pacer felt that a score of 140 would have been more than competitive on the Uppal pitch.
     "Like I said earlier, we bowled fantastically well and got ourselves back into the game. At one stage, we were probably looking at 6 runs an over, may be two big overs to get us to 150. Even 140 plus would have been a ...

Sunrisers played like a settled team, says Steyn

Senior cricketers Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were omitted while Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasool was today named in India's 30-member probables list for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England in June this year.
     Apart from the struggling Sehwag and Harbhajan, paceman Zaheer Khan, batsman Cheteswar Pujara and spinner Pragyan Ojha were also left out from the list of probables announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.
     The left handed Gautam Gambhir, who had been dropped from the Test team, finds himself in the list which has a number of youngsters like Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, Punjab pacer Siddharth Kaul, Maharashtra middle order batsman Kedar Jadhav and MP pacer Ishwar Yadav.
     Both Sehwag and Harbhajan's axing did not come as a surprise since both have been out of form for quite a long time.
     While Sehwag, who is also currently sitting injured on the Delhi Daredevils bench, was dropped from the squad for the third and ...

Sehwag, Harbhajan axed from India's CT probales list

Former Pakistan captain and pace legend Wasim Akram has requested the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to allow Pakistani players to participate in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
     Akram said Pakistani players would only help add color to the Twenty20 tournament.
     "I have always been a great believer that sports and politics should be kept apart and if our players take part in the IPL it will only raise the bar of the event," said Akram, who was the bowling consultant of current IP champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
     Pakistani cricketers have not been allowed to take part in the lucrative IPL after the first edition due to varied reasons but mainly because of the diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
     Although Pakistani umpires, commentators and coaches will feature in the ongoing sixth edition of the IPL but no cricketer has been invited for the event.
     Akram felt since Pakistani bowlers are better than India's, it will only benefit the IPL.
     Although ..

Akram requests BCCI to allow Pakistani players in IPL

The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought the help of a sports psychologist to help experienced all-rounder Shahid Afridi regain his confidence in bowling ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.
     Afridi has been named in the shortlist of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy by the national selectors but indications are that if he doesn't perform in the President's Cup limited overs tournament he might be overlooked in the final selection.
     Afridi had two good innings of 34 and 88 in the recent five match ODI series in South Africa but has struggled as a bowler which is his primary role in the team. He went wicket less in all five ODIs in South Africa.
     Afridi and senior batsman Younis Khan, who has been dropped for the Champions Trophy, have both vowed to play in the President's Cup and make an impression on the national selectors.
     Afridi yesterday spent time at the National Stadium with the PCB sports counsellor and psychologist Moin ul Atiq.
     Moin, himself a former ...

PCB ropes in psychologist to regain Afridi's bowling form

The Pakistan Cricket Board is planning to give a major responsibility to former national captain and wicketkeeper Moin Khan in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England.
     A reliable source in the PCB confirmed to PTI that two senior officials and former captains Javed Miandad and Intikhab Alam had been assigned the task of talking to Moin about the future assignment planned for him.
     "Javed and Intikhab have been in touch with Moin in recent days even though he is in Sri Lanka with the Karachi University as coach for the Red Bull championship," the source said.
     The source said PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf was keen on engaging Moin with the team in a coaching role or as cricket manager.
     "The role of cricket manager is likely to go to Moin as the chairman is a firm believer that those people need to be on the support staff of the national team who have played in modern day cricket and are aware of the scientific requirements of the game and also have earned the ...

PCB plans to rope in Moin as cricket manager

Churchill Brothers took a giant step towards regaining the I-League title after scoring a 2-1 victory over Pune FC in a 23rd round I-League clash at Tilak Maidan here today.
     After a barren opening session, Churchill scored through Bineesh Balan (58th) and Sunil Chhetri (63rd) while Pune FC pulled one back through substitute Boima Karpeh (90th).
     With today's win, Churchill are now on 45 points and a five-point lead at the top of the table with four matches left to be played.
     Pune FC, who were also nursing title ambitions, were left to ponder on their defensive frailties as both goals they conceded resulted from mistakes at the backline.
     Both teams were understandably nervous at the start and played extremely safe. It were the hosts, though, who created the better chances as Henri Arnaud, in the 10th minute, laid a ball for Afghanistan striker Balal Arezou who could not guide it into the goal.
     Sunil Chhetri then fed Henri but the Gabonese striker delayed, ...

Churchill beat Pune FC 2-1, go 5 points clear at top of table

Yuki Bhambri is expecting that Leander Paes and Sanam Singh will do will in the doubles rubber as India will take a decisive 3-0 lead against Indonesia in the Asia Ocenia Group I tie at the KSLTA here tomorrow.
     "I am expecting my team do well in tomorrow's doubles match. We have a good team," he told reporters in the post-match press conference.
     India's non-playing captain S P Misra said he was happy with Yuki's performance, beating No 1 Indonesian player with confidence.
     "Leander and Sanam are good players but we have not seen Indonesians play doubles. We will see what happens tomorrow," Misra said when asked about tomorrow's match.
     Talking about the first match, Somdev Devvarman said he served well against Wisnu Adi Nugroho, but it was a tough game as he played him for the first time.
     "I adjusted to his style of play before studying his movements initially and came through by dominating him," he said.
     In the second set, Wisnu tried to play an attacking .

