CoA puts its foot down
Taking a decisive stand on the tussle between the BCCI and the ICC, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) asked the Indian cricket board to announce the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy immediately. The directive comes at a time when the BCCI is mulling a pull-out from the tournament after the International Cricket Council (ICC) had voted to drastically reduce the BCCI's share of revenue. The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held from June 1 to 18 in England and Wales.
Reportedly, a host of former cricketers are in favour of India taking part in the tournament. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Gundappa Viswanath, Sandeep Patil, Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Saba Karim, Murali Kartik and Deep Dasgupta have voiced their support.
Proud day for Indian football
For the first time in 21 years, India broke into the top 100 of the FIFA rankings. The men in blue are now placed at the 100th spot along with Nicaragua, Lithuania and Estonia. The country's best ever ranking came in 1996, when it climbed to the 94th place in the FIFA rankings. The Indian team has won 11 of their last 13 matches including an unofficial match against Bhutan, scoring 31 goals.
Yasir Shah spins a web
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah exposed the frailties of the West Indies batsmen against spin, by picking up 6/90 in the second cricket Test at Bridgetown (Barbados). The host were looking down the barrel at 264/9 in their second innings at stumps on day four. The West Indies have a overall lead of 183 runs, with a day's play left. The hosts began the day at 40/1 but lost wickets in a heap—they lost six wickets for 26 runs. Pakistan lead the three-Test series 1-0. Brief scores: West Indies 312, 264/9 vs Pakistan 393.
AIFF at its diplomatic best
All India Football Federation has decided to play it safe as far as including I-League champions Aizawl FC in the top tier of the proposed revamped domestic league is concerned. The club had threatened to go on a fast-unto-death if it is relegated to the second tier of the tournament, which is expected to have the eight teams of the ISL and 2-3 teams clubs from the I-League in the top tier. The AIFF is supposedly in talks with Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das diplomatically said a decision which is in the best interests of Indian football will be taken.
Pujara England-bound
Cheteshwar Pujara has signed for a four-match championship stint with the English county cricket club Nottinghamshire. Pujara has replaced Australia pacer James Pattinson, who will away for the ICC Champions Trophy. The Indian Test star has played county cricket with Derbyshire and Yorkshire and has averaged more than 50 on both of his previous stints.
Ecclestone stunted F1: chief Carey
Formula One's new chief Chase Carey accused predecessor Bernie Ecclestone of putting the brakes on F1's growth. He said the former boss failed to take appropriate and timely measures to popularise the sport adequately during his four-decade tenure. Carey succeeded Ecclestone in January after Liberty Media's $8.3-billion takeover of F1.
