BCCI mulls tri-series involving Pak, SL

CHENNAI: The BCCI could explore the possibility of hosting an ODI tri-series involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka later this year and the modalities are likely to be discussed during the Asian Cricket Council meeting on Friday.

The officials from the three boards will be present at the meeting and there is a strong chance that the BCCI might propose to have a tri-series sometime in December in India.

PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and CEO of ACC Syed Ashraful Haq have arrived in the southern capital of Tamil Nadu for the meeting.

The ACC is headed by BCCI's president-in-exile N Srinivasan.

The ACC meet assumes significance as it has been scheduled just two days before the proposed meeting between Cricket South Africa chief Haroon Lorgat and BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel in Dubai on the sidelines of an ICC board meeting to resolve the impasse over India's tour of South Africa.

The BCCI is presently in disagreement with Cricket South Africa over the number of matches to be played in the series in November-December. India will play a short series against the West Indies in November and New Zealand tour will start from January 19.

If the tri-series takes place in between these two tours, then the South African board would be left with no other option but to host India for two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 international from December and ending with the New Year's Test.

The tri-series would lead to rescheduling of Pakistan's home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in December-January. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are set to play two T20 internationals, five ODIs and three Tests from December 11 to January 20. The limited-overs series concludes on December 27.

The PCB wouldn't mind such series involving India and Sri Lanka as it would generate a huge amount of advertisement revenues and benefit all three boards.

It has been reliably learnt that Ahmad will hold discussions with the BCCI officials on the issue during the meeting.

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'India will do well in the 2016 Olympics'

NEW DELHI: A silver medal in the recent Asia Cup has virtually assured India a place in next year's World Cup and the team's high performance director Roelant Oltmans feels the erstwhile champions of the game will be a force to reckon with in the 2016 Olympics.

India lost to defending champions South Korea 2-3 in a hard-fought contest in the final of the Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia recently but despite the defeat, the Sardar Singh-led side has virtually booked its ticket to next year's World Cup.

India will now just have to wait till November for the official confirmation from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) which will come only after the conclusion of the Oceania Cup.

"We will have to wait for New Zealand or Australia to win the Oceania Cup. Normally, one of these two teams win the Oceania Cup. It is very unlikely that a team like Samoa or Papua New Guinea will win beat Australia or New Zealand. So considering that we are happy that we have more or less qualified for the World Cup," Oltmans said on Friday.

"But still we have lot of work to do, we have to match the top teams of the world. Look at Belgium, they are now a rapidly improved side and are beating teams like Germany, Australia and the Netherlands. I feel we will take another couple of years to beat top sides of the world. I feel we will be one of the strong contenders for the 2016 Olympics if not the 2014 World Cup," he said.

"We are getting closer and closer but we will need some more time. We need to play more tough games like the Asia Cup final against South Korea," he added.

Oltmans, who was entrusted with the responsibility of guiding India in the just-concluded Asia Cup after Michael Nobbs' sudden ouster, feels that the Asia Cup result shows that Indian hockey is heading in the right direction.

"It was a young and inexperienced team but under pressure it showed great fighting spirit in the Asia Cup. Everyone could see the improvement. Only a combined team effort can produce such positive results," the legendary Dutch coach said.

Oltmans said the impressive performance of youngsters in the Asia Cup augurs well for the eight-time Olympic champions.

"I am pleased to see competition for places coming up in Indian hockey. So there will be a fight for places in the team which is an encouraging sign for Indian hockey," he said.

"A player has to understand that if he wants to be a part of the Indian hockey team, then he has to be committed and hardworking. There is no alternative to it," said Oltmans before leaving for a two-week break to the Netherlands.

Plagued by injuries to key players, India fielded a relatively young and inexperienced side for the Asia Cup.

With four key strikers -- Danish Mujtaba, SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Akashdeep Singh -- ruled out due to injuries, India's forward line in the Asia Cup was a new-look unit.

