Sports

After months of public debate the selectors have ended Sourav Ganguly's 10-month spell by recalling him to the Indian Test squad for the forthcoming three-Test series against South Africa. Meanwhile VVS Laxman who had joined the one day team following injury to skipper Rahul Dravid is to replace Virender Sehwag as the vice-captain of the Test side. "I am happy to be back. I have done well for ... [full story]

Leander Paes and Sania Mirza will lead India's campaign in both the individual and team tennis competitions of the Asian Games to be held in Doha in December. Paes, who last played a singles match as Davis Cup captain against Pakistan in Mumbai in April, will be joined by Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Harsh Mankad, Karan Rastogi and Prakash Amritraj in the individual men's event. Mankad, who was not available for Davis Cup duties this year, has been ... [full story]

Indian cricket's governing body will spend $347m on improving facilities for the game across the country, including installing flood lights at every stadium over the next one year. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has already sanctioned 16 billion rupees ($347m) for cricket associations of all states, BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said. He is here to attend a tri-series tournament starting on Tuesday, featuring Australia, India and the West Indies. Until now, ... [full story]

Interacting with a community of bloggers at the India blogcamp in Chennai, master batsman and cricketing legend, Sunil Gavaskar confessed that he was reluctant to convert to computers at one point but has expressed his desire to set up a blog to share his experiences on the game. The master batsman, who writes his popular columns in long hand said he faced a blank screen after hours of typing on a ... [full story]

Olympic silver medallist Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore shot gold in double trap and helped India win the team gold in the same event at the Asian Clay Pigeon Shooting Championship in Singapore Wednesday. Rathore, who won the Olympic silver at Athens in 2004, won the gold with an aggregate of 190 points - 142 (46,47,49) out of 150 in the preliminary stage and 48 in the final round, according to information received here. Saif-al-Shamsi of United ... [full story]

Christopher Zeller's goal in the last minute dashed India's hopes of a point that was there for the taking against defending champions Germany in their opening match of the men's hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany, on Wednesday. Zeller, who had put the Germans ahead in the 26th minute, scored a minute from time after Shivendra Singh had rallied the Indians after being twice in arrears. India, at the receiving end for much of the first half, ... [full story]

Indian skipper Rahul Dravid has been nominated for the annual International Cricket Council awards. Dravid has been nominated for Sir Garfield Sobers Award for the Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year, and Captain of the Year awards, ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed announced on Wednesday. He is the only Indian among the 13 who are in the running for the Cricketer of the Year Award. Dravid ... [full story]

Indian hopes at the US Open were kept alive by Leander Paes who entered the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event. Paes partnering Czech Martin Damm beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Graydon Oliver of the USA 6-4 6-2 to reach the last eight.    In boys' doubles, Rupesh Roy along with Roberto Maytin of Venezuala cruised to the second round by posting a convincing 6-2 6-2 win over home pair of ... [full story]

Rahul Dravid, an Arjuna Awardee in 1998, was a candidate for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna this year but was left out. BCCI did nominate Dravid but sent his name too late, much after the May 31 deadline, in fact on July 17. The BCCI said they were "sorry" that Dravid had missed the bus yet again, but they didn't think they could be blamed for it. Anju ... [full story]

Francesca Schiavone defeated Sania Mirza's at the US Open tennis championships on Thursday. At the Flushing Meadows, the Italian, seeded No. 14, survived an error-laden second round match to beat the Indian ace 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, in two hours and 28 minutes, and set up a third round clash with Israel's Shahar Peer. Though Schiavone took time to warm-up to Sania's game, she brought in her experience and all-court game, which eventually balanced her ... [full story]