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NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Rider’s management, searching a coach for their IPL franchise, now targets former Pakistan skipper and seamer Wasim Akram.
According to Times Now news channel, Akram confirmed that he has been approached by the Kolkata Knight Riders management for coach’s job.
Akram also said that he got a call from KKR principal owner Shah Rukh Khan for the interview which he will give by the end of this week.
Sources also revealed that the good rapport between Akram and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly may well seal the deal for him.
Earlier on Sunday, Kolkata Knight Rider’s management interviewed three former cricketers for coach’s post.
Ganguly joined by Shah Rukh Khan and co-owner Jay Mehta in Mumbai had a session with former Australia batsman Michael Bevan, former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve and former India batsman W V Raman. Lalchand Rajput and Ashok Malhotra had already given their presentations on Saturday.
The Kolkata franchise, which sacked Australian World Cup winning coach John Buchanan after a disastrous last place finish in the second edition of the IPL earlier this year, is tight-lipped about the proceedings.
The KKR team was looking for a blend of Indian and foreign coaching panel. The names of former England coach Duncan Fletcher and former India coach John Wright, who is expected in the country next week, are also in the running.

Vince Mcmahon’s 64 Birthday TodayHappy birthday to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who turns 64 years old today. He was born on August 24, 1945.
Tonight’s WWE Raw takes place from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will be tonight’s special guest host. While no matches have been announced for tonight’s show, the arena website is advertising Triple H, Shawn Michaels and John Cena vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase as the dark match main event.
Nancy O’Dell of Access Hollywood, who made a cameo at Summerslam, has posted pics of herself with various WWE stars on her Twitter page (http://twitpic.com/photos/NancyODell) and Facebook page.
FightLine.com has an article with quotes from Frank Mir, who was defeated by Brock Lesnar at UFC 100. Mir wants Lesnar again, but admits to needing to get bigger. Even more interesting were his comments on religion, which he called “the retarded stepchild of philosophy”. For more from Mir, which includes his thoughts on capitalism, socialism, which fighters he likes and more,

CINCINNATI: World number one Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will contest the Cincinnati Masters final after both claimed impressive victories on Saturday.
Federer beat holder Andy Murray 6-2 7-6 while a rejuvenated Djokovic hammered former world number one Rafa Nadal 6-1 6-4.
Murray was trying to become the fourth man to win the Canada and Cincinnati Masters Series titles back to back.
But he could not even force a single break point and the Swiss broke serve twice in the first set and then saved two set points in the tiebreak to reach the final.
“It was just overall a very good performance,” said Federer, who beat world number two Murray for only the third time in their nine meetings.
“I stayed aggressive. I was always looking to make the plays and I think in the end I deserved to win, just because I wasn’t scared to go after my shots. And I think I served well.”
Attacking from the start, Federer broke Murray’s serve in the fourth and eighth games to take the first set.
The Briton battled hard to stay on terms in the second set and forced two set points, at 6-5 and 8-7.
But Federer saved the first with a big serve and the second when Murray’s attempted backhand pass landed inches wide, before going on to win it 10-8.
In three of their most recent four meetings, Federer won the first set only to lose the match.
This time, the Swiss said, he felt he would have been confident of victory even had the match gone to a decider.
“(In some of the matches), I really felt like, this is going to get really hard in the third set. I kind of felt itcoming that I was not going to win the match.
“Today was different. Even if I were to lose that second set, I would have been in the match with a good mindset. I played a really good match.”
Murray was pleased with his fightback in the second set, but disappointed at his overall performance.
“In the first set, I was leaving the ball short and giving him a lot of second serves to look at and not making a whole a lot of returns, so therefore I was unable to put any pressure on him,” he said.
“He was going for his shots because I was leaving the ball in the middle of the court. But I was happy I managed to up my game in the second set.”
Last year’s runner-up Djokovic produced his best performance of the American hardcourt season to see off Nadal, who was playing only his second tournament back after two months out with knee injuries.
The Serb forced Nadal into a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors and after claiming the first set in 29 minutes, he held off the Spaniard in the second to book a meeting with Federer.

