SEHWAG LEADS FROM THE FRONT

Delhi Daredevils (DD) Skipper Virender Sehwag raised his team from the bottom to the seventh position in the points table of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a splendid fifty in Saturday’s 38-run triumph over the Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Heading into today’s clash with just two wins, Delhi was under immense pressure after losing seven matches and were relying entirely on their skipper to pull them out of the lees.

Sehwag, accordingly delivered in excellent style, smashing eight boundaries and five sixes athwart his 80 runs off just 47 balls.

Inclined to stabilize the sinking ship of Daredevils in the stir of two early wickets by Shantha Sreesanth, getting rid of David Warner for three and Naman Ojha for a duck, respectively, Sehwag steadily kicked into his typically impatient approach in batting.

Yogesh Nagar and Travis Birt played a supportive role by making 22 and 20 runs, respectively. The swaggering right-handed weathered the initial hurricane and then punctually cashed in, receiving a special liking to the ineffective silage coughed up by the spinner.

While the opposition's pace spearhead, Sreesanth, located the superb line and length in tough conditions, Balachandra Akhil was ineffectively short and fellow slow bowler, Ramesh Powar, was trying too hard.Ravichandran Ashwin, agitated out four relatively impressive overs with a marginal left-arm turn.

For their Skipper endeavor Delhi recovered from four for two and then 35 for three to 157 for seven, which eventually demonstrated more than sufficient runs for a Nehru Stadium Pitch, annulled of much pace and bounce.

Conceited in Sreesanth's two wickets, only to be joggled by Sehwag's assault, Kochi's reply with the bat was completely worthless.

Kochi's tail-enders were never going to succeed in the face of spinner, Roelof van der Merwe's, delayed craftiness, the South African conscript shattering up three wickets in five deliveries to have Kochi all out for 119 in 18.5 overs.

While Delhis' anticipation of protecting a semi-final berth is back on its pathway, Mahela Jaywardene's Tuskers are left to intrigue the strategy to bounce up from second last position on the table.

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KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS CAPTAIN GAUTAM GAMBHIR SATISFIED WITH WIN OVER DELHI DAREDEVILS

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Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir is completely satisfied to get back on the winning track after his team thrashed Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League game on Thursday.

Put into bat first, the Kolkata team put up a fighting total of 148 runs with the help of Manoj Tiwary’s blistering knock of 61 runs from just 47 balls. In response, the Virender Sehwag-led Delhi side could only manage to reach 131 for 9 in 20 overs.

Enormously delighted to see his team back on the winning ways after three consecutive defeats in the tournament, Gambhir gave full credit to the players for putting in a fantastic effort against his former outfit.

“The guys showed a lot of desperation, we all wanted to win desperately. I never expected so much spin on such a grassy wicket. Everyone contributed in his own way, and if you manage to defend a score of 148 it gives the team a lot of confidence,” Gambhir said.

After his consistently outstanding performance throughout the ICC World Cup 2011, Gambhir became Kolkata’s skipper, replacing Sourav Ganguly who led the Riders in the previous editions of the IPL.

The match on Thursday was Gambhir’s first official outing as skipper against the Daredevils and he was pleased with the win.

Heaping praise on his bowlers for their fabulous show in the game, the captain clarified that the Delhi team is not more than just a chapter of history for him.

“Our bowlers showed what they are made of. My heart and soul is with KKR, I am not a Delhi boy anymore,” the classy Indian batsman added.

Gambhir further admired Tiwary for his match winning performance, saying that he went out to the crease with an intention of playing the entire 20 overs and that is what he did at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, the left-hander claimed that the win has boosted his team’s confidence and hoped that the players would continue with the good work in the upcoming games.

The dejected Daredevils captain Sehwag on the other hand blamed his batsmen for an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Riders.

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OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST SEBASTIAN COE CLAIMS CRICKET ECLIPSING THE FUTURE OF OTHER SPORTS IN INDIA

Chairman Organising Committee for the London Olympics 2012, Lord Sebastian Coe, who is a former English athlete and Olympic gold medallist, maintains that cricket is eclipsing the popularity of other sports in India.

He said that the craze for the cricket amongst India’s younger generation is hampering the progress of other sports activities, especially athletics. Other forms of sports in India also deserve the lime light and promotion, which can be made possible through a transition in Indian perspectives.

"Indian Diaspora can create role models from the world of athletics to promote sports activities other than cricket. We at London 2012 want to help Asian communities to create globalised role models," he said while speaking in a press conference.

Commonwealth Games 2010, that were staged in Delhi, proved that India has the potential to produce talented athletes. If India harnesses the skills of sportsmen other than those belonging to the field of cricket, more legacies can be created.

Coe went on to add, "Recently at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Delhi in 2010, Indians realised that they have very talented athletes and it is not just about cricket, and other games can create very strong legacies."

First class English cricketer Mark Ravin Ramprakash, former English cricket skipper Nasser Hussain, and left arm spinner Monty Panesar are few of the players with an Indian descent, who have represented England in county cricket and at the international level.

Regarding the matter of CWG Organising Committee Chief Suresh Kalmadi’s arrest, Coe refused to comment, saying that the issue is subject to Indian Olympic Association’s decision.

Suresh Kamadi who was arrested on grounds of alleged corruption last week, has not been dismissed from the position of the President Indian Olympic Association (IOA), as clarified by Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior official of IOA.

Coe reiterated the ambitions of London 2012, stating that the organization wants to promote all sports and make them a part of the social and political agendas of all the governments around the globe.

"London 2012 wants to leave a legacy in a number of areas and wants to ensure that sport is high up on the social and political agendas in countries around the world," he added.

London Olympics 2012 is managing the Paralympics and Olympics event as an integrated project. Few of the twenty games that have been organized for the category of disabled athletes include power lifting, wheelchair tennis, football 7-a-side, wheelchair rugby and archery.

Lord Coe, who was a middle distance runner, enjoyed an illustrious career in the Olympics world, with four medals to his credit, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

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