Ajay Sharma fails to keep appointment with Madhavan:
Former Indian Test player and one of the accused in the CBI report on
match-fixing, Ajay Sharma on Tuesday refused to appear before the
BCCI's one man enquiry commission, K Madhavan, on the ground that a
copy of the report had not been delivered to him.
Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that Sharma did not keep his
appointment with Madhavan as he was still awaiting a copy of the CBI
report. Quoting the former CBI joint director, AFP said ``Ajay
informed me he would not be coming to see me because he had not
received the report,'' and added ``It is in the players' interest to
see me, they can clarify anything they wish to.''
Madhavan flew into Delhi especially to meet Ajay Sharma after the
latter skipped the first round of interrogations in Chennai. Three
others named in the report, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and Nayan
Mongia met Madhavan in Chennai over the weekend. Board sources also
confirmed to PTI on Tuesday that Mohd Azharuddin expressed his
willingness to meet Madhavan in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Former Rajasthan captain Arjun Naidu passes away
Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Wednesday that the former
Rajasthan Ranji team captain Arjun Naidu died in Udaipur on Thursday.
Quoting Rajasthan Cricket Association sources the agency said that
Naidu passed away after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, a
son and a daughter.
The agency added that the 75-year-old Naidu was admitted to a hospital
five days ago after suffering from high fever. Naidu had been working
as the chief coach at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala
before taking up the job of the Rajasthan team coach and also the
selector of the state Ranji team.
Though Naidu started out playing for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, he
shifted to Holkar in 1950 and was a member of the teams that lifted
the Ranji Trophy in 1951-52 and 1952-53. Naidu also represented India
in an unofficial Test in 1953 against the visiting Silver Jubilee
Overseas Cricketers (SJOC) team.
Vidarbha Cricket Association announces Under-16 probables
The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) in an official press release on
Tuesday announced the list of 22 probables for the forthcoming
Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy. Vidarbha are slated to take on
Rajasthan in their first match at Udaipur from November 23 to 25.
The probables: Ali Akbar Arif, Fazi Fazal, Mohd. Hashim, Pravin
Landge, Sohil Bhengade, Abhishek Nath, Ravinder Natkar, Azhar Shaikh,
Pushkar Mengal, Gaurav Tikks, Virat Mishra, Shalabh Shrivastava,
Vikarant Gonnade, Piyul Wanjari, Avinash Wati, Akshay Pol, Prashant
Saloikor, Abhinav Somalwar, Amit Bhomble, Shahabuddin Quazi, Swapinla
Ambulkar, Swapinal Deshpande.
Kotla pitch gets the green signal from BCCI committee
The two member BCCI pitches committee comprising G Kasturirangan and
Dhiraj Parsana have given the green signal to the Ferozeshah Kotla
ground which is to host the first India-Zimbabwe Test from November 18
to 22.
After a two day surveillance of the pitch, Kasturirangan told Press
Trust of India (PTI) that ``the pitch is in superb condition. Other
facilities are also fine.'' and added that the committee has left it
to the Indian team management and the Delhi and District Cricket
Association (DDCA) to decide what type of wicket they would like to
make. He said `` We don't want to give any opinion on the kind of
wicket. We have left it to the local association.''
The Kotla ground is to play host for a Test after a gap of 21 months.
India won their last encounter here against Pakistan after leg-spinner
Anil Kumble made history by taking all 10 wickets in the second
innings.