Jammu and Kashmir to host Federation Cup in August next year
Kolkata: The football fans of Jammu and Kashmir are all set to get a taste of top quality Indian club football as premier clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Dempo will be vying for the top honours in the Federation Cup which will be held in the state in August, next year. “Next year’s Federation Cup will be held in Jammu and Kashmir in August,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told reporters here. As the inaugural franchise league ISL had to be re-scheduled thrice, the AIFF had to postpone the blue-riband tourney Fed Cup to December and and I-League to January. “There’s no (further) change in the dates of this year’s Federation Cup which will be held from December 28-January 10 in Goa this year,” he said. The AIFF general secretary further admitted that they did not have enough resources to hold the prestigious Nehru Cup, the only international tournament that was last held in 2012. “Frankly speaking, we don’t have sponsors for the Nehru Cup which requires a huge budget. It’s difficult for the Federation to organise this until we get sponsors. “Earlier ONGC sponsored but with the resources that we have it’s difficult to hold such a big tournament. We’re trying our best.” (PTI)
Misbah will remain Pakistan captain till 2015 WC: PCB chief
Karachi: Pakistan’s under-fire captain, Misbah-ul-Haq was given a lifeline by the new PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, who said that the veteran batsman would continue as captain until the World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. “I am not going to press any panic button. I believe in continuity in cricket matters and a few bad results doesn’t mean we start talking about removing Misbah as captain,” the PCB chief who took charge after being elected told the media at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Shaharyar, a former career diplomat, was peppered with questions about Misbah’s future after strong reports that an influential lobby was out to have him removed as Test and ODI captain and bring in Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi to replace him in the two formats. (PTI)
India will have a tough time during Australia tour: McGrath
New Delhi: Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath feels that India will have a tough time during its upcoming tour of Australia at the end of this year after their disastrous show in England. “I think Indians are going to have a very tough time in Australia. Last time, when the two teams met, it was in India and we lost 0-4. But we have come a long way since then,” McGrath told NDTV on Monday. McGrath feels that this same England team were thrashed 5-0 by the Aussies during the last Ashes, so one could gauge what exactly would be in store for India. “Australia has also defeated this same England squad 5-0 last year in the Ashes. So now you can well understand that how much tough it can be for India playing over there,” he opined. While talking about the Test debacle, McGrath said,”The present team needs to do a lot of hard work. I don’t think that there is a single problem, there are a lot, so they need to fix the basics.” “Though the bowlers did a formidable job, the fielding completely failed. You cannot miss so many catches and think that you can put the opposition under pressure. The bowlers created a lot of opportunities, but obviously getting no results out of that brings frustration.” And above all the batting line failed completely which made the other players lose the confidence,” he said. (PTI)