Mohd Asif in Malayalam Movie

Shooting of the movie, titled 'Mazhavillinnattamvare' (till the tip of the rainbow) produced by Sharjah-based businessman M. Mukundan  under the banner Valluvankadavu Recreations is scheduled to begin in North Kerala in September.

The movie is also the directorial debut of famous lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri., who has penned hundreds of songs.

"Asif is now busy playing cricket in England. He will be free by September to begin shooting in Kannur in north Kerala," Kaithapram says.

"The film starts with Asif coming to a cricket camp in Kannur as a coach. When he travels from Lahore to Kerala, he has a personal mission too. The film will progress through his journey to his goal",added Kaithapram.

There would be five songs and a ghazal. The songs would be rendered by top Indian singers like K J Yesudas, Udit Narayan, Sankar Mahadevan, K S Chitra, Deepankuran and Shreya Ghoshal.

The film is being produced by a Sharjah-based entrepreneur M Mukundan, who hails from Kannur, under the banner of 'Valluvankadavu Recreations'.

Morgan leads recovery after Aamer makes inroads

Tea England 190 for 4 (Morgan 44*, Collingwood 27*) v Pakistan

Pakistan made significant inroads on the opening day of the first Test at Trent Bridge, but Eoin Morgan and Paul Collingwood led an England rally as they reached tea on 190 for 4. Mohammad Aamer continued the form that had caused Australia so many problems with three wickets while the other went to Mohammad Asif as the hosts stumbled either side of lunch. Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott fell in the space of four balls but the innings was put back on track as Morgan counter-attacked with a punchy display.

It was a typically mixed performance from Pakistan both with the ball and in the field. Kamran Akmal had a difficult time behind the stumps as he dropped a sitter off Andrew Strauss early in the first session and the support bowling for Aamer and Asif was distinctly lacking in quality.

There was also plenty of action for the UDRS as four reviews were called for in the first two sessions. Two of those were during Kevin Pietersen's painful 29-ball innings as Pakistan twice challenged not-out decisions. Asif was the bowler on both occasions, firstly with an lbw appeal which replays showed was only clipping the bails then when he thought Pietersen had edged to the wicketkeeper but the noise, expertly noticed by Asoka de Silva, had been bat clipping pad.

Pietersen, though, never settled and looked woefully short of form in his first innings for nearly a month and there was no doubt about his eventual dismissal when Asif nipped a ball back which took the inside edge into the stumps. It was another wonderful piece of bowling from an intelligent operator.

England's problems were compounded in the next over when Jonathan Trott, who had been reprieved by the UDRS when he had 13 after being given lbw to Danish Kaneria despite an inside edge, padded up to an inswinger from Aamer and this time Trott's request for a review couldn't save him.

At 118 for 4, Morgan was in the position to prove he could haul his team out of trouble in five-day as well as one-day cricket. He had an early alarm when he edged Aamer and Akmal - possibly out of sheer delight of thinking he'd caught one - claimed the dismissal but even with the naked eye it hadn't appeared to carry and replays confirmed the ball grazed the turf.

After that scare Morgan settled and battled hard to see off the main threat of the pace bowlers. His reward was to face two spinners, Kaneria and Shoaib Malik, who were used in tandem by Salman Butt as he rested his quicks towards the end of the session. He drove Malik powerfully through the covers and had the confidence to unfurl a reverse sweep off Kaneria whose lack of control was a problem for Butt.

Collingwood offered typically fighting support and broke the post-lunch shackles when he dispatched consecutive short balls from the struggling Umar Gul through the covers. By tea the fifth-wicket stand was worth 72 and it was Pakistan needing to regain control.

Strauss had looked in good form during the morning session although had huge stroke of luck when Akmal added another awful drop to a sizeable collection of keeping horrors. Akmal had been tidy during the recent series against Australia and there was a sense of disbelief that such an easy chance had gone down but he remains an unconvincing gloveman.

The mistake appeared to shake Pakistan who looked a little flat and when Aamer fired a ball so far down the leg side that it barely hit the cut strip heads threatened to drop. However, with the following ball Aamer hit the perfect line to Cook who was squared up on off stump and edged low to first slip. Trott then did well to keep out his first delivery as Aamer produced a well-directed yorker and England were relieved when his opening six-over spell came to end.

