Panel Members Asked to Meet Norton de Matos by AIFF

Despite courting controversy after bypassing the committee tasked with recommending a coach for the Indian Under-17 team, the All India Football Federation on Friday asked all members of the panel to meet Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos, deemed by the national governing body as the “number one choice” for the job, PTI reported.“All the advisory committee members have now been told to meet Luis Norton,” AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said on Friday. The Portuguese is expected to be in India on February 28.The advisory committee was constituted to recommend the Indian team’s head coach for the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup, which will be held in India in October.Indian football legends Baichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan, former India international Abhishek Yadav, who is also the chief operating officer of the U-17 team, and AIFF Technical Director Savio Madiera were among the members of the special committee to shortlist the coach. Other members are Das and Kishore Taid, Head of Operations and Strategy of the AIFF.Norton De Matos, a former Portugal international and ex-coach of Benfica’s reserve side, as well of the Guinea-Bissau national team, was declared by the AIFF as its “number one choice” from among the shortlisted candidates. He is expected to meet Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas and AIFF President Praful Patel on February 28 to chalk out his contract details, the report stated.A member of the advisory committee had alleged that the AIFF did not consult the panel before naming de Matos as the number-one choice. Defending the AIFF’s decision, Das said, “It’s an advisory committee, not a selection committee. We identified 7-8 candidates and we were asked to do Skype interviews. The interviews were done by me, Kishore and Abhishek. After the interviews, we identified Luis Norton de Matos as the most suitable candidate to come for the interview in India with the sports secretary and the AIFF president.”The AIFF had parted ways with previous coach Nicolai Adam after members of the U-17 team complained about the German’s abusive 

Wozniacki Remains on Course to Win the Malaysian Open

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki powered into the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over Hsieh Su-Wei. Wozniacki needed just an hour and 17 minutes to see off wildcard Hsieh, although it was not all plain sailing for the world number five. The Dane cruised into a 3-0 lead in the first, only for Hsieh to briefly put matters back on serve at 3-2 before Wozniacki won three straight games to take the set. Hsieh threatened a comeback by breaking Wozniacki immediately at the start of the second. But Wozniacki instantly broke back and her quality then shone through as she claimed five of the next six games to stay on course for a 23rd WTA singles title. After the match Wozniacki posted on Twitter: "In to my second finals of the year! Thank you for the support everyone! Finals tomorrow 6pm!!" And the former world number one will be expected to make similarly short work of Alexandra Dulgheru in the final. Dulgheru will head into the showpiece having come through a gruelling clash with fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-4). The Romanian won the tie-break at the end of a deciding set in which Gajdosova had spurned 14 break-point opportunities to triumph after three hours and 14 minutes. 

SANIA & BARBORA FALL SHORT

Everything Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova did, Olypic champs- Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina- did better in the 76-minute semi-finals . The second-seeded Russians came through 6-4, 6-3.

Wozniacki Remains on Course to Win the Malaysian Open

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki powered into the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over Hsieh Su-Wei. Wozniacki needed just an hour and 17 minutes to see off wildcard Hsieh, although it was not all plain sailing for the world number five. The Dane cruised into a 3-0 lead in the first, only for Hsieh to briefly put matters back on serve at 3-2 before Wozniacki won three straight games to take the set. Hsieh threatened a comeback by breaking Wozniacki immediately at the start of the second. But Wozniacki instantly broke back and her quality then shone through as she claimed five of the next six games to stay on course for a 23rd WTA singles title. After the match Wozniacki posted on Twitter: "In to my second finals of the year! Thank you for the support everyone! Finals tomorrow 6pm!!" And the former world number one will be expected to make similarly short work of Alexandra Dulgheru in the final. Dulgheru will head into the showpiece having come through a gruelling clash with fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-4). The Romanian won the tie-break at the end of a deciding set in which Gajdosova had spurned 14 break-point opportunities to triumph after three hours and 14 minutes. 

SANIA & BARBORA FALL SHORT

Everything Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova did, Olypic champs- Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina- did better in the 76-minute semi-finals . The second-seeded Russians came through 6-4, 6-3.

