Azharuddin's son trying for Kolkata Knight Riders

His father Mohammad Azharuddin began his career at Eden Gardens and now an 18-year-old Mohammad Ashaduddin, called for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) selection trials, hopes the venue will do the magic for him as well in his quest to make it big in cricket.

A product of St John's Academy -- a club where VVS Laxman learned his basics -- Ashaduddin is yet to make it big anywhere, but he is hoping that the KKR call-up will help him establish in the big league.

"I have heard a lot about Eden Gardens from my father... It was one of his favourite grounds, having made his debut [against England in 1984-85]" the left-handed opener said."It's a great opportunity for me to prove myself if I get a chance. It can well be the turning point if I can cash in on the opportunity. I am very excited about the call-up."

One of the most successful India captains, Azharuddin, boasts of a 107.5 average, 860 runs from seven Tests at the Eden. In ODIs, the former middle-order batsman has 332 runs at an average of 47.42 from nine matches.

Unlike his father, Ashaduddin, popularly known as Abbas, loves to play attacking shots which he says come in handy in the Twenty20 format."I have learnt cricket watching my father...so he is my first coach. But I have my style of play and I don't want to play like my father. My father had a God's gifted talent. I will never get there. I just like to be myself and perform well being a cricketer."

"I think my style of play will suit the Twenty20 format. I have an attacking approach... I like to pull and ganguly's stepped-out shot was my favourite," Ashaduddin, who plays for East Marredpally CC in the Hyderabad's A division league (two-day format) and has four fifties in six innings this year, added.

Ashaduddin, who is also a part-time off-spinner, agreed there are a lot of expecations that a star-son has to face but is confident of shrugging off pressure."There is pressure when you are born to a legendary father. But on the field I will be just a cricketer and try to play as the situation demands."

Asked to compare his father and Ganguly -- two of India's most successful captains -- the youngster chose to laugh it away: "It's tough to answer... Ganguly was also a great leader and it was a dream come true for me meeting the former India captain."

He added that Australian hard-hitting opener Matthew Hayden is his all time favourite, while he also admires Yuvraj Singh among the Indians.Incidentally, the KKR probables also includes another cricketer son Shatrunjay Gaekwad, son of former India coach Aunshuman Gaekwad. Left-handed batsman Shatrunjay has played for Baroda.

Ashaduddin is part of a pool of 44 cricketers selected from all over the country to go in for a three-day selection trial to be conducted by coach John Buchanan and Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders. The camp will begin on Monday.

Juventus to offer Barcelona €75m for Messi

Juventus are planning to turn their Lionel Messi dream into reality by scrambling together €75 million in an attempt to prise the striker away from Barcelona.

Reports of a possible deal have been fuelled with speculation after club heir Andrea Agnelli told Tuttosport about his dream to bring Messi in.

The same paper has now claimed Juve are looking to build up a mega transfer kitty in order to tempt the Catalan giants.

Although the move is possible, it will not come soon as reports suggest the Old Lady have a long-term plan to sign the Argentine, rendering any January move highly unlikely.

A €75m deal is being touted and this could be enough to convince the Blaugrana to part company with their man in future. Messi has been outstanding for Barca but he could be wearing the Juventus jersey within the next couple of years.

As well as this, Juve are not worried about splashing out such a mega sum of cash as they would make massive returns on their investment through marketing and sponsorship deals and the move could tie in nicely with their plans for a new stadium.

The arena is set to be completed in 2011 and the club is looking to have Messi on their books by then. Tuttosport have always linked the greatest players to Juventus, but not all of their predictions have materialised.

Nov 26 terror attack cost BCCI Rs 120 crore

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has incurred a loss to the tune of Rs 120 crore this fiscal year mainly due to the November 26 terror attack.

"BCCI has incurred a loss of Rs 120 crore due to the cancellation of the Pakistan tour, Champions League that was to be held in the month of December and the two one day matches against England due to the terror attacks," a BCCI source said on Friday.Last month's terror attacks resulted in losses for the BCCI as the Englishmen returned home, though the team came back later for the Test series.

The BCCI source said that in a bid to compensate for the losses, the Board may ask New Zealand to accomodate an additional Test match during India's tour in March-April this year. Apart from that, the BCCI was exploring the possibility of arranging a short series to make up for its cancelled tour of Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks

BCCI's T20 Champions League faces UEFA ire

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is on a collision course with for European football's governing body UEFA over the naming of its Twenty20 tournament as the Champions League.

The name of UEFA flagship footballing event, too, is same and the football body has objected to the BCCI calling its Twenty20 tournament as the Champions League.

According to reports, the BCCI had applied for a Community Trade Mark (CTM) license for the event. The BCCI's motive was to promote the competition in the United Kingdom.

The BCCI-backed event was postponed after the terror attacks in Mumbai, one of the three venues of the eight-club tournament.

The UEFA now has objected to the BCCI using the Champions League brand. It has reportedly sent a letter to the BCCI informing them about violation of the use of trademarks of the Champions League in the European Union.

15 Crore Sms in one day [:O]

Hyderabadis have nearly pushed the GSM and CDMA mobile communication systems to the brink of a collapse, as they thumbed a mind-boggling 15 crore short messages on their mobile phones while ushering in the New Year.No wonder that the networks got jammed.

While the youngsters adeptly thumb-texted wacky messages, the elders too were not left behind though using the ‘hunt-and-peck’ typing system on a majority of the 60 lakh mobile phones in the State capital. As the messages reduced to zeros and ones in the cyber world, zigzagged their way through to the recipient mobile phones, the telecom operators must have been the happiest lot.

But all is not hunky dory with the SMS greetings. Most of the mobile phone users were still getting their messages delivered till late in the evening on January 1 too, as the overloaded systems put the incoming SMSs on the queue and began transmitting them later. This delay is acute on festival days or on occasions like new year eve. It’s happening on normal days too.Mobile phone firms say they are taking measures to tackle the delay.I don't know to what extent these measures have an impact...Lets see in the coming days..

Anil Ambani tops billionaire blowups list

Industrialist Anil Ambani continues to be on the focus of US magazine Forbes but this time around for topping the list of 'Billionaire Blowups of 2008' by virtue of turning the biggest loser of wealth in less than a year of being touted as the biggest gainer in the world.

Besides ranking him as sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $42 billion, Forbes had credited him for having added maximum wealth in its last annual rankings in March.

Since then, his net worth has declined to $12 billion, the magazine said in a news report titled "Billionaire Blowups of 2008".

"The biggest loser of all was Anil Ambani. Touted on the cover of our 2008 billionaires issue for having added $24 billion to his fortune in one year, Ambani has dropped $30 billion since then," the report said.

The report further added that three of "his fellow countrymen--estranged brother Mukesh, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Indian K P Singh, all of whom ranked earlier among the world's 10 richest--lost more than $20 billion apiece."

Noting that 2008 was "a dreadful year for the world's wealthiest as markets and currencies around the world tumbled", Forbes said that over 300 of the 1,125 billionaires have lost at least $1 billion since March.

While several dozen have lost more than $5 billion, the 10 richest from annual 2008 rankings have lost about $150 billion.

This is primarily driven by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, estranged brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani and property baron K P Singh together losing $100 billion.

Three blasts in Guwahati; 5 dead, 51 injured

Three blasts rocked Guwahati in crowded areas on Thursday, including one shortly before the arrival of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The Assam Chief Minister's Office confirmed that the blasts have left five persons dead and 51 others injured. According to initial reports, the bombs were of low intensity.Speaking to CNN-IBN minutes after the third blast, Assam DGP, GM Srivastava said, “One person is in critical condition. We can confirm that the perpetrators are ULFA.”

The first bomb exploded in the Birubari area, injuring three persons.At least four people were injured when a suspected cycle bomb exploded at Bhootnath locality, which falls on the route Chidambaram was to take, shortly before his arrival.

Three persons were injured in a blast outside a Big Bazar retail chain outlet at Bhangagarh, an upmarket commercial area near the Guwahati Medical College.Earlier, an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED) kept in a municipal corporation dustbin went off at around 1530 hours IST leaving three persons wounded.

The injured have been rushed to a hospital and they were identified as Altaf Ali, Fatema Begum and Raul Ali, news agency PTI said.Police have cordoned off the blast sites.

The state witnessed serial blasts on October 30, killing 88 people.