Sachin Tendulkar's ODI retirement 'not a shocker' for BCCI:

Chief administrative officer of the BCCI Ratnakar Shetty said the board respects Sachin Tendulkar's decision.

Mumbai:
The Indian cricket board said Sunday that Sachin Tendulkar's decision to retire from ODI cricket was no surprise.

Ratnakar Shetty, chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the board respects Tendulkar's decision.

"Tendulkar's decision is not a shocker for BCCI. He was waiting for the right time," Shetty told reporters at the Cricket Centre here.

Tendulkar took the decision minutes before the selectors announced the team for the limited overs series against Pakistan starting Dec 25. But he will keep playing Test cricket.

Tendulkar spoke to Board president N. Srinivasan and conveyed his decision.

"I have decided to retire from One Day format. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup wining Indian team," said Tendulkar in a statement.

Tendulkar said it was time for the team to prepare for the 2015 World Cup.

"The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years," he said.

Sachin Tendulkar announces retirement from ODIs:

One of the game's all-time greats, Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday announced his retirement from one-day cricket, bringing to an end a glorious 23-year-old career in the format during which he rewrote numerous batting records.

Follow tweets on Sachin Tendulkar's retirement with #SachinTendulkar

"I have decided to retire from the One-Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest," the 39-year-old said in a statement released by the BCCI on Sunday.

In pics: The people in the master's life

"I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years," he added.

Special: The Sachin Special

Tendulkar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters' list.

Tendulkar goes out after amassing 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander has an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred - the first in this form of the game.

In pics: The 'hair-raising' tale of Sachin

Tendulkar made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and interestingly he is quitting the scene just ahead of another series against the arch-rivals.

The Mumbaikar, who made himself unavailable for Twenty20 after playing just one game in 2006, will now remain active in only the Test arena.

Sachin Tendulkar: 39 years, 39 achievements

The brightest moment of his ODI career came last year when he finally became part of a World Cup winning Indian team after five previous appearances.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sachin-tendulkar-retires-from-odis/1/239109.html

Button believed McLaren would win F1 title last season after first five races:

Jenson Button has revealed he thought McLaren would win the world championship after the season’s first five races.

But Button admitted that, in the final reckoning, the team was just not quite good enough.

Button, who also believed early on that Lotus would be McLaren’s main challenger, won the first Grand Prix of the year in Australia after a strong winter testing performance.

“Af ter five races I thought we would win the championship. We seemed very competitive and at that stage I wouldn’t have said Red Bull would win,” the Sun quoted Button, as saying.

McLaren eventually finished third to Red Bull and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, with Button taking three victories and team-mate Lewis Hamilton four.

Although the Woking team often had a super-fast car, they were stymied by reliability problems.

Button added: “You always think you’ve lost if you haven’t won the championship. Red Bull did a very good job and won whereas we still did a good job, just not quite good enough.”

“But it’s a very competitive sport and we shouldn’t be disappointed with how we’ve gone about our racing,” he said.

Malaga heap misery on Real Madrid with 3-2 win:

Madrid: Real Madrid`s Liga woes continued after they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Malaga in a thrilling clash at La Rosaleda on Saturday.

Roque Santa Cruz was the match-winner off the bench for the home side, scoring twice in the second half to heap more pressure on Jose Mourinho, who now sees his team fall 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona.

Isco fired Malaga into a deserved lead four minutes into the second half, but a scramble in the box saw Madrid draw level in the 69th minute through a Sergio Sanchez own goal.

But Santa Cruz would make the difference for the Andalusians, scoring twice in three minutes from a pair of Joaquin assists to put los Blancos to the sword, rendering Karim Benzema`s 82nd minute strike nothing but mere consolation.

But it was Malaga keeper Wily Caballero who was called into action first, the Argentine showing excellent reflexes to thwart Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick from 30 yards out only a few minutes into the game.

The match proceeded at a frantic pace, with both teams not shying away from contact in midfield, though the best chances would continue to fall Madrid’s way throughout the first-half.

The capital outfit should have been ahead with 24 minutes on the clock, but Ronaldo, after slipping in Angel Di Maria on the right, blasted the return ball over the bar from a gilt-edged position at the far post.

The pair would combine again almost immediately on a scintillating Madrid break. From the left flank, the Portuguese played in Di Maria between the centre backs with a fantastic pass, but the winger’s clever dink over Caballero was hacked off the line by Nacho Monreal.

Half-time was a welcome respite for Malaga, who were forced increasingly onto the ropes coming up to the interval. But they emerged from the break firing on all cylinders, and four minutes after the restart, stormed into the lead.

Joaquin did well to manufacture space on the left flank and pick out Isco just inside the area, and the 20-year-old took one touch before finishing superbly into the bottom corner across the body of Adan.

Francisco Portillo nearly added a quickfire second after he was found by Jesus Gamez in space inside the area, but Adan stopped his effort at full stretch.

Malaga were creating all the danger in the second half, and Joaquin fired just wide after an inspired run down the wing, before Javier Saviola brushed the frame of the goal with an attempt from the edge of the box.

But Madrid rode their luck at both ends of the pitch, and found a way back into the match with 21 minutes remaining. Ronaldo’s cross to the far post sparked an almighty scramble, which ended when Sanchez’s outstretched leg sent the ball trickling past the wrong-footed Caballero.

The Malaga defender would atone for his mishap within moments of the restart though, as he threw himself at Mesut Ozil, who was primed to score from point-blank range after a marauding run.

And in the 73rd minute, the home side would be back in front, as a low cross from Gamez was flicked by Joaquin into the path of Santa Cruz, who tapped into an empty net at the far post.

Within minutes, Malaga were 3-1 ahead, with Joaquin again pulling the strings in attack. The winger played in Santa Cruz with a lovely reverse pass, and the substitute’s finish into the bottom corner was equally sublime.

But just when the hosts looked assured of victory, Ozil picked out Benzema on the counter, and the Frenchman finished calmly to mark a nervy end to the game with eight minutes remaining.

There was nothing left from Madrid though, as Malaga defended superbly in the time that remained to clinch a priceless scalp and move to within two points of third place.

Apple’s ‘pinch-to-zoom’ patent dismissed by US Patent Office:

London: Apple’s patent on pinching to zoom, a key issue in its battle against Samsung, has reportedly been declared ‘invalid’ by the US Patent Office, who claim that the patent should never have been granted.

The rejection comes as a blow to Apple’s 1 billion dollar lawsuit against rival Samsung, and is the second such occurrence in just a few months. The ‘pinch to zoom’ feature is one of six patents that Samsung was found to have infringed earlier this year, and formed a key feature of Apple’s iPhone as well as all subsequent smartphones, The Telegraph reports.

According to the paper, the feature allows users to zoom in and out of almost anything on a smartphone screen simply by moving two fingers together or apart.

Apple's claims were rejected on the grounds that prior patents covered the inventions. The US Patent Office ruling was revealed in court documents filed by Samsung in San Jose, where the two technology giants are battling over the patent infringement claims, the paper said. Apple, however, is likely to appeal the ruling so the patent is still technically in force, the paper added.

Earlier, the US Patent Office also threw out Apple’s “bounce” feature, also known as “rubber-banding”, which governs the visual effect to indicate when a user has hit the bottom of a web page, the paper concluded.