Laxman to lead Hyderabad
Former Indian vice-captain VVS Laxman will lead a new-look Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game against last year’s runner-ups Bengal in Kolkata this week. Laxman is expected to also be available for the second game, another away tie in Punjab, before the first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan gets under way in New Delhi on November 26.

India placed in  tough group
The Indian team of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna has been placed in the tough Group B alongside United States and hosts Australia for the Hopman Cup to be held in Perth from December 29 to January 4, reports PTI from Perth.

Sania and Bopanna, who have been given a direct entry for their good show in the previous edition of the mixed team event, are seeded seventh in the eight-team tournament.

Group A consists of Serbia, France, Argentina and the winners of Asian Hopman Cup, which be played in Bangkok next month.

Mahanama is match referee
Former Sri Lanka batsman Roshan Mahanama will officiate as match referee in India’s upcoming five ODIs against Pakistan starting November 5, reports UNI from Dubai.

Ian Gould will stand in the first three ODIs. The remaining two ODIs will be umpired by Billy Doctrove.
Ranjan Madugalle will take over from Mahanama as match referee for the Tests. The first Test in Delhi will be umpired by Simon Taufel and Doctrove. In Kolkata, Doctrove will be joined by Billy Bowden, while in the final Test at Bangalore, it will be Taufel and Bowden.

Ashutosh beaten in opening round
India had a mixed opening day at the $10,000 ITF tennis event in Lahore as National champion Ashutosh Singh was stunned in the first round even as three other Indian players made the second round.

Sixth-seeded Singh lost 4-6, 6-7 (2-7) to unseeded Korean Hyun-Soo Lim. Fo-urth seed Divij Sharan pi-pped American George Ba-rth 6-4, 6-4 to advance while Ashwin Vijayaragavan got past Bo-Sung Kim of Korea 6-4, 6-2 in his first round clash. Yannick Nelord also secured a second round berth as his Pakistani opponent Shahzad Khan retired with the scores level 1-1 in the first set.

Malhotra slams BCCI, joins ICL
Former Test cricketer Ashok Malhotra has joined the multi-million dollar Indian Cricket League, alleging that the BCCI’s apathetic stance towards him prompted his decision, reports PTI from Kolkata.

Malhotra, who joined the ICL last week and visited the league’s camp in Chennai, is likely to be made an associate coach. “The central reason is that the present regime is not interested in giving me any job,” Malhotra said.

He lashed out at the Board for denying him coaching assignments despite a level 3 coaching degree from Australia.

Kaiser calls Eng  a ‘school side’
German World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer has added his voice to the criticism of England's struggling team, saying they were like a school side, reports Reuters from London. The Kaiser said he was shocked at the lack of spirit shown by England's players in a friendly in August. "It was like a school team, they were not talking and not supporting," the 62-year-old said on Tuesday, referring to Germany's 2-1 victory at Wembley.