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Friday,
June 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Badani to open innings Saurav Ganguly writes
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| Win or lose, Toronto plans to celebrate
anyway Toronto, June 14 Win or lose, Toronto plans to show the world that it can throw a party of Olympic proportions. The party is scheduled for July 13, the day that the International Olympic Committee decides whether Toronto, Beijing, Paris, Osaka or Istanbul has won the right to host the 2008 summer Olympic Games. Waugh, McGrath may miss Indian
series Nash, Vettori fit
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Tushar storms
into final Making a mockery
of Sangat Darshan
BA in
sports Kournikova may miss
Wimbledon Gymnastics meet
comes to an end Steel Plant defeat AG Haryana
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Badani to open innings Harare, June 14 “Badani will open the batting. He wants to...” Wright said, adding the Tamil Nadu left-hander was given a choice to bat either as an opener or at No 7 and he opted to open. “Looking at the wicket and other factors, I think it is a good opportunity for him. It will not be held against him as he is basically a middle order batsman. It is his first opportunity in this position,” he said. Badani, who will make his Test debut tomorrow, has never opened the innings in his first class career but he possesses a sound technique and impressed when given the opportunity in a three-day match against CFX Academy where he scored an attractive 35 before
retiring. Badani gets his first Test in place of his statemate Sadgopan Ramesh who has not recovered from a back injury he sustained while fielding in the first Test. Wright said Badani had it in him to make a transition from a middle-order batsman to an opener and expressed confidence that the stylish left-hander will make the most of the opportunity offered to him. “In my point of view, he has the technique to open the batting. Some people can make the transition and some can’t. There is this psychology of the whole position. But Hemang wants to do it and I think he would do a good job. He will put in his 100 per cent,” Wright said. India will be up against not only a more determined home side but also a miserable record at the ground when they go into the Test. India have bitter memories of this ground having lost the one-off Test in 1998. Even in Zimbabwe’s inaugural Test in 1992, they had to struggle to earn a
draw. On the other hand, four of the five Test wins for the hosts have come on this ground. But to say that the Indians are on a high after their comprehensive eight-wicket win in the first match in Bulawayo would be to state the obvious. The visitors have one of the most balanced sides in years and almost all of them are in top form. The first win outside the sub-continent in 15 years has done wonders for their confidence and, as some of the players said after the win in Bulawayo, they would go all out for a 2-0 series win. Having said that, the hosts too have prepared well for this Test with captain Heath Streak and coach Carl Rackemann saying they have identified their mistakes in the first Test and have modified their strategy. Zimbabwe was very capable of surprising the Indians, both of them stressed. After a nightmarish series against Australia back home, Ganguly has so far failed to click on this tour also. Though he has succeeded as captain, Ganguly knows he needs to get the runs on the board to silence his critics. With conditions once again favourable to fast bowling, the trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra would be expected to come up with a performance similar to that in the first Test. Ganguly yesterday cleared all doubts regarding Nehra’s participation in the match saying the left-hander from Delhi will definitely play. Nehra had put in an impressive performance in the first Test claiming five wickets including that of Andy Flower in both the innings. But he was stopped from bowling for the rest of the innings for damaging the pitch in his follow-through. Zimbabwe, who were handicapped by the absence of Streak and Henry Olonga in the Indian second innings at Bulawayo, would be bolstered by the presence of fast bowler Travis Friend. Friend had missed the first Test due to injury and is all set to make his debut here. “Friend is fully fit for the game. He looked good in the nets today and is bowling with a great pace. He would make it this time (second Test),” Streak said. Streak himself is raring to go though he is still to be declared fully fit but Olonga will miss the Test. Streak said his team had carefully studied the mistakes in the first Test and was working hard to rectify them. “We realised where we had our downfall and hopefully we will put it right in Friday’s Test,” he said. “We let Harbhajan Singh get away with a bit more than he should have... Now with a better balanced side, without any injuries, hopefully we won’t let that happen again. “We lacked patience while batting in our first innings and the guys mistimed their shots and we have to address that in this Test,” Streak said. Both teams expressed satisfaction with the pitch which seems a little more spinner-friendly than the one at Bulawayo thought the fast bowlers will continue to enjoy an advantage. Teams (from): India:
