Sports and Games News and Views

T20 Cricket World Cup 2010 Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Priya Ranjan) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:14:00 +0000

This year Twenty20 cricket world cup tournament will be played in West Indies in April -- May 2010. The 3rd T20 world cup will see some new teams such as Afghanistan and Ireland. Overall 12 teams will be contesting in the T20 cricket world cup 2010.

Thease teams are divided into four groups:

Group A - Pakistan (A1), Bangladesh (A2) and Australia

Group B - Sri Lanka (B1), New Zealand (B2) and Zimbabwe

Group C - South Africa (C1), India (C2) and Afghanistan

Group D - West Indies (D1), England (D2) and Ireland

Seeding has been provided to each team as A1, D2 etc.

The schedule follows:

Fri 30 Apr

17:00 GMT, 13:00 local 1st Match, Group B - Sri Lanka v New Zealand

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Fri 30 Apr

21:00 GMT, 17:00 local 2nd Match, Group D - West Indies v Ireland

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Sat 01 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 3rd Match, Group C - India v Afghanistan

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Sat 01 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 4th Match, Group A - Pakistan v Bangladesh

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Sun 02 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 5th Match, Group C - India v South Africa

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Sun 02 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 6th Match, Group A - Pakistan v Australia

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Mon 03 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 7th Match, Group B - Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Mon 03 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 8th Match, Group D - West Indies v England

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue 04 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 9th Match, Group B - New Zealand v Zimbabwe

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue 04 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 10th Match, Group D - England v Ireland

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Wed 05 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 11th Match, Group A - Australia v Bangladesh

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Wed 05 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 11th Match, Group C - South Africa v Afghanistan

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Thu 06 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 13th Match - A1 v D2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Thu 06 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 14th Match - C1 v B2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Fri 07 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 15th Match - A2 v C2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Fri 07 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 16th Match - B1 v D1

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Sat 08 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 17th Match - C1 v D2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Sat 08 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 18th Match - A1 v B2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Sun 09 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 19th Match - C2 v D1

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Sun 09 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 20th Match - B1 v A2

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Mon 10 May

13:30 GMT, 09:30 local 21st Match - B2 v D2

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Mon 10 May

17:30 GMT, 13:30 local 22nd Match - A1 v C1

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Tue 11 May

17:00 GMT, 13:00 local 23rd Match - B1 v C2

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Tue 11 May

21:00 GMT, 17:00 local 24th Match - D1 v A2

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Thu 13 May

15:30 GMT, 11:30 local 1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Fri 14 May

15:30 GMT, 11:30 local 2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC

Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia

Sun 16 May

15:30 GMT, 11:30 local The Final - TBC v TBC

Kensington Oval, Barbados

Hockey World Cup 2010 Points Tally

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:56:00 +0000

The current points-tally of the Hero Honda World Cup Hockey Championship 2010 is as follows:

Group A:

Country	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	Points
Netherlands	3	3	0	0	9
Germany	3	2	1	0	7
New Zealand	3	2	0	1	6
South Korea	3	1	1	1	4
Argentina	3	0	0	3	0
Canada	3	0	0	3	0

Group B:

Country	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	Points
England	4	4	0	0	12
Australia	4	3	0	1	9
Spain	4	2	0	2	6
India	4	1	0	3	3
Pakistan	4	1	0	3	3
South Africa	4	1	0	3	3

The group B matches which are being played today are Korea Vs Canada, New Zealand Vs Argentina and Germany Vs Netherlands.

Hosts India out of the Hockey World Cup 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:35:00 +0000

The hosts India are out of the International Hockey World Cup 2010. Their way to the exit was made sure when the hosts lost their critical match against England on Saturday, 7th March. Even after getting such an overwhelming support from the spectators all over the country, their team couldn't even get past the first round of plays.

The Indian team made an impressive and interesting start into the World Cup 2010 by winning their first match against Pakistan for 4 goals against 1. But it was the only time when the country could be proud of its National team. The country with Hockey as its national game, started its normal journey there after. They lost all the following matches at big margins. Poor performances against Australia and Spain showed them a defeat of 5-2 against both the countries. In their second last league match, they again lost to England for a score of 3 goals to 2. Thus, was the performance of once Champions, India, in Hockey World Cup 2010.
A simple analysis of the performance of the Indian Hockey team highlights their two big weaknesses which are poor defense and inefficiency in converting Penalty corners to goals. The match against Australia had brought in so many comments about the poor Indian defense. But, still the team was not able to understand or find a solution for it's issues. They repeated the same issues against Spain and also England. The match against England showed the heights of inefficient defense, which resulted in accepting two goals which were gifted to the opposition. The Federation needs to think and analyze seriously about the situation of the team, and take the necessary actions to resolve its current problems. Else, the interest of every Indian in his National Game should hit a blow!

Sachin Tendulkar = 200

noreply@blogger.com (Priya Ranjan) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:02:00 +0000

It takes 442 ODIs, 20 years of cricketing experience, 36 years of age and moreover a Sachin Tendulkar to hit a double century in an ODI! Today, Sachin has achieved the landmark of scoring 200 runs in a single inning of an ODI. This milestone was missed by narrow margins in the past by many batsmen. This not only helped India to win convincingly against South Africa but also set a new benchmark for other batsmen.

