India take on Brazil to reclaim berth in Davis Cup

India will look to exploit a favourable surface, weather conditions and form of its players to reclaim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group as the hosts take on formidable Brazil in the play-off tie here from tomorrow.

India came to this tie after losing the World Group first round to Russia in March this year while Brazil whitewashed Uruguay 5-0 in the Americas Zone group I semifinals in May.

India have tasted success consistently in the Asia-Oceania Group and went on to break the World Group jinx after 11 years following a win over South Africa in 2009.

Brazil, a clay court specialist nation, last played in World Group in 2003 against Sweden and have been trying ever since to make it to the elite club.

September has been an unlucky month in the last few years for them as they lost to Ecuador, Croatia, Austria and Sweden in the play-off ties.

Traditionally India have chosen grass courts to host a Davis Cup tie but due to liking of Somdev Devvarman, its best singles players currently, it preferred hard courts for the tie, first at home in two years.

The last time India hosted a tie on a non-grass surface was in 1979 when it played against Australia on clay.

Comparing the two sides ranking wise, India do not have a single top-100 player with Somdev being the best at 113 and Rohan Bopanna a distant 479 but the doubles team Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi is undoubtedly a class apart, unbeaten in the last 23 ties. Paes will, infact, mark 20 years in the Davis Cup circuit when he takes the court on Saturday.

Brazil boast world number 27 Thomaz Belluci and 75th ranked Ricardo Mello and also have a solid doubles team in Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo, who are ranked 16th.

Yet, a few things go in favour of India as its players, specially Somdev, have done exceedingly well on hard courts to turn the ties in his team’s favour while Brazil have not won a Davis Cup tie on hard court since 1991 and have played on the surface just eight times in its 62-year history.

The rankings may show a wide gulf between the players of the two nations, but Somdev and Bopanna have time and again proved their disdain for them.

Bopanna, despite concentrating more on doubles, has done well in Davis Cup singles of late. In India’s WG play-off win over South Africa, Bopanna had played an important role by beating Rik De Voest.

In the lost tie against Russia, the only singles win came from Bopanna when he beat Teimuraz Gabashvili.

His confidence, after a historic performance at the just concluded US Open will also be sky high.

Somdev on his day can beat any player in the world, hence despite having superiorly ranked players, Brazil will face a tough job.

Adding to their disadvantage would be the hot and humid conditions here.

In the end, it will be an intense tie in which both teams will go with equal chances to win. The losing team will play its respective Zone in 2011.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/

Bedi laments lack of recognition from DDCA

New Delhi: A veteran of 67 Tests with 266 wickets to his credit in his 12-year career, former skipper Bishen Singh Bedi has lamented lack of recognition from his home state board of Delhi and District Cricket Association.


"I don't think Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) would have ever remembered me for whatever I did," rued the leg-spinner, who retired from international cricket in 1979.


The 62-year-old cricketer received 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by a magazine at a function here on Thursday, while teen tennis star Yuki Bhambri got the 'Exemplary Achievement' award

and swashbuckling Indian batsman Virender Sehwag bagged 'Jewel of the Nation' award for their contributions to their respective disciplines.


"I'm very surprised. I was not expecting such an award at all, though I am quite excited to be called 'Jewel of the Nation'," Sehwag said after receiving the honour from Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed.


Yuki on his part said: "It's great to see that tennis is given some recognition in a cricket crazy country like India."


The awards were given by The Sunday Indian magazine in association with Indian Institute of Planning and Management, to recognise regional talents who have made the country proud.

Soruce:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/bedi-laments-lack-of-recognition-from-ddca/42225-13.html

ICC asks 2011 WC organisers to consider alternate venues

NEW DELHI: Aware of the turmoil in Pakistan, the International Cricket Council on Tuesday asked organisers of the 2011 World Cup to consider shifting venues to another city, even to another country, if situation so demands.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the 2011 World Cup Central Organising Committee here, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said the turmoil in Pakistan was a "consideration" for the governing body which asked the organisers to consider alternate venues in case of an emergency.

