Indian news round-up

The Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) have requested the state government to appoint an enquiry commission to probe the alleged sale of fake tickets for the India-Australia One-Day International match played at Margao, Goa.

SAG also have asked the government to send a show-cause notice to the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) asking them as to why the association should not be derecognised for mismanagement of the match.

According to PTI, the general body of SAG, which met in Panaji, Goa, on Tuesday, also suggested 15 days time be given to GCA to reply to the notice. The meeting was presided over by Goa sports minister Sanjay Bandekar, who is also the vice-president of SAG and they took a decision to recommend stringent action by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against GCA.

SAG was of the opinion that the government should recover an amount of over Rs 18 lakh as 20 per cent share from sale of tickets for the April 6 ODI and another sum of Rs 9.52 lakh as balance dues of the ODI match held in 1997.

The 'missing five players' story seems to have taken a new twist. The cricketers were sent to the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, Australia, by India's Karavali Cricket Academy (KCA), based in the state of Karnataka, as part of the academy's overseas training programme.

KCA revealed that it was still making efforts to get in touch with Wayne Phillips, the head coach of the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, to get official confirmation about the whereabouts of five cricket players sent by KCA for a training stint there.

"We are making very serious efforts to contact Phillips to get official information about the players," Prakash, manager, KCA, told PTI on Tuesday. The five players, hailing from Thrissur in Kerala, were sent for a two-week training stint at the academy on March 24 but were reported missing after they reached Adelaide on March 25.

The KCA, which was completely taken by surprise when the five players did not report to Wayne Phillips and went 'missing', is also contemplating "a legal procedure" to know the whereabouts of the players, despite reports about their families confirming their safety.