cricket blog -THE COMMENTARY BOX

Gambhir accuses Australians of pressure tactics

2008-10-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

India's century-maker Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday accused Australia of resorting to pressure tactics to get him out on the first day of the third cricket Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla here.

Gambhir had run-ins with spinner Simon Katich and medium pacer Shane Watson. First he had an exchange of words with Watson when the all-rounder got in his way of taking a second run. Gambhir elbowed him out, but insisted that it was not deliberate.

Gambhir then got into a heated exchange of words with Katich who, on his follow-through, came in Gambhir's way to prevent him from taking a single. Gambhir was furious and umpire Billy Bowden had to step in even as skipper Ricky Ponting and his deputy Michael Clarke ran in to pacify Katich.

"The way we batted, they had no other way and they were desperate to get me out. Under the circumstances it was important for me to maintain my concentration," Gambhir told reporters after the day's play.

But the 27-year--old downplayed the incidents, saying that such things happened in international cricket and that the team management is not going to lodge any complaint with match referee Chris Broad. "It has been a hard fought series and such things are bound to happen," he said.

Gambhir's unbeaten 149 was his second consecutive Test century and also the first at his home ground. The Delhi batsman admitted that the 104 in the last Test in Mohali helped him to ease the pressure.

"My century in Mohali was very crucial. Before the start of the series, there was a lot of talk about my batting and I feel that century helped to take the pressure off me. I was playing at my home ground and I didn't feel any pressure."

Gambhir rated his century here better than the one at Mohali.

"In Mohali, the century came when we were already 200 runs ahead. But here I had to give a good start to the team and put runs on the board for the bowlers," he said.

Gambhir also said since Australian spinners, especially Katich, was able to get some turn out of the track, the job for him and the other Indian batsmen will be to put up a big score.

"It is still a good track to bat on. But as the match progresses, the pitch will crumble and there will be inconsistent bounce. So our target now will be to pile up a huge score for the bowlers so that they can take the 20 wickets," he said.

At 35, Aishwarya Rai is still on top

2008-10-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

At 35, Bollywood`s blue-eyed-girl Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who celebrates her birthday on Saturday, continues to woo Indian filmmakers with her international appeal, making her one of the most bankable stars in the Indian film industry.

Says popular film critic Taran Adarsh: “Aishwarya`s career graph has been very good though not excellent but she is the only actress who can attract national and international crowds. She is the face of so many international brands and a very good actress also.”

London-based Indian filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra, who directed the actress in the critically-acclaimed English movie Provoked, also credits her as a superstar with an international appeal.

“She is a superstar. Not only is she a recognised name worldwide; she is a totally bankable star. My personal experience with her from Provoked says that the film wouldn`t have worked without her.

“The best thing about her is that despite her stature, she is completely a director`s actor. She would also give her inputs in the character and would never come back to see a shot once the director approves it. She is thoroughly professional,” Mundhra added.

Aishwarya, now married to actor Abhishek Bachchan, was born in Mangalore, Karnataka to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and Vrinda Rai, a writer.

After winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya took to acting in 1997 with a Tamil film Iruvar opposite southern superstar Mohanlal and made her Bollywood debut in the same year opposite Bobby Deol in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya. Both films bombed.

In the following year, she won her first Filmfare Best Actress award South for the Tamil film Jeans but became an overnight star with Sanjay Leela Bhansali`s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999. She bagged the Filmfare Best Actress award for this too.

In 2000, she gave a power-packed performance in Subhash Ghai`s Taal but followed it up with a string of flops such as Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai(2000), Dhai Akshar Prem Ke(2000), Albela (2001), Hum Kisise Kum Nahi(2001) and many more.

In between, she was recognised for her supporting role in Yash Chopra`s 2000 hit Mohabbatein.

Her career was resurrected in 2002 with Bhansali`s Devdas fetching her another Filmfare award in the Best Actress category.

She was highly appreciated for her performances in Chokher Bali(2002), Raincoat (2004), Guru(2006), Dhoom 2(2006), Provoked(2007), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Sarkar Raj (2008).

In her career spanning 11 years, Aishwarya has acted in over 40 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English. Her English projects included Bride & Prejudice (2003), Mistress of Spices (2005), and The Last Legion (2007).

She is also starring in another international project Pink Panther 2, a sequel to the original comedy.

The beauty queen-turned-actress is also counted among the 100 most beautiful women in the world.

