Indian news round-up

The Indian coach Kapil Dev said that playing excess cricket may have taken a toll on Sachin Tendulkar's in Sharjah. He said this in while talking to the Indian press on Sunday in New Delhi. He said "You can't expect him to score in every match. He had a Test century in Australia. He batted fabulously against South Africa in India."

Asked on Sachin's poor form, Kapil Dev came to the defence of the the former Indian captain Tendulkar saying "He was not totally out of touch. It was only three matches and sometimes a player can also lose interest as we play so many matches", he said. Tendulkar scored a meagre 65 runs from four innings at an average of 16. This was his poorest tournaments in Sharjah.

Talking about improvement of fitness the former Indian captain said only if there is a break in the schedule of matches can sowmthing be worked upon. On Andrew Leipus he said ""Leipus is the first physio I have worked with. He is doing a marvellous job. His interaction with players is excellent. But he wants some off-season to work on the fitness of the players. Unless he gets that, it may not serve much purpose", Kapil Dev said.

Roger Binny has been appointed as the coach, Rajesh Kamat as assistant coach. Retd. Col. Nair is the administrative manager of the National Cricket Academy (NCA). This was announced by Raj Singh Dungarpur on friday at a press conferecne. Rodney Marsh who visited the academy expressed satisfaction over the facilities offered to the trainees at the stadium. Mr Raj Singh Durgapur said that the second coach has to be finalised from the four available and would be announced soon upon confirmation from them.

Talking about the facilities Raj Singh Dungarpur even Rodney Marsh agreed that Bangalore provided the best hi-tech facilities. He added "Besides excellent outdoor facilities, we have the provision to continue practice indoors if weather causes any problems. Such facilities will be perfected in the second phase. The chairman of the NCA said Rs. 3 crores have been earmarked for the first phase.

The former BCCI chairman Dungarpur said that the age groups of the players has not been decided yet, there will be 24 players and the names would be finalised by April 10. The players will be those who are on the threshold of representing the country. The NCA team will play in the annual KSCA Diamond Jubilee tournament as well as the Buchi Babu tournaments in Chennai.

The National Cricket Academy of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) will be inaugurated on May 1st at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Hanumanth Singh will take over as the director.

More than one lakh people witnessed a soccer game named 'The Millenium Football match' cricketers and film stars played at the Salt Lake stadium in Calcutta. The teams Sourav XI and Mithun XI were led by Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and tinstel hero Mithun Chakroborty. The match was played in aid of destitute children in Calcutta.

The cricketer's won the game 5-2 with Sourav Ganguly showing his prowesss with the football too scoring three goals. The hard hitting Robin Singh and Bengal local lad Laxmi Ratan Shukla scored a goal apiece. For Mithun XI bollywood star Govinda scored to goals.