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Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya Wednesday said he stood vindicated as truth had prevailed with the Calcutta High Court order on filing criminal cases against six of his detractors in the board.

“I am happy… my stand is vindicated. Truth always prevails,” Dalmiya said while reacting to the court’s order.

The six current and former officials of the board against whom the court has ordered perjury cases to be filed are Agriculture Minister and former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar, present board chief Shashank Manohar, chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty, secretary N. Srinivasan, his immediate predecessor Niranjan Shah and Chirayu Amin.

The Pawar-led BCCI regime had expelled Dalmiya Dec 17, 2006 alleging financial irregularities with regard to the 1996 World Cup accounts.

Dalmiya had then moved the court pleading for revocation of the expulsion order, claiming that the rules under which he was expelled were not valid.

Terming the BCCI’s decision to expel him as “uncalled for”, Dalmiya said when he went to the court, his lawyers said that the documents furnished by the board was questionable.

“So after the court issued an injuction against my expulsion, I filed a case for criminal prosecution of six BCCI officials, as they were either office bearers or holding a post in a committee,” Dalmiya told reporters.

Recalling the humiliation he faced, Dalmiya said he had occupied top positions as a cricket administrator.

“Starting from being treasurer of this body (Cricket Association of Bengal) in 1978-79, I became International Cricket Council (ICC) president. I never thought this (humiliation) could happen to me.

“But I have always believed that truth and honesty would prevail, and if I am correct people will realise it,” he said.

The six board officials signed an affidavit before the Calcutta High Court April 2, 2007, claiming Dalmiya was expelled under the new rules framed by the body and registered with the Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies.

Dalmiya filed the perjury case July 20, 2007, the day when the Calcutta High Court declared the expulsion illegal.

Justice Nadir Patheriya Wednesday said the board mandarins had lied to court, committed perjury and submitted a false affidavit, and directed the Registrar of the Calcutta High Court to initiate criminal proceedings.

Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will miss the rest of this season after having surgery on his right knee, the club said on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Dutchman went to the United States this week to consult surgeon Richard Steadman, who operated on the same knee in 2000 while the player was at PSV Eindhoven.

After tests and arthroscopic surgery, it was decided to operate again to try to repair damage to the external meniscus, the club said on its website (www.realmadrid.com).

“Taking all this into account, the estimated length of absence will be between six and nine months, depending on the clinical development,” it added.

Van Nistelrooy damaged the knee during Real’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Juventus last month and missed the Primera Liga matches against Almeria and Athletic Bilbao.

He returned for the 2-0 home defeat by the Italians, but a scan appeared to show an aggravation of the injury that threatened to end his career eight years ago.

The length of his absence is a fresh blow to Real, who are struggling through a poor spell of form and are already missing key players including Dutch winger Arjen Robben, central defender Pepe and midfielder Ruben de la Red.

Van Nistelrooy signed with Real at the end of the 2005-06 season from Manchester United for a fee reported by Spanish media to be 15 million euros ($18.7 million), helping the club to consecutive league titles in 2007 and 2008.

He was Real’s top scorer in his first season with 25 league goals and equalled a club record of scoring in seven matches in succession. He netted 16 league goals last season and extended his contract to keep him in Madrid until 2010.

Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme has been left out of the squad for next week’s friendly in Scotland, their first game under new coach Diego Maradona.

Riquelme was not among the three home-based players named on Tuesday for the match in Glasgow on November 19.

The Argentina Football Association (AFA) said on its website that Daniel Montenegro (Independiente), Emiliano Papa (Velez Sarsfield) and Cristian Villagra (River Plate) had been added to the foreign-based players named last week.

Riquelme’s absence followed an appeal to the AFA from his club Boca Juniors, who are level on points with Argentine championship leaders San Lorenzo with five games each to play.

Maradona also declined to call up any players from San Lorenzo or Argentinos Juniors and Estudiantes, who have reached the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals.

JUST WHO is Yousuf Abdullah, and who was that Amla who walked in with him? What is Graham Napier’s claim to fame? And what is Charl Langeveldt doing in Delhi? If the world is shrinking into a global village then cricket is reflecting that. A group of cricketers who normally ply their trade in domestic cricket in different countries, came together in Delhi for the draw of the Champions League T20 tournament that will begin in India on December 3.

