Thackeray reiterates ban on Australian cricketers, slams SRK

Reiterating the Shiv Sena's ban on Australian cricketers playing in Mumbai and Maharashtra to protest the attacks on Indians in Australia, Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Monday again targeted actor Shah Rukh Khan for his statements in support of Pakistani cricketers who have not been selected for the IPL season.
Speaking via video conferencing at the 'Akhand Maharashtra Parishad' organised by the Sena here, Thackeray said he had announced a ban on Australian players due to the attacks on Indians in Australia. Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar had met Thackeray recently with BCCI officials to seek a change in the Sena's stance.
Thackeray said he was not opposed to actor Shah Rukh Khan's movie My Name Is Khan and pointed out that Pakistan had been carved out from India and hence Khan had no right to express love for Pakistan if he was an Indian. He attacked politicians from the Congress for supporting Khan on this issue.
Without naming Revenue Minister and Sena detractor Narayan Rane, Thackeray also warned people against jumping to conclusions about the Sena's influence being on the wane.
Thackeray also criticised demands for a separate state of Vidarbha, and pointed out that the region had given chief ministers and many ministers to the state so far.
Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray called on all parties to unite across political lines to prevent the fragmentation of Maharashtra and also questioned why the demands for separating Vidarbha from Maharashtra had been raked up now.

Laxman and Dhoni flatten South Africa

VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni saw off the tricky period with the second new ball, put together the second double-century stand of the innings, and virtually batted South Africa out of the Test. It was only the second instance of four Indian batsmen scoring centuries in the same innings. It was also Laxman's fourth hundred in nine Tests at Eden Gardens, taking his tally at his beloved ground to 1041 runs at 94.63.

Staring at a massive deficit of 347, South Africa were left needing a huge batting effort, a turnaround of the proportions of the one at the same ground in 2000-01, to make something out of this match. They didn't help themselves by continuing to drop catches: Laxman added 95 after his reprieve, Dhoni 109 after his, and nightwatchman Amit Mishra 23. That to go with the 118 Virender Sehwag added after he was dropped on the second day. They were not all easy catches, but South Africa usually take eight out of 10 such chances.

The crucial period of play was just after Mishra had got out after an entertaining cameo full of edges, plays and misses, and also cracking shots. The lead had reached 88, but with the second new ball Dale Steyn had got his swing back. Morne Morkel was his usual aggressive self, and had Mishra's wicket in his bag. Laxman was caught in a shell, not struggling but he had let Mishra take the ascendancy. South Africa could sense a comeback and were giving it their best with their best bowlers bowling in tandem.

Laxman handled the fast bowlers well. He left outside off and didn't let the bouncer barrage or a period of no runs for 37 balls rattle him either. The closest South Africa came to getting a wicket was an inside edge that flew to the left of the keeper. Once Morkel went off - he had fever - runs came easily, the storm had been weathered, and it was time to accumulate.

Dhoni welcomed back Paul Harris, who could have had Mishra in the second over of the day but for the drop by Jacques Kallis at slip, with a four and a six in his first two overs. India's plan was clear then: Laxman was to be the solid anchorman, and the others were to score quickly around him. In the last over before lunch, Dhoni pushed forward at Harris, the ball spun and the edge flew to left of slip. Kallis had by then taken a special overhead catch to remove Mishra, but this one didn't stick - the third such instance off Harris' bowling in a session and one delivery. Dhoni was 23 then.

In the first over after lunch, Laxman cut Wayne Parnell for four to enter his 40s, and steered him past gully for another four in his next over. Off the next ball, a similar shot went uppishly towards JP Duminy at point. The ball fell slightly in front of him, but those are the catches the South Africans take without making them look tough.

After that Laxman and Dhoni, untested, unquestioned, sauntered towards their centuries. They took their own, unique routes. Laxman was unhurried, there were lovely inside-out drives, flicks out of the rough against Harris, and he used the fast bowlers' pace for scoring on the leg side. Dhoni presented a contrast, walking down the stumps to counter the swing, moving about in the crease, hustling through for ones and twos, relying more on power than timing.

After they reached their centuries, both batsmen naturally accelerated, again in their unique ways. Laxman started flicking more and playing more inside-out shots than before. Dhoni lofted Duminy for back-to-back massive sixes, hit Wayne Parnell through covers, and even turned down singles to Laxman. From 100 off 203 Laxman went to 143 off 260, Dhoni went from 100 off 159 to 132 off 187, and the two recorded the third-highest seventh-wicket partnership in Test cricket before the declaration.

Thirteen minutes after India declared, light deteriorated suddenly, reducing the possibility of 11 overs to five actual deliveries, which the South African openers survived.

"India's Missile Technology Lagging Decade Behind China": Beijing Expert

14 hours ago

(RTTNews) - China has claimed to be a decade ahead of India in terms of missile technology despite the assertion of a top Indian military scientist about the greater accuracy of the latter's missiles, days after New Delhi test-fired its 3,500 km-range Agni-III.

The Beijing-based state-run international edition of "Global Times" quoted Rear-Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor at the prestigious Chinese National Defense University, saying India was still 10 to 15 years behind China in terms of missile technology.

Discounting concerns that newer versions of India's Agni missiles could strike northernmost tips of China, he said India might take five more years to achieve this capability, and asserted that Beijing did not view New Delhi as its "strategic rival."