Shane Warne is happy that he was not bowling to Sachin today. Other players across the globe congratulated him too. In India all the news channels went gaga over his performance. I foresee newspapers and magazines will be coloured in Sachin’s name. Those who watched the match will not forget for years to come.

Today Indian Railway Budget was presented in parliament. Every news channels ignored the event and came up with various statistics and interviews in praise of Sachin’s performance.

Last but not the least, India won the series today and became No. 2 in one day international cricket. Final score of 2^nd ODI of India – South Africa series:

India: 401/3 in 50 Overs

South Africa: 248/10 in 42.3 Overs

Result: India won the match by 152 runs.

Man of the match: no awards for guessing!

Hockey World Cup 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:21:00 +0000

Hero Honda International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Cup

Do you know where the Hockey World Cup 2010 is being played? It is in India, starting on the 28th of February 2010! Find the complete schedule of the International Hockey Federation World Cup below!

Participating Teams

Pool A	Pool B
Argentina	Australia
Canada	England
Germany	India
Korea	Pakistan
Netherlands	South Africa
New Zealand	Spain

The Schedule

Date	Group	Teams
28 Feb 2010	B	South Africa v. Spain
		Australia v. England
		Pakistan v. India
1 Mar 2010	A	New Zealand v. Canada
		Germany v. Korea
		Netherlands v. Argentina
2 Mar 2010	B	South Africa v. England
		Pakistan v. Spain
		India v. Australia
3 Mar 2010	A	Canada v. Germany
		Argentina v. Korea
		New Zealand v. Netherlands
4 Mar 2010	B	South Africa v. Australia
		England v. Pakistan
		Spain v. India
5 Mar 2010	A	Korea v. New Zealand
		Netherlands v. Canada
		Germany v. Argentina
6 Mar 2010	B	Australia v. Spain
		South Africa v. Pakistan
		England v. India
7 Mar 2010	A	Korea v. Canada
		New Zealand v. Argentina
		Germany v. Netherlands
8 Mar 2010	B	Spain v. England
		Australia v. Pakistan
		South Africa v. India
9 Mar 2010	A	Germany v. New Zealand
		Netherlands v. Korea
		Canada v. Argentina
10 Mar 2010 - Rest

11 Mar 2010	6th Pool A v. 6th Pool B
	1st Pool A v. 2nd Pool B
	1st Pool B v. 2nd Pool A
12 Mar 2010	5th Pool A v. 5th Pool B
	4th Pool A v. 4th Pool B
	3rd Pool A v. 3rd Pool B
13 Mar 2010	Losers Final
	Final
Closing Ceremony

India wins a thriller to retain the number one spot

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:53:00 +0000

A trilling match which kept the fellow cricket fans in a nail-byting position till it's end. That was India's second Test match against South Africa. Indian bowlers finally took over their chance and went on winning the match for their team, even though they couldn't get Amla's wicket. A huge share of the credit lies on the shoulders of Harbhajan Singh, who at the time of requirement, bowled flawlessly and placed India on the winning side. With this win, India has retained their position of being the best team playing Test Cricket till the next match, atleast.

Hashim Amla is really a hero of his team. Look at his figures - more than five hundred runs, staying not-out in two of the innings! What a wonderful display of passion and sincerity to the game! That is what Hashim Amla has shown the Indian team and the rest of the world. He was staying at one side, and finished the match staying at the same place. The Indian bowlers tried out all that they had in their bag to get him move out of his crease. But Hashim outplayed all of the opposition and remained no-out. He seemed to have sticked up into the crease without any effect of the men who were coming and going back at the other side. He was totally unmoved and faced the sharp looking Indian bowling attack. Zaheer, Ishant, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan would be certainly planning to prepare some weapon that could strike him!

Every one expected that South Africa might be able to display the same resistance that they faced from England. But then came the Indian Turbanator, with the ball in his hands and determination in his eyes. He picked up 5 important wickets of the South African Team, including the last wicket of Morkel.Harbhajan's sliders finally counted their victims! His figures in the second innings, 48.3 overs for 59 runs and 5 wickets, were really impressive for a spinner.

Who will take responsibility of India's loss against South Africa?

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:42:00 +0000

India went through a very embarrassing and well expected defeat in the first test against India, at Nagpur. The Indian batting line-up, even in two innings, was not able to get par the South African first innings score of 568. Even after Sehwag and Tendulkar scoring a century each in two of the innings, why was the Indian team not able to do good? Aren't the Indian batsmen not capable of facing a quite good pace attack like that of South Africa?

It seemed to be a toss from the team selection committee. Who other than them are responsible for keeping out the batsmen who are in good form and picking up a set of fresh and inexperienced people to face a good pace attack like South Africa? There were more experienced batsmen like Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina etc., who were quite impressive with their bats in the recent past. The selectors seems to have forgotten all these names. If it was move towards getting exposure to talents, it could have been in their last match against Bangladesh. The selectors seemed to have just picked up some names from a huge list. Anyhow, they might be repenting about their action, and it has reflected in their decision to call back Raina, Karthik and Sreesanth.