"It's a consideration that we have to give attention to. This is not something we discussed today, except to ask the organisers to consider alternate host city venues within the country as well as alternate country venues in the event of something is not favourable in one of the particular host countries," Lorgat said.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will jointly host the event.

Lorgat, however, felt there was still enough time in hand and there was no need to press the panic button.

"I think it's still a long way off to World Cup. It is certainly a consideration to keep note of but it's way too early to be already concerned at this particular stage," he added.

Reminded about visiting teams' reluctance to tour Pakistan and whether he was optimistic about a marked change in the situation in the trouble-torn country, Lorgat said," I'm optimistic by nature. But at the same time, I'm no crystal ball gazer.

"But we are monitoring the situation regularly and we recently got the Board to support that ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) would take on the extra responsibility of monitoring security on an ongoing basis."

Lorgat said of the 15 World Cup venues, eight would be in India, four in Pakistan, two in Sri Lanka and one in Bangladesh.

Lorgat said ICC was in touch with the Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi on deploying ACSU officials during the IPL.

"We are in discussion with Mr Modi. They are keen to have ACSU officials in IPL and we also feel it makes sense," he said.

Representatives from all the members boards, including Pakistan Cricket Board President Ejaj Butt and CEO Saleem Altaf, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan, Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty, Sri Lankan cricket board CEO Duleep Mendis and Bangladesh Cricket Board officials attended the meeting presided by Organising Committee Chairman Sharad Pawar.

ICC Principal Adviser IS Bindra was also present in the meeting.

The committee appointed Salim Butt of Pakistan as the Managing Director, while setting up a number of working groups to work out the details "so that we can deliver a successful, world class event," Lorgat said.

The ICC official seemed unperturbed by the snapping of cricket ties between India and Pakistan and didn't foresee it affecting organisation of the World Cup.

"This issue must be approached with an optimistic viewpoint, certainly because we still have some time in our hand. I think it's way too early to be presumptuous and assume that things won't work.

"When we come close to the event, obviously we have to pay much more attention to the issues like safety, security and relation between the countries. But I can assure you at this stage we are planning a World Cup in all the four countries," he said.

Lorgat accepted the criticism of the 2007 World Cup for being too long and said ICC this time was looking at an event which would not go beyond six weeks after its scheduled February 19, 2011 start.

"We are planning to reduce the time-span, not to go beyond the six-week period. The last two weeks of February and March. We are looking to shorten the period down to six weeks," he said.

"We want a shorter and sharper tournament not beyond six weeks and if my memory serves me right, not more than 49 games," he said.

Taking stock of the progress made so far, Lorgat said the organisers were still running behind schedule and had some catch-up job ahead of them.

"There is an acknowledgment that we are little late than we would have liked. This is again why Mr Pawar is driving all forces so that planning and operational issues get underway. We have got some work to catch up with," he said.

Source: http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Look-for-alternate-venues-ICC-to-WC-organisers/articleshow/4143513.cms

Ponting ends India lean trot with crafty century

Skipper Ricky Ponting ended his run drought on Indian soil with a superb century as Australia came back strongly after a shock start in the first Test on Thursday.

Ponting hit 123 to steer the tourists away from the first-over dismissal of Matthew Hayden to a more comfortable 254-4 by stumps on the opening day at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Ponting, who won the toss and elected to take first strike in good batting conditions, put on 166 for the second wicket with Simon Katich after Hayden was caught behind off the third ball of the match by Zaheer Khan.

Left-handed Katich justified his selection ahead of Phil Jaques by following up back-to-back centuries on the preceding tour of the West Indies earlier this year with a dour 66.

Ponting added 60 for the third wicket with Michael Hussey (46 not out) before he was trapped leg-before by Harbhajan Singh in the final session, the ninth time the Australian captain has fallen to the off-spinner.

Zaheer trapped Michael Clarke leg-before with the second new ball in the day's last over, at which time the umpires called off play.

Ponting set aside a disappointing average of 12.27 in eight previous Tests in India to compile his 36th career Test century, just three behind record holder Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 39.

"It was nice to get some runs today," said the skipper, whose 200th Test innings made him only the fourth Australian after Allan Border and the Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark, to achieve the feat.

