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Shahid Afridi has shown some good form in practice sessions

Flamboyant Shahid Afridi who was not included in the names announced for ODI series against India has shown some good form of late during the practice sessions. He scored 52 runs off 40 balls and 92 off 64 balls on Monday and Wednesday respectively during practice sessions. There was more control and composure seen in his shots as he played a variety of strokes including sweep, cut and straight bat drives rather than hitting wildly and blindly. According to the skipper Misbah Ul Haq, Afridi could be considered in the ODI squad if he continued performances like that. He has shown a lot of confidence and improvement during the training and conditioning camp at Lahore for the India tour.

Misbah added that the Pakistan team definitely needed senior players to perform well and Afridi has always been a key senior player in ODIs as well both with bat and ball. If he performs well with the bat as well, the team definitely needed him and would definitely be given a consideration. Afridi is already in the squad for the T20 series although he had performed poorly with bat in T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, scoring just 30 runs in six matches. Even in the national T20 championships, he was unable to impress with bat and the rusty performance continued. However, his recent form is a good omen for the skipper as well as for the country.

ATP does not support US Open’s Monday finish

Tennis governing body ATP has criticized The US Open’s decision to extend the 2013 tournament for one day by conducting men’s final on Monday. The other three Grand Slam are finished on Sunday. ATP has asked the US Open organizers to be in line with the three other Grand Slam tournaments.

Traditionally, the men’s singles semi finals are played on Friday with the final on Sunday. However, seeing the tough physical demands of men’s tennis, the US Open organizers had earlier announced to add an extra day in US Open 2013 by conducting men’s singles final on Monday, with semi final being played on Saturday. On Sunday the women’s singles final will take place with the semi-finals also on Friday. The reason for this was quoted to give a rest day between the semi finals and finals. However, the ATP and its players have not liked the decision.

For the past five years, the US Open men’s final has been played on Monday because of stormy weather in the US.

England Win Series in India After 28 years

It took England 28 years to win a test series in India under the captaincy of Alistair Cook. The visitors did that convincingly winning 2-1, with the final test ending in a draw. The brilliant batting display from Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell ensured that the visitors do not lose any more wickets and the match ends in a draw. Both had a stand of 208 runs with both scoring centuries.

The first innings score of both the teams was almost even. In the second innings, England lost her 3 wickets early on in the final day of the test. Then there was a brilliant partnership featuring Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell which saved the day for the visitors. Trott scored his eighth century and first in nine month. He was however, supporting the team by chipping in precious runs in almost all the tests. For Bell, it was his first test hundred in India and had to wait more than a year for that.

Both the players had a difficulty job to do early on which they did expertly and developed a much needed partnership to ensure that the draw is confirmed. The pair was just 7 runs short of breaking the record of highest 4th wicket partnership for England in India held by Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood in Chennai in 2008 when he was caught out at slip off Ashwin. Bell who was not out in the innings at 116 also displayed true character as he came in at 94 for 3. He was however lucky as Sehwag dropped his catch at slip when he was 75 and at 97, a direct hit could have run him out. No wickets fell for England and it was a frustrating moment for India and a happy one for England. The final score was:

England 330 (Pietersen 73, Root 73, Prior 57, Swann 56, Chawla 4-69) and 352 for 4 (Trott 143, Bell 116*) drew with India 326 for 9 dec (Kohli 103, Dhoni 99, Anderson 4-81)

Sports Tennis

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Nadal to return in Abu Dhabi this month

Former world Number One Rafael Nadal who was out of the professional tennis circuit for the last 6 months has confirmed that he will play at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. The tournament is an exhibition tournament to be commenced on December 28. Nadal has already started practice almost a month back after six months of rest due to a knee injury.

Nadal, who is currently world number 4 was last seen in action against Czech player Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon in June. He suffered a shock defeat in five sets in that match. After the match, the 11-times Grand Slam singles champion was diagnosed with a partial tear of the patella tendon and an inflammation in his left knee. Due to his injury, Nadal had to miss the Olympics as well as the US Open. He was the defending champion at both the events.

Nadal had won the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in 2010 and 2011 and was eager to get back to winning ways by lifting the trophy again. He will either play world number three Andy Murray of Britain or ninth seed Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. The other players to participate in the tournament are World number one Novak Djokovic, fifth ranked David Ferrer and world number six Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic.

Cricket Sports

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Injured Broad Awaits Scan Results

Stuart Broad who had suffered left heel injury before the start of India’s tour has again got himself injured while practicing in nets for the final test against India. He had to leave the field due to discomfort and had to take medical treatment before coming back again for brief moment. He had a scan of the injury during the second test. However, he played all the three tests. He now awaits the scan results and is highly unlikely to play the fourth test starting from December 13, 2012.

Broad, who is the England Twenty20 captain, is also likely to miss the two T20 matches if the scan results are not satisfactory. The team management is worried about fitness issues of the T20 skipper. The two T20 matches will be played in Pune and Mumbai on December 20 and 22 respectively. If Broad misses the T20 matches, Eoin Morgan who is England’s Twenty20 vice-captain would be the stand in captain. The selectors may need to replace Broad in an inexperienced 13-man squad which contains only three other specialist seamers.

