Afridi shouldn't be in team: Butt
Karachi: Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ejaz Butt doesn't appear to have forgotten his three-year-old dispute with flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi as he said that the former captain didn't deserve to be in the national team. After an impromptu meeting with the serving chairman, Shaharyar Khan at the Gaddafi stadium in lahore, Butt told reporters that in his personal opinion Afridi shouldn't be in the team. "If you ask for my opinion I don't think he should be in the side on his performances but this is something for the selectors to decide. If they feel he still has a role to play in the team so be it," Butt said. Butt, a former test player, who served as chairman from 2008 to 2011 had a penchant for stirring up controversies and in mid-2011 he sacked Afridi as the T20 and ODI captain on disciplinary grounds although the allrounder had led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the World Cup a few months earlier.
lehmann extends contract with Aus
Melbourne: Darren lehmann has been rewarded with a new contract after bringing the Ashes back to Australia and dragging the national cricketteam out of the doldrums, signing a deal through to mid-2017. Cricket Australia's team performance manager Pat Howard confirmed lehmann's one-year contract extension on Friday, saying the former test batsman's influence on the team had been "immense" since assuming the coaching role in June, 2013. lehmann "has helped create an excellent team environment that has seen players thrive," Howard said. "We want that to continue." Australian cricket was in turmoil when Mickey Arthur - the first foreigner to coach the national XI - was fired ahead of the Ashes series in England last year following a 4-0 test series loss in India and amid reports of splits and disharmony in the team.
East opt for sporting declaration
lahli: Jharkhand left-hander Saurabh Tiwary notched up a well-made century as East Zone came up with a sporting declaration to hand a 238-run target for West Zone on the third day of the Duleep Trophy four-day quarterfinal, here on Friday. Saurabh's 109, laced with 9 fours and 3 sixes, helped East rise from their 44-run deficit in the second innings to declare on 281 for seven in the final session of play. West were 12 for one at close of play, requiring another 226 runs to win on the final day's play. Starting the day on 321 for nine, the West innings' wrapped up on 322 in response to East's first innings score of 278. Medium-pacer Rana Dutta (5-60) had already bagged a fifer on the second day while Basant Mohanty (2-76), who picked up the first wicket of the day, and Ashoke Dinda (2-92) picked up 2 wickets each. But the 181-run fourth-wicket partnership between Saurabh and Sudip Chatterjee (99) was the highlight of the day as rest of the East batting failed to counter the West bowling led by Dhawal Kulkarni (4-28). Chatterjee was unlucky to miss out on his century after being run out by Shardul Thakur (2-70), who also brought Saurabh's downfall in the 76th over of the innings and soon skipper Manoj Tiwary called the players back. Shahbaz Nadeem was unbeaten on 24 when the declaration came. With just the winning target in mind, the West Zone openers Aditya Tare (5 not out) and Vijay Zol (6) started cautiously. But Dinda cleaned up Zol to bring to end the day's play as the game is poised for an interesting finish on Saturday.
HC asks sports secy to manage RCA
Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court today appointed state sports secretary J C Mahanti to manage the day-to-day affairs of Rajasthan Cricket Association for three weeks after lalit Modi faction filed a case challenging their rival group's "forcible" taking over of RCA offices. Justice M N Bhandari passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Mehmood Abdi, Modi's close aide and Deputy President of RCA, and 11 others. The single judge also issued notices to state government and self-styled RCA president Amin Pathan. The Modi faction had filed a case in Jaipur bench of the High Court against Pathan, a vice-president of the association, and his aides for "forcibly" occupying the RCA offices after allegedly removing the former IPl commissioner. Pathan had said that he had taken over as acting president, but the Modi faction disputed the legitimacy of Pathan's group. Brief Scores — East Zone: 278 & 281 (Saurabh Tiwary 109, Sudip Chatterjee 99; Dhawal Kulkarni 4/28) lead West Zone: 322 & 12/1 by 225 runs.
How Sachin reached airport by taxi
Mumbai: Commitment to his game of cricket had once compelled Sachin Tendulkar to call a private taxi in order to reach a match venue on time. "I have had a little bad experience while driving. I was going to Nagpur after my injury to play a one-day match and my flight was around 6 or 6:30 in the morning and my car's tyre got punctured at 5:30am and I had to reach airport to catch flight. So I had to take a taxi to reach the airport. I was tensed that I won't probably get a taxi," Tendulkar told reporters at the launch of a rooftop Go-Karting circuit at Smaaash. "It was a combination of taxi and rickshaw to reach the airport with all the bags. And I was able to practice that day. It was one of the challenging experiences of driving," he said. The legendary cricketer admitted that he liked driving on the field and off it. "I am extremely passionate about driving, especially karting. I have done karting in a lot of places like New Zealand, Austria, Germany England, everywhere.”