World Sports

Ball-tampering is not the heinous crime it is being made out to be; it's time it had official sanction Cricket is a great leveller. Nothing better exemplifies this truism than Shahid Afrid's shocking fall from grace. It took a fleeting moment of madness for him to become the villain of the game. Our hero's stocks are trading at zero today. The wrath directed at him is understandable. The hardliners can certainly take him anywhere with this - to the cleaners or the gallows. They can push for his ouster from the team. Afridi's act may well have undone years of work towards dispelling the dark shadows of ball-tampering that seem to have hounded Pakistan cricket forever. But it is also time to remind ourselves that this madness stems from a certain mindset and a background. Afridi comes from an era, a cricketing culture, where ball-tampering is considered a normal cricket activity, the done thing on flat Pakistani pitches - an art form and not a sin. It's been a part of...

In a statement which is likely to dent Pakistan cricket's image further, Senator Enver Baig has accused the national team players of being involved in match-fixing. Baig, who was especially invited to a meeting of the Senate's Standing Committee on Sports, asserted that match-fixing is the biggest problem in Pakistan cricket. "The main problem in the Pakistan team is gambling and match-fixing. Most of the members of the Pakistan team are involved in it," The News quoted Baig, as saying. Baig also blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the sorry state of the sport in the country. "The PCB committed a huge mistake by ignoring the findings of the Justice Qayyum report. They should have made it their top priority to eradicate this menace but it is a great misfortune that they didn't which is why our cricket continues to suffer," he said. Terming the cash rich Indian Premier League (IPL) as a 'den of gambling', Baig said the PCB should not allow ...

Bhopal's Mujaffar Ali and Bangalore's Pramod Joshua came up with a brilliant display in the Gulf Cup 'Clash of the Titans' in Bhopal on Sunday to emerge the undisputed kings of dirt track motorcycle racing in India. Joshua, who showed the stuff champions are made of in the previous legs in Jaipur, Hyderabad and Nashik, again proved a distinct class above the rest of the field featuring only the top riders from the previous rounds in this final leg, organized by Sportscraft, Mumbai, in association with Bhopal Automobile Sports Club at the BHEL Dushera ground, Govindpura. Besides winning the Indian Expert Class Group A Foreign Motorcycles upto 260 cc, Joshua also won the Indian Expert Class Group B upto 260cc 2 & 4 stroke.

Seasoned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday lambasted his detractors for questioning his ability, saying a bowler who has taken more than 350 wickets in a 13-year career could not possibly be "dumb or an idiot". Harbhajan, who was instrumental in India's dramatic win over South Africa in the second Test on Thursday, feels coming among the top 10 bowlers in ICC rankings itself speaks a lot in his favour. "We are neither dumb, nor idiots. The idiots don't play 13 years for their country. Nor do they claim 350 Test wickets during their career," fumed Harbhajan, who picked five for 59 at the Eden Garden. "Critics have a job to do. I respect it, however, I can make a few points for their benefit. Can a bowler, who often has been in ICC's list of top 10 bowlers during the last two years be that bad and that stupid?" Harbhajan told PTI over phone. Harbhajan, who made his Test debut in 1998 against Australia , also considers the "straighter...

The blazing blade is not enough for Mahendra Singh Dhoni , he has got himself a gun licence. A second one at that. The Union home ministry has cleared the India captain’s application for a 9mm pistol licence, given to civilians only under a special provision of the Arms Act. Since the cricketer, known for his explosive batting, already enjoys Z-category security and has had a licence for a 7.65mm pistol since 2006, some observers are asking why he needs further protection. State home secretary J.B. Tubid said: “The Union home ministry has cleared the application of M.S. Dhoni and sent the documents to the state home ministry three days back.” He refused to comment on why Ranchi’s most famous son, who had yet to buy a weapon against his earlier licence, had asked for another one. “The licence of a prohibitive bore (9mm) is not allowed to civilians under the Arms Act but there are administrative orders which empower the Union home ministry to issue such a licence under special circumstan...

Sania Mirza hasn't had the best of starts to the 2010 season - on and off court. A broken service game is one thing, but a broken engagement or a broken heart, is quite another. Earlier in the week, the 23-year-old's father Imran, who coaches Sania and manages her career, called off his daughter's engagement to Mohammed Sohrab Mirza. Sania was formally engaged to the fellow Hyderabadi and longtime friend, now studying business in the United Kingdom, at a luxury hotel near her home last July. The Indian star categorically refused to get into the why and what of the matter, but confirmed her engagement was off. "We were friends for half a decade, but found ourselves incompatible during our engagement period. I wish Sohrab the best in life," she said. Even before the two got engaged, questions were doing the rounds about whether Mohammed could cope with the demands of being life-partner to a widely-travelled, hugely-popular athlete. Sania, who has been struggling wit...