Ponting joins 10,000-Test run club

Simon Katich hit an unbeaten century as Australia moved into a strong position on the first day of the second Test against West Indies - but it was Ricky Ponting who stole the limelight in Antigua. Ponting hit 65 to become just the seventh man in history to pass 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

He started the day 61 runs short of the landmark but passed it with a cover drive off the bowling of Ramnaresh Sarwan shortly after the tea interval. Ponting joins an illustrious group of batsmen, which includes two other Australians, Allan Border and Steve Waugh, to have reached the 10,000-run plateau.

The list is headed by West Indian Brian Lara, who amassed 11,953 runs in his Test career.
"It (my Test career) started in the Caribbean in 1995," Ponting said on Sky Sports Extra.
"It has taken me 13 years of international cricket to get to 10,000. "Everyone growing up hopes they are good enough to do it but I am most proud of my longevity in the game. "I am not one for landmarks, I just try and do my best for the team." His achievement capped a fine day for the tourists who went into the match 1-0 up in the best-of-three series.

Opener Katich led from the front, making 113 not out before bad light brought an end to proceedings with Australia on 259 for three. The sole wicket to fall in the morning session was that of Phil Jaques, who went for 17 after falling victim to a beautiful delivery from Dwayne Bravo. Right-armer Bravo got one to nip back and trapped Jaques leg before wicket with television replays showing the ball was destined to hit middle stump. The dismissal brought Ponting to the crease alongside Katich and the pair prospered, putting on 136 for the second wicket. Ponting went shortly after reaching 10,000 runs - a moment which was greeted with a brief wave of the bat to the sparse crowd.

The Tasmanian may have suffered from a momentary lapse in concentration as he chased a slower ball from Jerome Taylor and edged into the waiting hands of Xavier Marshall at second slip. Mike Hussey missed out, making 10 before mis-timing a pull straight to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-wicket off the bowling of Darren Sammy. But Michael Clarke looked in great touch as he made a rapid 38 not out before the close. Clarke was also at the crease to share the moment when his New South Wales team-mate Katich got to three figures with an on-drive wide of mid-on. Ponting was delighted with his side's efforts in the day. "It's a very flat pitch but as the ball got harder it was harder to score on," he said. "The West Indies bowled well but Katich played a great innings and with the new ball due hopefully we can accelerate. "It has been a good day. Whenever we win the toss and bat our objective is to make sure we bat just once.
"Hopefully we can get off to a good start in the morning."

Yusuf Pathan, Ojha new faces in squad for tri-series

Baroda all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and young Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha were today rewarded for their impressive showing in the Indian Premier League by being named in India's 15-member cricket squad for for next month's tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

The national selectors also recalled talented Uttar Pradesh batsman Suresh Raina in the squad for both the tournaments, while ignoring senior pros Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, icon players in the ongoing IPL, for the second tri-series in succession. Sachin Tendulkar had already been ruled out of both the tournaments because of a groin injury.

The 21-year-old Raina, who last played a ODI in January, 2007, edged out other contenders like his Chennai Super Kings teammate Subramaniam Badrinath, Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan and Hyderabad's Venugopal Rao who have done well in the IPL.

The selectors have put a question mark on the ODI career of both former captains Dravid and Ganguly, who had earlier been dropped for the previous tri-series won by the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side in Australia for the first time ever, by leaving them out of the limited overs loop again.

The teams for the June 8-14 triangular ODI event in Bangladesh, also featuring the hosts and Pakistan, and the June 24-July 6 Asia Cup in Pakistan were announced by Cricket Board's secretary Niranjan Shah after a selection committee meeting which lasted about one hour.

The selectors made five changes in the team that created history under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership by winning the tri-series in Australia for the first time ever in March. Tendulkar, who has not yet recovered fully from his groin injury that forced him to miss two home Tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL games for Mumbai Indians, the banned Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Karthik and Manoj Tiwary were those left out of that squad.

Sending out a strong message, Harbhajan, banned by BCCI for five ODIs for slapping Sreesanth after the IPL game between his team (Mumbai Indians) and Kings XI Punjab at Mohali on April 25, was left out of the Asia Cup squad though he would have served out his ban after India's first two ties in Pakistan.

