Going for broke

Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewan Chatfield will not be happy to know this. When Chetan Sharma dismissed them in three straight balls to get the first ever hat-trick in a World Cup in 1987, he was in fact nursing a broken hand. On October 31 last month, Sharma celebrated 25 years of his achievement against New Zealand, a ceremony that witnessed the presence of personalities such as Kapil Dev and Unmukt Chand. And during which he revealed that Kapil, who desperately wanted him to play, helped cut his plaster with a fruit knife. When the board wanted to see an x-ray as proof, an uninjured player from the team volunteered to produce the evidence. The only thing broken at the end of the match was NZ's batting spine.

Sun shines on Sourav

News over his retirement from the IPL notwithstanding, Sourav Ganguly is apparently going to appear for yet another franchise in the forthcoming season. According to the gossip mills, Ganguly is said to be in talks with the newly acquired Hyderabad franchise, as Sun Group now want to rebuild the erstwhile Deccan Chargers with the former India captain in the lead. Also, they might also be interested in roping in Kiwi John Wright, a man who formed a great tag-team with Ganguly during his coaching days with Team India in the early 2000s. Ganguly, when asked about the new development, did not confirm the news. But interestingly, Ganguly didn't deny it either.

Distress call

The boxing nationals may not have Vijender and Akhil this time around, but the spectators haven't been going home empty handed. Over the weekend, national coach GS Sandhu's mobile phone was stolen after it was left behind on the jury table. And not long after Sandhu regretted leaving it unattended, two managers from the IBF also found themselves cell-phone less. So, as they say, 'when you have to punch, punch; don't talk."

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