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Wednesday,
February 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Players
raring to go: Wright ICC bows
to Asian pressure Saurav Ganguly writes Kaif
replaces indisposed Khoda as skipper
Ensure
that there are no hiccups against weaker teams: Mukesh |
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Shuttlers
launch campaign from today
Kahlon
placed 2nd on Asian tour North
meet West today Manisha,
Sunitha advance Air
Force, Army Red in final
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Players raring to go: Wright
Nagpur, February 19 Indian coach John Wright told PTI after the practice session at Vidharbha Cricket Association grounds here that all the players, including vice captain Rahul Dravid, were fit and raring to go. “We have no fitness problems whatsoever and the morale of the team is quite high which I think is very encouraging before the start of a home series,” Wright said. The manager of the Zimbabwe team Babu Memon said his team too had no injury worries and all the members were ‘fit as a fiddle’. “We are looking forward to a good start in the series and I am sure we will go all out to win here,” he added. The weather here today was gloomy and there was little drizzle last night. The last Test match at this venue between India and Sri Lanka was washed out without a ball being bowled. Meanwhile, VCA vice-president Dorai Rajan, told PTI that the sale of tickets was very poor this time as the match clashed with SSC and HSC examinations. “We have sold less than 50 per cent of tickets so far but the security arrangements have been very tight,” he added.
PTI  |
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ICC bows to Asian pressure
London, February 19 In an unprecedented show of solidarity, the four cricket boards from Asia — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — had demanded at the recent Asian Cricket Council meeting in Sharjah that the commission's meeting, which was scheduled to be held this weekend, be put on hold till the ICC Executive Board meeting in South Africa next month. India had objected to the appointment of the members of the commission which had been set up to examine whether the controversial punishments given by match-referee Mike Denness to six Indian cricketers in South Africa last year were in accordance to ICC rules. “It is extremely disappointing that the work of a properly constituted commission, established after extensive consultation with the BCCI, has to be halted because of pressure from within the Executive Board,” ICC President Malcolm Gray said in a statement here. “However, as a matter of proper corporate governance the ICC President has a duty to reflect the wishes of board members,” he said. While appointing Justice Albie Sachs of South Africa, former Pakistan captain Majid Khan and Australia’s Andrew Hilditch to the commission, ICC had ignored the names put up by India. India garnered the support of the other three countries at the ACC meeting in Sharjah and demanded that the commission’s work be held in abeyance till the matter was discussed at the Executive Board meeting on March 15 and 16. “Postponing the commission will further delay the formal view of important parts of the match-referee’s role. With the new five-man panel taking up its duties in April this is a matter that required immediate resolution at the board, rather than further debate about the composition of the commission,” Gray said. Denness had created an uproar in international cricket with his controversial punishments to six Indian cricketers including master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and captain Sourav Ganguly. His one-match ban on batsman Virender Sehwag started a row between the ICC and the BCCI which almost brought the world body on the verge of a split.