Adidas to globally roll out apparel line named after Sania

After David Beckham, Germany’s iconic sports goods maker, the e10.3-billion Adidas Group, is poised to come up with an apparel and accessories collection named after glamourous tennis ace Sania Mirza. The group will roll out the Sania Mirza collection under its namesake ‘adidas’ brand. This is the first time that Adidas will globally roll out a dedicated merchandise line after a tennis star. The Sania Mirza collection will include apparel, headgear, accessories, bags and sporting gear.

The entire portfolio has been designed at global headquarters of Adidas in Germany and the collection will have a distinct style element across all merchandise categories. The collection will be targeted at consumers in the 15-27 years age group. The lifestyle portfolio of the collection will be launched in September and sports gear in January 2009 to coincide with the Australian Open. The collection will be sold worldwide through Adidas stores, since the company noted that several countries were interested in the collection. Adidas already has a similar merchandise line for David Beckham.

“The design element of the Sania Mirza collection will reflect her personality — flamboyant, stylish, unconventional and emotional. We may also add a shoe line to the collection at a later date. While we are yet to finalise the pricing, the apparel range will have price-points between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500,” Adidas India marketing MD Andreas Gellner told ET. Incidentally, Adidas in December 2007 had roped in Sania Mirza as its brand ambassador. But the decision to roll out a merchandise line was taken recently after an internal market survey revealed that Sania was among the top three youth icons in India. “A merchandise line with Sania will also help us create a stronger association with tennis,” said Mr Gellner.

Paes, Bhupathi to clash in French Open mixed doubles

Squabbling former partners Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are pitted against each other in the opening round of the mixed doubles at the French Open. While Paes will team with Russia's Nadia Petrova, Bhupathi will partner China's Jie Zhang. Both teams are unseeded. Meanwhile, in the men's doubles draw, released on Tuesday, Paes will play alongside Czech Lukas Dlouhy, after parting ways with Australian Paul .

The duo, seeded ninth, have been handed a first-round match against the unseeded Thai pair of Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana. Fourth seeds Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles have also been drawn against an unseeded team, Australian Stephen Huss and Brit Ross Hutchins.

Paes and Bhupathi, who have been at loggerheads for years now, were embroiled in a fresh war of words after Bhupathi wrote to the All India Tennis Association, saying he wants to team with Rohan Bopanna in the Beijing instead of Paes.

Meanwhile, Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi have a tough opener as they take on top seeds Americans Bob and Mike Bryan. With Sania Mirza rendered out of action due to a wrist injury, the Indian challenge at the clay-court Grand Slam has been restricted to doubles only.

Kahn moved by Kolkata farewell

Legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn played his last competitive match on Tuesday, against Mohun Bagan, and was greeted with a standing ovation by the capacity 1.2 lakh crowd at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata. Bayern Munich beat Bagan 3-0.

Kahn left the field on the 55th minute to a standing ovation by the spectators.
Players of both the teams (Bayern Munich and Mohun Bagan) clapped as the legend walked out of the ground. Kahn clapped back at the crowd in appreciation as he slowly walked out of the playing arena. During the lemon-break, Kahn was presented with a diamond-studded gold-plated replica of a football by the main sponsor Bengal Peerless.

The ball was studded with 8,640 diamonds and was placed on a silver pedestal. Mohun Bagan team also presented Kahn with the replica of a silver boat -- the club symbol. Overwhelmed at the felicitations, a visibly moved Kahn thanked the crowd and the organisers.

"I want to say thank you for this great moment in my career. This is very special. Thank you for this great night," Kahn told the fans in the stadium.

Bhupathi does not want to partner Paes at Olympics

India's doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi dropped a bombshell when he told the All India Tennis Association that he does not want to partner Leander Paes at the upcoming Olympics, and instead would prefer teaming up with Rohan Bopanna.

The top Indian tennis duo came together for the Davis Cup tie against Japan last month and helped India qualify for the World Group play-offs. But, it seems, things have fallen through since and Bhupathi is apparently not happy with the lack of communication with his former world No 1 and three Grand Slam-winning partner.

In an e-mail to the AITA, Bhupathi wrote: 'There is absolutely no communication between Leander and myself since the Doha Asian Games and even though I have reached out various times through different avenues there is no movement on any front.

'While people who don't really understand tennis are willing to force us to play together to win a medal, you will agree that we are not magicians and a medal will not happen just because we step on court. 'The field is even stronger than 4 years ago and just going to the Olympics for the sake of it, and not making the most of it by putting all that is required to win does not interest me at this stage of my career.'