"As I have said since I have been here, I have been working really hard and I have made no secret of it that my record here has been poor, and I want to rectify that.

"Today is one step in the right direction and it was nice get the team into a good position, but one innings does not make a tour. I have got a few more yet to play.

"At no stage today did I put any extra pressure on myself to play different shots or combat anything the bowlers were doing.

"It was all about watching the ball and playing it on its merits and trusting my defensive technique more than anything."

Ponting's 16th century as captain enabled him to stamp his authority at the start of his team's defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the four-Test series.

The only time Ponting looked in trouble was when India appealed for a return catch as the batsman, then on 110, drove a half-volley back to bowler Anil Kumble, the Indian captain.

With no TV review system in place for the series, umpire Rudi Koertzen consulted his colleague Asad Rauf before turning down the appeal, indicating Ponting had played the ball down into the ground.

Indian seamer Ishant Sharma applauded Ponting's knock, saying "all good batsmen go through a rough patch, but they come out of it because they are so good.

"But the fourth wicket in the last over has evened up things a bit. It was a very good effort on our part to concede just 254 runs in the entire day on a good batting wicket."

Sharma ended Katich's vigil just before tea when the batsman poked at a ball outside the off-stump and the edge was easily taken by wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni.

Scoreboard
Australia 1st innings
M. Hayden c Dhoni b Zaheer 0
S. Katich c Dhoni b Sharma 66
R. Ponting lbw b Harbhajan 123
M. Hussey not out 46
M. Clarke lbw b Zaheer 11
Extras lb5, nb2, w1 8
Total for four wickets 254
Fall of wkts 1-0, 2-166, 3-226, 4-254
Bowling
Zaheer 17.2-4-39-2 (nb1, w1), Sharma 16-3-49-1, Harbhajan 25-6-71-1, Kumble 27-4-84-0, Sehwag 4-0-6-0 (nb1)

Soruce:www.cricbuzz.com

Coach tells India to not get distracted

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Coach Gary Kirsten told India's squad to distance themselves from the controversy surrounding five senior players ahead of the start of the test series against Australia next week. The countdown for the four-test series starting in Bangalore on Thursday has been overshadowed by news the Indian board has drawn up retirement plans for five veterans including captain Anil Kumble and record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar. A board official said on Wednesday that Kumble, Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Vangipurappu Laxman, all well into their 30s, had been told to plan their retirements by December. "I think we should move on from that," South African Kirsten told a news conference on Friday. "We need to focus on the team and get on with the test series. "India have got the best record against Australia and we have got a good idea of what we need to do, game-wise as well as mentally." World number ones Australia won a four-test series 2-1 four years ago to record their first series victory on Indian soil in 35 years but are rebuilding after several high-profile retirements.

SPIN THREAT

Kirsten expects spin to pose a serious threat to the visitors but said the hosts were capable of winning in all conditions. "It feels good to have two spinners who have got so many wickets in our team and that is certainly something that works in our favour," he said. India named leg-break bowler Amit Mishra as a third specialist spinner in the squad for the first two tests as back up for Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Leg-spinner Kumble is the world's third highest wicket taker and architect of several victories. Off-spinner Harbhajan, who took 32 wickets in the 2-1 victory over Australia in 2001, needs nine more scalps to reach 300 in tests.

Right decision to tour India:Ponting

Melbourne: Captain Ricky Ponting has defended Cricket Australia's decision to go ahead with India tour despite recent bomb blasts in New Delhi, saying the the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and independent security experts have given them green signal.
Terming the decision 'serious', Ponting told the Australian, "Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have obviously been in very close contact with CA over the last few days.
"As we all know and has been outlined already, these are very different circumstances between India and Pakistan right at the moment and the Board has made that very clear."
He added that both as captain and player of the team he is comfortable to visit India on the advice of CA and the Australian Cricketer's Association.
The skipper also welcomed volatile all-rounder Andrew Symonds decision to return to the game as a better person.
"I actually think there were some really positive signs over the last couple of days with Andrew," said Ponting.
"He's fronted the media and admitted that there's some room for improvement in certain parts of his life," he added.

