Mani fears forIndo-Pak

cricket tiesKARACHI, DEC 7 /--/ Former ICC President Ehsan Manifeels PCB's decision to file a compensation claim against theIndian Cricket Board will lead to bad blood and impact fu-ture cricket relations between the two nations. The PakistanCricket Board has filed a compensation claim of USD 70million against BCCI before the ICC for not honouring a bi-lateral cricket series agreement. "I have concerns about theconsequences of this case whatever its outcome. What I amconcerned about is the affect it is going to have on cricketrelations between the two countries in the long run," Manisaid on Geo Super channel. "I just think all avenues of talks,discussions and back door diplomacy were not explored bythe PCB before going ahead with its compensation claim inthe ICC. "I would have waited and first exhausted all op-tions of trying to get something out of India for them notplaying bilateral ties with Pakistan before opting for thecompensation claim option," he added. Mani, who servedas ICC President between 2003-2006, said even if Pakistanwon its compensation claim what guarantee is there Indiawould agree to pay out the amount. "Say if Pakistan is suc-cessful in its compensation claim what happens if India

holds back the money. Then Pakistan has to go to the ICCboard and it will not help relations between both countries,"he said. Mani said even though there was a clause that saidthe Disputes Resolution Committee's decision was bindingon both parties and could not be challenged in any other fo-rum, but when it came to money things often get ugly. "IfIndia holds back on payment what does Pakistan do, doesit ask the ICC to deduct India's share of revenues from ICCevents? Can the ICC do that?" Mani said Pakistan wouldhave filed the compensation claim after going through alllegal aspects and there is a clause in the ICC constitutionwhich said no government interference is tolerated in anymember board's affairs. "India says it is not getting govern-ment clearance to play Pakistan and that clause will thanbecome important in this case. But overall I think there willbe bad blood and feelings and it will impact future cricketrelations between the two," he said. Mani also felt thatformer BCCI President and ICC Chairman N Srinivasanhad a significant role to play in India not resuming bilateralcricket ties with Pakistan. "He was not good news when hewas there at helm of affairs. He was anti-Pakistan and in histenure all chances of India taking initiative to get govern-ment clearance to play regular bilateral cricket with Paki-stan were non-existent." Mani said that India had becomea difficult member to deal with in the ICC due to itsstubborness but felt that this was also because they wereweak officials in the world body. "India does contribute sig-nificantly to the ICC revenues but I don't buy this 70 per-cent talk. The bottom line is ICC failed itself by not explor-ing the markets of USA and China. "Even today there justhas to be the right moves made to make India realize that itcan't operate independently in world cricket. (PTI)

Kohli grabs second position in Test rankingsICC PLAYERS TEST RANKINGS

Position Player Rating

1 Steven Smith, AUSTRALIA 9382 Virat Kohli, INDIA 8933 Joe Root, ENGLAND 8794 Cheteshwar Pujara,INDIA 8735 Kane Williamson,NEW ZEALAND 8656 David Warner, AUSTRALIA 8157 Hashim Amla,SOUTH AFRICA 7958 Azhar AliAzhar Alim PAKISTAN 7559 Dinesh Chandimal,SRI LANKA 74310 Dean ElgarDean Elgar, S AFRICA 732

DUBAI, DEC 7 /--/ Riding on hiscareer-best 243 in the third Testagainst Sri Lanka, India cap-tain Virat Kohli today jumpedthree places to grab the secondposition among batsmen in theICC Test rankings. Kohli's dou-ble ton was followed by a 50 inthe second innings as he fin-ished with 610 runs in the se-ries, which India won 1-0 afterthe first and third Test ended indraws in Kolkata and NewDelhi. Kohli, who slammedback-to-back double-centuriesand recorded three-figurescores in three consecutivematches, started the series insixth position but has leap-frogged David Warner,Cheteshwar Pujara, KaneWilliamson and Joe Root afterthe stupendous run which sawhim average 152.50. Though 45points separate him from Aus-tralia captain Steve Smith,Kohli would be eyeing thechance of reaching the zenithin all three formats since he isthe current No. 1 in ODIs andT20Is, the ICC said in a state-ment. Smith though has been ina different league and last weekreached 941 points, the jointfifth-highest in terms of thehighest points tally in battinghistory in Tests. Smith is nowon 938 points while Kohli is on893 points. Former Australiacaptain Ricky Ponting is theonly batsman to have been atthe top in all three formats atthe same time - in December-January 2005-06, while hiscompatriot Matthew Hayden isthe other batsman to havetopped all three formats.