Strauss and Trott progressed comfortably as they added 51 for the second wicket but 10 minutes before the break Butt recalled Aamer for his second spell. With his fourth ball he found Strauss's top edge as the England captain's eyes lit up at a hint of width. It sent Pakistan into lunch in decent spirits and their mood improved further shortly after the resumption, but by tea momentum was beginning to shift again in what has already been a compelling contest.

India ahead as run-fest continues

India 669 for 9 (Tendulkar 203, Raina 120) lead Sri Lanka 642 for 4 dec by 27 runs

Normal service resumed on the fourth day with bat dominating ball on a placid pitch, after the Sri Lankan spinners had injected life into the Test on the third. India ensured a draw was inevitable, as they overhauled Sri Lanka's first-innings score, with Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina adding to an exhaustive list of milestones achieved in this game. Tendulkar eased to his fifth double-century while Raina became the first Indian batsman since Virender Sehwag in 2001 to score a Test century on debut.

As Tendulkar and Raina took India past the follow-on target, the proceedings evoked memories of the dull draws these two teams played out during the 1990s. With spread-out fields, a slow pitch and conditions discriminating against the bowlers, Sri Lanka's triple strike on the third morning proved an aberration.

That was evident in the positive approach adopted by Tendulkar and Raina at the outset on the fourth day. Tendulkar, who had been more sparing in his treatment of fuller deliveries amid pressure on day three, resumed his innings with a cover drive off Suraj Randiv. The seamers, while troubling Tendulkar occasionally with well-directed bouncers, were dealt with more harshly. Dammika Prasad, after striking Tendulkar on the helmet, was cracked for three fours through point; Dilhara Fernando, who induced Tendulkar to play an ill-executed upper cut - he had Tendulkar dropped off the same shot the previous day - was at the receiving end of his trademark straight drive.

Tendulkar shrugged off a couple of close shaves against Randiv - he padded up to deliveries that straightened but was saved by the bounce - by sweeping effectively against the turn and brought up his double with a paddle down to fine leg. 

Raina showed few signs of nerves in his maiden Test appearance, looking confident early in his innings. He didn't hesitate to step out against the spinners on the third day and began in a similar vein on the fourth, lofting Randiv over long-off. Unlike Tendulkar, Raina played the pitched-up deliveries with more comfort throughout his knock. He played his favourite slog-sweep to dispatch Randiv over midwicket, and brought up his ton with a drive through mid off. The celebration began the moment he connected; he clenched his fists, ran to the other end and soaked in the applause for an achievement that opened up India's options in their Test middle order. He was beaten by a Mendis legbreak shortly after lunch and spooned an easy catch to short midwicket but only after India had reached safety.

The batsmen that followed had plenty of time to adjust to variations in pace as well as frequent changes in length, and runs flowed at a healthy pace. This was on display in the manner that MS Dhoni settled in, stepping out to Mendis on just his fifth ball and pulling Prasad for consecutive boundaries. The spinners were heaved and slogged and Dhoni notched up another fifty.

Tillakaratne Dilshan salvaged some pride with a couple of quick wickets. Tendulkar was caught off an inside edge onto the pads, and Harbhajan Singh gifted a catch to midwicket. The resistance, however, continued with Dhoni and Abhimanyu Mithun occupying the crease for 21.4 overs before Dilshan struck again to snare the Indian captain.

Kumar Sangakkara kept three close-in catchers for much of the day, hoping the extra bounce would yield something. The seamers had a slip against Tendulkar, an additional leg slip for Raina, as well as a silly point for Dhoni when he was new to the crease. Perhaps Mendis could have come on much earlier than at the stroke of lunch. But their hopes were thwarted by a determined effort from Tendulkar, Raina and Dhoni, who have set up a third Test finale at the P Sara Stadium.

