Saturday, October 27, 2007
Sports News:
Pak ODI: Dravid dropped, Sehwag recalled
Rahul Dravid was on Saturday dropped from the 15-member Indian one-day squad for the first two matches of the upcoming home cricket series against Pakistan.
Dravid's exclusion was probably expected after his omission from the playing XI for India's last ODI, which was against Australia. India's cricket selectors announced the squad on Saturday in Ahmedabad. Virender Sehwag, who had been on the sidelines for quite sometime, has been recalled into the team announced by the BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah after a meeting of the selection committee.
The other changes include a fit-again Gautam Gambhir coming back in place of S Badrinath. Dinesh Karthik and Ramesh Powar are the other two changes from the team that was picked for the series against Australia.
Winning team
Dilip Vengsarkar had earlier said that a winning team would be chosen and that led to speculation that the selectors' rotation policy had been abandoned.
"We have decided to rest Rahul Dravid and I am sure he will be back," said Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of selectors.
But the chairman of selectors did say that those left out of this 15-man squad will be considered when the selectors next meet for the remainder of the Pakistan tour.
The one brand new face in the side is that of Uttar Pradesh medium pacer Praveen Kumar, who had considerable success on the domestic circuit. Lalchand Rajput has been retained as manager for the ODI series against Pakistan.
And, here's a look at the 15-member Indian team for the first two ODIs versus Pakistan at Guwahati and Mohali.
The team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, R P Singh, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth and Praveen Kumar. (With PTI inputs)
Sachin to be Test captain: Sources
Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to be captain for the next two test series against Pakistan and Australia, sources said. Sachin's captaincy has been finalised but an announcement is likely only after November 8.
A debate has been raging for quite some time now, as to whether there should be different captains for the test and one day teams. While M S Dhoni has been appreciated for the way he has captained the Twenty20 and one day teams, it really was a two horse race between Dhoni and Sachin for the test captaincy.
Roony leads Man U, Chelsea wins 6-0
Wayne Rooney scored his eighth goal in seven matches to lead Manchester United to a 4-1 win over Middlesbrough and first place in the Premier League.
Portugal winger Nani put United ahead in the third minute with a long-range shot and Jeremie Aliadiere equalized three minutes later. Rooney put United back in front and Carlos Tevez scored twice as United hit four goals in a fourth straight match, a feat it last achieved 100 years ago.
United's eighth straight Premier League win took the defending champion top of the standings because Arsenal wasn't in action until Sunday, when it was set to play Liverpool.
Didier Drogba scored twice as Chelsea secured its biggest ever Premier League win and moved up to fourth place Saturday with a 6-0 victory over Manchester City.
Reading beat visiting Newcastle 2-1, Birmingham twice came from a goal down to beat visiting Wigan 3-2, and Fulham won 1-0 at Sunderland.
United attacked Boro from the start at Old Trafford and Nani was allowed to run into the visitors' half before hitting a dipping shot from 30 meters (yards) over goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
It was Nani's second goal since he joined from Sporting Lisbon in the offseason and the first, against Tottenham in August, was also a fierce long-range shot.
Middlesbrough equalized in the sixth when Aliadiere headed in a cross by Tuncay Sanli to become the first visiting player to score at Old Trafford this season.
Rooney responded for United by hitting a free kick into the defensive wall before making it 2-1. Boro winger Stewart Downing gave the ball away to Nani, and the Portugal international passed to Rooney, who hit a shot past Schwarzer.
Carlos Tevez made the game safe in the 55th, passing to Rooney, getting the ball back from a back heel, and scoring. With five minutes left, the Argentina striker made sure United matched its feat of the 1907-08 season by hitting his team's fourth goal to take his season tally to four.
Arsenal can retake the lead if it avoids defeat at Liverpool on Sunday. The Gunners are unbeaten this season and on a 12-match winning streak in all competitions, including Tuesday's 7-0 win over Sparta Prague in the Champions League.
Also Sunday, Tottenham plays its first game since firing manager Martin Jol when it hosts Blackburn, Everton is at Derby, and Bolton hosts Aston Villa.
Frank Lampard set up three goals Saturday as Chelsea handed third-place Manchester City its third away loss of the season.
Michael Essien put Chelsea ahead at Stamford Bridge in the 16th with a shot past goalkeeper Joe Hart following a through ball from Lampard.
Lampard then hit a ball from halfway to Drogba in the area in the 30th and the Ivory Coast striker eluded defender Micah Richards to shoot into the net.
Drogba scored again in the 56th with a low volley after Hart saved an initial shot by Lampard. Drogba then set up Joe Cole for a 60th-minute goal, Salomon Kalou hit a shot through Hart's legs, and Andriy Shevchenko rounded off the scoring in the 90th.
Newcastle missed the chance to take fifth place when it lost at Reading. Dave Kitson put the home side ahead in the 53rd and, although the Magpies drew level through an own-goal from Michael Duberry, and Shane Long hit an 84th-minute winner.
"We've got the goal, we've come back into it, we've looked like were going to get the chance to maybe score again, and we've just killed ourselves," Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce said. "It was because of the pressure from Reading.
"Birmingham twice trailed to goals by Wigan striker Marcus Bent but Olivier Kapo hit his second goal of the game with a left-foot shot through a defender's legs and past goalkeeper Chris Kirkland in the 81st to give the home side victory.
Kenwyne Jones hit an 86th-minute equalizer, scoring for the third straight match, as Sunderland drew 1-1 with Fulham, while West Ham was at Portsmouth later Saturday.
Bristol City strengthened its hold on second place in the League Championship with a 1-0 win over Stoke, while Wolves dropped to fifth after a 3-0 loss at Ipswich that ended its three-match winning streak. West Brom took over third place with a 2-0 win over Norwich, while Ipswich went fourth.
Source : NDTV
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