Source: www.mid-day.com

3 medals for India, at least bronze for Vijender

Boxer Vijender Singh ensured another medal for India at the Beijing Olympics when he outpunched Carlos Gongora of Ecuador in the quarterfinal of the 75kg category bout on Wednesday.With this victory, he is now assured of at least a bronze medal.The Bhiwani pugilist, one of India's best medal hopes, was ahead in all the four rounds and clinched the bout 9-4. The Ecuadorean had no answer to his rival's flurry of punches and trailed 1-4 in the second round.Vijender made the difference with his left-hand jabs and crucial uppercuts to which Carlos had no answer.With the score reading 7-2 in favour of Vijender after the penultimate round, the Ecuadorean needed to go all out in the fourth and final round. He did manage to close the gap but Vijender's evading tactics and excellent footwork won him the bout.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showsports.aspx?id=SPOEN20080062328&ch=8/20/2008%207:17:00%20PM#

Kumble hails 'resilient' Team India for super show

Galle, Aug 3 (PTI) Having bounced back in the Test series through an all-round performance, Indian skipper Anil Kumble today said he never doubted the 'resilience ' of his teammates and asserted that his team had prepared well for the series.Indian today mauled Sri Lanka by 170-runs in the second Test to square the series 1-1, having lost the first Test in Colombo."The way we have come back after four days it is really amazing and I am really proud of the fact that we have this group of players who have shown so much of resilience. Not just once but time and time again. So there is quality. So there is absolutely no doubt," Kumble said at the post-match press conference."We have done that in the past and this team has been through ups and downs. It (team) has fair amount of experience and quality. So there is absolutely no doubt that we will regroup and come back hard and I am really proud the way we played in this test match." Kumble was extremely happy with his opening pairway India's spin-pace attack responded to the SOS call."The opening partnership in both innings (was crucial). Veeru getting 200 in the first innings and Gautam getting us off to a fantastic start in both the innings was very important. The way Harbhajan bowled in both the innings, the way Ishant and Zaheer bowled in the second innings was really amazing." PTI

Cricket: Sri Lanka captain backs review trial

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has backed a new experimental rule allowing players to seek a second opinion on umpiring decisions, saying it has succeeded in cutting down mistakes.

Sri Lanka benefitted four times under the rule during the opening Test against India here before winning by a record innings and 239 runs on Saturday to gain a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The rule, on trial in the ongoing series, allows a batsman or fielding captain to request a review of any decision by referring it to the third official monitoring television replays.
"I am all for it, not because most of the referrals went our way but because we managed to rectify obvious mistakes," Jayawardene said after the match.

Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first beneficiary. He was on one when initially given out caught by umpire Mark Benson of England on Thursday, but asked the official to review the decision.

Benson consulted TV umpire Rudi Koertzen of South Africa before changing his decision. Dilshan went on to score 125 not out.

Indian batsmen Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were initially given not out by on-field officials, who changed their decisions after consulting the TV umpire.
"We need not think negatively about it. If it was not there, we probably would have had four bad decisions go against us in this match," said the Sri Lankan skipper.

"The decisions of both Tendulkar and Dravid were tough for the umpires, especially when you have (Muttiah) Muralitharan and (Ajantha) Mendis going at the batsmen on these kinds of tracks."

Off-spin maverick Muralitharan was named man of the match for grabbing 11 wickets, while debutant spinner Mendis took eight wickets.

"It is very good. No team can complain that they lost because of bad decisions," said Muralitharan, the world's leading wicket-taker with 746 scalps in 121 Tests.
Defeated India captain Anil Kumble said it was too early to comment on the rule.
"A couple of calls were negated, but I think it is something that we will have to take forward. It is a bit too early to comment," he said.

A top International Cricket Council (ICC) official recently said here he did not believe the rule would undermine the on-field umpires' authority as their word was still "final".
"It is an extension of the appeal. It doesn't undermine their roles. Their skill as umpires is still paramount. They have to make the decision (after consulting the TV umpire)," said ICC general manager Dave Richardson.

"I am confident it will work quite well. We must not forget what the real objective of this process is -- and that is to avoid obvious and clear mistakes."
Each team is allowed three unsuccessful review requests per innings but if one is successful they will get an additional appeal.

The rule applies for all dismissals except "timed out" when an incoming batsman is out if he takes too long to arrive at the crease after the fall of the previous wicket.
The second Test starts in Galle on Thursday. source:http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hH_8K1Wh4BcP9ZW7RdQBehU6mMVg

Mahilpur the 'football village' of Punjab

ANI

By Karan Kapoor
Mahilpur (Punjab), July 15 (ANI): Punjab has produced many football players of national fame. And village Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district's is known for its long association with the football.
The passion for football lives on in people even long after it was introduced in the village by Harbhajan Singh, a school principal, in 1920's.

The village boasts of producing great players of repute like Jarnail Singh, Gurdev Singh, Chaudhary Ram Kishan, and the tradition lives on in the young enthusiasts of today.
"There is a culture of football in this area. Every village has its own football ground, no other sport is given much priority be it cricket or any other game. Only football is given importance here," said Ali Jasna, Coach.

The village holds a number of annual tournaments and provides the players with an opportunity to showcase and hone their skills.
Love for the game comes naturally to the people of Mahilpur. For many, it is a family tradition passed on from generation to generation.

The young enthusiasts feel there is a lot of scope for football in India, with so many clubs opening up, which provide the players with an excellent opportunity to further their careers.
"There is good scope for football here which give good money to the players. If one pursues football with studies, it could be very beneficial," said Amandeep Singh, a budding Football Player.

There are now plans of setting up a football stadium in the village so as to provide the youth with better facilities.

The sport has become quite popular in the country and with the advent of international football clubs in India like JCT, there is a good scope for sports enthusiasts wanting to pursue football. (ANI)

Chingoka slams ICC decision as unethical

June 30, 2008, Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, has criticised Ray Mali, the ICC's outgoing president, for tabling a motion to discuss the future of Zimbabwe when the ICC meets in Dubai this week.

In two letters which followed Mali's announcement, Chingoka forcibly reminded him that the ICC had already discussed the matter. "You will recall that last year in London, a decision was taken and well-supported by you and other members that sport and politics, like oil and water, do not mix."

Quoting the ICC's own rules, Chingoka insisted that Zimbabwe's status could only be discussed at next year's annual conference as such a motion needed to be tabled by December 31 in the preceding year. Ironically, a change to the rules was proposed two years ago to allow more immediate action to be taken. Chingoka opposed that at the time and the move was defeated after India indicated they would not support it.

The letters also highlighted a breakdown in relations between Chingoka and Mali, hitherto seen as close allies. Less than a year ago, Mali was effusive in his praise for the ZC administration following a six-day fact-finding visit. But last week he told Chingoka that he had acted because he "owed it to the cricket community to feel all is normal

Chingoka, playing the race card, warned Mali of "setting double standards and discriminatory levels that go against the ICC anti-racism code".

He went on to accuse Mali of making Zimbabwe "a scapegoat" for the decision to stand down Malcolm Speed as the ICC's chief executive in April and called the latest announcement of the discussion on Zimbabwe "unethical", adding it was an "agenda item infested with political connotations". He concluded by asking: "Whose political gallery these antics are being supposed to appease?"

"There are over 100 ICC member countries with differing political environments," he continued. "Without venturing to mention names as it is apparent, it is clear that certain worse conditions exist in those other member countries. It has not warranted the ICC putting them on its agenda as it is doing with Zimbabwe right now."
Source: www. cricinfo.com