Pakistan prevail in thrilling finale

Pakistan's long, long wait for a Test victory over Australia finally came to an end amid scenes of excruciating tension on the fourth morning at Headingley, as a simple equation of 40 runs for victory with seven wickets still standing was made to look as complex as the proof to Fermat's Last Theorem. They eventually crept home with three men still standing, but their collective nerves in tatters, as Umar Gul launched the winning shot through the covers with the scores already level.

The margin of victory looked more comfortable than it felt, and that's putting it mildly. The eventual difference between the sides was the wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, whose 13 from 26 balls was as close as Pakistan came to a composed fourth-day performance. That said, had Akmal been given out caught in the gully with five runs still required, who knows what miracles might have transpired. Mike Hussey's low scoop was turned down by the TV umpire, but after Mohammad Aamer had edged another four to balance the books, Akmal slammed another chance which Hussey this time plucked to his left.

The morning had begun amid scenes of raucous optimism from the noisy knots of Pakistan fans in the Western Stand - lured by five pound tickets and the prospect of a chance to witness history - and there was an early moment of poignancy as well, as Rudi Koertzen was given a guard of honour to commemorate the final day of his 108-Test umpiring career. 

But as soon as the focus returned to the centre of the field, Australia resumed their attack with the same vigour that had hauled them back into contention in the final moments of the third evening's play. Doug Bollinger, who had jolted Pakistan with two wickets in seven balls, made it three in 17 as the overnight anchor, Azhar Ali, feathered a length delivery through to Tim Paine, only moments after spanking a full toss through the covers to bring up his maiden Test half-century.

At 146 for 4, with a tantalising 34 still needed for victory and Australia's fielders cranking up the chatter, the stage could hardly have been less ideal for the impetuous Umar Akmal, a man who likes nothing better than to blaze away with impunity. He edged Ben Hilfenhaus for a streaky four through third slip, a shot accompanied by a roar of relief from the stands, but one over later, he was gone as well, via a flat-footed poke to a regulation outswinger.

With Bollinger bounding in with the unstoppable intent of a latter-day Merv Hughes, appeals and alarms were two-a-penny. Kamran Akmal survived consecutive appeals for caught behind and lbw - both rightly turned down by Koertzen - before Shoaib Malik was dropped one over later by a diving Michael Clarke at second slip. He couldn't make his luck count, however, as Marcus North at extra cover clung onto a full-blooded drive off Hilfenhaus, to leave Pakistan on the ropes at 161 for 6, with Aamer's appearance at No. 8 scarcely helping to settle the nerves.

Akmal's response was two priceless fours in five balls - the first a touch streaky as he snicked an outswinger away through third man, the second more emphatic as he got up onto his toes to punch a drive through extra cover. With 13 consecutive Test victories over Pakistan, including their corker at Sydney in January, Australia's belief did not waver at any stage of the morning, but in the final analysis, they were unable to make amends for their 88-all-out debacle on the first day.

Tendulkar denies blood-in-book report

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar has denied a report that his blood will be used in a special pictorial "celebration" book on the career of the Indian cricket legend.
The mammoth book slated to appear in February is designed to be the "ultimate tribute to a living sporting legend" and "the definitive work on his life and career", publishers Kraken said.
The 37-year-old Tendulkar, who is in Sri Lanka playing a Test series, denied reports which appeared last week in British newspaper The Guardian that his blood would used on the book's signature page.
"There is no truth in my blood being part of the book," Tendulkar told The Times of India in comments published on Saturday.
Kraken chief executive Karl Fowler was quoted by the British broadsheet as saying 10 copies of the book would be printed using Tendulkar's blood.
Fowler, who had been earlier cited as saying Sachin's blood would be "mixed into the paper pulp so it's a red resin" told the Times of India that his comments had been "misunderstood."
"The Opus will not carry any blood as mentioned in the several articles/TV reports that have appeared over the past few days," The Times quoted Fowler as saying.
"I believe my thoughts on this matter have been misunderstood," the publisher added.
News reports say around 1,000 Opus copies, each numbered and personally signed, will go on sale at 2,000 to 3,000 dollars.
Each of the 852 pages are 50 centimetres (20 inches) square and edged in gold leaf. The publication weighs 37 kilograms (82 pounds) and contains around 1,500 images and more than 300,000 words.
Tendulkar is the first cricketer to be given the Opus treatment. Previous works have been published on Ferrari, Manchester United, Diego Maradona, Michael Jackson and the Burj Khalifa.

