IPL starts with a blast!!!

The latest trend that has been set in cricket is twenty20. This new format has saw a lot of fans as it is a short and an exciting format of the game. Recently Kapil Dev's ICL had seen a few absorbing series. It was now the turn of the world's richest board BCCI to kick off with its own IPL(Indian Premier League). When it comes to BCCI we know that there is a lot of money revolving around them. So it was expected that this series will be well organized. As expected the inaugral ceremony of IPL was very grand!!! There were dancers from various parts of the country, who performed with a lot of grace. Gymnasts went about swinging about in the air, which made the crowd go mad.. Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy gave their performances which was the perfect kick start needed.. The captains made their pledges which was then followed by an enthralling match.



It was Kolkata vs Bangalore, maybe Rahul vs Dada or Malya vs SRK would be fitting. Rahul won the toss and elected to field. Kolkata came into bat with NewZealand wicket keeper McCullum and captain Dada. Right from the first ball the fire was set. Shots started blazing from the bats of McCullum. On the other end Dada found it hard to combat the swing bowling of Praveen Kumar and Zaheer. Eventually Dada was out and Ponting joined in to give company to McCullum. Fearless McCullum played the innings of his life which made Chinnasamy Stadium go ablaze.
His innings of 158 of 73 balls was the best by any batsman in this format of the game. This innings of his consisted of 10 fours and 13 huge sixes. Bangalore bowlers suffered heavy pounding in the hands of McCullum. With useful contributions from Ponting and Hussey the Knight Riders set a target of 223. It was the turn of Royal Challengers to bat. Ishant and Dinda were too good and broke the back of the Royal Challengers batting. With Dravid departing in the very second over none of the Bangalore batsman could get in. Agarkar took 3 wickets while Ganguly chipped in with 2. Vijay Malya's Royal Challengers had no answer to SRK's Knight Riders. They were bundled out for a meager 82 giving a 140 run win to the Knight Riders. McCullum was undoubtedly the man of the match.

India level series!!!!

India went on to level the series at Kanpur with an emphatic win over the proteas. Day 3 started with Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma at the crease. The proteas would have thought that they would clean up the tail in no time. But both the tail-enders had other ideas. They extended the lead to 60 runs. This was a handy lead on a crumbling pitch. The Indians made full use of the pitch.

When the proteas came into bat they weern't allowed to get away with easy runs. Both SreeSanth and Harbhajan bowled with accuracy. The successful opening pair didn't give it away either. They were battling it out in the middle. Both Smith and McKenzie were finding it very hard to combat the pitch and it seemed that a wicket was on the cards at any moment. Finally SreeSanth got the break through with the ball keeping low. McKenzie was out when the score was 26. Amla soon followed when Harbhajan got one to spin and bounce from the rough while Jaffer pulled of a good catch. South Africa were 27 for 2 at lunch. It was now the turn for South Africa's most experienced pair to lead the fight back. Both battled it out well in the middle. They went past the lead. Dhoni's bowling changes were working well. He brought on Sehwag and he did the trick for India. He first got Kallis and then Smith by bowling him round the legs. South Africa were 88 for 4 at tea. After tea none of the South African batsmen could apply themselves in the crease. Eventually they were bowled out for 121. This gave a meagre target of 64 for India to achieve.

Sehwag went about in his style hitting 2 sixes of Harris. He was out attempting a similar shot of Harris. Jaffer soon followed lbw to Morkel. Indians were 32 for 2. Then the pair of Dravid and Ganguly led India to an 8 wicket victory to level the series. India held their no 2 spot in tests. Sourav Ganguly was named man of the match while Harbhajan bagged the man of the series.

Quota system to be enforced in IIMs

It was already said in this blog that there would be a fee hike in all the IIMs. Following this it was heard that quota system will also come into effect in the IIMs. HRD ministry will be sending instructions to the top B-schools like IIMs to enforce the 27 percent OBC reservation which was the decision by the Supreme Court. This instructions will be intimated in another 4 to 5 days.

HRD Minister Arjun Singh earlier in the day said there was no confusion about implementation of quota in IIMs and IITs and the Supreme Court judgement would be followed in these premier institutions.

Sources said the IIMs are by and large prepared to implement the quota as one year has gone by and that they will leave it to the institutions on the implementation aspect of the reservation.

If these institutions have any problem, they could come back to the ministry and 'that it will be resolved by them, they said adding it was for each institute to decide to what extent they can introduce quota in the first year of implementation.

The sources said the fund would start flowing to the IIMS when Parliament approves the demands for grants.

Chanderpaul clinches thriller for the Carribeans!!!

West Indies pulled off a last ball thriller at Trinidad, thanks to a breathtaking innings by Shivnarine Chanderpaul. West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 1 wicket. The match went down to the wires, with West indies needing 13 from the last over. It then reduced to 10 from 2 balls. With the experienced Vaas bowling the last 2 balls, no mistakes were expected. But Chanderpaul had other ideas. He smashed the penultimate ball straight down the ground for four leaving 6 runs to be get from 1 ball. Would you believe it Vaas bowled a full toss on leg stump and Chanderpaul cleared the ball out of the ground to bring about an emphatic win.