PTI |
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Saurav Ganguly writes Smart showers and a little grass make the Nagpur pitch look a little different this time. The curator has left a little grass on the surface for more bounce, but it is dead grass and should not make much of a difference. However, the rain today and the forecast for more tomorrow suggest that there will be some assistance for the seamers. After the first bit of freshness is over, the wicket will assist spin. We will be playing two spinners, two seamers and an allrounder in this Test. It will be great to have Zaheer Khan back in the side after his tremendous performance in the Ranji Trophy. Sanjay Bangar, too, will get a chance after his impressive showing in the domestic championship. He did well in the last two games and is a handy bowler who will help balance the side better. We will have to sacrifice one of the batsmen in order to play Bangar. However, this is necessary because we have decided to stand up and play the fifth bowler. It’s a tough selection call, but one that we believe is crucial to our future success. 2002 is a tough, long year for Indian cricket. We must move forward and focus on the future. The Test series win against England was not a satisfying one, and the way the one-day series was drawn was positively disappointing. It is not whether you win, but how you win. This series is a very important one for many players in the side, and every member is trying to achieve the consistency that eluded us against England. This side is a lot better than the one that played against Zimbabwe the last time they were here. The spin attack comprising Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh is a lot tougher than the one they encountered last time round. Morevoer, that defeat in Harare still hurts. It was an unfortunate loss and we would certainly like to set the record straight. Further, in Deep Dasgupta, we now have a wicketkeeper who makes big runs. Among the batsmen, Rahul Dravid looks fighting fit after his lay-off due to injury. He is a lot fresher after the two-month break and is looking forward to a repeat of his successful series the last time the Zimbabweans were here. It is also nice to have VVS Laxman back in the squad. He is a class Test player and we must not forget that he averaged 50 in the South Africa series. The Zimbabweans are not to be underestimated. They have a handy pace attack in Heath Streak, Travis Friend and Brighton Watambwa. Spinner Raymond Price, who has a five-wicket haul against South Africa, will also be interesting to watch. He will find conditions ideal here, but he will also be up against the best players of spin. Their main batsman Andy Flower will find it tough to play his trademark reverse sweep this time round. In Zimbabwe he hardly played it and did not get a century in either of the games, thanks to the presence of Harbhajan Singh. It was interesting that he hardly attempted the reverse sweep in Vijayawada. I’m sure he is also aware that Kumble’s pace and bounce will make the reverse sweep impossible, and that Harbhajan also has a lot more bite than the spinners he’s played against last time.
(Gameplan) |
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Kaif replaces indisposed Khoda as skipper Jalandhar, February 19 Although the strip seems to be a featherbed and holds no terror for the batsmen of both sides only those bowlers who are willing to bend their backs on such a docile pitch may be able to extract that extra bit of bounce and movement in the early part of the day. On paper Central Zone have a balanced side and go into the match as favourites. They have experience and expertise on their side. Central have some prolific batsmen in Jyoti Yadav, Davinder Bundela and southpaw Mohamad Kaif and Amey Khurasia. The only setback suffered by Central, even before a ball was bowled, was that the team would be playing without skipper Gagan Khoda who is down with fever which means that M. Kaif would be leading the squad in his absence. East will have to keep the Kaif in check. The wristy and elegant Kaif, at the best of times, is exquisite to watch. Central, on the bowling front, will look forward to tweaker Murli Kartik who has an excellent arm ball which he bowls with no discernible change in action and can bamboozle the best of batsmen. East in the batting department, will be looking forward to some decent contributions from skipper Rohan Gavaskar, Sanjay Raul, R.R. Parida and P.R. Mallick where confidence is high after scoring sedate 68
against the touring Zimbabweans while playing for Board Presidents’ eleven in the tourists opener played at Vishakhapatnam last week. However, East will be playing to their strengths that lay in their fast bowling duo of Debashish Mohanty and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. While Mohanty is a genuine seamer, Shukla loves to hustle the batsmen with bursts of speed and bounce and is a bowler more in the aggressive mould. While Central will go into the match without dependable all rounder Sanjay Bangar. East will have to do without the services of Sourav Ganguly and keeper Deep Dasgupta. All the three have been named in the Indian team slated to take on Zimbabwe in the first Test match to commence at Nagpur from February 21. The teams:
