Sourav Ganguly says, Yuvraj Singh has 200 per cent chance to make India return

Kolkata:  Delighted to see Yuvraj Singh get his silken touch back, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said the stylish left-handed batsman deserves a comeback into the national team.

"It's really great to see him bat in full flow once again. I'm not surprised that he's back again. He has 200 per cent chance to make a return," Ganguly said. (Read Blog: Yuvraj and the over that changed everything)

The national selectors are slated to meet on September 30 to pick India's squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia at home.

"The middle-order must have Yuvraj Singh. With due respect to Dinesh Karthik, I think Yuvraj is a more deserving No 4 batsman," Ganguly added.
Under Yuvraj's leadership, India A might have lost the three-match unofficial ODI series against West Indies A 2-1 on Thursday, but Yuvraj made a big statement by scoring a blistering 89-ball 123 in the opening match and then followed it up with 40 and 61 in the remaining games. (Read: Yuvraj Singh's India A concede series against West Indies A)

N.Srinivasan wants to be BCCI chief again

Embattled but defiant nonetheless, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President N Srinivasan on Thursday declared that he will contest for the top post in the upcoming Board elections in Chennai on September 29.

"I am going to stand (for re-election as president). You are press, all of you are giving the numbers (in support and against me)," said Srinivasan after attending BCCI's marketing committee meeting here.

Srinivasan is bidding to get re-elected as the president of the BCCI for the third year running under the Board's two plus one year tenure rule after having completed two years at the helm.

Srinivasan has been under a lot of pressure since the spot-fixing scandal broke out and his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan's name cropped up in investigations into betting during the Indian Premier League's sixth season held in April-May.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's president stepped aside in June as the BCCI chief and let former president Jagmohan Dalmiya take over the day-to-day work.

However, he chaired the meeting of the disciplinary committee held in Delhi earlier this month that imposed life bans on cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan following a probe by BCCI's Anti-Corruption and Sceurity Unit chief Ravi Sawani for indulging in spot-fixing in IPL6.

Srinivasan also said the report of south units holding a meeting in southern region Chennai recently was not correct as the media got the venue wrong.

Two units of south zone, Goa and Andhra CA, did not attend the meeting, according to the reports.

"First of all the information is wrong. The meeting did not take place (at the venue) where media is saying," said the BCCI chief.

"I don't know what bearing it has (on the upcoming elections)," he added.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/n-srinivasan-bcci-chief-shashank-manohar/1/310596.html

Lionel Messi matches Ronaldo's hat-trick

Lionel Messi marked his 80th Champions League match with a hat trick on Wednesday as Barcelona began its campaign in Group H with a 4-0 rout of Ajax.

The Argentina forward opened the scoring at Camp Nou Stadium with a free kick in the 22nd minute, doubled the hosts' advantage in the 55th on the break and, after Gerard Pique's 69th-minute goal, added another 15 minutes from fulltime. The goals took his cumulative tally in the competition to 62 - nine short of Raul Gonzalez's all-time record of 71 goals in 144 appearances.

Messi now stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat trick four times in the tournament.

"From (Frank) Rijkaard until now, the coaches that have come through here, every two or three games they have talked about how surprised they are by him, and I am just one more," said Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, who will travel to his native Argentina following the death of his father on Tuesday.

Despite some lethargic moments late in the first half, Barcelona eased to the win thanks to Messi's goals and the team's near complete control of possession.

When Ajax did manage to create a scoring opportunity, Valdes was there to keep a clean sheet.

"As the game went on we adapted better as we figured out what to do," said Messi. "We couldn't put pressure on them at the beginning because they read the match perfectly."

AC Milan beat Celtic 2-0 in the night's other Group H game.

True to both teams' well-established playing styles, Barcelona and Ajax kept the ball on the turf. While Ajax was limited to former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic's sprints down the left side, Barcelona soon focused on Neymar cutting in from the left flank.

But it fell to Messi to get the hosts going after he was fouled while dribbling across the edge of the area following a neat passing combination with Dani Alves.

From that prime spot, Messi sent a left-foot shot off the left post, with the ball beating outstretched goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer before ricocheting into the far side of the net.

"We know that Messi can always score, and he did," said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, a former Barcelona defender. "His free kick was very good, very fast.

"I can't be happy. When you allow four goals you can't be. But I saw moments that we can build on for the games ahead."

Ricardo van Rhijn almost answered for Ajax in the 31st when Bojan picked him out with a cross, only for Valdes to smother his header.

The home crowd became nervous near the end of the first half, and Barcelona apparently took note by showing the defensive pressure Martino had said was his top priority to restore after the break.

The increased intensity paid off when Barcelona recovered the ball and Sergio Busquets spotted Messi running unmarked down the right side. Messi took his pass, cut back to bring Stefano Denswil to the ground and used his left foot to score.

Neymar, in his European debut, set up Gerard Pique to add Barcelona's third goal with a long cross.

Ajax lost possession near its area and Xavi Hernandez laid the ball off for Messi to take his time before driving it between a pair of defenders and into the corner of the net for his third goal.

Valdes had his moment of glory one minute later in the 76th when he blocked Kolbeinn Sigthorsson's penalty after Javier Mascherano fouled Thulani Serero in the box.