Saurav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sunder Das, Sadgopan Ramesh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hemang Badani, Samir Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Debashish Mohanty, Ashish Nehra, Sairaj Bahutule, Ajit Agarkar. Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (captain), Dion Ebrahim, Guy Whittall, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Brighton Watambwa, Andy Blignaut, Travis Friend, Brian Murphy, Henry Olonga, Gavin Rennie. Umpires: Ashoka De Silva (Sri Lanka) and Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe). Match referee:
Denis Lindsay (South Africa). PTI |
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Saurav Ganguly writes THE
second Test in Harare starts tomorrow and each member in the squad is aware that this is a very important game for us. If we win this match, it will be our fourth consecutive Test win and if we draw, it will be our fourth successive series win — no mean achievement under any circumstances. The boys are aware of all these statistics and are really keen to do well. We had a day off after the first Test, and most of us took the opportunity to stay in the hotel itself. After that we have had two very good training sessions in Harare. On one day it was to do with fitness and on the next day it was more cricket-oriented. The wicket in Harare looks pretty good. It has less grass than Bulawayo and looks like it will assist spin from day three itself. The team looks set to remain unchanged with the exception of Sadagoppan Ramesh who will have to sit out due to a back problem. Hemang Badani will open tomorrow and he seemed to be in good form during the warm-up game. A compact player, opening will be a new job for Hemang, but I’m sure he’s not complaining since playing is always a much better option than sitting out. Ashish Nehra has been working with us at the nets over the last two days and his follow through seems perfectly alright. We have to back each other in a team and he knows that all 15 of us are behind him now. Andy Flower continues to be a bit of a botheration for us because he has scored runs against us consistently. He is their mainstay and both India and Zimbabwe know that. Having said that, it only takes one good ball to get even the best in the business out. And if we can produce one early in the innings, the pressure on Zimbabwe will be immense. The Indians look in good spirits and are very keen and determined. The success of the lower order gave us a lot of confidence, but I feel that one of the guys at the top must score a century for us to be in a good position. As far as the bowling is concerned, the form of the seamers has been very heartening. While they did bowl well in Bulawayo, I think they should be a little more consistent in pitching it up. Harbhajan might just take a liking to this wicket. He had a rich haul of eight wickets in Harare when we played here in 1998, and that’s going to add to his confidence. Although we won in Bulawayo, I don’t think we played our best cricket. We are really keen to do that in Harare. The selectors have picked the one-day team for the tri-series that will start immediately after the Test. Yuvraj Singh and Nehra were in bit unlucky to miss out. However, they are young and extremely talented and I am sure that they will serve Indian cricket for many years to come. Perhaps this omission will serve as a wake-up call and they will emerge as better players and stronger individuals.
Gameplan |
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England crash to ninth consecutive defeat Manchester (England), June 14 The home side, set a rain-affected victory target of 212 off 44 overs at Old Trafford, were reduced to a rabble by pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, who shared the top five wickets to set up the 125-run win. Leg-spinner Shane Warne and all-rounder Andrew Symonds then helped mop up the innings as England were dismissed for their lowest total in one-day international history in 32.4 overs. It is also their worst losing run ever. The dramatic turn of events on what was expected to be a batting wicket means that England, having lost their first four matches, are already out of the competition with four first-phase matches still to play, leaving Australia and Pakistan to contest the June 23 final at Lord's in a repeat of the 1999 World Cup final. McGrath finished with two for 19 off nine overs while Gillespie, bowling to a virtual Test-cricket field of four slips and a gully, took three for 25. At that stage England, on 40 for six, were facing the prospect of being bowled out for the lowest total in one-day international history — Pakistan's 43 against West Indies in Cape Town in 1993 — but a lucky edge for four by all-rounder Dominic Cork got them past that black mark. England's previous lowest score in one-dayers was 93, against Australia at Leeds in the 1975 World Cup. Australia, who made 208 for seven in 48 overs before the target was revised under the Duckworth-Lewis method following two rain interruptions, have now won all three of their matches in the tournament while Pakistan have won two out of their three. Captain Steve Waugh top-scored for the Australians with 64, but only four England players got into double figures. —Reuters
SCOREBOARD Australia: Hayden c Gough b Caddick 0 Gilchrist c Hollioake b Gough 5 Ponting c Knight b Caddick 21 Bevan c Stewart b Mullally 37 S. Waugh lbw b Gough 4 Martyn not out 51 Symonds c Vaughan b Mullally 11 Harvey c Trescothick b Mullally 0 Warne not out 14 Extras: (lb-2, nb-3) 5 Total: (7wkts, 48 overs) 208 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-23, 3-27, 4-93, 5-161, 6-188, 7-189. Bowling: Caddick 10-2-45-2, Gough 9-0-31-2, Cork 9-0-50-0, Mullally 10-1-50-3, Hollioake 10-0-30-0.
