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Thursday,
October 17, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Team unchanged for Chennai Test Chetan Sharma writes Expert comments Vivian Richards
Sunita Rani alone not to blame |
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Kalmadi warns Sunita of ‘strictest action’ Anand in semis Vijay hits 6 under at Forest Hill
2800 for police games TN clinch carrom titles
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Team unchanged for Chennai Test
Chennai, October 16 Ruling out any changes in the squad that won the first Test within four days, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly said his team was playing positive cricket and there was no need to change it. This is the first time in many years that an Indian captain has announced the playing eleven a day before the match and it shows the confidence Ganguly is exuding now. A win here will give India their first home series win against the Caribbeans since 1976 when the Alvin Kalicharan- led team had been vanquished. West Indies captain Carl Hooper, on the other hand, has already announced that there would be changes in his side but he did not specify them even today. "Selection is at the discretion of the chairman of the selection committe Vivian Richards. I am happy he has been watching the matches," Hooper said. Hooper has been also harping on the fact that his side had registered a comeback victory against India during the home series earlier this year and there was no reason why it could not happen again. "We are confident of beating the Indians. We have beaten them on earlier
occasions," Hooper said in an apparent reference to his side's comeback 2-1 victory at home early this year. Ganguly, just two victories away from former captain Mohd Azharuddin's record 14 Test wins, also did not lose sight of the Carribeans' fighting capabilities, saying the visitors were in a "do-or-die" situation and would go all out into the match. But the Indian skipper said he was not thinking much about earning the tag of India's most successful captain and wasn't trying to reach the milestone in this series itself. "It is too early to think about a 3-0 result. I am not going to retire. This is not by last series," he said. "We will take game by game at a time. We played well at Mumbai. We hope to play positive here also and maintain our winning streak." Maintaining that winning streak may not prove easy for India, who have not lost a home series since 1987 barring a loss to South Africa in 2000, as they will also have to surmount the virgin track at the Chepauk, which Ganguly said would assist spinners. "The wicket looks good - hard and bouncy - more than the Mumbai pitch. It may turn later," he said but added it would be a folly to predict the exact behaviour. "It takes more than six months to read the true nature." It was the kind of pitch where both seamers and spinners would have to put up a collective performance, Ganguly said. On Javagal Srinath's performance, Ganguly, who was instrumental in the Karnataka speedster reversing his retirement decision, reiterated the veteran speedster had lot more cricket in him. "We have to give him some more games." Picking out Zaheer Khan for special praise, Ganguly said his spell in Mumbai proved to be the key for India's win. Hooper said he did not see much change between the Mumbai wicket and the turf here. "The wicket is dry and has no grass," he said while conceding that spinners would again play an important role in the outcome of the match. The form of Shivnarine Chanderpaul should come as a relief to Hooper as the batsman negotiated India's spin duo Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh with ease to stand tall among ruins in Mumbai Test with a solid 54 and an unbeaten 36. But as much as their batting West Indies are worried about containing the formidable Indian batting line-up that has got a much needed shot in the arm with Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar coming in as openers. If the combination clicks again the West Indies may find it difficult to rein in the flow of runs. Ganguly said though his openers had shown great character, they were yet to face pressure situations. "They have opened together five to six times but are yet to play in real pressure situations. We will have to wait and see." On picking 17-year-old Parthiv Patel ahead of Ajay Ratra, Ganguly said the team was looking for a wicket-keeper who could contribute with the bat also but added no one could take his place in the team for granted.