Eden Hazard warns Chelsea About Losing Focus

Eden Hazard fears that chelsea may be losing focus and thus warns them to stay focused for the runaway Premier League leaders approach the final furlong in the title race, while crisistorn champions Leicester face up to life without sacked boss Claudio Ranieri. Antonio Conte's side are eight points clear at the top with just 13 games remaining and they have a golden opportunity to extend that lead when they host lowly Swansea on Saturday. Second placed Manchester City are not in action this weekend because their derby against Manchester United was postponed due to their rivals' League Cup final showdown with Southampton on Sunday. That gives the Blues a chance to pull clear against a Swansea side who will be heavy underdogs despite their impressive rise out of the relegation zone under the management of former Chelsea assistant coach Paul Clement. However, Chelsea showed a rare sign of vulnerability in a 1-1 draw at Burnley in their previous league match and Belgium playmaker Hazard insists his team can take nothing for granted as they look to regain the title.

“We just need to keep the same concentration. It's more difficult to play away because of the fans, but we are ready, we are professional. We can deal with the pressure. Everything is going good,“ Hazard said. “We know if we want to be champions, in our home stadium we have to win most of our games.

“We can't say all 19 because we have already lost to Liverpool, but we have to win 16 to 17 because it is our place and we are ready to deliver.“

Liverpool can't afford any sympathy for Leicester's plight as they aim for a win that would take them back into the top four. Jurgen Klopp's fifth placed team ended a run of five games without a win by beating Tottenham and Reds midfielder Adam Lallana, who signed a new contract this week, is confident of a strong finish to the season.

Australia spinner Steve O’Keefe changes ends, turns India’s batting upside down

Fortress India has been sacked. Or should that be SOKed? Not since 2012 had India lost a Test at home, and rarely in that stretch of 20 matches had they even been held to a draw. Last time Australia toured India for Tests they were crushed 4-0. They entered this match having lost their past nine Tests in Asia. Not since 2004 and the days of Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne had Australia won a Test in India. Not even Nostradamus could have seen this result coming.

The 32-year-old left-arm spinner had been in the fringes of the Australia team, having played just four Tests coming into the series against India, but upstaged the higher rated off-spinner Nathan Lyon with a sensational haul of 6/35.

Tide turns for O’Keefe: “I was none of 30 off nine, probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first, sort of, six overs. And then, it all just happened really quickly,” he told the media after leaving Australia in a position to push for victory.

“The first six overs were ordinary. Then I got a change of ends, and from there it spun a bit more. And (skipper) Steven Smith reassured me, helping me stay calm after an ordinary spell in the morning.

“I suppose I was just nervous, and I was trying to bowl the way I do in Australia. But I made some subtle changes, got a tap on the head from Boof (coach Darren Lehmann) in the dressing room, and I’m happy to turn things around.”

Australia’s brilliant catching

O’Keefe was modest about his haul, putting his success down to the spin-friendly pitch and Australia’s brilliant catching. “I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is. We played and missed a lot of balls, and fortunately for us, they nicked and we caught them. It’s always nice to see a spinning wicket. You don’t get to see it too often back in Australia.”

World chess C'ship: Harika loses first game; faces ouster threat

Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli lost to Tan Zhongyi of China in the first semi-final game of the World Women’s Chess Championship on Friday, PTI reported. It was a tough day at work for Harika as nothing worked right for the Indian who is making her third straight appearance in the semi-final of a knockout world championship. Zhongyi gave no chances in this nearly one-sided encounter. Harika will now have to win at all costs to stay in the match. A win in the return game of the two-games mini-match will bring the Indian back in contention while a draw or a loss would mean the end of the road for her in the championship. The other semifinal match witnessed a huge drama as Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk not only blundered away a won position but went on to lose the game against Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine. Muzychuk, who won with black, must be thanking her stars as she is now just a draw away from reaching the final of the championship. Harika was outdone in a Nimzo Indian defence game. The opening choice by Zhongyi was not really intimidating and Harika was close to equal after initial phase. The Chinese, however, showed better understanding of the hanging pawns structure while Harika went for a passive defense in the middle game. This proved a huge difference as white's pieces got an entry through the king side and Harika could do little.

