Tri-series: Sri Lanka missed Lasith Malinga in final over, says Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Port of Spain, Trinidad:  Triumphant Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he preferred to use a heavy bat in the final over of the Tri-nation ODI series title clash against Sri Lanka as it was "perfect for slogging".

Dhoni almost singlehandedly guided India to yet another ODI title as he made an unbeaten 45 off 52 balls, 16 off them coming in the last over in their chase of 202.

"I went with a heavy bat, the weight was perfect for slogging," Man of the Match Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. 

After bowling out Sri Lanka for 201, India rode on Dhoni and Rohit Sharma's half century to chase down the target with two balls to spare at the Queen's Park Oval.

"15 players have been very good on the field and that is a good sign," he added.

Asked about his penchant for coming good when the chips are down, Dhoni said, "I think I am blessed with a bit of good cricketing sense. I knew I could get 15 runs off the last over, I'm happy that it worked.

"The opposition bowler (Shaminda Eranga) was not the most experienced in that last over unlike (Lasith) Malinga, so I thought i would take my chances."

Dhoni and Virat Kohli, who led the team in three matches in Dhoni's absence, jointly accepted the winners trophy after the presenter had forgotten about it.

Player of the series was Bhuvneshwar Kumar while Rohit Sharma was awarded the Most Trusted Player of the Series.

Sharma said: "I am really happy with the way we performed. The wicket was not easy to play shots, I wanted to delay my shots and wanted to stay as long as possible in the middle.

Regarding the Indian captain's knock, the Mumbaikar said, "We have seen Dhoni doing it over and over again, so it was not so much of a surprise."

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews was full of praise for his bowlers.

"It was a great game, the bowlers showed a lot of character to defend 200. Sanga and Thirimanne batted really well, but we lost momentum after that. Had we played till the end, we could have pushed it to 230-240 and that wuould have been enough.

"Herath bowled really well to bring us back into the game, but Dhoni is always a dangerous batsman. We played a good tournament throughout, didn't win the title, but the players showed a lot of character," Mathews said.

College student gangraped, set on fire in Etawah

 

Etawah: In Uttar Pradesh, which has reported several horrific assaults on young girls in the last few days, a college student is battling for life in hospital after being allegedly raped and set on fire by a man known to her.

The gruesome incident happened in Etawah, the home district of Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief of the Samajwadi Party which rules Uttar Pradesh.

On Tuesday evening, the police said, a young man known to the student invited her to his home, where he allegedly raped her. When the girl resisted, he allegedly poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.

She was taken first to the village hospital and then shifted to a hospital in Saifai, which has a burns ward, with over 80 per cent burns.

The police say the girl has named the man in her statement and a case has been registered against him and his relatives, though no arrests have been made yet.

The girl's siblings say that she was in love with the man who allegedly raped her. "He called her; she went because she trusted him... She came back running and was on fire," the girl's sister said.

In Pratapgarh, another teen is in hospital with a temporary speech impairment after she was attacked with a blunt object on her face and in her mouth.

Her parents allege that the 16-year-old, a rape survivor, was attacked by the brother of the man accused of raping her earlier this year. They allege that he was attempting to cut off the girl's tongue to stop her from deposing before a magistrate later this month.

Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan fight for fitness in France, want to play 2015 ICC World Cup

Far away from the public eye, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan are sweating it out to make a comeback to the national team. India's World Cup stars have hired private trainer Tim Exeter and spending hours in a southern French town to regain peak fitness. Their target: the 2015 World Cup, Down Under.

Yuvraj last played for India in an ODI series against England in January, where he scored just one half-century. He was ignored for the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June due to fitness and form. The 32-year-old left-hander is now attempting to play for India in the limited-overs series against Australia in October-November this year.

"My immediate goal is to acquire prime fitness. This long lay-off has given me enough time to assess my fitness and game and work on the areas I need to improve. Currently Zaheer and I are working with Exeter. He has created a world-class setup for individual training and it has worked very well for me so far. It's a beautiful, isolated place. Natural surroundings inspire you to work hard and keep you fresh," Yuvraj told a leading newspaper in an email interview.

Exeter is a famous name in the sporting world. He runs a high intensity performance center in Brive-La-Gaillarde area in southern France and is currently working with Yuvraj and Zaheer. Exeter has worked with rugby teams and trained Welsh soccer star Ryan Giggs.

Yuvraj, who struggled with fitness during the Indian Premier League, says he has started feeling fitter and stronger. "This training schedule of four-five hours every day is extremely exhausting and leaves you drained. But with each passing day I am feeling fitter and stronger," he said.