Bhupathi is currently ranked No 11 on the doubles charts while Paes has dropped to 24 following a disappointing start to the season in partnership with Paul Hanley of Australia.

Tendulkar banking on Jayasuriya's spin

Sachin Tendulkar is banking on veteran Sri Lankan player Sanath Jayasuriya to give the Mumbai Indians a cutting edge in spin bowling in their Indian Premier League clash against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.

"In the last three games (which his team won) the seamers have done a terrific job. Sanath got important wickets in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (at the Eden Gardens). Sanath will be a key bowler for us tomorrow," said the champion batsman, ahead of his first IPL tie.

Tendulkar, who missed the first seven matches of Mumbai Indians due to a groin injury, felt it is becoming clearer which are the teams to beat in the remaining matches. "There were some teams which started off well but fell off a bit midway and there are others who started badly and then have done well. It's all a question of momentum. We now know who are in contention for the semis. Those are the teams we have to beat," said Tendulkar.

Tendulkar said though Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a very important player in the rival ranks, there are others too, like S Badrinath and Albie Morkel, and it is important not to focus on a any individual. "There will be challenges. It's not only about Dhoni. There are other batsmen too. Badrinath has made some runs. And there are others like Albie Morkel. We don't take anyone lightly," he said.

The champion batsman, who opted out of the Twenty20 World Cup last year along with fellow-seniors Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, said he will be at home playing this format, having taken part in domestic Twenty20 matches last year.

"I have played Twenty20 games last year and thoroughly enjoyed them. I will just have to go out there with other senior players and get into the group. I'm prepared for all the challenges. That's the reason I stayed with the team over the last three weeks (to develop bonding)," he said. The Mumbai Indians' captain declared that there will not be too many changes in the twelve that was named for the last match, with only his name being added to that list. "We will see the wicket tomorrow and decide, but there would not be too many changes," he said.

Tendulkar said he is now feeling much better physically and the discomfort he had experienced earlier after he played a practice tie midway through his rehabilitation process has completely gone. "I feel much better. The discomfort I had experienced has gone and I am feeling quite comfortable," he said.

Eden Gardens proves costly for Shah Rukh

Although Red Chillies Entertainment, owners of Kolkata Knight Riders team, has already earned Rs 12 crore from ticket sales of its home matches at Eden Gardens so far, its expenses have shot up drastically due to the new tax structures and security fee it has to shell out. First, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has demanded Rs 25 lakh from Red Chillies Entertainment as amusement tax for holding IPL matches at Eden Gardens.

According to sources, Red Chillies Entertainment has so far paid Rs 10 lakh and has assured KMC it will pay the rest Rs 15 lakh soon. Second, to settle the dispute between Kolkata Police and DLF Indian Premier League over cost of security arrangements at Eden Gardens, Red Chillies Entertainment has agreed to pay Rs 75 lakh as security fees. Eden Gardens will host seven matches of Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by Shah Rukh Khan.

The stand-off between Kolkata Police and DLF Indian Premier League was over security fees, where the former had quoted Rs 2 crore as security fees while the organisers had offered Rs 50 lakh. Following intervention by the government of West Bengal, Cricket Association of Bengal, and senior police officers, Red Chillies will now shell out Rs 75 lakh as security expenses for nearly one and half months of policing of Eden Gardens.

Earlier, Red Chillies had to pay Rs 90 lakh per match and its take in it was suppose to be Rs 3 crore if all stadium tickets were sold. Red Chillies had to pay Rs 20 lakh to the police, and municipality tax of Rs 5 lakh. So its expenses per match would have been Rs 1.70 crore, but this figure had now trebled.

Shah Rukh Khan bought Knight Riders for Rs 300 crore and will have to pay Rs 30 crore per year for the next 10 years. The total cost per year for the team will be about Rs 75 crore.

In another significant turn of events, Red Chillies has decided to allot tickets for Eden Garden's 'president's box' to its sponsors and other contacts, which earlier used to be reserved for the officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the CAB, leading to some discomfort among the 31,000 members of CAB.
According to sources, Red Chillies Entertainment, which controls ticket distribution and sales at Eden Gardens for the IPL matches, has priced each ticket for the president's box at Rs 2.18 lakh per match. President's boxes at Eden Gardens are the 12 air-conditioned boxes, each with 16 seats. Each one of these boxes is provided with a television, a refrigerator, a telephone and an assortment of snacks and beverages to choose from. However, according to sources in Red Chillies Entertainment, these seats are being allotted to the sponsors of Kolkata Knight Riders that include HDIL, Reebok, Nokia, The Telegraph, Belmonte and Tag Heuer.

