Sachin should retire from ODIs says survey.......

As many as 57%of respondents in an online poll conducted by the TOI have said it was time for the legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar to quit One Day Internationals.

The poll went online at TOI’s website on Tuesday afternoon and by 7pm on Wednesday, 43,000 people had responded. The poll was on “Should Sachin retire from ODIs?”.

While 17,382 voted ‘no’ (40%), as many as 24,699 voted ‘yes’, favoring Sachin’s retirement from ODIs. Around 3% (745) people were undecided.

The result came a day after former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had hinted that the maestro should reconsider his ODI future and concentrate on test cricket.

BCCI rubbishes reports of Indian cricket team rift............

Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) President N Srinivasan has denied reports of any rift in the Indian team, which is currently playing a tri-series in Australia.

Speculation within media has been rife over the last few days over issues between team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batsman Virender Sehwag.

"We have no knowledge of it. I don''t think that there is a rift. I do not think that we have to comment on what they have said. I think that they were responding to some questions in a press conference which is done post every match. I had spoken to the media manager there; I think the reports here have been exaggerated," Srinivasan told media here.

Echoing similar views, BCCI Vice-President, Rajeev Shukla further clarified that there was no rift within the team.

"I don''t think that there is any rift in the team. This is only a speculation by a section of the media. There is no rift, the team is united as much as it is required so I don''t think that there is a problem," said Shukla..............

Door still open for Ponting to return to ODI squad: Clarke

Australian captain Michael Clarke has said that Ricky Ponting''s one-day career may not be over. While admitting that he was part of the National Selection Panel (NSP) meeting that decided to axe Ponting from the one-day squad, Clarke said that  there was a slight chance the former Australian captain could return to the 50-over line up. "I think the one thing is the door is never close on anybody. Who knows what can happen in this very weird and tough game that we play. But there is no doubt Ricky not being in the team has shown that we are looking towards the 2015 World Cup and giving some young guys an opportunity," the Daily Telegraph quoted Clarke, as saying......................

Congress is part of the most corrupt in India: Ramdev..........

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev Tuesday attacked the Congress, calling it the most corrupt political party in India.

Addressing a gathering of yoga followers here, Ramdev said asked voters to teach the Congress a lesson in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections.

He said in comparison, other parties including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were "less evil".

"The SP, BSP and BJP might not be entirely pure but it is essential to first root out the most corrupt party so that it acts as a deterrent for other parties," Ramdev said.

He accused Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi of enacting "drama" by rolling up his sleeves and tearing up manifestos at election rallies.

But he did praise Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka for doing "hard work" in the state. 

"It is appreciable that they both are working hard but all their efforts are wasted by some of their advisors who provoke them into issuing controversial statements," he said..................

Indian Mujahideen member arrested from Bihar...

A special team of Delhi Police has arrested a key member of the outlawed Indian Mujahideen (IM) from Darbhanga district in Bihar, police said here Wednesday. A court has sent him to 15 days in police custody. Kafeel Ahmed, 50, whom police described as the banned group's motivator, was arrested from Darbhanga district Tuesday and brought to Delhi Wednesday, said an official.  Ahmed was presented before the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav, who sent him to police custody till March 6 after police submitted they wanted to interrogate him further to get details about his role, the organisation and its operations in the country.  "Ahmed has been working for the group for three years as a motivator, recruiter and communicator. He has been residing in Bihar for many years and has his relations with Ahmed Siddi Bappa alias Shahrukh, and the key members of IM terror outfit gang," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ashok Chand. Earlier this month, Mohd Tarique Anjuman, claimed to be a founder-member of the Indian Mujahideen, was caught in a suburb of Patna...................

I must improve my batting: Sehwag.........

Stand-in Indian captain Virender Sehwag lamented his own batting performance Tuesday after his side slumped to their second successive defeat in the One-day International tri-series against Sri Lanka here.

Sehwag was caught at the third-man boundary trying an upper-cut off Lasith Malinga in the second ball of India's chase. 

"Five times I have been dismissed caught at third man or at the slips. I am looking at my performance and I have to improve for the side to win matches," said Sehwag, who has scored just 30 runs from the three matches he has played in the tournament.

"I think I have to leave a couple of balls early in the innings and then take the bowlers later on," he added.

India failed with the bat once again and gave away too many runs in the last ten overs as they slipped down to the last position in the table. The team got off to a poor start as they lost their top three batsman within 12 overs. 