Malinga rested, Mendis likely to replace Muralitharan

Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who helped bowl his side to a 10-wicket victory over India in the first Test on Thursday, has been rested on medical advice for the second Test that starts on Monday.
Malinga was rested on the advice of team physiotherapist Tommy Simsek after the bowler complained of stiffness in his right knee, chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva said.
The 26-year-old, who only returned to the test arena at Galle after having last played a test match in Dec. 2007 because of an injury to the knee, took five for 50 in India's second innings that helped his side to a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
"We have to be cautious with Malinga. He was not feeling quite fit to go through a five-day Test. He complained of stiffness in his knee," said De Silva.
Malinga will be replaced by Dilhara Fernando.
Ajantha Mendis who took six for 67 in a three-day game against India but was overlooked for the first test, was named in the 16-man squad and is likely to take the now retired Muttiah Muralitharan's position.
Muralitharan retired after he took his 800th test wicket with his final delivery at Galle.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene was named as Kumar Sangakkara's vice-captain to replace Muralitharan.
"We want Mahela who has a good cricket brain to be part of the decision-making in the middle," said De Silva.
Sri Lanka squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Thilina Kandamby, Dammika Prasad, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Pradeep.

Sangakkara and Paranavitana punish India

The Test is only a day old but already it appears as though it's Sri Lanka's game to lose. As expected, the lambs were led to slaughter. The Indian bowling attack defined mediocrity and Sri Lanka bossed it around in style to reach a strong position by the end of the opening day in Galle. Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana sealed well-compiled tons as the hosts galloped towards gaining complete control before rains brought an early end to the day's play.

No Test hundred is easy. Especially if it's scored against a team ranked No. 1 in the world. However, this was one of the easier hundreds Sangakkara has scored against a top-ranked team. A maiden hundred, though, is never easy irrespective of the opposition and Paranavitana played splendidly to get to his. His celebration was befitting of the landmark: He screamed in delight, pumped his fists, jumped in joy, and ran almost all the way to the boundary.

What stood out was the ease with which Paranavitana and Sangakkara progressed. It appeared as though they were having a net session. India's weak bowling attack was further handicapped by Harbhajan Singh's ailment. He hobbled away during the second session and, though he returned to bowl later, was still suffering from the after effects of the injury and illness that threatened his presence in the team. He hardly looked his best and once again disappeared into the pavilion in the final session.

Without Harbhajan in his element, India's attack lacked bite, inspiration and skill, which was reflected in the lines bowled. Pragyan Ojha pinged the middle-and-leg line with a backward short leg and short leg in place. Often, he slipped the ball outside leg. While Paranavitana swept and worked him behind square leg, Sangakkara backed away to cut from middle stump. Never did it seem that he was taking any undue risk.

Harbhajan bowled farther outside off and hardly got the two left-hand batsmen to drive. He had a short cover and a short extra cover in place but the length and line was never right for the drive. The part-timer Virender Sehwag eventually produced mistakes from the batsmen. Sangakkara, on 65, edged a square drive but MS Dhoni couldn't catch a straightforward chance and Paranavitana edged an attempted cut but Yuvraj Singh couldn't reach it despite a dive at backward point.

For the main part, the batsmen sparkled with pretty stroke play. Sangakkara's best shot was an on-the-up punch to the straight boundary off Ishant Sharma, who was poor in his first couple of spells. Sangakkara repeatedly tucked and punched Ishant through the on side and used his crease to cut and drive the spinners. He sashayed down the track to crash Ojha to the long-on boundary and swept and cut Harbhajan. Early in his innings, Sangakkara played a couple of expansive shots - one which flew just past short extra cover and the other which vanished over the slips - but he quickly settled down. The trademark Sangakkara hits were on display: the square drive on bent knee, the cover-drive hit with a high front elbow, and the precisely placed cuts and the occasional dash down the track.

His partner Paranavitana had started with two edged boundaries in Ishant's first over but quickly tightened his game. He rarely chased the ball, he rarely tried to play an expansive shot and he rarely looked in trouble. There was a punchy drive through extra cover against Ishant and an off-driven boundary in the same over during the first session. There was also a moment of apprehension, when he got a leading edge against Harbhajan in the last over before lunch, but Gautam Gambhir couldn't react quickly enough at silly point to take it. Paranavitana continued to make merry after the break: He flicked and off drove Mithun, slog swept and straight drove Ojha, and rotated the strike with dabs and nudges.

Sangakkara had chosen to bat after overnight rain delayed the start and left the pitch damp in Galle. Though Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan, who gloved an attempted pull against Mithun, they hardly broke a sweat thereafter.

The manner of Sangakkara's dismissal captured the spirit of the day. The ball was a long hop from Sehwag and Sangakkara pulled it straight to Sachin Tendulkar at deep midwicket. It seemed the only way the Indians were going to buy a wicket and it was aptly gifted to Sehwag, the best Indian spinner on view.

There were couple of other moments that indicated perhaps the course of the Test. The first was when Ishant got a delivery to kick up from short of a length with a puff of dust from the pitch. A few overs later, Ojha drifted one in from round the stumps, pitched the ball on leg and middle and got it to spin across Mahela Jayawardene's bat. Muttiah Muralitharan, eight wickets short of 800, wouldn't have missed either sign

Muttiah Muralitharan

FLASHBACK 1991... The big moment - Muttiah Muralitharan of St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota (left) receives the Observer Trophy from Chief Guest Mr. Sirisena Cooray watched by then Observer Editor Mr. H. L. D. Mahindapala.

 Muttiah Muralitharan and his wife Madhimalar

'Murali doesn't deserve the record' - Emerson

Ross Emerson, the Australian umpire who no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan during an ODI against England in Adelaide in 1999, insists the offspinner doesn't deserve his record of most wickets in Tests and the 50-over format.

"I haven't changed my view in 15 years - he doesn't deserve the record," Emerson told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. "You couldn't compare his record to Shane Warne's - no one ever doubted the legality of Warne's action. Murali was a great competitor and a great bowler but a lot of the time he just didn't bowl within the limits of the law."

Murali will retire from Tests following the first Test against India in Galle that starts on July 18. He was first no-balled for "throwing" by Darrell Hair in the MCG Test in 1995 and it was almost ten years later that the ICC amended the rules pertaining to suspect bowling actions, permitting all bowlers to straighten their bowling arms by up to 15 degrees.

Hair, unlike Emerson, had no problems with Murali holding the record, but didn't regret his decision to no-ball him. Instead, he argued, the ICC's decision to change the rules vindicated his actions. "I have no angst over him holding the record but the fact that the rules had to be changed to handle bowlers like that vindicated my actions and the actions of other umpires who called him," Hair said.

"Once they changed the rules and made it legal for bowlers to bend their arm to 15 per cent they gave an advantage to a couple of bowlers who could get something extra from that rule. I would rather see the rule as it was where you couldn't bend your arm at all. That would mean everyone was the same."

Emerson, who later stood down and was not reappointed to the umpires panel, claimed he had been asked to no-ball Murali by an Australian official and was ignored once the incident became a major issue. "I was called to a meeting with him and, knowing that I had called some other players, he told me I had set standards in certain areas which I should uphold in Adelaide," Emerson said. "Yet everything blew up after I called Murali and when I saw him again he wouldn't even look at me.

"Darrell Hair and I were called the controversial ones yet the rule change proved us right. The controversial ones were the umpires who thought he was a chucker yet weren't brave enough to call him. A lot of umpires agreed with what we did but didn't have the courage to call him."

Murali, meanwhile, said he had proved his action was legitimate after being cleared by a series of Tests conducted by the ICC. "I have no regrets at all of being called a controversial bowler," he told reporters in Colombo. "I have proved everything by use of technology. I don't regret anything. My talent is God's gift.

"Nowadays, we use technology for everything. Those who criticise must give bowlers a chance to be tested, not treat them as criminals.