Indian news round-up

With the home series against Australia around the corner, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly will in all probability miss a meeting of skippers of the ten Test playing nations scheduled to be held in Melbourne on February 12. The meeting has been convened to discuss the future of the game after the matchfixing scandal.

Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Wednesday that Ganguly, who would have represented the country credited with opening the Pandora's Box and exposing the murky side of the game, will be busy preparing for the tough home series against the Australians who arrive in India on February 14.

Quoting the International Cricket Council's (ICC) spokesman Mark Harrison, PTI said that the England skipper Nasser Hussain may be the other absentee due to England's tour of Sri Lanka. The discussions will be chaired by ICC Chief Executive, David Richards of Australia.

The executive secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Sharad Diwadkar said in Mumbai on Wednesday that Australia's tour opener against India A which was scheduled to be played at Baroda from February 17 to 19 has been shifted to Nagpur.

Speaking to Press Trust of India (PTI) Diwadkar said that the BCCI was forced to shift the tour opener to Nagpur due to the devastation caused by the earthquake in Gujarat on January 26.

Australia are to land in India on February 14 for a three Test and five One-day series. The three Tests are to be played at Mumbai (February 27 to March 3), Kolkata (March 11 to 15) and Chennai (March 18 to 22). The five One day matches are to be played at Bangalore (March 25), Pune (March 28), Indore (March 31), Vishakapatnam (April 3) and Goa (April 7).

The cricket secretary of the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA), MD Paralkar said in Mumbai on Wednesday that the Parle-G Super Cup cricket tournament for the Under-16 schoolboys would be held from February 5 to 15 in Mumbai under the auspices of the MSSA.

Speaking at a press conference, Paralkar said that 24 schools from Mumbai including school teams which had made it to the last 16 stage of the Harris and Giles Shield, would take part in the tournament. He added that the winner of this meet will compete for the final tournament which would be held at Bangalore.

The winners from the six cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai are to compete with each other for the national title.