CHENNAI: All is not well in the Indian camp.

Right from the time the World Cup squad was selected, the selectors and skipper MS Dhoni were not sharing the same thought process. With the group stage almost done and dusted, the rift has only increased.

PALLEKELE: It took Tillakaratne Dilshan just 24 hours to hit the headlines again, this time for the right reasons. Almost all of Wednesday, rumour did rounds that explosive Sri Lankan opener has failed a dope test. The ‘Dilshan scoop’ died only after the Sri Lankan team management vehemently denied it.

On Thursday, the 34-year-old first cracked 144 (131b, 16×4, 1×6), adding a record 282 for the opening wicket with fellow opener Upul Tharanga, who was equally good en route to his career-best 133 (141b, 17×4), and then took an amazing four for four with his part-time off-spin to dazzle in his team’s crushing 139-run win over a hapless Zimbabwe in their World Cup Group A game. He would have bagged a hat-trick too, but missed out by a whisker as Mahela Jayawardene, after snapping up a blinder, grassed a much simpler chance.

BOSTON: The reports of a party at the prestigious Yale University where undergraduate students attending the soiree were asked to strip naked and forced to drink alcohol have triggered an investigation by the varsity authorities and police.

The party, hosted by ‘The Pundits’, a senior prank society at Yale, is now being investigated for sexual assault and hazing of undergraduates. About 50 students attended the invitation-only annual nude bash.

Students were told to arrive at the party in costume, but midway through the night were told to strip naked. Members of the Pundits “were force-feeding people alcohol” as well as forcing several students to kiss each other. Later, 10 students had to be hospitalised for excessive drinking.

JABALPUR: An alleged sex-for-marks scandal has come to light here, leading to the arrest of two Jabalpur University officials.

Controller of Examination Professor S S Rana and the Deputy Registrar R S Kakodia of Rani Durgawati Vishwavidyalaya (RDVV) here were arrested on March 1. Police had earlier arrested one Raju Khan in this case.

Two other accused, Prerna Atwal, a student, and one Ajay Khandelwal, are absconding, police said.

According to the complaint filed by S Arya, a first-year MBBS student of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College last month, Prerna, her senior in the college, told her that she would have to sleep with Khan if she wanted to get her marks increased in the revaluation.

DHAKA: West Indies produced a thumping performance to beat Bangaldesh by 9 wickets in their World Cup Group B match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Friday.

Earlier, Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn claimed four wickets while Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy bagged three wickets each as West Indies destroyed World Cup co-hosts Bangladesh for 58 runs.

Bangladesh looked out of sorts from the very first over when paceman Roach had Tamim Iqbal caught by Sammy at second slip for a duck in the third ball of the innings.

Kevin O’Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup hundred as Ireland pulled off a sensational three-wicket win over England on Wednesday.

Ireland won with five balls to spare as they finished on 329 for seven after England, who had made 327 for eight, had been cruising when they reduced non-Test playing Ireland to 111 for five.

But a brilliant burst of power-hitting got O’Brien to three figures in just 50 balls at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

That meant he’d obliterated former Australia opener Matthew Hayden’s previous fastest World Cup century record off 66 balls against South Africa at St Kitts in 2007.

HYDERABAD: Unhappy over the delay in the formation of a separate Telangana state, a minister in Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Thursday sent his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Other ministers and MPs from the region said they would decide on whether to quit after meeting the central leadership.

Congress MPs from Telangana, including Ponnam Prabhakar, G Sukhender Reddy, contemplated their resignation from Lok Sabha.

BANGALORE: This was a game both India and England deserved to lose but in the end it was a tie. If the Indians seemed listless while defending a more than healthy 338, the English after being in a position to spoil the Indian party on a pitch on which the expected demons did not surface, suddenly seemed to have invoked the devil himself. In the end what transpired was the fourth ever tie in the history of the World Cup.

CHENNAI: The only people that S Sreesanth should “irritate” on the cricket field are the opposition players, said Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he once again advised the temperamental pacer to remain within “boundaries”.

“I am very specific to him and told him that he should not cross a few boundaries. It is better that you do not cross those boundaries. If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side,” Dhoni said of the Kerala bowler, who has a reputation of losing his cool and coming up with animated gestures in the heat of the moment.

The couple registered their marriage today in Mumbai, ahead of the grand celebration in Goa on the 19th.

Lara Dutta is Mrs Mahesh Bhupathi! The actress registered marriage with the tennis star in Mumbai today. News is, a marriage registrar was called to Mahesh’s Bandra house to solemnize the wedding.

Mahesh blogged, “Meet Mr and Mrs Bhupati folks!”

The civil Ceremony happened around an hour back in Mumbai.”

Media wasn’t allowed to capture the pictures today as the ceremony was private. It was attended only by Mahesh and Lara’s family at the groom’s Bandra residence.

