CHENNAI: Kapil Dev today said the country should make the most of the natural abilities to produce spinners. He was here to present the MAC spinner of the year award to young Karthick Murali. Dev said the cricket board could take the cue and start a spinner's camp. ``The thrill is in producing quality spinners and that is one art which will never fade in India,'' Dev said with optimism. He added that his opposition to India playing Pakistan was his individual opinion and now he will go with the board's decision.

Cricket telecast

NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati has approved the telecast deal between BCCI and Doordarshan for the five-year period of 1999-2004, ``We have ratified the agreement and now it is for the Board to ratify it,'' top Prasar Bharati sources said tonight. Prasar Bharati had already given two sets of contract signed by it to BCCI. The sources said DD's bid was the highest and it had also agreed to telecast domestic cricket.

DMSC liftCup

HALDIA: Dhaka Mohammedan Sports Club (DMSC) lifted the 15th all-Airlines football Gold Cup overcoming East Bengal 3-2 in s tie-breaker after the two were locked 1-1 in scheduled time. Bijen Singh and Falguni Dutta converted for East Bengal in the tie-breaker; Nakib, Jahangir and Shajadah did so for DMSC. In the regulation period, Nakib (7th) scored for them while Bijen Singh (52nd) equalised for East Bengal.

Uzma to opt out

NEW DELHI: Reigning champion Uzma Khan, Davis Cuppers Prahlad Srinath and Syed Fazaluddin, and Harsh Mankad will miss the DSCL National hardcourt tennis championships starting here on October 4. While Uzma is in the US on a tennis scholarship, Srinath and Fazaluddin are playing in Challenger and Satellite events abroad, along with Mankad.

Karthikeyan 12th

CHENNAI: Narain Karthikeyan's string of poor runs continued as he finished 12th in round 14 of the Autosport British Formula 3 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday, according toinformation reaching here. With just two more rounds of the series remaining, Narain, driving for Carlin Motorsport team, remained on overall 5th position with 98 points. Brazil's Luciano Burti won the race ahead of Marc Hynes of England after getting past another Britisher, Jenson Button in the very first lap.

Ashoke seventh

CALCUTTA: Ashoke Kumar scored a par, the best card among Indians to finish overall seventh (292 points) on the fourth and concluding day of the Singapore Open junior golf championship, according to a message received here today. Amish Jaitha finished 18th with a total score of 299, while Rahul Ganapathy and Shiv Kapur ended 22nd and 26th out of 100 entries.