AFP
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Win or lose, Toronto plans to celebrate anyway Toronto, June 14 The party is scheduled for July 13, the day that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decides whether Toronto, Beijing, Paris, Osaka or Istanbul has won the right to host the 2008 summer Olympic Games. It will go ahead whatever the outcome for Toronto, one of the three front-runners. But Toronto’s bid committee insists that the day-long outdoor party will not turn into a massive wake if the IOC picks another city. “Too often in life one does not take the time to celebrate accomplishments. And everything in life isn’t about winning and losing, although you would rather win every time,” John Bitove, President and Chief Executive of Toronto’s bid committee, told Reuters in an interview. The party will include concerts and an all-night gathering culminating in a rally outside Toronto’s central Union Station, the country’s busiest train station, where the IOC decision will be broadcast live from Moscow. “There’s an element of ‘thank you Toronto’ for four years of building spirit in this city and...That’s a huge part of the reason why we’re getting together,” said Sandra Levy, a member of the bid’s special events committee and a former Olympian. Bid organisers know they have a lot of work to do in the final month of what is shaping up to be a three-way race. An IOC report last month placed Toronto, Paris and Beijing on equal footing in the race but with wording which observers said seemed to give Beijing the advantage. Istanbul and Osaka were seen as well back in the race. “I love where we are and I can see all kinds of possible scenarios. But if we just stay focused and communicate the key messages we can win,” Bitove said. But Bitove said Toronto still needed a gold-medal performance in its final presentation to the IOC in order to woo as many of the voting members as possible. Reforms after a bribery scandal surrounding the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games have restricted the level of lobbying host cities can do. But the flesh-pressing will not slow down. Bitove and other bid officials, fresh from whirlwind tours of Europe and North America, head to Africa this week, hoping to win over the IOC members who have not yet made their decision. “I think there are a lot more undecided people out there than the media even pays attention to,” Bitove said. “Some people are going to wait for the presentations, some people are going to wait to see what the chatter is among friends just before the vote and some people are going to make up their minds when they wake up some time over the next three weeks.” Toronto officials are confident that their bid is the most technically sound of the five cities. Some 85 per cent of events would take place in the downtown core along a revitalised waterfront and almost 75 per cent of the venues are already completed seven years before the games are to be staged. Bitove also points to the united support of the city, provincial and federal governments, whose cabinets have already approved funding totalling $ 1.5 billion. “A lot of bid cities will tell you they have their governments unified but the difference this time is we have the agreements on paper from the three levels of government approved by the cabinets which I don’t think has happened before,” Bitove said. Ontario premier Mike Harris wrote to the IOC last month to reinforce the support of the province after IOC experts expressed concern about the bid’s budget structure and financing. Harris, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman and Prime Minister Jean Chretien are all expected to be in Moscow next month for the decision. Toronto knows that the window of opportunity to host the games might be closing. Toronto was an early runner in the bidding for the 1996 games, which were awarded to Atlanta. “We’re focusing on winning and I’m not sure that we can have the opportunity of the waterfront land and the unity of the three levels of government like we have this time,” Bitove said. “You don’t know if you’ll have the chance again and you run all kinds of risks if you don’t get it now.”