Actress Priyanka Chopra feels that “Aishwarya has a perfect face”.

“She is a gorgeous lady, a very elegant person and a great representative of India abroad and I think she has made some great cinema recently. I`d like to watch a lot more of her in films,” Priyanka added.

After her wedding in April last year, Aishwarya has cut down on her projects and has become choosy too. But Mr Adarsh feels it is only due to her “added family responsibilities”.

The beauty queen-turned-actress is also counted among the 100 most beautiful women in the world.

Actress Priyanka Chopra feels that “Aishwarya has a perfect face”.

After her wedding in April last year, Aishwarya has cut down on her projects and has become choosy too. But Mr Adarsh feels it is only due to her “added family responsibilities”.

Senior people care

2008-10-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Old people concern or elder care is a large phrase enclosing such services as assisted living, old people day care, extended period care, nursing homes, hospice care, and Alzheimer’s care. Elder care means any service given to an elder, extending through the continuous care from an adult doing a telephone comfort call to the sort of trained nursing given by hospitals. Old people care is a broad field that recognizes the job of the senior attention giver as one that provides essential services to a father or older person. Elder care is at this time a large issue for a lot of families. Elder care is composed of some categories, including senior housing and senior services. Elder care is not only consuming of their children’s pocketbook, it is reducing their children’s by and large capacity to be paid (expected they lose $500,000 in income caring for elders) and it is incredibly depleting of the care-taker’s own strength, who occasionally die ahead of their elders do. Elder care is often rewarding, but undoubtedly draining. Elder care is an more and more common role for women.
From Alzheimer’s to different aging issues, the requirement for elder care is rising and will boost considerably in the future. Normally, elder care is provided over an extended period of time to people who require another person’s help to carry out ordinary activities of daily living because of cognitive impairment or loss of muscular strength or control. Public and private offices have sought after ways to lower costs by changing the burden of elder care to families; as a result, around 80 percent of elder care is now given by family members, mostly women. In many cultures, elder care is traditionally provided by members of the family, who keep older family members at their home.
For families who who find the money for, one of the most practical new services for elder care is the personal geriatric care geriatric manager. Reducing the cost of elder care is no small matter because, while some American hospitals have top-notch geriatric programs, they usually lose money.
Elder care is a lot easier if you speak to your parents early on, plan in advance, and get assistance from a large and rising network of resources.

Article Source: http://www.find-investment-advice.com

The writer Heinz Golz is the owner of www.the-seniorhelp.com"> The Senior Help His main concern is the burden on the families who have to take care of their old relatives .

Amazing Ways to Earn Money Immediately

2008-10-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Imagine how good you will feel soon from now after you learn the amazing ways to earn money immediately. Picture yourself after reading each word in this article making more money in one day than most people make in a week.

I'm sure you already know that there are thousands of businesses that sell their products online.

But what you probably didn't know is that these companies will pay you up to 75% of the cost of the product to write short ads that get them sales. Which simply means that if the product costs $100 then every time your ad makes a sale they will pay you $75. This is called Data Entry.

Before I tell you how to do data entry I will tell you some of the many benefits.

Benefits of Data Entry

The first benefit is that you can start seeing money come in almost immediately.

The second benefit is that you can get going with no start up costs if you like.

The third benefit is that it's easy to do when you know how and you can start today.

The fourth benefit is that it's almost guaranteed to make you money if you do it right.

How To Do Data Entry

I'm sure you'll be excited to know the basics of how to do data entry so now I will give you a guideline of how it's done.

The first thing you do is choose a digital product to write an ad for from a place called click bank. There are thousands of different products in many different categories, so you will never run out of ads to write.

When you have chosen a product you then need to find keywords that are related to your product and people are searching for in the search engines. This sounds a lot harder than it really is so don't worry.

The next thing you do is write your ad. Your ad needs to be catchy and make people want to click it. Ads are very easy to write and generally take about 3 minutes each.

Lastly you need to post your ad to all the right places on the Internet and get it in front of millions of eyes, this sounds optimistic but its not that difficult and can be done for free.

I'm sure you'll be excited to know that then all you do is repeat the process and watch the money roll in. These are the ways to earn money immediately.

