A crushing six-wicket haul by paceman Abhishek Nayar helped Mumbai restrict Himachal Pradesh to 250 in their first innings in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match.

Nayar’s six for 45 in three spells helped Mumbai restrict Himachal to 250 after winning the toss.

Himachal's opening pair of Bhavin Thakkar and Sangram Singh — began cautiously and added 20 runs for the first wicket partnership.

However, Himachal batsman failed to maintain the momentum and in a quick succession of time, they lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 50 for three by the 25th over.

Putting an end to the uncertainty on the fate of the series, Sri Lanka, on Friday, decided to go ahead with its cricket tour of Pakistan to fill in for a cancelled Indian trip.  

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollgama, who recommended that the tour should advance as scheduled from January 20 to February 25.

The series will feature three Tests, as many ODIs and a Twenty20 match. It may be here recalled that due to Mumbai terror attacks, India called off its tour of Pakistan.

Master batsman, Sachin Tendulkar today supported the government's decision to call off India's cricket tour to Pakistan, following the terror attacks in Mumbai last month.  Tendulkar, who is on vacation at the hill resort Mussorie, with wife Anjali and two children, appreciated the government's decision as the incident of the loss of lives was immensely painful and of greater importance than cricket. About 173 persons lost their lives in the terror strike in the country's financial capital.

Opening batsman Matthew Hayden has indicated that he may review his future with Australia after the series with South Africa but stressed "I`m not anywhere near" retirement and any decision on his future would be based on his performances.

Bhaichung Bhutia, the outstanding striker of the Indian team, has been chosen as the `player of the year' (2008) by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Speaking on this, an elated Bhutia said, “I feel honoured, I feel humbled.”

“It was great leading India to the AFC Challenge Cup title. Overall it has been a very productive year,” Bhutia said.

Former BCCI president and the current ICC Vice-President Sharad Pawar along with ICC president David Morgan and CEO Haroon Lorgat met rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) chief Subhash Chandra in New Delhi on Monday evening.

ICL wants ICC to recognize it as an official league. From the very beginning, the BCCI had adopted a hard-line approach against the ICL, barring Indian cricketers associated with the league from accessing even their local college grounds. It also used its significant influence within the ICC to ensure other national boards imposed similar bans on ICL cricketers and officials.