Yuvraj to lead BCCI President's XI against Australia

Yuvraj Singh, who was overlooked for the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy, will captain the Board President's XI in a four-day warm-up match against the Australians in Hyderabad, starting October 2. The squad also includes fast bowler Sreesanth, who missed the tour of Sri Lanka because of injury, and opener Wasim Jaffer, who lost his place in Test side to Gautam Gambhir. Aakash Chopra, not selected for India A's matches against Australia A, makes a comeback.

This move could mean Yuvraj's return to the Test fold. Since 2006, he has played 13 Tests - four in the last two years - and has averaged 29.42 with two centuries.

Jaffer, Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha also make their way towards national reckoning since they are part of Irani Trophy and Board President's squads. Apart from Ojha, Saurashtra bowler Rakesh Dhurv is the other left-arm spinner in the squad. Dhurv took 23 wickets at 21.56 from eight Ranji Trophy games last season.

Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan will lead the bowling attack along with Manpreet Gony and Pankaj Singh.

Meanwhile Dinesh Karthik has fallen off the national radar by neither making it to the Board President's squad nor the India A squad for the two Tests against New Zealand. Wriddhiman Saha, the Bengal wicketkeeper, has made the cut instead. Suresh Raina will lead the India A side now that S Badrinath has been called up to the Rest of India squad as a replacement for Sachin Tendulkar. Jaydev Shah, the Saurashtra captain, has been picked as Raina's deputy after a successful series in Israel.

Board President's squad : Yuvraj Singh (capt), S Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Parthiv Patel (wk), Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Manpreet Gony, Yogesh Takawale, Rakesh Dhurv.

India A : Suresh Raina (capt) Jaydev Shah, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Sahil Kukreja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashok Dinda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sudeep Tyagi, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohnish Parmar.
Source: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com

Taare Zameen Par is India's Oscar entry

Spicezee Bureau Mumbai, Sept 22: Aamir Khan’s directional debut ‘Taare Zameen Par’, which has been officially nominated at the Oscars seems to have a strong chance of winning the award as it has a mass appeal and has already touched the emotional chords of the audience. The film has secured an entry into the Oscars beating exceptional films like ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’, ‘Rock On’, ‘Black And White’ and two Marathi films and a Telugu movie. Expressing happiness on the nomination, Aamir said, “I’m very happy that my film has been selected as we have got a chance to represent India internationally at a level where best films from all over the world are nominated for the honour.” The actor, however, expressed the desire to have ‘TZP’ reach the top 5 of the nominations, like his previous film ‘Lagaan’. Rejecting the charge of lobbying for his films, Aamir said, “I feel there is nothing wrong if I say that I have a PR in Los Angeles, because I believe it is important to have one so that people get to know about the films we make in India through the media over there. My responsibility is and has been just to create awareness about the films that we make.” Speaking about the importance of an Oscar to him, the actor said, “I don’t target Oscars when I make a film. My films are mainly for the audience. I think it is my responsibility to make good films which are entertaining and worth watching for the audience and their money and time is what matters to me the most.” “For the Oscar nomination I would say that the competition is tough, so I’m not sure if TZP would win the award, but I’m sure the film is going to leave a strong impact,” he added. Source: http://www.zeenews.com