The Indian team's performance seemed to be drastic all through the match. Together with some perfect professionalism from South African team, the whole Indian team was out performed, that's what a normal cricket fan might feel. Steyn had his forth 10 wicket haul in a test match. He and Harris scalped 3 wickets each in the Indian team's second innings. The only exception was Sachin's century, which also went in vain, as far as the team is considered. It was the master batsman's 91st international century.

The reasons for the defeat, after a quick analysis, could be averaged out to be the imbalance maintained in the team selection. Let's pray that the glorious Indian cricket team selectors, maintain a least sense by thinking, while making such crucial decisions.

IPL 3 Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Priya Ranjan) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:46:00 +0000

Much awaited and one of the most coveted cricket tournament IPL T20 will start in another one month's time. Those who have got the tickets can enjoy the Live tournament at the ground. Those who couldn't can look at the schedule below and watch for their favorite teams and players in action.
Here's the schedule for the same:

Date	Team 1	Team 2	Proposed Venue
12-Mar	Deccan Chargers	Kolkata Knight Riders	Hyderabad
13-Mar	Mumbai Indians	Rajasthan Royals	Mumbai/Nagpur
13-Mar	Kings XI Punjab	Delhi Daredevils	Mohali
14-Mar	Chennai Super Kings	Deccan Chargers	Chennai
14-Mar	Kolkata Knight Riders	Royal Challengers	Kolkata
15-Mar	Rajasthan Royals	Delhi Daredevils	Jaipur
16-Mar	Royal Challengers	Kings XI Punjab	Bangalore
16-Mar	Kolkata Knight Riders	Chennai Super Kings	Kolkta
17-Mar	Delhi Daredevils	Mumbai Indians	Delhi
18-Mar	Royal Challengers	Rajasthan Royals	Bangalore
19-Mar	Deccan Chargers	Kings XI Punjab	Vizag
20-Mar	Rajasthan Royals	Kolkata Knight Riders	Ahmedabad
20-Mar	Mumbai Indians	Royal Challengers	Mumbai/Nagpur
21-Mar	Delhi Daredevils	Deccan Chargers	Delhi
22-Mar	Mumbai Indians	Kolkata Knight Riders	Mumbai/Nagpur
23-Mar	Royal Challengers	Chennai SuperKings	Bangalore
24-Mar	Kings XI Punjab	Rajasthan Royals	Mohali
25-Mar	Kolkata Knight Riders	Delhi Daredevils	Kolkta
26-Mar	Chennai Super Kings	Mumbai Indians	Chennai
26-Mar	Rajasthan Royals	Deccan Chargers	Ahmedabad
27-Mar	Royal Challengers	Delhi Daredevils	Bangalore
27-Mar	Kings XI Punjab	Kolkata Knight Riders	Mohali
28-Mar	Rajasthan Royals	Chennai Super Kings	Ahmedabad
28-Mar	Deccan Chargers	Mumbai Indians	Vizag
29-Mar	Delhi Daredevils	Kolkata Knight Riders	Delhi
30-Mar	Mumbai Indians	Kings XI Punjab	Mumbai/Nagpur
31-Mar	Chennai SuperKings	Royal Challengers	Chennai
31-Mar	Delhi Daredevils	Rajasthan Royals	Delhi
1-Apr	Kolkata Knight Riders	Deccan Chargers	Kolkata
2-Apr	Kings XI Punjab	Royal Challengers	Mohali
3-Apr	Chennai Super Kings	Rajasthan Royals	Chennai
3-Apr	Mumbai Indians	Deccan Chargers	Mumbai/Nagpur
4-Apr	Delhi Daredevils	Royal Challengers	Delhi
4-Apr	Kolkata Knight Riders	Kings XI Punjab	Kolkata
5-Apr	Deccan Chargers	Rajasthan Royals	Hyderabad
6-Apr	Mumbai Indians	Chennai SuperKings	Mumbai/Nagpur
7-Apr	Rajasthan Royals	Kings XI Punjab	Ahmedabad
8-Apr	Royal Challengers	Deccan Chargers	Bangalore
8-Apr	Chennai Super Kings	Delhi Daredevils	Chennai
9-Apr	Kings XI Punjab	Mumbai Indians	Mohali
10-Apr	Royal Challengers	Kolkata Knight Riders	Bangalore
10-Apr	Deccan Chargers	Chennai Super Kings	Bangalore
11-Apr	Rajasthan Royals	Mumbai Indians	Jaipur
11-Apr	Delhi Daredevils	Kings XI Punjab	Delhi
12-Apr	Deccan Chargers	Royal Challengers	Hyderabad
13-Apr	Chennai Super Kings	Kolkata Knight Riders	Chennai
14-Apr	Mumbai Indians	Delhi Daredevils	Mumbai/Nagpur
15-Apr	Rajasthan Royals	Royal Challengers	Jaipur
15-Apr	Kings XI Punjab	Deccan Chargers	Dharmsala
16-Apr	Delhi Daredevils	Chennai Super Kings	Delhi
17-Apr	Royal Challengers	Mumbai Indians	Bangalore
17-Apr	Kolkata Knight Riders	Rajasthan Royals	Kolkata
18-Apr	Deccan Chargers	Delhi Daredevils	Hyderabad
18-Apr	Kings XI Punjab	Chennai Super Kings	Dharamsala
19-Apr	Kolkata Knight Riders	Mumbai Indians	Kolkata
21-Apr	Semifinal Match 1		TBD
22-Apr	Semifinal Match 2		TBD
24-Apr	3rd Place Match		TBD
25-Apr	FINAL Match		TBD

Keep a tab on this blog for the latest news on IPL 3.

