Fear of losing to Pakistan reason behind India pullout: Imran

The former Pakistan captain Imran Khan said in Islamabad on Tuesday that the fear of losing in Sharjah might be the reason of India's withdrawal from the tri-nation series. In an interview to the Pakistani daily The News, Imran said "India have not played well there in recent times and looking at their track record in Sharjah, it seems that the fear of losing might be the reason for their pullout." Imran also said that the Test playing countries should play each other without letting politics interfere in the game.

On other cricketing matters, Imran felt that time has come for the umpires to fully utilise the advantages of technology to reduce errors and favoured neutral third umpires to decide on leg before decisions. Imran, a strong advocate of neutral umpires, said "neutral third umpires should be given the authority to judge even the leg before decisions."

Azhar case hearing posted to April 16

A Hyderabad city court on Tuesday posted for hearing the writ petition moved by former Indian captain Mohd Azharuddin, challenging the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI to April 16. Judge J Shyamsunder Rao adjourned the case after the board's counsel filed a statement giving details about the appointment of K Madhavan as BCCI inquiry commissioner.

The board counsel on Tuesday filed a counter, contending that the appointment of Madhavan as BCCI inquiry commissioner did not constitute the subject matter of the suit filed by Azharuddin. However, Azhar's counsel maintained that the appointment of Madhavan was indeed a subject matter of the suit filed by his client (Azharuddin) and sought time to file a counter affidavit in this regard. Consequently, the judge posted the hearing to April 16.

Azharuddin had filed a writ on March 7 seeking documents regarding the appointment of Madhavan, a former CBI joint director, as BCCI inquiry commissioner.

Third successive defeat for South Central Railway

Northern defeated South Central by 26 runs in the preliminary league stage of the 15th Inter-Railway women's cricket tournament in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Batting first, Northern posted a competitive total of 205 for five in 45 overs. Gulshan Sharma top scored with 46 while Jaya Sharma (35 not out) and Renu Margaret (36 not out) chipped in with useful contributions. In reply, South Central were all out for 179 in 42.2 overs. Experienced Rajani Venugopal top scored with 61 while another India player Mithali Raj got 46. Preeti Dudhe with three for 38 was the most successful bowler.

This was South Central's third defeat in as many games. They had earlier lost to Eastern and defending champions Western. In the remaining league matches, Eastern play Northern while Western meet Eastern.

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