Indian news round-up

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has presented some of his cricketing memorabilia to the Cricket Association of Bengal's museum which will exhibit items gifted by star cricketers past and present. The Ganguly contribution, consisting of caps, bats, balls and shirts used during the 1997 Sahara Cup limited overs series against Pakistan in Toronto was handed over to the CAB by his family members in Kolkata on Wednesday. The elegant left hander had earned four man-of-the-match awards in the five match series that year.

The CAB joint secretary, Debdas Banerjee told reporters that the Indian captain had also gifted one of his shirts used during the 1999 World Cup held in England. He said Ganguly had sent a communication to the CAB regretting that he could not personally hand over the items for the CAB's museum.

The CAB museum, exhibiting cricket memorabilia of past and contemporary cricketers, will be formally opened for the general public on Thursday though no inaugural function has been planned.

Former Pakistan captain Majid Khan will lead a 15-member Pakistan veteran's cricket squad to tour India in October. The team includes 12 former Test cricketers including former skippers Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad, Pakistan Veteran's Cricket Association chief Fawad Ijaz Khan announced in Karachi on Wednesday.

The team will play a series of one-dayers and an exhibition match during the tour from October 17 to 29. Mian Pervez and off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed will make it to the team if Miandad and Qadir are not available for the tour. The team, picked by a selection committee headed by former left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim with Ashiq Hussain Qureshi and Col Mustehsin Billah as members, named Shahid Israr as the manager of the team.

The team: Majid Khan (Capt), Zaheer Abbas (vice-capt), Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Saleem Yousuf, Ashraf Ali, Sikander Bakht, Ejaz Faquih, Azhar Khan, Mansoor Akhtar, Jalaluddin, Al Zia, Raees Ahmed, Rashid Khan and Ashraf Pakhali. Manager: Shahid Israr.

Last year's joint winner Central Zone open their campaign in the 2001-2002 Deodhar Trophy limited overs cricket tournament against East Zone on February 20 next year. The match will be held at a venue in Punjab.

The popular annual competition will be held in the North Zone in the coming season from February 20 to 25. South Zone, who tied with Central Zone in a thrilling final last year, open their campaign against West Zone, also at a venue in Punjab, on February 21.

The following are the fixtures:

February 20: West Zone vs North Zone (Punjab), Central Zone vs East Zone (Punjab). February 21: West Zone vs South Zone (Punjab), North Zone vs East Zone (Punjab). February 22: Central Zone vs North Zone (Himachal Pradesh). February 23: South Zone vs East Zone (Services). February 24: West Zone vs East Zone (Delhi), South Zone vs Central Zone (Haryana). February 25: West Zone vs Central Zone (Haryana), North Zone vs South Zone (Delhi).