Confident that Leander and Sanam will pull it off: Yuki

Former India goalkeeper Henry Menezes was today appointed as a member of AIFF technical committee.
	He has been appointed on the apex football body's technical, coaching and development committee.
	"Yes, I have accepted the appointment. It is not only prestigious but a very responsible position to be in," a media release quoted him saying here.
	Menezes, currently the CEO of Maharashtra's state football body WIFA, is a former general manager of the defunct club Mahindra United FC and also Mumbai FC.
	As CEO of WIFA, Menezes is in the forefront of development of football and other initiatives associated with the popular sport, the release added.

Former India 'keeper Menezes joins AIFF technical committee

Claiming that he had never faced problems negotiating Indian spinner in the recent Test series, big-hitting Australia opener David Warner said if the opponents have all tweakers in their attack, the wickets will go to them only.
     "I don't think I struggle against spin at all. I think, the reason why we got out to spin was, in the Tests, they had only spin bowlers bowling. So you are bound to get out to spinners only," Warner said when asked how he was planning to play spin in the IPL.
     The Delhi Daredevils opener was dismissed by Kolkata Knight Riders' mystery spinner, Sunil Narine, in the opening match on Wednesday.
     Warner said the batters need be more sensible in the upcoming matches as many of them were dismissed playing bad shots in their six-wicket defeat.
     "If you see most of out batsmen got out to silly shots. We need to more careful and shoulder greater responsibility," he said, adding that one of the top-four batsmen needs to bat throughout the 20 overs to ...

I haven't struggled against spin: Warner

Sri Lanka's cricket board today said it has addressed the concerns raised by the island's powerful Buddhist clergies on the participation of its cricketers in the ongoing sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.
     Upali Dharmadasa, Chairman SLC, said he had written to the monks groups responding to concerns expressed by them.
     The contents of the letter, however, were not released to the media.
     Dharmadasa, while telling the monks about SLC's talks on the players' safety with the external affairs and sports ministries, said that the players had signed their respective IPL contracts long time back.
     There was no immediate reaction from the monks to the SLC communique.
     Some of the nationalist monks, who advocated that players boycott the IPL, reacted angrily when players departed for the tournament.
     They threatened that the players will be attacked with rotten eggs upon arrival here at the end of the tournament.
     There was outrage in Sri Lanka over Tamil .

SLC says monks' IPL concerns addressed

Mumbai Indians coach John Wright today said that his side has put behind their opening game defeat and was focusing on how to beat Chennai Super Kings in their second IPL match here tomorrow.
     "Losing is not fun. We are looking forward to the game against Chennai Super Kings on the morrow. We are focusing on ourselves," Wright told reporters on the eve of MI's second league match against CSK.
     "Winning is far more enjoyable. We are looking at a combination that would make us a winning outfit. We have very talented players. It's a question of finding a combination", he said.
     "I hope it will be a good match tomorrow. The Super Kings are a settled unit and they would also enjoy home advantage," said the former New Zealand captain and ex-India coach.
     MI lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by two runs in their IPL opener in Bangalore last night.
     Wright said he was impressed by the performance of MI's new find, pacer Jasprit Bumrah of Gujarat in last night's match ...

We have put behind loss against RCB: Wright

Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming feels Michael Hussey's retirement from international cricket will work in his team's favour in the ongoing 6th Indian Premier League, as the batsman would be available for the entire season.
     "It helps and since Michael and (Murali) Vijay had great partnerships. There have been ups and down in 20-20 cricket but it has been very good for us," Fleming told reporters today, the eve of their opening match, against Mumbai Indians.
     Hussey retired after the Sydney Test against Sri Lanka in January.
     The former New Zealand skipper said CSK would look to give local fast bowlers opportunity to prove their mettle till pace spearhead Albie Morkel joins the side.
     "You will see that CSK is more considerate with Indian bowlers. May be we can give (opportunities to) one or two Indian pacers in the team and have some small options with the likes of Morris until Albie Morkel come back. We are excited about providing chances to the local ...

Hussey's international retirement helps us: Fleming

Sunil Narine might be troubling batsmen with his 'mystery' spin but the West Indies offspinner today revealed that out-of-form India opener Virender Sehwag is the "toughest" to bowl to.
     "The toughest batsman would be Virender Sehwag," said Kolkata Knight Riders spinner.
     "No matter what the situation of the game is, he goes out there and plays his role. So he makes it difficult to bowl at him," Narine told reporters on the sidelines of his team's practice session at the Eden Gardens here.
     He rated Muttiah Muralitharan as the best spinner.
     Narine, who was instrumental in KKR's triumph last season being their leading wicket-taker (24), started of with a bang this season as well, having claimed four for 13 in the tournament opener to steer the Knight Riders to a six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils.
     The West Indian bowler said he did not try anything differently but stick to the basics.
     "My preparation is nothing different but sticking to the basics," he ...

Sehwag most difficult to bowl to: Narine

Senior opener Virender Sehwag will also miss Delhi Daredevils' second IPL match against Rajasthan Royals here tomorrow as he is yet to recover from a bout of back spasm which had ruled him out of his side's opening game against Kolkata Knight Riders.
     Sehwag's unavailability for tomorrow's game was today confirmed by his opening partner David Warner.
     "He (Sehwag) is not playing tomorrow as he has not fully recovered. He is a lot better than what was before although his movement has been a bit sluggish," Warner told reporters on the eve of Daredevils' first home match tomorrow.
     Sehwag, who did not travel with the team to Kolkata, today dropped in at the Feroze Shah Kotla apparently to dispel rumours about he being miffed on some internal team issues.
     Although he did not join his team-mates at the nets, Sehwag had an extensive session on the physio's table carrying out his rehabilitation process
     Warner also said that despite the absence of big players like ...

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