M S Dhoni's cheque for Rs 645 bounced

Ranchi, Jun 25: It seems like the captain of the Indian cricket team, which is controlled by world's wealthiest cricket association BCCI, is running out of money! Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who guided India to 2011 Cricket World Cup victory, does not even have Rs 645 in his bank account!

According to media reports, a cheque for Rs 645 issued by MS Dhoni in favour of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has bounced. The bank authorities returned the checque due to "insufficient fund" in the account.

MS Dhoni, one of the biggest tax-payer in the state of Jharkhand, issued the cheque towards the annual holding tax for his house at Kunwar Singh Colony. But unfortunately, the cheque was returned by the SBI, Doranda branch.

The Times of India quoted the tax collector of ward 52, RN Jha as saying, "Dhoni had issued a cheque (number 550703) of the State Bank of India, Doranda branch, from his savings account 01190108959 amounting to Rs 645 on March 15."

However, officials said that Dhoni has been paying the holding tax "regularly" and it would be a case of human error and oversight.

Match-fixing - Tillakaratne denies naming former cricketers

Colombo: Former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne has denied reports that he had named his former teammates Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya as the players who were involved in match-fixing.

In a statement, Tillakaratne said that he hasn't named any cricketer during a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

'While my wife Apsari Tillakaratne and Rev. Uduwe Dhammaloka also took part with me in a meeting which had been summoned by His Excellency the President to find out about the earlier statement I had made to this assembly, I would like to insist to this august assembly that there was no mention of any player or person at that meeting' Tillakaratne, who is now an opposition UNP member in the Western Provincial Council, stated at a Council meeting Tuesday.

The Daily Mirror reported that Tillakaratne is co-operating with the Sri Lanka Police and International Cricket Council (ICC), who are investigating the allegations made by him.

'The Criminal Investigation Department summoned me twice and I fully co-operated on both occasions. I would like to insist that I am the plaintiff and not the accused in this case. My telephone numbers have been provided to the ICC to let them contact me at any time they want. Sri Lanka Cricket has also provided me with the telephone numbers of the relevant authorities for me to contact them,' Tillakaratne said.

Not satisfied yet with my career, says Sachin Tendulkar

India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is not satisfied with his career, and said that he is still learning about his passion, cricket.

In the latest issue of Sky Sports magazine, Tendulkar said: “When you win something or score a century you say you are happy, but not satisfied. Satisfaction is like engaging the handbrake and hoping a car moves forward.”

“I am not satisfied yet with my career and what I have done, not at all. I feel the moment you start to feel satisfied, then it is only natural that you begin to cool down and lose it,” he said.

The 38-year-old Tendulkar feels he still has a lot of cricket left in him and doesn’t want to think about retirement any soon.

“I still love cricket as much as ever. It is my job, but it is also my passion. Cricket remains in my heart, I don’t need anything else to motivate me. I dreamed of playing for my country when I was young and it is still my dream, it is still fun for me,” he said.

For Tendulkar, “life without cricket is unthinkable.”

“I am still learning about the game. I figure something out about my batting all the time, you have to keep your mind open. I learn all the time, those small adjustments, with your footwork or bat swing can improve your game, I love doing that. You never know everything. Mentally that makes you feel so good. That is the best form of preparation,” Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said India’s World Cup win after a gap of 28 years in his home ground of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was the most defining moment of his career. He was sitting in the dressing room, praying to god during the second innings, he said.

“It was a different kind of feeling, a high, like living on a different planet, it felt as though I was flying,” he said.

