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 »

DUBAI: Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, was on Tuesday inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame.

A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing body’s headquarters here.

The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

“I am proud and happy to have been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and it’s amazing to think that I have been picked as one of the greats of Indian cricket,” Kapil said.

“I am delighted to have been named alongside so many great players of the game but for me, when I was growing up, the man I always looked up to was Sunil Gavaskar from the moment I started playing cricket. Now to be named also alongside greats of the game such as Clive Lloyd, Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram it truly fantastic,” he said. More »

MUMBAI: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said he was still receiving congratulatory messages for becoming first batsman in the history of one-day cricket to score a double hundred and he was enjoying the good time.

“It has taken many years for a batsman to get a double-hundred (in ODIs). I am still getting great feedback. It feels terrific,” he said. More »

DUBAI: Indian cricket team will finish the season as number two ranked side in one-day cricket, behind Australia, and will receive $75,000 for this achievement, ICC confirmed on Sunday.

India’s position in the ranking table at annual cut-off date of April 1 was confirmed after New Zealand went down to Ricky Ponting’s men by 12 runs in the second ODI on Saturday.

This means even if New Zealand wins the remaining three ODIs, it will not be able to leapfrog India which sits on 122 ratings points, an ICC release said. More »

KARACHI: His chances of returning to the national team might be bleak but Pakistan’s controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar maintains that his international career is far from over.

Shoaib, who has not been included in the preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, said he was surprised at not being picked for the tournament.

“I was surprised that I was not included in the list of probables because if you look at Brett Lee he has been having fitness issues for last few months and has not played yet he is in the Australian preliminary squad,” Shoaib said. More »

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday joined the chorus in demanding Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

“Sachin is a Bharat ratna. There is no doubt that he should be conferred the Bharat Ratna award,” Ganguly told reporters after the practice session of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eden Gardens.

The KKR skipper denied observation from some quarter that his side was weak in the bowling department.

“On the contrary, we have a strong bowling side. We have Shane Bond, Brad Hogg, Ishant Sharma, Ajantha Mendis, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Lakshmi Ratan Shukla.”

On the third wicket keeper of the IPL franchise, the KKR skipper said it would be decided soon.

Besides Brendon Mccullum, the Kiwi wicket keeper batsman who is expected to join late in the tournament, KKR have Bengal’s Wriddhiman Saha as their second keeper.

The decision would be taken in couple of days and third wicket keeper could be one among Deep Dasgupta, Tilak Naidu and Rohit Sabharwal, Ganguly said.

After a disastrous campaign in the earlier edition last year in South Africa, KKR will feature in the inaugural match against Deccan Chargers in Mumbai on March 12.

Source : Times of India

MUMBAI: Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said he would like to be on the list of ‘Bharat Ratna’ awardees but he is not thinking about the highest civilian honour as of now and would leave it on destiny.

Former cricketers Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar after Tendulkar’s record breaking double hundred had said that he deserves the honour.

“It’s a rare honour and whosoever have got it are not only my heroes but the heroes of the entire country. Who would not like to join that list, but my focus is on cricket. If it has to happen it will happen,” the champion batsman said at a media conference. More »