Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid said he was shocked, disappointed and distressed by spot-fixing scandal which led to the arrest of three of the team’s players.

“I am shocked, disappointed and distressed over the events that resulted in arrests last night and this morning. Rajasthan Royals is a special team and we have always operated like a family so this is devastating. Spot fixing and corruption hang over the game of cricket which is extremely sad and dangerous,” he said in a statement read out at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium here Thursday evening before the team’s last league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

He said the BCCI and Rajasthan Royals take the same zero tolerance view of the situation. “The Rajasthan Royals owners and management have made their zero tolerance view clear on every possible occasion and I am sure that they will support any action taken. ”

“For me as a captain and leader I have to focus on ensuring the team fulfill their enormous potential and continue to play in Rajasthan Royals way. Our players are devastated that our performances may have been affected as they have the desire to win and this has been evident throughout the tournament. The players and people around the team are hurting,” he said.

“I hope that our fans will get behind us and we become stronger as a unit which often happens in the times of adversity. This has been tough day for me, team and for the cricket,” the captain added.

London: David Beckham is to retire from professional football at the end of the season, his representative announced on Thursday.

The 38-year-old midfielder has played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan, as well as winning 115 caps for England, and recently won the French Ligue 1 championship with Paris Saint-Germain.

‘I’m thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level,’ he said, in comments reported by the BBC.

‘If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club, Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times, and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy.

‘I’m fortunate to have realised those dreams.’

Beckham’s title triumph with PSG made him the first British player to have won league championships in four different countries, after previous successes in England, Spain and the United States.

He won six league titles, two FA Cups and the 1999 Champions League with United, before joining Madrid in 2003, where he won the Spanish league title four years later.

Beckham moved to Los Angeles in 2007, winning two MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy, but spent two loan spells at Milan and then returned to Europe in January this year, when he signed a short-term deal with PSG.

He captained England between 2000 and 2006, played at three World Cups, and has played more times for his country than any other outfield player

Kieron Pollard’s blistering unbeaten 27-ball 66 all but assured Mumbai Indians of a play-off berth after the hosts defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in their Pepsi IPL 6 match. Pollard finished the game in style, hitting two sixes off the final over.

Mohali : Riding on David Miller’s third fastest century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kings XI Punjab clinched a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling high-scoring chase at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Monday.

Chasing a stiff target of 191, Miller (101 not out of 38 balls) walked in when Kings XI were struggling at 64 for four in the 10th over.

Miller and Rajagopal Satish (18-ball 27) then stole away the match with their 130-run stand for unfinished fifth wicket stand in 49 deliveries as Kings XI scored 194 for four with 12 balls to spare.

Royal Challengers skipper Virat Kohli must be cursing himself for the loss as he dropped a sitter when Miller was batting on 41.

In the next over, there was more frustration for Kohli as Miller smashed Rudra Pratap Singh for two sixes and four fours as 26 runs came off the 15th over and swung the match in favour of the home team, who jumped from 112/4 to 138/4 in just six balls.

There was no stopping Miller, who in the next two overs smashed pacers Ravi Rampaul and Vinay Kumar for two sixes and two fours to take Kings XI to 172 for four after the 17th over.

The match was almost in the grasp of Kings XI as they needed 18 runs off the last three overs.

Hoping for some luck, Kohli introduced Chris Gayle, who this time got a taste of his own medicine and was spanked for 22 runs as Kings XI ran away with an unlikely win.

Gayle’s first three balls went for 15 runs by Satish and Miller got the winning runs and also his century in style by smashing the last ball for a huge six.

Miller struck eight fours and seven sixes during his knock and was also adjudged as Man of the Match.

In the last five overs, Royal Challengers bowlers gave away 99 runs and gifted away the match that was well in their grasp till the 11th over when Kings XI were 79 for four after the top order collapsed.

The only bowler, who got some respect from Miller was left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who gave away 24 runs for his two wickets from three overs.

Earlier, a 102-run stand between Gayle (61) and Cheteshwar Pujara (51) helped Royal Challengers pile a competitive total of 190 for three from 20 overs.

Kings XI pacer Manpreet Gony got two wickets but was expensive as he conceded 41 runs from his four overs.

The duo started off cautiously slowly as 23 runs came off the first four overs.

The floodgates opened in the fifth over with the introduction of lesser known South African-born Australian pacer Michael Nesser, who has just played six first class matches for Queensland.

Pujara struck the 23-year-old for a four over the covers and Gayle wrapped up the over clobbering him for two sweetly timed sixes as 18 runs came off the fifth over.

Runs came thick and fast and 96 was up in the 11th over. Gayle got to his fifty in 27 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes.

It looked Gayle will go onto score a massive one as he flicked Gony for a six to bring up the century run stand. The burly Jamaican, however, fell in the next ball trying to play accross the line and was castled by Gony.

Kohli (14) started off well hitting Gony for a four in the same over as Bangalore reached 108/1 after 12 overs.

Pujara became Gony’s second victim as he danced down the track to swipe him acros the line, but dragged the length ball onto his stumps.

