Australia vs New Zealand ICC World Cup group A match is taking place in Nagpur, and it has been seen the Aussies are dominating in their first innings, sending more than half of the Kiwi side back to the pavilion. New Zealand were at 100/6 with Jamie How and Nathan McCullum on the pitch, and after having a look at the Kiwis condition, it was quite disheartening.

The match is taking place at the Vidharbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur and a night before the game the city had witnessed decent rainfall. With the pitch full of moisture, swing was inevitable, and this is where the Australians have the upper hand.

With the uneven swing in play, and the pitch has become unpredictable for the Kiwis, it is sheer bad luck for them as the rains played a very important role for the Aussies domination. It seems the Australians are back into the tournament and they are ready to play for the cup once again.

Soccer legend from Brazil, Ronaldo, has announced his retirement from international football and this news has come in the form of a shock to everyone near to him. The 34 year old player has been battling from knee injuries and hypothyroidism, and this has been affecting his international football career since a long time.

He was the only player in the world to have scored the most goals in the World Cup, making his record impenetrable. Since two years now, his career has been on the downside, thanks to the injuries he was never able to come out of it. He has spent 18 years playing soccer, and most of this period he has been in Europe.

Ronaldo is most remembered during the World Cup seasons, when his game play was unbelievable, setting him apart from others. When asked about his retirement he said “It’s very hard to leave something that made me so happy” He added, he wanted to continue playing the game but his body was not allowing him to do so.

Thailand and Cambodia’s forces have clashed over a disputed temple on the border, the news was confirmed when a soldier stationed on the border reported gun firing has officially begun. The Preah Vihear temple has always been under disputed terms between the two nations, and this time both countries have used force against each other.

It has not yet been confirmed whether both sides are using artillery or only one of them. Earlier there was a skirmish between Cambodia and Thailand, and there was consistent military build up on both sides. The report of the first firing was said to have started at 03.10 pm near Phu Makuea which is a 11th century temple.

An official who was present at the scene stated, the fighting is still in process and as of now there are no reports of injuries or even deaths. Residents have been asked by the government and the army to take shelter or even move to a safer place. The Thai foreign minister has reached Cambodia, and the two nations will soon enter into formal talks.

The Ducati MotoGP Racing Team is quite excited for the fact that Valentino Rossi is going to be a part of their team. Valentino Rossi’s contract with Yamaha has expired recently and since then he is a part of Ducati, where he is taking trails of their racing motorcycle, with which he is scheduled to debut in two days.

The official launch with Ducati will take place at Madonna di Campiglio ski Resort, where Filippo Preziosi, Ducati MotoGP head, will unveil the Italian rider with their latest racing machine. Preziosi has not provided a detailed statement about the Rossi or his latest Ducati machine.

The Ducati racing head said that Rossi and his new bike are behaving quite well, and they are eager to make a debut. It is does make a huge difference when it comes to Rossi, who is one of the best in the game, and his experience will surely benefit the entire racing team.

Source: AutoSport

After the dismal done to Sourav Ganguly during the IPL4 Auctions last week, Shah Rukh Khan is quite upset over the fact the former Indian Captain has been left out from the entire league. He said that Ganguly is like a younger brother to him and that he wants him to win more matches in the future. For the Khan, to accept the decision to drop Ganguly came after taming a very heavy heart.

The Bollywood legend told the reporters that he always wanted to see Sourav Ganguly in his team, and that the Knight Riders will seem to be incomplete without him. As he is now looking to the future of his team, he says, he expects some positive spirit in everyone and focus more on winning and performing.

Sourav Ganguly has always been an integral part on Knight Riders, apart from his performance, his presence in the team gave everyone a strong morale. But sadly this year, the auction committee felt that performance will prove to have a better future to the team, than providing strong morale.

Source: TimesOfIndia

Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan looked a bit upset, after it was witnessed that there was no taker for Sourav Ganguly, in a statement he said that an IPL team is rather incomplete without Ganguly. It was really sad that none of the 10 teams showed the willingness to take the former Indian captain as a part of their team.

Khan told the media that the Knight Riders are utterly incomplete without Dada. The Indian Bollywood star said that he will speak to the Knight Riders committee and try to bring in Ganguly, as he is still unsold. Ganguly did participate in the last three IPL’s, but his performance was not so strong against other teams, as a result the Knight Riders too have not performed well in the leagues.