Shoaib shines in Kolkata's win

An inspired bowling performance by Shoaib Akhtar helped Kolkata Knight Riders score a 23-run win over Delhi Daredevils in their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Tuesday.

The win was the Kolkata side's fifth in nine matches while it also happened to be Delhi's fifth loss in nine games. The position of the teams in the table remains unchanged.
Shoaib, playing in his first IPL match follwoing the suspension of his five-year ban, took four for 11 to almost single-handedly ensure victory for the home side.

The Pakistani fast bowler picked up Delhi captain Virender Sehwag (0) off the second ball of the opening over, snapped Gautam Gambhir (10) in the fourth ball of his second over and grabbed AB de Villiers (7) and Manoj Tiwary (0) in succession in the the third and fourth balls of his third, to virtually derail the Delhi chase.

Earlier, a lackluster performance by their batsmen allowed Delhi Daredevils to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to a modest total of 133 for six. Delhi were finally bundled out for a paltry 110, their lowest total in the IPL, and with 13 balls left.

Failed Formula One teams

The following is a list of Formula One teams that have folded or changed ownership in recent years, following Super Aguri's announcement on Tuesday that they were withdrawing from the championship. Super Aguri, who entered the sport in 2006 as the 11th team, announce they are withdrawing for financial reasons.

At the end of 2005, the Jordan and Minardi names disappeared from Formula One while Sauber were bought by BMW. Jordan were on the brink of collapse when rescued by Midland while struggling Minardi were bought by Red Bull and renamed Toro Rosso. Midland then became Spyker at the end of 2006 and Force India in 2008.

Ford, who had bought Stewart in 1999, announced in September 2004 that they were pulling out of Formula One. They sold their Jaguar team to Red Bull energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, with that team now competing as Red Bull Racing.

The Arrows team went into liquidation in January 2003 after being barred from the championship. They had withdrawn from the Belgian Grand Prix and missed the last five races of the 2002 season. In 25 years in Formula One, and 382 starts, they never won a race.

Harbhajan asks BCCI for one more chance

Faced with the possibility of being banned for a few matches by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, beleaguered Harbhajan Singh has appealed to the Board to give him "one final chance" before taking disciplinary action against him.

The 27-year-old off-spinner, who has already been banned by the Indian Premier League for the rest of its ongoing Twenty20 tournament after slapping India teammate S Sreesanth, has written a fresh letter to the BCCI just two days ahead of the disciplinary hearing, to be conducted by Board-appointed Commissioner Sudhir Nanavati in Ahmedabad.

In his letter, Harbhajan says he had apologised to Sreesanth after the incident in Mohali and is willing to do it again in public, said NDTV on Wednesday. "Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I would like to appeal to the Board's sense of fairplay and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident," he is believed to have said in the letter.

Although the IPL governing council has already penalised him, the BCCI will also punish him separately for the level 4 offence as per the ICC Players' Code of Conduct. A level 4 offence leads to a maximum punishment of a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests or 10 one-day internationals.

When contacted, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said Harbhajan has been writing a number of letters and it is not proper for him to divulge the contents.

"The inquiry is going on. We are waiting for the report," Shah said. Despite the IPL organisers punishing him for the offence, the BCCI will also take disciplinary action against the controversial spinner who has a history of breaching the code of conduct. A top BCCI source said that the Board will take disciplinary action against Harbhajan, as such an incident should not have happened on the cricket field.

With the BCCI determined to crack the whip there is widespread speculation that Harbhajan could be handed out a 10-match ODI ban and also fined for the offence. Nanavati said the footage of the incident did not indicate that there was any provocation for Harbhajan to behave in such a manner.

"I will have to talk to some more people like (Kings XI Punjab captain) Yuvraj Singh, (Mumbai Indians coach) Lalchand Rajput or Mohali the team manager to find out if there was any provocation," he said. If Nanavati finds that there was no provocation, he could recommend a more severe punishment for the troubled spinner, which means that the quantum of the ban could be higher.

