India beat Belgium in Snooker World Cup!!

Indian cueists Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta held their nerves to see off the challenge from Belgium 3-2 in the team championships on the second day of the Snooker World Cup in Bangkok today.

India began with a loss with seven-time world champion Advani going down to Luca Brecel before Asian Games bronze medallist Aditya Mehta beat Bjorn Haneveer to draw level.

The Belgians won the doubles, but singles wins by Mehta and Advani sealed the issue for India in Group C.

Yesterday, India lost 1-4 against Northern Ireland with only Aditya being able to win the final frame against Gerard Greene at the Bangkok Convention Centre.

While Advani lost both his singles encounters, India also failed to put up a fight in the doubles against the pairing of Greene and Mark Allen.

India will next play another Group C rival England on Thursday.

India in England, 4 Test Series, 2011

England vs India , 21/7/2011 Lord's, London

England vs India , 29/7/2011 Trent Bridge, Nottingham

England vs India , 10/8/2011 Edgbaston, Birmingham

England vs India , 18/8/2011 The Oval, London

Dhoni gives India 104 runs lead at stumps on day three against West Indies!

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 65 not out has put India in a strong position against West Indies in the third Test.

Dhoni led four batsmen with half centuries that has put his side in a formidable position on the third day of the Test against West Indies.

The Indian skipper, who was struggling for most of the series, was unbeaten on 65, taking India to 6-308, in reply to West Indies' first innings total of 204 at stumps on the third day of the rain-hit game at Windsor Park.

Earlier, opener Abhinav Mukund and VVS Laxman overcame the pressure inflicted by Fidel Edwards and Darren Sammy to build a platform for a substantial lead, and Suresh Raina and Dhoni ensured India stayed on track.

Mukund supported with 62, Laxman scored 56 and Suresh Raina made 50, Fox Sports reports.

Dhoni added 103 for the sixth wicket with Raina either side of tea.

India hold a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, following a 63-run victory inside four days in the first Test in Jamaica and a draw in the second Test in Barbados.

India will now hope to create history by becoming the first Indian side to win a Test and one-day international series in the Caribbean. 

India Vs West Indies 3rd Test!

Opener Abhinav Mukund hit his maiden Test half-century as India overcame early blows to reach 102 for two at lunch on day three of the third cricket Test against the West Indies on Friday.


Mukund was batting on 52 and VVS Laxman was giving him company on 30 as the duo added 84 runs for the undefeated third wicket to lift India from a depressing 18 for two.

The visitors, trailing by 102 runs, were in complete control on a benign pitch and against an attack which operated without lead bowler Ravi Rampaul due to an upset stomach.

India, resuming at eight for no loss, lost Murali Vijay (5) and Rahul Dravid (5) after adding just 10 runs to the overnight score at Windsor Park.

Vijay was nearly bowled off a low full toss in Fidel Edwards` first over, squeezing the ball between the slip cordon for a four, but his tendency to push at the ball once again proved his undoing.

In Edwards` next over, a delivery took the edge of his bat on way to wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh`s gloves.

The Tamil Nadu opener is in the middle of a wretched run of scores, the sequence of his five innings in the series reading 8,0,11,3 and 1.

Dravid then fell to Darren Sammy, making the normally passive West Indian captain roar in triumph as he hasn`t done at any stage in this series.

Dravid played for an away movement at the delivery which kept coming straight and went between bat and pad to rattle the stumps.

Mukund and Laxman, the left-right combination, then gradually found their moorings as the hosts wilted under a hot son and a placid pitch.

There were not many fours hit but runs came at a fair clip as Indians looked to consolidate for a profitable day ahead.

My best is yet to come, insists Harbhajan

Only the third Indian bowler to touch the 400-wicket mark in Test cricket, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said his best is yet to come as tweakers tend to get better after turning 30.

"I'm only 31...and even though the last seven wickets have made me work harder, (I'm hopeful) the next 200 will come very soon," said Harbhajan after the end of second day's play in the third and final Test against the West Indies in Roseau.

Harbhajan accounted for Darren Sammy (20) and Carlton Baugh (60) within a space of 9 balls to reach the milestone, a summit which only two other Indians and 10 bowlers overall have ever managed in the history of the game.

