Former Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad on Friday said that he would file a criminal and also a civil suit against the ‘Outlook’ magazine for ‘misquoting and misinterpreting’ statements made by him in an interview to the magazine.Gaekwad told PTI over phone from Baroda that he has spoken to his lawyer, Kaushik Bhatt, last week and decidedto file a defamation case for Rs One crore against the magazine this week for misquoting him.In an interview with the magazine, Gaekwad, was quoted as saying that many Indian cricketers, including Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Rahul Dravid, used performance-enhancing drugs when he was the coach of theIndian team.”I received a reply to our original notice from the publisher which contains nothing but the reconfirmation ofwhat they have published and hence we had no option but to file a case,” Gaekwad added.Gaekwad also said that he had written a letter to the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) saying that whatever appeared in the magazine were not his quotes. His letter will be discussed by the BCCI members during Saturday’s Working Committee meeting here.Gaekwad, who is one of the two candidates (the other being Dilip Vengsarkar), likely to replace chairman of selectors Chandu Borde in next month’s annual general meeting, also said he was prepared to help Indian cricket in whatever capacity.
Real Madrid talisman Sergio Ramos has given his verdict on the comparisons between Mo Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Liverpool fans are bashing the 32 year-old.
It seems to happen every year at the moment. Someone has a fantastic season, and they immediately get compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
With all due respect to the likes of Neymar and Eden Hazard, who have both drawn such comparisons after great seasons in recent years, those comparisons are usually a bit far-fetched.
In the case of Mohamed Salah though, it’s sort of hard to argue against the Egyptian, who has grabbed a remarkable 44 goals in his first season at Anfield.
The “Egyptian King” could make himself the favourite for the Ballon d’Or with a winning goal in Saturday’s Champions League final, but Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos clearly thinks the comparisons are undeserved.
“Compare players with Cristiano and Messi? They are in another orbit,” the Madrid skipper said in his pre-match conference.
“Some are in fashion, some are not. Some are there briefly and then disappear. Others stay and become great players.”
While Ramos does have a point about the sheer consistency of Ronaldo and Messi, his comments are certainly making some noise in the red half of Kiev.
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While a few Liverpool fans are finding it hard to disagree, others are bashing the Real Madrid man, who is well known as a master of football’s dark arts.
Either way, some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi’s maiden List A century anchored the side’s chase of 244 and steered them to a seven-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh in Rajkot. UP were at a shaky 95 for 3 in the 20th over, with their top three dismissed, but Dwivedi and Rinku Singh took charge of the chase with an unbeaten 152-run partnership and sealed the win in the 48th over. Dwivedi’s unbeaten 104 came off 127 deliveries with 15 fours. UP had looked set to restrict Himachal to a lower total than their eventual score of 243 for 8. Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Saurabh Kumar chipped away at the line-up to reduce the batting side to 197 for 8 in the 45th over. Valuable runs at the end came from Rishi Dhawan, who scored an unbeaten 67 off 64 deliveries.Fifties from openers Shreevats Goswami and Sayan Mondal, and Manoj Tiwary led Bengal to a comfortable six-wicket win over Goa with more than eight overs to spare in their opening match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Chasing 236, Bengal were put on track by a 116-run partnership between Goswami and Mondal at the start of the innings. Goswami played a more rapid knock, striking 70 off 77 deliveries, while Mondal’s 54 came off 76 deliveries. Both batsmen were dismissed in the space of four overs but Tiwary ensured the setback was a minor one, striking an unbeaten 62 off 48 deliveries to take the side to a win. Earlier, Goa, who were put in to bat, rebuilt after early wickets – through fifties from Sagun Kamat (55), Reagan Pinto (55) and Saurabh Bandekar (62) – but lost a clump of wickets towards the end of the innings to end at 235 for 9. Ashok Dinda took 3 for 40 off his 10 overs while Sayan Ghosh chipped in with two wickets.
