Gambhir to lead Delhi
NEW DElHI: Veteran left-hander Gautam Gambhir was on Saturday formally retained as the captain of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team for the upcoming season. The development was confirmed by convenor of the senior selection committee Sunil Dev, who is also the sports secretary, in a terse, one sentence media release stating Gambhir’s appointment. A source close to Gambhir said that despite the rumours of him not being comfortable with Ajay Jadeja’s appointment as the coach, he would not have any problems to play under the former India player. “look, whether it is Jaddu (jadeja’s nickname) or Dahiya, they won’t teach Gautam how to bat. At the same time, he knows that he needs to concentrate on his game, if he harbours any remote chance whatsoever of an India comeback in near or distant future. So I don’t think that it will be like Gautam won’t play with Jaddu around. Coach’s job is to conduct nets, Jadeja will do that,” a senior DDCA official, known to be close to Gambhir said.
Dhoni ready for limited overs
bengaluru: India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be back in the thick of things after a three month break as Indian selectors will be picking the squad for the upcoming T20 International and ODI series against South Africa, starting October 2. There is a possibility that selectors may name squads for T20s and first three ODIs. While there are three T20 internationals slated at the start of the series, the focus for both Dhoni and selectors will be on World T20 which will be held in India in five months.
No security fee for Ind-SA T20
shimla: Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday decided to waive off the security fee for the T20 International between India and South Africa to be staged at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on October 2. The state government has been at loggerheads with Himachal Pradesh Cricket association (HPCA), headed by BJP MP, Anurag Thakur and cases against HPCA are pending in the court and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had repeatedly said that it was a commercial body and should pay for security.