Methodical display by Zhongyi resulted in a complete domination on the king side with all her pieces joining hands for the final blow. The game lasted 46 moves. Kosteniuk did most of the hard work right but fell at the crucial juncture. The middle game arising out of a French Tarrasch proved an easy ride for the Russian as she picked up one pawn to reach a complete winning position. Just when the victory looked in sight, Kosteniuk could not find the right path and a lapse in concentration led to a winning attack for Muzychuk.

The Ukrainian did not give a second chance and won in 64 moves.

Results game 1 Semis: Tan Zhongyi (Chn) beat D Harika (Ind); Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) lostto Anna Muzychuk (Ukr).

Sevilla maintain pressure on Madrid, Griezmann saves Atletico

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona shrugged off the loss of the injured Sergio Busquets to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday. Sevilla separate the giants of Spanish football in second, just a point behind Madrid, after twice coming from behind to edge a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at rock-bottom Osasuna. However, Real Madrid also have a game in hand over their title rivals.Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona shrugged off the loss of the injured Sergio Busquets to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday. Sevilla separate the giants of Spanish football in second, just a point behind Madrid, after twice coming from behind to edge a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at rock-bottom Osasuna. However, Real Madrid also have a game in hand over their title rivals. However, Messi doubled their lead just six minutes into the second-half when he swept home Luis Suarez's cross for his 28th goal in 26 games this season. And Luis Suarez matched his strike partner as La Liga's top scorer this season with 15 when he robbed Florian Lejeune before slotting home at the near post 22 minutes from time. Neymar hadn't scored from open play since October, but brought that run to an end by slotting home Aleix Vidal's low cross in stoppage time. Sevilla scored twice in the final five minutes to end Real Madrid's 40-game unbeaten run in all competitions last weekend and have now won five of the seven La Liga games when they have conceded first this season. "The team did some good things and made mistakes, but from start to finish looked to win the game," said Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli. Sergio Leon gave Osasuna a shock early lead before an unusual hat-trick from Sevilla captain Vicente Iborra levelled at 2-2 as he twice equalised either side of an own goal to restore Osasuna's lead. Osasuna were infuriated Franco Vazquez's vital third goal for Sevilla was allowed to stand despite a push on Oriol Riera 10 minutes from time. Pablo Sarabia's fine left-footed shot from outside the area sealed the points, but there was still time for Osasuna to pull another goal back when Kenan Kodro headed in from close range. Diego Simeone's men are now eight points back on Real Madrid. The visitors got off to the perfect start when Koke's cross towards Griezmann evaded everyone and flew into the far corner after just three minutes. However, Atletico were punished for trying to sit on their lead when Inigo Lekue smashed home an equaliser three minutes before half-time. Griezmann had already had one spectacular finish ruled out by the offside flag, but the French international continued his fine form with a rasping low drive from 25 yards to at least salvage a point for Atletico. Real Sociedad move level on points with Atletico in fourth as Juanmi's towering header 18 minutes from time handed them a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

India's low Test totals at home

India were dismissed for 105 in the first innings of their first Test against Australia on Friday.

The world's top-ranked side, unbeaten in their previous 19 Tests, lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs as Steve O'Keefe ran through their batsmen to pick up his maiden five-wicket haul. Australia paceman Mitchell Starc earlier ripped through India's top order with two wickets in three balls. After a sensational batting collapse on Day 2 (105) triggered Australia left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe, India have conceded an overall 298-run lead to Australia --- the visitors are 143/4 in the second innings --- the hosts face a massive battle to avoid going 1-0 down in the opening match of the four-Test series. Unless Indian bowlers produce a magical spell of bowling to dismiss Australia early on Saturday, the hosts could be staring at a huge fourth-innings target. Only once before has a fourth-innings total of 300 plus been achieved in India. The hosts overhauled 387 set by England in the first Test in 2008. But that win was set up by a whirlwind knock by Virender Sehwag (68-ball 83) before Sachin Tendulkar (103 no) and Yuvraj Singh (85 no) raised an unbroken 163-run stand for the fifth wicket to take India home. Crucially, then England were only hoping to draw. Here, Australia scent blood after few gave them any chance coming into this series. Compared to that MA Chidambaram stadium pitch, the MCA Stadium track is affording sharp turn with deliveries by spinners taking off from good length. On Friday, Ravindra Jadeja repeatedly beat Aussie skipper Steve Smith but wasn’t lucky. Besides, O’Keefe will be on a high after running through the Indian batting, claiming 6/35. India lost seven wickets to spin. India will have to tackle more than a deteriorating pitch. Opener KL Rahul, the only home batsman to get to fifty, has a shoulder injury. Skipper Virat Kohli’s first innings duck will be weighing on the team’s mind and Ajinkya Rahane’s frailty against spin was again exposed.

