Vijay Hazare pre-qfs from today
Rajkot: Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat will take on Punjab in Vijay Hazare trophy pre-quarterfinal match here on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Race Course ground. Mumbai team, led by Surya Kumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir's team Delhi will lock horns against each other in another pre-quarter match to be played at SCA stadium at Khandheri. Mumbai, which won the recently concluded Ramakant Desari one day tournament against Gujarat has Dhawal Kulkarni in the side, who has played in the last two ODIs against Sri lanka, which India won 5-0. Gujarat, on the other hand, has brought in Axar Patel, who also played in national side against visitors Sri lanka and impressed all with his slow left arm leg-spin bowling. Team of Delhi has some big names liks Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, Parvindar Awana and captain Gautam Gambhir. Meanwhile, the quarter final match between West Bengal and Vidharbha will be played on November 20 at SCA stadium, Khandheri.
Cricket diplomacy at its best
Melbourne: Cricket diplomacy was in abundance at a rare reception given to Narendra Modi at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground with the Prime Minister saying a “new journey” in India-Australia relationship has begun. Addressing the select gathering at the reception hosted by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and attended by cricket greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Allan Border and Dean Jones among others, Modi heaped effusive praise on Australia’s sporting culture and thanked his Australian counterpart his “truly generous hospitality”. Modi described his speech at the 161-year-old MCG ground “close to scoring a century here especially against McGrath and Brett lee” and said, “This memory will stay with me forever.” Before the dinner by Abbott, Modi presented “Skippers” memento carrying replica of Mahatma Gandhi’s charkha with three cricket balls signed by him and World Cup winning Indian captains Kapil Dev and M S Dhoni.
Dhoni selecting bats in Meerut
Meerut: Recuperating from his thumb injury, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is making himself battle-ready for the upcoming tour of Australia and the Indian skipper was seen spending long hours selecting bats here. Dhoni, who missed the five-match ODI series against Sri lanka has also been ruled out of the first Test in Brisbane starting December 4. He is expected to take the field in the second Test in Adelaide on December 12. In the meantime, Dhoni made a quiet trip to the city-based cricket company and reportedly spent five hours to select the right bats for the bouncy Australian tracks. According to reliable sources, Dhoni selected six bats of 1260 grams each for the trip Down Under. Apart from Indian players, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting had also driven down to the sports city to get some of his bats.
Viru, Gauti opts out of Deodhar
New Delhi: Veterans Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir’s prospects of making an India comeback are all but over as the celebrated opening duo stayed away from selection in the 15-member North Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy. The team will be led by senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. The North Zone selection committee, headed by national selector Vikram Rathour, today decided to reward all those who have performed in the North Zone leg of Vijay Hazare rophy.