Kolkata: Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who provided inspirational leadership to the beleaguered Rajasthan Royals this season, has decided to call it quits from the IPL with the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 being his last assignment for the franchise.
"At 41, 12 months is a long way away. Luckily we have qualified for the Champions League (in October) which is a few months away. You know, I think that would be it," the 40-year-old said after RR went out of the IPL following a four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier on Friday.
Dravid enthralled his fans showing some great agility and a new-found aggression in leadership especially at a time when his team was battling spot-fixing allegations, which led to the arrest of its three players. The arrested trio included, India Test player Sreesanth.
Starting out as a dark horse, Rajasthan Royals enjoyed a fairytale run as it challenged all the big teams, had a dream eight out of eight home wins and almost made the final before losing to Mumbai Indians in a nail-biting penultimate ball finish here last night....
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01:19 PM, May 25, 2013
Mumbai: Police said on Friday that they were investigating all the angles in the Indian spot-fixing scandal but refused to confirm if they were targeting top Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf. Rauf was withdrawn from next month's Champions Trophy in England amid media reports that he is under police investigation for spot-fixing, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday. Mumbai Police would not confirm whether the umpire was being investigated...
10:29 AM, May 25, 2013
Virginia Water: Francesco Molinari flourished while five of his European Ryder Cup team mates fell flat on their faces as the Italian grabbed the lead after the PGA Championship second round on Friday. Luke Donald, the 2011 and 2012 winner, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Paul Lawrie all missed the halfway cut after struggling in cold, dank conditions at the European Tour's flagship event. A miserable Wentworth course...
10:06 AM, May 25, 2013
London: Bayern Munich are trying to downplay being the favourites, while Borussia Dortmund are eager to play up their chances to pull off the upset. Even before the start of Saturday's Champions League final, the German rivals are at odds in their approach to the biggest game in club soccer. Bayern are approaching their third final in four years with the self-assured calm of a team in control after a...
10:04 AM, May 25, 2013
London: Bayern Munich are unfazed by the need to be more clinical in attack against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and avoid another Champions League final defeat having lost the showpiece match twice in the past three years. Midfielder Thomas Mueller, who at 23 will be in his third final after losing in 2010 and 2012, said his team mates were not panicking because experience had taught them the key to...
08:53 AM, May 25, 2013
London: The Europa League, long regarded as the impoverished relation of the glitzy Champions League, was boosted on Friday by UEFA's announcement that the winners would qualify for the elite competition from 2015. In an attempt to increase the prestige of its secondary competition, UEFA also said 16 teams rather than the current six would qualify directly for the group stages. "I have thought about this for a long time,...
10:07 PM, May 24, 2013
Virginia Water: Luke Donald, the PGA Championship winner in 2011 and 2012, is almost certain to miss the cut after returning a level-par 72 for a six-over total of 150 at Wentworth on Friday. The real damage was done in Thursday's opening round when the world number six collapsed to a six-over 78 in cold, damp conditions at the European Tour's flagship event. The weather was no better for the...
09:29 PM, May 24, 2013
Monaco: Alain Prost, four times world champion and 'Professor' of Formula One, says radical new engine rules for 2014 will reward drivers who can add brainpower to the horsepower at their disposal. The little Frenchman, now an ambassador for Renault F1, earned his nickname in the turbo era of the 1980s for his analytical skill, strategic acumen and knack of preserving the tyres and brakes. The regulations will undergo the...
09:18 PM, May 24, 2013
Cape Town: Understanding the fragility of the world's top players and the human element of the game have been the cornerstone of Gary Kirsten's approach to coaching international cricket teams. The 45-year-old heads off on his last assignment with South Africa on Saturday to the Champions Trophy in England after deciding to quit the post to spend more time with his young family. It will leave the world's top-ranked test...
