Younis wants PCB to hasten decision on appeal against indefinite ban

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 03:38 PM

Lahore, Apr.27 (ANI): Former Pakistan cricket captain Younis Khan wants the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to decide on his appeal against the indefinite ban imposed on him by the board as soon as possible.

Younis' counsel Ahmed Qayyum said the PCB is yet to take any action on his appeal and that it should resolve the issue quickly.

"My client wants his ban to be revoked and decision should be taken as soon as possible on it. So, far we have not received any official notification from the PCB regarding appointment of Justice (retired) Irfan Qadir to hear the appeal," The Daily Times quoted Qayyum, as saying.

Meanwhile, Younis is hoping that he would be recalled for Pakistan's tour of England, adding that he was keeping himself fit to respond to the PCB's call.

"I have not heard anything about the hearing from the PCB yet. I am still waiting and whenever they will call, I will go. I am practicing as I always have done. I am not one of those who will sit around when not playing," he said. (ANI)

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Gul's absence could dent Pak's chances in ICC T20 World Championship: Younis

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 03:22 PM

Karachi, Apr.27 (ANI): The absence of experienced fast bowler Umar Gul could dent Pakistan's chances of retaining the ICC World T20 Championship in the West Indies, former captain Younis Khan has said.

Khan said Gul would have played a vital role in Pakistan's campaign, as he has been one of the key players in the squad during the last two T20 World Championships.

"It's a huge setback for us that Gul has been ruled out as he has proved to be very successful for us in T20. He was one of the key players in helping Pakistan reach the last two T20 World Cup finals," The Dawn quoted Gul, as saying.

He, however said, that the Pakistan team still has got players who could help in lifting the coveted title for the second consecutive time.

"I still feel we can work our way through. We have good bowlers like Aamir, Asif, Ajmal and Afridi. We are still capable of reaching the semis and after that you just need a bit of luck," Younis said.

Speaking about pacer Mohammed Sami and left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, who were roped in at the last moment as replacements for injured Gul and all rounder Yair Aarafat, the former skipper said they have been performing well in the domestic tournaments, and hoped that both will come good during the upcoming tournament.

"Sami and Rehman are good choices as both of them have done well in domestic matches. Although Sami has received many opportunities in the past without being successful, he did well in Australia and has also been giving a good showing in domestic cricket," Younis said. (ANI)

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Schumacher to compete in Mercedes' new car at Spanish Grand Prix

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 02:22 PM

London, Apr 27 (ANI): In a bid to kickstart Michael Schumacher's woeful Formula One season, Mercedes will give the seven time champion a 'new' car for next week's Spanish Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champ has been humbled so far by teammate Nico Rosberg.

His fellow German has out qualified and beaten him in all four races to date amid mounting concern that Schumacher may be unable to replicate his previous brilliance, particularly after his lacklustre 10th place finish in China.

At Barcelona next weekend, Mercedes will give him a different car in the hope that its handling will be more to his liking, The Sun reports.

Team principal Ross Brawn said: "It's not a new chassis per se, it's a chassis we used in testing. The one he had got damaged during the first few races and we repaired it as best we could at the races."

"But now we are back at base we are going to re-introduce the test chassis and he will be using that in Barcelona."

Brawn said the wheelbase would also be changed to improve weight distribution.

And along with most other teams, Mercedes is planning a major aerodynamic revamp for the first European race of the season. (ANI)

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Beckham eyes November return

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 01:48 PM

London, April 27 (DPA) David Beckham said Tuesday that he was unlikely to return to action before November, meaning he could miss the whole of the MLS season.

The LA Galaxy midfielder ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for AC Milan in March, ruling him out of England's World Cup campaign, although he may still be involved in a non-playing capacity.

But it now appears he could miss the MLS season, which ends November 21.

'This is an injury that is going to take time to heal,' Beckham told the MLS website.

'I'm only six weeks in after the surgery. I started therapy 10 days ago and just doing that every day. I kind of want to push it but with this kind of injury you can't. You just have to wait for it to heal and then move on.

'At the moment it's just getting the motion back into the ankle, the tendon, because obviously it's still repairing. I can't stretch too much, I have to wear a boot every day. If I haven't got a boot on, which I didn't today for a few interviews, I have to use crutches - it's one or the other at the moment. It's a pain. It's not easy moving around, but I have to protect it.'

The surgeon who operated on Beckham in March, Sakari Orava, said at the time that six months was the likely time the player would be out.

'It is always so in a normal athlete but in a top-level (athlete) it is difficult to say, sometimes sooner, sometimes later,' he said.

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BCCI yet to log off Modi from IPL website!

