Ponting better than Sachin: Chappell

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell rates Ricky Ponting as a better batsman than master blaster

Sachin Tendulkar.

Through this statement, Chappell is believed to have started the war of words twelve days before Australia's first ODI against India.

Talking to Times Now, Chappell added that though the Indian spinners could trouble the Australian batsmen, the world champions are the favourites to win the series.

Chappell further said that the rivalry between India and Australia is for good for the game.

The first ODI of the seven-match series between India and Australia is to be played on October 25 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur

Kambli wants Sachin to campaign for him

Cricketer-turned-politician Vinod Kambli, who is contesting the Maharashtra assembly elections from Vikhroli in Mumbai will ask his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar to campaign for him.

Kambli said that he would request Tendulkar, who suffered food poisoning in South Africa during the Champions Trophy, to canvass for him.

"At the moment he is not well. I pray to God that he gets well soon," Kambli said. "If he gets well, I will ask him to campaign."

Kambli-Tendulkar relations have been in the spotlight following media reports of a TV show in which Kambli said: "Tendulkar did not lend a helping hand during my downward spiral."

The left-hander was also reportedly quoted as saying: "I always felt discriminated against by the cricket board because of my caste and colour."

Later, Kambli denied making any remarks against Tendulkar or the Indian cricket board.

Born in Mumbai, Kambli rose to prominence when he shared a then world record unbroken partnership of 664 in a school match with Tendulkar. Kambli contributed 349 not out before their coach forced the pair to return to pavillion by declaring the innings.

Kambli, who started his Ranji Trophy career with a six off the first ball he faced, soon followed Tendulkar into the Indian team.

Kambli had an exciting start to his Test career, making two double-centuries and two centuries in just seven Tests. However, he lost his touch mid-way through his career and was subsequently dropped from the team, while Tendulkar went on to become an icon.

Now, Kambli is contesting the Maharashtra assembly elections from Vikhroli as a Lok Bharati Party candidate.

Sachin makes eBay history

Tendulkar coaching camp auction nets Rs 12 lakh highest in eBay India history. Proceeds to go to mom-in-law Annabel Mehta's charity

The eBay India auction that allows the winning bidder to train privately with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has ended with a new record.

The Sachin Tendulkar coaching camp auction went for Rs 12 lakh on the online marketplace, the highest-ever sale in all categories in eBay India's four-year history.

Two bidders won the auction one of them is from Whirlpool Company in New Delhi, while the other is a Mumbai philanthropist.

THANK YOU, Sachin: Annabel Mehta

Both of them tied with a bid of Rs 6 lakh each. And both have expressed a wish to remain anonymous after the bidding closed on October 5 at noon.

A coaching camp with the batting maestro has been on the eBay auction site for a week as part of the Joy of Giving campaign.

Proceeds are to go to the Apnalaya charity, that works for slum children.

Incidentally, Sachin's mother-in-law Annabel Mehta has been associated with the charity for 35 years.

Annabel said, "We are very happy and so grateful to Sachin for this." Said Deepa Thomas, senior manager pop culture, at eBay India, "The auction bidding tempo picked up by 10.55 am on Monday.

Then, two bidders bid Rs 6 lakh each, and they both won in a photo finish. A total of 99 bids were made in all," adding, "Sachin has agreed to have two coaching camps for both winning bidders."

Joy of Giving Week

The Joy of Giving Week, an initiative by a NGO called Give India ran from September 27 to October 3, 2009.

It aimed to engage Indians in giving back to society in a way that she or he chooses money, time, skills or resources.

Coaching Camp

Sachin Tendulkar's private coaching camp could take place on any day from October 2009 to March 2010.

It could be on any cricket ground in India with winners being given advance notice of 30 days about the venue.

Each winning bidder could bring in up to 14 persons, along with him to train or he could come in alone.

Sachin would train the winning bidders in: Batting techniques, inputs on fitness, practise routines to follow, developing match readiness, psycholo-gical training.

The camp would run from 9 am to noon. The participants would then have a photo opportunity with Sachin, followed by lunch with the batting maestro.

