World Sports

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has announced his retirement from Test cricket due to a recurring battle with injury. He will continue to represent his country in one-dayers and Twenty20s. Test Cricket Career. Debut: 2001 Retired: 2009 18 Tests, taking 87 wickets Bowling Average: 22.09 5 Wicket haul: 5 Times 4 Wicket Haul: 7 Times 1 Wicket Haul: 1 Time Best Bowling Innings: 6/51 Best Bowling Match: 10/99

LONDON: Sachin Tendulkar will grace the cover page of April issue of the Wisden Cricketer magazine which is recognising the Indian batsman's historic ODI double hundred against South Africa last month. The world's best-selling cricket magazine made a late decision to change its original cover image to commemorate Tendulkar's landmark innings. The magazine has a front cover tribute of Tendulkar's historic ODI double century on February 24 at Gwalior penned by its editor John Stern. "This was a defining innings both in terms of it being the first double hundred after forty years of one-day international cricket, but also because it confirmed Sachin's unmatched skill, endurance and appetite for the game after 20 years as an international cricketer," Stern said. "An astonishing performance by one of the game's true greats," he added. The April issue of the magazine will hit the stands from Friday.

Mongoose Bat There is a new cricket bat doing the rounds that is supposed to revolutionise the game. It is called the Mongoose. THE MONGOOSE MMI3 CRICKET BAT is a cricket bat specifically designed for Twenty 20 cricket and is the first major redesign for over 200 years. The design is unusual in that the blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43% longer. The manufacturer claims that this provides 20% more power and 15% more bat speed and gives the batsman an advantage. This kind of a bat is especially useful and lighter than the traditional cricket bat. Its blade is 33 per cent shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43 per cent longer. The decreased length of the blade helps to reduce the bat's weight while the long handle allows optimum reach to the batsman. The lightness of the bat helps in increasing the bat speed and allows the batsmen to hit the ball harder while batting. The change in the length of the blade does not affect the performance...

Sania Mirza Engaged To Former Pakistani Captain Shoaib Malik The TV channels said that the mother of Shoaib Malik has met the family of Sania Mirza, and proposed her for her son. The channels also claimed that Sanias family has accepted the proposal and the two families are all set to engage the two Ss soon. The channel quoted the sources of Shoaibs family and said that engagement ceremony between Shoaib and Sania are expected to be in next month. Both Sania and Shoaib are one time engaged in the past but their engagements could not last long.

  Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza posted this picture on her Twitter page. "Me and manzy..my borther from another mother" "Which means he's like my brother" she wrote on her Twitter page (http://twitter.com/mirzasania). Sania is battling injuries and hopes to make a comeback for the Commonwealth Games , in Delhi in October. "My main goal now is probably going to be the Commonwealth and the Asian Games because these events are the most important thing at the moment. Especially with Commonwealth Games being in India , it makes it all the more important", said Sania on Tuesday. Photograph courtesy: Sania Mirza on twitter

Indian Premier League would generate a revenue of $1 billion this season, thanks to huge fan following across the globe, attracting a large number of advertisers, its Commissioner Lalit Modi [ Images ] said on Wednesday. "The tournament is still on and we have not reached the final number. Yes, it will be more than $1 billion (about Rs 4,700 crore) this season. Last season we did $450 million. "Thereafter, we would double every year," Modi told PTI and asserted that as long as the fans keep coming to IPL, the league's brand value would increase and hence the revenue. Revenue for Sony, the official broadcaster, alone would be about Rs 700-800 crore (Rs 7-8 billion), he said, brushing aside the criticism that the advertising rates for the IPL's third season were very high. "There may be some advertisers who feel that way but there are lot many others who are willing to join us," he said pointing out that the huge success of the tournament in terms ...