Indian news round-up

In the wake of the turmoil following the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) interim report, the Union Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has called for a meeting of all state sports ministers on November 21 to discuss the match-fixing report.

Talking to reporters in Chandigarh on Saturday, Dhindsa said "the purpose of making the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) report into match-fixing public was to enable a debate on the performance of sports organizations. These organizations should be made accountable to the public." He also clarified that the government did not want to interfere in the functioning of the various sports associations but added that "no organization running sports can claim freedom from government checks on the ground that it is not funded by the government."

On the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Dhindsa said that the BCCI was an autonomous body, and that the government was not funding the cricket board. However, Dhindsa said "the government did not fund the BCCI but several cricket stadiums had come up on land provided either free or at subsidized rates by the government. Cricket associations in several states were exempted from paying taxes."

The secretary of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Zakir Hussain Syed said that Pakistan would host the Asia Cup one-day tournament and Asian Test Championship next year. He said that the Asia Cup will be played in April immediately after the Sharjah Cup Triangular Series while the four-nation Asian Test Championship is to be played in September and October.

Speaking to the Dawn, Zakir Hussain said ``the BCCI chief AC Muttiah has agreed that the two tournaments will be played in Pakistan and he has confirmed his team's participation.'' He added ``It was unanimously decided in the last ACC tournament that the two tournaments will go as per schedule irrespective of Indian stand of playing Pakistan or touring Pakistan.''

Zahir Hussain however added that in case India objects to playing in Pakistan, the ACC might agree to schedule their match at a neutral venue. He said that the itenarary and other logistics would be finalised in the ACC meeting scheduled to be held at Sharjah on November 22 and 23.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has named Indian Test opener Devang Gandhi to lead Bengal in their Ranji Trophy opener against Tripura to be played in Eden Gardens in Calcutta from November 19 to 22.

The team : Devang Gandhi (captain), Syed Saba Karim, Utpal Chatterjee, Rohan Gavaskar, Srikant Kalyani, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Deep Dasgupta, Sanjib Sanyal, Sujay Parui, Shib Shankar Paul, Amitava Banerjee, Arijit Basu, Wrichik Majumder, Pitambar Dutta. Standby : Alokendu Lahiri. Coach : Palash Nandi, Manager : Biswarup Dey.

Amitava Chakrabarty will lead the Under-19 Bengal team in their 4th Cooch Behar Trophy match against Sikkim to be played at Rongpo from November 10 to 12.

The team : Amitava Chakrabarty, Ritesh Jaiswal (Wicketkeeper), Arindam Das, Subhamoy Das, Ayan Nandi, Aranyadeb Sarkar, Avishek Jhunjhunwala, Gourav Sharma, Sabir Ali, Tanweer Hyder Khan, Pinaki Majumdar, Fakruddin Sajjad, Samad Akhtar, Sourabh Shukla. Coach : Barun Barman. Manager : Sambhu Mallick.

The secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), Shivlal Yadav, said on Saturday that former Indian captain Mohd Azharuddin has been dropped from the Hyderabad Ranji Trophy Team as per the instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to reporters, Yadav said that the Association has replaced Azharuddin with Ghouse Baba and added that he would not play any match until the BCCI completes its internal inquiry. Yadav said ``any further decision would be taken only after former CBI Joint Director K Madhavan, now BCCI commissioner of inquiry, submits his report.''

Azharuddin who has been named in the CBI report into match fixing has been elusive to the media ever since the report was submitted to the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, SS Dhindsa.