Thursday, April 15, 2010

Gambhir half century powers Delhi to 6-wicket win

TAFF WRITER 23:31 HRS IST

R Eswar


Chennai, Apr 15 (PTI) Gautam Gambhir cracked an unbeaten 57 as Delhi Daredevils spanked Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in a low-scoring IPL match to virtually seal a semifinal berth here tonight.

Captain Gambhir led a remarkable recovery with a resolute batting display with Mithun Manhas (25 not out) after his side made a messy start in the run chase of 113 by losing their top three batsmen for just six runs in the second over.

The duo shared 75 runs from 70 balls for the unfinished fifth wicket as Delhi romped home with eight balls to spare and snap their three-match losing streak at M A Chidambaram Stadium.

I-T officials question Lalit Modi for 8 hrs over IPL deals

STAFF WRITER 5:38 HRS IST

Mumbai, Apr 16 (PTI) Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi was questioned for as long as eight hours over the financial dealings and share holding patterns of the cricketing body as Income Tax officials left his Worli-based office early today.

I-T officials visited IPL Head-Quarters at Wankhede Stadium as also Modi's office at Nirlon House in upmarket Worli, where they quizzed him from 7.15 pm to 3.20 am.

Modi, speaking to reporters later, said the I-T officials were visiting several places in the city in a bid to find out details of the bidding process and when he came to know of it, he invited them over to his office.

"They were given documentation details, they verified the documents and went through the entire process of bidding. We fully cooperated with them and provided them with all they required," the IPL Commissioner said.

Chhetri set to make official debut

Chhetri set to make official debut
NEW DELHI, April 13: Sunil Chhetri is all set to become the first Indian to play for a Major League Soccer side when he makes his official debut for Kansas City Wizards in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup qualifier match against Colorado Rapids.

Chhetri is expected to play against the Rapids at the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus early morning on Wednesday (IST) after KC Wizards made official announcement that he has been added to the 24-man roster.

The diminutive Indian did not play in Wizards’ second MLS match against the Rapids on April 10 as he did not have his clearance papers from the United States Soccer Federation and the MLS.
Chhetri was pleased to see his name on the roster and said, “I’m very excited to be able to appear with the team. We have a good squad and I’m going to give my best to help us on the field.” (PTI)

Modi using unethical efforts to thwart Kochi IPL: Tharoor

Modi using unethical efforts to thwart Kochi IPL: Tharoor
New Delhi, April 13: Minister of State for External Affairs Minister Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday denied that he called up Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi requesting him not to reveal the name of the stakeholders of the consortium that won the franchise of the Kochi team.
Tharoor, who played the role of a mentor and helped the consortium bag the deal for Rs 1,530 crore, said in a statement that he had called up Modi to ask why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled.

“Modi had held up approval by the IPL of the franchisee agreement earlier in the day by insisting on the reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested. This change was made, the consortium members flew to Bangalore and met with Modi after that night’s IPL game for what they had been told would be a routine exercise.