Saeed Ajmal-Less Pakistan Seek to End 20-Year Australia Drought

Saeed Ajmal, who has been suspended due to an illegal bowling action, has single-handedly ruled the dry and slow tracks of Pakistan's neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates, especially at Dubai where he has 37 wickets in six Tests, three of which Pakistan won.

Pakistan hope to end a 20-year drought against Australia when they meet in the first of two Tests in Dubai from Wednesday but they are hobbled by the absence of spin king Saeed Ajmal.

Ajmal, who has been suspended due to an illegal bowling action, has single-handedly ruled the dry and slow tracks of Pakistan's neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates, especially at Dubai where he has 37 wickets in six Tests, three of which Pakistan won. 

That includes 24 wickets in a 3-0 rout of England in 2012.

Pakistan have also lost frontline seamers Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz -- both through knee injuries -- and have to rely on uncapped leg-spinner Yasir Shah and two-Test left-armer Zulfiqar Babar, both of whom are likely to play.

Captain Misbah-ul Haq, under pressure to score runs after managing nought and 15 in the preceding 3-0 one-day series defeat, admitted Ajmal's absence is significant.

"Ajmal has left a big hole," said Misbah, who skippers a team whose last Test series win over Australia was back in 1994.

"But we have youngsters who should grab the chance and I am confident they can."

The return of veteran batsman Younis Khan and Azhar Ali will boost Pakistan's fragile batting as they seek to remain unbeaten in a Test series in the UAE since they were forced to decamp in 2009 due to security fears in their country.

Australia will also look to include both spinners in Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe despite their unimpressive record of losing five of the last six Tests (one draw) in which they played with two spinners.

But they have dominated Pakistan, winning 13 out of the last 14 Tests against them.

Australia will hope skipper Michael Clarke, top Test run getter in 2013 with 1,093, anchors the batting after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained two months ago.

Clarke failed to get much-needed practice in the 153-run defeat in the four-day tour game against Pakistan 'A' on Sunday, managing just ten and five.

Clarke admitted Ajmal will be missed by Pakistan.

"I think there is no doubt that Ajmal is an amazing bowler. I think obviously Pakistan wish they had him available for selection," said Clarke.

"I have always said that Pakistan have always had a lot of talent in any form of the game and I am sure the Test eleven that they put on the field is very talented and know these conditions."

Australia will hope all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, will be able to fill in for the more experienced Shane Watson who is out of the tour due to a calf injury.

Australia's pace attack will be led by Mitchell Johnson who bowled with venom in the two one-dayers he played -- taking six wickets -- and supported by the hard-working Peter Siddle.

A 2-0 cleansweep would return Australia to the top of the Test rankings.

The second Test will be played in Abu Dhabi from October 30.

Teams (from):

Pakistan: Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Shan Masood, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Talha, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Ehsan Adil, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah.

Australia: Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Alex Doolan, Steven Smith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Brad Haddin, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson, Steve O'Keefe, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner, Nathan Lyon.

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Marais Erasmus (RSA)

TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)             

La Liga: Atletico Madrid Beat Espanyol 2-0, Move Within Five Points of Barcelona

Atletico Madrid had been beaten by an early three-goal blitz at Valencia last time out and they set out to make amends early on against Espanyol on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Tiago (R) celebrates with Atletico Madrid's Turkish midfielder Arda Turan (C) after scoring during the Spanish league football match Club Atletico de Madrid vs RCD Espanyol at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on October 19, 2014.

© AFP

Madrid: Atletico Madrid moved back to within five points of La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday thanks to goals from Tiago and Mario Suarez.

Tiago opened the scoring with a wonderful looping header into the far corner from Gabi's cross two minutes before half-time to settle the hosts' nerves.

The Portuguese midfielder then limped off early in the second half, making him a doubt for Atletico's Champions League game against Malmo in midweek.

However, his replacement Suarez had the easy task of tapping home the second from Jose Gimenez's header 20 minutes from time.

"The team played the way they had to," said Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

"We played with a good tempo and with patience until the first goal arrived. Then, in the second half, we controlled the game."

Simeone's men had been beaten by an early three-goal blitz at Valencia last time out and they set out to make amends early on as Kiko Casilla denied Arda Turan from point-blank range before the Turkish midfielder had a goal ruled out for offside.

