Indian news round-up

Ace leg spinner Anil Kumble, laid low and out of cricket action after the shoulder surgery in January this year, has returned to competitive cricket, amid firm indications that he would be fit well in time for the South African tour in October.

Kumble bowled 14 overs and took three for 49, last weekend, enabling Young Cricketers to score a narrow two-run win over Dooravani Cricketers in a Karnataka State Cricket Association Group I Division III league tie at Bangalore. This was the first competitive outing for Kumble after his shoulder surgery in January. "It felt good. It was nice to go out there in the middle and start bowling in a match again," he said.

Kumble, who has bagged 550 international wickets - 276 in Tests and 274 in one-dayers - had said recently he was much stronger and would be ready for the South African tour. He added he was doing fine but had to work on his bowling and get the confidence back.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday justified the five-year ban on cricketer Ajay Jadeja in the Delhi High Court on charges of match fixing, and said "there was a plethora of evidence against him".

"There is a plethora of evidence against him, some of them oral, on the basis of which action was taken," counsel for the BCCI KK Venugopal told Justice Mukul Mudgal while replying to Jadeja's civil writ petition challenging the imposition of ban on him.

Questioning the very maintainability of the petition, the BCCI counsel said no remedy through civil writ under Article 226 lies against the Board as it was not a statutory body. Nor is it performing any function of the state, he said. "The BCCI is an independent body constituted under the Societies Registration Act and if the petitioner (Jadeja) feels aggrieved for any of its action, or breach of contract, he can file a suit for damage as no case for violation of fundamental rights under Article 226 of the Constitution can be made out against the Board," he said.

The Indian cricket team will leave for Colombo on their 48-day tour of Sri Lanka from Chennai on July 16.

"Originally the team was to leave from Delhi on July 15 but now we have decided that it will leave from Chennai as it will be convenient for all the players to assemble there," Board of Control for Cricket in India executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar said in Mumbai today. The players will take an Indian Airlines flight around noon, Diwadkar added.

The Indians will play a triangular series with New Zealand as the third team and after a ten day gap, play a three Test series against Sri Lanka.