Central zone: M. Kaif (captain), Amay Khurasia, M. Kartik, J.P. Yadav, D. Bundela, Raja Ali, Rahul Kamat, Harvinder Singh, Sailabh Srivastva, Ananad Dave, Naman Ojha and Vivek. East Zone: Rohan Gavaskar (captain), Utpal Chatterjee, Devang Gandhi, D. Mohanty, L.R. Shukla, Sanjay Raul, R.R. Parida, P.R. Mallick, Parag Dass, Zakarai Zulfi, Sukhwinder Singh, Rajiv Raja, Manoj Diwalkar, Sumit Pande and T. Chander. |
Chandigarh, February 19 After missing the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth editions, Japan qualified for the 2002 World Cup, finishing sixth in the qualifying tournament at Edinburg last year. 15. New Zealand: They beat Spain 2-0 and Poland 1-0 but lost to Pakistan by a record 3-12 margin. In the sixth edition at London, New Zealand finished ninth with only one draw to their credit as all other ties ended in defeats. New Zealand missed the seventh edition at Lahore, and the eighth at Sydney but returned for the ninth edition at Utrecht where they finished tenth. (To be concluded) |
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Ensure that there are no hiccups against
New Delhi, February 19 Olympian and former captain Mukesh Kumar today said the Indian team in the past had committed the mistake of concentrating all its energies against formidable teams while overlooking the challenge of others, a strategy which proved costly. “By concentrating on the strong teams, we have achieved reasonable results against them. But at the same time we seem to have relaxed against teams which we thought would be easy opponents. That is one of the reasons for our far from flattering record against teams like Poland and Argentina,” Mukesh Kumar told PTI in an interview here. Citing examples, he said, India had done reasonably well against teams like Australia and Germany in recent past but Argentina had proved to be a nemesis on quite a few occasions. Similarly, Poland spoiled India’s hopes at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when needing just a draw to progress to semi-finals, India conceded a match-winner in the dying moments of their final league match. The veteran of three Olympics and two Asian Games said in a tournament like the World Cup each game was equally important and India could not afford to be complacent against any team. “We have been placed in the easier of the two groups. But we must ensure there are no hiccups against teams like Japan, England, Cuba and Poland,” he said. In this regard, it was important that the players were utilised in a proper way so that no one was overworked and everybody gave his best in each match. “Players will have to be rotated effectively, used in bursts. The fact that the tournament allows a bench strength of 18 will be beneficial in this aspect,” said the ace right winger. He said there was abundant individual talent in the team but it needed to be translated into team effort. “People like Sabu (Varkey) and (Dhanraj) Pillay are marked. But that means there would be gaps elsewhere which the others would have to exploit. The players will have to keep making moves with quick and accurate passes.” “We have been slightly weak in the 16-yard hits. Ideally the ball should move smoothly towards the half-line but very often our defenders have been pressurised by the opponents and lost possession in our own half. That has to be done away with. Then comes the conversion of short corners. We cannot afford to miss those opportunities.” And the faith of the coach in his players’ ability to deliver would be vital. “Sometimes the players dribble towards an opponent hoping to dodge them. It is a 50-50 chance wherein the player may lose possession of the ball. But the risk is worth taking since the dodge, if successful, can result in a very good move. The coach should allow his players to take such risks and not call them back if they lose possession.” Mukesh Kumar said the presence of forward Gagan Ajit Singh and midfielder Bimal Lakra, who were left out of 18-member Indian squad, would have given a greater strength to the team. “Gagan Ajit is a mercurial forward and very good in the striking circle. He has this knack of hitting the ball in. Similarly, Lakra has huge stamina. He is very hard-working and recovers well,” he said. “But hockey is a team game and as long as those who have been selected stick to the strategy and work sincerely towards the objective, no one should have complaints.” Though pleased with the recent successes of the team, Mukesh Kumar was not ready to read too much into it. “Earlier too, we have had good tournaments but our performance suddenly dipped after that. It is good we have been winning for the last one year and we must be able to keep performing at that level for a prolonged period.” “The victory in the Junior World Cup has given a lot of confidence to the players, especially to the younger members and they feel they can do it again. They are very keen to prove themselves,” he said. Mukesh praised the Indian Hockey Federation for cultivating talent at a young level and said the effort had bore fruits. “We have been doing very well at the under-16 and under-18 age groups. This bodes well for the Indian hockey.” He urged IHF to introduce yoga sessions and psychology classes for the players whenever any camp is held as these have been found to be very beneficial.