Football Sports

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Mueller lauds record-breaker Messi

When Argentina and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi scored twice against Real Betis to break Gerd Mueller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year, Mueller was the first one to congratulate him. He has hailed Lionel Messi as an incredible player and was happy that the world’s best player has broken his record. Mueller had scored 85 goals in 60 matches in year 1972 when playing for Bayern Munich and West Germany. His record for most goals in a calendar year stood for 40 years. Messi now has 86 goals in 67 games.

Mueller was generous in applauding Messi and hoped that he would further add to his tally while playing in the remaining 3 games of the year 2012 so that the record might then stay for 40 more years. Mueller wished if Messi were there in Bayern Munich.

Besides breaking Mueller’s record, Messi’s two goals against Betis made him the top goal scorer in Barcelona in league games. The previous leading goal scorer was Cesar Rodriguez who scored 192 goals. Messi has now scored 194 league goals for Barcelona. He is already Barca’s record goal scorer after breaking record of 232 goals which was also set by Rodriguez during the 1940s and 50s.

Messi’s team-mates were also all praise for him and expressed him as supernatural, beyond limits. His contributions for the club would always be remembered. Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta expressed that the records made by Messi were coming so fluently and quickly that they would be appreciated in due course of time as they seem so effortless and simple.

Messi was humble and modest when asked about the record and said that the victory for the club was more delightful event than the personal glory. However, he pledged scoring more goals to make it difficult for the next player who tries to break this record.

Cricket Sports

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Shahid Afridi Axed from Pak ODI Squad for India

Pakistan has announced its one day and T-20 squad for the Indian tour this month. Flamboyant Shahid Afridi has been dropped from ODIs, however he has been included in twenty20 squad. Afridi only scored seven runs and took one wicket in two ODIs against Australia in UAE this September.

A total of 6 changes have been made in the ODI squad that was selected against Australia. Similarly, there are also 6 changes in T-20 squad which was selected for world cup played in Sri Lanka. Other five players to be dropped from the ODI squad are left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, fast bowlers Aizaz Cheema and Sohail Tanvir. Shoaib Malik and Asad Shafiq have been dropped because of injury. They have been replaced by Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, and Zulfiqar Babar. Batsman Sohail and left-arm spinner Babar will be making their debut for the greens. Fast bowler Wahab Riaz last played for the country in Asia Cup.

Those dropped from T20 squad are allrounders Abdul Razzaq and Yasir Arafat, opening batsman Imran Nazir, Shafiq and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan. Shafiq and Hasan were axed because of injuries. Those who have made to the team are fast bowler Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar, Asad Ali, Mohammad Irfan and Umar Amin.

Pakistan will play two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs against India from December 25 to January 06. The squads of ODIs and T20 are:

ODI squad: Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(C), Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar.

T20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez(C), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shehzad.

Football Sports

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Colombia former goalkeeper Miguel Calero, has died at the age of 41

Colombia former goalkeeper Miguel Calero, has died at the age of 41 due to complications of heart following a stroke.He was an active member of Mexican club Pachuca and played for over a decade for it. His death was announced by club Pachuca saying that he died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital

Calero retired in 2011 from his club Pachuca and took over the duties as goalkeeping coach. Being a member of club , he helped it to achieve four league titles and the Copa Sudamericana.

Cricket

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England in Control of Match final test 509 for 6

England 509 for 6 (Cook 190, Trott 87, Compton 57, Pietersen 54) lead India 316 by 193 runs

India might have thought of a change in fortunes on the third day of the final test. However, the feeling of helplessness gripped the Indian team for most part of the day as England continued to pile up runs and took a commanding position in the test. They have a lead of 193 runs with 4 wickets remaining.

Resuming the day’s play on 216 for 1, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, continued to assault the bowling attack. Cook was close to scoring a double ton when at 190, he was give run out while trying to evade the ball thrown by Virat Kohli as his bat hadn’t touched the ground. This was for the first time that Cook was run out in tests. Cook made another 173 runs partnership with Trott. Trott was out on 87.

After the departure of two set batsmen, it was Kevin Pieterson’s turn to take charge of the situation. He took full control and scored runs with a quick pace. He was literally toying with Indian attack. He was out lbw for 54.

The last couple of hours proved even more disappointing for India. Matt Prior and Graeme Swann scored 56 runs in the last 13 overs. England is now 509 for 6. Its going to be a very crucial day for India.

Hockey Sports

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Shakeel Abassi took Pakistan to Semifinal of Champions trophy by beating Germany 2-1

Pakistan reached in Semi final of Champions trophy underway at Australia. Shakeel Abassi scored both goals to give Pakistan a 2-1 win over Olympic gold medalist Germany in the 39th and 51st minutes. It was a quarterfinal match between the two hockey giants.

Germany was on top in early minutes of the game by Moritz Furste hfielding the first goal for Germany in ninth minute giving1-0 lead to Germany.

Pakistan will play the winner of second quarterfinal match between London silver medalist Netherlands and New Zealand that will be played on Today.

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