JK`s Ranji trophy dream run comes to an end Pakistan take fight into

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sports
Srinagar | January 12, 2014, Sunday
IPL 2014: Teams retain
favourites; DD axe team
Mumbai, Jan 11: As expected,
Indian Premier League franchises
have retained their top-performers for the seventh edition of
the tournament. There were no
surprises when Chennai Super
Kings retained skipper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina,
Royal Challengers Bangalore
held on to Chris Gayle and Virat
Kohli, Rajasthan Royals kept
their stars Shane Watson and
Ajinkya Rahane while Mumbai
Indians retained Rohit Sharma
and Kieron Pollard. The rules,
of course, will force several top
performers like Mumbai's Mitchell Johnson and Pragyan Ojha
into the auction pool. In a 'game'
limited by numbers, there will
always be 'winners' and 'losers'.
For example, Virender Sehwag,
Kevin Pietersen and David
Warner will be the biggest losers
after Delhi Daredevils decided to
axe their entire team. The Delhi
team management explaining the
decision said in a press statement:
"It was the unanimous decision of
the management with the focus of
building a fresh team that the fans
would be proud of."
Every team was allowed to
retain a maximum of five players. Mumbai, Chennai and Rajasthan opted to make full use of
their retention quota. The three
teams have spent Rs 39 crores out
of a total budget of Rs 60 crores
-- Rs 12.5 crores was allocated for
the first player retained, 9.5 for
second, 7.5 for third, 5.5 for fourth
and 3.5 for fifth. This means the
remaining 22 players will now
have to be bought from a 'paltry'
remaining sum of Rs 21 crore!
Every team has gone in with
a strategy. Teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore - who have
retained three power-hitters -seemed to focus on keeping more
in their purse for the February 12-13
auctions. The option of using the
'joker card(s)' will also be crucial.
Here's a look at teams and
their retained superstars:
Chennai Super Kings: Twotime IPL winners put its faith
in three players who have never
played for any other team - skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and
Ravichandran Ashwin. Joining them once again, are T20
specialist Ravindra Jadeja and
West Indies' all-rounder Dwayne
Bravo. Chennai's preference for
Bravo over the likes of Michael
Hussey and Albie Morkel shows
the importance of genuine allrounders. Dropping Murali Vijay
into the auction pool though can
prove to be a gamble.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: The franchise has chosen to
put its money where its strength
lies - explosive batting. Retaining Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and
AB de Villiers therefore was a
no-brainer. Still armed with a
chunky purse, expect RCB to be
one of the most aggressive bidders during the auctions.
Rajasthan Royals: In the past
years, this side has lost two skippers - Shane Warne and Rahul
Dravid - to retirements. Having
all-rounder Shane Watson,
therefore, made perfect sense.
Apart from the Aussie, the
team also chose to retain pacer
James Faulkner, opener Ajinkya
Rahane, young-star Sanju
Samson and the latest entrant to
India's ODI squad - Stuart Binny.
Mumbai Indians: The IPL
champions have utilized their
full quota of five retentions.
Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard,
Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Raydu
and Lasith Malinga will form
the core of the team once again.
Mitchell Johnson and Pragyan
Ojha will have to await their fate
in the auction. For Johnson, his
immense Ashes success was no
guarantee to seal a MI berth.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Gautam Gambhir, who wants to
end his IPL career in Shah Rukh
Khan's team, has been retained.
West Indian spinner Sunil Narine
had been retained too. KKR will
spend big during the auction and
will also have the option to exercise the joker's card twice.
Kings XI Punjab: South
African middle-order batsman
David Miller, who struck a sensational century last season, has
been retained by the franchise.
The Preity Zinta-owned team
has also kept hold off uncapped
Indian batsman Manan Vohra.
By retaining just two players,
KXIP are quite clearly keen on
overhauling their squad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Have
retained their two big guns, Indian
opener Shikhar Dhawan and South
African speedster Dale Steyn.
