Kolkata: N Srinivasan must be a happy man after the decks were cleared for his possible return to the BCCI top post after a two-judge probe panel found no evidence against his team Chennai Super Kings in the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal which rocked the sixth edition of the event.   Srinivasan could stage a comeback as BCCI chief as early as August 2 when the Board`s Working Committee and the IPL Governing Council meet in New Delhi to take a final call on the issue.   The two-member panel, comprising former High Court Judges T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, submitted its report to the BCCI Working Committee which met here today amid intense speculation that th

Kolkata: Former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi on Friday took an indirect dig at Sachin Tendulkar`s prolonged lean patch, saying it was high time for him to start scoring runs again.   "It`s high time that he (Tendulkar) should get back to runs to get people`s respect," said the legendary left-arm spinner.   Here in the city for a promotional programme, Bedi said getting 10 wickets in a Test match is like scoring hundreds in each innings.   "Even a player of Tendulkar`s calibre has not done it, so it`s an enormous achievement," Bedi said recalling his only 10-wicket haul in Perth.   The 66-year-old hailed former India captain Sourav Ga

India is set to get a taste of top-notch international snooker action with the World Professional Billairds and Snooker Association deciding to hold its first ever ranking tournament in India in October this year. The current and former World Champions are expected to participate, while the Indian charge will be led by former World billiards champion Pankaj Advani.   Advani, who has won eight world titles in billiards, made his professional snooker debut last year and is currently ranked 73rd in the discipline. Advani became the first Indian to make a semi-final appearance in an International snooker event when he reached the last four of the Hunter Classic championship last year. A

HARARE: The fourth one-day international of the ongoing series between India and Zimbabwe has been postponed by a day due to general elections in the African country.   The match will now be played at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, on August 1 instead of the original date of July 31.   "The fourth ODI of the ongoing series between India and Zimbabwe has been postponed by a day on account of Elections in Zimbabwe," a BCCI release said.   India lead the series 1-0 after defeating the hosts by six wickets in the first one-dayer on Wednesday.   Source:TimesOfIndia

India held on to their third spot after the annual update of the ICC Twenty20 Rankings was announced today. Sri Lanka have retained their position as the number one ranked team in the list. The annual update was released just two days before Pakistan take on defending ICC World Twenty20 champions West Indies in a two-match series, in Kingstown, St Vincent. At the June ICC Board meeting during the Annual Conference week in London, the ICC Board agreed to change the T20I Rankings period from three years to four years.   The ICC Board also decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I Rankings should now take place on May 1, rather than August 1, to better align with the cur

An expectedly comfortable win to start with, the young Indian team under Virat Kohli would look to continue asserting its supremacy over minnows Zimbabwe when the two sides clash in the second one-dayer of the ongoing five-match series here tomorrow. In a perfect start to the tour, India thrashed Zimbabwe by six wickets with Kohli leading from the front, scoring a hundred yesterday. But the win was not without a few glitches with the inexperience of Indian bowlers exploited by a couple of Zimbabwean batsmen.   Sikander Raza nearly got a hundred while lower down the order Elton Chigumbura managed to torment the Indians for quite a while with a 34-ball 43 which included half a dozen b

Harare: Virat Kohli cracked a scintillating century as India thrashed minnows Zimbabwe by six wickets in the first cricket one-dayer to take a 1-0 lead in the five match series here on Wednesday.   Chasing a modest victory target of 228, India rode on captain Kohli`s 115 as they overhauled the target with 31 balls to spare in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest at the Harare Sports Club.   Kohli, who hit a spectacular century against West Indies while leading the side in the recently concluded Tri-Series, again led by example to notch up his 15th ODI hundred as he guided the team home after the early dismissals of the two openers.   Ambati Rayudu`s much await

Virat Kohli and the rest of India's ODI team would have felt a tad strange, out of place even, as they set upon their journey to Harare over the weekend. For once, there was no buzz around their departure. For once, the skipper didn't even have to indulge in the customary pre-tour media briefing. For once, it almost seemed like not many really cared about the Indian team or their five-match ODI tour of Zimbabwe.   There will, however, be a lot on stake for a majority in the 15-member squad that takes on the hosts in the first ODI at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. For them, the next 10 days or so could well be make or break.   Just over 1100km and a 13-hour dri

Australia great Shane Warne on Monday officially announced his retirement from the game, confirming he will not play with the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League.   The leg-spin legend, who was Friday inducted into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame at Lord's,    was instrumental in lifting the profile of the domestic Twenty20 league in its first two seasons and was one of its biggest drawcards. But the 43-year-old said his time was finally up.   "I think the time is right for me to hang up my Big Bash boots -- juggling business, family and commentary commitments across two continents is not easy," said Warne.  

Mumbai: A 15-member India cricket squad, led by Virat Kohli, left here this morning for Zimbabwe to take on the hosts in a five-game One-Day International series commencing on July 24.   The squad is without inspirational captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been given a break by the national selectors.   The selectors have also rested three pace bowlers -- Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav -- along with spinner R Ashwin.   India are visiting the African nation after three years.     In June 2010, an India team led by Suresh Raina took part in a triangular ODI series in Zimbabwe but came a cropper, failing to reach the final.  