Steyn shines on South Africas road to victory

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:31:00 +0000

Dale Steyn's outstanding bowling performance is taking South Africa closer and closer towards victory. What a brilliant bowling performance! He was bowling one of the most lethal and stunning spells of pace and swing, rare to see in this part of the world! India are on the verge of losing the test match to South Africa on their own soil.

One person among the Indian cricketers, who can hold his head straight, is Virender Sehwag. He scored a remarkable century. He was looking very fine with his bat. But he might be cursing himself for his not so remarkable dismissal, off a full and wide delivery from Wayne Parnell, and thereby initiating the collapse of the Indian batting. It seemed that the Indian batsmen were competing among themselves in throwing away their wickets. Once Sehwag was out for a score of 109, then started the march-past of the Indian batting. Batsmen were seen walking in and out in a manner as fast as they can do. Seven of the Indian wickets fall off within the addition of just 41 runs. Man, did they forget that they were playing test cricket and that they still had 2 more days to bat on?

The Innings proved the inability of Indian batsmen in facing a very nice pace and swing bowling attack. The fellow test cricket fans in India might have missed Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman for that matter. But all the credit needs to be transferred to Dale Steyn and the South African team. How good a display of pace with swing! It was awsome watching him bowling out some of the beautiful deliveries that his entire career has seen. Apart from Sehwag, it was Badrinath who managed to add some noticeable runs into his bag. He scored a well earned 56 runs before giving out his wicket to Steyn.

The Indian batting is still suffering the same problems in their second innings as well. They are at 66 runs for the loss of 2 wickets till the day's play was called off. Gambhir would be ashamed of himself, giving wicket continuously to Morkel in both the innings, getting out on the third ball from the same bowler. It would now need some miraculous partnership for India to emerge back in this test match. With the line-up that India has now and the bowling effort from the South African bowlers, we doubt whether they might be able to take the play even till the lunch on day 4. Congratulations Steyn, on his achievement of his career best figures.

India sweating in the first test match

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:14:00 +0000

The Indian cricket team is sweating already in their first test match against South Africa. South Africa are at a very good position in the match. They have put across a very huge score for the Indians to chase. On the second day of the play, South Africa has declared at 558 runs at the loss of 6 wickets. Now, the Indian team batsmen, top-order as well as the middle-order, needs to fire well in order to get some hold in this match. India are at 25 runs without the loss of any wickets, when the day's play was called off.

The Indian bowling department was proved wrong again, by the South African batsmen. They were batting pretty cool and achieved to score a very good score, leaving behind the perspiring Indian bowlers. One thing that needs much applause is Hashim Amla's double century. He was supertb throughout the innings. He added a huge 340 run partnership with Kallis. He was remained unbeaten at 253 runs from 473 balls. This was a very disciplined innings from the young South African, who managed to stand unbeaten by the Indian bowlers. Thing to be noted is that he was dropped at 149 by Murali Vijay, as well as M S Dhoni, in the same same over.

The Indian team as well as its fans around the world would be very much disappointed about the bowling performance from its spinners. On a pitch which was providing good support for the spinners, the famous Indian spinner duo managed to get only 2 wickets among them. Apart from Zaheer Khan, the whole bowling department seemed to be spectators. Amit Mishra bowled 53 overs with no wickets against his name. This was the sixth worst performance by an Indian spinner in a test innings. Harbhajan Singh was not less worse. He bowled 46 overs, and although scalped two wickets, he managed to bowl only a single maiden over. God, save the Indian bowling talents!

Kallis, yet another time proved his worth for the South African team. He scored a marvellous 173 runs. He was caught out by M Vijay off a Harbhajan Singh delivery. Then onwards, it was only Amla, who was noticeable. He scored his runs very often and although slowly, hurting the Indian dreams. India, on reply are at a score of 25 with Gambhir at 12, and his partner Sehwag, at 9 runs. The Indian top-order batsmen need to be very much cautious playing the experienced South African bowling attack, because it seems difficult to bat on in the morning sessions.

Chelsea gets transfer ban lifted

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:06:00 +0000

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has lifted the transfer ban on Chelsea. They have been cleared of any wrong doings, regarding the transfer of Gael Kakuta from the Lens. They now have all the Sanctions on it, lifted. Chelsea are the leaders of the current Premier League.

The club's chairman, Bruce Buck was seen to be very much pleased about the news, and reported that his team is glad to hear the news. He mentioned that the resolution adopted by the CAS has been amicable, and they were really pleased that FIFA has recognized the same. He duly mentioned that they have strengthened their relationship with Lens, as a result of resolving the case to both the teams' satisfaction. The Chelsea CEO, mr. Ron Gourlay too mentioned his pleasure in the decision by CAS, clearing their club of any wrong doing and closing the matter at this state.

Chelsea are the leaders of the current Premier League championship and are approaching to finish first to lift the cup. Currently, they have 55 points with Manchester United just 2 points behind. Their match against Hull went on a draw, against their probable expectations of increasing the margin with ManU. Their next match is against Arsenal, on 7th of February. Arsenal is standing 3rd in the table. It would be really interesting to watch both these biggies locking their horns against each other.