Oltmans said the hunt for a full-time foreign coach for the men's hockey team is going on but he refused to divulge the names of the candidates who are in the fray.

"I was in charge of the team for seven weeks. My duty is over and now I have returned as Director, High Performance of Indian hockey. We will appoint a new coach soon. The process is going on," he said.

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India issues visa to Faisalabad Wolves

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's domestic T20 champions, Faisalabad Wolves have been issued visas to tour India to participate in the qualifying round of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament to begin later this month.

"The visa has already been issued. The passports would be handed over as and when they come to collect it at the Indian Embassy in Diplomatic Enclave," an official source said.

The Diplomatic Enclave is a heavily guarded premises and one can enter only after numerous permissions and security checks.

The team was earlier denied visas on the ground that they faced a security risk in India.

It was feared that that if the Wolves made their way up in the tournament, they would be playing at different cities across India and hence security could have been a problem.

"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 had said in New Delhi.

The Faisalabad team, led by Misbah-ul-Haq, was invited to play in the qualifying round of the CLT20 to be held across different cities of India from September 17 to October 6.

The Wolves would play their qualifying matches in Mohali with three other teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL team), Otago Volts (New Zealand) and Kandurata Maroons (Sri Lanka).

The Faisalabad team's participation in the CLT20 was confirmed until the LoC issues arose and that led to tensions between the two countries.

The Sialkot Stallions, champions of Pakistan's domestic league last year, had taken part in the qualifying round of the CLT20 which was held in South Africa last year.

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Martina taught me healthy lifestyle: Paes

MUMBAI: The oldest player to clinch a Grand Slam in Open era, Indian tennis ace Leander Paes on Friday credited his former mixed doubles partner Martina Navratilova for helping him elongate his international career by adopting a "clean lifestyle".

"Playing with Martina for many many years, I have learnt a lot. She is obviously a big inspiration for me to continue to remodel my game and stay healthy. I have also learnt how to live a clean lifestyle and be productive towards my tennis," Paes told reporters on his return after winning the men's doubles trophy at the US Open.

Paes and Navratilova together won two Grand Slam titles, besides finishing runners-up on two other occasions.

He became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title on Sunday when he along with his Czech partner Radek Stepanek won the men's doubles title at the US Open.

Enduring a tough season this year, Paes was determined to excel at the last Grand Slam of the year.

"I had no idea that I was the first person in the Open era to win a grand slam at 40. What I did know was that this whole year had been such a rough one - both on and off the court. It has been a very hard year. Coming into American summer, I knew I had to do really well.

"My first week in the Canadian Open in Montreal did not go well and the week in Cincinnati was average (got through to the quarterfinals). So I added an extra tournament (Winston-Salem Open) and played with a new partner called Daniel Nestor and we won that one. That seems to have kick-started the rhythm," he said.

The US Open has always been a happy hunting ground for the Indian tennis star and he was relieved to have won there after three years.

"In the US Open, I have done really well over the years. I won the junior singles title way back in 1991. For the last seven years, my performance in mixed doubles and men's doubles is fairly solid at the US Open. I was happy to get the hard court and humid conditions which we Indians are used to," said Paes, who has eight men's doubles trophies at the Majors and six mixed doubles crowns.

While dedicating his win to the people who have nurtured his career, Paes said: "Everytime I step on to the court is to honour my team, my father who has been nurturing me as a human being as well as an athlete for so many years.

"For my coaches Richard Leach, Sanjay Singh and Dave O'Meara and the whole team who has looked after me for so many years. They are the ones who I play for and look to honour."

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BCCI bans Sreesanth, Chavan for life

NEW DELHI: Cracking the whip on corrupt players, the BCCI slapped life bans on Indian Test pacer S Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan for being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scam while handing out lesser punishments to some others in the scandal which rocked the Twenty20 league this year.

Profile: S Sreesanth

Amit Singh, a former Rajasthan Royals player, was handed a five-year ban while another RR cricketer Siddharth Trivedi got away with a lighter one-year suspension after the BCCI disciplinary committee met to discuss anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani's report on scam.