Now I am sure you are wondering where you can find out more about Data Entry. I would like to help you make a fantastic living from home. Let me show you the best Data Entry Program on the internet. Click Here to find out more

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_B_Cooper
http://EzineArticles.com/?Amazing-Ways-to-Earn-Money-Immediately&id=1336172

How can blogs make money for you

2008-10-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

You have created a blog and your blog is dedicated to a niche industry. Have you ever thought that the blog could make money for you? We would look here in this article, ways and means, to make money blogging. Lets first have a look at what are the prerequisites for a blog needed to make money:

1. Blog needs to be dedicated to a niche market.
2. Updated regularly.
3. Enough back links (Don't worry for it. Directory submission would be enough to begin with)
4. Good blog host or application (blogger, Xanga or typepad recommended), and
5. High quality articles or news items supported with images.

Get the above criteria in place and Hurrah... You are ready to Make Money Blogging.

Top 5 Ways to Make Money Blogging

Lets now take a look at top 5 ways using which you could make money blogging:

1. Google Adsense
Google Adsense delivers text and image ads to the authorized websites/blogs depending on the content of the website. Small code is required to be pasted at proper locations on a webpage and Google automatically recognizes the page. Google shares the revenue it gets from the advertisers whenever a visitor clicks on these ads.

Google bills advertisers on price per click basis (PPC). Advertisers are required to pay only when any visitor clicks on their ads. They bid against each other for the keywords in order to receive better placement and thus prices for each keyword differ from one another. It is better to choose keywords for your blog which pays high $ per click.

2. Amazon
Amazon Associate program is another important way to make money blogging. The Amazon Associate program gives opportunity to website/blog publishers to promote any product from its inventory by adding a predefined code to their website/blog, which, when clicked by a visitor, takes them to the relevant product page. Once the visitor buys the product, the blog owner will be compensated with a commission.

3. Blogads
You can use Blogads as an effective tool to have a better control over the advertisers in your blogs. You can analyze and compare your profits with any one of your online agencies. Blogads can be simply specified as an advertising service used for the web logs or blogs. From the total money generated by Blogads, it retains 20% of it and the remaining money is paid to you through PayPal or checks.

Alternative Services:

• Crispads is another useful network focused on the blogs. You can put your advertisements in their blogs using Crispads. You can move through their RSS/ATOM feeds that help in generating revenues.
• Tagword – It is similar to Blogads. It makes you select the ads and their price.

Users can place their text-based ads in the site within minutes and the ads will be displayed instantly on the website.

4. Affiliate Programs
Your affiliate programs can help you earn a lot of money for selected products and services. Lot of websites offers you to become affiliate members. These affiliate programs can provide a better reach and an in-depth exposure to the products. The commissions for the sales differ according to the quality of the product, sales and marketing strategy involved. You can gather information related to the commissions by looking into the catalogues of Link Share and Commission junctions.

5. Text Links
Text links has emerged out to be the best form of moneymaking source that you can use instead of cluttering or crowding the page with ads. You don’t have to make these text links prominent within your website. This link can act as an extra value to your site and will also help to promote the rankings of other sites. In most of the cases you will find these text links placed in the bottom of the web pages. The best part of this strategy is that the publishers send and accept links as the market continues to grow.

Article Source: http://www.find-investment-advice.com

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Information Technology Jobs

2008-10-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

The rapid spread of Information Technology (IT) has generated a need for highly trained workers to design and develop new hardware and software systems. Information Technology Jobs in the job market is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations as organizations continue to adopt and integrate increasingly sophisticated technologies. The phenomenal growth, which the Information Technology industry is witnessing, has lead to it being recognized as one of the highly paid industry.

Career Opportunities Following are the career areas in the industry of Information Technology:

Software Offers vast range of employment opportunities in fields starting from computer operations, programming, system engineering and operation management, system analysis to system designing.

Hardware The key areas, which can be taken up as career, include hardware designing, assembling, research and development, manufacturing and maintenance of computer components.

Telecom The various fields, which can be pursued as career in:

Information Technology Jobs, include voice processing units, telephone technology, wireless technology, cellular technology and satellite communication systems.

Sales and Marketing Sales and marketing in IT industry are a specialist tasks and require a thorough study of products and their competitions in the growing market. A Marketing job covers selling of both hardware and software products.

E-Commerce and Web Development The job will include consumer/buyer information and services, developing and managing Web-portals; creation of Internet market, consulting, customer management etc.

Enterprise:

Resource Planning ERP is developing and planning the resources of entire network of an enterprise. Various fields like purchase, production, marketing, sales, distribution, service, inventory, finance, accounts, and human resource are integrated on single software through ERP, to facilitate better coordination.