Earlier Lankans were struggling at 49 for 5 unable to handle the brilliant bowling by Bravo and other West Indian bowlers. Sri Lankans went on to score a respectable total of 235, thanks to a good innings from Kapugedera(95) who put on a 159 run stand with Chamara Silva(67). Bravo picked up 4 wickets. Now it was the turn of West Indies turn to bat. Sri Lankan bowling looked flat as Vaas was the only recognised bowler in their line up. The openers went on to pile up the runs and reached 50. Then Smith fell to the bowling of Kulasekara. Gayle and Sarwan then added 50 runs. Gayle reached his fifty. Gayle ,Sarwan and Samuels were out in the space of 6 balls and the West Indies were left stranded at 110 for 4. Then Chanderpaul and Bravo steadied the ship. Bravo played a cameo before he fell for 36 to a run out. From 169 for 5 the west indians went down to 219 for 9. Their only hope was Chanderpaul and did he deliver in style. His last over heroics sealed the match for West Indians. However the man of the match was Dwayne Bravo for his all round performance. The next match will be played on the 12th of March at Trinidad.

The team line up for the next match will be as follows...

West Indies (probable) Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Browne (wk), Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards

Sri Lanka (probable) Upul Tharanga, Mahela Udawatte, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushalya Weeraratne

India fights back at Kanpur!!!

Day 1 belonged to the hosts as India reduced South Africa to a score of 265 at stumps with all South Africans back in the pavillion. Earlier Graeme Smith won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. The openers started in a solid fashion as they did in the previous 2 matches. Smith and McKenzie added 50 runs in no time. With Kumble missing the game, this gave young Piyush Chawla an opportunity and he grabbed it with both the hands. He sent opener McKenzie(36) back who tried to step down the crease and hit him for six and was completely deceived in the flight. The visitors were well placed at 80 for 1 during lunch.

The post lunch session saw Smith completing his half century and was playing well along with Amla. A lapse in concentration saw his downfall as Smith departed for a well made 69 runs, caught at short leg to the part time spinner Yuvraj. Amla went on to complete his half century before he got a beauty from Ishant which clipped the top of off stump. Kallis got a viscous turning delivery from Harbhajan and was clean bowled for just 1.The visitors then slumped to 175 for 4 at tea. The post tea session was even worse for the visitors. They were losing wickets at regular intervals of time. Both Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan claimed three wickets each.

With resistances from Boucher and Prince the visitors managed to get to a score of 265. However experts feel that 265 might be a good first innings score.

Spinning track awaits the Proteas....

The Kanpur Test is all set to begin tomorrow, the 11th of April. South Africans will enter the field thinking they wont lose the series from here. On the other hand Indians will have to win this to level the series. Kanpur's Green Park is famous for its tame draws. Recently 12 out of the 19 tests played here have ended in a draw. After the meek submission by the Indians to the South African pace attack in Ahmedabad, the curators have gone on to prepare a spin track which will definitely suit the Indian spin trio. Yes this time India will be playing three spinners. Kumble's fitness is still under scrutiny. He will undergo fitness tests tomorrow morning to seal his place in the side. If Kumble doesn't make it to the team, it will give Romesh Powar an opportunity. India will be playing other two spinners Harbhajan and Piyush Chawla. Ishant Sharma's return to the side will be a big boost and he is likely to share the new ball with Shree Shanth. Pathan might miss this game despite his valiant knocks in Ahmedabad.

On the other hand South Africans are likely to play the winning combination. Though the pitch is a turning one they prefer to go just with the one spinner Paul Harris.

The pitch looks extremely dry and has no grass cover. Anil Kumble and the curator felt it would break as early as the third day and assist spin from there on. Gary Kirsten, India's coach, is reported to have been taken aback by the track on first inspection. If all predictions hold true, neither side will want to bat last. The toss will be extremely crucial.

The bounce is expected to be on the lower side which, given Dale Steyn's raw pace, could also work in South Africa's favour. If they win then Graeme Smith will become his country's most successful captain after equalling Hansie Cronje's record of 27 victories in Ahmedabad. South Africa will also be the first side to win in India since Australia in 2004.

Teams: Likely

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Anil Kumble (capt), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Ishant Sharma.

South Africa (probable): 1 Neil McKenzie, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Asad Rauf.

Chelsea through to the Semifinals.

Chelsea 2-0 Fenerbache

Chelsea fought back to clinch a semi-final tie against their Barclays Premier League rivals Liverpool. It will be the third time in four years the English pair have met in the last four of the competition but there is growing belief at Stamford Bridge that this could finally turn out to be Chelsea's year.

Goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard helped Chelsea to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth time in five years. A free-kick from Lampard found the Fenerbahce defence dreaming and the Germany captain glanced a fine header into the far corner of the net.

But with nine minutes left Chelsea had stand-in goalkeeper Hilario to thank for earning them a place in the semi-finals.

He made two stunning saves within seconds to deny Gokhan and then Colin Kazim-Richards.

But Chelsea wrapped-up the tie with three minutes of normal time remaining when Michael Essien's cross was turned home by Lampard from close range.

Liverpool through to champions league Semifinal.

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal.

Liverpool are through to the semifinal of the champions league with an overall aggregate of 5-3.It was a one of those great champions league nights at Anfield and the atmosphere was electric.The match was an absolute thriller.The match swaued from one side to the other constantly and finally liverpool came on top proving that benitez is a master tactician as far champions league is concerned.

Abou Diaby handed The Gunners a dream start on 13 minutes when he fired past Jose Reina; but on 30 minutes Sami Hyypia's thumping header drew the sides level.

Inevitably Fernando torres scored the second for Liverpool as the tie once again swung in favour of the Reds.

Theo Walcott's sensational solo run saw him assist Emmanuel Adebayor, who tapped home to swing the tie back in Arsenal's favour on away goals.

Then in the 86th minute it was the crunch moment in the game when babel was foulled by Toure and the referee handed Liverpool a penalty and the penalty was taken by the Anfield hero Steven Gerrard,he slotted home the penalty and the scoreline was 3-2.

Then in injury time babel slotted home the winner to see liverpool safely home.

Sachin to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay!!!

The Olympic torch is under the process of being carried around the world. Now its the turn of the torch to travel through India. Many athletes have agreed to participate in the relay. Among the various athletes Sachin Tendulkar will also be participating in the relay. The torch will travel through India on the 17th of April. Sachin has called up Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi and expressed his willingness to participate in the relay.

Sachin has added that it is a great privilege for him to take part in such an event. Earlier Indian football player Bhaichung Bhutia pulled out from the relay expressing his solidarity towards pro-Tibet activists. Among others who will take part in the relay are Milkha Singh, Pullela Gopichand and Anju Bobby George. Kalmadi, meanwhile, assured that with adequate security in place, the relay would go without any hiccup.

Todays market Standings...................

Sensex today closed at 15757 up by 414 points.The Nifty closed at 4761 up by 114 points. Markets witnessed tremendous downfall on Friday. Monday seemed to be a better day for the markets.


Asian markets were on a high yet again.HSI closing the day at 24578 almost 314 points up .NIKKEI closed at 13450 up by 157 points.CHINA closed at 3599 up by 153 points .

The European markets were slightly up FTSE closing at 5998 up by 51 points.DAX closed at 6833 up by 69 points. CAC 40 closed at 4953 up by 52 points.

Overall the markets had a good start to the week and let us wait and see whether the markets continue this trend or are volatile as they always are.

WestIndies levels series.

Ramnaresh sarwan scored a brilliant century to guide WestIndies to their first win in Trinidad since 2000.Sarwan scored a 102 and was out caught at bat-pad of the bowling of Murali with just 23 required for victory.Chanderpaul scored 86 and he stayed till the end to guide WestIndies home.

WestIndies started the day chasing a target of 253 and they got off to poor start loosing their captain Gayle for just 10.Gayle was out caught by dilshan of the bowling of Vaas.Then chatergoon soon perished with the score at 24 for 2 Vaas claiming his second wicket.

Samules joined Sarwan and the pair added 49 runs.Samuels scooped the ball in the air and he was out caught at cover by warnapura of the bowling of Vaas.

Chanderpaul joined sarwan who was in a league of his own scoring freely at one end.The pair added 19 runs and the match was interrupted by rain.After the delay Sarwan did not loose his focus and continued his good form helping WestIndies level the series.

ManUnited held to a draw.

Boro played some brilliant football to deny United a win at the riverside.Afonso Alves sent an icy blast through Manchester United's hopes of wrapping up the title with an excellent double to earn Middlesbrough a share of the spoils.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 37th goal of the season had given United an early lead, but Alves produced two superb finishes in each half to put Boro in command in an end-to-end game.

United’s defence, shorn of Nemanja Vidic, was frequently made to look uncharacteristically shaky by a lively Boro outfit and only a series of last-ditch tackles prevented the Teessiders from extending their lead in the second half.

Rio Ferdinand came off with what looked like a leg injury with 20 minutes left and, although United also had chances to win it, Sir Alex Ferguson will perhaps settle for a point after a testing encounter in the driving north-east snow.

La Liga results.

Mallorca 1-1 RealMadrid

Real Mallorca kept the title race interesting in La Liga by holding 10-man Real Madrid to a draw.

Wesley Sneijder gave Madrid a first-half lead, but Borja Valero levelled for the hosts with 18 minutes to play.

And the league leaders were lucky to escape with a point after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders in the 66th minute.

Barcelona 0-0 Getafe

Barcelona remain seven points behind bitter rivals Real Madrid following a desperately disappointing goalless draw at home to Getafe on Sunday.

A win would have seen Frank Rijkaard's side move above Villarreal into second place and close to within five points of Real, who could only draw at Real Mallorca on Saturday.

But the Catalans were denied by the woodwork and a stubborn Getafe rearguard in what turned out to a frustrating evening for the home side.

Jeers rang around the Nou Camp and white handkerchiefs were waved in protest by the Catalan fans at the final whistle.

Sevilla 2-0 Villarreal

Villarreal's dreams of winning the Primera Liga title suffered a setback on Sunday when they were beaten 2-0 at Sevilla.

La Liga top scorer Luis Fabiano broke the deadlock in the 18th minute before Fredi Kanoute sealed the victory three minutes from time with a penalty.

To add insult to injury Villarreal defender Joan Capdevila was sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.

OTHER RESULTS

Atletico Madrid 6 - 3 Almeria

Levante 0- 3 Valladolid

Real Zaragoza 0 - 3 Real Betis

Racing Santander 1 - 3 Deportivo La Coruna

Murcia 1 - 0 Valencia

Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Espanyol

Osasuna 0 - 1 Recreativo Huelva

Massa wins bahrain Grand prix.

Massa has won the bahrain GP for the second time in consecutive years.Massa started the Gp from second in the grid but managed to get past Robert Kubica in the opening. BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica lost second place to Kimi Raikkonen on the third lap, and from then on, pit stops apart, it was an easy one-two for Ferrari.

Starting third on the grid, the McLaren-Mercedes driver fell to 10th place on the opening lap before driving into the back of former team-mate and adversary Fernando Alonso.He eventually finished one lap down on the leaders in 13th place.

Raikkonen now leads the Drivers' Championship with 19 points, three ahead of Heidfeld, with Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen tied for third place on 14.

Meanwhile, the emergence of BMW Sauber is rewarded by the lead of the Constructors' Championship, one point ahead of Ferrari with McLaren one point behind in third.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle killed in blast.

Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was attending a function to mark the forthcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year in the western district of Grampaha.

The defence ministry blamed Tamil Tiger rebels, who want an independent state for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority.

Mr Fernandopulle is the second minister to have been assassinated this year.

The former minister for nation building, DM Dassanayake, was killed in a bombing on 8 January, days after the government pulled out of a crumbling ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers.

The government has since vowed to crush the separatist rebels by the end of this year or the next. At least 70,000 people have died since the war began in 1983.

Serena clinches Sony Ericsson Open Title.

Serena Williams claimed her fifth Sony Ericsson Open title in Miami on Saturday thanks to a 6-1 5-7 6-3 victory over Jelena Jankovic.

Williams was in total control early on, winning eight straight games, but was broken to love serving for the match.

Jankovic, 23, took advantage to level thanks to a Williams double-fault, but the American eventually came through with three breaks in the decider.

Portsmouth through to FA cup finals.

Kanu scored the all important goal to send pompey through to the finals of the FA cup.The winner came just before the hour after Dean Kiely had saved brilliantly from Milan Baros. Then Zoltan Gera got in the way of his own keeper as he looked to clear off the line but he could only find Kanu - who made no mistake from four yards.

The result does not tell the story of the game or do justice to Championship side West Brom, who dominated for most of the semi-final.

Portsmouth will face the winners of the all-Championship tie between Barnsley and Cardiff on Sunday in the final.

Their win carries on the top flight's run of having a team in every FA Cup final.

Totti looks set to miss the Second leg.

Roma's talismanic captain missed the first leg of the quarter-final at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday as the Red Devils triumphed 2-0 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

And the thigh injury which has kept the Italy international on the sidelines is now expected to rule him out of the return meeting in Manchester

Premier league results.

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool.

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch gave Liverpool the lead at the end of the first half, but Nicklas Bendtner levelled on 54 minutes to leave honours even and Arsenal trailing Manchester United and Chelsea in the top-flight title race.

Both Gunners boss Wenger and his opposite number Rafa Benitez made a number of changes following Wednesday's 1-1 draw in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg clash and with next week's return meeting at Anfield in mind.


ManchesterCity 0-2 Chelsea

Chelsea's 11th away win of the season kept the pressure on title rivals United as it closed the gap at the top of the Premier League table to two points ahead of United's trip to face Middlesbrough on Sunday.

City skipper Richard Dunne gave Chelsea the lead with a sixth-minute own goal, and Salomon Kalou's 53rd-minute strike proved enough to seal the three points, despite the Blues being far from firing on all cylinders.

OTHER RESULTS

AstonVilla 4-0 Bolton
Blackburn 1-1 Spurs
Fulham 1-3 Sunderland
Newcastle 3-0 Reading
Wigan 2-0 Birmingham

Thilan revives Lankan hopes

Samaraweera came to the tourists' rescue with a knock of 125 after they had looked like being steamrolled by the West Indies pace attack.Samaraweera cracked 18 fours to record his 16th Test century after the Windies had ripped through the Sri Lankan top order.

He was eventually run out attempting a second run and Muttiah Muralitharan followed, caught at fine leg by Daren Powell off the bowling of Jerome Taylor, for four the next over to leave the hosts to chase 253 for a victory which would level the series.

Sri Lanka had been reeling on 6-99 when Silva was caught at gully by Marlon Samuels off the bowling of Taylor for 13. They had earlier lost both openers within the first two overs, Warnapura (zero) caught by Sewnarine Chattergoon at third slip off Taylor, who then ran out Michael Vandort (1) with a superb direct hit from silly mid-off.

Mahela Jayawardene (12) looked to inject some spark into the Sri Lanka innings by hitting three quick boundaries, but he played on to the stumps attempting a square drive off a wide Fidel Edwards delivery. Kumar Sangakkara added 14 before he guided an attempted cut off Powell straight to Samuels at gully.

Dilshan (25) had signalled his intent by smashing Powell for two fours and a six in his first over but he was next to fall when Taylor uprooted his off stump shortly before the interval.

Chaminda Vaas was the only one to provide support for Samaraweera, scoring 45 in a 138-run partnership with the centurion before he edged a Chris Gayle delivery.

West Indies added 26 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out for 294.

Emphatic win for South Africa.

Virender Sehwag was the first wicket to go, though not before he had smacked two sixes in the opening over. His early onslaught ended when he was trapped lbw by Ntini for 17.

Former captain Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer batted cautiously before both fell in the space of six runs, the former the first to go when he was surprised by a Morkel short ball that he could only fend to AB de Villiers in the slips.

The same fielder was also involved two overs later when all-rounder Jacques Kallis found the edge of Jaffer's bat.

A 55-run stand for the fourth wicket briefly halted South Africa's momentum and took India past their first innings total of 76, their second lowest ever on home soil.

However, a lazy prod outside his off stump ended VVS Laxman fluent innings of 35 and provided Morkel with his second wicket of the day.

Ganguly and Dhoni surviving some hostile bowling, particularly from the impressive Steyn, to share a century stand that threatened to take the match into a fourth day.


Sourav Ganguly stood on the burning deck nearly four hours for a fine 87. Ganguly added 110 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni.But once Dale Steyn, wicketless until then, returned to tempt him into a drive from round the wicket, the match was only ever going to have one outcome. Ganguly stood his ground, and replays suggested the noise that alerted Tony Hill might have been bat striking ground, but the South Africans were convinced that there had been a big deflection. Dhoni reached his half-century from 122 balls soon after, but with Smith calling on his big guns, the resistance was swiftly ended. It was Makhaya Ntini who saw off Dhoni, pitching one perfectly in the off-stump corridor to induce the expansive drive. Smith made no mistake at slip. Paul Harris claimed his first wicket of the match, bowling Anil Kumble with a delivery that went straight between the India skipper's bat and pad.

Sreesanth slogged two fours and a six to briefly give the home fans something to cheer about until he was the last man to fall, leaving Irfan Pathan stranded on 43 not out.

Kubica takes pole position.

Kubica secured the first pole position of his Formula One career as he pipped Brazilian Massa with a time of one minute 33.096 seconds.Felipe Massa has made the running here all weekend, but on Saturday he had to play second fiddle to Robert Kubica as the Pole grabbed the first pole position of his career, and the first for BMW Sauber.

When the chips were down in the final runs of Q3, Lewis Hamilton went to the top with 1m 33.292s for McLaren, but then Kubica banged in 1m 33.096s - even though he said his car was pulling to one side under braking - and when Massa came up short with 1m 33.123s, the dye was set, to the delight of the men from Munich and Hinwil.

Championship leader Hamtilon shares the second row with world champion Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari.

The result means that neither a Ferrari nor McLaren will be on pole position for the first time in a Grand Prix since China in October 2006.

Lorgat is the next CEO.

Lorgat's appointment was confirmed by the ICC Board following a meeting between the South African and David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, in Pretoria. The International Cricket Council today announced that Haroon Lorgat had been appointed as the organisation’s next Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Lorgat, 47, will take over from the current CEO, Malcolm Speed, following the ICC Annual Conference which is scheduled to take place between 29 June and 4 July.

Mr Lorgat’s appointment was confirmed by the ICC Board following a meeting between the candidate and David Morgan, the ICC President-Elect, in Pretoria on Wednesday.

After that meeting the Recruitment Committee – made up of ICC President Ray Mali, Mr Morgan, ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar and ICC Director Creagh O’Connor (Australia) – agreed to the appointment and made its recommendation to the ICC Board.

Lorgat will become only the third CEO in the ICC’s 99-year history. The first person to occupy the role was David Richards, who held the post from 1993 to 2001.

At present, Lorgat is an executive director of Kapela Investments Holdings, an investment company with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and also a non-executive director of Santam Ltd, a South African commercial and corporate insurance company.

Lorgat also played first-class cricket for Eastern Province and Transvaal as a left-hand batsman and right-arm medium-pacer, scoring 2,813 runs (including three hundreds) and capturing 191 wickets.

Since retiring as a player he has served on the Board of the Western Province Cricket Association and also on finance committees for the United Cricket Board of South Africa and ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.

Tendulkar to miss the third Test.

Tendulkar has been advised to take 12 days rest,so he out of Kanpur Test.The star batsman has failed to recover from the groin injury which ruled him out of the second match of the series in Ahmedabad.

Tendulkar didn't appear fully fit during the first Test in Chennai and missed part of the action on the first, second, fourth days. He didn't take the field on the fifth day and was rested for the next Test.

There was an injury concern over Tendulkar even before the start of the series. Tendulkar was advised two-weeks rest after the Australia tour and the then physio, John Gloster, in his fitness report, warned against the injury entering a chronic phase.

Tendulkar will now be expected to be fully fit ahead of the inaugural Indian Premier League, starting on April 18.

Evenly poised after Day2.

Resuming on 5-217, Tillakaratne Dilshan added only four runs to his overnight score of 58 before getting a top edge to Fidel Edwards and being caught behind by Denesh Ramdin.

Chaminda Vaas contributed only one before he too was snapped up by the wicketkeeper in the following over, becoming the first of Daren Powell's two victims.

Thushara faced 21 balls but, like Vaas, could only manage a single run. He was run out attempting a second run by Sarwan in the 55th over.

The next over saw the departure of Muttiah Muralitharan, who had smashed the first two balls he faced to the boundary but then holed out to Dwayne Bravo at third man off Powell from the third.

Silva, who was dropped on 33 by Devon Smith at second slip on Thursday evening, survived another scare after completing his second Test half-century when he was put down by Jerome Taylor on 70.

Chamara Silva (76), who began the day on 37, was the only Sri Lankan to offer any resistance as his team-mates came and went cheaply.

Taylor's spell was brought to a premature end in his 18th over when he was told by umpire Billy Bowden that he was not allowed to bowl anymore in the innings after bowling a beamer at Silva.

Silva was the last man to fall when he was caught at deep square leg by Powell off the bowling of Bravo, leaving Ishara Amerasinghe unbeaten on nought.


Sri Lanka picked up six wickets in the final session to leave West Indies at 268 for seven at stumps on the second day of the second Test in Port of Spain.

Chris Gayle (45), Sewnarine Chattergoon (46), Ramnaresh Sarwan (57) and Devon Smith (47) all made healthy contributions as the hosts chipped away at the tourists' total of 278 on a rain-affected day in Trinidad, but the Sri Lanka attack made sure no batsman developed their start.

Kollywood goes on a hunger strike!!!

The tamil film industry went on a hunger strike today following the attack of Tamil theatres in Karnataka. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have already been haggling over the Cauvery water issue. Almost every star participated in this strike today. Leading the protest was Karnataka born Tamil actor Super Star RajniKanth. He was very angry on the Karnataka politicians and spoke against them. He also said that the Cauvery water problem was an easy one to solve and the 2 governments were making a big fuss over the issue.

Among those present in the protest were actress Manorama, Kamal Hassan, Sarath Kumar, Vijaykanth, Prabhu and various actors, directors , musicians , actresses, etc. Everyone spoke of this issue in their own way and wanted steps to be taken to solve this dispute as soon as possible.

South Africa extend their lead to 418.

South Africa dominated the day yet again with AB de Villiers bringing up his maiden double hundred. Jacques Kallis also made a wonderful 132. The Indian bowlers continued to struggle and though they picked up some wickets in the third session, it may not be enough with the visitors already managing a 418-run lead.

In the 77.2 overs bowled in the day, India managed just three wickets, two of them when the batsmen were in the quest for quick runs after tea. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh picked up one apiece, with Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel trapped leg before, but by then the only question being posed was just how imposing the lead would be.

de Villiers needed just 146 balls for his second hundred, and played some stupendous strokes in the final session. A huge six off Harbhajan landed on the roof at what is a massive venue, and when he was later gifted a full toss that he creamed through cover, the celebrations could begin. That stroke also brought up the 400-run lead, and de Villiers put the seal on an impressive day's work with a mighty heave off Kumble that soared into the empty stand at deep midwicket. As a weary Indian side trudged off, a defeat of mammoth proportions beckoned unless they could bat with a great deal more application at the second time of asking.

Kumble and his men could reflect on opportunities that came their way early in the proceedings. Harbhajan, the pick of the bowlers, was desperately unlucky against both batsmen. Kallis had made just 61 when he fended one awkwardly off the glove, only to see it roll back and strike the stumps. The bails stayed on, Harbhajan held his head, and the chance had gone. In his very next over, an offbreak went right through de Villiers, missing the stumps by a whisker.

Irfan Pathan was insipid with the old ball, and Kumble soon replaced him at the other end, but the runs slowly started to mount as the pitch showed few signs of menace. de Villiers cut Harbhajan for four, and Kumble was then far from thrilled as a Kallis cover-drive was fumbled over the rope by Sourav Ganguly.

Despite slightly overcast conditions, Kumble didn't call on Sreesanth. By the time the new ball was taken after 81.2 overs, whatever little moisture that might have been in the pitch was long gone. Sreesanth soon made an impact too, striking Kallis on the shoulder with a bouncer and then having an excellent leg-before shout turned down.

Once the initial threat posed by the new ball passed, the runs came freely. de Villiers flicked RP Singh for four and then glanced Sreesanth fine, before Kallis highlighted his power with two contemptuous pulls for four. On the stroke of lunch, Ganguly came on, and a paddle down to fine leg saw de Villiers reach his fifth Test century.

Kallis was on 97 at the time, and the 30th century that took him past Sir Donald Bradman arrived soon after the interval, with a magnificent cover-drive for four off Ganguly. It had been a stolid and at times fortuitous effort, spanning 228 balls, but vital in the context of the match after Harbhajan's three quick wickets on the first afternoon.

The 200-run partnership came from 401 balls, and the runs were milked with ease after that. Pathan was pedestrian at best and Kumble merely restrictive. Both men played the sweep with increasing confidence and it was quite bizarre that Sreesanth, the most effective Indian pace bowler on view, was called on only an hour and ten minutes after lunch.

Kallis swatted the first ball for four, and when an edge then streaked past slip, Sreesanth's frustration boiled over. But instead of self-destructing, he used the anger to produce a gem of a delivery that lifted from outside off stump and caught Kallis in two minds. By the time he tried to arc the bat away, it was too late and the inside edge cannoned into the stumps.

WestIndies vs SriLanka Day1.

Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor shared five wickets as a rain-affected first day of the second Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka in Port of Spain ended honours even.

Edwards claimed 3-50 and fellow paceman Taylor 2-63 as the tourists closed on 5-217.

Edwards was at his economic best in the morning session as he almost single-handedly pegged the Sri Lankans back after they had made a strong start, taking the scalps of dangermen Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara in successive overs.

The diminutive quick then removed Michael Vandort after lunch before Taylor dismissed Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chamara Silva shared an unbeaten stand of 100 to bring the Sri Lankans back into the match.

Warnapura - looking for another big score to go with the century he struck in the first Test - and Vandort got the Sri Lankans off to a solid start, the former hitting eight fours in his almost run-a-ball 35.

He was dropped on 12 by Dwayne Bravo, but was not to be afforded another chance after edging an Edwards delivery to Sewnarine Chattergoon at third slip.

And Sangakkara followed him back to the pavilion for 10 two overs later, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin taking the catch after the batsman had nicked another ball from Edwards.


Rain delayed the start of the afternoon session, but Edwards was again first to strike when play did get under way. He had Vandort caught down the leg side by Ramdin for 30.

Taylor came to the party after another rain break, drawing Samaraveera into a shot which he edged to Chris Gayle at first slip on six before clean bowling captain Jayawardene past his outside edge for 26.

But as the Windies threatened to take a stranglehold on the game, Dilshan and Silva steadied a rocking Sri Lankan ship.

Dilshan racked up his 12th Test half-century, cracking seven fours in an unbeaten run-a-ball 58, while Silva survived being dropped by Devon Smith to move on to 37 not out when bad light brought a premature end to the day's play.

Sensex closes at 15343

Sensex today closed at 15343 down by 489 points.Markets witnessed tremendous downfall on Friday.The Nifty closed at 4647 down by 124 points.


It was a great day for the asian markets.HSI closing the day at 24264 .NIKKEI closed at 13293 down by 97 points.CHINA closed at 3446 .

The European markets were slightly up FTSE closing at 5925 up by 34 points.DAX closed at 6762 up by 21 points.CAC40 closed at 4904 up by 16 points.

Shoaib banned for 5 years!!!!

PCB recently banned Shoaib Akhtar, for 5 years ending the career of the Pakistani speedster. He was banned for violation of discipline. He was already banned for 2 years for hitting his fellow pacer Asif on the eve of twenty20 world cup.