All teams tamper with ball: Imran, Rameez

noreply@blogger.com (gappy) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:15:00 +0000

Shahid Afridi is not the only one who thinks that all teams tamper with the ball.
Pakistan's World Cup winning former captain Imran Khan and another ex-skipper Rameez Raja also feel the same.

Afridi, who has been banned for two Twenty20 matches for tampering with the ball in the fifth and final One-Day International against Australia Perth, has claimed that all teams try such tactics to exploit the conditions to their advantage.
Backing Afridi's claim, Imran said only the sub-continental teams are punished for the offence.
"It is nothing new, when we were playing and developed reverse swing we were accused of being cheats and tampering with the ball, but when the English and other bowlers did it became an art," he said.
However, both Imran and Rameez didn't condone Afridi's behaviour in gnawing into the ball.
Imran insisted he never tampered with the ball in his playing days as other teams did.
"There have been several recorded incidents of teams trying to change condition of the ball through various methods," he claimed.
Rameez also insisted that ball tampering is done by most of the teams.
"It is nothing new but what Afridi did is totally unacceptable. He was not playing in a club match it was an international match in front of many cameras and he should have avoided this moment of madness," he said.
"Having the will and desire to win is one thing but doing something like what he did is another thing it embarrassed all of us," he said.
He said Afridi had spoilt his own image by his actions.
"You certainly don't want a captain who loses his cool this way although he has shown all the qualities of making our team fight.," he said.
Rameez also called on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to set up an inquiry committee to find out why Afridi did what he did.
"It is not a small matter and needs to be looked into as it should never have happened," he added.

Media barred from Indian hockey World Cup camp

noreply@blogger.com (gappy) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:11:00 +0000

As the Indian hockey team began getting a feel of the National Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, ruckus erupted outside the World Cup venue with authorities shunting out media on the pretext of security.

A lensman desperate to get a peek inside jumped the gates only to be caught by the policemen, a handful of journalists sneaked in through unguarded gates while the rest fumed in frustration. And all this while the hockey team practiced inside.
Incidentally, the stadium was inaugurated barely 10 days ago by Sports Minister M S Gill amid huge presence of media.
The facility was made on Wednesday available to the national team, which was until now preparing for the mega event at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.
Even though majority of the assembled mediapersons were barred from entering the stadium through the main entrance, a few managed to get in through other gates but after protests from the stranded pack, they were also brought out.
Asked to explain the logic behind keeping the media out of practice sessions, Sports Authority of India (SAI) joint secretary Pravir Krishn said the decision to restrict scribes was taken keeping in mind security concerns during the February 28-March 13 event.
"Due to security and strategic reasons, the decision has been taken at the highest level not to allow media in training sessions. The restriction will not just be for the Indian team but for every visiting teams," Krishn said.
"Three, four people managed to get in but they were ejected later on," he said.
It has also been learnt that the official spokesperson of every team will brief the media on a weekly basis.

Sevilla continues to resurge under Jimenez

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:56:00 +0000

This weekend saw Sevilla continuing their resurgence, with this victory against Valencia. They are just three points below Valencia, who are at the third place in the Primera Division table. Sevilla outplayed the threat of their rivals for a score of 2-1 to overtake Mallorca and reach into the fourth place. It was a deserving win for the hosts, who deserved it well. This victory certainly must have boosted their confidence to a higher levels.

Both of Sevilla's goals were scored by the Spanish Alvaro Nagredo. He struck in the 21st minute for the first time, after a Diego Perotti corner was flicked onto him at the back post. Nagredo bagged his second goal of the match by chipping in the ball beyond Sanchez in the 68th minute. Valencia kept the pressure on till the end and got back a goal in the extra time off the boots of David Navarro. But it was too late as Sevilla defended well towards the closing stages of the match. The result - hosts Sevilla bagged their victory, and also gained points in their favour.

It is all going under the Sevilla's young and relatively inexperienced manager Manolo Jiminez, who took over the Sevilla hot-seat following the exit of Ramos. His decision to give chance to Alvaro Nagredo who has found some form, opting to keep Luis Fabiano on the bench, has finally yeilded him good. Nagredo is back amongst goals since the last few weeks. This brave selection has rewarded for Jimenez, and he might now be considering a second thought on whether to introduce Fabiono back into the line-up for the Copa del Rey semi-final on wednesday. The win against Valencia, shall reason to retain the optimism for Jimenez of remaining in the club beyond this season.

Massa and Schumacher celebrate day of comebacks

noreply@blogger.com (gappy) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:17:00 +0000

Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, once brothers in arms but now Formula One rivals, returned to the racetrack on a day of comebacks on Monday.

Both the Brazilian and the German had moments when they thought their eyes were deceiving them but the lap times in Valencia were real enough.

"I suddenly see my old car on the track and I'm not sitting in it, and it is a strange sensation, but it's good to see my brother on track, in the car," declared Schumacher, returning with Mercedes three years after retiring as a Ferrari driver, of his former team mate.

"It's a bit strange to see a silver car with a (driver wearing a) red helmet," said Massa, making his own comeback six months after suffering life-threatening head injuries in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"It was normal to always see him in red, but we'll get used to it.

