Dravid joins 11,000 Test run club

Senior batsman Rahul Dravid on Monday added another feather to his cap by becoming the second Indian, fifth overall, to score 11,000 runs in Test cricket.




Dravid went into the three-match series against Sri Lanka needing 177 runs to reach the milestone and he achieved it in
the opening day itself with an unbeaten 177.

It was an elegant innings that not only earned him an individual record but also came at a time when the team needed
it most.



Dravid's moment of glory came in the 89th over when he cut pacer Chanaka Welegedara for a single at deep point and he
raised his bat in acknowledgment of the cheers at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

The Karnataka batsman now joins the elite list which has compatriot Sachin Tendulkar at the top with 12,777 runs in
Test cricket.



West Indies batting great Brain Lara is second in the list with 11,953 runs from 131 matches, followed by the
Australian duo of Ricky Ponting (11,345 runs from 136 Tests) and Alan Border (11,174 runs in 156 matches).

Nicknamed as 'The wall', Dravid has an awe-inspiring Test career where he scored 27 hundreds and 57 half-centuries
at an average of 53.39 in 135 Tests.

The 36-year-old batsman also has a whopping 10,765 runs from 339 ODIs at a average of 39.43 where he scored 12 hundreds and 82 fifties.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni crossed 2,000 runs in Tests cricket in company of Dravid. Dhoni reached the mark during the course of his second Test century.

Gambhir and Dhoni win ICC top awards

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was named the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year at a pleasant ceremony here on Thursday.

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Reliance, Airtel, Infosys, TCS in Forbes Asia's 50 Best

Washington, Sep 24 (IANS) Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services are among the 13 Indian companies that have made it to the list of Forbes' 50 Best companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Chinese are working to an India centric plan

A day after India downplayed the China threat, calling it a media creation, CNN-IBN has access to a confidential intelligence note that suggests that Beijing is acting on a definite military plan on the border.

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Tendulkar's record-breaking run continues

Statistical highlights of the ODI tri-series final between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo.



# Sachin Tendulkar's 133-ball 138 is his highest against Sri Lanka. The hundred is also his highest in a final and his 44th overall.

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Gambhir ruled out of tri-series with groin injury

Gautam Gambhir will miss the Compaq Cup after straining a groin muscle, the Indian board announced on Thursday. He has been advised 10 days' rest, and is returning from Sri Lanka ahead of the tri-series.

The selectors will announce his replacement later in the day, the BCCI statement said, and he will join the squad on Friday, the day India play their first game of the tournament.

Two of the possible contenders for Gambhir's slot, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, are at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, undergoing rehabilitation for shoulder injuries. M Vijay is another possible replacement. Gambhir is expected to report at the NCA for assessment and rehabilitation.

Gambhir's injury means India will be without two of their three established openers in Sri Lanka: Virender Sehwag is already out with shoulder injury and will miss the Champions Trophy too. Gambhir's replacement notwithstanding, Dinesh Karthik, who opened in the ODIs in the West Indies in the absence of Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, is in the squad and likely to make the starting XI.

India will desperately want Gambhir back in time for the Champions Trophy, where they play their first match on September 26, against Pakistan in Centurion. They would ideally want at least a week's acclimatisation in South Africa, which means there will be a degree of risk involved should India take Gambhir to the Champions Trophy. It will be a tricky decision to make, because one such choice recently went wrong. Sehwag, who was injured but hoping to recover in time when the squad for World Twenty20 was announced, was taken along to England, but is yet to recover from his shoulder injury.

HTC Hero Launched in India

HTC has launched its second Android OS-based smartphone, the HTC Hero, in India. This handset will come loaded with intuitive HTC Sense user interface. The phone was first launched in June at an HTC event in London. Airtel customers are offered 100MB free data transfer for six months and pack of Airtel apps like Portfolio Manager, Hello Tune Manager, Weather Channel, Mobshare, In-Mobile search and City Search.
Most importantly, HTC Hero will have Android Market preinstalled. It comes with the support for Google apps like Gmail as well as Google Maps which isn't offered in Airtel exclusive HTC Magic handset. HTC will offer Hero for Rs. 31,990 in India but for Rs. 34,600 in Maharashtra; blame it on the 12.5 percent VAT rates in the city.