Sold on ebay

Some items sold previously on eBay India:
Drive a F1 car: Rs 1,70,000.
Bulk buy of 49 laptops: Rs 11,43,000
Rare 3.69 carat ruby: Rs 8,20,000
Spend a day on the sets with Priyanka Chopra: Rs 2,06,000

Tendulkar to miss NKP Salve Challenger Series

Sachin Tendulkar has pulled out of the forthcoming NKP Salve Challenger Series seeking rest, the BCCI has said. He will join Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan as the first-choice players who won't be featuring in the tournament; the latter two have been forced out because of injuries.

Tendulkar missed India's last Group A match in the Champions Trophy in South Africa because of food poisoning. His replacement in the India Blue side is Tamil Nadu's Abhinav Mukund, who followed an impressive Ranji season with a century in the Irani Cup last week.

Among the other changes, S Badrinath, originally picked for India Green, will now captain India Red in Yuvraj's absence. Yuvraj's direct replacement in the side is Maharashtra's Ameya Shrikhande. Irfan's replacement in the India Green side is Vikramjeet Malik from Himachal Pradesh. Manoj Tiwary, who was originally picked in the India Red side, has been called up to represent Delhi Daredevils in the Champions League Twenty20, with Saurabh Tiwary taking his place.

The Challenger Series will be played from October 8 to 11 in Nagpur, and will serve as India's last preparations before Australia arrive for a seven-match ODI series later this month.

I am chasing benchmarks set by Tendulkar: Ponting

Centurion: Only the third batsman to amass 12,000 runs in one-day cricket, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says he is chasing the benchmarks set by veteran Indian Sachin Tendulkar.

Ponting, after scoring a match-winning unbeaten 111-run knock against England last night to take Australia to their second successive Champions Trophy final, paid tribute to Tendulkar, who is completing 20 years in international cricket this November.

"The number of innings of his I have been able to sit back and watch, I think he is an amazing player. Look at his stats and records and it's quite incredible for someone to have stayed in the game for 20 years," Ponting said.

"He has set benchmarks for guys like me to chase him and get as close as we can. If I had to last 20 years, I would probably be batting in a wheelchair," he quipped.

Ponting is the first Australian and the third overall, after Tendulkar and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, to score 12,000 runs in one-dayers.

Tendulkar and Ponting, in fact, are the two biggest achievers in batting in contemporary cricket.

Tendulkar has played 159 Tests and scored 12773 runs with 42 centuries and 53 half centuries at an average of 54.58 runs. In one-dayers, he has turned out in 430 matches and scored 16903 runs with 44 hundreds and 91 fifties, averaging 44.48.

---> http://cricket.expressindia.com/news/I-am-chasing-benchmarks-set-by-Tendulkar--Ponting/524501 <---

Tendulkar collapsed on the eve of Ind-WI match

Source :- Mid Day.

By: Debasish Datta

Date: 2009-10-02

Place: Johannesburg

Sachin Tendulkar lucky to escape with two cuts on his face after a dizzy spell knocked him out in his hotel room on tuesday night.

There was more to Sachin Tendulkar's illness on the eve of India's Champions Trophy match against West Indies on Wednesday than plain food poisoning.

Going by what he told MiD DAY before flying out to Mumbai from South Africa yesterday, it could have been fatal. Tendulkar said that he lost consciousness and hurt himself when he fell down on the table in his room after returning from dinner at an Indian restaurant here. It is not known what exactly he ate but he is quite a foodie and enjoys non-vegetarian food especially fish.

A cut near his nose and another one below the left eye as a result of the fall was some indication of the impact of his face hitting the table.

On Tuesday night, Tendulkar had gone to an Indian restaurant in Johannesburg for dinner with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh.

When he returned to his room at the Sandton Sun hotel, he felt dizzy and collapsed. When this correspondent asked him to describe what exactly happened, he said all he could remember is feeling giddy and passing out.

In spite of feeling unwell, he went to the ground with the team but ultimately decided not to play. Yesterday, when seen at the team hotel, he looked down and exhausted. He cleared his bills before lunch; headed to his room and left for the airport.

When asked whether he had missed a match due to a similar illness, Tendulkar said, "No". "I am feeling much better than yesterday," he said. The batting star has been touring South Africa since 1992. Wonder what impact the news of Tendulkar's illness must have had on the India dressing room. Fortunately, his teammates were up against a second string West Indies team. Following Australia's win over Pakistan, the India vs West Indies game had turned inconsequential.