SYDNEY: Captain Ricky Ponting, vice captain Michael Clarke and six other members of the Australia team at risk of losing the Ashes were named Saturday in the country’s 15-man Champions Trophy limited-overs squad.
Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Michael Hussey, allrounder Shane Watson and bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle were also included in the squad for the Champions Trophy in South Africa from Sept. 22-Oct. 5.
Australia, as defending champions, will play its first match in Group A against West Indies on Sept. 26. It plays India on Sept. 28 and Pakistan on Sept. 30 to complete the first round.
The one-day event will be Australia’s next assignment after the current tour of England. In the deciding test, Australia trails by 172 runs on first innings, with England to resume its second innings Saturday at 58-3.
Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

TORONTO: Maria Sharapova beat fellow-Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 7-6 (3) Thursday to join Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.
After waiting out a storm that suspended play for an hour, Sharapova eliminated the No. 7 seed to advance past the third round of the Canadian tournament for the first time.
Zvonareva won four straight games in the second set before Sharapova recovered to force the tiebreaker, which she won easily.
Williams had a much easier time, beating Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4, two days after sister Venus Williams fell to Kateryna Bondarenko.
Serena Williams will next face Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. The second-ranked Williams is the highest-seeded player left in the tournament after No. 1 Dinara Safina lost Wednesday.
Williams was disappointed with her performance, saying it wasn’t as strong as her opening win against Yaroslava Shvedova the day before.
“I thought that if I could keep up that form, I’m on my way into glory and today I didn’t play as well so hopefully I can get it back,” Williams said.
The second-ranked Williams said she was focused on winning the Rogers Cup for the first time since 2001, and knew she will have to keep her cool.
“I get really emotional on the court,” she said. “Sometimes I’m really into the game too much, and I’ve just got to (remain calm). I can’t help myself when I do that, I think it’s just something natural and hopefully it helps me. I think towards the end I was able to relax and just calm down and then just try to stay positive more than anything.”
Bondarenko’s sister Kateryna knocked out Venus Williams on Tuesday, but also lost her third-round match on Thursday.
Kateryna Bondarenko, a qualifier, was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by 14th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who advanced to her ninth quarterfinal of the year. Only three others have achieved more quarterfinals.
Williams will next face Czech qualifier Lucie Safarova, who beat China’s Zheng Jie 7-6 (3), 6-4. Williams is the highest-seeded player left in the tournament after No. 1 Dinara Safina lost on Wednesday.
Earlier, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva rallied past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Dementieva will face Samantha Stosur of Australia, who swept Virginie Razzano of France 6-3, 6-1.
Aravane Rezai of France couldn’t repeat after her upset of Safina, falling 6-3, 6-4 to Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

Shadow Complex Release Time
Xbox Live has been running a promotion for the past two years with their summer fun deals. Last year their big games were Castle Crashers and Bionic Commando Rearmed. This year Microsoft came out with several more games that are almost guaranteed to do as well. One of those being the release of “TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled” that Gabe reviewed a couple weeks ago. The other being “Shadow Complex” from Chair Entertainment (creators of XBLA Undertow) and Epic Games (creators of Jazz Jackrabbit).
This game hearkens back to the good ol’ days of the “2D” side-scroller adventure game. It features the combined action of such prestigious games as “Super Metroid” and “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.” Shadow Complex, much like the aforementioned titles, is more about exploration than it is action, even though action does have its place. If anything, this is a return to that true “Metroidvania” style of play, and I for one could not be happier.
The game follows the story of Jason and Claire as they go out on a date. Yeah, that is what we were thinking too, but luckily, that’s only how it starts. They are going through some caves exploring when Claire goes missing. Naturally being the good gentlemen on a date, Jason takes it upon himself to find her. Jason soon finds out that she has been kidnapped by a group called “Progressive Restoration.” What he doesn’t know is that he and Claire have stumbled upon their underground base.
At the beginning of the game you start out with nothing more than a flashlight, but it isn’t long before you are finding new and exciting things on your quest. As mentioned earlier, this game is all about exploration, and in doing so you will find all manner of weapons and upgrades that will help you not only rescue Claire, back but stop the bad guys at the same time. Each kill you make, be it by weapon, melee, or environmental, adds a certain amount of experience to Jason. Much like you would expect, more upgrades equal better abilities and items. Also, you will have the option of exploring the facility and finding intelligence that will lend itself to your exp, as well as helping you with other tasks.
Even once you “finish” the game there is still more for you to explore. The game has several “Challenge Rooms” much like Bionic Commando or even Portal, that test the skills that you have learned throughout the game proper. Even the level cap (50) lends itself to replay-ability of the game. Players will have a hard time reaching that cap in their first time playing through, however once you start the game over again, your level comes with you, in order for you to build on it even more. Different difficulty levels further enhance your exp, as well as the obvious greater challenge. There isn’t any type of multi-player, but that won’t matter much with the in-game updates. Much like Burnout Paradise, when you over take a friends record, say in melee kills, it will notify you AND your buddy that you are better then he is, and update it to the leaderboards. This will truly bring out the spirit of competition and “one upmanship” in every person that plays the game.
All said, this game looks to be the cream of the crop for the XBLA releases this summer. Being the huge fan of Super Metroid that I am, I cannot wait to get my hands on Shadow Complex. I look forward to exploring every detailed nook and beautiful cranny of this game until I hit 100%. Shadow Complex releases August 19th on XBLA at a price of 1200 MSP.

