* Asian Cricket Council meeting held back at Indian request

The Asian Cricket Council meeting scheduled to be held in Sharjah on April 15 has been put off at India's request. This was disclosed to Gulf News by Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Tauqir Zia, who also chairs the Council, according to a Press Trust of India report. "The new dates have not been finalised yet, but the meeting is most likely to be held in Sharjah itself," added Zia.

Speaking to PTI from Baroda, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Jaywant Lele confirmed that India had made a request in this regard. "We had asked for the postponement to May as we had to first discuss within the Board the matters likely to come up at the ACC meeting. BCCI's working committee meeting is scheduled to be held in the first week of May" he said.

The meeting of the 17 member nations of the ACC had been initially slotted for April 19 but was advanced to April 15 at the Bangladesh Cricket Board's behest.

* Gaekwad justifies Martin's decision

Chairman of the Baroda Cricket Association's selection committee Anshuman Gaekwad justified Baroda's decision not to enforce the follow-on against Orissa in their Ranji Trophy semifinal on Saturday. Baroda skipper Jacob Martin preferred to bat a second time despite collecting a handy 288 run first innings lead on the third day at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation Ground.

Gaekwad observed that securing an outright victory was not a priority for Baroda since the first innings lead would suffice for them to ensure a smooth passage into the final. The former Indian Test batsman and coach added that Baroda's batsmen would get some additional batting practice by taking another knock. The final of the Ranji Trophy is scheduled from April 19-23.

Coach of the Baroda team Vinit Wadkar went so far as to indicate that the hosts would prefer to bat until stumps on the fifth day if that was possible. Wadkar also claimed that the bowlers, who took 66.5 overs to dismiss Orissa for 280, needed some rest.

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