Tendulkar is today's Bradman....

Saluting the longevity of Sachin Tendulkar, West Indies great Brian Lara has described the Indian batting legend as the 'Don Bradman' of modern era but refused to the compare the icons of different eras.

Lara, himself a legendary left-handed batsman from the Caribbean, said what astonishes him the most about Tendulkar is his longevity.

"I don't think there is any race. Both are great players. Tendulkar has shown the world what he is capable of and his longevity in the game is something to be really appreciated," Lara said.

"The time he will spend in the game, records are going to tumble. The fact that someone can be there from the age of 16 and still at the age of 37 perform brilliantly is something that I cherish more than anything else," he said.

The West Indies player is of the opinion that Australian great Don Bradman, who ended his career with an incredible Test average of 99.96, and Tendulkar should not be compared as they played and flourished in different eras.

"He is our period's Don Bradman. Forget the difference in averages with Bradman but whoever I have spoken to who have seen very old players in action, they believe that he (Bradman) would not have averaged 99 in today's sports like cricket.

"So I believe that Sachin is our period's Bradman," Lara, who visited Dubai for a jewelry brand endorsement, told Gulf News.

IPL 4 AUCTIONS

They are the pillar of the Indian Test team but Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman may have to lower their base prices in order to keep the franchises interested for the upcoming fourth edition of Indian Premier League.

Sources in the franchises said they would only be interested in buying the two star batsmen if the duo lower their base price from Rs 92 lakh (USD 200,000) to the lower bracket of Rs 46 lakh (USD100,000).

"Let's get one thing clear. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble's IPL performance is pretty decent. So one can expect that Sourav who is an all-rounder can be bought for a decent price considering his base price of Rs 92 lakh. Also for KKR, buying him at a lower price from auction is a far more viable option than going for retention where he would cost USD 1.8 million," a senior KKR official said.

Officials of a couple of more franchises also aired the same opinion.

"Dravid and Laxman do not feature in the T20 or ODI teams. So the only place where they play is IPL. The first edition had a lot of novelty factor. But now the teams are more focussed on curtailing the budget and getting their economics right so now way one can expect a franchise to spend Rs 1 crore on Dravid or Laxman as they won't be automatic choices in the playing XI," one of the officials of a western-India based franchise said.

Read more at: http://cricket.ndtv.com/storypage.aspx?id=SPOEN20100161646&nid=69430&cp

India crushes New Zealand

Piloted by Virat Kohli, who hit his second consecutive century, and some smart bowling and fielding, India made a winning start in the five-match ODI series against New Zealand on Sunday.


Put into bat by Kiwis stand-in captain Ross Taylor, India were bowled out for 276 in 49 overs, falling 25 to 30 runs short of what skipper Gautam Gambhir would have envisaged, but spinners R Ashwin (3/50) and Yuvraj Singh (3/43) helped the home team to bundle out the Kiwis for 236.

New Zealand's latest loss by 40 runs was their fifth in-a-row in ODIs, coming on the heels of a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh. The Kiwi pacers failed to exploit the early morning conditions as Indian openers Murali Vijay and skipper Gambhir gave the side a fluent start. Vijay started playing his shots early on while Gambhir joined the party soon after hitting Daryl Tuffey for two fours in one over, charging down the wicket. After raising 44 runs in quick time, both, however, perished rather tamely. Vijay tried to loft Tuffey over mid-on only to give a leading edge that wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, playing in place of injured Brendon McCullum, held running back a long way behind the wicket.

The Indian lower order could manage just 58 runs in the last 10 overs as seven wickets fell in a heap. It was only because of a late charge by Yusuf Pathan, who hit the only six of the innings, that India managed to put 276 runs on the board. Pathan made 29 off 19 balls. When New Zealand batted, it was Yuvraj, the bowler, who pegged them back by striking thrice in the middle overs. Skipper Taylor only put up some resistance, hitting a 69-ball 66 with the help of three fours and three sixes, and shared a 67-run third-wicket stand with Kane Williamson.

New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals thereafter and would have faded out of the contest but for a belligerent ninth-wicket partnership between Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum. The duo added 50 runs off 47 balls to briefly revive Kiwis dying hopes. However, Sreesanth, returning for his third spell, dismissed both of successive deliveries to seal a convincing 40-run win. On a slow wicket where Yuvraj and Ashwin were pretty effective, the visitors sorely missed their skipper Daniel Vettori, who was ruled out on the morning of the match with a sore back.

Somdev Creates History....

Somdev Devvarman created history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in the men's singles tennis event of the Asian Games while discus thrower Krishna Poonia bagged a bronze as India claimed three more medals to maintain their 8th spot on the 11th day of competitions on Tuesday.

Second seed Somdev, who had won a gold in the men's doubles event alongwith Sanam Singh on Monday, upset top seed and world number 44 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-2 in the lop-sided summit clash to achieve the historic feat.

India eyes MotoGP in 2012

The promoters of India's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in 2011 are in talks with MotoGP bosses to bring the world motorcycling championship to the country, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

The 5.14 km track being built at Greater Noida, some 35km from Delhi, will host the 18th leg of next year's Formula One championship on Oct. 30, subject to final approval, and the race promoters are looking at other options to make the track financially viable.

Indian automaker Mahindra Group is enthused by the development and will launch a team in the 125cc category, the Times of India newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Gul Panag Molested In Delhi Half Marathon!!

Delhi has steadily maintained its image as one that is extremely unsafe for women. The victim this time was none other than the actress, who is a sports enthusiast, Gul Panag, who has never missed an opportunity to put her fitness regime to test.

On Sunday, 21st November, when Gul Panag participated in Half Marathon held in Delhi, she was groped by the men standing at the starting point. They took advantage of the crowd to feel her up and the actress was obviously quite taken aback by the whole indecent act.

It was a typical women-in-crowded-places syndrome and Gul being the fighter, instead of letting this event disturb her more than required, went ahead with the marathon and completed the run.

Gul says that she has participated in several other marathons and has never experienced something like this before and blames it on the Delhi culture. She feels that compared to Mumbai, something like this is expected in Delhi, which is typical of that city.

The offenders on the other hand took advantage of the melee and got away. Gul too realised the futility of filing a complaint as she really cannot recognise the offenders considering the crowd of people.