Indian news round-up

Though cricket is a team game, it is the stars that corner the attention of the spectators. These days, for example, crowds throng the cricket grounds to see Sachin Tendulkar in action and the people of Kolhapur, a city in south Maharashtra, were understandably excited when they came to know the Indian batting maestro would play in a Ranji Trophy match there.

The tickets for the crucial West Zone Ranji Trophy game between Mumbai and Maharashtra were an absolute sell out mainly due to Tendulkar's expected participation. But with the star batsman withdrawing from the match, the angry crowds rushed to the stadium to demand their money back.

Meanwhile, Mumbai skipper Samir Dighe denied reports that the players faced inconvenience while travelling to Kolhapur by train. He added that his team would make all efforts to win the match for the cricket lovers, who are already disappointed over the non-participation of star cricketers Tendulkar and Ajit Agarkar.

Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar has consolidated his position at the top of the individual Test ratings earning 875 points in the Pricewaterhousecoopers rating list.

Apart from Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid is the only Indian to figure in the top ten with 749 points. Dravid is placed seventh in the list along with Micheal Atherton. Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly finds himself at the 26th spot with 629 points while S Ramesh is the only other Indian batsman to figure in the top 40 list.

Zimbabwe wicket-keeper Andy Flower, who had a fruitful tour of India, leapfrogged eight places to push Australian captain Steve Waugh down to third place with 831 points. The others in the top ten list are Steve Waugh (829), Inzamam-ul Haq (801), Saeed Anwar (767), Ricky Ponting (767), Jacques Kallis (742) and Justin Langer (724).

Hosts Osmania entered the semifinals with a comfortable seven wicket win over Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in their quarterfinal match of the South Zone inter-univerisities cricket tournament at the Osmania University ground on Thursday.

Set to score 157 for a win, Osmania reached the target in 32.5 overs while losing only three wickets. Avinash Pai was the top scorer with 54 along with useful contributions by Shashank Nag (33) and Radhakrishna (37). Earlier Rajiv Gandhi University were bundled out for 156. Jacob (40) was the top scorer. Khaja Obaidullah (4 for 34) and Radhakrishna (3 for 32) were the pick of the bowlers for Osmania.

Scores: Rajiv Gandhi UHS 156 (Jacob 40, Khaja Obaidullah 4 for 34, Radhakrishna 3 for 32) lost to Osmania 157 for 3 in 32.5 overs (Avinash Pai 54, Shashank Nag 33, Radhakrishna 37). Madras 282 for 6 (Arun Kumar 92, Harish 71, Nagaraj 3 for 43) bt Bangalore 57 (Balaji 5 for 25, S Raja 3 for 8). Calicut 231 (Kabeer 93, Saravanan 5 for 42) lost to Bharathiyar 233 for 5 in 44.4 overs (Gopal 52, Manikantan 45 not out). Karnataka 271 for 6 (Rakashan Rai 72, Prabhakar Goud 115 not out) bt Mysore 232 (Nagendra 35, Naveen Kumar 86, Kirti 3 for 47, Manjunath 3 for 37).