PTI |
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Chetan Sharma writes It’s not often that a team loses a series after a win in the first Test has given them a 1-0 lead. So India should approach the second Test against the West Indies with zest and confidence which is a hallmark of good teams. Right now, with India producing more positive results than setbacks, it is time they announce to the others that they mean business. If the performance of the two teams is any indication, India should wrap up the second Test also, as this West Indian team needs more than a miracle to deny India a golden chance of a 3-0 whitewash of the visitors. If you examine more carefully, the Chepauk wicket is the West Indies’ best chance in the series as it has a lot more bounce than other pitches in India but again, as I have been saying, there present crop of fast bowlers hardly look a patch on the yesteryear greats like Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and so many others. In fact, they don’t even have someone of the class and speed of Patrick Patterson, who spread terror when they played here in the 87-88 series. I still remember how well he bowled against us in that series. Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy are just above average and there style of bowling hardly suggests that they have the skill to pick up wickets on Indian pitches and if the Indians play out the threat of the new ball, well, they have the batting to pile on the runs. So, if the West Indies fancy their chances, they have to strike early in the Indian innings and not allow them too many runs. However, this is easier said than done because the Indian batsmen can be pretty intimidating on home pitches. Let’s see how they plan for this Test but I have a feeling that they will not curb their aggression. The West Indies’ main weakness is their batting. I was sad to see them crash to Indian spinners in the first Test. If they haven’t learnt from their mistakes, they should be aware of the fact that Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh can be a deadly force if batsmen allow them to bowl to their plan. The West Indians must be hoping for their skipper Carl Hooper to play a brilliant knock or two because he is one batsman who is capable of handling spin well. He has the footwork and if he settles in, he scores his runs at a good rate. That’s what even Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan need to do because if they put up a decent score on the board they stand a chance. Otherwise, nothing can stop the Indians from another win.
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Expert comments Vivian Richards The Mumbai Test was obviously not the ideal start for the West Indies. We simply did not score enough runs in the first innings — something that is imperative in Indian conditions. The Indians had put up a huge total in unbelievable heat and full credit must go to them. The West Indians on the other hand had to toil hard in the heat for almost two days and that must have had an effect on them. The bowlers did have their moments, especially on the second day and they were responsible for ensuring that India did not cross 500. They must have been disheartened by the dropped catches. However, the team must look ahead and be realistic about what to expect. The pitch is likely to have an invariable bounce, especially after the wicket in Mumbai, which had invariable bounce, proved so ideal for India. The batsmen must take up the challenge and psyche themselves to believe that they can rough it out in these conditions. I often feel that being out there in the middle is akin to driving. The longer you stay on the job, the easier it is to sort out what one should do and what one should not do. Shivnarine Chanderpaul did just that at Mumbai. He may not have torn apart the Indian attack but he certainly survived and got better. I hope the other players take a leaf out of his book in Chennai. Test cricket is all about having the stomach to compete in all kinds of conditions and that’s what I’d like the West Indies to have for the rest of the series. As far as the bowlers are concerned it was good to see them dig deep on the second day in Mumbai. They must now try to work out a way to get past the defenses of Rahul Dravid. He is today the backbone of the Indian line-up and always sees his team through when the going gets tough. He is on the verge of Sir Everton Weekes’ record, but the West Indian must be more worried about what a century from him could do to their chances in this Test. Records are meant to be broken and even if they dislodge him at 99, Dravid would have done his job for India. I think getting Rahul Dravid out early is crucial to the West Indies. Virender Sehwag is the other in-form batsman for India. I saw him in England too, and he is very talented and entertaining. It will be interesting to see whether he will be sorted out by bowlers, who nowadays are quick to work out your habits. A player has to be successful over a period of time for one to be confirmed of his class these days, but the early indications are promising. (Gameplan) |
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Team selection on October 21 Mumbai, October 16 Cricket board executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar told PTI here today that the selectors would also pick the Rest of India team to play the Ranji Trophy champions Railways in the five-day Irani Trophy cricket match at Delhi from October 29 to November 2. PTI |