Casilla also turned behind a fierce drive from Koke, but Atletico were thankful to their own 'keeper Miguel Angel Moya moments later as he smothered Lucas Vazquez's effort at the back post.

The home side continued to enjoy the majority of the play, though, and made the breakthrough just before half-time when Gabi's cross to the far post was looped back across goal and over the helpless Casilla from Tiago.

Sergio Garcia could have punished some slack defending by Atletico with the last kick of the half as he blasted over from a narrow angle.

And the champions were dealt a blow at the start of the second period as Tiago hobbled off to be replaced by Suarez.

Espanyol had claims for a penalty waved away 25 minutes from time when Christian Stuani tumbled under pressure from Gimenez in the box, but within 60 seconds it was Casilla who was forced into action once more as he repelled Mario Mandzukic's low drive.

Atletico made the game safe on 70 minutes as Espanyol struggled to defend a corner and Gimenez's header across goal was tapped home by Suarez for his first goal in two years.

22 Injured as Flight From Singapore to Mumbai Hit Turbulence

Singapore:  Twenty-two passengers and crew were injured when an Airbus A380 plane operated by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and travelling from the city-state to Mumbai hit sudden turbulence during descent, the carrier said Sunday.

There were 408 passengers and 25 crew on board.

The extent of the injuries during the turbulence aboard Flight SQ 424 on Saturday evening were not given, but SIA said all the injured were attended to by medical personnel on arrival at the Mumbai airport.

Eight passengers and 14 crew were hurt, the airline said in a statement.

All eight passengers were also taken to hospital and six have been discharged, the airline added.

SIA said the plane "experienced sudden turbulence during descent".

Ten of the injured crew members required hospitalisation but all have been discharged, SIA said.

Japan Industry Minister Resigns over Make-Up Scandal: Reports

Tokyo:  Japan's industry minister resigned on Monday over claims she spent political donations on make-up and other items unconnected to politics, reports said, in a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Yuko Obuchi, who had been tipped to potentially become the country's first female prime minister, handed Abe her letter of resignation during a 30-minute meeting with the premier, public broadcaster NHK and Jiji Press news agency said.

Abe accepted her resignation, according Jiji.

Obuchi said she would hold a news conference soon. She would be the first minister to resign since Abe took power in December 2012.

Obuchi was a star minister when Abe reshuffled his cabinet in September, becoming the country's first woman in charge of economy, trade and industry -- a powerful portfolio that includes oversight of the energy sector.

The clean-cut 40-year-old was the most prominent of a new wave of women promoted to leading Cabinet positions.

But she is now facing claims that, over the five years to 2012, her political funding body spent more than 10 million yen ($95,000) on things unconnected to politics, including cosmetics and accessories at a department store.

Her political group has also invited residents in her electoral district in central Japan on bus tours to see theatre performances in Tokyo at fees below actual costs -- a move opposition lawmakers have called "vote-buying".

Story First Published: October 20, 2014 07:13 IST    

Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali Critically Ill

Rumours about legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's poor health started circulating when he did not attend a Hollywood premiere of a new movie about his life, 'I am Ali', last week.

Reported by: NDTVSports

Muhammad Ali, who has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for almost 30 years now, maybe counting his last days if sources in the boxing legend's family are to be believed. The 72-year-old American is critically ill.

Rumours about Ali's poor health started circulating when he did not attend a Hollywood premiere of a new movie about his life, 'I am Ali', last week.

Interestingly, news of Ali struggling for life comes at the same time when two of his strongest rivals, Britain's Joe Bugner, 64 and Leon Spinks, 61, struggle with serious heart and stomach ailments. Spinks has undergone multiple surgeries recently.

Joe Frazier, one of Ali's rivals during his boxing days, had once said, "The trouble with him is that he doesn't know how to die," at the time Ali refused to retire.

The good part about Ali's story, however, is that he has managed to outlive most of the 53 opponents he has faced during his career. In fact, many of Ali's opponents died a brutal death. While Sonny Liston died from a drugs overdose, Argentinian Oscar Bonavena was shot dead outside a brothel in the US state of Nevada.

