Indian news round-up

Indian skipper for Asia Cup during Ranji final

The Indian captain for the Asia Cup will be named on the last day of the Ranji Trophy final to be played from April 19-23. This was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar in Mumbai on Monday. Diwadkar said that the selectors are scheduled to watch the Ranji Trophy final and will choose the captain on the final day.

The Asia Cup tournament will be held in Dhaka from May 27 to June 4. The other participating teams are Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Venkatesh Prasad may lead Karnataka

Indian medium pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad is likely to lead the Karnataka side in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Hyderabad to be played at the KSCA ground in Bangalore from April 11 to 15. This was indicated by the Karnataka selection committee chairman Syed Kirmani on Monday. Prasad will replace Anil Kumble who has to leave for England to play for Leicestershire. Rahul Dravid has also informed about his unavailability due to his engagement with the English county Kent.

The team: Venkatesh Prasad, J Arun Kumar, Mithun Beerala, Barrington Rowland, Vijay Bharadwaj, Sunil Joshi, Javagal Srinath, Dodda Ganesh, Thilak Naidu, Venkatesh Prasad, B Akhil, Santosh Vadeyaraj, A Vijay, Mansoor Ali Khan. Coach: B Raghunath. Manager: Narayan Raju.

Jadeja appointed brand ambassador for Konica products

Ajay Jadeja is the first Indian to be appointed as a brand ambassador for Konica products and he is happy at the appointment. Speaking at a function in Mumbai on Monday, Jadeja said "I was totally out of form in Sharjah but I am confident of regaining my form soon. It is just a matter of time and I am certain I will be back with a bang".

To a question on cricket being a lucrative sport and when will the players stop and say 'enough', the former Indian stop gap captain said "I don't see enough money in cricket". He said this in an interview to an Indian newspaper on Monday. The former Haryana player added "maybe a couple of us who are doing well have enough money, but when you look at it spread over a lifetime, after a person retires from cricket, his earnings fall. An average Test cricketer plays only seven-eight matches in his career, so there's not much money. On the whole I think cricketers are still being exploited".