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Sunita Rani alone not to blame Chandigarh, October 16 Most of young boys and girls who want to take up disciplines likes athletics or weightlifting in India (two events where drug users have been detected time and again in international competitions) come from poor and rural backgrounds and are generally introduced to drugs by seniors and, at times, by even their own coaches since it is on the performance of their wards that their standing depends, as well as the cash prizes which comes with success in any
international competition like the Asian games or the Commonwealth Games. It must be remembered here that India has any number of foreign coaches who had learned their art in the erstwhile Soviet Bloc where cheating in international sports was almost an industry. According to certain reports scientists and sports medicine experts of the Soviet Bloc countries spent huge amount of state funds developing performance-enhancing drugs and masking agents. This was done so that athletes from the eastern bloc nations could beat their ‘‘enemies’’, athletes from the western nations, on the sporting arena to prove their superiority. But now that the Soviet Bloc has broken up any number of sports specialists and coaches have been rendered jobless and some of them have moved to developing countries to provide their ‘‘expertise’’. The antecedents of the foreign coaches employed in India should be examined minutely so that they are free of drugs in any form. There have also been reports of used syringes and vials being found at the national training camps and venues of major competitions. Such reports have time and again been received from the National Institute of Sports at
Patiala but ‘‘action taken’’ reports have rarely been received. Now we come to the testing facilities being used by the SAI authorities. It is obvious that Sunita Rani and before her lifters S. Madaswamy and Satheesha Rai (who were stripped of their medals after the Manchester Commonwealth Games) were tested for banned substances by the SAI doctors before they left for their respective competitions. Obviously the SAI doctors could not detect anything. And it must be remembered that performance-enhancing drugs have to be used over a long period of time to get results. So the question arises whether the SAI facilities are up to international stands or is the SAI testing facilities only an eyewash! This query can only be answered by the authorities. Since it is obvious that the SAI doctors ar not equipped to handle the samples (or are the specialists there like many others helping the athletes to cheat by shielding the drug users), ideally, the samples from the athletes should be sent to an approved IOC laboratory so that the test results cannot be fudged. Maybe the cost involved will be a little more but no expense is more than national pride. Simultaneously, the facilities at SAI should be upgraded to international levels at the earliest. Sunita faces a long ban (at least for two years if her second sample also proves positive) from international competition but it would be in the fitness of things if her coaches well as the doctor who cleared her should also be slapped with a ban of a similar duration. |
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Kalmadi
warns Sunita of ‘strictest action’ New Delhi, October 16 Sunita had won a gold and bronze medals in the 1500m and 5000m races, respectively, in the 14th Asian Games at Busan (Korea) which concluded on Monday.
Kalmadi said “strictest action” will be taken against Sunita Rani if she is found guilty of doping. The IOA president, however, clarified that he was not aware of the result of the test on the B-sample of Sunita Rani’s urine, though it has been confirmed that the A-samples of her urine, tested after she won the 1500m gold and 5000m bronze, had contained traces of nandrolone, a prohibited drug. India, who were placed sixth in the overall medals
tallly, are now placed eighth with a total haul of 10 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals, which is one medal less than the overall medals tally of 35 achieved by India at Bangkok in 1998.
Kalmadi said Sunita Rani will be handed out “exemplary punishment” if she is found guilty. “We will follow the rule book, and if Sunita is found guilty of doping she will face ban, as per the rules of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian Amateur Athletic Association. We cannot tolerate the use of drugs by an athlete”, Kalmadi warned. But the IOA president, who is also the president of the Amateur Athletic Federtion of India and the Asian Amateur Athletic Association, made it clear that Sunita’s misdemeanour was no blot on the performances of other Indian
sportsperons, particularly the athletes, who gave a creditable performance. “The athletes have done a wonderful job. They have won more than 15 medals and one such incident should not take away the honour these athletes have brought to the country”, Kalmadi said. |
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Anand in semis