SAO PAULO: Three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo, whose goalscoring genius led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, confirmed his retirement on Monday at the age of 34.

The tearful Corinthians striker announced his decision at a press conference in Sao Paulo.

“I’m stopping my career as a professional footballer,” he said, his voice breaking. “It’s been a beautiful, emotional, marvellous career.

“These last two years, I’ve had a long series of injuries, from one side to the other, one leg to the other, one muscle to the other. The pain pushed me to think about the end of my career.”

We give you tips on what not to do this V-Day.

1. If you are thinking of proposing to the one you love on Valentine’s Day, then boy, do we have news for you. The idea is not only a hundred years old, but it borders on the lines of being lame.

2. If you think imposing a life-sized stuffed teddy bear (unless your eye candy is ten years old) or a ginormous red heart on the recipient of your affection is going to get you brownie points, think again. Get a life… and some originality, perhaps?

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board has taken a personal accident policy worth $500,000 per player who is a part of the national team that will play in the World Cup.

The BCCI has also taken another insurance policy to the tune of Rs 130 crore, which will shield it from financial losses in the event of a match being affected by bad weather.

Reena Bhatnagar, deputy general manager, Oriental Insurance Company, said, “The BCCI has bought the group personal accident policy from OIC. Each player can expect a financial benefit of up to Rs 2.3 crore under this policy.”

Sachin Tendulkar has achieved just about every individual accolade in cricket and holds an almost divine status in India, where the TV audience soars every time he goes out to bat.

However, his 21-year international career is missing one notable achievement: a World Cup title. That adds to the pressure on India, which is co-hosting the tournament with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and will stage the April 2 final at Mumbai, Tendulkar’s home town.

Visakhapatnam: After Jala Deeksha in Delhi, the stage is now set for Jaganmohan Reddy’s Jana Deeksha at the R K Beach here on Saturday.

Though the YSR scion is holding the deeksha to protest the hike in prices of petrol and essential commodities, insiders said it would primarily be a show of strength by the Jagan group targeting the Congress leaders.

According to the Jagan camp, a few Congress MLAs of neighbouring districts could join Jagan during the deeksha, which would be held from 11 am till 6 pm. While the crowds are being mobilised from the three north coastal districts, the aim behind holding the deeksha is to give a befitting reply to the district Congress, especially minister Balaraju, who stopped the district Congress MLAs and cadres from participating in the Odarpu yatra.

Claiming that BSP MLA Purshottam Naresh Dwiwedi was “physically unable” to commit rape, his wife Asha today demanded DNA and medical test to prove his involvement in the assault on a Dalit teenager in Banda.

“My husband is a patient of sugar and blood pressure for the last 18 years and his left kidney is also not working. With existing physical condition he cannot rape and being his wife I can say this with certainty,” Asha told reporters here.

“I demand that DNA and medical test of my husband should be conducted immediately,” she said.

MUMBAI: A member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Friday allegedly assaulted a state government employee at the state secretariat here, leading to a flash-protest by the staff.

Bacchu Kadu, an independent from Achalpur constituency in Vidarbha, slapped the employee who works in the health department.

Kadu claimed he slapped the employee as he was asking for bribe to complete some pending work.

Following the incident, irate employees staged a noisy protest announcing they will stop cooperating with Kadu for any work relating to his constituency.(PTI)

HYDERABAD: The Srikrishna Committee report has put the Telangana Congress leaders in the hot seat. Caught between a non-committal high command and the electorate that is increasingly becoming hostile, 8 Telangana Congress Lok Sabha MPs on Friday passed a resolution urging the UPA government to introduce a Bill on the creation of Telangana in the coming budget session of Parliament failing which they would to resign from their elected posts.

Congratulations are in order. February 19 has been chosen as the day when Lara Dutta will marry Mahesh Bhupathi, who recently divorced Shweta Jaishankar. The wedding will be held at a five-star hotel in Goa.

Says a source, “Lara and Mahesh love Goa. They both decided to convert their favourite holiday spot into a place that would be memorable to them forever.”

After marriage, Lara will shift to Bhupathi’s flat in Nibbana Society at Pali Hill. Mumbai Mirror dated April 22, 2010, had broken the story about Lara taking active interest in decorating that house.”

LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods has once again ended a calendar year as golf’s top earner, despite suffering a pay cut of $48 million after losing his swing and his marriage and failing to win a single tournament.

The American world number two, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Thursday, topped Golf Digest magazine’s annual list for 2010 with overall earnings of $74.2 million.

Of that, only $2.29 million came from tournament purses with the rest accumulated off-course through endorsements and appearance fees.

Fellow American Phil Mickelson was second with total earnings of $40.18 million, followed by Arnold Palmer ($36 million), Greg Norman fourth ($30 million) and Jack Nicklaus fifth ($25.17 million).