Reuters |
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Waugh, McGrath may miss Indian series Melbourne, June 14 Waugh is due to discuss his availability with Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chief Executive Malcolm Speed in London during the next seven days, a board spokesman said here today. “I doubt whether I’ll be playing because Lynette’s due on September 20,” Waugh said in Manchester where his team play England in a triangular series day-night match at Old Trafford later today. “I think Glenn McGrath’s wife (Jane) is due on the September 23, so that’s two players who’d be struggling. Shane Warne’s wife (Simone) is due the week after, so it’s a difficult one,” the Australian skipper added. Speed, who takes over as International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive in July, will be in London for the traditional June meeting of the ICC at the Lord’s next week. ACB public affairs general manager Brendan McClements told Reuters: “I know Malcolm has left today for the ICC meeting. I’m sure he’ll take the opportunity to sit down with Steve. “It’s an issue we talk to the players about and we try to be sympathetic. Cricket is played regularly these days and Steve accepts that. They know this (tournament) is a big money-spinner.” The Australian team do not return home from the three-month Ashes tour until September 1, leaving little rest time before the projected Indian series. But McClements said the players had already been allocated their minimum requirement of six weeks’ leave, which fell before the Ashes tour. Waugh said late additions to an already tight schedule were “not ideal’’ but added the players were aware such tournaments were lucrative for them under a new agreement signed with the board last month. |
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Nash, Vettori fit for Lanka tour Wellington, June 14 Chairman of selectors Richard Hadlee said both players had been training hard and building up their bowling workload after previously breaking down after making premature comebacks. “Dion and Daniel have been given a clean bill of health by the medical panel. The selectors will be looking for Dion to contribute as a bowler and a middle-order batsman,” Hadlee said, referring to the tri-series which also features India. “Dion has described his bowling in training as being at an intensity of 80 per cent. However, over the next four weeks before leaving for Sri Lanka it is anticipated that he will continue to improve his intensity levels. “In fact Dion is no different in this regard to other bowlers. At this stage of the season all bowlers would be bowling around 80 per cent and looking to increase their intensity to peak in three or four weeks time.” Hadlee said the selection panel had named a strong and experienced side. “There is a core of experience in captain Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Adam Parore, Craig McMillan and Nash. Lou Vincent, Jacob Oram, Darryl Tuffey and James Franklin represent the new brigade, who have made a satisfactory start to their international careers,” he said. There are seven all-rounders in the side, two specialist spin bowlers, and two specialist pace bowlers — Tuffey and Franklin. “We also have an exciting inner circle field featuring (Chris) Harris, Vincent and Sinclair. In fact, it is an excellent fielding side. In all the panel has aimed for a balanced team selected with Sri Lankan conditions in mind.” Five players — Chris Nevin, Paul Wiseman, Brooke Walker, Shayne O’Connor and Andre Adams — have been placed on standby.
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Tushar storms
into final
New Delhi, June 14 The promising youngster registered straight set victories in both her semifinal encounters and meets Parul Goswami (Delhi) in the u-16 finals and Punjab’s Kamalpreet Bhullar in the u-14 section. Also continuing his strong display was Chandigarh’s Tushar Liberhan who stormed into the boys u-16 finals after beating third-seeded Jatin Bishnoi of Haryana 6-3, 6-1. In the boys u-14 section, top-seeded Vivek Shokeen and Honey Rana (both from Delhi) will fight for the title. While Vivek beat another Delhi lad Raghav Nanda 6-2, 6-1 in the semis, honey moved past Chandigarh’s Paras Thakur 6-2, 6-4. In the girls u-16, second-seeded Sanaa overwhelmed sixth seed Aastha Uppal (Delhi) 6-1, 6-1 while Parul beat Chandigarh’s Isha Toor 6-4, 6-2.
UNI |
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Making a mockery
of Sangat Darshan Patiala, June 14 The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, doled out Rs 25,000 to Gurbachan Singh as the authorities concerned failed to verify the reasons forwarded by the athlete to avail of the monetary benefit. Gurbachan, who won a bronze in the 10,000m in the inaugural Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1951, alleged that he was not getting any financial assistance from the government despite doing so well for the country in the sports arena. He also claimed that the Punjab Sports Department (PSD) had withheld his monthly pension for the past nine months. Barely two days before the Chief Minister was to preside over the Sangat Darshan at Patran, an English daily highlighted the athlete’s ‘pitiable’ condition. Reacting to the news item, the Chief Minister handed over a cheque of Rs 25,000 to Gurbachan Singh at the Sangat Darshan. However, it has now come to light that Gurbachan, who served as a Subedar in the Army till 1951, was not telling the whole truth. The veteran athlete, apart from actually getting a monthly pension of Rs 2100 from the Army, has also been receiving pension from the Punjab Sports Department regularly. In fact, on January 25 this year, he had withdrawn an amount of Rs 3,600 from his account in the Dharampura bazar branch of the State Bank of Patiala. The Punjab State Sports Council has formulated a policy for veteran athletes under which athletes above the age of 40 having represented the country in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Test and one-day matches and Davis Cup can avail of the benefit of pension. Olympians are paid Rs 1,000 per month while all others get Rs 600 per month. The pension is paid by draft after every three months. Sources reveal that in the case of Gurbachan the department had already released his quarterly pension for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2001. In fact, Gurbachan Singh was also honoured by Mr Badal during the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa held at Anandpur Sahib in 1999. |