India’s cricketers enjoyed a “rest” day today, warming down after theirsecond tour game at Chelmsford, but one or two minds might have just beenworking overtime. Rahul Dravid and Co. would have wished for the twopractice games to provide a few answers; instead there seem to be morequestions on hand with three days to go until the first Test at Lord’s.Wasim Jaffer or Gautam Gambhir? VVS Laxman or Yuvraj Singh? Mahendra Singh Dhoni aswicketkeeper? The first two aren’t new instances – Jaffer is prone to a string of failures while Laxman’s spot is never certain. But what of Dhoni? In Bangladesh he kept his Test spot thanks toa Man-of-the-Series performance in the preceding one-dayers, but he’s donelittle of note to be sure of a place here. One can point to his 76 atChelmsford, or even his buccaneering 139 not out against Africa XI atChennai, but the conditions were nowhere near as demanding as they will be atLord’s.What’s more worrying is Dhoni’s decline behind the stumps. He was never a naturalwicketkeeper, starting off as a football goalie, and it was mainly thanksto his persistence that he improved in that department. There was a periodearly in his career when he gave up batting for one whole year just to getbetter with the gloves. He showed considerable improvement last season butthe fumbles have reappeared recently. He has struggled so far in the tour games, often parrying the ball rather than waiting for it, and his grassedchances off Andy Hodd and Robin Martin-Jenkins at Hove and Stuart Broad atChelmsford, all straightforward ones at international level, woulddefinitely get the team management thinking.Making his job harder is Dinesh Karthik’s presence in the team as aspecialist batsman. Karthik is the more agile wicketkeeper and is betterstanding up to Anil Kumble’s bouncy offerings. There will surely be a temptation to ask him to keep as well as bat. It would no doubt add to his burden – squatting all daybefore opening the batting can’t be easy – but it would also allow theteam a chance to play the extra batsman in Yuvraj.India’s batting is awesome on paper but, as was shown at Chelmsford, it justtakes a persistent bowling attack to open up the cracks. The top order is weak,the middle is inconsistent and the tail is mostly redundant. Lord’s isusually good to the batsmen and India’s batting galacticos, as theGuardian newspaper called them, will need to stand up. If they needsome expert advice about batting on the ground they just need to lookaround the dressing room and spot a man who managed three hundreds on thetrot here.For Dilip Vengsarkar, the current chairman of selectors, Lord’s, where he cracked centuries in 1979, 1982 and 1986, was his backyard. He downplayed the achievement, when Cricinfo asked him about it, butexplained why the ground was special.”Every player has his favourite grounds. I’ve got four hundreds at the Feroz Shah Kotla but nobody remembers that. And they were against better teams – three againstWest Indies and one against Asif Iqbal’s Pakistan. Everybody only talksabout the three hundred at Lord’s. Of course it was a great feeling. It’sspecial playing at Lord’s. Walking through the long room you have a heavyfeeling in the heart. You see the honours board, the pictures on the wall,the packed atmosphere. It’s electrifying. But once you hit the grass, it’sjust another ground.”Did he have to make any special adjustment to counter the famous Lord’sslope? “Too much is made of the slope at Lord’s,” he said nonchalantly. “Every ground has some slope – go to Leeds you have a slope,at Chelmsford there’s also a slope. You need to adjust to different conditions and the slope is just one part of it. It’s not as tough to adjust as it’s made out to be.”But which of the three hundreds will he most cherish? “I think the centuryin 1986 was my best. We won at Lord’s for the first time and went on towin the series. The bowlers won the game for us – Chetan Sharma bowledsuperbly, Kapil Dev was equally good, Maninder Singh too. To finish on thewinning side after making your third successive hundred was verysatisfying.”India had never won a Lord’s Test before 1986, they’ve yet to win onesince. As much as he’s proud of being part of that side, Vengsarkar willhope that India double that victory tally in the coming days.
Steve Kirby, the Gloucestershire pace bowler, is in hot water with officials again after being ordered out the attack towards the end of the Championship match against Gloucestershire at Bristol.Bowling the penultimate over of the game, Kirby let fly a ball that thudded into the chest of Andy Gray, the Derbyshire tail-ender. Kirby tried to apologise but Gray had already turned away, dropped his bat and ripped off a glove. Neil Mallender, the former England seamer who was officiating the match, told Jon Lewis, the Gloucestershire captain, to remove Kirby from bowling.The two players later shook hands but Kirby will still be reported to the ECB. The Gloucestershire chief executive, Tom Richardson, told the Press Association: “Kirby was taken off under Law 42 [fair and unfair play] but I don’t want to say anything else at this stage.”The umpires have to make their report but at the moment I don’t anticipate there will be much further action. Everyone knows Kirby is a whole-hearted trier who gives everything to the game.”It isn’t the first time Kirby, who joined Gloucestershire from Yorkshire, has been in trouble. Last season he was found guilty of ball tampering during a match against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.
A groin injury robbed this match of a gladiatorial match-up between England’s brash new boy Kevin Pietersen and the discarded Graham Thorpe, but a record run-chase from Hampshire more than compensated. Surrey racked up 359 – which they considered ample – but Shane Watson hit a pulsating 132 from 105 balls in his first game as Shane Warne’s replacement to ensure Pietersen’s big-hitting wasn’t missed.An eighth-wicket stand of 63 between Watson and Shaun Udal forcibly dragged Hampshire from 279 for 7 to just 17 runs from victory before Udal and Chris Tremlett knocked off the remaining runs to book Hampshire’s place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2000. “That was just an astonishing game of cricket,” Udal said afterwards. “We always felt we had a chance – you have to think that. We had an astonishing innings from Shane Watson. We did well; we did it in a professional way, in a very accomplished fashion.”In the morning, Pietersen’s absence due to his injury meant the spotlight belonged to Thorpe. He was denied the chance to captain Surrey due to Mark Ramprakash’s return from a broken thumb, but he was bubbly while batting and while fielding, too. Thorpe hasn’t been this animated for some time – he clearly doesn’t want people to think he has reverted to his old head-hanging, brooding stereotype.He received the loudest applause of the day as he strode to the crease, purpose pumping visibly in his legs. The applause for his first run was almost as deafening. Fifty-nine runs later, Thorpe was welcomed back into the pavilion after a classy, composed 60. Yet, the scene from two years ago when he scored his magnificent hundred against South Africa in his comeback Test on the same ground was incomparable. Then he was the returning hero, today he returned as dispensable to England’s cause. How has this happened?His Test average since that hundred is 56.37 and he has scored 1,635 runs. He has seemed happier, more open in that time – more importantly, he appeared happy with himself. He had become the Graham Thorpe he wanted to be. Then he struggled in South Africa in the winter; his form this season hasn’t been encouraging, averaging 34.50 from 11 innings, which is only four runs shy of Pietersen’s season average, but the man with the bigger bouffant has the momentum behind him.Thorpe is the last of the breed from the 1990s, when England’s mentality was firmly set on losing. The chances of him playing for England again are slim; even with injuries, England are likely to go with a younger man. Yet, he hasn’t been allowed the send-offs afforded to Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton, nor has he gone out gloriously as his great mate Nasser Hussain did last summer, a centurion and match-winner at Lord’s. Instead, Thorpe’s last action as a Test batsman was a single off Bangladesh’s Aftab Ahmed, a 19-year-old occasional medium-pacer. A month ago, maybe even a day ago, he would have been justified in dreaming of hitting the runs that brought England the Ashes.So Thorpe didn’t have the chance to abdicate. Instead his strings were yanked from above by those who had brought him back so memorably at the Oval two years ago. So what now? Many had expected him to announce his retirement immediately after his rejection. On today’s evidence, he is very happy, and more than able, to play a full, vital part for Surrey this season. Their coach Steve Rixon has said Thorpe will reassess the situation at the end of the season, while Thorpe issued a statement saying he was “looking forward to playing a key role for Surrey.” So, Pietersen’s gain is also Surrey’s.What price a few boos if Pietersen had been passed fully fit for this match; what price him revelling in those boos? As it was, Watson’s ferocious hitting meant that England’s golden boy was forgotten for once. It could have been a much different story. Surrey’s openers James Benning’s and Jonathan Batty’s blistering start meant that a big run chase was on for Hampshire after just 10 overs – then they must have been cursing Pietersen’s absence. The partnership reached three figures in the 13th over, Tremlett, named yesterday in England’s Ashes squad, and Billy Taylor leaking 62 from their opening eight overs. Tremlett’s rhythm was badly disrupted by 22-year-old Benning; a handy hitter but no Matthew Hayden or Justin Langer.Udal, who has taken over captaincy responsibility from Warne, was forced to bring himself on as fifth change in only the 11th over. Surrey’s openers put on 142 – the kind of foundation that Pietersen will be hoping for from Strauss and Trescothick come next Thursday.Batty went on to an undefeated 158. His 115-run partnership with Thorpe was a mastermind in controlling the tempo; Thorpe’s contribution a typical mix of boundaries and singles. His ability to push the score along without having to go for the big shots was rare in the England team; Ian Bell, who seems to have inherited this role, has a lot to live up to. “We thought 350 was a fantastic score,” Ramprakash admitted on Sky Sports afterwards, “and Jonathan Batty played a fantastic knock, and we were very, very happy with that.”But it was Watson’s day. “It’s great to play well at the right time and get us over the line,” said Watson, who didn’t bowl owing to a leg injury. “It was a nice flat wicket to bat on and would have been a bit nasty to bowl on.” If Watson isn’t deemed good enough for a place in the Ashes squad, England will have reasons for concern.