Kolkata: Admitting that Australia was totally outplayed by India in the recently concluded Test series, former Aussie pacer Brett Lee Friday said Australians have a tough job at hand in the upcoming Ashes series.

‘Australians haven’t played their best cricket. In fact, we were totally outplayed. It is not great for Australian cricket,’ said Lee, who plays for the city’s IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders.

The pacer also credited India for intelligently using the conditions during the home Test series in which they drubbed the Australians 4-0.

‘For the Ashes I think we must acknowledge that the players have a lot of work to do. The players will have to really play well. However, the good thing is that the conditions in England will suit us,’ said Lee.

The pace spearhead, however, refused to predict the outcome of the five-Test series against traditional rivalS England which begins July 10 at Nottingham.

Lee, who is doubling up as the bowling mentor of KKR besides leading the attack, said all rounder Jacques Kallis will play a crucial role in the team’s title defence this year.

‘Kallis is a great player and has been our go to man for the last two seasons. Be it with the ball or the bat, he has a crucial role to play,’ said Lee adding that the tag of defending champion was both an incentive and pressure builder.

The Australian also wished speedy recovery for New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder, who was assaulted outside a bar at Christchurch and is now in coma.

Christchurch: New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder is in a critical condition in Christchurch Hospital after suffering severe head injuries in a late-night assault outside a bar.

Radio New Zealand reported on Wednesday that Ryder was in a coma in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull, punctured lung and internal bleeding.

The hospital refused to confirm Ryder’s injuries but said his condition was listed as critical. A spokesman for the ambulance service that transported Ryder to hospital said he had suffered “very serious head injuries”

Eye witnesses said Ryder was attacked by four men outside a bar in the Christchurch suburb of Merivale. He was punched and then kicked repeatedly while lying on the ground.

Ryder had been at the bar with teammates from the Wellington cricket team, which had played in the semifinals of New Zealand’s domestic one-day competition in Christchurch earlier Wednesday.

Police confirmed they are investigating an assault and said further details would be released later Thursday.

Chandigarh: International boxer and Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh Monday refused to give his blood and hair samples to investigators even as a Punjab Police team questioned him for nearly four hours in the seizure of a huge quantity of heroin in the state last week.

A Punjab Police spokesman said Monday evening: ‘As per the procedure, in the presence of two private witnesses, he (Vijender) was asked for his consent for giving his blood and hair samples required for forensic examination for investigation purpose, which he refused.’

Vijender, who is a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in the Haryana Police, was questioned by the Punjab Police team at a police establishment in Panchkula town, 20 km from here. The questioning took place in the presence of Haryana’s Superintendent of Police (Crime) Hardeep Singh Doon.

Police sources said that two Punjab Police officers, including a DSP and an inspector, questioned the boxer at the Haryana Police lines near Panchkula town from 5 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

‘The Punjab Police tied up with Haryana Police for questioning of Vijender Singh. The team questioned him regarding the drug case registered last week,’ the Punjab Police spokesman said.

The Fatehgarh Sahib district police had recovered 26 kg heroin, worth Rs.130 crore in the international market, from the possession of Canada-based drugs dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon and had arrested him Thursday. The drug haul was made from Kahlon’s flat in Zirakpur, near Chandigarh and his car.

Police also found a SUV, registered in the name of Vijender’s wife Archana, parked outside Kahlon’s flat.

Kahlon reportedly told the police that Vijender and fellow boxer Ram Singh were his ‘clients’.

Though police have so far refrained from directly linking Vijender with the drugs haul, Ram Singh’s statements to police have seen his name figuring in the controversy.

‘Vijender was in touch with some Mumbai celebrities, who were regular in rave parties and took drugs. Therefore, we also tried it. However, we did not pay anything to Kahlon for drugs,’ Ram Singh said.

Ram Singh and Vijender are very close friends and they were roommates at National Institute of Sports (NIS) for nearly six years. Vijender had allegedly promoted Ram Singh in various platforms by using his influence.

Vijender has denied any involvement in the drugs racket. He had offered to undergo dope testing to prove himself.

Vijender’s close friend and room-mate for nearly 15 years at NIS-Patiala, Jai Bhagwan, rubbished reports of the popular boxer’s involvement in the drugs smuggling

Dropped from the Indian cricket squad for the third and fourth Test against Australia, out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag on Thursday vowed to make a comeback into the national side, saying ‘I trust my game’.
Sehwag paid the price for a prolonged run drought as the selectors trimmed
the squad to 14 and decided against picking a replacement for the right-hander, who has scored just 27 runs in his three innings during the ongoing series.
‘Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that, ‘I’ll be back’,’ he wrote on his Twitter page.
He also wished good luck to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side for the remainder of the series, which the hosts are leading 2-0 after crushing victories in the first two Tests in Chennai and Hyderabad.
‘Best wishes to the team,’ Sehwag wrote.
Sehwag had failed to fire in five consecutive Tests after getting a hundred in the opening game of the home series against England at Ahmedabad in November-December last year.
He was unable to score even a half-century in two home Tests against New Zealand. During India’s last overseas tour, in Australia, Sehwag scored just 198 runs in eight innings.