GALLE: Tim McIntosh scored a patient half-century as New Zealand reached 137-3 at lunch on the third day of the first test Thursday.WATCH LIVE CRICKET MATCHThe match started 90 minutes behind schedule for a third day because of morning rain at Galle International Stadium.
Resuming the day on 87-2 McIntosh and night watchman Jeetan Patel batted cautiously against Sri Lanka’s reputed spinners, putting on 49 runs for the third wicket as New Zealand set out to match the hosts’ first-innings score of 452.
Muttiah Muralitharan made the breakthrough when he trapped the stubborn Patel lbw for 26.
McIntosh remained unbeaten on 53, facing 161 balls and hitting six boundaries. Ross Taylor will resume the second session on 6.
New Zealand fought back over the final two sessions on the second day Wednesday, preventing Sri Lanka from getting the massive score they threatened.
Seamer Chris Martin and spinner Daniel Vettori took four wickets each as Sri Lanka, having approached 400 losing just four wickets, lost their last six wickets for 66 runs.
Thilan Samaraweera top-scored with 159 off 277 balls including 24 boundaries and a six. Mahela Jayawardene made 114 and Tillakaratne Dilshan set up the momentum for Sri Lanka’s batting with a quickfire 92 off 72 balls.
Martin Guptill (24) was the first Kiwi batsman to be dismissed Wednesday as he played a ball from seamer Thilan Thushara onto his stumps. Daniel Flynn (14) was bowled by spinner Ajantha Mendis approaching stumps.

The man was built to play hoops, so the reality show built around him sounds downright loopy.
“Shaq Vs.,” which ABC premiered Tuesday night, features Shaquille O’Neal taking on star athletes in their own sports.
The reality is that it’s not much of a show.
There’s about a half-hour worth of concept here, but, unfortunately, this rather slight 9 p.m. program lasts a full hour.
So it plays kill-the-clock with lots of unconvincing trash talk between the competitors, lots of training sequences and lots of commercial breaks.
But if not exactly a “Nova” special when it comes to content, “Shaq Vs.” does bounce along in a good-natured way without ever making you want to scream “Foul!”
Indeed, compared to most reality shows, particularly those that premiere in the summer, this is pretty high-end stuff.
The opener pitted the Cleveland Cavaliers’ new center against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Lima native Ben Roethlisberger. Neither man is a stranger to world championships.
Roethlisberger was the winning quarterback in two Super Bowls. O’Neal has won four NBA championships (three with the Los Angeles Lakers, one with the Miami Heat).
Future shows will feature the 7-foot-1 Shaq against swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis champ Serena Williams, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, home run specialist Albert Pujols and, in the next show (9 p.m. Tuesday on WEWS Channel 5), volleyball team Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.
Considering the caliber of the competition and the variety of the sports, championship-starved Cleveland fans might view this show as one giant injury risk. I mean, think of the damage a stray De La Hoya left hook can do. What happens if Serena tries an overhand smash that finds Shaq’s noggin?
Tuesday’s premiere made it clear, however, that the name of the game is safety. The showdown with Big Ben was a glorified game of two-hand touch football. It was not exactly the type of matchup that suggested Ali vs. Frazier.
Each quarterback was given three possessions. Roethlisberger started from the 40-yard line, Shaq started from the 20 — no pads, no rushing, no tackling, no real drama.
For the record, Roethlisberger won the game, 21-14. He also bested Shaq in a game of horse. But for all the posturing and trash talk, “Shaq Vs.” really is designed to be an amiable goof of a reality show.
The packaging is cheesy in the extreme, with over-earnest hosts Mike Goldberg and Pat Tomasulo sounding as if they were cast as the ringside announcers for a “Rocky” movie. When they referred to this bit of gridiron fun as “a football game for the ages,” you wondered how they kept from falling out of their chairs.
Shaq told Roethlisberger that this “ultimate in cross-training” show was part of his plan for getting into shape for the Cavs. “This may be my last year and, in a perfect world, win the whole thing,” Shaq said.
Is he serious? With Shaq, it’s usually hard to tell. He has that killer smile, which is equal parts killer charm and killer competitor. And you’re not sure when he’s kidding. So think of “Shaq Vs.” as one big reality Shaq smile.