London: Global football governing body FIFA has announced the ticket prices for international fans attending the 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil, saying that the prices will start at 90 dollars for initial group matches.   According to BBC, FIFA further said that the cheapest tickets for overseas fans for the final on July 13, 2014 were priced at 440 dollars and the most expensive at 990 dollars, adding that the tickets will go on sale from August 20, 2013.   The report further said that the tournament starts on June 12 next year, with the first game being played in Sao Paulo, adding that fans have until October 10, 2013 to apply and a ballot will be held to decide which

South Africa and Sri Lanka are hoping to recover from recent setbacks in one-day cricket when they contest a five-match series starting in Colombo on Saturday.   Both teams were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom despite being rated as two of the strongest contenders in the eight-nation tournament.   The Proteas lived up to their reputation as cricket's "chokers", a tag outgoing coach Gary Kirsten said was fully justified following the semi-final defeat against England at the Oval in London.   Sri Lanka, World Cup runners-up to India in 2011, fell to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men twice in two weeks when the C

Virat Kohli has more hundreds than Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Virender Sehwag has a better strike rate than the skipper and Yuvraj Singh, more runs. And none of them happen to be in the 10,000-runs club, unlike Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. So what is the big hype around Dhoni, the ODI batsman? It is actually an unconventional statistic, the kind that doesn't appear on TV screens while a player takes guard, which explains why Dhoni doesn't need to sit atop the run-getter's podium to reach lofty heights of fame and greatness.   Dhoni has seen India cross the line while still at the crease an unprecedented 34 times in his ODI career. On 15 of these occasion

Georgetown: Shahid Afridi made one of the most remarkable comebacks in international cricket in leading Pakistan to a crushing 126-run victory over the West Indies in the first one-day international at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday.

Omitted from his country`s failed Champions Trophy campaign, the mercurial all-rounder returned the best-ever ODI bowling figures by a Pakistani, and the second best overall, in snaring seven for 12 to rout the home side for just 98 off 41 overs after having top-scored with a typically swashbuckling 76 in the visitors` total of 224 for nine.

"I try hard and I back myself and I want to thank people back home," said A

PARIS: Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who cheated his way to seven Tour de France victories from 1999-2005, claims it would have been impossible to win the world's greatest race without doping.

Asked if riders won races drugs-free in the era when he competed, a bullish Armstrong told French daily Le Monde on Friday: "It depends on the races. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win without doping.

"My name was taken out of the palmares (list of achievements) but the Tour was held between 1999 and 2005 wasn't it? There must be a winner then. Who is he? Nobody came forward to claim my jerseys."

Five-times Tour champion Be

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket team in course of their Champions Trophy campaign in England kept telling themselves how a win in the mini-World Cup could redeem Indian cricket.

Despite having only four players from the 2011 World Cup team and several small town cricketers, the inexperienced side didn't care much about the reputation of their opponents.

Sources close to the team told TOI that the team knew right after their two big warm-up matches win against Sri Lanka and Australia that they were in with a chance to make history.

"There were no ego problems in the team. The team gelled well and had their share of fun too. They kept telling the

Birmingham, June 24 :  India's Ravindra Jadeja made all-round gains in the latest ICC ODI Rankings released on Monday, a day after India beat England by five runs in the Champions Trophy final.   Jadeja, who made an unbeaten 33 and picked up two for 24 in the final, was named Man of the Match. His haul of 12 wickets in the tournament also made him the highest wicket-taker, fetching him the Golden Ball trophy.   Jadeja's efforts helped him move up a place to a career-best third in the latest bowlers' rankings. He also moved up three places to 52nd in the batting table. His combined effort with the bat and ball helped him move up a place to a best so far thir

Live updates from the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final being played between India and Sri Lanka at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.   INDIA innings:

Over 35 || Score 182/2 

India’s dream run continued as they defeated Sri Lanka

REUTERS - A list of the last 19 major championship winners after England's Justin Rose became the 18th different champion when he clinched the 113th U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania on Sunday.2013   June - Justin Rose (England), U.S. Open April - Adam Scott (Australia), Masters 2012 August - Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), PGA Championship July - Ernie Els (South Africa), British Open June - Webb Simpson (United States), U.S. Open April - Bubba Watson (United States), Masters 2011 August - Keegan Bradley (United States), PGA Championship July - Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland), British Open June - Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), U.S. O

1. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 267 mph (429 km/h), 0-60 in 2.4 secs. Aluminum, Narrow Angle 8 Liter W16 Engine with 1200 hp, base price is $2,400,000. Although the Bugatti Veyron lost the title to SSC Ultimate Aero on March 2007, Bugatti challenged the record in Germany on July 10, 2010 with the new Super Sport and the Bugatti Veyron reclaimed the title of the fastest car in the world at 267 mph. The original Bugatti Veyron had a top speed of 253 mph, priced at $1,700,000 with 1001 hp. 2. Hennessey Venom GT: 260 mph (418 km/h), 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds, has a 6.2-liter LS9 Turbocharged V8 Twin Turbo V8 Engine producing 1200 hp, with a price tag of $950,000. The Venom GT has yet to be tes