The talented all-rounder is eyeing domestic cricket in September so that he can impress the selectors. "I am sure with some good knocks and quality time in the middle, things will fall in place. I want to take it one step at a time. I am confident about the outcome," said Yuvraj, adding: "Hopefully, the coming season will turn things around. I am giving my best. That is what I can do. Rest is destiny. 2015 is very much a goal. I am really determined to make it happen," he added.

Coal scam probe: Supreme Court slams government for not helping the CBI

New Delhi: In what would come as a blow to the Congress-led UPA government, the Supreme Court today pulled it up for not responding "comprehensively" on alleged irregularities in the 2009 coal block allocations. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file records of all 36 steering committee meetings for coal blocks allocation.

Examining the CBI's status report in the coal case, the court observed that the 'CBI seems to be struggling with the probe...documents to support the report were not being made available by the government.'

The CBI had, on Monday, submitted its progress report on the probe into the allocation of coal blocks in a sealed cover. In its report, the CBI has reportedly said that while they will abide by the Supreme Court's direction and not share any details of their investigation, they may have to in special circumstances - like in the event of seeking the government's sanction for prosecution.
This happened recently when the CBI had to tell the Ministry of Corporate Affairs why they were summoning former Coal Secretary HC Gupta as an accused. The ministry refused to give sanction till they had details of evidence against Mr Gupta.

The Court today asked why the CBI should need the government's sanction to prosecute officials and public servants, saying, "The supervision of the CBI is entrusted with the CVC. The Centre has no role. How can the CBI say government permission is needed for sanction? We need to discuss this." (Read: Parliament will decide on CBI's autonomy, says Supreme Court)

The Supreme Court had, during the last hearing, said that only the investigating officers and the CBI Director should know the details of the probe. The top court had taken strong exception to the fact that then Law Minister Ashwani Kumar as well as officials from the Prime Minister's Office and the Coal Ministry had vetted the CBI's status report on its investigations into what is known as Coal-gate.

Describing the CBI's functioning as one of a "caged parrot that speaks in different voices of different masters", an angry court had asked the Centre to come up with a legislation to grant functional autonomy to the premier investigation agency.

The government, last week, submitted a 41-page affidavit which proposed that the Director of the CBI will be selected by a three-member panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. But the agency has been denied the right to hire its own lawyers, which would have given it greater autonomy in politically sensitive investigations. And though its budget has been enhanced, expenses, even minor ones like an officer traveling abroad, still need the government's sanction.

The Supreme Court today said that the law will have to be amended to give more autonomy to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI and that Parliament will ultimately have to debate and approve suggestions made by the Centre to free the agency from political control.

The coal inquiry is especially sensitive for the government because for some of the years under scrutiny, the Prime Minister held direct charge of the Coal Ministry. That has led to the opposition demanding his resignation.

Hotel collapses in Secunderabad, six people killed

Secunderabad: At least six people are feared dead after a building collapsed in Andhra Pradesh's Secunderabad city today. Nearly 40 people might still be trapped in the debris, witnesses say.

The two-storey building of City Light hotel, situated on Rashtrapati Road, collapsed at around 6: 30 am.

Police, fire fighting personnel and rescue workers managed to evacuate 10 people from the rubble and shift them to a nearby hospital. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) workers were seen clearing the debris.

GHMC city planner Raghu said 53 buildings in the city were recently issued notices on safety, but, City Light hotel was not one of them.

Rupee breaks 61 against dollar, hits record low

The Indian rupee breached the 61 mark against the U.S. dollar for the first time ever, surpassing the previous record low of 60.76. The partially convertible rupee hit a record low of 61.10 on Monday against Friday's close of 60.23.

Fresh weakness came on better than expected U.S. jobs growth, which increased the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting its massive monetary stimulus, known as quantitative easing, as early as September.

Traders fear that cuts in the U.S. bond buying programme will trigger massive selling by foreign investors, which will make the financing of India's high current account deficit difficult.

Bond yields also jumped on fears that foreign investors would continue to sell rupee debt. The 10-year yield rose as much as 13 basis points to 7.63 per cent from its previous close.

Last week, the rupee fell 1.4 per cent last week and its nine-week losing streak is the longest since the last one ended June 3, 2012.

The Reserve Bank's intervention has not been strong during the current bout of rupee weakness, with Governor D Subbarao's comments on Thursday about the RBI not targeting any particular exchange rate also deepening the uncertainty.