"We didn't bowl well in the final ten overs, and we didn't bat well, the way Sachin and Gambhir played in the beginning, I thought we could get a good start but we lost three wickets early. We didn't bat well and we didn't bowl well. We missed Dhoni in this game, if we play to our potential it will be easier for us."

Virat Kohli and Irfan Pathan tried their best to get India back in the game but the 290-run target proved to be too much for the current World champions as they were bowled out in the 46th over and fell 51 runs short of Sri Lanka's 289 for six.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jaywardene praised his bowlers for a stellar performance, though he still has a lot to think about, especially the fielding as the islanders dropped three easy catches. 

"We are getting better and better, we played smart cricket, we kept wickets in hand and put up a good score. However, we are still making some mistakes, hope we don't make them in the bigger games. Our bowlers were absolutely brilliant upfront. With the two new balls, the ball is doing more in these conditions."

New Delhi, Feb 22: Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils have appointed Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as the side's deputy for the 2012 edition. Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2007 World Cup and also scored an unbeaten hundred in the 2011 edition in Mumbai against India. "He has an excellent track record as a leader of men and draws enormous respect from his team-mates," Delhi Daredevils' Team Mentor T.A. Sekar said. "We are aware of the immense value that Mahela brings to the table and are sure that the team will benefit from his presence in the leadership team." Virender Sehwag, who is the captain of the Daredevils, was happy about the appointment of Jayawardene as vice-captain, said Sekar. "Viru (Sehwag) told us that he would find Mahela's experience as a leader very handy. We are confident that they will bring the best out of the squad this season. That will enable us to stay competitive through the season and have the chance to celebrate Mahela's 35th birthday on May 27," he said. Delhi Daredevils dished out $1.4 million for the services of the Sri Lankan at the IPL players' auction last month.........

Cricketer Harbhajjan Singh may have tormented many batsmen with his bowling but this is one googly he may fail to comprehend himself. Police in Jalandhar are investigating a scam in which a namesake of the Indian cricketer used his bank statement to get a visa to visit Britain. The New Delhi-based British High Commission has refused visa to Harbhajan Singh of Patti in the border district of Tarn Taran after his bank statement was found to be fake. Assistan Commissioner of Police Harkanwaljit Singh Khakh said police were probing how the namesake Harbhajjan Singh was able to procure the bank statement of the cricketer from the Civil Lines branch of HDFC Bank. The high commission became suspicious about the documents submitted by the namesake Harbhajan Singh as his mother's name was mentioned as Kulwant Kaur while the bank statement showed the name as Avtar Kaur.  The high commission complained to the Jalandhar police commissioner. "We have sent summons twice to the other Harbhajan Singh Singh, who works in a oil company in Mumbai, but he has not joined the investigation," Khakh told here. Police are also investigating the role of agents and HDFC bank employees to unearth if there was a racket of supplying fake bank account statements. The fake statement submitted to the embassy showed an account balance of over Rs.400,000, in the name of the cricketer who resides in Jalandhar city, 150 km from Chandigarh. Police said the manager of the HDFC Bank had confirmed that the account statement sent to the embassy belonged to the cricketer.  Police have questioned members of the family of the Tarn Taran Harbhajan Singh. Cricketers Harbhajjan, fondly called 'Bhajji', is now out of the Indian cricket team owing to poor form. The ace spinner had his bag, containing his passport and other documents, stolen from his SUV near Haryana's Karnal town in December when he was on his way to Delhi and had stopped for coffee.

DD appoint Jayawardene vice-captain......

New Delhi, Feb 22: Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils have appointed Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as the side's deputy for the 2012 edition.

Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2007 World Cup and also scored an unbeaten hundred in the 2011 edition in Mumbai against India.

"He has an excellent track record as a leader of men and draws enormous respect from his team-mates," Delhi Daredevils' Team Mentor T.A. Sekar said. 

"We are aware of the immense value that Mahela brings to the table and are sure that the team will benefit from his presence in the leadership team."

Virender Sehwag, who is the captain of the Daredevils, was happy about the appointment of Jayawardene as vice-captain, said Sekar.

"Viru (Sehwag) told us that he would find Mahela's experience as a leader very handy. We are confident that they will bring the best out of the squad this season. That will enable us to stay competitive through the season and have the chance to celebrate Mahela's 35th birthday on May 27," he said.

Delhi Daredevils dished out $1.4 million for the services of the Sri Lankan at the IPL players' auction last month.....................