Delhi Daredevils: No retention for Delhi as they look for
a complete overhaul to their
squad. Agencies
Afghanistan U19 team to train in
Pakistan ahead of World Cup
Lahore, Jan 11: Afghanistan's Under-19 cricket side arrives in
Pakistan this weekend to train with the hosts' elite academy coaches
in preparation for next month's World Cup.
The Afghans will train at the National Cricket Academy in the
eastern city of Lahore for three weeks as they tune up for the ICC
Under-19 tournament in the UAE, which starts on February 14.
They will also play eight practice matches against various teams,
including three against Pakistan Under-19 at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Friday.
Afghanistan face Australia, Bangladesh and Namibia in the
group stage of the tournament and will be hoping for a better show
than in 2012 when they won only one match and failed to qualify for
the knockout stages.
The Afghan youngsters caused an upset at the Asian Cricket
Council Under-19 Asia Cup last month, beating Sri Lanka before
going down to Pakistan in the semi-final.
Pakistan has played a pivotal role in Afghanistan's fairytale rise
in international cricket, having helped them with coaches, training
facilities and allowing them to play in their domestic cricket in the past.
The game was popularised in Afghanistan by refugees who learned
it in camps in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s.
Afghanistan have earned a maiden qualification for the 2015
World Cup (50 overs) to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
They will also feature in the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh
in March-April, their third appearance since earning their first berth
in the 2010 event held in the West Indies. Agencies
CMYK
Greater Kashmir
JK’s Ranji trophy dream run comes to an end
VRV Singh powers Punjab
to 100-run win
Vadodara, Jan 11: Jammu and Kashmir's
dream run in the Ranji Trophy came to an
end after Punjab defeated them by a 100 runs
to enter the semifinals of the premier domestic
event on the fourth day of their last-eight stage
match in Vadodara on Saturday.
Seamer VRV Singh returned with a fivewicket haul as Punjab dismissed Jammu
and Kashmir, chasing a target of 324, for 233
in their second innings. Singh ran through
the lower middle-order, dismissing skipper
Parvez Rasool (10), Manzoor Dar (10), Obaid
Haroon (0) and Samiullah Beigh (2) in quick
time to derail J&K's chase at the Moti Bagh
Stadium.
Punjab will now face Karnataka in the
semifinal to be held in Mohali from January
18. First down batsman Hardeep Singh, who
was retired hurt at the score of 43 and came
back to bat again when the score read 146/7,
was unbeaten with a 135-ball 76, which was
studded with nine hits to the fence. Chasing
324, J&K resumed their second innings at 77-2
on Saturday but their hopes of a successfully
chasing the target for a maiden semi-final
appearance in the Ranji Trophy came crashing soon. In the second over of the day, Ian Dev
Singh (18) was sent back to the hut by pacer
Manpreet Gony as J&K slipped to 80 for three.
Overnight batsman Hardeep was then retired
hurt with the total reading 113 for three, bringing two new batsmen Rasool and Ram Dayal at
Ghani
Gliders beat
Delhi team
New Delhi, Jan 11:
After its previous victory, Team Ghani Gliders won their second
match against Delhi
team at Sujan Singh
Cricket Stadium.
Ghani Gliders scored
187 for the loss of seven
wickets while Team Delhi
could manage to score
only 101 in 19 overs.
Jahangir Lone scored
48 and Asif Khan 43
runs while Asif Manzoor
scored 26 not out.
Irfan Dar was adjudged
man of the match for his
5 wicket haul and 28 runs
while Riyaz Ahmad took 3
wickets. Agencies
the crease. Sandeep Sharma made good use of
the opportunity by cleaning up Dayal (14) in
the 40th over and two overs later, VRV Singh
triggered a collapse with a twin-strike in the
43rd over leaving J&K reeling at 135 for 6.