Harbhajan, who has spent over 13 years in international cricket, then went down memory lane and recalled the difficulties he endured to come thus far.

"I have faced a lot of ups and downs in my career - mostly downs. I've worked hard for these wickets. Spinners mature with age. Most of them, be it Anil (Kumble) bhai, Shane Warne, (Muttiah) Muralitharan took a lot of wickets after they turned 30."

"Time is on my side; I am still very young and there is a lot of cricket left in me. I have to start doing even better for Team India and start taking a lot of wickets. If I keep myself fit, I will be able to do it."

"It's not easy to take even one wicket in international cricket. Batsmen are watching you all the time. You have to keep adding variations. Just line and length is not enough. You have to make sure you are not left behind. Off-spinners now are coming to bowl from round the wicket. You have to keep trying new things," Harbhajan said.

"Batsmen these days come and play their shots. I remember 10 years back, all the bowlers were averaging  25, 26 or 27. These days the normal average is 30 plus."

"When I have my good days, I take wickets. On bad days, I try not to give too many runs," he added.

The 'Turbanator' looked back at the last few years; the seasons when he bowled without Anil Kumble at the other end.

"Anil bhai was a very big bowler for Team India. After he left, there's been a lot of responsibility. The good thing is that Zaheer has been there to take it."

"I have the greatest of regard for Anil bhai. It was he who made us believe that we could win Tests abroad. We had a meeting in Sri Lanka where he said we should be number one in two years time. Exactly two years later, we are number one," he said.

"I respect him the most. He was a great bowler and a greater individual. He has helped me a lot to become what I am today. I know when I need his help, he is just a phone call away."

In the same breath, Harbhajan also remembered how his friend, the iconic Sachin Tendulkar, helped him add variations to his bowling.

"Whenever I bowl to Sachin in the nets, I ask him what I should be doing. When I tour Australia or New Zealand, I take his advice. He showed me how to bowl a slider, a kind of outswinger, which I have used in ODIs and even taken wickets in Tests. But a slider can only be bowled with a new ball."

Bhajji remembered his former captains and the support he has had from some outstanding fielders in the close cordon.

"My first captain was (Mohd) Azharuddin. Then I played a couple of games under Sachin. When Sourav became captain, he gave me a lot of confidence. I took a lot of wickets under him. He supported me all the way. (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni has been great with Team India. I just hope he continues doing what he is doing. Under each captain, I know I have given my 100 %."

"During my time, Shiv Sunder Das was very good in close-in cordon. Sadagopan Ramesh normally sleeps a lot but that day he was awake to take a blinder offered by Warne. It gave me a hat-trick. Aakash Chopra was outstanding. Cheteshwar Pujara was very good in South Africa."

"Then Rahul Dravid is very special. He has taken 50 catches off me. I hope another 50 will come very soon."

Harbhajan also remembered the great deliveries and great batsmen he has bowled to in his career.

"I remember my first wicket - Greg Blewitt. Then the doosra which got Michael Hussey in Bangalore. He left it outside his off-stump and it came a long way to hit the off-stump. I thought only Murali bowled those kind of balls!"

"Ricky Ponting, I got him many times, but he is a great batsman. Matthew Hayden, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh were all special."

The feisty off-spinner spoke about the worst moments of his life; the aggressive character that he is; as well as the charge that he needs to take an early wicket to get going.

"When I lost my dad, it was the worst period of my life. I didn't want to play cricket thereafter. He dreamt of me playing for the country. I am sure, wherever he is sitting today, he is happy his son has achieved something special."

"I have seen all the greats - Warne, Murali, Anil bhai and McGrath - become a different bowler when they take a wicket in their first spell. You feel more confident, you feel you can plan differently now that you have a wicket behind you."

"I am aggressive in my cricket. I am not there to make friends. Aggression is part of my success and I would try to have it as long as I can."

Harbhajan didn't forget to mention about the joy he has derived from his batting in the last two years.

"I have batted well for Team India in the last two years. It's nice to get runs and spend time in the middle. When you do it, you also learn how the wicket is playing. You feel when you can hit shots, imagine what proper batsmen would be doing themselves."