Computer Operator A computer operator's job is to run both the computer software and its peripheral equipment. The job may vary depending upon size of the organizations and its exposure to computers.

Data Entry Data entry is transferring data and information into the computer and is the most basic purpose for which computers are used. Data entry operators are needed in almost every IT based organization.

Eligibility Individuals with an advanced degree in computer science or computer engineering or with an MBA with a concentration in information systems should enjoy highly favorable Information Technology Jobs. College graduates with a bachelor's degree in computer science, information science, computer engineering or MIS also should enjoy favorable prospects for employment, particularly if they have supplemented their formal education with practical experience.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aamir_Noman
http://EzineArticles.com/?Information-Technology-Jobs&id=1317609

Find the Best Free Email Accounts

2008-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Free web-based email services can give everybody in your household their personal email account, you can access your mail from almost every computer and, hey, it's free. Find the best services providing email accounts for free reviewed here.

Email Scheduling Services (3)Free Image Hosting Services @For Fee Email Accounts (5)Free Email Service Tips @

Top Free Email Services
If you are looking for a free email service, you can be picky. You'll be rewarded with plenty of storage, effective spam filtering, a fast interface, desktop email program access and more. Find the top 10 free email services to choose from reviewed here.

Top Free POP3 Email Services and Free IMAP Email Services
Free email sounds nice, but isn't that the crippled deal where you get slow-loading pages and lots of ads? No and no. Some free email services offer POP or IMAP access, which means you can download your messages to any email program. Find the best free POP3 email service and free IMAP email services here.

AIM Mail - Free Email Service
AIM Mail, AOL's free web-based email service, shines with unlimited online storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface.

BigString.com - Free Email Service
BigString.com is a free 2 GB email service that includes rich secure and certified mail services and lets you password-protect, expire or edit sent messages, for example.

Care2 E-mail - Free Email Service
Care2 E-mail provides solid free email with an environmental conscience.

FastMail Free Guest Account - Free Email Service
FastMail is a great free email service with IMAP access, useful features, one of the best web-based email interfaces and few ads.

Gawab.com - Free Email Service
Gawab.com is a speedy, stable and very usable free email service with 2 GB online space, POP access and many a web-based goodie.

Gmail (Google Mail) - Free Email Service
Gmail is the Google approach to email and chat. Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all your messages, and Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you find them precisely and see them in context without effort.

GMX Mail - Free Email Service
GMX Mail is a reliable email service filtered well of spam and viruses whose 5 GB of online storage you can use not only through a rich web interface but also via POP or IMAP from a desktop email program.

HotPOP - Free Email Service
HotPOP offers free, reliable email accounts you can use with any email program using POP3 and SMTP.

Inbox.com - Free Email Service
Inbox.com not only gives you 5 GB to store your mail online but also a highly polished, fast and functional way to access it via either the web (including speedy search, free-form labels and reading mail by conversation) or through POP in your email program.

Lavabit - Free Email Service
Lavabit nets you a solid, secure and privacy-conscious email account which you can access in your email program using POP or IMAP and in your browser using a rudimentary web interface.

Lycos Mail - Free Email Service
Lycos Mail has no advanced features, but a solid 3 GB of storage space and the option to send files just as large make up for that to some degree.

Mail.com - Free Email Service
Mail.com is great for its domain names (use them with forwarding!), but it is missing some of the security, convenience and storage of other web-based email services.

MSN Hotmail - Free Email Service
MSN Hotmail comes with solid security features and a straight forward, easy to use yet quite powerful interface.

My Way Mail - Free Email Service
My Way Mail is a clean, fast and fun (though not particularly advanced) free email service.

MyRealBox - Free Email Service
Get a free email account with MyRealBox: free of ads, and free to access via the Web or any email client.

ShinyFeet - Free Email Service
ShinyFeet not only gives you unlimited space for all your emails for free, you also get a rich web-based interface and a highly capable spam filter.

Windows Live Hotmail - Free Email Service
Windows Live Hotmail is a free email service that gives you a 5 GB of online storage, fast search, solid security and an interface easy as a desktop email program.

Yahoo! Mail - Free Email Service
Yahoo! Mail is your ubiquitous email program on the web with unlimited storage and RSS news feeds, SMS texting and instant messaging to boot.

