Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

2010-03-30 16:40:05

Just months after her engagement to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza was called off, tennis star Sania Mirza is set to marry former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik.

While Pakistan’s Geo Television broke the news on Monday, Sania’s father, Imran Mirza, told Indian media the wedding will take place within a month.

“The news of me marrying Sania is true. Inshallah, we’ll get married in April,” Malik tweeted.

TV channels said the two had been seeing each other for six months and the alliance was formalised when Malik’s mother met Sania’s parents in India. The wedding is to take place in India and the reception in Lahore. The couple will reside in Dubai.

“My wedding is Inshallah going to be the biggest day of my life. I have been in the glare for too long and would appreciate privacy at this very personal moment in my life,” CNN-IBN quoted Sania as saying. “I hope to be fully fit to represent India in the Commonwealth and Asian Games this year.”

This isn’t the first time Malik has been linked with an Indian woman. He was accused of marrying and abandoning Hyderabad girl Ayesha Siddiqui and dated ex-Miss India Sayali Bhagat.

hindustantimes.com

2010-03-30 14:36:23

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has announced his retirement from international cricket in protest against an indefinite suspension. br>
The 35-year-old was banned following an inquiry into the tour of Australia earlier this year when the team lost all nine matches under his leadership. br>
Pakistan officials said Yousuf’s presence was harmful to the team. br>
“I always played for my country and if my playing is harmful for the team then I don’t want to play,” said Yousuf. br>
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ordered the inquiry after the team lost all three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 match in Australia. br>
As a result Yousuf and former captain Younus Khan were both handed indefinite bans, while another ex-skipper, Shoaib Malik, and pace bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were banned for a year. br>
BBC.com

2010-03-31 16:59:07

Selectors have placed their faith in masterblaster-turned-politician Sanath Jayasuriya when they named the final squad for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Also included in the squad is uncapped wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal, last year’s Sunday-Times-Bata Schoolboy cricketer.

Forty-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya‘s inclusion comes despite a lean patch he is currently undergoing at the ongoing Indian Premier League tournament.

Young Chandimal has scored 320 runs at an average of 53.33 at the recent domestic T-20 tournament.

The Sri Lanka team also includes three specialist spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Suraj Randiv.

The tournament will be held in the West Indies from April 30 to May 16.

Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Thissera Perera, Suraj Randiv, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedera.

Plans to allow star-cricketer-turned-UPFA-Matara-district candidate Sanath Jayasuriya to vote ahead of the April 8 general elections were hastily put on hold for unexplained reasons, the Sunday Times learns.
Arrangements had been made earlier for him to vote this morning at the Matara District Secretary’s office.

The Sunday Times learns that he had been given special permission to cast a postal vote on the grounds that he has to go back to India to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. Continue Reading

I have never been in a Rolls Royce just to feel its comfort and ambiance. Yet, I feel that my eyes have been blessed enough to see the Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar scalpelling opposing bowlers with such elegance that you can never complain after he had hammered a 48 ball 71 not out, leading the Mumbai Indians to a seven wicket win over the Kolkata Riders in their IPL tie. It had all the indications that the millions of cricket fans who watched that innings by the mighty atom were being taken for a drive in a Rolls Royce through the streets of Mumbai with all the modern comforts it has to offer.

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Twenty-year-old NCC and Ruhuna batsman Dinesh Chandimal looks a certainty of making it into the final squad of the World Cup T-20 tournament which is scheduled to take place in the West Indies from, 30 April to May 16.

A Question mark hangs over Jayasuriya making it into the final squad

Chandimal who was also selected as the Bata-Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the year 2009 from Ananda College, Colombo was a prolific scorer in the ensuing Club season and the Provincial Cricket Tournaments.

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