India retain SAFF football title
NEW DELHI — Defending champions India retained the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) title with a 4-0 win over Afghanistan in the final in New Delhi on Sunday.
The hosts were kept at bay for the first 45 minutes by a strong Afghan defence, but broke the deadlock late in the second half and went on to score a quartet of goals.
India finally hit the back of the net in the 71st minute when Sunil Chhetri converted a penalty after Jeje Lalpekhlua was brought down by Faisal Safa following a pass from the centre.
Afghanistan were reduced to 10 men as goalkeeper Hameedullah Yousufzai was sent off for arguing with the referee over awarding the penalty to India.
India seized the opportunity to score twice in as many minutes through Clifford Miranda and Jeje, before Sushil Singh netted the fourth goal in injury time.
It was India’s 11th win over Afghanistan in 14 meetings. The Afghans have a single win, while the other two games ended in a draw.
The other teams in the tournament, which is contested every two years between South Asian nations, were Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Ashwin bags Dilip Sardesai Award
Rewarding Ravichandran Ashwin for his stupendous show in the just-concluded Test series against the West Indies , the BCCI, on Monday, decided to bestow the Dilip Sardesai award on the off-spinner.
The 25-year-old, who was the man-of-the-series in the three-Test series with 22 wickets, will be presented the trophy at the BCCI Annual Awards Ceremony in Chennai on December 10.
ESS bags broadcast rights for Cricket Australia in Asia
ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has bagged the broadcast rights of all the domestic and home international matches of Cricket Australia (CA) until 2017.
The deal covers television, internet, mobile and radio distribution across Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
ESS currently has the broadcast rights for 27 test matches, 44 one day internationals and 12 Twenty20 (T20) matches under the Future Tours Programme (FTP).
The deal means that ESS will broadcast the 2013-2014 Ashes series, tours by South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand. ESS will also broadcast two India series during this period.