Sports

Kolkata, August 12: A veteran of four consecutive Olympics, legendary Leslie Claudius, bemoaned the disastrous display of the Indian hockey team in the London Olympics where it touched its nadir and finished last, and said the national game is "dead". "It was in London where it all began for me (in the 1948 Olympics). Now, everything is over at the same place. It can't get worse. Our hockey is

New Delhi, August 12: The lone Indian to challenge the Chinese domination in badminton, Saina Nehwal, is hoping that her London Olympics bronze medal will inspire at least half a dozen more to join her at the top level and be a threat to the traditional powerhouse. "I want more players to come from India because I want to make it like China where you have 5-6 players dominating and I want

Shoddy batting by top-order saw Unmukt Chand-led India U-19 side lose their opening World Cup match against the West Indies by four wickets on Sunday. On a slow track at the Tony Ireland stadium, the Indian colts could never get going as they were restricted to a paltry 166 for eight in their stipulated 50 overs. Despite early hiccups, the West Indies team slowly but surely reached the target with

England star Kevin Pietersen on Saturday unreservedly committed his future to England, just days after dropping a bombshell by suggesting that the third and final Test against South Africa might be his last. In an interview posted on YouTube Pietersen insisted: “I want to commit to all forms of cricket for England, because I love playing cricket for England. “I’m not going anywhere - I want to

New Delhi, August 11: Even as Indian Premier League, commissioner Rajeev Shukla hailed the comeback of Yuvraj Singh into the national side for the upcoming World Twenty20 championship in Sri Lanka, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has expressed surprise at the batsman's inclusion in the team. Yuvraj has not played competitive cricket since India's World Cup triumph in April last year after he

Veteran batsman VVS Laxman retained his place in the Indian Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand, starting August 23 in Hyderabad despite his poor show in the last eight Tests in England and Australia. Sachin Tendulkar will be back in action after his two-month break, having skipped the limited overs series in Sri Lanka recently, while young batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has

New Delhi, August 10: Dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh has been picked in the 15-member Indian squad for the World Twenty20 Championship by the selectors in Mumbai on Friday. Yuvraj, the man of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup, had last played for India in November 2011 before being diagnosed with a rare germ cell cancer. The World Twenty20 Championship event will be played in Sri Lanka from

Indian cricket has very big shoes to fill. When the selection committee sits down to pick a 15-member squad on Friday for the two-Test series against New Zealand at home, they will, for the first time in 16 years, be considering a replacement for someone irreplaceable. Rahul Dravid, to the utter dismay of the game's wisest men, won't be around. With that, the most coveted batting position he held

The BCCI Governing Council today asked the Royal Challengers Bangalore to get 'No Objection Certificate' from their players on the revised payment schedule after the southern franchise failed to pay the first installment of their salaries for IPL5 held in April-May. "The IPL governing council today summoned the RCB officials to the governing council meeting to discuss on the players' payment issue

Mumbai, August 9: Sachin Tendulkar is all set to return to the Test arena after a break of two months but all eyes will be on another veteran VVS Laxman's future when selectors pick the squad for the two-match series against New Zealand starting August 23. The selectors will also pick the final squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka in September and Yuvraj Singh, who is training at