"We played a better second half," said Martino. "We were more comfortable than in the first and took control of the game. It was a good performance, not as brilliant as the 4-0 looks, but we won it fairly.

"Barcelona is full of individual talents. Today we can talk about Messi and Valdes, another day Xavi or Neymar. It is normal that one of them rises to the occasion."

Ajax's defeat was its ninth consecutive loss to a Spanish opponent. Ajax's last victory in Spain dates back even farther to the 1996-97 season when De Boer helped the Dutch team win at Atletico Madrid.

The two four-time champions had never met before in Europe's top-tier competition. Even so, fewer teams from different countries have stronger ties.

Dutch great Johan Cruyff led Ajax to three straight European titles from 1971-73 as a player before moving to Barcelona, where he would later return as a coach to guide it to its first European title in 1992

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/lionel-messi-hat-trick-barcelona-beat-ajax-4-0-champions-league-group-h-match-cristiano-ronaldo/1/310590.html

Chelsea lost the Champions League group stage opener for the first time

After the euphoric return, reality is biting for Jose Mourinho, and the Chelsea homecoming is quickly going sour.

Having already presided over the worst Premier League start in Roman Abramovich's decade as owner, Mourinho is now reeling from the London club losing its Champions League group stage opener for the first time.

Swiss champion Basel had never won a game in England until coming from behind on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge to beat Chelsea 2-1 in Group E.

The winner came in the 82nd minute after Marco Streller seized on slack defense at the near post to meet a corner and flick a header past goalkeeper Petr Cech.

"I am responsible for everything," Mourinho said. "Especially after a bad result."

Although Oscar lit up a drab start by curling Chelsea in front before half time, the 2012 European Cup winners and reigning Europa League champions missed a succession of chances to extend their lead after the break.

And Basel, which beat Manchester United in the 2011-12 group stage, made Chelsea pay for its wastefulness when Mohamed Salah began the comeback in the 71st by bending in the equalizer.

Streller then inflicted the loss that came exactly six years after Mourinho's first three-year Chelsea reign was ended by Abramovich following a drab Champions League draw against Rosenborg.

This was even more embarrassing for the west London club.

Not since October 2003, when Claudio Ranieri was in charge at the start of Abramovich's ownership, had Chelsea even lost a game in the group stage.

"We go home sad," said Mourinho, who wants to avoid Chelsea dropping into the Europa League to defend its title.

This setback comes with Chelsea already three points off the Premier League lead after four games, having opened with two wins, a draw and a loss to sit in sixth place.

"We still believe in each other," Mourinho said. "We need to keep together, stick together and try against Fulham (on Saturday) to get the result to wake up the team for a smile."

The shock win drew acclaim from Basel's famous fans.

"Fantastic evening for Basel supporters, wow!" tennis great Roger Federer wrote on Twitter. "I am so happy, thanks FC_Basel."

The win ended Chelsea's 13-match unbeaten home run in European competitions.

"Winning here at Chelsea against a manager like Mourinho is a great achievement," Basel coach Murat Yakin said through a translator. "But I've spoken with my players and we have to remain modest ... there is a lot ahead of us still."

Basel is only off top spot in Group E because Schalke beat Steaua Bucharest 3-0.

Winning European football elite competition remains the obsession at Stamford Bridge despite the Champions League finally being won under former coach Roberto Di Matteo in 2012.

Against Basel, there was no Fernando Torres in the starting lineup or even on the bench, and Demba Ba only came on in the second half with the teams locked at 1-1.

Instead, Samuel Eto'o, recently signed from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, led the attack.

But the Cameroon striker, a four-time African player of the year and the world's best-paid star while at Anzhi, couldn't even muster a shot on goal.

"Samuel maybe lacked sharpness and this doesn't surprise really when you are some years in a place that doesn't motivate you and you are out of the big stage, maybe you're there not for the right reasons and you lose hunger and appetite," Mourinho said. "Now he has that back, he has that motivation."

Chelsea's breakthrough instead came from Oscar in the 45th minute, with David Luiz, who had concerned Mourinho with his sloppiness in defense, bringing the ball forward.

The Brazil center back fed Frank Lampard and Oscar connected with a throughball before striking low past goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

After an insipid first half - the type of performance fans jeered during Rafa Benitez's interim reign last year - Chelsea discovered some spark after the break.

But, first the cross bar denied Oscar and, when he tried to curl a shot into the net from a similar position outside of the area, the ball went wide.

The pressure was increasing, but a second goal proved elusive.

A towering header from Branislav Ivanovic was saved by Sommer at close range and the defender saw another header from a free kick nodded clear.

The game really came to life when Basel finally found its stride to stun the hosts.

Slick build-up play allowed Marco Strelle set up Salah to curl in the leveler from the edge of the area.

Then, Chelsea defenders left Streller in space to meet Kay Voser's corner at the near post and compound the early anxieties for Chelsea at the start of a season that promised so much with the morale-boosting return of Mourinho.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jose-mourinho-basel-beat-chelsea-champions-league-opener-group-e-stamford-bridge/1/310601.html

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.