It could be the moment of truth for Lalit Modi. The high profile chairman of the Indian Premier League is locked in an acrimonious battle for the reins of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. Sanjay Dixit, a senior IAS officer in the Rajasthan government is providing Modi the kind of resistance that even Jagmohan Dalmiya could not pose to his authority.

A win or defeat may not immediately affect Modi's twin positions — the vice-presidency of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the chairmanship of IPL — but an adverse result would be an embarrassment for the jet-setting administrator of Indian cricket.

Wellington, Feb. 28: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will increase on ground security for the upcoming one day matches against India, after a bottle was thrown onto the field during last night''s Twenty20 international in Wellington.

Play was halted briefly towards the end of the New Zealand innings after a plastic bottle was thrown from the crowd on to the ground close to Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan.

Pakistani skipper Younis Khan's maiden triple ton against Sri Lanka in the drawn Test at Karachi moved him six places ahead to take the number one position in the latest ICC player rankings for Test batsmen released here.

Wellington (New Zealand), Feb. 28 : The New Zealand cricket squad for the first three one day internationals (ODI) against India announced today features the return of Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder and Kyle Mills, all of who were out of the squad with different injuries.

Ewen Thompson and Nathan McCullum from the Twenty20 squad have been omitted.

Stuff. co. nz quoted selection panel chairman Glenn Turner as saying that the squad was a strong one, which reflected the sizeable pool of players in consistent good form at international and domestic levels.

The selectors had decided not to include a second spinner in the initial ODI squad, Turner said.

PepsiCo has won the sponsorship for Mukesh Ambani’s IPL team, Mumbai Indians (MI) for the upcoming second season of the much awaited tournament.

As part of the deal, PepsiCo will get branding, promotion and pouring rights for the MI team, and the brand will be featured on the players' apparel and helmets.

The company has also acquired exclusive pouring rights at home matches, besides being the official beverage for the same team.

Lahore, Feb. 28 : The itinerary of the Australia-Pakistan one-day international series has been revised again.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the series, which is to be played at a neutral venue, United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be played from April 22 to May
7.

"Now the series will be played from April 22 to May 7 as we have pushed backed the date of the first match by two days," PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said.