Along with the draw was the inaugural T20 awards, but as you would expect during a fiercely contested Test series between India and Australia, it wasn’t always T20 that held the attention. Matthew Hayden, who presented an award, was buttonholed on the tensions that have underscored the recent India-Australia clashes.

“It’s like two hungry dogs circling each other in a ring, if I may use the metaphor. There is bound to be some tension, and this is what the spectators like to watch and what we as players expect,” said Hayden.

” It’s only likely that every now and then there is going to be some gnashing of teeth.” Dual loyalty Mike Hussey, who has played all his cricket for Western Australia, finds himself in a bit of a spot.

Western Australia have qualified for the CLT20 by being runners-up in their domestic T20 competition and his other team - the Chennai IPL team - has also made the cut. The CLT20 governing council has decided to leave the final decision of who a player will represent in the tournament to the player himself.

However, they have offered non-IPL clubs a fee of $ 200,000 if they release players to play for IPL teams. Further expansion Lalit Modi is a big fan of expansion and it came as no surprise that one of the first things he announced was that the CLT20, currently played by eight teams from five countries over 15 matches will get bigger next season with 12 teams slugging it out over 23 games.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt described national team coach Geoff Lawson as “useless” on Monday but said the Australian would see out his two-year contract.

“Lawson is a useless man. But there is no use removing him now and we will allow him to complete his contract which will not be renewed,” Butt told his first news conference in Lahore.

Lawson’s future with the Pakistan team had been subject of much speculation since Butt took charge earlier this month and expressed his dissatisfaction with the former Australian test paceman’s performance.

“Although we don’t think he has delivered as we expected but he will complete his contract,” Butt said.

Lawson, who joined the Pakistan team in July 2007 after the untimely death of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup in Jamaica, has had a troubled relationship with the Pakistani media and some board officials.

Butt said last week that he favoured having a home-grown player in charge.

There is something about conventional leg-spinners. While a leggie might not exactly float like a butterfly, he can sting like a bee.

Australia experienced this on the third day of the second Test when Amit Mishra’s five-wicket haul capped an incisive bowling effort by India and put them in a position from where they can go for the kill in the last act. This match is following a pattern similar to the one seen in the first Test - the team batting first scoring in excess of 400 and putting the opposition under pressure.

Like India in Bangalore, Australia were feeling the heat after losing their main batsmen without much before an eighth-wicket partnership defied the odds for a while. Unlike Bangalore where India’s late resistance had reduced the difference between the teams to 70 runs, Australia’s effort couldn’t make it any less than 201.

The onus is on the hosts now to convert this difference into a significant one. Their quest for victory started on a perfect note with the openers scoring at a rate that was disconcerting for Australia.

It took India seven overs in the morning to add the big wicket of Michael Hussey to the good work they had done in the previous evening. Australia’s chances of making a match of this depended heavily on him but the left-hander got a perfect away-going delivery from Ishant Sharma that he had to play at and he only managed an edge.

It was the only reward of the day for Ishant who bowled a fiery first spell, the incoming deliveries troubling right-handers every now and then. But there was no return for India’s best bowler of the day.

On a wicket that offered nothing to the quick bowlers, Zaheer Khan kept the batsmen on their toes maintaining a tight line and length. There were no loose balls, no let up in intensity and no luck.

The spinners came into play after the first hour and it was always going to be a stern test for Australia’s lower middle-order. Both Mishra and Harbhajan invited batsmen to lunge forward or use their feet.

While Shane Watson used his height to counter this, Brad Haddin and Cameron White were found wanting on the footwork front. The former heard the timber rattle while trying to drive the off-spinner and White perished in the same manner, foxed by Mishra’s googly.

Mishra was a welcome sight. For long, India have had a leg-spinner who works on the same principles but operates in a different manner.

Anil Kumble runs in vigorously, bowls with a high-arm action and relies more on top-spinners and wrong ones than the big leg-break. Mishra eases in and gives the ball air.

