Images from the Indian Premier League match netween Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in Chennai.
Senior batsman Faf du Plessis on Monday stepped down as captain of South Africa's Test and T20I teams with immediate effect. Du Plessis, who gave away the ODI captaincy to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock, for the recent series against England, said he took the decision to help South Africa start a new era.
Every person was tested 72 hours before they travelled in order to ensure that all members of the party were travelling virus free.
Veteran Anil Kumble showed the fire in him was still burning as he rallied Royal Challengers from a disastrous start to a runners-up finish in the second season of the IPL. The ace leg spinner was instrumental in the team's revival while veterans Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis also made notable contributions as it finished behind Deccan Chargers.
South African pacers rocked England top order as the visitors were reduced to 48 for three in their second innings on the third day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.
The Obama administration continues to be gravely concerned over the plight of Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan security forces but has no plans to launch a massive military evacuation by the US Pacific Command till there is a halt in the hostilities in the conflict zone, senior administration officials revealed.
As US President Barack Obama took ownership of a new comprehensive strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan to counter the Al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban, senior Administration officials acknowledged that India would be a key stakeholder in these efforts too, although New Delhi will not be invited to put boots on the ground in this renewed fight against terrorism because of its regional problems with Pakistan.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
Mumbai Indians beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 16 runs in their Indian Premier League match at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth on Sunday. Chasing 158 to win their second straight game against Mumbai, Bangalore could only muster 141 for seven. The fact that none of their main batsmen could make a significant contribution, as well as the lack of any sizeable partnership, proved to be the bane of Bangalore's batting.
South African pacers blew away the top half before Abhishek Nayar (100) and Shikhar Dhawan (70) resuscitated Board President's XI with a 181-run seventh wicket stand on the opening day of the two-day practice match in Nagpur on Tuesday.
England beat South Africa by and innings and 98 runs in the second Test to go one-up in the four-match series.
The Bush administration apparently has no problem with the new Pakistani government's peace deal with militant groups in that country's North West Frontier Province, including Waziristan that have been sympathetic and allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It has even given the tentative agreement its cautious blessings.
The Pakistan Peoples' Party-led coalition government has sent an unambiguous message to the United States that any mess with the newly elected democratic dispensation by President Pervez Musharraf will not be tolerated. The PPP leadership, however, held out a categorical assurance to the Bush administration that the new government would not create a situation leading to the unceremonious exit of Musharraf.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who held talks with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon soon after his arrival from Islamabad, stressed the need for tracking down individuals and organisations behind the Mumbai attacks by following leads 'as far as they go'. The US official, who has told the Pakistani leadership to take the probe into Mumbai attacks to its logical conclusion, briefed Menon on his discussions in Islamabad.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com, Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, who is the Bush administration's point man for the subcontinent and who has taken charge of pushing the deal in the US Congress, said, "We are going to work with the Indians, we are going to work with the Congress and we are going to take this as far as we can go."
The Indian elections in no way precluded the United States from working jointly with India to try to alleviate the lot of the affected Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan troops, the outgoing point man on South Asia for the Obama Administration has said.
Bangalore Royal Challengers held their nerve well in the closing stages to edge past Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in one of the most lacklustre matches in the Indian Premier League, in Durban, on Wednesday. Chasing 140 for victory, Bangalore were home with 143-5 and a ball to spare.
Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to narrow its differences with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party over the operation launched against militants in the country's northwest.
Terming reconciliation with Taliban as "necessary", a senior state department official has said that there is nothing "evil" about engaging militants in the political process if they abandon violence. "I think it's necessary, but I wouldn't necessarily call it that evil," US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, Richard Boucher said.
India's response to 26/11 is a response that US would co-operate with and support, he said, adding, "None of us, including Pakistan, India and the US, are safe as long as terror groups such as the one that planned the 26/11 attacks are tolerated."
The United States on Friday dismissed concerns that its nuclear deal with India may open up an opportunity for Pakistan and others to seek a similar agreement.
After setting an opening partnership record and declaring their first innings on 583 for seven, South Africa also posted a wicketkeeping record on the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Peter Siddle's maiden five-wicket haul blighted South Africa's response as Australia tightened its grip on the proceedings on day three of the third and final Test in Sydney on Monday.
Royal Challenger Bangalore coach Ray Jennings has lavished praise on skipper Anil Kumble, terming him a "legend" and "true gentleman" and said working with the Indian spinner was an eye-opener.
The US has emphasised that Pakistan has still "lot to do" in combating the menace of terrorism and the immediate focus should be on groups responsible for the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks.
"I think the steps that we've seen Pakistan take are good steps. They're promising steps. We hope they get followed up," Assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in Beijing last week, according to a transcript released today by the State Department.
The United States has advised former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to adopt a lenient view on the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf and let him determine his own future.The US advice came as Assistant Secretary of state Richard Boucher met Sharif at the Raiwind farm house near Lahore on Tuesday.He said the US should let Pakistan settle its issues by itself. He added if the US could not facilitate Pakistan, it should not interfere in its internal affairs.
Despite a last-minute US mediation, the leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition have failed to reach a deal on restoring deposed judges, increasing the probability that ministers belonging to former premier Nawaz Sharif's party might quit the Cabinet on Monday.
In a January 16 interview to Pakistan's state-run APP news agency, the transcript of which was released by the US embassy in Islamabad on Thursday, the senior diplomat also said both sides should take care not to take any step "that can be misinterpreted" by the other. He also felt that a joint investigation by both the countries into the attacks was not a bad idea.
"Some of the fears are exaggerated," and added, "some of the training turns out to be sort of cadet level. Some exchanges don't lead to a lot. I think we just need to have a realistic sense of what this is," Boucher added.
Buoyed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's approval of the India-specific safeguards pact, the US on Sunday vowed to push through expeditiously the Nuclear Suppliers Group process but said New Delhi would have to answer a lot of questions to secure a waiver from the 45-nation bloc when it meets later this month.
There are a lot of things that go on up there that are difficult to find out. On the other hand, we do have a pretty good idea what's going on up there, whose up there and what they're doing, Boucher said.
The warning came during US official Richard Boucher's fourth visit in a year.
Australia were 62 without loss at stumps, in reply to India's 526, at the end of Day 2 of the fourth Test.
Pakistan says it will go with the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline despite skepticism over the project from the United States.
"These funds have been used to help Pakistan prosecute the war on terror along the Pakistan-Afghan border," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.
Coach Mark Boucher appears to have brought some steel back to the South African squad as they subdued an England side battling with illness and which has recently struggled to pick up wins on the road.
His teammate Chris Gayle and three South African cricketers have also signed up for the inaugural Indian Premier League, organisers said on Wednesday.
Stuart Broad claimed a career-best five for 23 to help England thrash South Africa by 10 wickets in the second one-day international in Nottingham on Tuesday.
There may be some changes in the text of the nuclear commerce waiver for India, which is being considered by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, according to United States Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher. Boucher asserted that the US would "not allow anything to impede the N-deal."
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