Razzak, Shahadat in

DHAKA: Seasoned bowlers Abdur Razzak and Shahadat Hossain were on Thursday included in a 14-man Bangladesh squad to face Zimbabwe in a one-day series starting from next week. Left-arm spinner Razzak and seamer Shahadat Hossain were declared fit after missing the previous series in Zimbabwe in August which Bangladesh won 4-1. Shakib Al Hasan, 22, will continue to lead Bangladesh in the absence of the injured Mashrafe Mortaza. The first three matches against Zimbabwe will be played in Dhaka on October 27, 29 and 31, before the teams travel to Chittagong for the last two games on November 3 and 5. — AFP

Tulu to race again

NEW YORK: Two-time Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia will race the New York City Marathon on November 1, organisers said on Wednesday. Tulu, 37, won Olympic 10,000 metre gold in 1992 and 2000, and took bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. She also captured World Championship gold at 10,000m in 2001. Tulu has raced the New York City Marathon once before, finishing third in 2005. She joins a women’s field that features Paula Radcliffe of Britain, Ludmila Petrova of Russia, Yuri Kano of Japan, Christelle Daunay of France and the Salina Kosgei of Kenya. — AFP

Ribery ruled out

BERLIN: Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery will miss the next four weeks — including France’s World Cup play-offs against Ireland — to help recover from his persistent knee injury, it was revealed on Thursday. The 26-year-old has struggled all season and Bayern coach Louis van Gaal insists the French play-maker needs an extended break to put the injury behind him. Ribery is set to miss France’s two-legged play-off qualifiers against Ireland on November 14 and 18. And he also looks set to miss Bayern’s forthcoming important Bundesliga games including trips to Stuttgart and home to Schalke as well as Leverkusen. — AFP

Veh unhappy

WOLFSBURG: Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh admitted he will have stern words with struggling striker Grafite after the Brazilian was shown a straight red card for violent conduct in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw ith Besiktas. Both the Germans and Turks are still in the hunt for a place in the Champions League’s knock-out stage and second-place in Group B behind runaway leaders Manchester United. But Grafite is struggling for form this term and did his side no favours by being shown a straight red card midway through the second-half for striking his marker in the face. “The red card was fair and deserved,” said Veh. —AFP

Surrey sign Chawla

LONDON: Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla will play for Surrey in 2010, the English county said on Wednesday. The 20-year-old impressed for Surrey’s southern rivals Sussex last season, taking 36 wickets at an average of 27.25. He has also appeared in two Tests and 31 one-day internationals for India. Chawla made a huge impact during his first period in English cricket last year, first scoring 102 not out from 86 balls and then taking 6-152 as Sussex beat Worcestershire by 10 wickets. In his second game he took impressive match figures of 11-170 against Somerset. — AFP