Fans bid tearful goodbye to Dara Singh

Bollywood celebrities and people from all walks of society gathered to pay their last respects to legendary wrestler-actor Dara Singh, who was cremated in suburban Vile Parle this afternoon.



Members of the film fraternity and thousands of fans witnessed his final journey.

His body was taken in procession in a truck decorated with flowers, from his home 'Dara Villa' to the Pawan Hans crematorium, where the last rites were performed.

Besides family members, those present from the film industry were veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, director Sajid Khan, actor-director Parmeet Sethi, actors Dheeraj Kumar, Jaspal Bhatti, Anoop Soni and Raza Murad.

Congress leader Kripashankar Singh was also present. He told reporters that he had come to pay tributes on behalf of party president Sonia Gandhi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and the Congress party.

TV actor Feroz Khan, who was with him in serial 'Mahabharat' said, "He was like a father to me...he treated me like his son. Simplicity was another name of Dara Singh."

Abhishek Bachchan, Tabu, Bobby Deol, Manoj Kumar and others went to his residence in Juhu to pay condolences.

The last rites were performed by his three sons including TV-film actor Vindu Dara Singh.

A childhood hero to many for his wrestling prowess, 83-year-old Singh, who played Hanuman in epic teleserial 'Ramayan' and also dabbled in politics, passed away at his residence in Juhu in suburban Mumbai today.

On July 7, Dara Singh was rushed to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital by his family members following a cardiac problem. He had been in a critical condition since then. Two days later, he was put on dialysis after his kidneys stopped functioning.

Wednesday night he was shifted from the hospital to his Juhu home as it was his family's wish that he should be at home in the last stages of his life, a hospital official had told

The " Rustam-e-Hind" title holder is survived by his wife and six children - three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Vindo Dara Singh, is a known name in showbiz.

Injured Mark Boucher retires from international cricket

London: South Africa's Mark Boucher retired from international cricket with immediate effect on Tuesday after being struck in the eye a day earlier. The prolific wicket-keeper had a surgery on his eye in England and has flown back home.



Boucher, who has played in 147 Tests and 295 ODIs, was struck by a bail during his team's tour opener against English county Somerset. "It is with sadness, and in some pain, that I make this announcement. Due to the severity of my eye injury, I will not be able to play International cricket again," a statement on his behalf said. The third Test of the series - at Lords - would have been the 150th appearance for the player who will retire with 999 international dismissals. His 555 dismissals in Tests is a record.

Team manager Mohammed Moosajee had earlier said that the extent of Boucher's injury was severe and that it was "difficult to determine the extent of the long-term damage."

The 35-year-old player has been a solid performer for the Proteas and his brilliant skills behind the stumps was matched only by his ability with the bat.

Boucher made his international Test debut against Pakistan in 1997 and has since been a permanent part of the national side.
On Tuesday, Boucher in his statement issued his thanks for the wishes. "I am deeply touched by all the well wishes. I wish the team well in the UK, as I head home and onto a road of uncertain recovery."
South African Test skipper Graeme Smith who read out Boucher's statement, expressed his sadness at the announcement and called the player 'a patriotic South African and a fighter.'
"Bouch, we have walked a long road together, and we are saddened to part under these circumstances. For the 14years of your International career, you have been a true Proteas warrior, a patriotic South African, a fighter who asks nothing and gives everything," he said in a personal message.

Sachin opts out; Sehwag, Zaheer return to squad

Opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan on Wednesday returned to a 15-member Indian cricket squad after recovering from injuries even as senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar decided to skip the limited overs tour of Sri Lanka starting July 21. Sehwag, Zaheer, along with young pacer Umesh Yadav, had sat out of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March due to fitness issues. While Sehwag was nursing back spasms and a shoulder injury, Zaheer and Umesh too had niggles.

Tendulkar, who has played only two ODI series since 2011 World Cup and is now a Rajya Sabha MP, made himself unavailable for selection for the Lanka tour which will have five ODIs and a Twenty20 International.
Young Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane has replaced Tendulkar in the side. The other change from the Asia Cup side is the inclusion of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in place of out-of-form all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
The committee, which picked the squad in a meeting here, also decided to include Umesh at the expense of Praveen Kumar.
"We have the best available team. Sachin is not available. I think it is a very good side which has very strong batting line-up and good bowlers and we are confident that it will do well in Sri Lanka," chairman of selection committee Krishnamachari Srikkanth told reporters after announcing the squad.
There was no place for feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who endured indifferent form during the IPL and has now signed up with English county side Essex, as the selectors continued to ignore him while Rahul Sahrma was retained in the side. The team will thus have three spinners on low-bouncing and spinning tracks in Sri Lanka.
The team will also have seven specialist batsmen, four seamers and a wicketkeeper in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The team has endured poor results since the second half of last year, having been whitewashed in the Test series in England and Australia before failing to make the finals of the Asia Cup.
"It is a long season ahead and I think we will come back to winning ways. Sachin wants to extend his career. He must be aiming at England and Australia (series later this year). He is spacing it out very well," said Srikkanth.
"I don't really want to dwell on whys, they are difficult. We should look at what has been selected," he said.
The rest of the squad remains the same with the selectors retaining Virat Kohli as vice-captain, a position that the Delhi youngster took from opener Gautam Gambhir during the Asia Cup.
"Virat Kohli has been appointed vice-captain, the idea is continuity. Virat got brilliant hundreds after becoming vice captain which shows that he likes responsibility," explained Srikkanth.
Aggressive but inconsistent all-rounder Yusuf Pathan was ignored after failing to make an impact in the IPL, along with his brother Irfan.
In Sri Lanka, India will play a five-match ODI series between July 21 and August 4 followed by a one-off Twenty20 International on August 7.
A little over a month separates the Sri Lanka tour and the Twenty20 World Cup, which will be played in the same country.
Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Suresh Raina, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma.