Ex-BCCI chief Dungarpur passes away

Former BCCI President Raj Singh Dungarpur died here on Saturday following protracted illness.

Affectionately called as 'Rajbhai' in the cricket fraternity, the 73-year-old Dungarpur, who was president of the Cricket Board for three years in the late 1990s, was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

A bachelor from the Dungarpur royal family of Rajasthan, he was also a former first class cricketer, a former India team manager and ex-chairman of the senior selection panel.

A former President of the Cricket Club of India for 13 years before he took ill last year, Dungarpur died at his residence this morning.

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Vijender loses in World Boxing semis, settles for bronze

Vijender Singh's

NEW DELHI: Vijender Singh's quest for a gold medal ended in heartbreak as he went down to Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoev in the middle weight semi-finals, bringing down the curtains on India's campaign by settling for a bronze at the World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy.

The bronze with which he had to be content with after the 3-7 loss to Atoev late last night was Vijender's third successive this year.

But even in defeat, the Olympic bronze medallist scripted history by ending India's medal drought in the elite event.

"Obviously I am a bit disappointed but I am glad that I ended India's medal jinx at this prestigious event," the world number two, who was given the top seeding in Milan, said after the bout.

The 23-year-old went into the bout as favourite, considering that he had beaten Atoev, a former light heavy weight champion, just a couple of months ago at the Asian Championships in China.

Like his previous bouts, Vijender started off cautiously to take a slender 1-0 lead after the first three minutes but things went haywire from there on as Atoev staged an aggressive comeback.

The Uzbek, who fought without a guard, pushed Vijender to the backfoot with some hard-hitting straight jabs. The Indian couldn't land a single scoring punch and was trailing 1-5 at the end of the second round.

"It was not his day. He tried his level best but Atoev was very aggressive but Vijender also gave a good account of himself," national coach Gurbax Singh Sanshu said.

Vijender tried to claw back in the final round and reduced the points gap to 3-5 but an unrelenting Atoev ensured that the Indian could not beyond that.

The last time the Haryana boxer won more than a bronze medal was the Asian Championships in 2007, when he returned with a silver.

He has been settling for bronze medals ever since, starting with the Olympics in Beijing last year.

This year he managed bronze medals at the European Grand Prix in Czech Republic in May and the Asian Championships the next month.

"I have ended two of the biggest jinx in Indian boxing but I have been settling for bronze medals for a long time. Hopefully, I would end this jinx the next time I compete," he said.

TOI

Now, India's real test against Sri Lanka

Breaking News:



COLOMBO: The third match of the tri-series, between India and Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium on Saturday, is important for MS Dhoni and his boys
for more than one reason.

A win will not only earn them a spot in the final but the match will also give them vital practice before the Champions Trophy starts in South Africa on September 22 but the real test will come against Sri Lanka.

Dhoni said during a media briefing on Thursday that the team wanted to continue the winning run in Sri Lanka, having won both the bilateral series in 2008 and 2008-09.

"We know the conditions here and have won back-to-back series here during our previous two visits so we would like that continue," the skipper said.

But the Lankans too want to break that jinx. They have won the ODI series here against Pakistan recently and also triumphed in the Tests series against Pakistan and New Zealand. They would surely want to put the record straight against India.

"India are a good side, but we have been playing good cricket of late and everybody is in form so it should be a good contest," Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara said.

Squad:

Sri Lanka: KC Sangakkara (captain), M Muralitharan, CM Bandara, TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, DPMD Jayawardene, SHT Kandamby, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, KTGD Prasad, TT Samaraweera, WU Tharanga, T Thushara

India: MS Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, R Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, KD Karthik, V Kohli, P Kumar, A Mishra, AM Nayar, A Nehra, YK Pathan, SK Raina, I Sharma, RP Singh, SR Tendulkar.

TOI

Kumble's formula for revival of ODI cricket

Former India captain Anil Kumble

Former India captain Anil Kumble is the latest to join the debate on the future of one-dayers and has suggested that the 50-over version be shortened to 40 overs a side to save it from extinction.

With the advent of Twenty20 cricket, the future of ODIs is in jeopardy. The England and Wales Cricket Board recently scrapped a 50-over competition from its domestic calendar in 2010.

"I don't think ODIs are going to get extinct, but there is a little bit of threat on the development of the format," Kumble said.

"You need such innovations as Sachin suggested, but my thought is is to shorten ODIs from 50 to 40 overs," Kumble said last night on the sidelines of Van Huesen India Men's Fashion Week.

Tendulkar recently suggested that to infuse new life into ODIs, the format should be split into four innings of 25 overs a side.

Kumble is part of an ICC panel formed to resolve the ongoing deadlock between the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and Indian cricketers over the whereabouts clause.

In the ICC's International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) working group, Kumble is working alongside BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, ICC principal advisor I S Bindra, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and Tim Kerr, the chairman of the ICC's Anti-Doping Panel.

Kumble, however, refused to comment on the players' concern on WADA's contentious 'whereabouts clause'.

"I am representing ICC in WADA so I can't really say anything," he said.

Incidentally, Kumble is also the cricketers' representative on WADA's Athlete Committee.

The talismanic former national captain , who guided Bangalore Royal Challengers to the final of the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa, feels Rahul Dravid's inclusion in the Indian ODI team will add balance to the already strong batting order.

"It's good to see Rahul's comeback in the ODI team. I am sure he will do well and his experience will be of great help for the team," Kumble said.

The 38-year-old former spinner, who has 619 Test and 337 ODI wickets in his 18-year career with the Indian team, also said that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side will face a transition problem once the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman bids adieu to the game.

"They (Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman) are still young and keen to play, so I think it's to early to predict anything, but any team will find it difficult to replace them. It is never easy to replace a Sachin Tendulkar," Kumble stated.

© PTI