Dravid to lead Karnataka
Former India skipper Rahul Dravid, who is currently out of national one-day scheme of things, will lead Karnataka in the South Zone one-day tournament to be held in Chennai from February 26 to March 3, reports DHNS.
All-rounder C Raghu has been named Dravid’s deputy.
Middle-order batsman Ganesh Satish, medium pacers Aditya B Sagar and A Mithun, wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam and off-spinning all-rounder Sunil N Raju are the new faces in the side.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Thilak Naidu, who injured himself during Duleep Trophy match against North Zone, is a notable omission in the jumbo 16-member team.
Team: Rahul Dravid (capt), Bharath Chipli, KB Pawan, C Raghu (vice-capt), Ganesh Satish, Sunil N Raju, Devraj Patil, B Akhil, Sunil B Joshi, R Vinay Kumar, NC Aiyappa, CM Gautam, Amit Verma, Adithya B Sagar, A Mithun, KP Appanna. Coach: Vijay Bharadwaj; Physio: Ramakanth; Manager: Raghuram Bhat.
Chopra falters on opening day
A double bogey on his 10th hole blighted Daniel Chopra’s card as the Indian-born Swede kicked off his campaign in the USD 6.2 million Northern Trust Open with a mundane opening round of two-over 73, reports PTI from Los Angeles.
Playing his back nine first, Chopra bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes before a birdie on the 17th arrested the slide. After taking the turn, things turned worse as Chopra double-bogeyed the first hole even though the birdie on the fifth came as some consolation for him. Korean KJ Choi played near-perfect golf and overcame a strong wind to card a blemish-free six-under 65 for a one shot lead over Kevin Na.
Ninan shines for Karnataka
Off-spinner and skipper Ryan Ninan produced a fine bowling performance (4/19) to power Karnataka to a facile five-wicket win over hosts Goa in their third match in the South Zone PS Ram Mohan Rao Trophy tournament.
With this win, Karnataka zoomed to the top of the table having won all their three matches with bonus points. In the earlier matches, Karnataka have beaten Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh.
Brief scores: Goa: 188/9 in 50 overs (Sandip D'Mello 34, Vithalraj Sangodkar 39; A. Mithun 2-25, Ryan Ninan 4-19) lt to Karnataka: 189/5 in 36.2 overs (Ganesh Satish 30, CM Gautham 39, SP Manjuath 31 n.o.; Reagan Pinto 2-26).
Moody roped in as coach in IPL
Australian Tom Moody has signed up to coach one of the franchises of the money-spinning Indian Premier League, a senior Indian cricket official said on Friday, reports Reuters from Mumbai.
"He had already signed with one team. I know he has signed, but cannot confirm if all the final, definite agreements have been done," the official said.
Moody, 42, a member of two World Cup-winning Australian teams, coached Sri Lanka for two years before leaving in May last year to take up the reins for Western Australia.
Karnataka blind cricketers champs
Karnataka’s team of blind cricketers defeated Haryana by 10 runs to win the the Dr Shakuntala Mishra memorial inter-state blind cricket tournament held at Lucknow, reports DHNS.
In the final, Karnataka, riding on man of the match Prakash’s unbeaten 103, set a target of 216. Skipper Shekhar Naik chipped in with 38.
Karnataka then shot out Haryana for 206 to emerge champions. For Karnataka Mahesh and Naik claimed three and two wickets respectively.
Brief scores: Karnataka: 216 in 50 overs (Prakash 103 n.o., Shekhar Naik 38) bt Haryana: 206 all out.
Kibet threatened by gang
Kenya's world marathon champion Luke Kibet has been threatened by a gang just weeks after he narrowly escaped death at the hands of a mob, local media said on Friday, reports Reuters from Nairobi.
Kibet and four other athletes were driving near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha on Wednesday when they were blocked by a gang of men who accused them of killing a sheep. "When they realised who we were they called for reinforcements as they wailed and threatened to set our car on fire and kill us," Kibet said.
‘Sledging ban not the answer’
Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor, reacting to BCCI’s proposal to ban sledging in international cricket, has doubted that it could be a solution to prevent repeat of incidents like the recent racism row during the Sydney Test. “I’ve no problem with trying to improve things after the Harbhajan incident, but I am not sure banning sledging is the answer,” he said.