Published Tue, Apr 27 10 01:38 PM

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) Country''s top cricket authority BCCI may have suspended Lalit Modi as IPL Commissioner, but the suave former chief of 20-20 cricketing extravaganza can still be seen smiling on the website of Indian Premier League. Moreover, the official website of IPL still mentions Modi as the Chairman and Commissioner of IPL Governing Council and lists out his achievements despite having been suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "Lalit Kumar Modi is one of the most accomplished cricket administrators in the world... He is one of the driving forces behind the board''s commercial activities and has been instrumental in pushing its revenues over the USD 4 billion mark," the website reckons. "But for future generations, his biggest legacy would be the Indian Premier League. He is the man behind the spectacularly successful franchise-based cricket league that has captivated audiences globally," it adds. On its homepage, the IPL continues to have a ''Modi Tweets'' column, which continuously updates all the tweeter messages of the suspended IPL Commissioner. These messages include Modi mentioning that he "had a restful day (after the finals). (He has) been in the spa all day. (He had the) much needed rest." In other messages Modi thanks his fans and supporters and declares he is "still the chairman of IPL. Just suspended." Modi has not elaborated, but his message, "wait-we have just begun", is being widely interpreted as a threat to expose his detractors. In one of his earlier tweets, Modi had threatened to expose all the people who have tried to bring the game into disrepute. Yesterday, the BCCI President Shashank Manohar charged Modi with serious financial irregularities in the bid documents of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and rigging the IPL bids of the two new franchises -- Pune and Kochi. The other charges included irregularities in the broadcast and internet deals and his behavioral patterns for which he has been given 15 days to respond.

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Capello now ready to invite WAGs to nurture team spirit

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 01:08 PM

Taking a softer line with 'WAG culture' in order to nurture a team spirit, England coach Fabio Capello has reversed his decision by saying that he is prepared to invite wives and girlfriends to World Cup in order to create great bonding within the squad

The England coach's reluctance to tolerate the WAG sideshow that surrounded England in Baden-Baden four years ago has led to him being characterised as a coach who rules with a rod of iron.

Capello arrived at the decision after discussing what it takes to win the tournament with his compatriot and old rival Marcello Lippi, who led Italy to the cup four years ago.

"The spirit of the group is really important. With Lippi we talked about Italy when they won last time, when the players had free days the players and their families stayed together," The Independent quoted Capello, as saying.

"After each game they had a barbeque. It created a great spirit of the group. These are the little differences that can sometimes make the difference when it comes to winning. The managers need to understand what is best," he said.

England players had already taken the coach's lack of enthusiasm for the WAGs to heart, with Steven Gerrard declaring that "my wife won't be there, not unless we get to the semis or the final."

But Capello told a private forum, organised by the Leaders in Performance organisation, that he considers the team spirit reinforced outside of the playing arena to be one of the most important ingredients for success, The Independent reports.

In an observation, which perhaps casts some light on his decision to remove John Terry from the captaincy so rapidly, he also reflected on the importance of breaking down factionalism.

Lippi is not the only coach Capello has turned to in recent weeks for a sense of how a World Cup tournament actually feels. He has spoken to Luis Aragones, who delivered Spain their first trophy in 44 years at the 2008 European Championship and to Luiz Felipe Scolari, victorious with Brazil in 2002.

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Indian tax authorities rule out involvement of Oz player in IPL match fixing

Published>Tue, Apr 27 10 12:48 PM

Sydney, Apr 27 (ANI): The report about the involvement of a famous Australian cricketer who allegedly helped fix Indian Premier League matches played in South Africa last year has been denied by Indian tax authorities.

Indian tax officials have denied issuing a report naming 27 cricketers, including a "famous Australian", for spot fixing during last year's IPL.

The story was first carried in Mid-Day newspaper, which quoted an income tax report as stating, "during IPL, the match fixing and betting racket has scaled new heights".

It added that suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is apparently deeply embroiled in both generation of black money, money laundering, betting in cricket and accused "Indian cricketers and a captain of one of the teams" in fixing matches.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a senior Indian income tax official as saying that no report had been released alleging impropriety on the part of 27 IPL players, pointing out that such a report was outside the department's remit.

Shane Warne's management has also strongly denied suggestions that the "famous Australian" mentioned in media reports last Friday was the Rajasthan Royals captain.

A source close to the players, who was in South Africa, confirmed there was plenty of talk about approaches from illegal bookmakers and said there had been "too much smoke" for there not to be some fire.

"There were a lot of rumours, particularly in and around the opening matches in Cape Town," he said. (ANI)

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