Harbhajan Singh said that "I only compete with myself"

CHENNAI: Harbhajan Singh is not ready to give up. With the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra doing well, it's not easy for the man with 413 Test wickets to find his way back into the Indian team, but the fire still burns in the feisty Sardar. Speaking to TOI from Ahmedabad, where he is preparing for the Champions League, Harbhajan said that he is still good enough for a few more years of international cricket.

Can Sehwag reinvent himself in middle order ?

                                                                               With a lot of international cricket coming up for the Indian team, the team management must be bracing for selectorial headaches. Skipper MS Dhoni has his task cut out what with four batsmen gunning for the openers' slot, three for the middle-order and two in the all-rounder's position — all formats included.

The announcements of the India 'A', India Red and the India Blue squads last week have Delhi batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, along with Tamil Nadu's M Vijay and Mumbai's Rohit Sharma in the fray top of the order while lower down, Yuvraj Singh is back giving competition to Suresh Raina.

On Saturday, matters got just a little more complicated when reports suggested that Sehwag, who has been opening for India for almost a decade now, informed the cricket board that he's ready to be considered for the middle-order too.

Sehwag's willingness to bat down — which he's done only 10 times in his 180 innings as a Test batsman and 33 out of 245 times in One-dayers — shows how the competition has toughened. For Dhoni, it's a tough one too, because he'll have to take the call.

However, Sehwag's possible desperation and Dhoni's decision-making abilities aside, the question begging attention is if Sehwag deserves a slot in the middle-order or the comeback, when it happens, needs to be in the position that he's batted at for close to nine years now?

"Middle-order? No, never," says Sehwag's early coach AN Sharma. He is clear that Sehwag needs to come back into the Indian team, and that too in the opener's position. "I haven't spoken with him of late but there's no doubt in my mind about that," he says. "He's a special player, one who can win matches at the top of the order and has a proven record. He needs to bat in a position that he's best at and that is the opener's position," adds Sharma.

On that count, the selectors too seem to have little doubt because they've included the senior batsman in the India 'A' squad to open the innings. For Dhoni, while it's still a decision to make, the fact of the matter remains that at 33 going on 34, the right-handed batsman doesn't quite make the cut in the opening position.

"Given his stature, if he thinks he's in that frame of mind, then he should be given a chance. Because he started off as a middle-order batsman and had proved himself. But that can be considered only after he first makes himself available for selection. So, first you have to wait for that and then consider the next step," says former India selector Kiran More.

                               

Serbia to face Czech Republic in Davis Cup final

Serbia will face defending champions the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup final after defeating Canada 3-2 in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Janko Tipsarevic led Serbia into their second final in four years after defeating Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
Earlier, world number one Novak Djokovic had beaten Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/1), 6-2, 6-2 to level the tie at 2-2.
Serbia, the 2010 champions, will host the November 15-17 final against the Czechs who defeated Argentina 3-2 in their semi-final in Prague.
"Czech Republic is extremely difficult, they have Tomas Berdych who has been in the top 10 for years, they have Radek Stepanek who always plays good in Davis Cup, but we have Novak (Djokovic), Nenad (Zimonjic) and I hope we will have Victor back into our team," Tipsarevic said.
 Serbia are without Viktor Troicki, who is serving an 18-month doping ban handed down by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
After taking the first set, the 23rd-ranked Tipsarevic capitalised on the 41st-ranked Pospisil's claycourt inexperience to breeze through the second.
With the 10,000-strong crowd willing him on, Tipsarevic stretched out to 5-2 in the third set before Pospisil battled back for another tie-breaker.

The Canadian saved four match points before Tipsarevic finally sealed victory.

"I had a feeling it could have been much easier, but somehow I could not capitalise on my opportunities, but nevertheless I won and Serbia are in the final," Tipsarevic said after the match.

Earlier, Djokovic got Serbia back into the match by defeating Raonic. Raonic put up a strong fight against Djokovic in the first set, but his hopes took a major blow when he lost the tiebreak 7-1.

In the second set Djokovic took total command and convincingly made two service breaks.

The third set was similar as Djokovic grabbed another two breaks to lead 4-0 before Raonic, who defeated Tipsarevic in an exhausting four-hour match on Friday, managed briefly to get back into the match with a break of his own.

But Djokovic stepped up the pace again and broke on Raonic's next serve.

"I played at my own tempo from the very beginning and I knew the returns would be crucial, so I paid special attention to them," Djokovic said.

Serbia's coach Bogdan Obradovic couldn't hide satisfaction as his team reached a second final in four years.

"I could not expect anything better than this, turning Canada's 2-1 lead into victory with two 3-0 wins, this is really a spectacular result," Obradovic said.

Cristiano Ronaldo: “I am happy, I hope to retire in Real Madrid”

“Cristiano Ronaldo is and will eternally be madridista”, said Florentino Perez at the ceremony held to sign the Portuguese striker’s five-year extension

Realmadrid.com

Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his contract with Real Madrid this afternoon at a much-anticipated ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu’s director’s box. The Real player, who extends his commitment to the club for the next five seasons, was extremely happy about the agreement: “It’s a very special day for me. I want to thank my teammates, the coach, and, above all, the president. This contract makes me really happy and it’s a privilege to continue in this house. It’s given me a lot. For me it’s as if today were my first day here. I’m always going to give my best for this shirt. I hope that I’m here until I retire. This is a great club”. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez explained that today is one of those special days that marks Real’s history: “This is a great day for the club. We’ve made the dream of all madridistas come true. Cristiano is and will eternally be madridista”. 

After making his Reds debut, Marouane Fellaini said

Marouane Fellaini has thanked the Manchester United fans for their support during his Reds debut on Saturday; a comfortable 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. 

After making his Reds debut, Marouane Fellaini said:
“I am happy to have started at Old Trafford with the crowd who supported me,” Marouane said. “It was a fantastic debut and we won, which was most important. I was both nervous and excited. I thought I had to play my game and with my quality.
“I would like to say thank you to the supporters, it was good for me. The supporters helped me, it was important for me. Every time I will give my maximum for the club and for my team-mates.
“It was a good win, not hard or easy, just a good win. Man United want to win every game and we won today so it was good for our confidence ahead of the next game - because the next game is a big game, it is a Champions League game. So this is good for the confidence.”

Manager David Moyes was understandably pleased for Fellaini to take his bow and explained why his arrival to the action was key to securing three points.

An OnBoard photo of ‪MarcMarquez‬ crashing in ‪MotoGP‬ Warm Up at ‪Misano

An OnBoard photo of ‪MarcMarquez‬ crashing in ‪MotoGP‬ Warm Up at ‪Misano. He escaped injury and starts on pole this afternoon.

Bale scores on debut but Real Madrid held by Villarreal

Gareth Bale scored on his long-awaited Real Madrid debut on Saturday, but it still wasn't enough to give his side all three points as they were held 2-2 at Villarreal.

The Welshman, who joined Madrid from Tottenham for a reported world record fee of around £80 million ($124 million, 94 million euros) earlier this month, turned home Dani Carvajal's cross five minutes from half-time to send Madrid in level at the break after Cani had given Villarreal a deserved lead.

Bale was then withdrawn to make way for Angel Di Maria on the hour mark, but the visitors were in front just two minutes later when Cristiano Ronaldo's effort ricocheted past Sergio Asenjo in the Villarreal goal.

However, Giovani Dos Santos, another former Tottenham player, swept home after Diego Lopez had denied Cani a second 21 minutes from time to preserve Villarreal's unbeaten record on their return to the top flight as Real fell two points behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the table.