HTC Hero has 3.2-inch HVGA (320x280) TFT-LCD touchscreen that will add to HTC's new intuitive mobile interface dubbed HTC Sense. Well, as we noted earlier, HTC sense is the same Android UI that was dubbed as Donut/Rosie when it leaked. Hero packs Qualcomm 528MHz MSM7200A processor with 512MB ROM and 228MB RAM, all together promising a zippier UI navigating experience. Hero supports Adobe Flash which will aid the users for easy mobile web browsing and enjoy Flash-based multimedia content.

The best part is that HTC will integrate HTC Sense UI to the portfolio of its phones and hence, HTC Magic customers can expect new Sense update for their handsets too. HTC will also push firmware updates for Hero since many users had reported lagging and speed issues.

HTC Sense UI boasts of three major features - gesture control, widgets support and integration of different apps in single view. Gesture control offers features like the phone can be turned over to put into silence mode. Slew of widgets for social networks and productivity can be set to the homescreen - like Nokia and Samsung smartphones now allow. Single view of contact specific interaction is enabled by integrating the history of calls, SMS, and mails with the respective contact photos and Twitter/Facebook updates.

Boasting a 5 megapixel camera, Hero also has a built-in internal GPS antenna which can be used in future for geo-tagging the pictures clicked. HTC has added digital compass and accelerometer in Hero just like Apple had digital compass along with Accelerometer in iPhone 3GS.

Unlike in HTC Magic, music fanatics can hook up any headphones with 3.5mm audio jack in Hero and store more music on media card in microSD memory expansion slot. HTC assures a battery life of 7.8 hours with a 1350mAh lithium-ion battery.



Technical Specifications of HTC Hero:

Processor: 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A -
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288 MB
Operating System: Android
Display: 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320x480 HVGA resolution
Network HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz - Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Device Control: Trackball with Enter button
GPS: Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
Data connection interface: HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera: 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio slot: 3.5 mm audio port
Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Special Features: G-sensor, Digital Compass,
Audio supported formats: MP3, AAC (AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media" Audio 9
Video supported formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media Video 9
Dimensions (LxWxT): 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm (4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches)
Weight: 135 grams (4.76 ounces) with battery
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1350 mAh
Talk time:
Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA
Up to 470 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
Up to 750 hours for WCDMA
Up to 440 hours for GSM

HTC has smartly priced Hero lower than the iPhone 3G model and offers a number of features that puts the phone head-to-head with it.

ICC Awards 2009 : Indians lead nominees list

The list of nominees shortlisted for the various LG ICC Annual Awards for 2009 was announced in Mumbai on Wednesday.

In the initial list of nominees, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, left-hander Gautam Gambhir and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh made the grade for the Cricketer of the Year award.

The trio have also been nominated, in the initial list, for the Test player of the year award along with stylish VVS Laxman.



For the One-day International player of the year, skipper Dhoni, dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh and opener Virender Sehwag are in the initial list of nominees.

Amit Mishra was nominated as the emerging player of 2009.

Indian pacer Zaheer Khan also found his name in the list of nominees, after he was named as a strong contender for the T20 Performer of the Year award.

In the women's section, Mithali Raj and Priyanka Roy were nominated.

The sixth ICC annual awards ceremony is scheduled to be held at Johannesburg during the ICC Champions Trophy.


Individual Awards


Cricketer of the Year

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Saqib Al Hasan (Ban)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Graham Onions (Eng)
Thilan Samaraweera (SL)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Harbhajan Singh (Ind)
Graeme Smith (SA)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)
Daniel Vettori (NZ)
AB de Villiers (SA)

Test Player of the Year

Stuart Broad (Eng)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Saqib Al Hasan (Ban)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
VVS Laxman (Ind)
Jesse Ryder (NZ)
Thilan Samaraweera (SL)
Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI)
Peter Siddle (Aus)
Harbhajan Singh (Ind)
Graeme Smith (SA)
Dale Steyn (SA)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)
Graeme Swann (Eng)
Daniel Vettori (NZ)
AB de Villiers (SA)



ODI Player of the Year

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Andrew Flintoff (Eng)
Chris Gayle (WI)
Umar Gul (Pak)
Martin Guptill (NZ)
Michael Hussey (Aus)
Nuwan Kulasekara (SL)
Ajantha Mendis (SL)
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)
Yuvraj Singh (Ind)
Virender Sehwag (Ind)
Thilan Thushara (SL)