Deepak shows a spiritual side with yoga

Deepak Kumar was sent to a gurukul by his father at the age of 11 in Dehradun to pursue spirituality. His father, a Delhi Tourism official, wanted Deepak to "be a good human being and not chase money".

Deepak spent the next 10 years in the school studying yoga, Vedas and Sanskrit. On Friday, he said, he made full use of his learnings at the ashram to get close to a medal in his maiden World Cup. 
"It was a big occasion for me, but I was not nervous. Yoga helps me unwind in high pressure situations like these competitions," the soft-spoken Indian Air Force sergeant told TOI.

"I practice yoga every day." Deepak had his first tryst with shooting when he visited a nearby shooting academy run by former ace shooter Jaspal Rana. "I was drawn towards the game. As my game improved, the school purchased a rifle and a pistol for me. I tried my hand at pistol shooting, then air rifle."

 

In between, he started practising archery and even represented Uttrakhand in archery nationals. "But I had to give it up because of injury." Deepak, now 27, says his life as a shooter changed once he joined the Indian Air Force. "The coach there, Manoj Kumar, helped me improve as a shooter."

Deepak is trying to establish himself in an event in which India has won its lone individual Olympic gold - through Abhinav Bindra. He could not get the better of the likes of Buhan Song of China and Peter Sidi of Hungary on Friday, but he was pleased with his performance.

Warner powers SRH to 16-run win over KKR via D/L method

Skipper David Warner led from the front with a blistering 91 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-truncated match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Courtesy Warner's 55-ball knock, Sunrisers scored a decent 176 for four in 20 overs, but due to an hour-long rain delay, the revised target for KKR turned out to be 118 from 12 overs. The Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise could only manage 101 for four in 12 overs. Credit should be given to the 'Two Kumars from Meerut' - Praveen (1/18 from 2 overs) and Bhuvneshwar (1/24), who gave away just 5 and 7 runs respectively in the 10th and 11th overs as KKR were left to score 25 off the last over. Bhuvneshwar again bowled a decent last over, giving away 8 runs, as Warner and company logged home two more points by virtue of their second win from five games. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir couldn't repeat his performance of the previous game as he was dismissed while trying to whack a Praveen Kumar delivery over mid-wicket. Robin Uthappa hit a few audacious shots en route his 21-ball-34 before flicking one from Moises Henriques to Praveen, who was placed at short fine leg. Andre Russell (19 from 10 balls) again showed his big-hitting prowess with a couple of huge sixes with one off left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma that went into the top tier. However, he was gone trying another big hit off Ravi Bopara being caught by Dale Steyn at the long-off boundary. Once Russell was gone, it was left to Manish Pandey (33 not out) and Yusuf Pathan (6). Much depended on Pathan, who for a long time has not won a match single-handedly for his franchise, with only a few second fiddles to show. He again failed to provide the winning push. Warner's knock, that became the decisive one, had nine boundaries and four sixes and it also helped Sunrisers reach a respectable target. Warner's dismissal put the brakes on their scoring rate.

