Sports

New Delhi, September 18: Lashing out at the All India Tennis Association, Mahesh Bhupathi blamed the tennis body for playing 'dirty politics' adding that he being termed as a traitor is unacceptable to him. In a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, Bhupathi blamed AITA president Anil Khanna for taking full advantage of the rift between him and Leander Paes. Earlier, Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna

Colombo, September 18: India captain Mahendra Singh was happy with the way his boys warmed-up for the World Twenty20 despite losing the practice game to arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets at the Premedasa Stadium on Monday. "It was a good test for the main tournament and it was a good game. We could test which combination would be the best for the tournament," Dhoni said. "We bowled well in the

Twenty20 is often lost between its two banal perceptions. It is either an after-thought attached to a bilateral series featuring Tests and ODIs or it is the ‘commercial trickster’ that lures cricketers away from their national obligations, a rant often heard during the Indian Premier League. However, once in two years the willow game’s shortest format side-steps these arguments and towers above

New Delhi, September 18: Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta and International Master Tania Sachdev are at cloud nine after winning the silver and bronze medal respectively at the Chess Olympiad recently but they rued the lack of government recognition for their performance at the prestigious event. Abhijeet won the silver after pocketing seven points out of nine games while Tania turned out to be the best

Colombo, September 17: Kamran Akmal smashed a blistering unbeaten 92 as Pakistan dented arch-rival India's confidence ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 with a thrilling five-wicket win in their last warm-up game on Monday. India posted a competitive 185 for three riding on Virat Kohli's unbeaten 75, but their listless death bowling allowed Pakistan to overhaul the target with five balls to spare at

The unpredictable nature of Twenty20 cricket is what makes makes Group A of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 an interesting proportion. It consists of India, England and Afghanistan and on the face of it the first two teams look set to qualify for the next round, but any laxity on their part and Afghanistan might queer their pitch. Over the last one year, Afghanistan have emerged as a team with a fine

It's only a warm-up tie, but there always is plenty of spice whenever India and Pakistan clash, and Monday's game will be no different. Even though the teams will be allowed to juggle between 12 players, like always the contest will generate a lot of interest in both countries. Despite the advertising blitz of the ICC, the lead-up to the tournament so far has been low key. In fact, the lack of

New Delhi, September 16: Even before the jubilation of the Davis Cup triumph had died down, the shock ban on Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) shocked the tennis fraternity late on Saturday.The AITA will stick to the young Indian side and will not include Bhupathi and Bopanna in the Davis Cup squad until the country moves up from the Asia/Oceania Group

India's Virat Kohli was on Saturday rewarded for his dream run in the last 12 months as he was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year, while Kumar Sangakkara walked away with three honours, including the Cricketer of the Year, in the ICC annual awardsfunction.The Sri Lankan veteran was also named the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, besides winning the People's Choice Award. During the period under

Colombo, September 15: Irfan Pathan scalped five wickets as India warmed up for the World Twenty20 with a comfortable 26-run victory over hosts Sri Lanka in their first practice match on Saturday. India scored 146/5, riding on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 55 and then Pathan took centre stage with an impressive 5/25 to skittle out the Islanders for 120 in 19.3 overs at the P Sara Oval