No laughing matter for Indiain tired Sri Lanka ‘rivalry’

NEW DELHI, Dec 7 /--/ The humorous observa-tion that India and Sri Lanka's cricketers see moreof each other than their respective partners appearsto have taken a more serious tone with the Indianboard accepting that an overdose of the one-sidedrivalry is bad for cricket. Three months after sub-jecting Sri Lanka to a 9-0 whitewash across all for-mats, Virat Kohli's men prevailed 1-0 in the latestround of a duel between the neighbours to seal theirrecord-equalling ninth consecutive test series win.Three of those triumphs have come against an un-settled and inexperienced Sri Lankan side in thethroes of a tricky transition period following theretirements of batting stalwarts MahelaJayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in 2015. In-dia's six other series wins in this period includeshome triumphs against South Africa, New Zealand,England, Bangladesh and Australia, as well as a vic-tory over West Indies in the Caribbean. While itmakes financial sense for Sri Lanka to play India,the game's economic engine, the home board (BCCI)said the latest series, an underwhelming prospectfor fans, was unavoidable as it had to honour itscommitment to the calendar. "The back-to-back se-ries resulted from what had been committed in thepast in the current FTP (Future Tours Programme),"BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told re-

porters on the sidelines of the third and final test inDelhi. "The observation of the captain of the teamwill be a substantial basis of further discussions onFTP." Indian captains seldom talk about schedulingissues but Kohli has expressed concerns that the fre-quency of certain contests might result in plenty ofempty seats in the stands. "It definitely has to be takeninto consideration because you don't want fans goingaway from the game or not watching," Kohli saidahead of the back-to-back series against Sri Lanka,who have managed only one win in the last nine testsagainst their neighbours. "We have to find a balancebetween how to engage the fans and, at the same time,keep players fresh, keep cricket exciting and havevery competitive going throughout the year." Indiaalso played five one-dayers in Sri Lanka this year,against an opponent containing many regulars in theIndian Premier League (IPL). "This analysis has to bedone over a period of time, by asking fans who watchthe game," Kohli said. "For someone watching thegame, it is very different than someone playing thegame. For us, there is no room for saying that I don'twant to play this game. "I don't know if too muchcricket is being played, or (it's) repetition of the sameseries... That point will definitely be discussed (withthe Indian board) in future.

Though Smith enjoys a sub-stantial lead over Kohli, thecompetition for second to fifthpositions remains intense. Be-fore this Test, only 11 pointsseparated second-rankedPujara from fifth-ranked Kohli.Following the latest perform-ances, the gap has increasedslightly with 28 points nowseparating second-rankedKohli from fifth-rankedWilliamson. Among other Indi-ans, opener Murali Vijay (upthree places to 25th) and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma(up six places to 40th) are theother batsmen to move up.Pujara slipped two places to thefourth spot, while Ravindrajadeja slumped to the third posi-tion after losing a place in thebolwers ranking. R Ashwin wassteady at the fourth spot. In theallrounder list, Jadeja was atthe second spot, while Ashwinlost a place to be at the fourthposition. For Sri Lanka, captainDinesh Chandimal has gainedeight places to take ninth posi-tion after finishing the serieswith 366 runs, the first time hehas moved into the top 10. All-rounder Angelo Mathews hasmoved up seven places to 23rdposition after scoring 111 in thefirst innings while Dhananjayade Silva's match-saving 119 inthe second innings has liftedhim nine places to 47th posi-tion. In the ICC Test TeamRankings, India has lost onepoint but remains well ahead ofSouth Africa at the top of therankings, while Sri Lanka re-mains on its pre-series tally of94 points in sixth place.

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar addressing a press confrence to announce the launch of avedio game of JetSynthesys 'Sachin Saga Cricket Champions', in Bengauru on Thrusday

Tendulkar launches gaming platform featuring himBENGALURU, DEC 7 /--/Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkartoday unveiled a digital gamefeaturing him, developed byJetSyntheys, a leading digitalentertainment and gamingfirm. The aim of the gamingplatform--Sachin Saga CricketChampions--is to bring cricketfans together and enable eachone of them to "experience myjourney", Tendulkar said.Tendulkar said in his heydays,he used to play video games inparlours. "During my stintwith Yorkshire in 1992 andduring 2003 World Cup inSouth Africa, I used to visitvideo parlours along with

team-mates. Even at home, Ido these stuff and my son joinsin too. I love doing it," he said.Tendulkar said the companyworked on this project for twoyears and shot his batting in ahigh-tech studio in Londonwhere a James Bond movie hadbeen filmed. He said he had towear a special suit with 26 to 27receptors on his body, whichcaptured the body movementsand footwork while he dis-played his batting skills.Thirtysix cameras were usedfor the shooting. More thananything else, the gaming plat-form speaks of his importantinnings than the 100 centuries

he scored, Tendulkar said. "Imust give one example - myfirst Ranji Trophy match wasthe most important for me atthat point of time in my careerbecause there were questionmarks whether a 15-year-oldcould perform, and if hedoesn't, his career is de-stroyed," he said. Those werethe kind of thoughts runningin his mind, but he got a hun-dred and changed his career,Tendulkar said. Speaking toPTI on the sidelines of theevent, JetSynthesys Non-Ex-ecutive Chairman KrisGopalakrishnan said the com-pany expects to get five million

downloads in next 60 to 90days. "The one million pre-reg-istrations clearly indicatesgreat interest shown by peopleon this platform, and we wouldlike to build and improvise itbased on the feedback, we get,"he said. To a query, he said hehas invested in this venture inhis personal capacity, but didnot reveal the numbers.JetSynthesys Vice Chairmanand Managing Director RajanNavani said the platform willfeature 23 languages in future.Gopalakrishnan said the com-pany wants to reach out to alarge number of people by pro-viding this entertainment to

low-end smartphone users.Right now, the company hastwo studios at Pune andMumbai for shooting pur-poses. "Through this game,the player gets a chance to stepinto the shoes of Tendulkarand relive his innings fromsome of the most memorablematches he played for India,"said JetSynthesys Vice Chair-man and Managing DirectorRajan Navani. The gamebrings in real time shadowmovements, authentic sta-dium environments and swiftmotion quality of fieldersplucking the ball out fromthin-air, Navani said. (PTI)