He extracts greater turn and uses his secret weapon more sparingly. A five-wicket haul on debut was reward for his perseverance and of his ploy of bringing batsmen forward.

Australia lost three wickets in the first session and battled hard to stay in the match in the second, when Watson and Brett Lee put up a grim fight. The replacement for Andrew Symonds wasn’t fully convincing against the spinners, playing them awkwardly from the crease, but showed good survival strengths and a will to graft.

Blocking with bat and pad close together and trying to get behind the line of the ball, Watson was quick to pounce on the loose ones and struck them powerfully. The 77-run stand between Watson and Lee was the only one worth more than 50 in the innings and this could have a significant impact on the outcome of the match.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni deciding against imposing the follow-on, most probably to let his bowlers loose when they are fresh again, India still had some work to do and that was to score as quickly as possible before declaring the innings closed. Hundred for no loss in 23 overs surpassed expectations and set them up nicely for the demolition mission.

With a voracious appetite for individual records, Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the greatest milestone-man in the history of cricket.The 35-year-old eclipsed West Indian legend Brain Lara to become the highest accumulator of runs in Test Cricket with a tally of 11,939 when he played an 88-run knock against Australia in the ongoing second Test at Mohali.

Tendulkar was only 15 when he reached his first personal landmark. The right-hander scored an unbeaten 100 for Bombay against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, becoming the youngest cricketer to score a century on first-class debut.

Besides, Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in his Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.

UEFA president Michel Platini was impressed with the first official trials deploying additional linesmen, his special adviser William Gaillard told Reuters on Monday.

Platini attended a European under-19 championship qualifying tournament in Slovenia at the weekend to see the first competitive test involving two extra linesmen monitoring the penalty areas at each end of the pitch.

The head of European soccer’s governing body believes the two additional officials can help alert referees to fouls in the area or diving incidents while avoiding the need to introduce potentially disruptive video replays.

“He saw it all in action over the weekend and after talking to the referees, players and coaches he really feels it is a good way to solve the problems that everybody is talking about,” Gaillard said.

SUPREME COMMANDER

“It is a system that respects the history and tradition of the game because the referee remains the supreme commander on the pitch.

“The assistants in the penalty area only communicate with him via their headsets. So if the referee wants to not take into account what they say he can ignore it and nobody sees what is going on.”

Gaillard said UEFA would carry out two further trials at under-19 level, in Hungary later this month and in Cyprus at the end of November.

The idea cannot be implemented on a wider scale without the approval of world soccer’s governing body FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which rules on any proposed changes to the laws of the game.

“The first experiments have been good but we will write up an extensive report after the end of the three tournaments,” Gaillard said. “Then it will be up to FIFA and the IFAB to decide if they like it or not.”

Inspiration seldom translates into prompt emulation. But Aditi Mutatkar is making sure she goes beyond celebrating compatriot Saina Nehwal’s feats by becoming an able No. 2 in India. At the Bitburger Open on Sunday, Mutatkar went down 22-24, 21-8, 23-21 in a heart-breaking loss to Indonesian Maria Febe Kusumastuti, her couple of frittered match points depriving her of what would have been a maiden four-star title for the 20-year-old youngster.

But the Pune girl is determined to put this loss behind and carry the momentum into the remainder of her tournaments in Europe. A six-week stint arranged by coach Prakash Padukone to spar alongside the French national team in Paris came good, as she could train under their coach and former world No. 5 England’s Julia Mann before making her first GP final here.

“It was a little devastating,” she probably understated of her loss on Sunday, where she got over-cautious holding on to her 20-17 lead in the third game, restricting the strokes which could’ve gotten her the victory over the an opponent she has beaten earlier.

“I’ve lost a few close games before because of hurrying my shots, and recalling those, I over-did the patience thing,” she told The Indian Express. “I need to find the right mix, but there’s no time to sulk, since I play the Bulgarian Open next,” says the Padukone Academy ward, who was travelling without a coach for the first time. “It’s happened to her in the past, she’s lost close games, even in the ABC, after having led. We need to work on the mental strength so she doesn’t repeat mistakes,” said Padukone from Bangalore.