Emerging Player

Martin Guptill (NZ)
Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus)
Philip Hughes (Aus)
Amit Mishra (Ind)
Graham Onions (Eng)
Kemar Roach (WI)
Jesse Ryder (NZ)
Peter Siddle (Aus)


Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year

Rizwan Cheema (Can)
Khurram Chohan (Can)
Alex Cusack (Ire)
Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned)
Trent Johnston (Ire)
Neil McCallum (Sco)
Kevin O'Brien (Ire)
Niall O'Brien (Ire)
William Porterfield (Ire)
Boyd Rankin (Ire)
Edgar Schiferli (Ned)
Steve Tikolo (Ken)
Regan West (Ire)
Bas Zuiderent (Ned)


Twenty20 International Performance of the Year

Shahid Afridi
Saeed Ajmal
Dwayne Bravo
Alex Cusack
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Chris Gayle
Umar Gul
David Hussey
Sanath Jayasuriya
Zaheer Khan
Ajantha Mendis
Wayne Parnell
Abdur Razzak
David Warner


Women's Cricketer of the Year

Suzie Bates (NZ)
Holly Colvin (Eng)
Charlotte Edwards (Eng)
Laura Marsh (Eng)
Sana Mir (Pak)
Shelley Nitschke (Aus)
Mithali Raj (Ind)
Karen Rolton (Aus)
Priyanka Roy (Ind)
Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)
Claire Taylor (Eng)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)
Haidee Tiffin (NZ)
Aimee Watkins (NZ)


Umpire of the Year

Billy Bowden
Aleem Dar
Steve Davis
Ian Gould
Tony Hill
Daryl Harper
Asad Rauf
Simon Taufel

IPL-II likely to take Rs. 34 crore hit

he IPL season I in India turned out to be a money-spinner. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) grossed Rs. 662 crore from it and met its commitments to the eight franchises paying Rs. 230 crore as their share from the central and local revenue pool and distributed Rs. 202 crore to 25 State units.

The BCCI also paid Rs. 43 crore to the International Management Group (IMG), a global sports entertainment and media company that was involved right through from the IPL foundation to executing the event.

Higher expenditure
Having received their share of the money, the State units expected an increase from the IPL season II. But the shifting of the IPL to South Africa resulted in higher expenditure and an estimated deficit of Rs. 34 crore as against a surplus of Rs. 15 crore from the first season.

According to sources, the BCCI has estimated an expenditure of Rs. 73 crore on production costs for staging the tournament in South Africa as against an actual expenditure of Rs.51 crore incurred in India last year.

The BCCI has also drawn up an estimated expenditure of Rs. 148 crore (tournament expenses) for the event in South Africa as against an actual cost of Rs.73 crore in India. The BCCI has also estimated a payment of Rs. 37 crore to IMG as agency fees and commission for season II.

After the BCCI AGM in September 2008, the IMG fee was renegotiated to Rs. 33 crore.

“It was discussed at the Working Committee and the BCCI was advised to renegotiate,” said a representative of the association who attended the Working Committee here in the second week of August.

A BCCI official said that members advised us to renegotiate with IMG because a large part of the matches are organised by State associations.

After the IPL I season in India BCCI and IMG officials met in Bangkok — all the franchises were also present — and a number of times after the IPL II in London and in Mumbai. The BCCI requested IMG to come up with a fresh proposal with regard to its remuneration. The IMG was not prepared for this.

Rival stands
On August 28, the BCCI officially informed the IMG that their services will not be required anymore, while the IMG’s senior vice-president, Andrew Wildblood has replied saying: “Since the proposed fixed fee variation (Rs. 33 crore) has not been ratified by the BCCI, the original commission-based system remuneration continue to apply.

It’s also perhaps worth pointing out that, despite the effort and commitment made by IMG to successfully relocate the tournament to South Africa in 2009, IMG has yet to be paid anything other than an amount suggested on account of our out of pocket expenses.”

Mr. Wildblood has finally told N. Srinivasan, Secretary, BCCI that that “the clarifications in this letter will lead you to reconsider your position and in the meantime we reserve all our rights and remedies at law under and in respect of the contract.”

While the BCCI-IMG tussle looks to continue and would be discussed at the IPL Governing Council meeting here on Wednesday, the BCCI has estimated a combined payment of Rs. 303 crore from the Central and Local Pool revenue to the franchises (as against their combined annual fee of Rs. 289 crore to the IPL) and Rs. 202 crore to the 25 State units from the projected Rs. 774 crore revenue earned from season II.

