The Daily Indian

Pakistan cricket was thrown into turmoil today with the country’s Board putting an end to the international careers of former captains Mohd Yousuf and Younus Khan besides imposing a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik in the wake of the team’s disastrous tour of Australia.

Pakistan were whitewashed in all three formats of the game in Australia and the PCB had set up an inquiry committee headed by Wasim Bari to probe the reasons for the debacle.

As recommended by the committee, former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were handed one-year bans.

The inquiry committee had recommended that Yousuf and Younis should no longer be part of the national team in any format because of their bad influence on the team and that Malik and Rana be banned for 12 months and fined 2 million rupees each.

The Akmal brothers — Kamran and Umar — and Afridi have been put on probation for six months besides being fined between Rs 2-3 million for indiscipine on the tour, the PCB statement said.

The punishments are set to impact the composition of Pakistan’s World Twenty20 Championship. The team is the defending champion in this format and the 15-man squad for the event is due to be out by the end of this month.

According to sources, the report was discussed by the PCB chairman Ejaz Butt with the national selection committee on Monday as part of the selection process for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
“Apparently at the meeting, there were mixed reactions to the strong recommendations keeping in mind that upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies where Pakistan defends its title,” the source stated.

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is all set to declare himself available for the Indian Premier League, starting on March 12.

New Zealand Cricket Players Association boss Heath Mills’ said Bond will declare himself available for the upcoming IPL-3.

Al Qaeda had threatened to target players during the IPL, but Bond, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram (if fit) are now more likely to attend than when the terror warning was first issued.

“They’re going of their own accord; New Zealand Cricket isn’t involved so it comes down to an individual decision at the end of the day.

“Bondy will be the first one to go, so he’s probably getting close to making a decision and all I’m going to do is keep relaying information to him from our security adviser, Reg Dickason,” Mills said.

“The measures they’ve put in place have got a lot better so they (the players) are getting more confident. Certainly more confident than they were two weeks ago,” Mills said. “I’d say they’d be of a mind to go at the moment, but that’s their call and obviously I wouldn’t want to be seen to say that they’re definitely going,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Bond, as saying.

The waiting for Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf continues.
As expected, Woods did not enter the field for next week’s CA Championship at Doral, marking the first time he’ll miss that World Golf Championship event. Players had until yesterday to commit to that event.

In all, 64 players will be at Doral, including Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson, the two players immediately behind Woods in the world ranking.

Woods resumed practicing about a week ago but has not said when he’ll play again. He has won on Doral’s Blue Monster three times in his career.

Legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has the highest number of Test wickets under his belt, is planning to quit cricket’s longer version after the tour of West Indies in October.

The spin wizard has already announced that he will quit all forms of the game after the 2011 50-over World Cup.

The 37-year-old off-spinner is just eight wickets shy of becoming first player to touch the magical 800-wicket mark in Test cricket.

“Maybe I will play one or two Test matches, that’s it, and then retire. The Tests against the West Indies will be the last ones I will play,” Muralitharan said.

“My future is all about playing one-dayers until the World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar Tuesday said it would be ‘great’ to be honoured with Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, but insisted cricket is his priority now.

Talking to mediapersons for the first time after his record-breaking feat last week in Gwalior, Tendulkar said the Bharat Ratna is indeed a rare honour but he is not in a hurry to receive it.

‘Who would not like to be on that list of heroes? It is everyone’s dream. For me, the focus is only cricket. When it (Bharat Ratna) has to happen, it will happen,’ Tendulkar said.

Maharashtra chief minister said after Tendulkar’s 200 runs in the Gwalior ODI that the state government would recommend his name to the centre for the Bharat Ratna.

The 36-year-old Indian batting maestro also claimed to be a fan of the Indian hockey team and wished them luck in the ongoing Hockey World Cup in New Delhi.

‘I wish them the very best in their endeavour and shall be with them if they perform well or even if they do not meet our expectations,’ Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a function to celebrate the ‘Joy Of Giving Week’, an NGO of which he is the brand ambassador.

On comparisons with legendary Australian cricketer Sri Don Bradman, Tendulkar said: ‘I have never believed in comparisons and I respect all individuals, not just Sir Don. I feel happy playing for my country and feel particularly pleased when I do well and the team is victorious.’

He also attended a half-day cricket camp with 14 executives from Whirlpool and seven children from various NGOs.

‘It feels great to be a part of a movement like this. Many of us give money, but giving time is more difficult. That’s why I gave a day of my time and skills.’

Tendulkar’s auction at the coaching camp netted Rs.12 lakh for the NGO Apnalaya, becoming the highest bid ever on eBaY India.

Last year, Tendulkar kicked off a campaign June 3 with a personal commitment to sponsor the education of 200 underprivileged children every year.

The Joy Of Giving Week was initiated by Give India, headed by former ICICI chairman N. N. Vaghul, and put together by over 200 NGOs, corporates, colleges and schools across 40 cities/towns around the country.

Last year, it raised over Rs.100 million, which would go to various social causes all over India and the next Joy Of Giving Week shall be held between Sep 26-Oct 2.

