Meet Lt Col Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Posted: Thursday, November 10, 2011
Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra were conferred the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army by Army Chief General VK Singh in New Delhi.

Dhoni and Bindra have been bestowed the honour for their outstanding contribution in the field of sports and their commitment to Army on various occasions.

'Dhoni has set an example by his discipline and supreme dedication. His leading the team from the front, remaining ultra cool in adversities, maintaining excellent physical standards, and giving all credit to his teammates, is very synonymous to the Army way of leadership,' Army spokesperson said.
'Bindra is youth icon and his qualities as a valiant fighter, dedication, hardwork, supreme concentration and perseverance are synonymous to an Army leader,' the spokesperson added.

'It's a real honour as I always wanted to be part of the Indian Army. It's (joining the Indian Army) something that I always wanted to achieve as a kid and now that I have donned the Olive Greens, my dream has been fulfilled,' said Dhoni later at a felicitation function.

Bindra had taken Indian sport to a new level when he won the only individual Olympic gold medal for India at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

'Dhoni and Bindra were pipped-in by Gen Singh at South Block today. Dhoni and Bindra have been commissioned as honorary Lt Col,' Army spokesperson said in Delhi.

Dhoni will be representing the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Army while Bindra has joined a TA battalion of the Sikh Regiment.

As Brand Ambassador of the Indian Army, Dhoni will need to play a key role in strengthening the citizen-soldier bonds

West Indies selectors ignore Chris Gayle for India tour

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Chris Gayle has yet again been overlooked by the West Indies selectors while picking the squad for the three-Test series against India, starting in New Delhi Nov 6.

    The panel Monday decided to retain the 15-member squad currently playing in Bangladesh, with Lendl Simmons returning home to nurse a back injury.

    Gayle remains estranged from the West Indies side following his dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over his comments on a Jamaican radio station in May.

    The WICB has demanded an apology from Gayle for his remarks, but the opener refused, wanting to know what he should he apologise for.

    Gayle remains an enormously popular figure among West Indies fans, gaining loud cheers from spectators in Guyana, where he led Jamaica to the Clive Lloyd Trophy for winning the Regional Super50 tournament Saturday at the Guyana National Stadium.

    West Indies will thus persist with the young pair of teenager Kraigg Brathwaite and left-hander Kieran Powell with Adrian Barath considered fit enough to tour India.

    Barath remained with the team, recovering from the hamstring injury that sidelined him during the One-day International series in Bangladesh.

    The second Test is in Kolkata and the third in Mumbai followed by a five-match One-day series.

The squad:

 Darren Sammy (c), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford.

Sachin attends the Indian Grand Prix with wife

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Srikkanth to quit as chief selector

Posted: Wednesday, September 14, 2011
New Delhi: Chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth may step down after he completes this three-year term this month, sources have told CNN-IBN.

Srikkanth has told the Board of Control for Cricket in India that he is happy to exit after the completion of the term. The BCCI, however, will take a final call on whether they should give him a one-year extension.

Former India all-rounder and south zone selector Roger Binny is the frontrunner to replace Srikkanth.

The chief selector has been under the scanner and under pressure to quit after India's disastrous Test tour to England where India were whitewashed 0-4. However, it should be remembered that India's ascendency to the No. 1 Test spot and the 2011 World Cup win came during Srikkanth's tenure.

Dominant Bolt wins world 200m crown

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DAEGU (South Korea): Usain Bolt destroyed the field on Saturday to win world 200m gold, running the fourth fastest time in history and earning redemption in South Korea after his shock 100m disqualification.

Bolt was slowest out of the blocks but quickly opened up a commanding lead, casting a single look at silver medallist Walter Dix on his outside as he came out of the bend before he drove for home.

Teeth clenched and eyes on the clock, Bolt flew down the home stretch, desperate to prove his doubters wrong and underline his position as the greatest sprinter on the planet. He clocked a world lead of 19.40sec.

Only Bolt, twice, and American track legend Michael Johnson have run faster.

Dix crossed the line in 19.70sec with European champion Christophe Lemaitre of France timing 19.80 as a fourth runner, Norway's Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, also went under 20sec.

