Sports Bar

Baroda leaves out Irfan

Irfan Pathan will be replaced by Gagandeep Singh Natt in the Baroda team for the remaining two matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy to be held in Ahmedabad. The Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) selection committee met here today and decided to replace Irfan by Gagandeep,a BCA spokesman said. The association,however,did not give any reason for the replacement.

Clarke backs Harbhajan

Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke considers Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as one of the most difficult bowlers to face in international cricket. “Harbhajan is a great competitor who loves playing and bowling against Australia. Not only does Harbhajan spin the ball a long way,he gets more bounce than any other spinner I have faced,” Clarke told Fox Sports.

Watson replaces Marsh

With Shaun Marsh ruled out due to a back injury,Australia on Saturday included all-rounder Shane Watson in their squad for the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies in Brisbane on Sunday. “The Cricket Australia (CA) National Selection Panel has today announced that Shane Watson has replaced Shaun Marsh in Australia’s squad for tomorrow’s Commonwealth Bank Series match at the Gabba,” CA said in a statement.

IOA welcomes cricket’s inclusion

The Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi on Saturday hailed the inclusion of cricket in the “Olympic family” and hoped the game will make its debut in the 2020 Games. The IOC on Friday gave its nod to the inclusion of cricket,in Vancouver,where Winter Olympics have started. “Cricket has become popular in many countries of the world and I congratulate the IOC for including cricket as a Olympic sport and look forward to it being part of the Olympics in 2020,” Kalmadi said in a statement.

NZ-Lanka series in US?

New Zealand are poised to lead the way into the potentially lucrative United States cricket market with confirmation on Satuday that talks are underway to play Sri Lanka in Florida this year. A “strategic partnership” has been formed with USA Cricket which will be of commercial benefit to both parties,New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan said.

Salgaocar beat Viva Kerala

Salgaocar beat Viva Kerala by a solitary goal in their last match of the first leg of the I-league at Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. The all-important goal was scored by Keita Mandjou in the 59th minute. With this win,Salgaocar are 11th on the table with 13 points,one point behind Viva Kerala who are placed 10th.

Sutil third fastest

Force India driver Adrian Sutil still posted the third fastest time on day three of the team’s four-day testing at the Circuit de Jerez here. Taking over from Antonio Liuzzi,Sutil completed some dry laps before rain intervened and the German’s best lap of 1:21.428 posted in this dry period remained the third fastest time — behind Jaime Alguersuari (1:19.919) of Toro Rosso and BMW Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa (1:20.736).

“It was nice to have some dry running. The car is good and I think it’s a positive place to start. I’m very confident on the general speed of the car,” Sutil later said.

Cole to have surgery

England defender Ashley Cole will have surgery to repair a broken left ankle that has ruled him out of action for three months. However,Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is confident he won’t miss the World Cup. The leftback was injured after a challenge by Everton’s Landon Donovan in a Premier League game on Wednesday. Chelsea said Cole was expected to be out of action for approximately three months and Ancelotti revealed he would have an operation. Although Cole will miss almost the whole of the rest of the season,he should recover in time for the World Cup which kicks off on June 11.

“I’m disappointed because Ashley is a very important player for us,” Ancelotti had said Friday.