Calcutta and Chennai Tests against Australia swapped

Citing 'logistical problems,' the BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele said on Saturday that the centres for the Test matches between Australia and India, to be held in Chennai and Calcutta, had been swapped. "Calcutta will host the second Test against Australia from March 11 to 15 and Chennai, the third Test from March 18 to 22," he said. Likewise, the one-dayer between England and India (under-19) would be shifted from Ahmedabad and Rajkot. Baroda would be the venue for the one-day match at Baroda on Feb 4, he added.

The earthquake which rocked Gujarat on Friday has forced shifting of venues for the Duleep Trophy league match, to be held in Rajkot from February 1 and the One dayers between the England and India Under-19 teams in Ahmedabad on February 6 and at Rajkot on February 8.

Lele told PTI over the phone from Baroda that "no matches are possible in both Rajkot and Ahmedabad and these three fixtures are to be shifted." He indicated that the Duleep trophy league match between North and West Zones, slated for February 1 to 4 in Rajkot, would now be held in Mumbai.

Australia favourites to win series against India: Lillee

Former Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee feels Australia are odds on favourites to win the coming series against India as they are on a "high". Talking to reporters in Chennai on Friday, Lillee said "I have watched them walk out on the field, and their approach to bowling, batting and fielding. The Australians are on a high. It is hard to beat them and they are coming at full steam to win the series in India".

Lillee, who is in the city on one of his routine visits to the MRF Pace Foundation, said the the Indian authorities should bear in mind the absence of Anil Kumble while preparing pitches for the three-Test series as they could fall victims to Shane Warne instead.

The 51-year-old Lillee said Warne was back in his elements after a lay-off due to injury, and with Colin Miller and Stuart Macgill would form the spin attack. "If the Indian board is going to prepare turning wickets, they should remember Kumble's absence," he said. He added that in the case of flat wickets, "the Australians will be more successful than the Indians".

Sourav Ganguly misses out on Padma Shri

The match-fixing scandal has claimed the latest victim. After the Arjuna Awards last year, the Government did not honour any cricketers for some of the top national awards like the Padma Shri or the Padma Bhushan. The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, whose name was doing the rounds as a possible recipient of the Padma Shri has been overlooked for the prestigious award in the Republic Day honours list.

Ganguly has had a successful season, ending as the leading run getter in one-day internationals in the year 2000. Talking to a TV news channel, Subhash Chakraborty, Minister for Sports, West Bengal, said, "If any cricketer were to be awarded, it should have been Sourav. The question does not arise of leaving him out or bypassing him. Obviously they decided to sideline cricket this time."

Former Indian team manager Venkat Sundaram expressed shock when asked to comment on Ganguly missing out. Talking to a TV channel, Sundaram said "I think that it is an absolute shocker that not a single cricketer features in the awards. I think there is a mindset to fix cricket and cricketers and I think that this crab mentality has to disappear quick. Cricket is a big game and it is played all across the country. Children in every street have their heroes. Not everyone is corrupt. It's time we faced up to that. This mindset has to change."

Easy victory for India Pistons in title clash

What was expected to a be a keen tussle turned out to be a damp squib. India Pistons routed Indian Overseas Bank by 123 runs to lift the PC India Garmex Trophy limited overs cricket tournament, organised by the St Bede's Sports Foundation, in Chennai on Friday.

Winning the toss, India Pistons opted to bat at the MA Chidambaram stadium and ran up a total of 262 for six in 50 overs. Valuable contributions from Indian all rounder Robin Singh (69 not out), K Srinivasan (49 not out), Anand George (52) and R Satish (63) were the highlights of the innings. Anand George scored his runs off only 52 balls with seven boundary hits while Satish faced 80 balls and hit seven of them to the fence. But it was the batting of Robin and Srinivasan which really gave the innings an impetus. While Robin faced only 79 balls and hit two sixes and a four, Srinivasan faced 53 balls and hit three boundaries.

IOB's reply was disappointing and they managed to score only 139 runs for nine wickets in 50 overs. K Saravanan top scored with 39 not out while JR Madanagopal contributed 25. Left arm spinner Sunil Subramaniam took three for 20. India Pistons received Rs 50,000 while IOB got Rs 30,000. Special prizes were given to the following: Best bowler: B Ramprakash (SPIC). Best batsman: Amit Pathak (IOB), Man of the match: R Satish. Man of the tournament: Sree Kumar Nair (IOB).

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