"After considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the Players in person, the Disciplinary Committee has passed the following order...Mr Amit Singh is banned for a period of five years from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement on Friday.

"Mr. Siddharth Trivedi is banned for a period of one year from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

"Mr. Ankeet Chavan is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.

"Mr. S. Sreesanth is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates," the statement added.

Young spinner Harmeet Singh was, however, let off for lack of strong evidence against him.

"The case against Mr. Harmeet Singh has been closed in the absence of evidence against him."

The release had no mention of Ajit Chandila, who allegedly lured the cricketers into the spot-fixing net, but a BCCI official said a decision on him will be taken at a later stage.

Since Chandila has just been released on bail, the BCCI would like to give him an opportunity to depose in front of the committee before deciding the quantum of punishment.

The life bans on Sreesanth and Chavan were expected after Sawani had found them guilty of spot-fixing and had himself recommended a life ban.

The scandal, which broke out in May, had shaken the cash-rich Twenty20 event and led to a massive churning within the Board.

"All the disciplinary committee members were very cooperative and it went off well. I gave them my side of the story. All I have dreamt from childhood is to play for India and I will never cheat the game," Sreesanth said on Friday after appearing before the committee.

"I have full faith in the judiciary as well as the BCCI and I will come clean on this whole issue," added the 30-year-old former Test pacer, who was clad in a white shirt and blue denim jeans and was accompanied by a friend, Manoj.

The five players' deposition came even as Sawani's report was discussed by the BCCI committee, headed by N Srinivasan and comprising Board vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah.

Sawani has held Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan guilty of conceding a "pre-determined number of runs per over in exchange for bribes."

Trivedi and 21-year-old Harmeet were cleared of the spot-fixing charges, but were found guilty of not reporting the approaches made by bookmakers.

Sawani has recommended bans ranging from five years to lifetime for the players, who even served jail time before being granted bails.

"The disciplinary committee may consider my report and impose such sanctions as considered appropriate to send out a strong signal indicating the zero tolerance policy of the BCCI to any corruption in the sport that is so dear to millions of Indians and fans abroad," Sawani has said in the report.

"Obviously, the anti-corruption education given to the players had no impact on the conduct. Therefore, the players deserve no leniency whatsoever," he asserted.

A fourth player who did not appear before the committee but was found guilty is Amit Singh. Singh, part of the IPL till last year, was described by Sawani as "the bad fish that spoils the entire pond".

The meeting also assumed significance because of the presence of Srinivasan, who stepped aside as BCCI president after his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for alleged betting.

Srinivasan's company India Cements owns CSK. The day-to-day functioning of the BCCI is currently being handled by former Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya but Srinivasan has rarely missed an opportunity to make his presence felt. By chairing Friday's meeting, he has once again tried to assert his position in the Board.

The spot-fixing scandal broke out when Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila were arrested on May 16, along with 11 bookies, and were charged under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The scandal led to an overhauling of the guidelines for players and owners in the IPL. The BCCI drew up an action plan called 'Operation Clean-up' which envisaged a series of measures to curb corruption in the IPL.

Cheerleaders were barred along with the after-match parties for players and support staff. It was also decided to restrict the movement of owners in the players dug-out and dressing room.

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Kimi Raikkonen returns to Ferrari

LONDON: Finland's Kimi Raikkonen will race for Ferrari next season in a two-year deal that takes the 2007 world champion back to the glamour team he left in 2009 and creates the strongest pairing in Formula One.

Ferrari said in a statement on Wednesday that the 33-year-old 'Iceman', currently driving for Lotus, will replace Brazilian Felipe Massa alongside Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso.

"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," the statement said.

There were no quotes from the famously taciturn Finn, whose future team mate had made clear he would have been happy to continue with Massa. The Spaniard has a contract to the end of 2016.

Massa, championship runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2008, had already announced on social media that he would not be driving for the Italian team in 2014.

Ferrari last had two world champions in their lineup in 1953, when Italians Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina were together.