Singh returned again in his next over to get rid
off Dar. Hardeep then came back to the crease
but VRV Singh continued his dismantling job
by dismissing Beigh when he had him caught
by Inder Singh in the 47th over to reduce J&K
to 149 for eight. MG Gujree and Hardeep then
added another 53 runs before the former was
sent back in the 59th over as J&K slumped to
202 for nine. Umar Nazir Mir was the last to be
dismissed in the 63.2 over as Punjab cemented
their place in semifinals. Their ouster in the
quarterfinal stage notwithstanding, J&K created quite a stir this Ranji season by making
the quarterfinals. One of the stars for the team
has been off-spinning all-rounder Rasool, the
first cricketer from the state to be picked in an
Indian team to play against an international
side. Rasool proved himself in this match as
well by getting a hundred. "J&K inexperience
shows up finally-but they R getting used 2 winning idea!Hopefully w/ improved infra-structure Valley lads cn do better!!" tweeted former
J&K coach and ex-India skipper Bishan Singh
Bedi after the team's quarterfinal loss. PTI
Final Scores
Punjab: 304 (Harbhajan 92, Sandeep 51,
Nazir 4-66) and 296 (Mandeep 101, Gurkeerat
66, Rasool 5-58) beat Jammu & Kashmir 277
(Rasool 103, Reshi 65, Sandeep 4-46) and 223
(Hardeep 76*, VRV Singh 5-43) by 100 runs
We will be stronger next season, says Parvez Rasool
Vadodara, Jan 11: Their
fairytale run in the Ranji
Trophy came to an end with
a crushing quarterfinal loss
today but Jammu and Kashmir captain Parveez Rasool
said his team is not the least
bit disheartened and will
emerge stronger next season.
J&K lost by a 100 runs
against Punjab in the lasteight stage match here today
but Rasool chose to focus on
the positives.
"We are not disappointed and will work hard
to improve our performance
during Ranji Trophy next
season," the off-spinning allrounder said after the match.
Reflecting on the loss,
Rasool said the team needed
some good partnerships
while chasing 324.
"We needed some partnerships today, but VRV
Singh bowled well today and
unfortunately, we couldn`t
put up a stand," Rasool said.
"Once our set batsmen,
Hardeep Singh, got injured,
we didn`t play well against
VRV. One batsman should
have stood with paaji. A
300-plus target is not easy to
chase, but we fought well,"
he added.
Meanwhile, Punjab
captain Harbhajan Singh
praised VRV and said his
team was positive about the
semifinal against Karnataka starting January 18 in
Mohali.
"VRV is a match-winner
for us. The way he bowled
against Haryana and here,
he proved how
useful he is for
Punjab. I hope to
see him get back in
the India team one
day," he said.
"We know our
conditions better
than Karnataka,
but they are a
strong team and
have been the team
to beat. Still, we
will need to play
our best cricket
against them. We
will try not to
repeat the mistakes
we made against
them in the league stage and
will have our plans ready,"
he added.
Harbhajan also
expressed happiness at being
retained by his IPL franchise
Mumbai Indians but said he
would miss the team`s icon
player Sachin Tendulkar,
who retired last year.
"I hope Tendulkar will
come to the ground to witness the matches and inspire
us," he said. PTI
Pakistan take fight into final day
Dubai, Jan 11: Sarfraz
Ahmed frustrated Sri Lanka's bid to win the second
Test inside four days by hitting his maiden Test half century and steering Pakistan
to 330-7 on Saturday, a lead
of 107.
The wicketkeeper made
an unbeaten 70 off 123 balls
with seven fours after he
was flown in as a replacement for the injured Adnan
Akmal.
Ahmed was supported
by No. 8 Bilawal Bhatti, who
made 32, before rain ended
the fourth day 15 overs
early.
Pakistan, trailing by 223,
was just 22 runs ahead when
Rangana Herath got through
the defenses of captain Misbah-ul-Haq for 97, putting
Pakistan on 245-6.
But Ahmed and Bhatti
confidently batted in overcast
conditions in the last session
and added 67 runs to push the
Test into the last day.