The Jamaican Olympic champion and defending world champion was his usual playful self in the moments before he settled, smoothing down his eyebrows and putting his fingers to his lips, motioning for the crowd to be quiet.

But amid tangible tension in Daegu, the starter's gun signalled a dramatic change in mood as a determined Bolt pulled out all the stops.

"I feel great. I'm still the best," said Bolt, who wrapped himself in the Jamaican flag after his win, blowing kisses to the crowd and soaking up the praise.

"There wasn't really a point to prove," added the 25-year-old. "I came here and did what I had to do. There wasn't really big pressure at the start. I was a bit nervous but I always am. All I had to do was sit and wait at the start.

"I decided 'why not come out and run as hard as possible'? I ran a good corner and I could have run much faster. Without a doubt I can keep on delivering. I made a mistake in the 100m but I would have won it."

Bolt, the unchallenged star of world sprinting in recent years and the biggest name in athletics, was disqualified from the 100m final on Sunday after a false start.

The Jamaican was distraught after his catastrophic mistake, ripping off his singlet and holding his head in disbelief before leaving the track as team-mate Yohan Blake powered to gold.

But it was a different story on the penultimate night of action in Daegu.

"I am very happy and proud to have won here today. After the false start on Sunday I was extremely disappointed not to have given myself the chance to defend my 100m title," said Bolt.

"The 200m represented a great opportunity for me to put it behind me and move on, and I've been determined to do so all week. The crowd was wonderful here tonight and I really enjoyed the moment."

Dix said: "I wanted to bring the USA the gold but it wasn't to be and I had to console myself with silver. He was just too strong.

"He and Lemaitre both ran great races and I have a lot of work to do which I will do now when I go back home."

Lemaitre said: "I thought I had a chance. I saw Dix but I lost time on the bend. I said I have a chance of a medal and I said I must not let it slip. I said to myself I had the strength in my legs to run a good time."

After storming to the 100m and 200m sprint double in then-world record times at the 2008 Olympics, Bolt matched his feat the following year at the Berlin worlds, setting new marks of 9.58 and 19.19sec.

Bolt himself admitted he is not in world record form this year but his win in South Korea confirms his status as the most marketable sportsman on the planet - and firm favourite to retain his Olympic titles in London next year.

POONAM the girl who strips for team INDIA

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Serena Williams Fined $2,000 by U.S. Open

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Serena Williams argues with the chair umpire during her U.S. Open finals match against Samantha Stosur of Australia, September 11, 2011.

NEW YORK — Serena Williams was fined $2,000 by the U.S. Open on Monday for berating the chair umpire during the final.

Tournament referee Brian Earley issued his ruling a day after Williams was cited by chair umpire Eva Asderaki for a code violation for verbal abuse during a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Sam Stosur in the women's singles championship match at Flushing Meadows.

A statement issued by the U.S. Tennis Association said the fine "is consistent with similar offenses at Grand Slam events."

Williams earned $1.4 million at the U.S. Open: $900,000 for finishing as the runner-up, plus a $500,000 bonus for having come in first place in the U.S. Open Series standings, which take into account results at hard-court tuneup tournaments.

The USTA also said Grand Slam committee director Bill Babcock conducted his own review and determined "Williams' conduct, while verbally abusive, does not rise to the level of a major offense under the Grand Slam Code of Conduct."

That means Williams does not face further disciplinary action — which could have included a fine and suspension from a Grand Slam tournament — under the "probationary period" she was put under after yelling at and threatening a line judge after a foot-fault call at the end of her loss to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals.

On Sunday night against Stosur, Williams faced a break point while serving in the first game of the second set.

Williams ripped a forehand that she celebrated with her familiar yell of "Come on!" But Asderaki ruled that the scream came while Stosur was reaching for a backhand, so the point wasn't finished. Based on the hindrance rule, Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur, putting the Australian ahead 1-0 in that set.

That set Williams off on a series of insults directed at the official, a scene far less ugly than — yet reminiscent of — her tirade on the same court two years ago.