Yahoo! Mail Classic - Free Email Service
Yahoo! Mail Classic is a comfortable, reliable and secure email service with unlimited storage. A pretty good spam filter keeps the junk out.

Zapak Mail - Free Email Service
Zapak Mail is a bare-bones free email service with unlimited storage and POP access to boot.

Zenbe - Free Email Service
Zenbe organizes your emails and attachments (from Zenbe and existing POP accounts) with labels and search — and integrates calendar, to-do list, Facebook updates, too.

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2008-10-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

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India will need Tendulkar for next 2-3 years: Srikkanth

2008-10-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Mohali: Sachin Tendulkar still has a lot of cricket left in him and India will need him for the next 2-3 years to guide the youngsters in the team which is "in the transitional phase", chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth said Friday.

"He should play cricket for another 2-3 years. We need him as the team is going through a transition phase. He is a fantastic team man, very involved cricketer and we need him so that he is able to guide cricketers of future," Srikkanth told reporters here after Tendulkar became the highest run-getter in Test cricket.

The master batsman today surpassed Brian Lara's earlier record 11953 runs in the second Test against Australia at PCA grounds here.

Heaping praise on Tendulkar, Srikkanth said when youngsters make it to the team in near future "we would need somebody like Sachin to be there to guide them".

"Even though he has become highest Test run-getter, still he has not changed. His attitude when he played at 16 years of age under my captaincy in 1989 and now 19 years later remains same. He still plays with same passion and remains involved with the team," the chief selector said.

"To play cricket for 19 years on a trot is a lot demanding. Sachin has given his 100 per cent every time he has come out on the field," he said.

Srikkanth said he would rate Tendulkar's century under "pressure conditions" in Perth in 1991-92 as his best knock.

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2008-10-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

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2008-10-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

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2008-10-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

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We’ll regard Singh’s remarks as most important: Lanka

2008-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked Sri Lanka to settle the ethnic issue through dialogue, Colombo on Thursday made it clear that it would keep in mind his observations while dealing with the situation.
"It will be presumptuous for me to comment on the Prime Minister's statement. I have read about the statement in the media. What I can say is that whatever the Prime Minister has said it will be regarded as most important by Sri Lanka," High Commissioner C R Jayasinghe told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
"This is in the spirit of the warm and friendly relations between India and Sri Lanka," he said.
Jayasinghe comments came when he was asked to react to Singh's statement on Wednesday that the situation in the island nation is a cause for "serious concern" and asked Colombo to find a negotiated settlement rather than looking for a "military victory".
Singh had also underlined that the human rights of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka must be respected.
Jayasinghe said “India is very dear” to the people of Sri Lanka. He rejected any notion of relationship between the two neighbours coming under a strain.

Ganguly will get an answer after Aus series: Vengsarkar

2008-10-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

Former chief selector Dilip Vengasarkar said he will refrain from responding to Sourav Ganguly's outburst against the selectors till the end of the current series against Australia as it could divert the team's focus.

"I won't answer him now, as this is not the right time, because India are in the middle of a Test series and it might affect the focus of the team," Vengsarkar said on Friday.

But I will definitely answer him after the series is over. He will get more than what he has asked for," he added.

Ganguly hit out at the selectors for the manner he had been treated and said he decided to retire to save himself the humiliation of being treated as the "sacrificial goat" all the time.

"There is no point playing like this. I am not willing to play at their (selectors') mercy. They will pick you now and then dump you. Why should I be the sacrificial goat all the time? It was difficult to accept," said Ganguly, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.

Vengsarkar also said the Board of Control for Cricket in India will look into the matter and find out what Ganguly had told the Bengali daily. "All I had said yesterday (to a television channel) is that if he had said anything (on selection), the BCCI will look into it," he said

News 24 channel, in a press statement, late Thursday night, quoted Vengsarkar as saying, "Sourav should stay away from making any statements till he is playing as they will create unnecessary controversies."

He also said, "The BCCI should take some strict action against this as such statements are needless and can affect the morale and spirit of the whole squad."

Harbhajan Singh continues to play with fire

2008-10-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

Chandigarh: He has let his hair down on a ramp and featured in a liquor advertisement - both prohibited by his religion - had on-and-off field spats with Australians Andrew Symonds and Mathew Hayden, slapped fellow cricketer S. Sreesanth in full public view and now done a 'Ravana' act that has got Hindu and Sikh organisations gunning for him.