PTI |
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France skate to gold, doping hits games
Salt Lake City, February 19 Winter sports powerhouse Germany, meanwhile yesterday, snatched half the four gold medals on offer on the day and tightened their grip at the top of the medals table. Anissina and Peizerat, former world champions, won by the fateful 5-4 split decision over Ilia Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva of Russia. Italians Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, were third. It was a close victory — the same 5-4 margin that triggered a major vote-rigging scandal after the pairs competition a week ago. Unlike last week, however, there was no public outcry and the couples on the ice seemed satisfied. “We lost gold by only one judge,” said Averbukh. “But we’re happy we won silver today. The audience was wonderful.” Just before the ice dance final was decided, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended a Belarus athlete and expelled the country’s delegation chief Yaroslav
Barichko. IOC spokesman Francois Carrard said the athlete had failed to appear for a second drug test yesterday after an original sample was found to be improperly sealed.
That first sample contained nandrolone, a performance enhancing steroid, but will not be technically considered a positive drug test because of the handling error. Earlier Australians added another gold to their “Miracle on Ice” in speed skating. Outsider Steve Bradbury went down in history as Australia’s first gold medallist Saturday night when the 1000m short track speed-skating final was handed to him on a platter after the favourites were wiped out by a pile-up near the end. Also out of the blue was yesterday’s gold medal won in the women’s aerials by 27-year-old Alisa Camplin, finishing ahead of two Canadians, Veronica Brenner and Deirdra Dionne. “This is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. It’s the first time I have ever won anything,” said Camplin. Lying third after her first jump, Camplin, from Melbourne, nailed a backward triple twisting double on her second for top marks of 99.75 and the title with a total of 193.47 points. Her team-mate Jacqui Cooper had been the favourite but wrecked her knee in qualifying and had to pull out. “It still doesn’t seem real, maybe I’ll realise it when I’m on the podium tonight,” said Camplin, who is competing in her first Olympics and whose best world championship finish was seventh in 1999. Germany opened the day with the gold medal in the men’s team ski jumping, beating Finland by the narrowest of margins. The German quartet of Sven Hannawald, Stephan Hocke, Michael Uhrmann and Martin Schmitt finished on 974.1 points to Finland’s 974.0 points after two rounds on the 120-metre hill. Slovenia took the bronze with 946.3 points. “I think Finland deserved the gold medal, too, but that is what happens in sport — one day they come out on top, the next day we come out on top,” said Schmitt. After two tense rounds of duelling jumps, the gold medal came down to Schmitt’s final jump. The 24-year-old member of Germany’s 2001 world championship winning team, held his nerve to pull off a 123.5m leap to sneak the gold from under the noses of the Finns.
AFP |
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Shuttlers launch campaign from today
Eindhoven (The Netherlands), February 19 India opted to travel to Eindhoven instead of Melbourne, where Asia’s preliminaries take place later this week, after deciding they had a better chance of qualifying for the May 9 to 19 finals in China. “When we looked at the line-up of the teams, it was obvious for us it would be easier to qualify in the European venue, so we decided to come to the Netherlands instead of Melbourne,” Indian coach S.M. Arif said. India’s decision could spell trouble for second-seeded England, who face the South Asians in their first round qualifying group, along with two other teams yet to be decided. Although India are going to be without reigning All-England champion Pullela Gopichand, who has a stress fracture in his right foot, the Indians possess enough talent to upset the English, with Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Chetan Anand taking up the challenge. Denmark, beaten semi-finalists at the last Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, begin the qualifying tournament for the most prestigious trophy in men’s badminton missing star singles player Peter Gade. But they would be bolstered by the return of former world champion Peter Rasmussen who will end a two-year exile from top-flight badminton. Rasmussen has not played in an international tournament for 27 months but was a surprise recall to the Danish squad following an injury to Niels Christian Kaldau. Despite Olympic silver medallist Gade’s absence, the Danes should be strong enough to claim one of the three qualifying berths on offer in Eindhoven for the finals of the competition in Guangzhou, China in May. But attempting to pick the likely qualifiers for the other two spots along with Denmark is a tougher call. In qualifiers for the Thomas Cup’s women’s equivalent the Uber Cup, beaten 2000 finalists Denmark should take the top qualifying spot in Eindhoven, with Olympic silver medallist Camilla Martin again leading the way. Hosts the Netherlands, seeded second, should also be good enough to secure their ticket to China, with England and Germany expected to contest the third spot.