SC orders for BCCI raise questions

The Supreme Court order restricts BCCI office-bearers to nine-year terms. These orders have raised confusion all around. However, the Supreme Court order makes it clear that a person can only hold a position in the Board for nine years in total. The Supreme Court provided clarification during the latest hearing on Friday over the implementation of the justice RM Lodha Committee report on ushering in reforms in the organisation. The court's order after Friday's hearing says: "All the office bearers of BCCI and of it's affiliated State Associations who fail to meet the norms recommended by the Committee and accepted by this Court, shall forthwith demur and cease to hold office, namely: A person shall be disqualified from being an office bearer if he or she has been an office bearer of the BCCI for nine years or a State Association for the same period." This makes it clear that officials will not be able to enjoy separate nine-year terms in the state units and BCCI. The apex Court said that it would pick the names for the BCCI's interim administration on Tuesday, from a list provided to the court by amicus curiae, Gopal Subramanium. The initial confusion over the tenure has given an impression that officials can hold posts for 18 years, thus raising hopes of some of the senior BCCI officials that they can continue in office. Attorney general, Mukul Rohatgi, asked the Supreme Court to initiate a wider debate on the Lodha Committee report and consider referring it to a larger bench.

Parthiv Patel's 100 takes Gujarat to Maiden title

Gujarat lifted the Ranjhi Trophy for the first time in their history, beating domestic heavyweights Mumbai by five wickets on the last day of the final at Indore's Holkar Stadium. This stunning victory came on Saturday, the last day of this engaging summit clash, with Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel scoring an excellent 143 to help Gujarat chase down 312. It capped a memorable season for Parthiv's team, one that began in the first week of October with a hard-earned three points in draw with Baroda  in Jaipur and featured victories over Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and now the defending champions. Parthiv has become the first Gujarat captain to lift the coveted trophy, and this win against the odds bore his stamp: a first-innings 90 to help his team take the lead, seven dismissals and a sparkling hundred to complete the win. This achievement also makes Gujarat the first team to have won all three major domestic titles, the Vijay Hazare trophy (they are defending champions) and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy (twice) being the others. The final appeared, in the view of many, a mismatch on paper, Mumbai, 41 time winners, in their 46th final. Five titles in the last 10 years. Gujarat, perennial competitors but rarely title contenders, in their second final in 83 years of the competition. A team, mind you, missing their two most influential bowlers in Jasprit Burman (on India duty) and Azar Patel (injured).

DUBIOUS UMPIRING
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was the pick of rest of India bowlers with four wickets, but the Jharkhand bowler's two dismissals caused huge controversy. Umpire Virender Sharma came under the spotlight when Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel reacted sharply at being given out caught bat and pad. Parthiv was unlucky to be given out caught at short leg as Nadeem's ball was nowhere near the bat. The batsman could be heard shouting "umpiring kyu karte ho" (why are you umpiring) while repeatedly turning around and glaring at the official on his walk back. The decision which left him five short of 10,000 first-class runs upset Parthiv so much that he stormed into match refree's room and was heard complaining about it.

India vs Australia 2017: Matt Renshaw caught India off guard

Australia opener David Warner on Wednesday praised his junior partner Matthew Renshaw for catching the Indian team off guard with his gutsy performance in the first Test despite being under the weather. The 20-year-old, on his first tour of India, had scores of 68 and 31 despite suffering from upset stomach and dizziness which required medical attention. “First Test match in India, India probably didn’t expect that. We have never seen him (Renshaw) play in these conditions as well, so we know how he can play and that’s the good thing about this game. When you have fresh people in the team, you don’t know what they are capable of as well and it adds another string to your bow,” Warner told reporters today. “He (Renshaw) played fantastic. It could have been a different story if he stayed out there or he didn’t come off (in first innings) but the way he played and the way he adapted from coming off, being sick and going back out there was credit to him.” Warner said the week-long training in Dubai before arriving in India was the best thing that could have happened to the Australian team. “Having that week in Dubai and having freshened up as well after our summer was fantastic for me and my preparation. And I know the guys that went to Dubai early, they were all talking about how good it was to prepare over there and get their mind set and get the miles in the legs to come here,” Warner said. The dashing opener feels that staying in Dubai helped them overcome the fatigue factor. “We are truly grateful for that opportunity. Sometimes when you come here to these countries, in these conditions you probably don’t have as much preparation because as a player sometimes when you are in this heat you fatigue quite fast. “And the next day, when you are not used to it, you can’t back up. So being in Dubai with the temperature at 24, 25 degrees the guys could back up day-in, day-out. We were fortunate for that and the boys are prepared and have prepared well,” he said. Warner cautioned that India will come back hard at the Australians in the remaining three matches. “They (India) are the No 1 Test team in the world. They are a great bunch of players and we know what to expect. We saw all the tricks in Pune – their bowling changes, their fielding placements, the way they play as a number one team so for us to beat them on home soil was awesome and fantastic. “But we know they’re going to come back harder and we’ve just got to adapt to the conditions again with what we face here in (Bengaluru).” Warner admitted that Pune strip wasn’t a wicket where one can play his natural game. “Having looked at the (Pune) wicket, it was probably going to be a wicket where you couldn’t really play your shots. You were going to have to sweep off length, not just off line,” said Warner. “So for me it was about playing with soft hands and figuring out where am I going to get the ones to rotate strike and the boundaries will hopefully come by me putting pressure on their bowlers with my defence. There’s a couple of instances where I was a little bit in my mind thinking “I can play a big shot”.” Warner said that he decided to curb his flamboyance. “But I sort of reigned it in and talked to myself that it’s good with Matt out there, to talk to him about how I thought they were going to get us out and we sort of reigned it in together,” he said. “When we saw the opportunity to try and pounce on one or two loose balls we did that, and you saw ‘Renners’ play with Jadeja bowling into him that he took him down over long on because you saw the field was up. They are little moments we are thinking about when we’re out there,” he concluded.

