Anderson remains focused

Dubai: England spearhead James Anderson has denied seamers are discouraged by the spin-friendly pitches here, saying he was fully focused on how to win the third and final Test against Pakistan starting on Friday.

“Seamers have got plenty of wickets. Broad bowled well in the last game and Umar Gul got four wickets in the first, so it is just that the spinners have outshone us in the first two Tests,” he said.

Negi holds Sasi

Gibraltar: Parimarjan Negi held higher-ranked compatriot K. Sasikiran to a draw for a share of the third spot after the eighth round of the Gibraltar chess congress here.

India victorious

Chennai: Hosts India defeated Germany 3-0 in the inaugural Chennai Open World Cup under-21 squash team championship here on Wednesday.

Coach fired

Copenhagen: Caroline Wozniacki has fired her coach Ricardo Sanchez of Spain after just two months. Wozniacki’s father Piotr said that his daughter didn’t get “new impulses” from the co-operation with Sanchez.

Tomic charged

Gold Coast: Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic is due to appear in court on Feb. 14 charged with two traffic offences. Police said the 19-year-old Tomic had been charged with failing to stop his car when requested and with not keeping to the left of double dividing lines on the road.

Manav leads

Dhaka: Manav Das took sole lead at the end of the first day of the Bangladesh Open Amateur Championships here. Das shot three-under 69 and he was one ahead of Abdus Sobarhan (70).

U-14 soccer

Calcutta: Bengal have been placed in Group A along with Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam in the AIFF U-14 Football Fest in Kalyani, which begins Thursday.

Mulling changes

Zurich: Fifa will discuss the possibility of allowing teams to use a fourth substitute in extra time when its rules-making panel meets next month. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is set to decide at a meeting in England on March 3 if increasing the current quota of three replacements would help improve matches and reduce injuries.

SRK view

Calcutta: Shah Rukh Khan, principal owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, on Wednesday, said the team think-tank under new coach Trevor Bayliss was going in the right direction to fill up the places. “I will be meeting him (Trevor) in Mumbai tomorrow. To be frank, I myself don’t know about the specifics on the preparation.

“Cricketing decisions lie with our captain Gautam Gambhir and the support staff. I will get to know about the preparation tomorrow night and discuss the technical details," he said.

Staff reporter & agencies