AFP |
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Kahlon placed 2nd
on Asian tour New Delhi, February 19 The 31-year-old Chandigarh pro was placed 29th after the London Mynamar Open, the second tournament of the Asian PGA season. However, he is now in second place behind the current leader, Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. Jaidee won the $ 200,000 London Myanmar Open and played well in the season-opening tourney. However, he could not take part in the Masters at Gurgaon due to visa problems. “The immediate difference this win will make is to my bank balance. It also helps open several avenues for me to explore, including experimenting with ‘Qualifying’ Schools of other Tours”, Kahlon said. Kahlon’s earnings after three events is $ 50,490, while Jaidee has made $ 55,474 so far. Among the other Indians, Arjun Atwal was in eighth place with earnings of $ 23,158, Jyoti Randhawa was 12th at $ 12,056 while Gaurav Ghei was tied for the 19th place at $6,065. Atwal finished tied for the fifth place at the Masters, Randhawa 15th while Ghei was ninth. |
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North meet West today Chandigarh, February 19 On February 22 also, two matches will be played, while West Zone will take on South Zone at Jalandhar, North Zone will take on East Zone at Ludhiana. The action will then shift to Himachal Pradesh, which will host two matches on February 24. South Zone will take on East Zone at Mandi while Central Zone will clash with North Zone at Una. The next two matches of the tournament will be played on February 26 when West Zone will play East Zone at Delhi while South Zone will clash with Central Zone at Gurgaon. The last two matches of the tournament will be played on February 27 when West Zone and Central Zone will clash at Gurgaon and North Zone will play South Zone at Delhi. The tournament will enable fringe players to stake their claim as the top players of the country will be on national duty in the first Test against the visiting Zimbabwe team to be played at Nagpur from February 21. |
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Manisha, Sunitha advance Mumbai, February 19 Malhotra fought for two hours and 10 minutes to survive a first round loss against Japan’s ranking player Kumiko Ijima 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 while Rao, unlike Malhotra
preferring to play under American flag, trounced wild carder Sania Mirza in 64 minutes 6-3, 6-3. On a day which saw six Indians making their exit, Sheetal Goutam made into the second round with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Indian qualifier Ankita Bhambri 7-5, 7-5. The following are the first round results: Hsiao-Han Chao (Taipei) b Jing-Jing liu (China) 6-1, 7-5; Dominika Luzarova (Czeck republic) b L. Pereira (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; M. Malhotra (Ind) b K. Ijima (Jpn) 3-6, 6-0, 7-6; S. Goutam b A. Bhambri 7-5, 7-5; W. Choptang (Thailand) b N. Chandrasekhar (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Aiko Nakamura (Jpn) b S. Phadke (Ind) 6-2, 6-4; C. Kremer (Luxumberg) b C. Zachariadou (Greece) 6-4, 7-5; Chin-Bee Khoo (Malaysia) b S. Sekhar (Ind) 7-6, 5-2; S. Rao USA) b S. Mirza (Ind) 6-3, 6-3.
UNI |
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Air Force, Army
Red in final Jalandhar, February 19 Army Green went down fighting to defending champions Air Force by a solitary goal. Air Force drew blood when Balbir Singh’s rasping shot from top of the striking circle beat custodian Jaspal Singh. They earned eight successive penalty corners but could not take advantage of any of them. All efforts of Army Green went waste as they lacked the speed, stamina and skill to go in for the kill. |
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As they go into the first cricket
Test starting here on Thursday, both India and Zimbabwe today said they
were looking to start the series on a winning note and would push for
victory.
In video (
