Heavy security arrangements have been made in the vicinity of DY Patil Sports Stadium in Navi Mumbai where the opening ceremony of the IPL Season 3 will be hosted and first T-20 match would be played on Friday, police said.

Police appealed to spectators to arrive at the venue two hours in advance so that security checkings could be done on time, they said.

“Keeping the terror threat perception in mind, over 2000 police personnel and 1000 private security guards engaged by the stadium management and IPL authority would be deployed at the stadium,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Ashok Dudhey. More »

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt defended the punishments imposed on seven top players, saying strong action was needed to stamp out indiscipline in the national side.

“I am not apologetic; I think the board has taken the right decision and such strong action was urgently required to put Pakistan cricket back on the right track,” Butt said on Thursday.

“This problem of indiscipline and groupings in the team has been festering for a while now and we thought this was the best time to take action.”

On Wednesday, the PCB imposed various bans and fines on Muhammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal after considering the recommendations of a committee that looked at poor performances and infighting on the recent Australian tour. More »

MUMBAI: Congratulating batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for becoming the first person to hit a double hundred in one-day internationals, West Indies cricket great Brian Lara said that he would be happy if the Indian went on to surpass his score of unbeaten 400 in Test cricket.

“The feat is an outstanding achievement. He is the first person to score a double hundred in ODIs. Sachin still has the strength, character, and physical fitness to achieve the feat,” Lara told reporters on Thursday.

“I’d be happy if Sachin breaks my record of 400 not out in Test cricket,” said the stylish southpaw, who scored 400 not out against England in 2004 in Antigua. More »

MUMBAI: Only Sachin Tendulkar could have cracked a double-century in ODIs, according to former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist, who feels the stupendous achievement is a testimony to the iconic Indian batsman’s longevity in international career.

“If there’s one man who’s going to do it, it was he (Tendulkar). It is a wonderful testament to his longevity. The greatest sign of a champion is longevity and Tendulkar is beyond anyone else in this regard,” Gilchrist said on Thursday.

“Probably in 10 years’ time he’ll get 300,” added the wicketkeeper-batsman, who will lead defending champions Deccan Chargers in the third edition of the Indian Premier League commencing on Friday.

Looking ahead to Chargers defending their title that they won in South Africa last year, Gilchrist was of the opinion that the tournament was a good preparation for all countries on the run-up to the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies later this year. More »

ABU DHABI: Sachin Tendulkar can come only second, after legendary Don Bradman in the list of all-time great cricketers, according to former Australia captain Steve Waugh.

“Don Bradman is the greatest, there is no debate. Don is the number one and then come the rest. And among the rest, Tendulkar probably is as good as anyone. So legitimately he may be the second best cricketer to have played the game,” Waugh said.

“But then people will say the same for Gary Sobers and WG Wells too. So its difficult to say,” added Waugh, who is here as a member of the Laureus Sports Academy.

Waugh also said it is dangerous that Test cricket doesn’t have quality fast bowlers anymore as they are preferring the 20-over format over the game’s five-day version.

“It is dangerous for Test cricket that we are losing the quicks. It is a Twenty20 influence. Fast bowlers definitely have a lot of stress and doing this is very demanding.

“I think they realise that they have few years of cricket in them. They get three times more money by bowling one-tenth overs in T20. So we had (Andrew) Flintoff, Brett (Lee) and (Shane) Bond deciding not to play Test which is a shame,” he said. More »

ISLAMABAD: Bizarre things are known to happen in Pakistani cricket. But what transpired on Wednesday went beyond that.

First, the Pakistan Cricket Board dropped a bombshell by announcing life bans on captain Mohammad Yousuf and ex-captain Younis Khan over ‘misconduct’. A few hours later, under attack from the media and the cricket fraternity, it made a U-turn saying the bans were open-ended and could be reconsidered “as and when PCB deems fit”.

As a face-saver, PCB blamed the media for ‘misinterpreting’ its earlier statement. The two players have been the mainstay of Pakistan batting for many years. More »

While the BCCI and Sunil Gavaskar himself honoured the 1983 World Cup winners, making them richer by Rs. 35 lakh each, and Ajit Wadekar’s 1971 Warriors were honoured privately, the team that triumphed in 1985 in Australia, winning the World Championships Of Cricket, hasn’t yet heard of any felicitations.

The protagonist of that triumph, skipper Sunil Gavaskar, cast a fleeting look at that triumph when he switched on the TV late on Monday night to overcome jetlag after his return from London on Sunday. “I was watching the India-England match and was delighted to see how well spinners Ravi Shastri and Sivaramakrishnan bowled and beat the batsmen in the air,” Gavaskar told TOI on Tuesday.

Shastri became the man of the tournament and drove home the Audi car. Siva’s wicket of Javed Miandad, stumped by Sadanand Vishwanath, turned the final on its head and was responsible for India’s target staying below 200 (176). Mention Vishwanath to Gavaskar and he is fulsome in his praise. “He brought tremendous energy to the side. His competitiveness rubbed off on the rest of us.” More »