"I have worked hard on my batting. I feel when the team is in trouble, I should be holding bat and making sure I get the team out of trouble," he said.

India, West Indies held up by the rain in third Test

Roseau, (AFP): Seasonal rain washed away a large chunk of play, after Ishant Sharmahelped India make early inroads into the frail West Indies batting in the third Test on Wednesday.

Only 19 deliveries were possible after lunch, as the hosts reached 75 for three in their first innings, after they were sent in to bat on the opening day at Test cricket's newest outpost, Windsor Park.

Sharma continued to bowl impressively to give the Indians early control before lunch, collecting 2-23 from eight overs. As it falls in the middle of the Caribbean's hurricane season, the match was always going to be at the mercy of the weather, and the two sides were just getting down to business when the weather interrupted about 15 minutes after lunch.

The Indians were beginning to come under pressure from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, not out on 17 in his record 133rd Test appearance for West Indies, and fellow left-hander Darren Bravo, not on 22, the pair adding 40 - unbroken - for the fourth wicket.

Before lunch, Praveen Kumar made the breakthrough for the Indians inside the first half-hour, when Test newcomer Kieran Powell was caught at second slip for three, playing defensively forward to a delivery that moved across him.

Sharma then struck twice in the space of 12 deliveries, leaving West Indies reeling on 35 for three. He bowled Adrian Barath for 12, when the opener essayed a hook at a short, rising delivery, and diverted the ball into his stumps off the glove.

Sharma fortuitously captured his second scalp, when Kirk Edwards, another Test newcomer, was adjudged caught behind for six, essaying a hook at a flyer.

But TV replays suggested that English umpire Richard Kettleborough may have erred in his decision, since the ball may have ricocheted from the helmet.

It was however, a series-high 18th wicket for the beanpole Indian fast bowler. Indiamade one change to their line-up, with Munaf Patel replacing Abhimanyu Mithun, whileWest Indies dropped Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan to hand Test debuts to left-handed opener Powell and middleman Edwards.

India hold a 1-0 lead in the three Test series, following a 63-run victory inside four days in the first Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and a draw in the second Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

The visitors are looking to wrap up their second straight Test series victory over West Indies in the Caribbean. They are also seeking to create a piece of history by becoming the first Indian side to win a Test and One-day International series in the Caribbean.

Windsor Park is the 12th venue in the Caribbean to host a Test, and 106th worldwide. Chanderpaul is now the most capped West Indies player in Tests, eclipsing fast bowler Courtney Walsh.

Walter Devaram

Walter Devaram is the former Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu.He stood first and won a Gold Medal during his training session in the National Police Academy. He is an excellent marksman and an avid reader. He was instrumental in heading the Police force in Vellore Range and in tackling and wiping out the Naxal menace found rampant then in Tamil Nadu. He is now the President of the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association in Chennai.

After his retirement, he has been involved in a lot of charity work for the poor and downtrodden through the Goodwill Charitable Trust. He attained fame during his time as the head of the joint forces set up by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Government to apprehend forest brigand Veerappan.He also served as the vice chairman of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.

NZ to play Cook Islands in rugby league test

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand will play a rugby league test against the Cook Islands in Raratonga on Oct. 7 as part of its buildup to this year's Four Nations tournament.

New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Jim Doyle on Tuesday confirmed details of the first test match to be played in the Pacific Island nation of 20,000 people.

Doyle said New Zealand will also play Australia at Newcastle, New South Wales state, on Oct. 16 ahead of the opening match of the Four Nations on Oct. 28.

The Four Nations tournament, involving Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales, will be played in England and will culminate with the final at Elland Road stadium in Leeds on Nov. 19.

India take overall 34-run lead on Day 3

India were 23 for no loss at close in their second innings after dismissing West Indies for 190 in their first essay on a rain-affected third day of the second Test.
Openers Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund will resume batting on day four on three and eight respectively after just four deliveries were bowled after the tea break due to rain and bad light.
India now have taken an overall lead of 34 runs with all the second innings wicket intact.
Earlier, speedster Ishant Sharma grabbed his career-best six for 55 as India took a slender 11-run first innings lead over West Indies by dismissing the home side for 190 at the post-lunch session on Day 3.