Chelsea vs Man United: Blues impress Scholes

Paul Scholes has admitted Chelsea's impressive form under new coach Avram Grant surprised everyone at Manchester United.
Despite the early season turmoil at Stamford Bridge following the departure of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea have emerged as United's last competitor for the Premier League title.
Victory for the Red Devils on Saturday would seal a 10th Premier League title but Sir Alex Ferguson's squad are also aware defeat would allow the Londoners to draw level on points with two games to go.
And, while Scholes is still confident United will come out on top, he confirmed the impression at Old Trafford was that Chelsea might fall out of the running after Mourinho left.
"They have surprised me," Scholes told MUTV..
"Their manager has had a lot of stick but when you look at his record it is fantastic. They have only lost two games since he took over and one of those was against us.
"Maybe they have had a couple of results they shouldn't have but that happens during a season. We thought they might fade away but they haven't done. They have been right up there challenging."
While a draw would be perfectly acceptable to United and effectively mark the end of Chelsea's challenge and even a defeat would not be disastrous providing Ferguson's players overcame West Ham and Wigan in their final two games, the challenge is to win and wrap the championship up before Barcelona head to Old Trafford on Tuesday.
With the Champions League semi-final delicately poised, it would be a major confidence boost for United to seal their domestic fate, as well as clearing the path for a smooth run-up to Moscow for the final should Barca be overcome.
"If we could get the league out of the way before the Barcelona tie that would be the perfect scenario for us," said Scholes.
"We will approach it like we do every game, by trying to win.
"We know we are capable of doing it and it would be amazing to win the league down there."
Scholes admits United's 18-goal advantage is like an extra point, a factor which could yet prove pivotal.
It seems amazing to think now but the Old Trafford outfit amassed just nine goals in their first 11 games in all competitions.
"At the start of the season we were really struggling for goals, so to get where we are is phenomenal because the goal difference is like an extra point now."
Whether United win the title this weekend or not, the mere fact they have the chance is cause for celebration as far as Scholes is concerned.
After all, two seasons ago United were playing for second, condemned to make a humiliating guard of honour as Chelsea celebrated their second championship under Mourinho.
"There is pressure but I would much rather be in this situation than the one we were in a couple of years ago when all we were doing was playing to see how high we could finish in the table," said Scholes.
"That was not nice, so to be up there challenging for two massive trophies is great. Hopefully, we will get them at the end."

Brendon McCullum flays Bangalore challenge

Kolkata Knight Riders, powered by a record unbeaten 158 from Brendon McCullum, easily won the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League, whipping Bangalore Royal Challengers by 140 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday night.

The New Zealander amassed his runs off only 73 deliveries as Knight Riders put up a massive 222 after being put in to bat by Royal Challengers' captain Rahul Dravid. In reply, the home side was dismissed for a meager 82 in 15.1 overs.

Ajit was the Kolkata team's most successful bowler, finishing with figures of three for 25 from four overs, as only one batsman -- Praveen Kumar (19) -- got into double figures.
McCullum went berserk right from the start, hitting Indian pacer Zaheer Khan for 18 runs in the second over of the innings. He then hit a towering long-off six off Ashley Noffke to bring up the 50 for the Kolkata team.

The wicket-keeper batsman was difficult to contain and showed no mercy as he hit all the bowlers around the park. His scintillating innings was studded with 13 sixes and 10 boundaries.
In the process he bettered Cameron White's record of 141 not out off 70 ball, for Somerset against Worcestershire in July 2006.

Zaheer drew first blood for the hosts when he had Kolkata skipper Sourav (10) caught by South Africa's Jacques in the slip cordon. But by then the former India captain and McCullum had already put on 61 runs for the first wicket to lay a strong foundation for a big total.
McCullum drove Noffke for a couple to get his century, leading to wild celebrations among team owner Bollywood star Shahrukh and his colleagues, Arjun and Juhi Chawla.
Kallis and Noffke bore the brunt of McCullum's fury, conceding 42 and 48 runs respectively in their quota of four overs.

McLaren: Only a title will do, says Hamilton

Without the polarising Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton is confident enough to settle for nothing less than the Formula One title this year.

"I think there are no excuses if I cannot win this year," the 22-year-old British driver said of his aspirations for the new season that kicks off on 16 March at the Australian Grand Prix.

"Last year, the only excuse was that I was a rookie and that it was all new. But this year, I have no doubts. I know I am going to be better prepared. I am already better prepared. And I think we have a better package this year. I do not feel there is any room for error."

Hamilton won four races in his debut season to finish with 109 points, one fewer than eventual champion Kimi Raikkonen.Despite his aim, Hamilton prefers to remain as a team player rather than McLaren's number one driver.