As off-spinner Harbhajan Singh - 'Bhajji' to friends and in cricket circles - took to the field in the first Test match against Australia, what must have been weighing on his mind was the latest storm he has created with his 'Ravana-Sita' dance number with TV actress Mona Singh on TV reality show "Ek Khiladi, Ek Hasina".

The Sikh clergy is already aghast with Harbhajan because he posed as a Hindu mythological character and even applied Hindu symbols on his forehead.

The Jathedar (chief) of the Akal Takht - the highest temporal authority of Sikh religion - Gurbhachan Singh has taken exception to Harbhajan's latest act and wants him to apologise to Hindus for allegedly hurting their sentiments and also to the Sikhs for this.

"If I receive a complaint in this regard, we will take action as per religious traditions. This is not acceptable. He has to apologise for hurting Hindu and Sikh sentiments," the Akal Takht chief said in Amritsar.

Both Harbhajan and his companion in the 'Ravana-Sita' dance, "Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin" TV star Mona Singh, are Sikhs. In Hindu mythology, Ram's wife Sita was abducted by demon king Ravana.

Right-wing Hindu organisations have objected to the dance number that "mocked" Hindu sentiments, they say.

"This act is shameful. How can Sita be shown dancing with an evil like Ravana? This is carrying things a little too far. Both celebrities should come on TV with a garland of shoes around their necks to apologise for this," Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vijay Bhardwaj said here.

Ponting can break Sachin’s records: Lara

2008-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Mumbai: Brian Lara on Thursday wished Sachin Tendulkar the very best as the Indian maestro prepares to break the West Indies legend’s world-record run-aggregate in Tests.

"I wish Sachin all the best. Records are meant to be broken. It's a pleasure to be counted in the elite list of players like Sachin and (Sunil) Gavaskar. We should appreciate Sachin for whatever he does", the retired West Indian batsman said here.

The 39-year-old left hander amassed 11953 runs in 131 Tests and 232 innings, and Tendulkar is on the verge of overhauling it, having so far tallied 11877 runs in 150 matches and 244 innings.

Tendulkar needs 77 more runs to go past Lara and is playing in his 151st Test at Bangalore against Australia.

Lara, on a promotional visit here, said he would not be going to Bangalore to witness his great contemporary in action.

"I would have loved to be at Bangalore to watch him when he breaks my record, but I'm flying off to Australia on Friday,” he said.

Ponting ton shows Australia the way

2008-10-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Australian captain Ricky Ponting (seen celebrating) scored his 36th Test century on Thursday, but his team lost a wicket in the final over of the opening day to finish at 254 for four wickets in the first Test.

Ponting controlled proceedings throughout his innings of 123 - his first hundred in India - that took him past former India captain Sunil Gavaskar into sixth place on the Test run-scoring list with 10,222.

India - Australia Bangalore Test PREVIEW

2008-10-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Australia are looking to put India's veterans under pressure when their eagerly-awaited four-Test series opens in Bangalore on Thursday.
Captain Ricky Ponting said his team was determined to expose the old legs of skipper Anil Kumble, who turns 38 this month, Sachin Tendulkar, 35, retiring Sourav Ganguly, 36, Rahul Dravid, 35, and VVS Laxman, 33.
"That's what we're trying to achieve, put their older guys under immense pressure," Ponting, 33, said at a match-eve media conference at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
"I really think we can take them on in the field, almost a new-age type of Test cricket that can make a few of their guys look a bit old and a bit slow.
"I really think we can create pressure on them with our intensity in the field at different times and make them look past their use-by date.
"At the team meeting, we spoke of our running between wickets and drying up the runs by the Indian batsmen by our fielding. That could be the key.

Special playing alongside GANGULY: TENDULKAR ,DRAVID

2008-10-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the two most celebrated peers of Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday paid tributes to the retiring member
of the 'fab four', saying the Bengal stalwart had been a fount of inspiration for his teammates during his 16-year-long glorious international career.

"He just had a way with people and inspired others with his performances," Tendulkar told a cricket website.

"He's had a brilliant career and I for one have thoroughly enjoyed playing with him. There have been some memorable moments that he has given to the game and also the immense joy he has given to the team," said Tendulkar, who had tipped Ganguly as captain when he stepped down from the hot seat in 2000.

Dravid said Ganguly has achieved everything that any cricketer could possibly want in his career.