A sampling of what Williams said, prompting Asderaki to call the code violation:

• "You're out of control."

• "You're a hater, and you're just unattractive inside."

• "Really, don't even look at me."

Asked at her news conference Sunday night whether she regretted any of her words, the 13-time Grand Slam champion rolled her eyes and replied: "I don't even remember what I said. It was just so intense out there ... I guess I'll see it on YouTube."

In 2009, Williams' profanity-laced outburst at a line judge led to an immediate $10,000 fine from the U.S. Open and later a record $82,500 fine from Babcock. At the time, Babcock said that if Williams committed a "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in 2010 or 2011, her fine could be doubled and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

Andrew Symonds With His Off n On Girlfriend..Katie Johnson

Posted: Saturday, September 3, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar: 38 years, 38 achievements

Posted: Saturday, April 30, 2011
As the ‘God of Cricket' completes 38 years of a glorious life, we take a quick look at some accomplishments which separate him from the herd of mere mortals. Even now we are sure we have still missed many!

It was his biggest dream ever since he started playing for India. In fact, for any cricketer this has to be the ultimate achievement and it was no different for Sachin Tendulkar. Having missed this glory for 21 years and five World Cups, Sachin finally won the World Cup in 2011, which perhaps was his last.

ODI double century: One-day cricket had to wait for 39 years for its first double hundred and it was appropriate that it was crafted by the best blade. Sachin scored an unbeaten 200 runs against South Africa in Gwalior in February 2010. With this knock, Sachin broke the record of the highest One-Day International score of 194 runs held jointly by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry.

Highest run getter in Test cricket: Sachin remains the highest run-getter in Test matches. Since he made his debut in 1989 against Pakistan, Sachin has scored 14692 runs.

Highest run getter in ODIs: He is also the highest scorer in the 50-over format with 18111 runs (as on 02/04/2011). Given his recent form, it will not be a surprise if he crosses the 20K-run mark before bidding adieu.

99 international tons: With 51 centuries in Tests and 48 in ODIs, Sachin has 99 international hundreds to his name. All his fans had expected he would get the 100th hundred in the World Cup final but that was not to be. Nevertheless, it is just waiting to happen. West Indies or England? Just wait and watch.

Makes it to ICC's greatest ODI team - opener with Sehwag: To mark the 40th anniversary of one-day cricket, the International Cricket Council declared the greatest ODI team of all time. Sachin Tendulkar made it to the list with Virender Sehwag as the best opening pair.

Sachin made an unbeaten hundred on his first class debut: On 11 December 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat. He became the youngest Indian to achieve the feat.

Sachin is the only Indian player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.

In the age of IPL, this may sound trifle but in 1995 Sachin became world's richest cricketer and created history after he signed a five-year contract worth Rs 31.5 crore with WorldTel. This amount looks very small now in comparison to Dhoni's Rs 210-crore deal but 15 years back it was an unimaginable amount for an Indian sportsperson.

In the age of internet, your existence matters as much in the virtual world as it does in the real. And here too the Master has set a record. In less than a year since he joined Twitter, a micro-blogging site, Sachin has become the most followed Indian, leaving behind the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Tharoor and many other celebrities. At the time of publishing this, Sachin had a little over a million followers (1,002,179 to be exact).

In September 2010, Sachin was conferred Indian Air Force's honorary rank of Group Captain. Tendulkar, the first sportsperson to be conferred this honour, is also the first person with no aviation background to have got this honour.

What's similar among Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Sachin Tendulkar? All of them have their wax statues at the Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. Sachin is the first Indian sportsperson and third cricketer after Brian Lara and Shane Warne to have a wax statue at the prestigious museum.

If Nawab Pataudi was the youngest ever to lead an Indian team, Sachin was the youngest ODI captain of India.

Sachin was the youngest Indian to play Test cricket. He made international debut for India at an age of 16 years and 204 days.

He's the only cricketer to have won the Padma Vibhushan award, the second highest civilian award of the country. He's the only the second sportsperson after World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand to have received this award.