Sussex 200 and 399 for 7 (Montgomerie 50, Goodwin 102, Ambrose 60, Prior 92) drew with MCC 539 for 8 dec ScorecardSussex made sure that they didn’t start their year as champions with a defeat, batting solidly through the day at Lord’s until bad light brought about an early finish at 5pm to force a draw with MCC. By then Sussex were just about safe, 60 runs ahead with three wickets still remaining.Sussex’s batting heroes were Murray Goodwin, their stand-in captain, and the highly rated Matt Prior. Goodwin played attractively for 102, which included 18 fours and a six, while the Johannesburg-born Prior just missed out on his century, falling to Martin Saggers for 92. He hit 15 fours before becoming one of four victims behind the stumps for James Foster, whose century yesterday will have interested the selectors. There was also a breezy 60 for Tim Ambrose, Sussex’s own keeper/batsman.Saggers – he of the one Test appearance at Chittagong last October – was lively, and finished with 3 for 67, but MCC’s other bowlers proved a little expensive as the early-season cobwebs were dusted off. But all in all, the resumption of this fixture after 13 years was a success, despite the occasionally wintry weather.
Thursday, March 20, 2003::: “Indians were just not geared up for the big stage — right from Tendulkar downwards,” Indian spin great Bishan Singh Bedi Source: Mid-day “I don’t subscribe to the fact that we have taken the game to a new level. We can get better – no question – in every part of the game. If we sit back, we will do world cricket a disservice,” Australia’s coach John Buchanan Source: The Guardian, UK “India had a very good outing (sic) till the final, but unfortunately they squandered away a great opportunity by choosing to bat second,” former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar Source: The New Indian Express, India
Lymington are backing their three-pronged spin attack to hold the key to Wednesday’s (August 1) Southern Electric Contracting Cup final against Andover at the Hampshire Rose Bowl (5.45pm).The Premier League duo are likely to be using the same strip on which Hampshire beat Australia on Monday – and Lymington skipper Neil Trestrail reckons it could be tailor-made for his spinners.”The pitch assisted the spin bowlers on the last day – and I fancy that could be to our advantage.”I know we haven’t got anyone of Shane Warne’s class in our attack, but Dan Peacock, Glyn Treagus and Wayne Smith are all quality spinners – and I’m going to back them,” he said.Two players who can’t wait to get into tonight’s action are workmates Glyn Treagus and Sam Miller, Andover’s Australian all-rounder, who will be on opposite sides.The pair work together making cricket bats for Jon Hardy, who runs Chase Sports, near Basingstoke.And, according to Hardy, the former Hampshire left-hander, the pair haven’t stopped talking about the final for the past ten days.”There’a a pretty fair chance Glyn and Sam will bat and bowl against each other, so there’s an enormous amount of personal pride at stake.”The problem is one of them is going to finish a loser – and probably ask for Thursday off sick !” Hardy smiled.Even tough the pitch is likely to turn, a run feast could be the order of the day this evening.Both sides are packed with batting, Andover having totted up 165-plus scores in each of the four previous rounds.Lymington are no slouches either with the bat, and will expect Glyn Treagus, Daniel Peacock, Ben Craft and Neil Trestrail to be among the prominent run scorers.With neither club having won the trophy before, a new name will be inscribed on the SEC Cup.Teams:Andover: Jerry Hayward (captain), Ian Langdown, Sam Miller, Roger Miller, Marc Kavanagh, Neil Staddon, Mark Miller, Stuart Clackson, Ali Fleming, Ian Gardner, James Manning.Lymington: Neil Trestrail (captain), Brian Clemow, Glyn Treagus, Daniel Peacock, Ben Craft, Ian Young, Dave Griffiths, Paul Allen, Trevor