The 32-year-old Akhtar, who appeared before a disciplinary committee earlier in the day on charges of publicly criticising the Board, has been banned from all forms of cricket but would continue to be a part of the Indian Premier League.

The ban effectively ends the controversial 11-year career of the world's fastest bwler, which has been rocked by injuries, disciplinary problems and a doping scandal in 2006 RPT 2006.

Akhtar took 178 wickets in 46 Tests and scalped 219 in 138 one-day matches during his career.

Akhtar seemed to unhappy about the ban and said that he will move to the court appealing against his ban.

Vidic will be out of action for two to three weeks.

Vidic suffered an injury during United's 2-0 victory over Roma.The Serbian centre-back, who fell awkwardly after an aerial challenge against Roma, came off after just 31 minutes of Tuesday's 2-0 quarter final first-leg win.

He was sent for a scan on Wednesday, the results of which showed the injury not to be serious.

He left Stadio Olimpico on crutches and there had been fears that Vidic could miss the rest of the season with the injury.

But a second scan on Thursday morning has shown that there is not a serious problem with the centre-half's knee.

United expect Vidic to miss Sunday's Premier League game with Middlesbrough and the return leg against Roma next Wednesday.

He has also been ruled out of the showdown with title rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford on 13th April, but could be back the following week against Blackburn Rovers.

South Africa in commanding position.

South Africa are in a commanding position after Day1.Dale Steyn bowled a fast and furious spell on a condusive wicket.Dale Steyn claimed 5-23 as the hosts lasted exactly 20 overs after their captain, Anil Kumble, had won the toss and decided to bat first.

Had the surrender taken place on a truly spiteful pitch, India's finest could at least have dusted off the excuses. As it was, only Rahul Dravid fell to a peach of a delivery. The rest were either victims of their misjudgement or their inability to get into line against fiery pace bowling from Steyn in particular. The tail can be absolved of blame after being swept away by the whirlwind, but there could be no excuses for a top order that has perhaps grown accustomed to batting on substandard batsman-friendly pitches in home Tests.

Irfan Pathan, recalled in place of the injured Sachin Tendulkar to strengthen the bowling, finished as the leading scorer, hitting three fours before being left high and dry on 21 not out.

Mahenda Singh Dhoni was the only other batsman to make it into double figures with 14. Extras were the second top-scorer with 19.

Makhaya Ntini claimed the opening wicket of Wasim Jaffer before going on to dimiss VVS Laxman, who was bowled shouldering arms, and Sourav Ganguly in his fourth over.

Virender Sehwag, coming off the back of the fastest ever triple century in the first Test, fell in between to Steyn who then bowled Rahul Dravid with an away swinger to leave the hosts five down with only 53 on the board.

Dhoni attempted to hit his side out of trouble until an extravagant waft outside off stump gave Mark Boucher a simple catch behind the stumps and allowed Morne Morkel to get in on the carnage.

Steyn claimed the final three wickets to fall in a hurry to claim his eighth five-wicket haul in just his 22nd Test.

McKenzie was fortunate to survive a vociferous leg-before shout from RP at the start of his innings, and Ganguly then failed to grab a chance at short leg off Sreesanth when Smith had just two. But by and large, the Indian bowlers just didn't make the batsmen play enough, while Smith and McKenzie also showed a much better awareness of which deliveries to leave well alone.

Smith was soon cutting and driving with customary élan, and two fours in a Sreesanth over had the total racing towards 50. McKenzie joined in with two boundaries off RP and then played some gorgeous off-drives when Pathan came on to try and trouble the South Africans with left-arm swing.

Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince also fell to Harbhajan soon after but Kallis and de Villiers stopped any momentum for India, putting South Africa in complete control by the end of an eventful day.

Sensex closes at 15832

Sensex today closed at 15832 up by 82 points.Marketswitnessed tremendous volatility on Thursday.The Nifty closed at 4772 up by 17 points.


It was a great day for the asian markets.HSI closing the day at 24264 up by 392 points.NIKKEI closed at 13389 up by 200 points.CHINA closed at 3446 up by 98 points.

The European markets were slightly on the decline FTSE closing at 5891 down by 24 points.DAX closed at 6741 down by 36 points.CAC40 closed at 4891 down by 20 points.

Setback for Mugabe as opposition wins Zimbabwe Assembly.

The ruling party ZANU-PF were displaced in the recent elections held in Zimbabwe.This is the first time in Zimbabwe's history that an opposition has got hold of the Assembly since its Independence in 1980.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) took 99 seats, while President Robert Mugabe's party polled 97.

With presidential election results yet to be declared, the MDC said its leader had won, but Zanu-PF denied this.

In elections for the 210-member assembly, an offshoot MDC faction at odds with Tsvangirai won 10 seats, according to the ZEC's final results.

One seat was won by an independent candidate and polling in three constituencies was postponed as candidates died in the run-up to elections.

Fenerbache stuns chelsea .

Chelsea were left stunned in Istanbul after Fenerbache secured a 2-1 victory over the blues after being a goal down.Colin Kazim-Richards led the fightback for Fenerbahce at a hostile Sukru Saracoglu Stadium to leave Chelsea's Champions League hopes in the balance.

Michael Ballack dummied the ball for Malouda to run down the left and his cross flew into the net after hitting Deivid's outstretched leg.

Fenerbahce did not learn from that setback and could easily have been 2-0 down within minutes when Essien strode forward unchallenged down the right and crashed a shot against the bar.

The chances kept coming for Chelsea too and Didier Drogba headed wide before he forced a great save out of Volkan Demirel from a tight angle.