Sania mirza-Barbora Strycova bow out in Dubai Open semi-finals

The third seeded pair of Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova failed to reach the final of the Dubai Open after losing 6-4, 6-3 to the Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in last-four clash on Friday. The Russians dominated the game, winning the first set with relative ease. The same story followed in the second with Mirza and Strycova slumping to a 0-5 deficit. However, they rallied to win three games on the trot to stretch their opponents. Makarova and Vesina wrested back the momentum soon enough to seal a straight-sets win and secure safe passage to the final. Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki reached her second final in two weeks by beating Anastasija Sevastova of Lativa 6-6, 6-4 at the Dubai Open. Wozniacki plays top-seeded Angelique Kerber or seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina in the final on Saturday. She has a losing record against both potential finalists: Kerber leads 8-5, while Svitolina leads1-0. They now await the winners of the other semifinal match to be played between Hao-Ching Chan-Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrea Hlavackova-Shuai Peng. This was the Indo-Czech pair’s second straight loss in the semi-final this year. Last week, they had exited the Qatar Open at the same stage. Nursing an aching right shoulder injury, Novak Djokovic to return to tennis at Indian Wells in the California desert. But the Serbian star changes his mind and accepteda wild card to play in the Acapulco tournament that starts Monday. Djokovic required treatment in the shoulder after a four-set Davis Cup win over Russia's Daniil Medvedev.

Sourav Ganguly to have one stand named after him in Eden Gardens

With the armed force giving the approval, the decks have been cleared for naming six Eden Gardens remains after prominent identities required with the diversion in the state including previous Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and late cricket manager Jagmohan Dalmiya, a Cricket Relationship of Bengal authority said here on Thursday.

The four others stands will be initiated after ex cricketer Pankaj Roy and previous Taxi presidents B.N. Dutt, A.N. Ghosh and Snehasnshu Acharya.

Uncovering this, Taxi president Sourav Ganguly stated: "We got the authorization from the safeguard specialists today (Thursday). We will finish the work as ahead of schedule as could be expected under the circumstances".

Perused More | Sourav Ganguly will be a trick to wind up BCCI chief

The proposition had been passed in the Taxicab working council meeting a year ago.

In any case, with the armed force being the overseer of the Maidan, where the Eden Patio nurseries is found, its consent is compulsory before any such choices can be executed.

Super Smith Rises

Rising Pune Supergiants hacked up Rs 14.5 crore to secure Britain all rounder Ben Feeds. Feeds has been the kind of the season for Britain with his exhibitions with both bat and ball and it was normal that he won't go at little to no cost in the current year's IPL Sell off.

His prospective colleagues at RPS would be content with the new procurement and that was communicated on Monday by captain Steve Smith. "Welcome to Pune @benstokes38 first round is on you!" Smith tweeted after the declaration of Ben Stirs as a RPS player.

