Indian news round-up

Dravid's unbeaten 182 puts Kent in command

Stylish Indian middle order batsan Rahul Dravid regained his silken touch and was the star performer for Kent against the visiting Zimbabweans. He scored an unbeaten 182 on the second day of the four day match at Canterbury on Thursday. Kent were 380 for five wickets at stumps.

Kent were in dire starits at 11 for three when their new star Dravid walked in to join AP Wells. He and Wells added 104 runs for the fourth wicket and later with JB Hockley he put on 208 runs for the fifth wicket. Dravid's aggressive innings so far has 27 hits to the fence off 259 balls. Earlier Zimbabwe were bowled out for 159.

Ganguly and Kumble disappoint

Both Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble did not exactly taste success in the county match between Leicestershire and Lancashire at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Ganguly scored just 30 for Lancashire in their total of 342 for five while Kumble went wicketless on day two in the four day PPP Healthcare County Championship match.

Gavaskar wants Dravid and Kumble censured

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, in his weekly column in a sports magazine has come down heavily on Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble for missing the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Hyderabad last month. Karnataka incidentally lost on first innings.

Gavaskar has said that the two players should not be considered in the list of probabales for the forthcoming Asia Cup tournament to be played in Dhaka from May 28 to June 7. He also said the two players should be punished for opting out of the game and ignoring the domestic season.

Allegation against Kapil: Reactions from senior players

Indian junior team coach Roger Binny, reacting to the allegation made by IS Bindra on Kapil Dev, said in an interview in Mumbai that it was a sad example for youngsters. ``After such allegations, the players are going to have a hard time, both on and off the field. This is a very sad example for the youngsters who dream of making it big in the world of cricket.'' Indian allrounder Robin Singh who was also present along with Binny at the launch of a promotional campaign refused to comment on the issue.

In an interview to a newspaper, former Indian off spinner EAS Prasanna said ''Prabhakar is the best man to reveal the name as he is the one who knows it. Only an investigating exercise can come out with the names involved.''

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary Brijesh Patel said ''This is just playing around with names. There is nothing concrete.''