sachin shows his 200 bats to fans for 200runs in odi

sachin shows his 200 bats to fans for 200runs in odi

Sachin Tendulkar was presented with 200 bats on Tuesday by fans for becoming the first batsman to score a double century in one-day international cricket.

Tendulkar appreciated the initiative by his fans, put autographs on some of the bats and then advised them to distribute the bats among the budding players of the city, to whom these would certainly be an inspirational gift.

Harshit Talati, a municipal cooperator and Harish Malani, president of the Sandhi Education Society, accompanied by Atul Bedade, chairman of the selection committee of Baroda Cricket Association, were here present the bats to Tendulkar.

Tendulkar was in Surat to play an exhibition Twenty20 match.

"The 200 bats were collected by the fans of Tendulkar when he created ODI history by making 200 runs against South Africa. The fans collected these bats as mark of respect towards Tendulkar," Talati said.

Talati said Tendulkar appreciated the gesture towards him and after autographing some of the bats, he gave them back to us for their distribution among the budding players of the city.

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Nadal fit and ready for Indian Wells

Nadal fit and ready for Indian Wells

Former world number one Rafael Nadal, who retired injured during his Australian Open quarter-final in January, says he is fit for the Indian Wells tournament.

'I have been training hard for three weeks. We have worked during the pre-season to recover the form which I had when I arrived in Australia. I feel strong and my knees do not hurt me. Now I just want to compete,' the Spaniard said in an interview published in sports daily AS.

'My main objective, the most immediate goal, is to play well during the American claycourt season. I have 1,000 points to defend at Indian Wells as the defending champion. But the main idea is to play well,' the 23-year-old added.

Nadal, who is currently ranked third in the ATP world rankings, was trailing Andy Murray in their Australian Open quarter-final when he retired due to recurrent knee troubles.

He missed Spain's Davis Cup victory over Switzerland at the weekend due to the injury but said he would like to take part in the July 9-11 quarter-final against France.

'The next elimination stage in France will be very hard and to get through it we need to all be at 100 per cent. I would like to be there,' said Nadal.

Spain is attempting to win its third straight Davis Cup title.

The Indian Wells tournament, which annually draws most of the world's top men and women tennis players, will run until March 22.

The attendance for the two-week event last year was 330,000, ranking it behind only the four Grand Slam tournaments for crowd numbers.

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Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters look to shake thin up at Indian Wells

Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters look to shake thin up at Indian Wells

Former world number ones Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters of Belgium will provide some early headaches for top seeds at the WTA Indian Wells tournament which begins Wednesday.
The 4.5 million-dollar event, played in conjunction with an ATP event that starts Thursday, also could see a potential third-round rematch of last year's final between defending champion Vera Zvonareva and 24th seed Ana Ivanovic.
With 32 seeds receiving first-round byes, the early star of the show figures to be Henin, the 27-year-old who lost to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final and US Open champion Clijsters at the Brisbane final.
Henin, who won at Indian Wells in 2004, opens against Slovakia?s Magdalena Rybarikova and if she advances will face 31st-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina for a possible third-round encounter with fifth seed Agneiszka Radwanska of Poland.
Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva is also in Henin's quarter of the draw.
Clijsters, a 14th-seeded two-time Indian Wells champion, opens with a second-round tie against Germany's Andrea Petkovic or Czech Barbora Strycova Zahlavova. She could face top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round.
Russian star Kuznetsova's path to a third career Indian Wells final could also see her face Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic or Italy's ninth-seeded Flavia Pennetta in the quarter-finals.
Kuznetsova opens in the second round against either Alize Cornet of France or Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Last year, Kuznetsova suffered her earliest loss at Indian Wells when she fell to Poland's Urszula Radwanska in her opener.
Russian 12th seed Zvonareva beat 2008 champion Ivanovic of Serbia to take the 2009 crown and opens her title defense against either a qualifier or Czech Lucie Hradecka. Ivanovic opens with a qualifier or Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
Zvonareva or Ivanovic could face eighth seed Samantha Stosur of Australia in the fouth round with two-time Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia or third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus possible quarter-final foes.
Danish second seed Caroline Wozniacki could meet Russian 10th seed and 2006 Indian Wells winner Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals.
But Sharapova, who won last month at Memphis, could face two Australian Open semi-finalists from China in her path to the last eight - 18th seed Zheng Jie in the third round and seventh seed Li Na in the fourth round.

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PCB takes decision to lifetime ban on Yousuf and Younis

PCB takes decision to lifetime ban on Yousuf and Younis

Taking action on the players' poor performance on the recent Australian tour, Pakistan Cricket Board imposed life bans on former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan.
Another former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved were banned for a year and all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been fined for involvement in ball tampering.
The probe was carried out after open rebellion by several players during the Australian tour.
Malik and Naved were also fined two million rupees ($23,500), wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was handed a fine of three million rupees ($35,200) and Umar Akmal, younger brother of Kamran, was fined two million rupees ($23,500). Both the brothers have also been put on probation for six months.
Afridi was fined 3 million rupees ($35,200) for ball tampering during the one-day series against Australia.
The reasons behind banning two of the most experienced cricketers (Younis, Yousuf) are still not known, but PCB said it would be making the inquiry committee's report public in few days.
Yousuf was under tremendous pressure and had to face flak from all quarters for one of the shoddiest performance by Pakistan during Australia tour in recent years.
Younis, who had earlier stepped down as the captain of the squad saying he was not able to control the team, was recalled into the team for the five one-day internationals against the Kangaroos but failed to click any of the matches.

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Arsenal sail into Champions League quarters

Arsenal sail into Champions League quarters

Nicklas Bendtner grabbed a hat-trick as Arsenal cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, beating Porto 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
The hosts went ahead after 10 minutes with Porto defender Fucile runing into his keeper and Bendtner stabbing the loose ball into the empty net.
Another poor attempt from the keeper saw Arsenal 2-0 up and again it was Bendtner who did not miss.
The 64th minute saw a brilliant attempt by Samir Nasri as he dribbled past three Porto defenders before drilling one into the the far post. Three minutes later Emmanuel Eboue added the fourth and then Bendtner claimed his hat-trick through a penalty in the final minute.
In another game, Bayern Munich went through to the last eight despite losing to Fiorentina.
Bayern were lucky to have had the advantage of an all important away goal. Fiorentina's Juan Manuel Vargas took advantage in the 28th minute and the hosts doubled the lead when Stevan Jovetic slotted home in the 54th.
A little while later Mark van Bommel blasted a low drive for Bayern to make it 2-1. Just four minutes later Jovetic scored his second of the night. But Arjen Robben came to Bayern's rescue with a powerful curler in the 65th minute.

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Australia beat Pakistan to qualify for semis

Australia beat Pakistan to qualify for semis

Tournament favourites Australia advanced into the semi-finals of the men's hockey World Cup on Monday after they beat Pakistan 2-1 in a pulsating match to finish top of Pool B.
Desmond Abbott scored twice as Australia completed their matches in the six-team pool, finishing level with England on 12 points but topping the group on goal difference.
European champions England, who pulled off a surprise 3-2 victory over Australia in the opening match, lost 2-0 to Spain at the Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium for their first defeat in the competition.
Pau Quemada and Eduard Tubau scored for Olympic silver medallists Spain who finished third in the group on nine points. India meet South Africa in the day's final match.
Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead against Australia, who won a 10th Champions Trophy in December, in the 24th minute through a penalty corner.
Abbott scored the equaliser three minutes into the second half and netted again shortly before the final whistle.

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