The contribution from media rights is put at Rs. 355 crore.

2011 WC | Pakistan forsakes host status

Pakistan has forsaken the right to be a host nation of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2011.

At the meeting of the Central Organising Committee (COC) of the CWC here on July 14, Chairman Sharad Pawar had told the committee that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would continue to be the host and he would request the PCB to nominate three representatives to the COC.

The PCB had acceded to the request and nominated its Chairman Ijaz Butt, Wasim Bari, Director, Human Resources, PCB and Subhan Ahmad, Manager International, PCB to attend the COC meeting here on Wednesday.

However, the outcome of the meeting between David Morgan, President, ICC and Mr. Butt at Dubai last Thursday (August 27) has confirmed that only India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will remain the host for the quadrennial event.

“The ICC has bought the host rights from the PCB at the meeting in Dubai and Pakistan will not be a host nation. The PCB representatives will not be here for the meeting,” said a functionary of the COC-CWC 2011.

An official release from the ICC last week said: “The ICC and PCB have reached a settlement to the dispute relating to the staging of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

In an agreement with the commercial arm of the ICC, the PCB will retain its host fees and also receive an additional payment as reasonable compensation for the loss of hosting rights that it would have enjoyed had it hosted the matches on Pakistan soil.

“It was further agreed that the PCB would be free of its liabilities and obligations associated with hosting matches during the tournament, including the location of the tournament secretariat which had originally been set for Lahore.

It is anticipated that the settlement will be signed by both parties at which point the PCB has agreed to withdraw its legal proceedings against the ICC.”

After relocating 14 matches (that was allotted to Pakistan) to India (8), Sri Lanka (3) and Bangladesh (3), the ICC Executive Board maintained that the PCB would receive $ 750,000 per match, totalling $ 10.5 million.

Sizeable compensation
Mr. Butt made a public statement that the PCB (after the settlement with the ICC) may receive an additional sum of $1.5 million with a potential increase of another $6 million before the start of the event in 2011.

“At the moment the figure is around $12 million, but I hope it could go up to $ 18 million by the time World Cup begins in 2011,” Butt told reporters at Lahore. Last month Shashank Manohar, President, BCCI said that the three boards of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh agreed to host 14 extra matches together without extra compensation.

India will now stage 29 matches including a quarterfinal, semifinal and final, Sri Lanka 12 (including a quarterfinal and semifinal) and Bangladesh 8 (including the opening ceremony at Dhaka (likely to be on February 21) and two quarterfinals).

The nearly three-month long impasse has ended with the PCB extracting enough concessions from the ICC.

COC meeting
The COC members at the meeting here on Wednesday would be free to deliberate on the operational planning and logistics aspect, including inspection of venues, schedule, guarantees to be submitted by the three boards and the budgeted sum of $ 115 million.

Indian market has to grow in a balanced manner'

Mumbai, Aug. 21 -- Swiss believes India is a large market of affluent people who can buy first class services, said Holger Hatty, its chief commercial officer, in an interview. Excerpts. On the Indian market India is high on our agenda. Hence we are introducing first class here. India is a large market of affluent people who can buy first class. We want to be the best premium European carrier from India. The market witnessed too much competition and airlines built too much capacity. This market was very much regulated and once it opened up, it opened suddenly. The market has to grow in a balanced manner. On its offering Our first class would be the main differentiator. We are targeting top businessmen, high net worth individuals and bollywood personalities. We are replacing the 10-year old business class with ultra modern facilities. Our premium positioning would help us earn more revenue from other classes. On difficult times People do tighten their purse strings in difficult times but one should not divert from ones strategy. We are a premium carrier. We are convinced that in the long-term, first-class products will excel. There can't be Swiss without the premium first class.

India's Ekta Chaudhary out of Miss Universe contest

Atlantis Paradise Island (The Bahamas), Aug 24 (IANS) Delhi girl Ekta Chaudhary Monday failed to make it to the top 15 finalists of the Miss Universe 2009 contest here, dashing hopes of getting the crown back to India.

The top 15 finalists who will be vying for the Miss Universe crown are from Albania, Australia, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Iceland, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the US and Venezuela.

These finalists were selected from among 80 contestants who appeared in cocktail dresses and then reappeared in swim suits.

The winner will be crowned by reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela.