Cheteshwar Pujara ICC 2013 annual awards winner

Cheteshwar Pujara bagged the 'Emerging Cricketer of the Year' trophy in the ICC annual awards announced on December 13, 2013. Pujara became the second fastest Indian to get to 1000 Test runs, during the course of his double hundred against Australia in March at Hyderabad, where he put on a 370-run record second wicket partnership with Murali Vijay. Other nominees were Trent Boult, Joe Root, Mitchell Starc.

Man city win match against Arsenal by 6-3

Man City 6

Agüero 14′ Negredo 39′ Fernandinho 50′, 88′ Silva 66′ Yaya Touré 90′ (pen)

Arsenal 3

Walcott 31′, 63′ Mertesacker 90′

• FT 90 +7
• HT 2-1

Manchester City delivered an ominous message to their Premier League title rivals as leaders Arsenal were thrashed.

Manuel Pellegrini's side closed the gap on the Gunners to three points with another in a growing list of devastating attacking displays at home this season.
And they have piled on the agony for North London's two contenders as Arsenal suffered following City's recent 6-0 demolition of Tottenham.
The visitors may point to some questionable offside calls and a rejected penalty claim - but in reality they were ultimately blown away by the sheer firepower of a City side who have now scored 35 league goals at home this season and in 58 consecutive games at Etihad Stadium.
City are not simply beating teams at home, they are dismantling them and if they can replicate part of this form away from home they must surely be title favourites.
Sergio Aguero's early goal was cancelled out by Theo Walcott but Alvaro Negredo put City back in front before half-time.
City's potency was not reduced by a calf injury to Aguero, with Fernandinho extending their lead before Walcott's second restored some optimism for Arsene Wenger's side.
But the hosts were coming at Arsenal from all angles, with David Silva and Fernandinho again finding the target before Per Mertesacker's header made it 5-3 in stoppage time.
City's brilliance deserved the final word - and so it proved as Yaya Toure's penalty gave them another six goals in what is become a catalogue of virtuoso performances at home.

As expected, City manager Pellegrini restored Costel Pantilimon in goal, despite Joe Hart playing his part in the midweek Champions League win against holders Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

Aguero has been City's spearhead and he was at it again after only 13 minutes, showing perfect technique once more to sweep in a right-foot volley after Martin Demichelis had flicked on Samir Nasri's corner.
Negredo has proved a potent partner for Aguero and he should have added a second from Vincent Kompany's pass but could only find the side-netting.
Arsenal got some encouragement when a poor punch from Pantilimon landed at the feet of Mesut Ozil but the German could not take advantage.
It was a short reprieve for City as Arsenal were level just after the half-hour. Toure was guilty of conceding possession to Aaron Ramsey and then Ozil crossed for Walcott to side-foot past Pantilimon from the edge of the area.
Arsenal were only on equal terms for seven minutes, though, before Negredo made no mistake with a sliding near-post finish from Pablo Zabaleta, who had crossed after being found by Toure's perfect pass.
There was further bad news for Arsenal in the aftermath of the goal with defender Laurent Koscielny sustaining a deep laceration to his knee trying to stop Negredo and being taken off on a stretcher.
City suffered a setback of their own early in the second half when Aguero, who seemed to be holding the back of his calf, limped off to be replaced by Jesus Navas.
Pellegrini's side, however, have a rich variety of scoring sources and Fernandinho showed his threat five minutes after the break when he took aim and curled a low 25-yard shot out of the reach of the stretching Wojciech Szczesny.
Arsenal were not giving up and had a penalty claim rejected for handball against Zabaleta from Jack Wilshere's through-ball - with Olivier Giroud also glancing a header wide from Bacary Sagna's cross.
And their continuing threat was confirmed when Walcott got his second to give the Gunners hope again, another curling drive that flew into the top corner.

However, Arsenal's problem was they had no answer to City's pace, power and skill on the attack and Silva opened up the two-goal gap again after 66 minutes, giving Szczesny no chance from Navas's cross.

Pantilimon had endured a mixed game but illustrated why Pellegrini has placed his faith in him with a flying one-handed stop from Wilshere.
But City looked unstoppable going forward and more pressure was rewarded late on when Fernandinho slipped through some flimsy Arsenal defending to score the fifth.
Mertesacker's injury-time header provided nothing in the way of consolation as there was still time for City to score again, Toure beating Szczesny from the spot after the keeper brought down substitute James Milner.

Neymar made it five goals in two games

Neymar made it five goals in two games as Barcelona went three points clear at the top of La Liga with a hard-earned win over Villarreal at the Nou Camp.

The 21-year-old Brazil forward followed up his Champions League hat-trick against Celtic by scoring a penalty after Mario had handled.
Villarreal stunned the Nou Camp by levelling, Mateo Musacchio heading home from a corner.

But Neymar rounded off a week to remember with a close-range finish.

Barcelona move clear of nearest rivals Atletico Madrid, who entertain Valencia on Sunday, after a 23rd successive home league win, a run stretching back to October 2012.
But Gerardo Martino's side were made to work hard by a Villarreal side who will be disappointed they did not come away with a point.
Alex Song had already hit the woodwork when Mario was harshly adjudged to have handled Jordi Alba's 30th minute cross, Neymar sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.
Sergio Asenjo had little to do until then but the Villarreal keeper produced a fine stop to frustrate Alexis Sanchez five minutes before the interval.
Villarreal, who are fifth in the table after winning promotion last season, levelled three minutes into the second half when Musacchio took advantage of slack marking to head home from a corner. Barcelona were rattled.
Former Tottenham forward Giovani dos Santos went close to giving the visitors the lead before Neymar restored Barca's lead with a simple tap-in after a delightful move involving Alexis and Cesc Fabregas.
The hosts, who are now five points clear of third-placed Real Madrid, finished strongly, with Andres Iniesta denied by another fine save from Asenjo.

Osasuna vs Real Madrid match draw by 2-2

Real Madrid fought back from 2-0 down with 10 men to rescue a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at lowly Osasuna.

Two headers from Oriol Riera put the hosts in command before Real defender Sergio Ramos was sent off before half-time for two bookable offences.
Isco halved the deficit moments after Ramos' dismissal to give Madrid hope.
Osasuna also played the final 12 minutes with 10 men after Francisco Silva was sent off before Pepe headed in the equaliser.
But Saturday's draw saw Carlo Ancelotti's team, who are third behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, drop more points in the title race.

They are five points adrift of arch rivals Barca, who won 2-1 against visitors Villarreal.

Madrid have now only won once in their last six visits to Pamplona, but having scored 24 goals in their previous five league games, they started the game confidently.
Cristiano Ronaldo dragged an early shot wide before the hosts went ahead with virtually their first attack of the game.
Marc Bertran's excellent in-swinging cross was met by the unmarked Riera at the back post.
The Osasuna striker doubled their advantage six minutes before half-time by nodding into an empty net after a fine save from Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Ramos was sent off for the 18th time in his Madrid career after clashing with Osasuna midfielder Roberto Torres, but his team pulled a goal back when Isco blasted into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
As his side toiled after the break, Ancelotti decided to withdraw Gareth Bale before the hour mark as Argentina winger Angel di Maria replaced the Welshman.
Osasuna were also reduced to 10 men when Silva dived in on Ronaldo and was rightly shown his second yellow card of the match.
And his team were punished from the resulting free-kick as Pepe climbed highest to power Isco's cross into the bottom corner.

India win Kabaddi World Cup 2013 by beating Pakistan

LUDHIANA: India beat Pakistan 48-39 to emerge champions of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi played at the Guru Nanak Stadium here tonight.

Defending champion India retained the title fourth consecutive term defeating arch-rival Pakistan with a margin of nine points.

Besides, the winner's trophy, the hosts bagged a cash award of Rs two crore while Pakistan got the runners-up trophy and Rs one crore.

The best raider and stopper of the game, both from the Indian team, were awarded tractors.

In the first-half it was a tiff battle between the two sides. However, as the match progressed India slowly started dominating and finally outsmarted the Pakistani outfit.

Braving cold weather, chief guest of the final -- Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and other dignitaries were present till the match concluded close to midnight.

Sharif, Badal and Sukhbir Singh distributed prizes to the teams.

Chase dreams as they come true- Sahin Tendulkar to youth

NEW DELHI: Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday advised youngsters in the country to chase their dreams to excel in their respective fields, but discouraged them from wasting too much time on modern gadgets.

Tendulkar, speaking at an NDTV programme to honour 25 Greatest Global Living Indians, said that dreams come true if one chases them hard.

"I would encourage the youth of India to dream because dreams come true if you chase them hard," he said after accepting the award from President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

"I also at times had to face defeat but the most important thing I learnt from my sport was when you are defeated you stand up to face another challenge.