During the second session of the auctions, it was to everyone’s shock that in the names of the 28 players who were re-auctioned Ganguly’s name wasn’t even in the list. Even though he had a base price of $400,000, the teams felt that Ganguly was not quite appropriate for this price tag, rather Murali Karthik was sold to the Pune Warriors for the same base price.

Source: TimesOfIndia

Gautam Gamhir has shined at the IPL 4 auction in Bangalore on Saturday, as he grabbed a price of Rs. 11.4 Crore and was sold to Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders. Gambhir for now has remained to most expensive player at the IPL, as his price tag boomed 12 times his base price. Three other Indian players who bagged a strong price were – Yusuf Pathan ($2.1 million), Rohit Sharma ($2 million) and Robin Uthappa ($2.1 million).

Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly went unsold at the auction, as they were already on the doubtful list before the event commenced. The Knight Riders have proved the whole auction committee that they were dominating the bids as they clicked in the best players from the lot, which includes Jacques Kallis, who they purchased for $1.1 million.

Along with Yusuf Pathan, even his younger brother Irfan Pathan was sold for a whopping price of $1.9 million to the Delhi Daredevils. The stakes are sounding heavier and larger this year, as the number of players and teams have increased for the forthcoming fourth season of the IPL.

Source: DNA

The IPL 4 auctions have commenced in Bangalore, and Sourav Ganguly has found no team that has bid for him, unfortunately he went unsold. The former Indian captain had a base price of $400,000, and he utterly failed to even clinch that. Previously Ganguly was placed at a base price of $200,000, then the stake was risen to $400,000, the highest price for marquee players at the auctions.

Sourav Ganguly had a really tough time during the past IPL’s and this is something that has just reflected here at the bids, his performance was not up to the notch where the auctioneers were impressed. Today Ganguly is the oldest player in the IPL, and this has also been accounted during the auctions.

It was clear enough, that the Knight Riders were not at all impressed with the former captain, and they successfully released him from his contract. When his name was called out, the Knight Riders officials were just looking down, until his name was tossed in the unsold basket. It is rumoured that Pune may buy the former Indian captain, but even here he portrayed to hike his base price.

Source: HindustanTimes

The IPL (Indian Premier League Auction) has commenced at Bangalore, and it is reported that Rohit Sharma has taken a spot in the Mumbai Indians Squad, Ganguly on the hand is stranded in No Man’s Land, as no takers have opted for him. Saturday is the judgement day for every player on an international level at the Bangalore auction, as this year the IPL is having 10 teams to flood in.

Rohit Sharma’s services were bought for $2 million, and if this is big then, Yusuf Pathan and Gautam Gambhir were bought for a whooping $2.4 million by Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knight Riders also purchased Jacques Kallis for $1.1 million, and this thanks to his exquisite performance during the test series against India, his stakes just kept rising.

Sourav Ganguly on the other hand went unsold, which is really sad, and maybe it could because of his age and performance capacity, the former Indian captain could not find a hammer for himself. Andrew Symonds was sold to Mumbai Indians for $850,000, exiciting for him as he will participate with a team who were the runner ups for the last IPL. Sangakkara went to Deccan Chargers for $700,000, finally shifted from Kings XI Punjab, and the team hopes he performs well.

Royal Challengers on the other hand purchased AB de Villiers for $1.1 million, Zaheer Khan for $900,000 and Dilshan for $650,000. Pune Warriors, the newest team in the IPL lot, successfully purchased Yuvraj Singh for $1.8 million, and Kochi on the other hand managed to bag Mahela Jayawardene for $1.5 million.

Source:  TimesOfIndia

India vs South Africa test series has finally ended in a draw, and thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s steady performance, India managed to secure a fair draw against the Proteas in their own nation for the first time. Gambhir, Dravid and Tendulkar, managed to block a lot balls, literally frustrating the South African bowlers out of their wits.

South Africa on the other hand failed to click the Indian wickets because of their strong defensive tactics. It is something the South Africans have witnessed for the first time, that India has impressively withstood their bowling attack on day five. There were hundreds of balls blocked, as India came with a mindset of heading towards a draw before the commencement of fifth day.

It was only for the fact that India managed to pin the African bowlers to the mat, it paved the way for a draw. India played at a pace of two runs an over and this is something that might have annoyed Gramme’s team, still they were heading for draw in any of the circumstances. The test will play an important role as of how has India prepared to take on the South Africans in the coming world cup which will be held in the subcontinent this year.

Source: CricInfo