Ronaldo breaks newground as Madridedge out Dormund

MADRID, DEC 7 /--/ Cristiano Ronaldo became the firstplayer to ever score in all six Champions League groupgames in one season as Real Madrid edged out a dispiritedBorussia Dortmund 3-2 on Wednesday. Lucas Vazquezgrabbed the winner nine minutes from time for the Euro-pean champions, who were already guaranteed to gothrough to the last 16 as runners-up in Group H toTottenham Hotspur. Ronaldo took his tally to nine goals insix Europan appearances this season with a spectacularlong-range effort into the top corner after Borja Mayoral'sopener to give Real a 2-0 lead inside 12 minutes. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued his excellent recordagainst Madrid with a quickfire double either side of half-time to bring Dortmund level. But despite Vazquez's latestrike, the Germans drop into the Europa League with arecord low two points thanks to their better goal differenceover APOEL Nicosia, who were defeated 3-0 at Spurs. Realwere, though, hit by a fresh injury blow as French interna-tional defender Raphael Varane limped off just before half-time holding his left leg. Zinedine Zidane now faces a de-fensive crisis ahead of the visit of Sevilla on Saturday withcaptain Sergio Ramos, right-back Dani Carvajal and hold-ing midfielder Casemiro all suspended. "With Rafa he hasdone some damage to himself, but we will see tomorrowwhen we do the scans as always," said Zidane. "He won't bethere Saturday that is for sure. We have to look for solu-tions." Zidane made six changes from the side that startedSaturday's 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao, but the hosts stillmade a flying start. Ronaldo's fine through ball just evadedIsco, but fell perfectly into the path of Mayoral and the 20-year-old kept his cool to chip the onrushing Roman Burkifor his first Champions League goal. By contrast, Ronaldohad his 114th in the competition moments later as he linedup a sumptuous strike from 25 yards.

Dortmund’s Serbian defender Neven Subotic (R) vieswith Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward CristianoRonaldo during the UEFA Champions League group Hfootball match Real Madrid CF vs Borussia Dortmundat the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid

'Circus' fears as Ben Stokesincluded in England ODIsquad against Australia

SYDNEY, DEC 7 /--/ Suspendedall-rounder Ben Stokes was in-cluded today in England's squadfor their one-day series againstAustralia, with coach TrevorBayliss bracing for "a circus" ifhe is cleared to play. Stokes iscurrently banned from interna-tional cricket while British au-thorities probe his alleged in-volvement in a late-night fightoutside a Bristol nightclub,and it remained in doubtwhether he would play.Batsman Alex Hales, whowas caught up in thesame fracas, was alsonamed in the 16-mansquad for the five-game se-ries, starting in Melbourne onJanuary 14. Selectors said in astatement they were advised toname their strongest squad, andpicked the pair accordingly."Both Alex Hales and Ben Stokesare included, though their in-volvement remains subject toany relevant legal or discipli-nary developments in relation tothe incident in Bristol in Sep-tember," they said. Bayliss admit-ted Stokes' potential appearancein Australia could be a distrac-tion for the team. "Whenever hecomes back that's going to be abit of a circus for sure," he toldreporters after England lost thesecond Test in Adelaide onWednesday. "Whether it's anymore of a circus than it's alreadybeen, it's hard to say. If it hap-pens, let's just get on with it andtake it on the chin." He added:"We've got to adjust to that atsome stage." New Zealand-bornStokes did not travel to Australiawith the rest of the squad for theAshes Test series, and has missedthe first two in Brisbane and Ad-elaide, with England losing both.

But speculation that he ispreparing for a dramatic call-upwas fuelled by his decision tosign with New Zealand provin-cial side Canterbury as theiroverseas player in late Novem-ber. In his first limited oversmatch for his birth provinceagainst Otago, he was bowled fortwo. He did better against Auck-

land on Wednesday, hitting 34from 41 deliveries as he shakesoff the rust. Stokes could yet re-turn mid-series to the Ashes ifpolice decide not to charge him.British detectives late lastmonth passed a file to the CrownProsecution Service for a deci-sion, but there has

been no word since. "I've got ab-solutely no idea. Still waiting forthe police report," said Baylisswhen asked if he expectedStokes to play in the Ashes."The forthcoming series againstAustralia presents another sig-nificant opportunity for thisgroup to showcase their skillsand talent against a quality sideaway from home."

England one-day squad:Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali,Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball,Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, TomCurran, Alex Hales, LiamPlunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root,Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, DavidWilley, Chris Woakes, MarkWood.

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Friday� December 8, 20176 Sport

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