08:56 PM, May 24, 2013
Pune: The third Hockey India (HI) Senior Men's National Championship will be held at the Shiv Chhattrapati sports complex here and Major Dhyan Chand Hockey stadium, Pimpri from May 28 to June 10. Speaking to reporters here Friday, organising secretary and also the Joint Secretary of HI Manoj Bhore said the championship, supported by the Maharashtra Olympic Association and the Department of Youth Services, will see 38 teams in action...
06:16 PM, May 24, 2013
London: Indian golfer SSP Chowrasia endured a topsy-turvy start, carding a one-under 71 on the opening day to be tied 23rd in the BMW PGA Championship here. The two-time winner on the Asian and European Tours, Chowrasia had an eventful round with five birdies and four bogeys. India's other two challengers in the event, Gaganjeet Bhullar (74) and Jeev Milkha Singh (78) had a rough time in the first round....
04:05 PM, May 24, 2013
Hull: India's top ranked female player Dipika Pallikal put up a spirited display before going down 1-3 to second seed Laura Massaro of England in the pre-quarters of the Allam British Open Squash Championships, here. With the ouster of the Chennai girl, the Indian challenge came to an end in the women's event of the World Platinum Series currently underway at the KC Stadium. The Indian men's challenge had ended...
04:01 PM, May 24, 2013
Cave HilL, Barbados: West Indies vice-captain Denesh Ramdin has backed his team to make a smooth transition to the 50-over format when they open their campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy starting next month. Several leading members of the squad have been campaigning in the Indian Premier League over the last six weeks but Ramdin said Thursday he expected no fallout from this. In fact, he contended that the IPL...
02:24 PM, May 24, 2013
Paris: The big surprise about the Champions League final on Saturday isn't the teams - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, both superb. It's that it took so long for such an all-German contest to materialise. With the largest economy and population in Europe, modern stadiums heaving with fans, financial backing from industrial giants, an impressively run league with a fat balance sheet and mostly profitable clubs and a web of...
10:25 AM, May 24, 2013
Virginia Water: World number two Rory McIlroy was blown off course by unseasonally cold weather at Wentworth on Thursday, bogeying five of the last six holes to sink to a two-over 74 in the PGA Championship first round. The 24-year-old Northern Irishman made an encouraging start to the European Tour's flagship event and was three-under after 12 holes but a series of late blunders meant he walked off the 18th...
10:55 PM, May 23, 2013
Karachi: Pakistan cricket head coach Dav Whatmore does not believe that the Test drubbing his team got in South Africa early this year will impact their performance in next month's ICC Champions Trophy in UK. Pakistan were whitewashed in the three-match series with no Test going into the fifth day and since Whatmore took over as coach in March last year, the team has not been able to win any...
10:02 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The PCB on Thursday said it will soon introduce new rules to bring Pakistani umpires under its "domain" in the wake of ICC's decision to withdraw Asad Rauf from the Champions Trophy following his questioning in connection with the spot-fixing scandal in IPL. PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, though, said he is not in the know-how about Rauf's removal from the elite panel of umpires from next month's Champions...
07:47 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: In a fresh twist to the ongoing IPL spot-fixing scandal, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday withdrew Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf from officiating in the Champions Trophy in England next month. Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: "In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as...
06:31 PM, May 23, 2013
Berlin: The absence of injured midfielder Mario Goetze has weakened Borussia Dortmund ahead of the Champions League final at Wembley stadium against Bayern Munich on Saturday, Bayern playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger said on Thursday. The 20-year-old Goetze, who will join Bayern at the end of the season in a surprise deal worth a reported 37 million euros, has been nursing a muscle injury that has ruled him out of the biggest...
05:48 PM, May 23, 2013
London: Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are bitter rivals, yet in tactical terms they offer variations on the same theme. Both press their opponents high up the pitch, can move the ball from defence to attack with bewildering speed and play with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring wide players on each flank and a lone striker. Dortmund, however, are more lightweight and lean towards a more counter-attacking style....
11:40 AM, May 23, 2013