Phillips, Wayne Smith, Jason Carr, Christian Pain.Route to the finalRound 1 – Andover 160-5 (Langdown 69, 51, Williams 4-44) Hook & Newnham Basics 138-9 (Kaminski 64, Langdown 5-41) Andover won by 22 runsOld Tauntonians & Romsey 75 (Treagus 4-17, Smith 3-21) Lymington 77-1 (Clemow 38, Peacock 27) Lymington won by 9 wicketsRound 2 – Andover 199-3 (Langdown 69, Staddon 51, S Miller 35) South Wilts 138 (Rowe 61, M Hooper 3-31) Andover won by 61 runsPaultons 135 (Park 47, Smith 3-9, Treagus 3-31) Lymington 139-2 (Craft 63, Peacock 53) Lymington won by 8 wicketsRound 3 – Andover 168-6 (S Miller 61, Kavanagh 42, Staddon 42) Flamingos 166 (Manthorpe 49, Merkel 35, Brewster 32, S Miller 3-31, Langdown 3-46) Andover won by 2 runsLymington 141-9 (Peacock 42) BAT Sports 130-8 (Kenway 53, Treagus 3-26) Lymington won by 11 runsSemi-finals – Andover 176-6 (Kavanagh 65, Hayward 33, Loat 3-30) Havant 161-6 (Hindley 60, Gillies 46) Andover won by 15 runsRowledge 103-9 (Phillips 4-20) Lymington 105-0 (Treagus 53, Peacock 44) Lymington won by 10 wickets
Manchester United have now opened talks to sign an “unbelievable” midfielder, who Ruben Amorim has been pushing INEOS to sign.
Man Utd eyeing new midfielder amid Mainoo controversy
Kobbie Mainoo’s brother, Jordan Mainoo-Hames, has sparked controversy after wearing a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ to Man United’s 4-4 draw against AFC Bournemouth, with talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham slamming the former Love Island contestant.
Durham said: “Can you imagine his brother doing that when Fergie was in charge? Fergie would have had Kobbie Mainoo out of the club by the next morning.
“It was an utterly insane thing for him to do, it’s selfish for him to do that, the brother. It’s totally about him getting attention, it doesn’t help Kobbie Mainoo, it doesn’t help Manchester United.”
The midfielder has already been struggling for game time this season, with his only start coming in the EFL Cup defeat against Grimsby Town, and it remains to be seen what effect his brother’s stunt has on his future.
With Mainoo’s future in doubt heading into the January transfer window, amid interest from Everton, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, the Red Devils have now stepped up their pursuit of a new midfielder.
That is according to a report from TEAMtalk, which reveals Man United have opened talks over a deal for Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves, with the Saudi Pro League side now ready to sell the midfielder in the January transfer window.
Al-Hilal have been unable to agree terms on a new contract with the Portuguese maestro, and given that his current deal is set to expire at the end of the season, a return to Europe is on the cards next month.
Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have also held talks over a deal for the central midfielder, so there could be competition for his signature, but Amorim will be hoping United can win the race, having personally been pushing to sign him.
"Unbelievable" Neves impressing in Saudi Arabia
It is no wonder Al-Hilal were keen to extend the 63-time Portugal international’s contract, given that he has impressed from an attacking point of view this season, recording five goals and one assist in five matches in all competitions.
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Journalist Raj Chohan also waxed lyrical about the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man during his previous stint in the Premier League, suggesting he has the ability to play for a top club.
It is unclear what sort of fee Al-Hilal are looking to receive for the 28-year-old, but with his contract due to expire in the summer, they aren’t exactly in a strong negotiating position.
As such, Man United should try their luck in the January transfer window, particularly if Mainoo leaves, amid widespread interest in the 19-year-old.