NEW DELHI: Virender Sehwag’s allegations of nepotism and corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) triggered a virtual revolt against the administration with more senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma threatening to quit the Delhi Ranji team.
Sehwag claimed that more players would support him on the issue, raising the possibility of a showdown just weeks before the Ranji season.
The players are unhappy with the DDCA sports committee, which, they claimed, interfered in selection matters and also indulged in corruption.
Apart from Gambhir and Sharma, left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra was another senior player who has Sehwag’s campaign against the sports committee.
Gambhir and Nehra made it clear that even they would “not hesitate” to move out to other associations if things did not improve and transparency in the selection process was not brought in.
Gambhir also felt the DDCA sports committee, which did not have a single cricketer on its panel, needed to be changed as it put pressure on captains and stand-in captains to play their candidates.
Ishant voiced his support for Sehwag, saying, “he is absolutely right about selection matters”.

BULAWAYO: Bangladesh raced to a five-wicket defeat of Zimbabwe for a 4-1 series win in the final One Day International at the Queen’s Sports Club here on Tuesday.WATCH LIVE SCORCARD OF 5TH ODI BD VS ZIMZimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat but hopes of a repeat of their 312 total in the fourth game never materialised with the hosts all out for 209.
That was by no means enough to push Bangladesh, who made 212 for five, to end the series on a triumphant note – Mushfiqur Rahim’s 98 the starring contribution.
Zimbabwe’s fate had been sealed when they slipped to 69 for six in the 14th over with Bangladesh bowler Dolar Mahmud’s contribution proving incisive, his performance earning him the player of the match award.
“It’s good to perform well in international cricket and I played well this time. The wicket was providing assistance and I made use of it,” said Dolar.
Dolar, flown in during the series, dismissed Vusi Sibanda for two, with Charles Coventry, who had scored a record-equalling highest one day score of 194 here on Sunday, out for nought.
Dolar’s next victim was Malcolm Waller, who just made it into double figures, with Elton Chigumbura sent back with another big inswinger after Syed Rasel had seen off Sean Williams.
The patient Brendan Taylor did his best to salvage something from a tricky situation and he duly made 61 before he was lbw to Mehrab Hossain jnr.
Bangladesh did not get off to the quickest starts but marshalled by opener Mushfiqur they dictated this finale.
He was stopped from reaching a deserved maiden century by Ray Price.
Tamim Iqbal, with 300-odd runs over the series including a match-winning 150-plus in the fourth ODI, picked up the player of the series award.
“This is my first such award and hopefully there’ll be more to come,” said Tamim.
“The 154 was my best innings and hopefully there’ll be many more. The top order played very well this series, and Junaid (Siddique) supported me really well. The boys have performed superbly and we’re very happy.”
Zimbabwe’s Prosper Utseya paid tribute to the winning tourists. “Yes, we are disappointed but Bangladesh proved they were the better team.”

LONDON: The Ashes series is tied as the teams go into the final Test Cricket’s governing body, the ICC, says its anti-corruption unit is looking into claims linked to the Ashes series.
The International Cricket Council confirmed it was investigating after receiving a report from the Australian team management.
Cricinfo website reported an Australian player was approached after last month’s second Test by a man suspected of having links to illegal bookmaking.
The decisive final Test starts at The Oval, south London, on Thursday.