"I am extremely honoured to receive this award. I was asked to give a message to youth of India and I could not think of anything than the advice I got from my grandmother who said 'Health is wealth, take care of your health'," said Tendulkar, who recently retired from international cricket after an illustrious career spanning 24 years.

He asked the youth to engage in outdoor activities to keep themselves fit and in good health so that they can focus on their respective fields.

"When today, I look at the current generation, they are so much into videogames, laptops, computers, mobile phones which unfortunately only exercises your thumbs. I would urge our youngsters to engage themselves in outdoor activities, play some sport, find some passion in life where you could be competing against your friends," he said.

"It is about fitness and good health which will allow you concentrate longer, focus harder in whatever you want to be in life," said Tendulkar who retired with almost all batting records in his kitty.

Tendulkar, who hit a phenomenal 100 international centuries, said he had always played the game in the right spirit.

"For me, when my career started 24 years ago, my sport got me lot of things. To play the game in the right spirit, respect the opposition, not to take things for granted, have strategies as the standard of playing got better and better, to be able to execute your plans," he said.

The other 24 eminent persons honoured were Kapil Dev, Leander Paes, Ela Bhatt, Hariprasad Chaurasia, CNR Rao, Amartya Sen, SS Badrinath, Fali Nariman, Indra Nooyi, M S Swaminathan, Anish Kapoor, AR Rehman, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Mukesh Ambani, NR Narayana Murthy, Ratan Tata, Syed Haider Raza, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Vikram Seth, Yusuf Khwaja Hamied and Zubin Mehta.

Saina wins after two defeats in Superseries Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: After two successive defeats, Saina Nehwal finally managed to post a hard-fought win over Yeon Ju Bae of Korea in her last Group B match but it was not good enough to ensure a semifinal berth for the Indian ace shuttler in the BWF World Superseries Finals on Friday.

The 23-year-old Indian registered a 21-11, 17-21, 21-13 win over Bae in a match that last for one hour. It was Saina's sixth victory over Bae, who had an upper hand against the Indian recently in French Super Series and World Champioship.

World number six Saina had suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Minatsu Mitani of Japan and world number one Chinese shuttler Li Xuerui in her two matches of Group B, which had put her in a must-win situation on Friday to salvage any hope of a semifinal qualification.

A straight-game victory over Bae would have brightened her chances but after the Korean snatched the second game away, it dashed the hopes of the Olympic bronze medallist to reach the semis.

Later in the day, Xuerui packed off Mitani 21-11, 21-14 to make it a three-way tie among Saina, Bae and Mitani for the second place in the group.

However, according to the tournament rules, when the difference of games won and games lost was calculated, Bae was found ahead of Saina and Mitani and the Korean joined Xuerui as the runners-up from Group B.

After lying low for the last two days, Saina came out with all cylinders blazing against Bae. She moved well across the court and played an aggressive game.

In the opening game, from 6-6, Saina registered six straight points to gather a healthy lead. The six point run was broken when Saina hit long but the Indian continued to dominate and reached 15-7. But a series of unforced errors saw Bae trim the lead to 10-15.

Saina then engaged her rival in an aggressive rally and finished it with a good net play. The left-handed Bae found it difficult to negotiate Saina's better net play and allowed the Indian to take a 18-10 lead.

A couple of points more and Saina was sitting comfortably on a 10 game points but the Indian rushed into a net shot as Bae saved one game point but the Hyderabadi didn't make any more mistake and nosed ahead when the Korean hit wide.

The second game was a tight battle as Saina had to dig deep into her reserves to keep her nose ahead. Both the shuttlers played out of their skin and engaged in some amazing rallies and net duel but it was Bae who enjoyed a narrow 11-10 lead at the break.

Saina was more aggressive after the interval but Bae still managed to win points with the help of her repertoire of strokes - first a drop at the fore court and then a powerful smash.

Bae soon reached 15-12 but Saina tried to stay close with her baseline smashes.

As the game wear on, Saina hit harder and harder to make it 16-17 but Bae was not ready to take it lying low. The Korean made Saina run back and froth in the court and changed the pace to slowly reach 20-16. Saina saved a game point but the Indian served long to allow Bae come back into the contest.

In the decider, Saina opened up a 4-0 lead but she rushed to a net shot to allow Bae a point. Bae tried to tire out the Indian with a long rally but a right judgement allowed Saina to lead 6-1.

Bae slowly made it 4-8 but the Indian ensured that she enjoyed a six-point advantage at the break.

After the interval, Bae tried to get back into the match but Saina ensured that she kept her lead and eventually closed the issue comfortably at 21-13.