India ride Sehwag storm to thrash Pak

India ride Sehwag storm to thrash Pak

KARACHI, June 26 (PTI): Familiar Pakistan nemesis Virender Sehwag (119) slammed a violent century while Suresh Raina (84) too matched his aggression as India cantered to a facile six-wicket win with 7.5 overs to spare against the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup cricket tournament here tonight. It was sweet revenge for the Indians who just two weeks ago were outclassed by Pakistan in the Kitply tri-series final in Dhaka. With Sehwag and Raina on fire, India cruised to 301 for four in only 42.1 overs after Pakistan appeared to have set a competitive target by making 299 for four. The hosts’ innings revolved around 125 from captain Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan’s 59 on a good batting track. Malik did not field after retiring with cramps while pacer Umar Gul also went off with a rib cage injury after sending down just 1.2 overs. But under lights, Sehwag showed just how good the track was when he savaged the attack scoring his ninth hundred. He and Raina put on a record 198 runs for the second wicket from 149 balls before the stand was broken in the 28th over.The stand was remarkable as it came after Pakistan’s stand in captain Misbah-ul-Haq had brought off a spectacular one-handed catch at wide slip to get rid of Gautam Ghambir (9) in the third over and the players were on a high. Following the match, the victorious Indian skipper said 300 was not enough to defend on the National Stadium’s benign track and he was not much surprised as his side knocked down the target set by Pakistan with 7.5 overs to spare.“I always knew that a target of 300 here was always chaseable. The track was fantastic, one of the best in Pakistan. All we needed was a good start...maybe 340-350 would have been the right score. Besides, they lost Umar Gul (who bowled only 1.2 overs before leaving the field with rib muscle injury) and it was hard luck for Shoaib,” Dhoni said. Though a final berth is no more a worry for the side, Dhoni insisted he wanted to win all the games. SCORECARD Pakistan: Butt c Raina b Chawla 35, Malik retired hurt 125, Y Khan c Raina b Pathan 59, Yousuf run out 30, Misbah not out 31, Afridi c Dhoni b Singh 9, Tanvir not out 3; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-5) 7; Total (4 wickets, 50 overs) 299. Fall of wickets:1-90, 1-219, 2-223, 3-261, 4-290. Bowling: P Kumar 10-0-56-0, RP Singh 10-2-44-1, I Sharma 10-0-69-0, PP Chawla 7-0-52-1, YK Pathan 9-0-52-1, Yuvraj 4-0-24-0.

Sehwag sizzles, India wins

Karachi: Virender Sehwag scattered the fielders, crumpled the required run-rate charts with instinctive ease and powered India to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in a STAR Cricket Asia Cup Group B match at the National Stadium here on Thursday.
Sehwag’s 119 (95b, 12x4, 5x6) and his 198-run second-wicket partnership with Suresh Raina helped India canter past Pakistan’s 299 for four in 50 overs. India scored 301 for four in 42.1 overs.
The initial minutes of the chase was a mix of Umar Gul leaving the field in discomfort and Gambhir’s slash prompting Misbah-ul-Haq to defy gravity at backward point. Twelve for one and Suresh Raina emerged with quick winnowing steps that soon left a larger imprint on the pitch as his 84 (69b, 10x4, 3x6) nearly put Sehwag’s ninth ODI century in the shade.Volley of words
The Man-of-the-Match Raina picked Iftikhar’s line early and with a neat bat swing sent the red cherry deep into the stands overlooking long-off. The control and the disdain in that shot angered Iftikhar who let loose two bouncers and a volley of words. Sehwag at the other end, flicked two fours on either side of a frozen square-leg.
Sehwag then carted Afridi all over the park . Part-timers Fawad Alam and Salman Butt were also left bleeding with reverse sweeps and the dismissive slaps over the in-field. And in the interim, Raina looking good for a hundred, ended up with a soft dismissal, tapping one straight to short covers.
Sehwag’s merry ways too ended soon and Younis Khan after holding on in the deep, appreciatively patted the departing batsman. In the end, Yuvraj and skipper M.S. Dhoni ensured that the winning runs were gained with minimum fuss.
Earlier on a warm evening, Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik shed his diffidence and ended a two-year wait for an ODI hundred. Malik, who retired hurt on 125 (119b, 15x4, 1x6), last scored a hundred in the game’s abridged version in February’ 2006 against India at Lahore.
SCOREBOARD
 Pakistan: S. Butt c Raina b Chawla 35, S. Malik (retd. hurt) 125, Younis c Raina b Yusuf 59, Mohd. Yousuf (run out) 30, Misbah (not out) 31, S. Afridi c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 9, S. Tanvir (not out) 3; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-5): 7; Total (for four wkts. in 50 overs): 299.
Fall of wickets: 1-90, 2-223, 3-261, 4-290.
India bowling: Praveen 10-0-56-0, R.P. Singh 10-2-44-1, Ishant 10-0-69-0, Chawla 7-0-52-1, Yusuf 9-0-52-1, Yuvraj 4-0-24-0.
India: G. Gambhir c Misbah b Iftikhar 9, V. Sehwag c Younis b Afridi 119, S. Raina c Fawad b Iftikhar 84, Yuvraj c Butt b Tanvir 48, M.S. Dhoni (not out) 26, Rohit (not out) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-7, nb-1): 15; Total (for four wkts. in 42.1 overs): 301.
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-210, 3-231, 4-294.
Pakistan bowling: Gul 1.2-0-6-0, Tanvir 9-0-55-1, Iftikhar 9.4-0-61-2, Afridi 10-0-64-1, Fawad 7-0-64-0, Butt 1-0-13-0, Younis 4.1-0-31-0.
Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/27/stories/2008062761431900.htm