India rise to 101, ranked 11th in Asia

New Delhi: The Indian football group accomplished its best-ever FIFA positioning in more than two decades as it hopped to 101 in the most recent rundown discharged on Thursday.

This is the group's best-constantly positioning since May 1996 – it was positioned 101 then moreover.

India have bounced 31 places from its last rank of 132nd in the earlier month.

Taking after several wins as of late, India are currently positioned eleventh in Asia.

The most noteworthy FIFA positioning accomplished by India ever is 94, which was achieved in February 1996. India were positioned 99 in November 1993 and 100 in October 1993, December 1993 and April 1996.

The most recent few years had been productive for India as they won 11 of their 13 matches, including an informal amusement against Bhutan, while scoring an aggregate of 31 objectives.

Sindhu is world No. 2 now, Nehwal drops to 9

PV Sindhu achieved her best ever world positioning by ascending to world No 2 on the most recent Badminton World Organization rankings list. The 21-year-old Rio Olympic silver medallist hopped three spots from fifth toward the begin of this current month.

Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying remained on the highest priority on the rundown with 87911 positioning focuses and Spain's Carolina Marin is on third place with 75664 focuses. Sindhu has 75759 focuses.

PV Sindhu's bounce in the rankings came fundamentally in the wake of winning the India Open Superseries where she crushed Olympic champion Carolina Marin 21-19, 21-16 in the last.

The lady title win helped the Indian shuttler limit her straight on record against the Olympian champion Spaniard to 4-5. Sindhu had last crushed Marin in the BWF Super Arrangement in Dubai a year ago.

The other Indian in the main 10 of the ladies' singles world positioning is Saina Nehwal, who dropped one place to be at nine. Both Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu lost in the first round of the Malaysia Open Superseries on Wednesday

Malinga trick in vain as B'desh beat Lanka

Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan shared seven wickets between them as Bangladesh gave their resigning chief Mashrafe Mortaza an immaculate send-off with a 45-run disarm Sri Lanka in the second Twenty20 universal in Colombo on Thursday.

Mustafizur grabbed 4-21 while Shakib included 3-24 as the guests in Mashrafe's last Twenty20 match rejected Sri Lanka for 131 pursues in 18 overs scoring 176-9.

The win, which finished Bangladesh's eight-coordinate losing streak in this configuration, additionally helped the side secure an attract the two-coordinate arrangement after they lost the opening diversion by six wickets on Tuesday.

"I am feeling pleased to have played with these young men and the care staff. Enormous because of my cricket board and my family," Mashrafe said in gagged voice.

It ruined Lasith Malinga's cap trap as the veteran quick bowler with a sling activity completed with 3-34, halting Bangladesh's scoring binge and giving Sri Lanka an opportunity to their third progressive arrangement win.

Kuldeep Gives KKR first breakthrough

Kuldeep gives KKR first achievement

It's that chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who has struck convenient for KKR. Parthiv and Buttler were watching foreboding out there having taken Mumbai Indians to 58 in seven overs. Parthiv started the eighth over in style, clearing Kuldeep for a beast six over the mid wicket locale. In any case, the chinaman struck the ball after, as Parthiv rearranged a little over, missed interfacing the breadth and was out leg some time recently. 65/1 in 7.2 overs

Along these lines, that is all from us for this diversion. It has most likely been an energizing session of cricket. Mumbai have developed successful in this edge-of-the-seat thriller and grabbed their first win of the season. Presently we make a beeline for Indore for the eighth match of Indian T20 Association amongst Punjab and Pune. Another wafer of a diversion anticipates us as we say farewell to you from this one. Until then, fare thee well and here's to you!

Bottas ends Hamilton's pole run in Bahrain Grand Prix,2017

Finland's Valtteri Bottas took his first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday with a sizzling lap that ended Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton's bid for a seventh in a row.

Triple world champion Hamilton qualified alongside, a mere 0.023 - or 17 centimeters - slower than Bottas's time of one minute 28.769 seconds but with everything still to play for on Sunday.

