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Chennai, Jan 9 (PTI) The Indian Express duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi survived a super tie break to clinch their first doubles title on their reunion and fifth at this venue at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament here tonight. Paes and Bhupathi played with determination to start the season with a win ahead of the Australian Open, which remains the lone Grand Slam tournament that the duo has not won since their united effort on the ATP Tour from 1997 to 2002. Having played a tough match last night to set up a final against the Dutch-American pair of Robin Hasse and David Martin, Paes and Bhupathi came out victorious with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 10-7 win.Playing before a capacity crowd, the Indian duo raced to a 6-2 first set win. But the Dutch-American pair made amends with better coordination to take the second set. It was a similar story to yesterday's semifinal as the Indians were not only surprised by their rivals aggression but the manner in which they excell...

Bangalore, Jan 8 (PTI) Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was bought by Shah Rukha Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping USD 2.4 million (approx Rs 11.04 crore) for the fourth edition of Indian Premier League to be held from April 8 to May 20. The KKR dominated the first round of auction of nine marquee players as they also bought T20 specialist Yusuf Pathan for a staggering USD 2.1 million (approx Rs 9.66 crore).The first round of auctions certainly belonged to KKR although they have consumed half of their spending purse (USD 4.5 million) on two players. It was intense bidding for Gambhir who was the first player under the hammer as Saha Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians were involved in a bidding war before KKR joined the fray after it crossed the million dollar barrier. Sahara Pune Warriors opened their account with Yuvraj Singh buying him for USD 1.8 million (Rs 8.28 crore apprx) after beating Team Kochi and Kings XI Punjab in the bid.Kings XI Punjab also lost t...

Dubai: India continued to dominate the ICC Test Championship table, holding on to the top spot in the latest rankings issued on Friday despite losing a rating point after the drawn three-match series against South Africa. India lead South Africa by 11 ratings with 128 ratings points, the ICC said in a statement. Third-placed England have narrowed the gap with South Africa after winning the Ashes 3-1. England, which entered the Ashes series on 112 ratings points, have jumped to 115 ratings points and Andrew Strauss's side now trails Graeme Smith's men by just two ratings points. The Proteas, which started against India on 116 ratings points, have gained one ratings point and moved to 117 ratings points following the one-all draw against India. For Australia, the news is not so good and their first Ashes defeat in 24 years on home soil has resulted in a drop to fifth on the table. The defeat has cost Australia three ratings points, putting them two points behind Sri Lanka on 107....

Sydney, Jan 7 : England clinched its first test series victory in Australia in 24 years by wrapping up the fifth and final match by an innings and 83 runs Friday to take the Ashes series 3-1. The Sydney Cricket Ground triumph gave England an unprecedented third victory by an innings in a single series against Australia, which has been condemned in the domestic media as the country's worst ever test team. It was also the first time since 1978-79 that England had won back-to-back test matches in Australia and the first time since 1987 that the English have won a test series Down Under. England captain Andrew Strauss praised his squad, which humiliated an Australian lineup which only four years ago swept the Ashes 5-0 at home. "We came over here desperately wanting to win the series. In Melbourne we retained the Ashes, but in Sydney we really wanted to finish with a bang," Strauss said. "We're delighted with what we've done. We're certainly going to enjoy th...

New Delhi: The Indian cricket board has ruled out using the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) and also rejected an offer to travel to Australia and watch its Ashes application. The clamour to use the technology aimed at reducing umpiring errors has been growing but India have opposed UDRS as they are adamant the ball-tracking tool is not accurate enough. UDRS was not used in India's recent series against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N Srinivasan said there was no real chance of the world's richest cricket body changing its stance. "We don't accept this technology. We are not going to use it in any bilateral series," Srinivasan said. Cricket South Africa could not convince BCCI to use UDRS in the ongoing series and an annoyed Proteas captain Graeme Smith said the International Cricket Council (ICC) should make it mandatory. "The ICC needs to take responsibility and lead the way when it c...

Cape Town, Jan 5: Harbhajan Singh claimed two early wickets as South Africa reached 121 for five in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day of the series-deciding third cricket Test against India here today. Harbhajan was the pick of the Indian bowlers with four wickets while Zaheer chipped in with one as the hosts added 69 runs and lost three key wickets in an absorbing pre-lunch session. Kallis, defying a rib injury, was batting on 33 and Ashwell Prince on 15 at the lunch break with South Africa having a lead of 119 runs. Resuming at the overnight score of 52 for two, the South Africans plunged into trouble straightaway with Harbhajan Singh removing Alviro Petersen (22) and Hashim Amla (2) in quick succession. The wily off-spinner struck in his very first over, second of the day, by getting rid of Petersen, with a ball that did quite a bit after landing on the rough just outside the off stump. Petersen went on the backfoot and tried to defend the ball but missed it completely...