Sania first Indian to reach women’s doubles Grand Slam final

PARIS — Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first Indian woman to enter a Grand Slam doubles final.
Sania, who lifted a Grand Slam title when she won the mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi at the Australian Open in 2009 after losing the final the previous year, is in the midst of her best year on the Tour.
From a career-best ranking of 27 in 2007, Sania went hurtling down to 141 at the start of the year after a series of injuries in the last two years.
It was a hard grind for Sania who had to qualify for even second-tier Tour events. She received a wild-card at both the Dubai and Qatar Open and the turnaround came when she won three matches to qualify for the main draw at the season's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.
Sania not only improved her singles ranking steadily to 72 before she came to Paris but she also made rapid progress in the doubles with Russian Elena Vesnina. The two women came together at the Qatar Open and quickly established themselves as a potent doubles combination.
Sania and Vesnina were seeded seventh here. Their 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, upset win over fourth seeds American Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond was preceded by their stunner against top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pannetta at Stade Roland Garros.
The 37-year-old Raymond is a former French Open doubles champion and her partner Huber has won four Grand Slam doubles titles with Zimbabwean Cara Black, but she doesn't have French Open title to her credit yet.
Sania and Vesnina played some brilliant tennis to 4-1 up in the first set and in 30 minutes they were a set up. However, a stream of errors saw them lose the second set. Both the players came back strongly in the decider and Elena served out the set and the match.
The Indo-Russian pair play Czechs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in today's final, with the winning team splitting $475,000 prize money.
The unseeded Czech pair shocked third-seeded Vania King of the US and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3. King, a former partner of Sania, and Shvedova are the reigning US Open and Wimbledon champions.

Sania and Elena, who won titles at Indian Wells and Charleston, hold a 20-4 record. Until Wednesday, they had not dropped a set in the tournament.
The two finalists have met once before, with Sania and Elena winning in straight sets in the first round at Indian Wells. Vesnina is the only one of the four finalists to play in a Grand Slam women's doubles final, having been runner-up at the 2009 French Open alongside Victoria Azarenka and in 2010 Wimbledon alongside Vera Zvonareva.
Hlavackova and Hradecka are the second unseeded French Open finalists in 30 years, the others being the 2008 runners-up Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone. If they win today, they would be the sixth unseeded team to capture a major in three decades. — IANS

Sania-Vesnina finish runners up at French Open

Imogen Thomas says I thought Ryan Giggs wanted marry me

Reality TV star Imogen Thomas claims she tried to break up with Ryan Giggs several times throughout their six-month affair.

She even thought the footballer would leave his wife Stacey and actually wanted to marry her because he refused to let the affair end and kept coming back.

Miss Thomas, 28, met Giggs - who is now being named thanks to Lib Dem MP John Hemming using parliamentary privilege to identify him on Monday - in hotels throughout their relationship.

They even met up in hotels on nights before two crucial matches.

Miss Thomas spoke recently about the pressure she is being put under, saying she has turned to 'three big glasses of wine a night' to cope with it all.

She said that she has not been sleeping well because of an injunction taken out against her and has lost a lot of weight.

Talking about her affair with 37-year-old Giggs she said: 'I called it off a million times but he kept coming back. He knew it was wrong as well, he said as much, but he was pursuing me.'
Stacey Giggs was at Old Trafford for family day celebrations but was seen yesterday without her wedding ring

Stacey Giggs was at Old Trafford for family day celebrations but was seen yesterday without her wedding ring

Her family has echoed warnings over her state of mind made by publicist Max Clifford. Her sister Alana went as far as saying that she was frightened her sister might commit suicide.

Miss Thomas, a former Big Brother star, claimed she never intended to sell her story and denies allegations that she was trying to sue Giggs for £100,000.

A friend said: 'Imogen was 100 per cent certain he would leave Stacey and the kids and move in with her. It wasn't a relationship built totally on sex. She thought it went much deeper. She was in love but now she has been left high and dry.'

Their affair began, perhaps inevitably, at a London club one night last September. According to Miss Thomas, Giggs did not initially know who she was.

'We hit it off straight away because we had so much in common,’ she told a Sunday tabloid a little over a month ago.

Miss Thomas's recollection suggests that the Manchester United footballer knew what he was doing and had a clear mind.

'He was quiet and seemed quite sober,' she said. 'Back at the hotel bar we were just chatting about life but I could tell he was interested in me.

'We kissed and I ended up staying the night with him. I knew he was married but I was caught up in the moment and I never thought it was going to go anywhere.'

She claims she tried to end the affair there and then, but he insisted that she give him her number and the following day he called to check she had arrived home safely and subsequently pursued her with a stream of flirty texts.

What followed has filled column inches and called into question the UK's privacy laws which, in the days of Facebook and Twitter, appear outdated.

Last night Giggs made his first public appearance following the revelations about his private life, playing the opening 30 minutes of a testimonial match for Gary Neville.

His wife - who 24 hours earlier was pitch-side cheering him on during family celebrations at Old Trafford - was photographed leaving the couple's £6m home near Manchester without her wedding ring.
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