Ali's daughter Hana is optimistic that the legendary boxer is going to live.

"I call him in the mornings, every morning, he speaks the best in the mornings. You could actually hear his soft sweet voice," Hana had recently told the Telegraph.

"He jokes, he kids around about making a comeback even now today. So he would want the world to know that he enjoys being Muhammad Ali."

Pakistan Women's Cricket Captain Leads Team to New Highs

Bolstered after winning the Asian Games gold medal for the second consecutive time, captain Sana Mir says her side has gone from strength to strength.

Pakistan recently suffered a humiliating ODI whitewash against Australia. That was the men's team. The women's team though is on a completely different level with success bolstering confidence in the camp.

Fresh from successfully defending their gold medal at Asian Games in Incheon, the women's team is on a high. Captain Sana Mir is especially pleased with how the team performed and predicted that the side can be more consistent if facilities are further improved in the country. "It really has been a wonderful experience because winning the gold medal was really important to us," she was quoted as saying by a Pakistan-based cricket website - Pakpassion.net. "However, let us also not forget that teams like Australia, England, New Zealand and India are well established teams with good infrastructure to back them up. We started quite late in our development of women's cricket. Although, we've been able to lessen the gap between the top teams and us, but the pressure has definitely been on us."

Appointed captain in 2009 - just four years after her debut, the 28-year-old cricketer said that she has seen expectations from her team rise with time. "People just want us to win and we've done it against the odds in 2010 and we knew that we could do it 2014 as well. But please remember that unlike the men's game, teams like Bangladesh cannot be taken lightly. They have had a lot more international exposure compared to Pakistan women and they also have international cricket at home which makes a huge difference," said leg-spinner Mir, who has 79 wickets from 70 ODI matches.

While there are questions about Misbah-ul-Haq's ability to lead the men's team, Mir has silenced her critics successfully - both as a player and as a captain. Adjudged  Player of the Tournament at the 2008 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, Mir feels Pakistan Cricket Board has helped her players defy the notion that conservative elements threaten development of Pakistan women cricketers. "The PCB has played a tremendous role in the evolution and development of women's cricket in Pakistan," she said. "Wherever we go, whichever countries we tour we get positive feedback."

Mir is currently ranked seventh in International Cricket Council's ODI rankings for bowlers. There is no other Pakistani player in the top-10 batting or bowling list.             

Congress Faces Political Storm as Rahul Gandhi Visits Cyclone-Hit Areas

New Delhi: It almost seemed ironical. As Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was taking stock of the areas hit by Cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam on Sunday, a political storm hit the party.

The BJP moved a step closer towards their political goal of a 'Congress-mukt bharat' by ending the party's rule in Maharashtra and Haryana.

In the past couple of years, the Congress has lost crucial states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and the newly-created Telangana. The latest round of results forced Congress' top leadership to reach out to their supporters.  

Mr Gandhi, in a statement, said, "I congratulate the BJP on their success. I thank our supporters for having stood by us and party workers for their commitment to the party. The Congress Party will work hard on the ground to once again earn the confidence of the people."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi too promised to play a vigilant role, after the party was voted out of power. But the numbers don't add up for the party to be even an effective Opposition.  

In Maharashtra, the party struggled for the third place, getting just one seat more than its former ally Nationalist Congress Party or NCP. 

In Haryana, the Congress witnessed a repeat of the rout the party had earlier faced in states like Rajasthan, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, that has led to a constant questioning of Mr Gandhi's leadership. 

But the party seemed prepared with its answers. Spokespersons claimed that these elections had more to do with anti-incumbency than with leadership.  

"Different leaders have different styles of leadership and every leader finds his big moment; I am sure we will come back. When the BJP had two MPs, we didn't say 'BJP-mukt' India. Similarly, we will not be wiped out," said Rajeev Gowda, a former professor of IIM Bangalore who is now a spokesperson for the Congress.

Shobha Ojha, another spokesperson, pointed out, "In 1998, we were ruling only in three states, but by 2003-04, we had governments in 11 states." 

The Congress' worst performance in the Lok Sabha elections, in May this year, forced the top leadership to talk about revamping the grand old party. Five months later, changes are yet to happen and time seems to be running out.

Story First Published: October 19, 2014 23:44 IST