"What more could he have asked for? He's seen it all. Played some fascinating knocks in One-dayers; batted well in Tests at home and away; won Tests abroad and led India to a World Cup final," Dravid said.

Tired of constant humiliation:SOURAV GANGULY

2008-10-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

"I was tired of being humiliated again and again. I don't want to play cricket at the mercy of others," Sourav Ganguly said in an int
erview published in a Bengali daily on Wednesday. The interview was given right after the former India captain announced his decision on Tuesday to quit from all forms of international cricket after the India-Australia series.

Pouring his heart out, India's most successful Test captain and most successful left-handed batsman said that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to put up with the constant humiliation. "It doesn't make sense to play cricket like this. I have played enough cricket."

Ganguly had scored heavily in Test cricket after his comeback in 2006, barring the recent away series against Sri Lanka. He wondered why he was the only player being targeted all the time. "Everything is possible in Indian cricket. When Greg (Chappell) chopped me, TP Singh (of Railways and now with the ICL) was my replacement. Where is he now," he asked.

A sarcastic Ganguly then went on to say, "There are players who haven't scored for last three series for India, even for the last one year. There are some who have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored for India."

sourav ganguly: a born fighter

2008-10-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sourav Ganguly has said farewell to cricket after 12 glorious years and at times controversial seasons in the highest level of the game. But for cricket, it's not merely the loss of an icon, rather of a born fighter, who led his country with passion and shrewdness and would go down as one of the best captains in the annals of cricketing history.

After staging glorious comebacks time and again to prove wrong the cricketing pundits who frequently penned the obituary of his journey, the talismanic left hander finally announced to the world himself that he has reached the end of his glittering international career.

While history will speculate and debate - till the principal protagonists make some revelation at some point of time in the future - on whether any voluntary retirement scheme was forced on Ganguly by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there can be no second opinion that the game would miss a colourful cricketer and a gutsy genius.

And he should have little regrets. Very few sporting heroes have enjoyed such public support in his home turf, as Ganguly did in India, particularly in his state West Bengal. This is borne by the scenes of public outrage that followed the Prince of Calcutta's exclusion from the national team in December, 2005, with fans blocking roads and railway tracks, and burning effigies of then chief selector Kiran More and coach Greg Chappell.

The tag of India's most successful skipper sits firmly on Ganguly's head, with statistics showing an enviable 21-13 win-loss record in Tests, besides having led the country to the World Cup final in 2003.

In ODIs, he has led India in 147 games, and is in the exalted company of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar as one of the only three cricketers to complete the treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches.

saurav ganguly calls to quit after australia series, the bengal tiger hails team- mates

2008-10-07T10:15:00.001-07:00

"This will be my last series," ... "Before coming here, I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock"

Sourav Ganguly has announced his retirement from international cricket, saying the four-Test series against Australia, starting here Thursday, will be his last.
be my last series. I have decided to quit. I have told my teammates that this four Test series will be my last. Thanks for all your support, hopefully we will end on a winning note," Ganguly said.
Ganguly was a surprise inclusion for the first two Tests having been overlooked for the five-day domestic Irani Cup tie last month, regarded by many as a trial match for the series.

ganguly had made his mind before leaving for chennai

2008-10-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Sourav Ganguly had decided to retire from international cricket even before he left the city for Chennai to play for India A against New Zealand A in the run-up to the series against Australia, a senior West Bengal minister said Tuesday.

"I knew he would retire. A couple of days before leaving for Chennai he came to my place and said he had decided to quit. Sourav told me he had already discussed the issue with his family and has now come to tell me about it," state minister for municipal affairs and urban development Ashok Bhattacahrya said, soon after the talismanic left-hander made the announcement in Bangalore.

former greats hails GANGULY as the best indian captain

2008-10-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Former Indian cricketers Tuesday hailed Sourav Ganguly as a fighting cricketer and the best Indian captain.
Former Test stars, some of them his teammates, lauded Ganguly's contribution to Indian cricket as the graceful left-handed batsman announced his decision to quit international cricket after the four-Test series against Australia, starting here Thursday.
Former captain Kapil Dev was all prise for Ganguly for ushering in a new era in Indian cricket as captain.
"It is a big decision for any cricketer. But we should not be saddened by it. He is a great player and what a wonderful career he has had. He gave tremendous confidence to the team as captain. With him began a new era in Indian cricket. We are proud to have a cricketer like him, " Kapil said.