Hyderabad, Jan. 12 : Uttar Pradesh fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mumbai''s star batters Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nayar stole the limelight on the first day of the five-day Ranji Trophy final on Monday.

While Kumar captured his first five wicket haul in a final, Sharma rode his his luck to score an unbeaten 113. He was ably assisted by all-rounder Nayar, who fell one short of a well-deserved century.

Kumar stole the thunder from much more illustrious names and in-form players in the morning by reducing Mumbai to 55 for four, including consigning batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket.

Karachi, Jan. 12 : Pakistan have included uncapped batsman Umar Amin in a 15-man squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka this month.

`Amin has been rewarded for his excellent performances in domestic cricket,' a Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday.

The left-handed batsman is expected to be given a chance to fill the void created by the defection of senior batsman Mohammed Yousuf to the unofficial Indian Cricket League, the Dawn reports.

Cairo/Jerusalem, Jan. 12 : Iran has warned Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.

An Egyptian government official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal.

He said Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah.

His remarks came as Hamas representatives met in Cairo with Egyptian Intelligence Chief General Omar Suleiman and his aides to discuss ways of ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Chennai, Jan. 12 : A Sri Lankan lawmakers delegation belonging to the Tamil National Alliance Party, on Monday, appealed to the Tamil Nadu and Indian Governments to intervene in the military offensive against the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the island nation.

The team of five legislators asked the Indian leadership to mediate and save the lives of thousands of innocent Tamils.

"We (are)appealing to chief minister Tamil Nadu and central government, we are expecting to stop the war immediately otherwise our people will die, definitely they will die. So stop the war immediately and take action for peace talks," said Sambandam, a Sri Lankan legislator.

New Delhi, Jan. 12 : Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Monday said that the country has of late adopted an integrated energy policy that would enable it to fuel economic growth and meet the larger human development goals by choosing fuels that are socially and economically desirable.

Addressing the issue of India''s energy deficit, Deora said the integrated energy policy envisages an energy mix that focuses on augmenting the domestic energy resource base and increasing efficiency while strategizing India''s stakes in energy assets overseas.

Washington, Jan. 12 : Outgoing US President George W Bush has admitted to refusing to "bail out" his Republican party by withdrawing troops "during the darkest days of Iraq".

That decision is now lauded by his father in an unprecedented joint interview to FOX News Sunday.

"During the darkest days of Iraq, people came to me and said, ''You''re creating incredible political difficulties for us,''" the current president said as his term draws to a close. "And I said, ''Oh, really? What do you suggest I do?'' And some suggested retreat, pull out of Iraq.