But the Turkish side levelled when London-born Colin Kazim-Richards smashed home Mehmet Aurelio's pass.

And Deivid made amends for his early error to win the game with a superb 30-yard strike into the top corner.

Arsenal held to a draw at the Emirates.

The atmosphere was absolutely electric but the teams got off to a slow and steady start. After seven minutes, Adebayor raced onto a long through-ball as Jose Reina dashed out of his goal.

The Liverpool goalkeeper missed his attempted clearance, but was alert enough to recover ground and then block the follow-up cross from the Togo frontman.

At the other end, Cesc Fabregas had to do some defending in his own six-yard box to deny Sami Hyypia after he had stayed up front following a corner.

There was no escape for Liverpool when Arsenal took a deserved lead three minutes later through Adebayor.

Van Persie worked a short corner routine with Fabregas and crossed for Adebayor, who rose to head home, with Sami Hyypia hopelessly flat-footed and Reina helpless.

The home side's lead lasted only three minutes when Gerrard took advantage of some feeble challenges to drive into the area and cross for Kuyt to bundle home from inside the six-yard box.

Liverpool had a chance just after the restart, and Manuel Almunia needed to get down quickly to smother Kuyt's snapshot.

Arsenal introduced England squad man Theo Walcott, to replace van Persie, for the second half and the teenager looked lively down the left as Hleb was given more freedom in an advanced role.

Walcott picked up the ball and let fly from 25 yards, but his shot was always going wide of Reina's right-hand post.

Liverpool had an amazing escape after 65 minutes when Kuyt clearly dragged Hleb back by the arm as he raced into the area but Arsenal were understandably furious when Dutch referee Pieter Vink ignored their appeals.

Substitute Nicklas Bendtner then unwittingly cleared a Fabregas shot off the line but he had already been ruled offside.

Fee hike trend continues with IIT's!!!

This isn't the best of news for people trying to join the premier institution like IIT. Following the IIM price hike IIT's have also decided to hike their fees by almost 100 percent. The students will be asked to pay almost double the amount now.

It is learnt that the IITs too have drawn up a proposal which will double the fee for students and sent it to the Union ministry of human resource development. It means that from the current fee of around Rs 25,000 per annum, a student may have to shell out Rs 50,000 per year.

If it is any matter of consolation for students, even after the increase, the fee will be far less than the hike effected by the country’s leading management institutes, the IIMs. In recent days, the IIMs have announced huge increases in their fees for those wanting to pursue their post-graduate diploma in business administration.

The IITs are taking the plea that they need to hike the fee in order to meet their rising expenses and to improve their financial health. In the past, the IIT directors who head these institutions have often complained that they do not have enough money to even pay the salaries of their staff. Or for the upkeep of their infrastructure. As a result, they have often had to dip into their contingency fund to make up for the shortfall.

Airprices to be hiked!!!

I draw the attention of people traveling in domestic flights. There will be hike in the air prices of about 150 to 350 Rs from April 7th. This hike has been reported due to the hike in the prices of aviation turbine fuels.

While private carrier Jet Airways and low-cost carrier SpiceJet have already announced the hike, unified state-owned carrier Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan say they are evaluating the situation. Aviation sources say these airlines may also follow suit.

Jet Airways and SpiceJet will charge Rs 150 extra per passenger than at present on flights up to 750 km while Rs 350 will be charged for flights beyond this range. Airlines currently charge Rs 1,650 per passenger as fuel surcharge. This means that for flights beyond 750 km, the total fuel surcharge will be Rs 2,000 per passenger while it will be Rs 1,800 per passenger for flights up to 750 km. The decision of Jet Airways and SpiceJet follows the announcement by public sector oil firms of a 13 per cent hike in ATF prices. This is the first time that differential rates have been applied to the fuel surcharge (depending on the distance of the flight).

Bush urges NATO to send more troops to afghan.

US President George W Bush has urged Nato allies to send more troops to Afghanistan ahead of the alliance's biggest-ever summit in Romania.

Bush was in Bucharest and he urged Nato to send more troops to Afghan. Romania and France are due to send more troops .

During the summit, Bush is expected to say Nato membership must be open to any European democracy that seeks it.

Barcelona take a slender lead against schalke.

Barcelona will be odds-on favourites to meet either United or Roma in the Champions League semi-finals, after their first leg victory over Schalke 04 in Germany.

The Catalan giants won 1-0 through a 17th minute strike from Bojan Krkic. The 17-year-old prodigy stabbed in Thierry Henry's cross to become the second-youngest scorer in Champions League history.

Schalke had more than their fair share of chances to draw level, but Kevin Kuranyi, Soren Larsen, Marcelo Bordon and Halal Altintop all spurned opportunities.

A rash of late bookings for both sides saw the match draw to an ill-tempered close, but Barca will expect to book a last-four berth in next Wednesday's second leg at Camp Nou.

ManchesterUnited ease past Roma.

ManchesterUnited eased past Roma to take a 2-0 lead in the first leg of their champions league tie at the Stadio Olimpico.Ronaldo and Rooney both scored and Ronaldo now becomes the Top scorer in this year's champions league.

After losing Nemanja Vidic to injury after half-an-hour, United took the lead six minutes before half-time when Ronaldo rose powerfully to meet Paul Scholes' cross for his 36th goal of the season.

Roma responded positively after the break with Christian Panucci firing over when unmarked and Mirko Vucinic forcing a fine reaction save from Edwin van der Sar.

Wayne Rooney then doubled their lead in the 66th minute. The 'Red Devils' will take a two-goal cushion into the second leg at Old Trafford, where Roma were beaten 7-1 in the same stage of last year's competition.