The report also cited Chinese military strategists as dismissing media claims about India being far ahead of China in ballistic missile defense (BMD) system technology.

"India's technology for its measurement and control system, which is used to trace launched missiles, remains at a very low level, and they (the Indians) are unable to constitute a complete and reliable missile defense system," Zhang was quoted as saying.

The report noted that Beijing had test-fired its first missile interception system in January 2010, and successfully tested its anti-satellite system in 2007. It noted that the United States and Russia were so far the only two countries who actually deployed the missile-interceptor technology.

The Chinese report came after India's 3,500-km-range Agni-III nuclear-capable missile passed tests and was ready for induction, and as New Delhi readies to test within a year the 5,000-km range Agni-V nuclear-capable missile. Both the missiles will add muscle to India's "dissuasive deterrence" position on China.

India 342 for 5 (Sehwag 165, Tendulkar 106) lead South Africa 296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-90) by 46 runs

The Sehwag storm struck South Africa with full force and pretty much blew everything in its way to a 13th 150-plus score. Amid the mayhem, it was easy to forget the cool, pleasant breeze that was Sachin Tendulkar's 92nd international century - his fourth in four Tests. They added 249 runs for the third wicket and kept South Africa wicketless for 57.4 overs but, once the two quietened, South Africa struck back with three quick wickets to retrieve some of the momentum in the match.
Sehwag rattled them with a vicious assault on the new ball, put behind him the Gautam Gambhir run-out and, after a brief quiet, punished them some more. His 87-ball hundred would have been even faster but for a relative lull of 10 off 21 balls. Tendulkar enjoyed playing in the shadow of Sehwag's strike-rate, kept scoring at an even pace and, unlike Sehwag, didn't give South Africa a single chance.
Two critical moments in the first session determined the flow of the game. Sehwag - 43 off 21 then - had the fastest Test fifty and a few other records in sight when he ran Gambhir out, and he chastised himself by playing disciplined cricket for a while. Around the same time Morne Morkel indulged in some reverse-rattling, took out M Vijay, troubled Sehwag with accurate bouncers and induced an edge only to see JP Duminy - at first slip because of the finger injury to Graeme Smith - drop him on 47. Sehwag could have gone at an even more frenetic rate but for the run-out. South Africa could have been in control had Sehwag fallen then.
Sehwag's onslaught started when Dale Steyn failed to get any swing. Somehow the ball didn't come out right, the seam wobbled, and Nagpur was a distant memory. When there is no swing, Steyn's pace is his biggest enemy so today the faster they came the faster they went. Nor did he get the Morkel's bounce, which meant that when Steyn went for the ribs, Sehwag could easily flick it past midwicket.
The storm started with that gentle little flick and then came three boundaries in three balls in the third over: placed over point, whipped to square leg, and slashed past point. Morkel got the treatment in his third over too: three boundaries through the off side, one off a delivery that clocked 152.6kmph. Wayne Parnell replaced Morkel immediately, and immediately he was carved for a four and a six into the rubble of a stand under reconstruction.
The next ball Sehwag faced he hit an off-drive for four, and then came the run-out. It was time for drinks and Sehwag threw away his protective gear in disgust. That was when Morkel came back but his charged-up, accurate burst seemed to have ended with that dropped chance.
When Sehwag came back from lunch, the cautious approach had been thrown out and he was blazing away again. For company he had Tendulkar. If you were a bowler, there was nowhere to hide.
Sehwag showed that to Steyn early in his second spell. Punch, whip, steer, 10 runs off three deliveries. Steyn to Sehwag then: 11 balls, 25 runs, five boundaries. Tendulkar joined the fun, defending everything full but steering Steyn for two boundaries. Paul Harris, meanwhile, didn't have the luxury of a big score, bowled round the stumps, and was slog-swept and hit inside out by Sehwag for a six and a four.
Back came Morkel, the best bowler on the day, to be given the worst sort of treatment a best bowler can be given. This time Tendulkar took the lead. Two fullish deliveries, two clips to the on side, one to the left of square leg, one to the right. In his next over, he gave Sehwag width with three deep fielders on the off side. One to the left of deep point, and one to the right. Sehwag 89 off 72, Tendulkar 38 off 61. India were 165 for 2 in 30.2 overs, with the bonus of South Africa's two best bowlers negated.
In between the hard-hitting there was some toying, with paddles from outside off, reverse-sweeps, clips past midwicket as Sehwag reached his hundred and Tendulkar his fifty without further incident. Harris eventually started bowling over the wicket, and was called wide 12 times because, unlike in Nagpur, he was not looking to get wickets here.
The runs slowed down post tea. When Sehwag was 128, AB de Villiers, the replacement keeper, missed an easy stumping. By the time Duminy made good his mistake, getting Sehwag in his first over, it might just have been too late. Not quite. Harris went round the wicket in the next over - inexplicably it took him until the Sehwag dismissal to do so - and got a false shot out of Tendulkar.
Steyn came back right away, got his swing back, and beat S Badrinath in the man-versus-boy contest. VVS Laxman struggled to fight the momentum and edged Harris in the next over. It flew wide of slip, the light deteriorated and India ended the day retaining the upper hand despite that late South African surge.