’83 Cup magic

’83 Cup magic

— The summer of 1983 not only transformed the face of Indian cricket but instilled in the minds of its followers the belief that its team can win against the best. The World Cup squad under Kapil Dev which had landed on English shores as rank underdogs went on to script a golden piece of history when it humbled and shocked two-time Cup winners, defending champions and then the most-feared side – the mighty West Indies in the final at Lords to return home as heroes. A relatively low score of 183 proved to be more than enough in the end when Mohinder Amarnath trapped last man Michael Holding in front of the wicket for the maiden title. Given India’s dismal track record in the previous two editions, little did anyone know then that a resourceful team of sedate and aggressive batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, Krish Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil as well as genuine all-rounders like the captain Kapil himself, Amarnath, Ravi Shastri and Roger Binny would conjure up an unbelievable feat against the formidable favourites. Twenty-five years hence as the country gears up to honour these gentlemen – some of whom are now legends in their own right while some have literally become forgotten entities – and celebrate ‘the greatest triumph till date’, the euphoria may not be as intense as it was then but the legacy continues to inspire the current crop of cricketers and the upcoming talents. While the older generation recalls and relives the magical feat of ‘Kapil’s Devils’ in nostalgia, the next generation has the luxury of a complete team to look up to and emulate.The 1983 Cup triumph set a new trend. The world started respecting and recognising India as a force to reckon with. Another major feat was achieved two years later in Australia when it won the World Championship of Cricket under the able leadership of Sunil Gavaskar, which only bore testimony that the ’83 feat was no fluke but a superlative performance when it mattered. Winning soon became a habit albeit there were inconsistencies to follow later in the decade. Nevertheless, India acquired its rightful status, thanks to the ’83 feat. The bottomline of the famous triumph at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’ was that cricket which already was a game for the masses in the Indian context became a passion – an infectious craze that led people to the stadiums in large numbers while keeping millions glued in front of the television. With over a billion people, India today is a hub of the game which has acquired the status of a flourishing industry. Cricketers are no less than demi gods while the brands they endorse earn the loyalties of the consumer. The concept of T20 cricket and professional leagues like the IPL and ICL have become instant hits. In a way, cricket which has become a money-spinner is invariably playing the catalyst’s role in the Indian economy, thanks largely to its passionate followers who still regard the ’83 feat as the magic mantra behind the game’s elevation to a religion. SourcE: ASSAMTRIBUNE EDITORIAL

Kapil's Devils relive 1983 triumph

Kapil's Devils relive 1983 triumph
June 18, 2008Nostalgic moments of a historic victory were relived by members of 'Kapils Devils' as BCCI felicitated the 1983 World Cup heroes in New Delhi on Sunday night.

The Indian team, then considered underdog in international cricket, created history when they shocked two-time World Champions West Indies in the final at Lord's in June 25, 1983 to lift the Prudential World Cup Cup which is till date considered one of the greatest moment in Indian sports.After 25 years of that triumph, the day was once again relived when the 14 cricketers along with then manager P R Mansing were felicitated by the BCCI.