Hamilton, joking and laughing in a later news conference, appeared delighted for Bottas and offered a warm handshake to a man who left China last weekend with his mind in turmoil after a costly mistake behind the safety car.

"Firstly, a big congratulations to Valtteri. He has been working so hard, gelled so well with the team and today he was just quicker, he did the better job and hats off to him," said Hamilton.

"That's how close I think qualifying should always be. It forces us all to be more on the limit."

"For sure, it feels good," said Bottas, the first Finnish driver to secure a pole position since Hamilton's then-team mate Heikki Kovalainen for McLaren at the 2008 British Grand Prix, 168 races ago.

"See, it doesn't exist," said Vettel. "It's not one that's really used much in the vocabulary," added Hamilton.

"It's my first pole in my career in my fifth season in F1 so it took a few years but hopefully it's the first of many for me," he added.

Vettel, joint leader of the world championship standings with Hamilton after two races with one win each, will start in third place with Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo fourth.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, whose last pole was also in 2008, qualified fifth.

Mercedes won the race last year with now-retired champion Nico Rosberg, the man Bottas has replaced, and have now taken five successive poles at the desert Sakhir circuit.

Hamilton had been fastest in both the first and second phases of qualifying, and set the pace with his first lap in the final session before Bottas pulled off his masterstroke.

The unflappable Finn let out a rare whoop over the team radio, with engineer Tony Ross -- who had inadvertently called Bottas 'Nico' during the race in China -- replying that "for a moment there you actually showed some emotion, well done".

Hamilton and Vettel, sitting alongside Bottas in front of reporters, jokingly asked the polesitter whether the Finnish language had a word for 'excited' or 'exciting'.

Bottas thought hard but words failed him. "Kind of," he hesitated, as his rivals laughed.

"I don't know really," concluded Bottas.

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen qualified sixth for Red Bull with Nico Hulkenberg seventh on a good day for Renault, who had Britain's Jolyon Palmer in 10th place after his first appearance in the final phase.

Brazilian Felipe Massa starts eighth for Williams and France's Romain Grosjean ninth for Haas.

German driver Pascal Wehrlein also made a strong return after a back injury kept him out of the first two races, qualifying 13th for Sauber while Swedish team mate Marcus Ericsson was only 19th.

Bagan thump Minerva to go top of I-league

 A far superior Mohun Bagan thrashed newcomers Minerva Punjab FC 4-0 in a third round I-League football match at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium on Tuesday to go top of the league table.

With their third consecutive win, Mohun Bagan jumped to the top of the table with three points from as many matches.

Haitian star Sony Norde made his first appearance for Mohun Bagan in the tournament and took the opponents by storm with his trickery on the ball.

Minerva's best chance came in the second half when Nigerian Victor Amobi curled in an effort which Bagan goalkeeper Debjit Mazumdar tipped away only as far as the crossbar.

Duffy benefited off a Norde free kick to score Bagan's first goal from close, with Jeje then tapping in a Subhashish Bose cross from the left flank to make it 2-0.

Duffy was at it again, making the most of a defensive error from Minerva defender Loveday Okechukwu, to poke it in after receiving a long ball from midfielder Katsumi Yusa from the centre of the pitch.

At the interval, Bagan led 3-0. The script did not change after the break with Norde hitting the post after some mazy footwork.

It was 4-0 in the 77th minute. Loveday was at fault again, this time not helping his keeper who fell while clearing the ball, allowing Jeje to push it in.

In another match, hosts Aizawl FC won their second consecutive home match, beating Shillong Lajong 2-1.

Lalruatthara and Jayesh Rane found the target for the home team while Yuta Kinowaki scored from the penalty spot in the later stage of the game to minimise the gap for Shillong.

Aizawl defender Lalruatthara tackled Redeem Tlang five minutes into the match to concede a penalty for the away team but goalkeeper Albino Geovanni blocked Lajong forward Fabio Pena's effort.

Aizawl went ahead in the 31st minute when Lalruatthara tapped the ball home from close range. They went into the break with the 1-0 lead and increased the margin in the 63rd minute.

Rane scored his first goal for Aizawl when Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Al-Amna outran defenders in the left flank and crossed for Rane to convert.