Gatorade has ended its marketing deals with Tiger Woods, joining the list of sponsors to drop the superstar golfer in the wake of a sex scandal.

“We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,” Gatorade spokeswoman Jennifer Schmit said. “We wish him all the best.”

The spokeswoman for the sports drink, sold by PepsiCo, said
Gatorade would continue its relationship with the Tiger Woods Foundation, the golfer’s charitable organisation that focuses on offering educational opportunities to disadvantaged children.

Gatorade discontinued its Tiger Woods-brand drinks in November, a decision that was made before the star’s marital infidelity sparked a media frenzy.

The scandal erupted after Woods crashed his car in mysterious circumstances outside his Florida home in the early hours of November 27.

Sachin Tendulkar has jumped three places to third in the ICC ODI batsmen rankings after his record-breaking double-century against South Africa while India are almost assured of USD 75,000 for ending the calendar year at number two position in the championship table.

Tendulkar (766 points), who returned undefeated on 200 in his 442nd appearance at Gwalior on Wednesday, now trails second-placed Mike Hussey (809) of Australia by 43 points with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (827) strengthening his position at the top of the rankings after hitting a 35-ball 68 not out against South Africa in the second ODI.

It is Tendulkar’s highest ranking in two years after he had reached second position following an unbeaten 117 against Australia in Sydney.

While Tendulkar has vaulted into third position, fellow opener Virender Sehwag has dropped one place to 10th position.

After missing a few matches, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir also slipped one and two places respectively to be at 13th and 21st. A player loses one per cent of his ratings points for every match missed.

In the bowlers list headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian at top 20 and the off-spinner retained his place at fifth.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, India has all but cemented second position after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead against South Africa. It is now on 123 ratings points while South Africa has slipped to 115 ratings points.

India beat South Africa by 153 runs in the second one-day international on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Scores: India 401-3 in 50 overs (S. Tendulkar 200 not out, D. Karthik 79, MS Dhoni 68 not out); South Africa 248 in 42.5 overs (AB de Villers 114 not out).

It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar chose arguably the best bowling attack doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score ever, before bringing up the first ever double-hundred in ODI history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium became the envy of world cricket as they witnessed one of the country’s favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory. He may have been run out cheaply in the previous match, but nothing could deny him today – be it bowlers, fielders, mix-ups or cramps. Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as the master unfurled all the shots in his repertoire.

At 36, Tendulkar hasn’t shown signs of ageing, and his sparkling touch in both forms of the game has ruled out all possibilities of him checking out anytime soon. Fatigue, cramps and paucity of time have stood in the way of batsmen going that extra mile to get to the 200-mark. Tendulkar did cramp up after crossing 150, but he didn’t opt for a runner. His experience of 20 years at the international level came into play in this historic innings, staying at the crease from the first ball to the last, never once losing focus. There were no chances offered, no dropped catches, making his innings absolutely flawless.

A swirl of emotions must have run through his mind as he approached one record after another but he ensured he was never lost in the moment. His running between the wickets remained just as swift as it had been at the start of the innings. The humidity in Gwalior was bound to test him but he stood above it all and played like he owned the game, toying with the bowling with a mix of nonchalance and brute power.

In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar, and to say that he acknowledged his feat modestly would be an understatement. His muted celebration on going past 194, true to style, made his innings all the more endearing. He didn’t raise his bat, merely shook hands with Mark Boucher and simply carried on batting amid the din. Coming from a man who is not known to showing too much emotion with the bat in hand, it wasn’t surprising. He reserved his celebrations for the magic figure of 200, which he reached in the final over with a squirt off Charl Langeveldt past backward point. He raised his bat, took off his helmet and looked up at the skies and it was only fitting that one-day cricket’s highest run-getter reached the landmark.

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy advanced to the men’s doubles quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight-set win in their opening round match.

Second seeds Paes and Dlouhy overcame the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-6 (7), 6-3 in their opening round of the $1,619,500 hard court event.

They will take on the winners of the match between the Indo-Pakistani pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Robert Lidstedt.

Earlier, Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belarussian Max Mirnyi, seeded third, beat M Al Baloushi of UAE and Abdullah Magdas of Kuwait 7-5, 6-0 in their first round match to enter the quarter-finals.

They will meet the winners of the first round match between the Serbian duo Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic and Paul Hanley of Australia and Simon Aspelin of Sweden.

Somdev Devvarman is also in the the singles competition and he is up against Marcno Chiudinelli of Switzerland.

Allrounder Shoaib Malik, who captained Pakistan in the recent T20 international series against England in Dubai, has made it clear he does not harbor any ambitions of long term captaincy.

“I enjoyed leading the team in these last three T20 matches in Shahid Afridi’s absence but it is better he gets back to captaining the side in this format of the game,” Malik said on returning home from Dubai. Malik, who remained captain between 2007 and 2009 before being replaced by Younus Khan last year, said Afridi was a better choice to lead the team.

But he declined to comment when asked what would be his stance if he was pressed by the board to continue as captain in the T20 World Cup this year.