"It was nice, it was fun," he said of sharing the track with the German. "We also had a nice moment when I was passing him and we waved at each other."

Schumacher and Massa raced together at Ferrari in 2006 and forged a strong bond, with the German staying in regular contact after retirement.

Monday was Massa's first day back in an up-to-date car and on a track with others since the accident.

"I'm happy to be back after such a long time watching the races on television, and sometimes at the track," he said.

"It was a very positive day, the car behaved very well. We managed to start and finish our programme as expected, and even do more laps than expected, so everything went very well.

"The car felt easier to drive compared to last year when it was always difficult to find the right direction and balance," added Massa.

"This is just one day, but at least today was quite positive and easier to find the direction, setup and balance.

"But it's not enough. There's still a lot of work to do to improve the car until the first race, which is the most important thing."

Massa said he had no fear, no flashbacks and was 100 percent ready to race.

"For me, today was normal."

Federer takes home the Australian Open Trophy

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:41:00 +0000

Roger Federer adds another cup to his collection of Grand Slam titles. The Australian Open 2010 was his 16th Grand Slam title. He certainly has proved the statement that he is the greatest of the champions till now! What an Unmatchable beauty! That's what one might feel when gets a chance to see this Swiss Maestro with racquet in his hand. I would like to call it as bad luck of Murry because he had to face the most talented tennis player that the world has ever seen till now! Else, he would have been successful in taking Britain's hopes to it's destination.

It seems that the trophies have special love for Federer's hands. It is with such ease, that he walks through challenges that he faces now and then. He is an absolute tennis legend. What a genius at work! It was in straight sets that he out-powered his British opponent. Till the last match, it was only Murray who seemed to be having the instinct to stop the Federer wagon from claiming the championship. But all these speculations lasted till Roger stepped into the court. He came, he played, and he took away the trophy. Simple! isn't it? The Britishers' wait for a Grand Slam champion among them, continues.

6-3, 6-4, 7-6 that's how he sailed over the Murray challenge. The victory came when Murray netted a forehand to set up the tie-breaker in favor of Federer for a score of 13 points to 11. It was the champ's 22nd final in a span of 27 majors, among which 16 of them came into his collection. But Andy Murray has gained a lot of respect from the tennis fans all over the world. Although shadowed out by Federer, his fight was lovely to watch. This young Scot is heavily talented and is certainly looming as a likely heir to Federer's throne, with Rafael Nadal struggling with injuries. After all, losing to the maestro, Roger Federer, is also not anything less than winning a Grand Slam tournament!

Ball Tampering Controversies: Shahid Afridi Chewing the Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Priya Ranjan) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:17:00 +0000

The recent incident of chewing the ball by Shahid Afridi was indeed unfortunate. Afridi was banned for two T20 matches after this incident. In cricket, players tamper the ball in order to make the situation difficult for the batsmen by gaining the reverse swing with the tampered ball. Mostly, fielders and bowlers tamper balls in frustration and annoyance in case they are loosing the match, maybe.

Instances

- England captain Michael Atherton was accused of ball tampering during the a Test match with South Africa at Lord's in 1994
- Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aqib Javed found tampering balls during Pakistan's visit to England in 1992
- Waqar Younis became the first player to receive a suspension for ball-tampering after a match in 2000
- Tendulkar was suspended for one game ban after getting caught on camera doing something to a ball in a Test in South Africa in 2001
- Rahul Dravid was fined after he rubbed a half-eaten lolly onto one side of the ball during an ODI
- Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi was suspended for two Twenty20 matches for repeatedly biting the ball in the recent ODI

Well, there are many more allegations of ball tampering in the past -- some had evidences and yet other's couldn't get proved. Ever since the TV telecast has begun, such instances can be easily be caught. While Matches are telecasted Live, we have witnessed such incidents during the match.

Unfortunate, but I don't believe this is the end of the story.

Master Blaster and The Wall does it again

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:52:00 +0000

The master blaster showed his excellence yet another time. Another test, Another century! That's what he is providing his fellow fans. And when he has the partnership of "The Wall of Indian Batting" along with him on the other end, what else could block him? Sachin Tendulkar seems to be going non-stop. Its good news for the Indian fans around the world. The Master is in good touch. What a marvelously carved century! Dravid too scored a century and seemed to be going all well, till a Shahadat Hossain bouncer that smashed into the side of his face. Their combined effort has placed India into a very well and secured place in the match.

The Indian innings started off in style with Sehwag completing his half-century. But as doubted, he fell off as soon as he completed his 50. It was Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicket keeper, whose safe hands that showed Sehwag the way back to the pavilion. Gambhir seemed to be walking slowly towards his sixth consecutive century, till he fell in the same way that his opening partner had done! The difference was the source from where the ball came. He fell off to a good ball from Shaiful Islam. Thereafter came the most brilliant partnership of the Indian innings. Tendulkar joined Dravid and together they added a very valuable and charming 222 runs to the Indian total. Both Dravid and Sachin completed their centuries in the due course. It was Tendulkar who completed his century first, Dravid was not late in anyways. Their partnership looked too much vulnerable for the Bangladesh team till an awkward bouncer from Shahadat hit Dravid on his chin area, making him retire soon from the field. He had scored 111 runs by then.

