Indian news round-up

Barabati stadium gearing up for first onedayer:The Secretary of the Orissa Cricket Association (OCA), Ashirbad Behera, said in Cuttack on Saturday that the Barabati stadium is gearing up for the first oneday international featuring India and Zimbabwe on December 2.

Speaking to reporters, Behera said that the renovation work cost Rs 20 crores for the association. The Stadium was badly damaged during last year's cyclone that swept across the state. He said that a new 500 seat capacity pavilion and a 40 seat air conditioned VIP box have also been added to the existing facilities at the stadium.

The chief groundsman Achuti Rout, said that the match would be a high scoring affair since the pitch was likely to favour the batsmen. The BCCI pitches committee comprising G.Kasturi Rangan and Dhiraj Parsanna which had earlier inspected the ground on November 5 had praised the groundsmen for the fine job they had done.

The first day of the India-Zimbabwe Test at the Ferozshah Kotla proved to be a nightmare for the journalists. The press men who came for the coverage of the match found no place to sit in the press box and this lead to a tiff between them and the DDCA officials.

Press Trust of India reported that the Kotla press box which was erected during the 1996 World Cup has been shrinking with every passing match. The agency said that the DDCA had provided space for only 70 journalists even as the Delhi Sports Journalists Association had requested for 150 seats forcing latecomers to keep standing or sit on the steps.

The issue was made worse when the journalists refused to take the lunch provided by the DDCA and went on to make their own arrangements. PTI said that the official scorers in the press box had also joined the protest. However, former cricketer and the DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan intervened to appease the journalists by assuring them with the provision of more seats.

The renowned South African arthroscopic surgeon Dr Fergusson said in Coimbatore that the injury suffered by Leg spinner Anil Kumble is similar to the one experienced by Seamer Javagal Srinath.

Fergusson, who examined Kumble in Chennai earlier this week, said ``I have examined Kumble for about 40 minutes and he has developed shoulder problem on his bowling arm.'' and added that once Kumble was relieved of the problem, he could play for another 10 years easily.

On the chances of performing a surgery, Fergusson said he had given some instructions to Kumble's personal therapist and also to team physio Andrew Leipus and the decision on surgery would be taken only after observing his progress.