Raikkonen and Alonso should be a force to be reckoned with, although there could also be fireworks.

In contrast, other top teams have opted to pair a champion with a driver whose resume is less glittering.

Red Bull have a new face in Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who has yet to stand on the podium, as team mate to triple champion Sebastian Vettel while 2009 winner Jenson Button has Sergio Perez alongside him at McLaren but the Mexican is not yet a race winner.

Germany's Nico Rosberg, who partners Hamilton at Mercedes, has been on the top step of the podium twice this season but only three times in his career.

TWO ROOSTERS

Since the arrival in 1996 of Michael Schumacher, the seven times-world champion Raikkonen replaced at the end of 2006, Ferrari have preferred to have one clearly dominant driver in their lineup.

That was not the case in 2008, when Massa almost won the title, but Alonso wasted no time in stamping his authority on the team when he replaced Raikkonen.

Massa started 2010 still recovering from near-fatal head injuries sustained at the previous year's Hungarian Grand Prix and the Brazilian never regained his previous level of performance.

Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo has said in the past, reacting to speculation that Vettel could partner Alonso, that he did not want "two roosters in the same henhouse".

Ferrari decided, however, that Raikkonen - who won this year's Australian season-opener and recently ended a record 27 race scoring run - was a better bet than Massa.

Red Bull and Vettel have a firm grip on both of this year's championships and Ferrari are already focusing much of their attention on next year, when the rules go through significant change and a new V6 power unit is introduced.

The team, winners of a record 16 constructors' and 15 drivers' championships but without a title since 2008, are not in the habit of re-signing their ex-drivers although Austrian Gerhard Berger had two separate three-year stints at Maranello in the 1980s and 1990s.

Raikkonen should have no problems fitting in at Maranello, with Pat Fry and James Allison - his former technical directors at McLaren and Lotus (formerly Renault) - now with Ferrari. Both men also worked with Alonso, who won his two titles with Renault, at those teams.

The Finn won nine races for Ferrari between 2007 and 2009.

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Raikkonen to partner Alonso at Ferrari

LONDON: Finland's Kimi Raikkonen will race for Ferrari next season in a two-year deal that takes the 2007 world champion back to the glamour team he left in 2009 and creates the strongest pairing in Formula One.

Ferrari said in a statement on Wednesday that the 33-year-old 'Iceman', currently driving for Lotus, will replace Brazilian Felipe Massa alongside Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso.

"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," the statement said.

There were no quotes from the famously taciturn Finn, whose future team mate had made clear he would have been happy to continue with Massa. The Spaniard has a contract to the end of 2016.

Massa, championship runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2008, had already announced on social media that he would not be driving for the Italian team in 2014.

Ferrari last had two world champions in their lineup in 1953, when Italians Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina were together.

Raikkonen and Alonso should be a force to be reckoned with, although there could also be fireworks.

In contrast, other top teams have opted to pair a champion with a driver whose resume is less glittering.

Red Bull have a new face in Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who has yet to stand on the podium, as team mate to triple champion Sebastian Vettel while 2009 winner Jenson Button has Sergio Perez alongside him at McLaren but the Mexican is not yet a race winner.

Germany's Nico Rosberg, who partners Hamilton at Mercedes, has been on the top step of the podium twice this season but only three times in his career.

TWO ROOSTERS

Since the arrival in 1996 of Michael Schumacher, the seven times-world champion Raikkonen replaced at the end of 2006, Ferrari have preferred to have one clearly dominant driver in their lineup.

That was not the case in 2008, when Massa almost won the title, but Alonso wasted no time in stamping his authority on the team when he replaced Raikkonen.

Massa started 2010 still recovering from near-fatal head injuries sustained at the previous year's Hungarian Grand Prix and the Brazilian never regained his previous level of performance.

Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo has said in the past, reacting to speculation that Vettel could partner Alonso, that he did not want "two roosters in the same henhouse".