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BA in
sports Amritsar, June 14 The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr H.S. Soch, said that the purpose to introduce this course in sports was to develop and promote sport and to generate more employment opportunities for players. Dr Soch said a student who had participated in inter-college state championship, national championship or national school games in addition to physical education may select any one or two subjects from history of physical education and sports, rehabilitation and health care, sports psychology and sociology, officiating and coaching, sports management and yoga and recreation. He, however, clarified that no private candidate would be allowed to take these subjects. Dr Soch said that the college will award internal assessment on the basis of
attendance in ground and performance in inter-college and state and national championship and submit the same to the university on the prescribed proforma immediately on receipt of university roll numbers and before the commencement of the university examination. |
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Kournikova may miss Wimbledon Eastbourne (England), June 14 The Russian star hasn’t played since sustaining a stress fracture in her left foot in March. She missed the entire clay court season, including the French Open, and has already withdrawn from two events on grass, the DFS Classic in Birmingham and an exhibition tournament in London. “I always enjoy playing at Eastbourne so I am really sorry that my foot has not healed quickly enough to allow me to play there this year,” Kournikova said yesterday through her management company. Kournikova has not played since losing to Ameline Mauresmo in the quarterfinals of the Gaz de France in February. It was after that she sustained the foot injury. Phil de Picciotto from Kournikova’s management company Octagon said her return to competition was being judged on a week-to-week basis. But the fact that Kournikova has been inactive for so long increases the likelihood that she will miss the grass court Grand Slam championship at the All-England Club which starts June 25, the week after the Eastbourne tournament. The 20-year-old also pulled out of a promotion for a sports bra scheduled for tomorrow at Eastbourne and, unless her fitness improves and she finds somewhere to practice on grass, she stands little chance of making the draw for Wimbledon. “We’re disappointed Anna won’t be here this year but we fully understand the reasons why and we wish her a quick recovery and we hope to see her back at Eastbourne in 2002,” said Eastbourne Tournament Director John Feaver. Kournikova, one of the sport’s most marketable players, has never won a singles title. She reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1997, but lost in the second round last year.
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Gymnastics
meet comes to an end Ambala The prizes to the gymnasts were given by the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr
D. D. Gautam. Speaking on the occasion he said the gymnasts should work hard to achieve greater heights. He said that sports activities were being encouraged in Haryana and the state government was taking various steps to ensure that sportspersons got opportunities to develop their talent. In junior rhythmic gymnastics, all-round championship was won by Surbhi from MNSS Rai. While Sarita of Ambala stood second and Apoorva of MNSS Rai remained at third place. In rhythmic senior group, all-round championship was won by Pooja Chauhan from Ambala, Surekha Rana from Ambala stood second and Gargi from Yamunanagar was declared third. In the men’s group, Ambala were first, Bhiwani stood second and Gurgaon bagged the third position. The all-round championship was won by Kapil from Bhiwani. While Krishan from Gurgaon was second and Devender from Ambala was third. In floor exercise, Kapil was first, Vinod was second and Amit was third. In side horse, Krishan was first, Pankaj was second and Kapil was third. In Roman rings, Krishan was first, Kapil was second and Devender was third. In vaulting horses, Krishan was first, Kapil was second and Pardeep was third. In parallel bar, Kapil was first, Pardeep was second and Devender was third. In horizontal bar, Kapil was first, Krishan was second and Pankaj was third. |
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Steel Plant defeat AG Haryana Mandi, June 14 Earlier during the game, in the 30th minute of the first half a cross from the right flank by R.K. Dass of Bhilai team was mis-kicked into his own goal by stopper Shiv Onkar. Haryana struggled through-out the game. It was later in the game that a goal from the box by Sanjeev led to an equalizer. In the battle of penalty kicks, Haryana scored twice through V. Kumar and Harvinder Pal while from the Bhilai team Ansari. S. Kumar and A.K. Mishra did the needful. Punjab Sports Club, Faridabad, and Coaching
Centre, Gurgaon, also lost their respective matches.
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Harare, June 14