"I like fairness and I want Heikki Kovalainen (his team-mate) to have the exact same opportunities."Hamilton also feels encouraged by the support of McLaren, who announced a five-year extension to his current deal earlier this month."I feel in the right place," he said.

Winning Padma Vibhushan is dream realised: Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar may have won countless awards but the master batsman on Saturday said all those trophies pale in comparison to India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.

"I have won many awards and trophies but this is right at the top," Tendulkar said after the third day's play in the ongoing fourth and final Test against Australia. "I came to know about it yesterday through my wife. I was extremely excited by it but since I was in the middle of the match, it was important to keep my focus on the game," he added.Tendulkar said being conferred the second highest civilian honour was like a dream realised for him. "It's truly a great honour to accept this award as this is recognized by the government of India. I have played for so many years and when government of India recognises your effort, gives you the second highest civilian award in the country, it's very, very special," he gushed."It means a lot to me to get this award alongside such great personalities. It's truly something which I can only dream of," he said.

The champion batsman also congratulated the other awardees."I want to take this opportunity to congratulate other awardees. It's fantastic to be in the same list," he said.Tendulkar was among five other top sportspersons, including chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, to have been selected for the Padma awards yesterday.

Dropped catch of VVS Laxman led Gilchrist to retirement

It's a sad day for cricket. Wicketkeeping will never be the same again. The explosive Adam Gilchrist,who on more than a few occasions absolutely tore apart bowling attacks all over the world has announced his retirement from cricket at the end of the ongoing series against India.

Apparently,a dropped catch off VVS Laxman in the ongoing fourth and final Test against India is reportedly the moment when Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist decided, "it was time" to bid adieu to his illustrious career.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the affable stumper was inclined to continue for another year before the dropped catch made him think otherwise.

"Gilchrist entered the Test firmly committed that he would play on for another year. But a dropped catch off VVS Laxman was the moment when he realised that he no longer had the concentration required for Test cricket," the daily revealed.

Gilchrist was having a rather ordinary time behind the stumps in the ongoing series and critics had been having a go at him for his mistakes.

The opener had brushed aside the criticism saying he was only human and nobody had an inkling that retirement announcement was on his mind.

His decision stunned everybody from teammates to Cricket Australia but family and close confidantes said the left-hander had been mulling over it for some time.

Gilchrist's father, Stan, said he was not all that shocked by the sudden announcement.

"It wasn't really a surprise ... It's been a while coming," Stan, who would be reaching here on Sunday to watch his son's Test swan song, said.

Sachin Tendulkar & Roger Federer together!!!

If reports are to be believed,then we may soon see the Numero Uno's of Tennis and Cricket together in an advertisement for a social cause. Apparently the Swiss Government has spoken to the BCCI regarding their plan to get Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer together in a commercial. Expectedly Sachin is thrilled at the prospect. So after seeing Rahul Dravid along with Roger Federer and others including Tiger Woods,Thierry Henry in the Gillette commercial, it's time for the best batsman in the world to team up with Fedex!!

Here's the detailed report.

The government of Switzerland and National Basketball Association of US have approached the BCCI for using Sachin Tendulkar and some other Indian cricketers for furthering social causes through advertisements.

"The Swiss government approached us and wanted Sachin to do an ad with (world's number one men's tennis player) Roger Federer for a social cause. Sachin was thrilled and agreed to it immediately", said BCCI CEO Prof Ratnakar Shetty here.

"The NBA has also approached us and wants to utilise our players' services for furthering social causes," Shetty added on the sidelines of a media conference last night to announce Boost Under-17 Cricket Cup tournament for school children.

"We, in the Mumbai Cricket Association (of which Shetty is the treasrer), had taken a policy not to allow juniors to play limited overs cricket but have relaxed it for this tournament since it's to be run on an all-India basis and we did not want Mumbai schools to be denied an opportunity to become all-India champions," Shetty said.

"In fact the BCCI has decided to scrap some junior age group tournaments and conduct a schools tournament instead. The board wants to hold events for only under 16 and under 19 age groups instead of for under 15, 17 and 19 as at present," he explained.

The January 30-February 15 Boost Cup tournament, to be organised jointly by MCA and the Mumbai Schools Sports Association, will have 30 teams from Mumbai and Thane districts with the winners advancing to the Inter-City Challenge featuring teams from 18 cities and towns around the country.