Ferrari decided, however, that Raikkonen - who won this year's Australian season-opener and recently ended a record 27 race scoring run - was a better bet than Massa.

Red Bull and Vettel have a firm grip on both of this year's championships and Ferrari are already focusing much of their attention on next year, when the rules go through significant change and a new V6 power unit is introduced.

The team, winners of a record 16 constructors' and 15 drivers' championships but without a title since 2008, are not in the habit of re-signing their ex-drivers although Austrian Gerhard Berger had two separate three-year stints at Maranello in the 1980s and 1990s.

Raikkonen should have no problems fitting in at Maranello, with Pat Fry and James Allison - his former technical directors at McLaren and Lotus (formerly Renault) - now with Ferrari. Both men also worked with Alonso, who won his two titles with Renault, at those teams.

The Finn won nine races for Ferrari between 2007 and 2009.

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Gambhir rejoins Essex, scores patient 32

CANTERBURY: Rejoining his county duty after a brief hiatus, out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday made a patient 36 during his side Essex's County Championship Division Two four-day match against Kent.

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 of the subsequent Test series against Australia due to jaundice after being picked for the first Test.

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India denies visa to Pak team for CLT20

NEW DELHI: 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 to send its domestic T20 champions -- Sialkot Stallions -- for the Champions League which was held in South Africa.

The Sialkot Stallions, however, failed to qualify for the main round.

This year Faisalabad Wolves, by virtue of emerging as the national T20 champions, had earned the honour of representing Pakistan in the Champions League.

Last month, India had not granted visa to a Pakistani religious group to attend Urs here and suggested that they defer their visit in view of their safety and security.

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Afghanistan dash India's hat-trick hopes

KATHMANDU: India's bid to win a hat-trick of SAFF Football Championship titles went up in smoke on Wednesday as they lost 0-2 to Afghanistan in the final.

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 announcing an apartment and $25,000 each for the whole squad if they happen to win the match.

Whether the announcement egged them is hard to know but they certainly played to their plan as they were able to keep the Indian team at bay despite a wave of attacks.

Both the strikes came off counter-attacks and after each goal, the 'Men In Red' tightened their defence.

Just like their semi-final match, Afghanistan got the much-needed goal as early as the eighth minute when right wing back Mustafa Hadid beat opposition left-back Syed Rahim Nabi as he got a lot of open space down wide right to enter the penalty box and passed it on to Belal Arezo.

Belal managed to hoodwink stopper back Arnab Mondal with a pass for Mustafa Azadzoy to slot it past Subrata Paul.

India played better after conceding the goal as there were a flurry of attacks with some fine build-ups with assistance from Mehtab Hossain in the central midfield and Farncisco Fernandes down right.

In the 19th minute, Mehtab provided a long ball which saw the burly Robin trying to hustle past a defender but Afghan custodian Masur Fagiryar came out of his charge to avert the danger.

In the 26th minute, there was another chance that went abegging when Robin passed it to Francis who kept a through ball for Arata whose placement wasn't good enough to beat the diving Afghan goalie.

In the 35th minute, Mehtab's pile driver was brilliantly saved by Fagiryar and Jeje's shot from the rebound was saved in the goalline by rival captain Fakhruddin Amiri.

After the change of ends, Jeje almost single-handedly bulldozed into the Afghan territory though the left-flank but couldn't keep it in play.

Chhetri finally came in the 60th minute and almost immediately scored as he played a one-two with Francisco before his feeble shot was saved by the goalie.

However, in the counter, Afghans struck a telling blow scoring the second goal in the 63rd minute when Belal raced past Arnab and Gourmangi with only Paul to beat.

His placement was well intercepted by Paul but Sanjar Ahmadi lobbed it and the goalkeeper failed in his bid to tip it over cross-bar.

Down 0-2, Chhetri tried a long ranger in the 65th minute which hit the horizontal, but the Indian team seemed to fizzle out with the passage of time.

In the 79th minute, Lenny Rodrigues' power-packed punch was brilliantly saved by goalie Fagiryar.

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