Gavaskar quits ICC position

Sunil Gavaskar ended his eight-year stint as chairman of the ICC cricket committee on Thursday, weeks after he was asked to choose between his media commitments and his role with the game’s world governing body.

The former India captain had come under fire for criticising the ICC as a commentator and columnist.

His tenure in the committee was marked by a number of innovative decisions, including the referral system in Tests, introduction of the hawk-eye technology for deciding LBWs, “free hits” and the “power play” rule.

“Gavaskar conveyed his decision to the ICC on Wednesday after chairing the meeting of the cricket committee, which concluded in Dubai on Tuesday,” ICC’s acting CEO David Richardson said in a statement on Thursday. The ICC had in March put Gavaskar on notice after his comments did not go down well with the body’s top brass, asking him to choose between his job as a commentator and columnist and that of chairman of the cricket committee. Gavaskar took over as chairman of the ICC cricket committee from West Indian Clyde Walcott in June 2000. He was given a one-year extension in 2006 and was re-elected to the post in 2007. His term was due to end next year.

There’s still confusion over who will succeed Gavaskar as head of the committee.

Gavaskar said that with more and more cricket being played, it was not possible for him to do justice to both jobs.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES - Army may play civilian role

The armed forces may have a new civilian role to play to make the Commonwealth Games in 2010 a success. One section of the government believes that, given the tardy pace of creation of infrastructure for the Games, it is best to hand over projects in the National Ca pital Region to the defence.

This will be over and above their task of providing an airland-water security blanket for the Games. The home minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, has proposed that the construction of major infrastructure projects, which have already suffered huge cost and time overruns, be handed over to the defence establishment. A ministerial group on the Games, headed by the human resources minister, Mr Arjun Singh, will take a view on the proposal at its next meeting in a fortnight. It is likely that the proposal will have the blessings of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The justification is that the defence services have the technical capability, experience and resources to get the nation’s capital ready in time for hosting over 10,000 sportspersons who will converge in New Delhi for the Games.

“Unless the armed forces are given active and full charge of readying sports infrastructure, stadiums, training venues and allied projects, we may become a laughing stock, given the current pace of work on these projects,” said an official who did not want to be named. As a first step, the project for an elevated corridor over Barapula Nallah to connect the main village complex in east Delhi to the Jawharlal Nehru Stadium, with interlinks to various other stadiums and venues, may be handed over to defence personnel. The Cabinet secretary, Mr K.M.

Chandrasekhar, will take the consent of the Prime Minister and the defence minister before involving the armed forces.

He has requested the Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi chief ministers to take a more active role in readying the NCR for the Games. Besides the elevated corridor, the defence services may also be tasked with readying the venues for cycling, marathon and other events across the national capital region.

We will fight till the end, says Tanvir FOCUS

Pakistan speedster Sohail Tanvir, who failed to fire on the fourth day of the Kotla Test, said that fall of Misbah's wicket turned the tables for his team.

"Misbah's wicket and then the wicket of Kamran Akmal were the turning points of the match. If Misbah had remained on the pitch for another hour, the scenario could have been different," Tanvir said.

But he appreciated Misbah's game. "He has played well in both the innings and his wicket was lost pretty late in the innings, so it was fine," he said.

However, Tanvir refused to accept defeat in the match.

"We will fight till the end. One cannot be sure of a win until the last run is scored," he said. Tanvir's statement comes at juncture when India just requires another 32 runs to win the Kotla Test against Pakistan with seven wickets and a full day in hand.

He held his teammates guilty for this situation.

"They played some wrong shots, otherwise there was not much in the pitch," he said.

The pacer from Rawalpindi said the pitch had not assisted him much. "There was not much help from the pitch for seamers," he said.

Asked if he was satisfied with his performance in his debut Test, Tanvir said, "if you're satisfied, your improvement stops."

On the pressure he faced while bowling Tanvir said, "I am never under pressure when on the field, as I know that one cannot give his best, when under pressure."