Tendulkar was really awesome to watch batting. The master Indian batsman pushed the ball to all corners of the field making the lives of Bangladesh fielders more difficult. One of the important and noticeable things about his innings was that he took 89 balls to get to his fifty runs, but completed the rest 50 runs in just 45 balls. Tendulkar had scored 143 runs till he got out. Murali Vijay was also impressive with his bat and showed a glimpse of his talent. But he unfortunately could not get to a big score, and fell to Shakib Al Hasan. Harbhajan was the last man to be out in the Indian innings, on which, the day's play was called off. Well played, India!

Some highlights of the Indian batting are:

The duo of Tendulkar and Dravid have put together a century partnership for 17 times, which is a new record.
They have also reached the second place in the maximum number of double century partnerships.
Today's century was Tendulkar's 90th international hundred, which is another record for the maestro.
Gautam Gambhir equalled Viv Richards in the number of half-centuries in successive matches.
Dravid reached 8th position in the list of batsmen with highest number of Test hundreds.

Bowlers give India an upper Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:19:00 +0000

It was an impressive performance by the Indian bowlers. The Indian pace duo of Zaheer and Ishant shared 7 of the Bangladesh wickets among themselves. Together, they put on pressure on the Bangladesh batsmen. The only highlight of the Bangladesh innings was the batting performance of Mahmudullah. He remained unbeaten by the Indian bowlers at a personal score of 96 runs. He was impressive with his bat, although he could not manage to get to that hundred run mark.

It was one more of those times when the Bangladesh top-order batsmen failed to give them a good start. This time, both the openers were sent back to the pavilion without even opening their accounts. Imrul Kayes walked back as fast as he came to the field. He was caught behind the stumps by Dhoni off an Ishant Sharma delivery. Tamim Iqbal consumed 8 balls before he got out, bowled out by Zaheer, for a duck. Apart from Mahmudullah, it was Ashraful, Shakib Al Hassan and Mushfiqur Rahim who managed to get past the single figure. The main issue with the Bangladesh batsmen seemed to be playing well away from their body. The Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was involved in 5 of the dismissals. He took three catches and also stumped out two of the Bangladesh batsmen.

Mahmudullah proved his excellence yet another time. He stroked a marvellous 96 runs and stood not-out. It was his innings that even took the Bangladesh score past the 200 run mark. The cricket fans around the world would have certainly wished him to get to his maiden century today. But nevertheless, he has improved his performance very much and reached his career best at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur! Congratulations, Mahmudullah. You have proved really a strong pillar for your team.

The Indian team might be happy to see Ishant Sharma getting back his rythm to an extend. He bowled well today to add a total of 4 wickets into his collection. He is proving himself to be a better Test Bowler. Zaheer Khan, as always, was impressive among the Indian bowlers. He scalped 3 of the top Bangladesh batsmen who are in good form. The Indian openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have got a good start for the innings. Sehwag has already made a score of 41 (as always, off just 40 balls). One need to see if he is able to stay back to continue on the second day morning's play. India would be eying for a score well past 500 so that they don't need to bat for a second time in this test. The outcome of the day's play is just "Well Played, India"!

Manchester Rolls over, behind Rooney

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Wayne Rooney scored 4 goals in a match to take the reigning Champions Manchester United, to the top of the Premier League. On the basis of Rooney's goals, Manchester United defeated Hull for a margin of 4 goals to nill. On the eighth minute itself Rooney beat the Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, latching onto the rebound after a shot from Paul Scholes was parried. But even with the goal from Rooney in the initial phase, Manchester seemed to be fighting a lot in the game. It was in the last ten minutes that Rooney scored three more goals to take the score to 4. His tally for the season is 20 now, with this performance.

The Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was all praise for Rooney. He expressed his happiness on being on the top of the table. Man United now leads the points table with Chelsea and Arsenal just two points behind. Arsenal has one game more than Manchester in its hand when Chelsea has two.

Australia victorious in the first ODI

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:57:00 +0000

Australia, yet another time proved massive to be defeated. Australia bet Pakistan in the first one day match at Brisbane. The Pakistan cricket team might've had a sigh of relief when they got rid of Ricky Ponting in the 18th over itself, leaving Australia struggling at 84 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. But there onwards Cameron White took over the control. His partnerships with Michael Clarke and Hussey took Australia to a much decent victory.

Pakistan, on the other hand, had started quite well. The openers were looking brilliant before Shane Watson sent out Kamran Akmal. Salman Butt and Younis Khan too had a good partnership. Butt was caught behind the wickets by Haddin off the ball from Bollinger. He was at 72 runs when he got out. Younis Khan, although he scored 46 important runs for Pakistan, wasn't that impressive with his bat. It took him 74 balls to reach his 46 runs, which included only a single boundary. After his dismissal, Pakistan was in severe trouble. It was Afridi's heroics that took Pakistan to a defensible total. The Pakistan team were bowled out for a score of 274. Shane Watson stood high in the wickets tally among the Australian bowlers. He scalped 4 of the Pakistan batsmen for a mere 36 runs, in his 10 overs. It is his career's best figures till now!

