Shakib wins toss, Bangladesh to bat against India

Published Wed, Jun 16 10 02:51 PM

Dambulla, June 16 (PTI) Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat against India in the Asia Cup cricket one-day international at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here today. India''s big guns have returned to the team following a month-long break and after an embarrassing tri-series in Zimbabwe where the second-string side lost three out of four matches. Teams: India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (C), Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Shafiul Islam, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Syed Rasel.

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Tutu asks people to embrace African culture, stop criticising vuvuzela horns

Published>Wed, Jun 16 10 02:37 PM

London, Jun 16 (ANI): Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has asked people to embrace African culture, and stop criticising noisy vuvuzela horns.

Thousands of people have complained about the noise that vuvuzela creates, which they claim diminishes the match day experience for fans in the stadiums and those watching at home, but World Cup organizers made it clear that it will not be banned from stadiums.

The legendary anti-apartheid campaigner hit back at calls to ban the controversial instruments from World Cup matches.

"The vuvuzela is part of our culture, we cannot separate them from the soccer fever," The Sun quoted Tutu, as saying.

Broadcasters, players and TV viewers have complained about the deafening drone of the plastic instruments. They can generate a noise of up to 144 decibels inside stadiums.

"Vuvuzelas are here to stay and will never be banned," said Rich Mkhondo, communications officer of the World Cup local organizing committee.

"Look at them as part of our culture in South Africa to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As our guests please embrace our culture, please embrace the way we celebrate. The history of the Vuvuzela is ingrained in South Africa," he added. (ANI)

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Woods eyes Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors

Published>Wed, Jun 16 10 01:53 PM

London, Jun 16 (ANI): Ace golfer golfer Tiger Woods has set his sight on beating Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors, and added that the turmoil in his private life has not wrecked his chances of achieving this feat.

Nicklaus thinks that Woods may not get the five he still needs if he does not win either this week's US Open or The Open at St Andrews next month.

Woods, 34, said time is still on his side, and predicted he will still be a leading contender at the Majors well into his 40s, The Sun reports.

"Yes, this is a big year because we're playing on courses where I've been successful in the past - and I like the way they set up for my game. But even if the courses aren't such a great fit for my game, it doesn't mean you cannot win on them," Woods said.

"And you get the same four chances to win every year. Every year is a big year in the Majors and I've got a chance to play in a lot more of them. Guys like Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry have shown you can be very competitive well into your 40s - especially if you look after yourself," he said.

"In the past maybe the guys burnt out earlier because they didn't pace themselves or didn't pay as much attention to fitness as we do now.

"My 14 Majors are all very special to me and of course I want to win more. That isn't going to change because I love the game, I love practising and I love to compete. If that did change I'd have to get the hell out of here," Woods added.

Woods still needs to produce a big performance this week to convince the doubters that he has what it takes to capture five more Major titles, The Sun reports. (ANI)

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Oz selector Hughes not in favour of CA's shorter version of ODIs

Published>Wed, Jun 16 10 01:37 PM

Melbourne, Jun 16 (ANI): Australian selector Merv Hughes does not think there is anything wrong with 50-over cricket and sees no reason to tinker with the format, despite Cricket Australia's decision to introduce split innings for their domestic limited-overs tournament next season.

Cricket Australia is all set to dump 50-over games domestically next season and experiment with a 40-over, two-innings format.

The move follows on from the decision in England to abandon 50-over county cricket in favour of 40-over contests.

Hughes said the traditional form of one-day cricket, criticised for being boring and lacking context, had more substance than the instant gratification of the Twenty20 game.

"A lot of people are worried that that [50-over cricket] will die off but I don't think it will," The Daily Telegraph quoted Hughes, as saying.

"A lot of people like the first 15 overs and the last 10 but I'm particularly interested in the overs from 15 to 40 and the teams that do well there normally win the tight games. It is a game with a little bit of substance. I think it's a good game as it is," he said.

"With a World Cup coming up next year it's important the players prepare for it the best they can."

Hughes said he did not believe T20 represented the future of the game.