In the last 40 years, Sachin is the only cricketer to have the longest career. In the all-time list of longest international career list, he stands 11th. However, among all of them, Sachin is the only one to have played over hundred (177) Tests. In fact, Wilfred Rhodes, the England player to have the longest ever career of over 31 years, had played only 58 Tests.

Sachin has the maximum international appearances featuring in 631 international matches (177 Tests, 453 ODIs and one T20).

Before making his first-class appearance, a 14-year old Sachin and Vinon Kambli had a record partnership of unbeaten 664 runs during an inter-school match for Shradhashram Vidyamandir against St Xavier's at Azad Maidan. Sachin made an unbeaten 326 while Kambli made an unbeaten 349. This remained the highest partnership recorded in any form of cricket, until in November 2006 two schoolboys from Hyderabad - Manoj Kumar and Mohammad Shaibaz - overtook the record with an unbeaten 721-run partnership.

With 631 international appearances, Sachin has 76 Man of the Match awards. He has 14 in Tests and 62 in ODIs. This is the maximum by any player.

This exactly is not an achievement but still makes it to our list for its 'it-could-have-been-a-hundred' factor. Sachin holds the record of being dismissed in his nineties 18 times. Had he converted his nineties into hundreds, his tally of ODI centuries would have read 66 instead of 48.

He also has a record of getting out the maximum number of times in the 90s in international matches. He has been dismissed 26 times (18 in ODIs and 8 in Tests) on scores of 90-99.

If he has 48 ODI hundreds, he has almost its double fifties. With 95 half-centuries, Sachin holds the record of scoring most number of half-centuries in ODIs. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting comes second with 79.

He has scored over 1000 Test runs six times in a calendar year. This is most by any batsman in Test cricket. He scored 1000 runs in 1997, 1088 in 1999, 1003 in 2001, 1392 in 2002, 1063 in 2008 and 1562 in 2010.

He also holds the record of scoring over 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year on seven occasions. He scored 1089 runs in 1994, 1611 in 1996, 1011 in 1997, 1894 in 1998, 1328 in 2000, 1141 in 2003 and 1425 in 2007.

Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of scoring most number of runs in the World Cup tournaments. He has scored 2278 runs in 45 matches at an average of 56.95.

He also holds the record of scoring maximum centuries (6) and half-centuries (15) in the World Cup tournaments.

Sachin has slammed the maximum number of fours in Test cricket (1892) and one-day cricket (1981)

In 1998, Sachin scored 9 centuries in One-Day Internationals which is maximum by any cricketer in a calendar year.

Sachin was given the NDTV Indian of the Year Award in 2010.

Sachin was the first cricketer to be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the highest honour given to an Indian sportsperson.

With his innings of 119 not out vs England at Manchester in August 1990, Sachin became the youngest man to post a hundred for India at the age of 17 years 107 days.

The Master Blaster holds the record of playing most consecutive ODIs. He played 185 one-dayers from April 25, 1990 to April 24, 1998. Zimbabwe's Andy Flower comes close second with 172 matches.

Sachin has slammed the maximum number of fours in Test cricket (1892) and one-day cricket (1981).

And though Sachin and Sehwag have made it to the ICC's greatest ODI team of all-time, it is Sourav Ganguly with whom the Little Master holds the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,609 runs in 136 matches that include 21 century partnerships and 23 fifty run partnerships.

In 1992, Sachin became the first-ever overseas cricketer to represent Yorkshire in their County Championship. Yuvraj Singh was the second player from India to play for them.

Sachin is the only Indian cricketer to have over 10,000 runs and 150 wickets. Sourav Ganguly has 11363 runs and 100 wickets in the ODIs, while Rahul Dravid has 10765 runs and 4 wickets.

At Sharjah, Sachin has scored 1778 runs in 42 ODIs. It's a record cumulative runs scored at any venue by an Indian cricketer. However, in the list comprising of international cricketers, Sachin ranks 6th while Sanath Jayasuriya tops it with 2514 runs in Colombo.
Among the eight players with over 10000 runs in ODIs, Sachin was the fastest to get to the mark. He took 266 matches and approximately 11 and half years since his debut to get there. Sourav Ganguly is close second with 272 matches.