Bhatti was unlucky to
get bowled when Shaminda
Eranga's full pitched delivery
rolled back onto his stumps,
but Saeed Ajmal survived the
last half hour to be unbeaten
on 7.
Ahmed tackled the swing
of seamers by standing at
least a foot outside his crease
and confidently used his feet
while negotiating the spin of
Herath. He completed his half
century off 73 balls with six
fours.
Misbah missed his second
successive century but batted
almost seven hours and
faced 248 balls before Herath
opened up the Pakistan tail
just before tea. Resuming at
the overnight 132-3, Pakistan
lost Younis Khan for 77 off a
reckless shot when he edged
Suranga Lakmal in the 11th
over of the day.
Sri Lanka allowed Pakistan to add only 57 runs in the
morning session under overcast conditions with Misbah
scoring his first runs of the
day after an hour and facing
37 balls.
Misbah, who was 53
overnight, slowly stretched
the fourth wicket stand to
129 with Khan as Sri Lanka
seamers Eranga and Nuwan
Pradeep kept the pressure
on.
Khan succumbed to the
probing line and length by
giving wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene his fourth
catch of the innings.
Misbah successfully
overturned an lbw decision
on 78, but Shaminda Eranga
found the edge of Asad Shafiq
for 23 immediately after the
second new ball was taken
after lunch.
Jayawardene, who also
took four catches in the first
innings, needs one more to
equal Amal Silva's Sri Lanka
Test record of nine catches.
Silva took nine catches twice
during the series against
India in 1985.
Misbah scored his first
runs of the day when he
flicked Lakmal to backward
square leg for two runs before
edging a boundary in the same
over through the slips.
Umpire Sundaram Ravi
ruled Misbah out lbw off
Eranga when Pakistan still
needed 28 runs to erase the
first innings deficit, but TV
replays suggested the ball
would have missed the leg
stump.
Eranga broke through in
his first over with the second
new ball when Shafiq edged to
the second slip before Herath
drew Misbah forward and got
enough turn to beat the bat
and hit the stump. Misbah,
who also scored a century
in the first Test, hit eight
fours and a six before he was
undone by Herath's superb
delivery.
Pradeep, who did the
early damage on Friday, has
taken 2-50 and Eranga got
2-70. Herath, who also bowled
with the second new ball, has
2-124.
The first of the three-Test
series was drawn.
Pakistan 165 (Manzoor 73,
Pradeep 3-62, Herath 3-26) and
330 for 7 (Misbah 97, Younis
77, Sarfraz 70*) lead Sri Lanka
388 (Mahela 129, Silva 95) by
107 runs. Agencies
Brian Lara seeks selection
in Trinidad golf team
Port of Spain, Jan 11: West
Indies cricketing great Brian
Lara is to compete for a place in
Trinidad and Tobago's national
team for the upcoming Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship
(CAGC) in Puerto Rico.
Lara, known to his fans
as 'Prince of Port-of-Spain'
is down to participate in the
two-day TATIL Open Invitational, one of the mandatory events to be eligible for
national selection.
The TATIL Open Invitational is organised by the
Trinidad and Tobago Golf
Association's (TTGA) and
carded to take place on January 18 and 19.
Tournament director
Christopher Harries says
Lara is looking to enhance his
chance of securing national
selection to the Mid-Amateur
Division of the T&T team.
"Brian (Lara) is looking
forward to trying to make the
national team and this is one
of the counting events towards
national team selection," said
Harries on Thursday.
"All the competitions are
tough. The senior division
will be tough as well. I think
competition in all five divisions will be strong."
The annual 36-hole tournament sponsored by TATIL for
the 21st consecutive year also
represents a chance for golfers
to start accumulating points
towards national rankings.
The golfers will compete
in six categories -- Championship, 1st Flight, 2nd Flight,
Seniors, Super Seniors and
Ladies Flight. Agencies
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