Such an incident on the eve of a game can unnerve the strongest of teams. An example of it was seen during the 1998 football World Cup final between Brazil and France. Brazil's star striker Ronaldo was stricken with convulsions just hours before the final played in Paris.

Confusion surrounded Ronaldo's status before the game. He was not among the 11 players initially picked by Coach Mario Zagallo in the starting line-up. But he was reinstated just before the game. Ronaldo played the final, but it was clear that his team was shaken by the sudden turn of events. It was not surprising that Brazil were listless to become easy pickings for a rampant France outfit.

Tendulkar has figured in six editions of the Champions Trophy (the 1998 and 2000 editions were known as the mini World Cup) but he will never forget this one.

Bringing smiles to the underprivileged gives me inner peace, says Tendulkar

Mumbai Mirror - Oct 2

Sachin Tendulkar has various ways of distressing after a bad series. He continues to discover, and scale, higher peaks of the cricketing Himalayas because of his unique ability to delete unpleasant memories from his mental makeup. Tendulkar doesn’t believe in going into details of what went wrong, at least publicly. He has done his introspection, and it’s done and dusted. He finds ways to remain happy, and that reflects in his career. One of Tendulkar’s biggest distressing tools is to give others happiness. He does it silently, like he is on the field, and is looking forward to recharge the batteries of his soul when he lands in India in the midst of the Joy of Giving Week. In an exclusive interview with Mumbai Mirror in Johannesburg on Thursday, Tendulkar spoke at length about how he manages to achieve balance in a stress-filled lifestyle, and how his horizons have been broadened. • You remain grounded in victory and defeat, and a humble person despite wealth and power. Apart from your family, does giving something back to others play a part in it? It surely does. If you have inner peace, you will find success more often than not. I have a lot of time for initiatives like the Joy of Giving Week. You know, you had a tough day in office, things have not gone in your favour for some time, and then, you see a face lit up with joy because of you. Bang. You are back. • It must be easy for you, because you are blessed with plenty… That’s the misconception we are carrying. It’s not how much that matters. It’s the gesture. I had a unique experience on August 15 this year. I bought a flag from a little girl on the road, and instead of Re1 or Rs 2, I gave her some more. Look, I didn’t give her a big amount, just little more. I don’t think I will ever forget that pleasantly surprised look on her face. It’s about giving people what they need. • Do success and failure get slotted into perspective for you through these philosophies? It’s important to believe in something, even if it’s a philosophy. I do admit that I’m in a fortunate position in life. But at the end of the day, I’m like anyone else, with my struggles, my worries. Not just success and failure but you start seeing life itself in its true perspective when you discover the joy of giving. It’s very simple formula. In any walk of life, no matter what you are doing, when you know you have made a positive difference, you will have a good day. • You and cricket are inseparable, it’s your profession. Are you what you are today because charity has allowed you to broaden your horizons? I’m a father, and I often think of those kids who are living off the streets, who have nobody to take care of them. We just spoke about perspective. That puts the whole thing into perspective for me. As professionals, we are all over the world, but if we pause and think for a moment, each one of us who sleep in their beds in the night will count their blessings. And that’s where we need more initiatives like Joy of Giving Week. • In sad times and happy tidings, you still keep going back to your late father, don’t you? And that song which is your philosophy of sorts, Main Zindagi Ki Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya? Oh yes, it’s something personal. My father made me what I am, he will always remain my biggest support system. Again, the perspective. He told me, ‘All that praise on the cricket field is great, but there is something much more important in life. At the end of the day, it’s about how you are remembered’. You may do whatever in your profession, but at the end of the day, the success column is all about the kind of person you turn out to be.

Sachin Tendulkar in Test Team of the Year

Test team of the Year as announced by ICC : Gautam Gambhir (India), Andrew Strauss (England), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka), Michael Clarke (Australia), Mahendra Dhoni (India, captain), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Stuart Broad (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa).

Sachin sits out with bad stomach

Johannesburg: Food poisoning kept senior-most pro Sachin Tendulkar out of the West Indies match here on Wednesday.

“Sachin started feeling a bit unwell from yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon itself... I don’t know what triggered it, though,” manager Anurag Thakur told The Telegraph.

Given Sachin’s fondness for seafood, it’s being assumed that prawns did the damage.