Sports

New Delhi, Mar 12: United Arab Emirates will stage the initial phase of the IPL while Bangladesh was kept on standby for some of the matches by the BCCI, ending weeks of speculation over the venues of the high-profile event which was today scheduled from April 16 to June 1. The tournament, which had to be partly shifted out of the country owing to the general elections, will return to India for

Kolkata, March 12: Skipper Vinay Kumar grabbed a five-wicket haul after Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair hit individual centuries to lead Karnataka’s recovery and guide the team to a 27-run win over Gujarat in their quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Tuesday. Vinay returned figures of five for 85 in his 12 overs to dismiss Gujarat for 274 in 48.2 overs. Karnataka had scored 301 for

New Delhi, Mar 11: Former captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at chief coach Duncan Fletcher and called for his immediate ouster while suggesting the name of Rahul Dravid as the next coach of the Indian cricket team. “For me, Duncan Fletcher would get 1.5 in a scale of 10 as far as his success is concerned. I believe a younger guy should be appointed as the coach of the Indian team,” Gavaskar said.

Mumbai, Mar 10: Shane Watson has been appointed captain of Rajasthan Royals for the 2014 edition of the IPL. Watson will take over from Rahul Dravid, who retired from all forms of cricket after leading Royals to the Champions League T20 final in October 2013. Watson has been with Royals from the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. He has represented them in 61 matches, the second-most after

Dubai, Mar 9: India's Virat Kohli has reclaimed the number one position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, which were released today after the conclusion of the Asia Cup. Kohli had entered the Asia Cup, trailing number one ranked South African batsman AB de Villiers by two ratings points. Kohli's tournament aggregate of 189 runs in three innings with 136 against Bangladesh as his

Dhaka, Mar 9: Riding on Lasith Malinga's five-wicket haul and opener Lahiru Thrimanne's fluent century, Sri Lanka regained the Asia Cup trophy with a comfortable five-wicket victory over defending champions Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday. Sri Lanka were clinical as they restricted Pakistan to a modest 260 for five and then overhauled the target with 22 balls to spare to

London, Mar 8: West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has reportedly slammed the 'disrespectful' English Cricket Board (ECB) over sacking of his buddy Kevin Pietersen from the England team. Gayle said that he was 'disappointed' with the manner Pietersen 'bowed' out of international cricket, as it was 'disrespectful'. According to the Mirror, Gayle also said that it is sad to see big player, who has made

Dubai, Mar 8: They might be out of action for quite sometime in this format of the game, but India managed to hold to their second position in the Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings issued on Saturday. Both India and third-placed South Africa have 123 points but the former just managed to pip the Proteas when ratings were calculated beyond the decimal point. Sri Lanka continued to lead the chart with

Dhaka, Mar 7: Sri Lanka battled hard to beat hosts Bangladesh by three wickets in the final league match of the Asia Cup in Dhaka on Thursday, reaching the final with a perfect record. Sri Lanka, who will meet defending champions Pakistan in the final on Saturday, restricted Bangladesh to 204-9 before overcoming early jitters to chase down the target in 49 overs. The four-time champions won all

Mirpur, Mar 7: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Thursday called for the revival of cricketing ties between India and his country, saying the game can bring improvement in the relations between the two countries. “The way I enjoyed my cricket in India, I never enjoyed anywhere else. We are after all neighbours. The relations should be good between us. Cricket can only help better the relations