The Australian reply started with too many errors. Watson, Marsh and Ponting settled down for low scores. But there after, it was Clarke and White who stood tall and their partnership added a very useful 102 runs to the Australian total. Cameron White's century came off just 88 balls, and it included 8 fours and 4 sixes. He carved his innings quite very well. It was the first time that Cameron White, who was playing his 48th ODI in Australia, made a score past 50. It turned out to be a very memorable one to him as well! He was later on joined by Hussey to take Australia close to the victory. It seems like Pakistan is still carrying over the losing spree. Pakistan has already had a Test Series loss of 3-0 to Australia. Anyhow, well done Australia and Cameron White!

5 out of 5 for Gambhir

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:50:00 +0000

Donald Bradman, Jacques Kallis, Mohammad Yousuf and now Gautam Gambhir! The champion Delhi batsman has joined the group of players who have scored 5 hundreds in consecutive test matches. With that sixer off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan, he is now the fourth only cricketer who have scored hundreds in 5 tests in a row. He is the first Indian batsman to achieve such a milestone. Indian Cricket is seeing its future in the shoulders of this young Delhi batsman now.

It all started with the century that he scored against Newzealand at Napier on 26th of March '09. There onwards, he hasn't missed out any of the tests that he played. A Hundred of each test, what a brilliant achievement! Congratulations, Gautam. You have proved your brilliance yet again. This young cricketer is proving to be an integral part of the team. It is for sure that he will add his name into the list of champion cricketers across the world.

With the help of Gambhir's century, the Indian team has posted a target of 414 for Bangladesh. Apart from Gambhir, it was Amit Mishra and VVS Lakshman who stood out among the Indian batsmen. Lakshman stood not out at 69 runs. The night watchman Amit Mishra turned out to be very useful to the Indian score. He completed his 50 runs before getting out on a Mahmudullah delivery at the hands of Raquibul Hasan. India declared at 413 for the loss of 8 wickets. The Bangladesh bowling attack was decent enough, apart from Rubel Hossain. He conceded 94 runs in his 15 overs at an economy of 6.26 rpo.

Bangladesh reply was not really good enough compared to their rivals. Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees took an early departure off the field. As the day's play was wound up, they were at a total of 67 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma shared the wickets among them. The match, in its current phase, is certainly in the favour of the Indians. They have a certain upper hand and can plan to bowl out the Bangladesh batsmen on the fourth day of the test, to turn the series into their side.

IPL3 Auction Results

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:30:00 +0000

Indian Premier League 3 Selected Players List

India has advantage in the First Test

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:22:00 +0000

India Vs Bangladesh, First Test Match - A summary

India finished off the Bangladesh innings at 242, leading by one run. The Bangladesh team seemed to be troubled facing the Indian Bowling attack. It was a Medium pacer show, in the Bangladesh first innings. In their tour to Bangladesh, for the first time, Indian bowling was highlighted apart from the fact that Sreesanth and Mishra had 12 no-balls to be shared between them.

Zaheer khan was impressive with the ball in his hands. He proved his experience and guided the bowling attack into its correct path. He scalped 3 of the top Bangladesh batsmen including both the openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, along with the captain Shakib Al Hassan. Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma shared 2 wickets each, and the spinner Amit Mishra cleared the lower order by taking 3 of the Bangladesh wickets. With what could be considered as a good opening, the Bangladesh batsmen disappointed the cricket fans by getting out one by one as fast as they can hurry. It seemed that they were aimless with their batting till Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim joined to bat when the score was 96 for the loss of 6 wickets. It was this partnership that helped Bangladesh go par the 200 run mark.

Mahmudullah proved worthy of a better spot in the top order yet again. As Sportsaffairs already mentioned in a previous analysis, the Bangladesh management needs to think seriously about giving more opportunity for this young batting talent. He seemed to be very confident with his shot selection, till he edged a Sreesanth ball only to find the safe hands of Dinesh Karthik. He is turning to be a wonderful addition to the team Bangladesh's batting brilliance.

The Indian Second Innings was very nice to watch. The opening pair was watchful this time and were batting very nice till broken when Sehwag was caught out by Raquibul off a Shakib delivery. Gautam Gambhir is on his way to a wonderful half century. He was at 47 runs from just 56 balls when the day's play was called off! The night watchman Amit Mishra was also impressive with his 24 valuable runs, which included five boundaries. India can be proud of its run rate today. They were scoring at a rate of 5.46 runs an over till the 22 completed overs.

The Algerian "Draw" Theory

noreply@blogger.com (Sports Affairs) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:51:00 +0000

Algeria Football team coach Rabah Saadane admitted that he and his team were actually playing for a draw against Angola, since they knew that they would go through into the next round in the Africa Cup of Nations. This has cost Mali, who, despite a victory against Malawi lost their chance to advance in the tournament. Saadane was quoted saying "We had the rules and knew that if Mali won, we would go through. So we said to our players: 'Now stop. Either score or draw - absolutely minimum." to the team, when they were sure of the spot.

It is shameful and completely against the ethics of the game play, when a team is admitting that they played for a draw, rather than victory. News like these will certainly be killing the interest of a football fan in his favorite game. Algeria, who levelled Mali in their group according to the points table, will now advance into the next round match, while Mali goes out of the tournament. Mali has anyway lodged a protest against the Algerian and Angolan teams, at the Confederation of African Football, saying that the sides purposefully played out a goalless draw to ensure their respective progress into the further rounds.