NEW DELHI, July 10 (Agencies): The Cricket Board today threatened to take "appropriate steps" against former captain Kapil Dev for aligning with the rebel Indian Cricket League despite occupying the post of National Cricket Academy (NCA) Chairman.
The BCCI said that it had made it very clear that no cricketer or official should be part of the ICL and it was for Kapil to relinquish one post.
"The BCCI does not recognise the ICL.
It was a decision of the Working Committee that any cricketer or official being involved in the ICL would have no role to play in BCCI.
It is for Kapil Dev to decide what he wants to do," BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove told PTI, reacting to Kapil's outburst against the board.
Asked specifically what BCCI would do if Kapil did not relinquish the post of NCA Chairman, Pandove said, "We will discuss the issue and take appropriate steps." After BCCI had shot a letter to Kapil asking him not to align with the ICL, the former all-rounder sent his reply and also dared the board to sack him from the NCA post.
"They can remove me from the NCA if they want to.
They only wanted me to contribute to the game of cricket and when I am doing so they cannot challenge me.
If I can do something for the game and the young cricketers through Indian Cricket League, I will not budge," he asserted.
Pandove said the BCCI chief Sharad Pawar had authorised one or two officials to talk to Kapil Dev on this issue.
"He is a respected cricketer and we wanted to know his views.
But we have not still got any feedback from those officials," he said.
Kapil was not cowed down by the fact that siding with ICL might cost him pension.
"I did not go to them asking for pension and if they want to stop it, what can I do? Let them stop it," said country's lone World Cup winning captain.
Recently, former stumper and ex-chief selector Kiran More quit the secretary's post at the Baroda Cricket Association to join Kapil at the ICL Executive Board.
Another former Indian player Sandeep Patil has also joined ICL.
A few months back, the Essel Group had launched the ICL with much fanfare, announcing that some top names of world cricket would take part in it.
Speculation is rife that legends like Brian Lara, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will join the league that promises a huge prize money.
Sussex set 273 to win HOVE, July 10 (Agencies): The Indians declared their second innings on 184 for 8, setting Sussex a target of 273 with a minimum of 40 overs remaining on the final day of the warm-up match at Hove.
The match was intriguingly poised at lunch, with the Indians on 116 for 6.
Michael Yardy struck twice in the first over after the break, but RP Singh, with a blustery 41, thwarted Sussex's hopes of dismissing the Indians.
RP Singh and Dravid added 64 runs for the ninth wicket before Dravid decided it was time to let his bowlers have a shot at Sussex.
Sussex's fast bowlers made inroads into the Indian top order and ensured that the match was on level terms on the final day of the warm-up match at Hove.
The Indians lost four wickets for 95 runs during the morning session and went into lunch with an overall lead of 204.
The Indian top order had batted with caution in the first innings, determined to spend valuable time in the middle.
In the second innings, however, that application was not present for both Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik gave it away after settling down, and Gautam Gambhir fell to a half-hearted shot before getting his eye in.
The Indians began the day on 21 for 2, with Karthik on 4 and Yuvraj on 2.
James Kirtley and Jason Lewry had bowled testing spells just before stumps on the third day but this morning they were not as disciplined.
Kirtley struggled to adjust to the right- and left-hand combination and bowled a leg-stump line, allowing Yuvraj to get going with a couple of easy boundaries behind square on the leg side.
Yuvraj scored predominantly on the on side, barring one cover drive for four, but Kirtley eventually got him to nick an attempted flick to wicketkeeper Andy Hodd.
Karthik, who had batted cautiously last evening, was fluent this morning.
He latched on to anything short from Lewry, cutting through point and pulling him in front of midwicket early in the day.
Kirtley bowled a couple of over-pitched deliveries to Karthik and were driven through cover point for boundaris.
IBSA selects 12 probables for World Snooker Championship BANGALORE, July 10 (UNI): The Indian Billiards and Snooker Association (IBSA) has selected 12 probables for the Under-21 World Snooker Championship to be held in Goa in August.
The week long camp for the probables will be held here from June 11 to 17, a KSBA release said here today.
The players ranked from one to four at the recently concluded Junior Snooker Nationals had been selected directly into the Indian team, while the remaining four players would be selected from the group of 12 probables, the release added.
The four directly selected players were, Rishab Pandya, Sharavan Mohta (both Maharashtra), Shivram Arora (Bihar) and Younis Kutchey (Jammu & Kashmir).
List of probables: Ajay Bhushan, Balaji Reddy (both Karnataka), Hasan Badami, Rovin D'Souza (both Maharashtra), Nikhil Kapahi (Jammu Kashmir), J Pranit (Tamil Nadu), Shahbaaz Adil Khan, Amir Hussain (both West Bengal), Pushpender Singh (Delhi), Ashish Kumar (Andhra Pradesh), Himanshu Arora (Rajasthan) and Arun Chabra (Punjab).
Mahesh-Sania to pair in US Open too CHENNAI, July 10 (UNI):Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi today said chances were bright for him to pair with Sania Mirza again in the US Open next month.
Talking to newspersons after participating in a Beach Tennis game organised to promote the forthcoming Sunfeast Open 2007 to be held in Kolkata in mid September, Bhopati said, "We had performed well at Wimbledon.
But we couldn't manage to finish well." "But right now our focus will be on the US Open," he said.
Bhupathi also praised Sania, observing that the Hyderabadi girl had tremendous potential to make it big in international arena.
"She has been performing well.
But unfortunately nothing is falling in line for her at present", he said.
He said it was just a matter of time for Sania to bounce back and perform well.
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