WELLINGTON: Sir Richard Hadlee, one of cricket’s greatest allrounders, is making another strong appeal to the decision makers: don’t betray our game.
Cricket is in danger of being consumed by Twenty20, Hadlee says, while its guardians are distracted by the new income and booming popularity of the shortest form of the international game.
Hadlee, who has legendary status in his native New Zealand, said the exponential growth of T20, particularly the Indian Premier League, had the potential to destroy the more traditional forms of cricket and — when its popularity eventually waned — the sport itself.
“The IPL is franchise cricket, it’s club cricket, it is not international cricket,” Hadlee told New Zealand’s domestic news agency NZPA on Tuesday. “We are two years into it and you can see potentially that there will be more and more of it. It will consume the game. Once it has gone too far and people have grown bored with it, it will have destroyed test cricket and probably 50-over cricket.”
Hadlee said the International Cricket Council had to act to deal with increasing problems of congested match schedules caused by the emergence of T20. The possibility the IPL might increase from 56 to 90 games and its playing window from six to eight weeks would only make the situation more difficult, he said.
“We are in grave danger of having the decision makers betraying the game of cricket,” he said. “Everything evolves and things keep changing but this is a revolution within the game.”
“It’s new, marketable, successful and brings in huge money. The danger is overkill, that you have too much of it and it swamps other forms of the game and compromises them.”
“If one format of the game like Twenty20 consumes the game as much as it is doing now — and potentially in the future — it is destroying the game of cricket as a total concept.”
Hadlee, 58, was signed in April as an executive consultant to the nascent American Premier League, a six-team Twenty20 tournament planned for New York in October. The league is unlikely to get off the ground and Hadlee said he remained a cricket traditionalist.
“I think test cricket needs to be protected, because it remains the ultimate game and I think a lot of players today would say they enjoy test cricket more than anything else,” Hadlee said. “The point is they are also faced with the other forms of the game where for less effort the rewards are 10 times greater.”
Hadlee said he feared the power wielded by India within the international game would prevent the ICC making decisions which would benefit cricket as a whole.”
“We all know now that Asia, and more particularly India, have a more powerful say because they generate that much more … revenue, which other countries benefit from,” he said. “So, who protects the game? The decision makers on the ICC have to try and control it so that all the games can coexist and live together.”
Hadlee said the sport’s governing body must have the power and the right to control and manage the game, much as the International Olympic Committee rules over the Olympics.
“That’s important for the game’s existence, its survival and its future,” he said. “It can’t be undermined by a country, or other countries.”
“Once country interests are being protected it becomes a destructive element and you have anarchy.”

Terrell Owens is a package that is being sold over and over again. He has a Fashion line and endorsements like you would not believe. Now that he is in Buffalo Bill’s camp you see it every time they come out with new promo pics. They are using Owens’ market presence to sell tickets and after all isn’t that what it is all about? Terrell has the reality show, the endorsements and the big contract. What more could you ask for? Kids? Terrell Owens has overcome a childhood that was very difficult and his success was not handed to him.

PAKISTAN, LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain and now Director General, Pakistan Cricket Board, Javed Miandad has urged the out of form players to stay away from the game for a certain time period in a bid to regain their forms.
I think it is the best way for an out-of-form cricketer to regain form if he gives himself a break and rests to start a fresh,” he was talking to reporters after conducting a brief training session with the Under-16 players at National cricket academy where he gave useful tips to the aspiring cricketers.
He was of the view that bad patch was a part of the players life and in order to come out from it, the best way was to leave cricket for some time.
Some of our batsmen did not perform to a good level in recently concluded series in Sri Lanka and they must think on this aspect of getting a brief break,” he added.
Asked the performance of Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq remained below par in Sri Lanka, Miandad without mentioning name of any cricketer said it was the only solution for a cricketer who wants to get back the form.
When asked about express bowler Shoaib’s Akhtar future in cricket “ the doors were open for all the players to show their perform on ground and to get place”.
I believe that your performance should speak instead of tall claims and only a best performance in the ground is a valid proof to fitness and form “,said Miandad.
About the talent available in the camp, Miandad said all the boys were talented and he gave tip to all bowlers and batsmen. He said it was the best age to learn about the game and hopefully the boys would not waste the opportunity.
I will give tips to the national senior team when the players will start their training for the important Champions Trophy, which is being held in South Africa from Sept 22”,he added. “I am available for all cricketing duties and I will love to serve the country,” he said.