"Twenty20 is all about wham, bam, thank you and move on to the next game, where it really has no substance," he said. (ANI)

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Akhtar still a long way from what we want from him: Younis

Published Wed, Jun 16 10 01:27 PM

Dambulla, Jun 16 (PTI) Comeback man Shoaib Akhtar failed to impress Waqar Younis despite a three-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup lung-opener with the Pakistan coach demanding more consistency from the temperamental pacer. Coming back after spending a considerable time battling injuries, a doping scandal and disciplinary issues, the 34-year-old Akhtar returned figures of 3/41 in Pakistan''s 16-run loss to Sri Lanka last night. Younis said it was a reasonable performance but he expected more from the tearaway pacer. "I think Akhtar is not really the Akhtar that we want him to be. He is still a long way from what we expect him to be," Younis said. "He''s still got a long way to go. He has picked up three wickets which is good for us but I think he''s not there where we want to see him," he added. Younis blamed poor bowling for the defeat. "They (Sri Lanka) were 160 for seven but we let them off the hook and gave away too many runs. That is what hurt us eventually," Younis said at the post-match press conference. The coach lavished praise on Shahid Afridi for cracking a blistering 76-ball 109 but said there is still scope for improvement. "Afridi batted without fear by moving down the track and dealt with (Muttiah) Muralitharan the way he should be. That is the way he bats. I have seen him do this in the past. I would like to see him continue to bat in the same fashion," he said. Despite the nervy performance by Shahzaib Hasan and Umar Amin, Younis said Pakistan would continue to play the youngsters. "We are in the rebuilding process. So we will continue to blood young players. We know that they (Shahzaib and Amin) suffered from nerves in their first game. It is tough out there, but that is how you play international cricket," he said. Though Pakistan lost the game, the coach believed that they still have a chance to qualify for the June 24 final. "We are not out of the tournament. We have two back-to-back games against India and Bangladesh. As we haven''t played India in a long while, we are looking forward to that game," he said. Meanwhile, Lasith Malinga who claimed his maiden fiver in ODIs, said Sri Lanka were confident of winning even when Afridi was going berserk in the middle. "We were confident as we knew we need to get Afridi to win the game. Once he got out, the rest were easy pickings," said Malinga. "It is always difficult to chase under lights here and somehow we have got used to it. But it is a huge challenge for the visiting teams," said Malinga, who claimed five wickets for 34 runs.

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Somdev ousted from Wimbledon qualifiers

Published Wed, Jun 16 10 12:51 PM

London, Jun 16 (PTI) Rising Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman could not repeat his French Open success and crashed out of the Wimbledon singles qualifiers after losing to lower ranked American Ryler Deheart. Somdev, who had become the first Indian to qualify for the French Open in 13 years, lost 2-6 7-6(2) 3-6 to Deheart, who is 114 places below him at 228 in th ATP rankings. Now Indian hopes to see a players in the singles main draw rest on Prakash Amritraj, who will face Marinko Matosevic in the second round. However, Somdev is still in contention in the doubles qualifiers as he and his Filipino partner Treat Conrad Huey will take on seventh seeds Prakash and Swiss Yves Allegro. Meanwhile, Harsh Mankad and his partner Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia, seeded eighth, beat the Brazilian pair of Thiago Alves and Joao Souza 6-3 7-6(5) in the first round. They face Alexander Peya of Austria and Germany''s Bjorn Phau in the second round.

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Capello believes Germany's fear of facing England behind Beckenbauer blast

Published>Wed, Jun 16 10 12:38 PM

London, Jun 16 (ANI): Coach Fabio Capello believes that Germany's fear of facing the Three Lions in the World Cup is behind football legend Franz Beckenbauer's criticism of the England team.

Ahead of a possible last-16 meeting between England and Germany, Beckenbauer increased the pressure on The Three Lions by saying that their coach Capello, had taken the team backwards.

Germany put up a spectacular show crushing Australia 4-0 on Sunday in sharp contrast to England's dismal 1-1 draw against the US.

The Telegraph quoted sources as saying that Capello, who has a good relationship with Beckenbauer, has not taken the attack too seriously, and merely regards it as an attempt to put more pressure on him.

Beckenbauer, who led Germany to World Cup glory in 1974, said: "It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush. What I saw from their 1-1 draw against the USA had very little to do with football. And I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can change much."

England may play Germany in Bloemfontein on June 26, if they fail to win Group C and the Germans top Group D.

Sources claimed that Capello was not surprised by the outburst and, in some ways, regards it as a compliment. "They are scared of us because we can crush each other," one source said. (ANI)

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