Hyderabad, October 16 Anand, who had settled for a draw in the first game of the quarterfinals yesterday, defeated his opponent in the second today to win by a 1.5-0.5 margin. It was a tactical game involving the Sicilian defence in dragon variation and Anand outplayed Malakhov in an advantageous endgame with very active pieces. “It is nice that the draw did not take place which would have forced another tie-breaker. The moment my two-way attack met with a little challenge, I knew that I would be going for a result and not for the draw,” he said. Anand’s board had all the trappings of a strategic play imbibed with deception and blitzkrieg moves where the two players tried to lure each other into a trap. “I tried to provoke him by laying some dubious looking moves which he promply turned down and created a situation where we were equal on material though there was a little edge for me,” Anand said. It was, however in the endgame that the Indian master showed his class by a two-pronged strategy which saw him placing his pieces in very active positions and immobilising his opponents’ pieces. “Though we were more are less equally placed at the endgame which could have resulted in a draw, I had a slight advantage of an active rook which clinched the deal,” Anand said. Anand kept his opponent’s passed ‘e’ pawn checked throughout and launched his tirade bringing even his king into play. The former world champion also succeeded in immobilising his opponent’s rook on the ‘h’ file and pushed his ‘a’ pawn forward which paved the way for his resounding victory. When the opponent was unable to control the passed ‘a’ pawn which was threatening to become queen, the Russian resigned. In another quarterfinal match, Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan drew with Ye Jiang Chun to enter into the semifinals. Kasimdzhanov had defeated Chun in the first game. Koneru Humpy, who had won her first game yesterday, lost to Li Ruofan of China in the second game today and the two would play the tie breaker. PTI
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Vijay hits 6 under at Forest Hill Chandigarh, October 16 Pappan’s moment of glory came on the par-3 11th, where his seven-iron tee shot saw the ball bounce twice on the green before settling comfortably into the cup. “This is the second hole-in-one of my career and it feels great to achieve this feat on this testing course,” said the golfer who first aced a hole at the Jalandhar Open played at the Army Golf Course, Jalandhar, in 1996. Vijay, who is the latest Hero Honda Golf Tour pro to qualify for the Asian PGA Tour, started the day with a birdie. However, bad news followed in the form of back-to-back bogeys on the second and third, with the stocky golfer three-putting on both holes. “I left my first putt short on both occasions,” said Vijay. However, Vijay more than made up for his twin errors with a hat-trick of birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth on his front-nine followed by four more birdies on the 10th, 14th, 16th and 18th. “This is a very challenging golf course and accuracy is paramount to success. I credit my score to my hitting,’ said the golfer who has wins at the Hero Honda South and the TNGF Open under his belt this season. Mukesh Kumar, Vijay’s arch-rival and the current Money List leader, had a dream front-nine. Birdies on the first, second, sixth (a 15 feet effort) and eighth saw him make the turn at four-under. His back-nine card was however ruined by poor hitting, with the 3-year-old dropping shots on the 12th, 16th and 17th after finding the right bushes on the first two occasions and the left green-side bunker on the third. Birdies on the 13th, 14th and one on his closing hole helped redeem the situation. “I am very disappointed with my score. I could have done so much better but for my hitting which deserted me on the back-nine,” said Mukesh. “The course is in superb shape and the greens in particular are better than most on the Asian PGA Tour,” concluded Mukesh who finished with 26 putts for his round, one more than Vijay. |
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2800 for police games Bhiwani, October 16 It was decided that wrestling competitions would be held in eight weight categories in both Greeco Roman and free styles in 55 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 74 kg, 84 kg, 96 kg and 120 kg categories. Weightlifting competitions would be conducted in men’s section 56 kg, 62 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 85 kg, 94 kg, 105 kg and plus 105 kg section, as regards women section competition would be in 48 kg, 53 kg, 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg and plus 75 kg class. Judo competition would be conducted only men sectioning the weight categories of 100 kg, 90 kg, 81 kg, 73 kg, 66 kg, 60 kg, 56 kg and open weight categories. Boxing and gymnastics competitions would be held during these 4-day championship. It is for the first time that Haryana Police is hosting such a championship. As many as 2800 competitions from all over the country from different police organisations would be participating in these games. Among others Mr G.S. Malhi and Mr Resham Singh, Inspectors General of Hisar and Rohtak range, respectively, were present on the occasion. |
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TN clinch carrom titles Chandigarh, October 16 Tamil Nadu upseted defending champions Maharashtra 2-1 for the boys trophy while, in the girls team championship they defeated Bihar 3-0. In the boys final, A. Ganeshan of Tamil Nadu defeated Shailesh Rathore of Maharashtra in straight games. He finished in 10 boards at 25-16 and second game in 12 boards at 25-15. K. Senthil Kumar of Tamil Nadu lost the first game against Mohammad. Oves of Maharashtra 1-25 in seven boards but lost the second game finally 25-15 in 12 boards. S. Bakkiaraj of Tamil Nadu restricted Roshan Kajrolkar with his fine skill and settled the score for the winners.Uttar Pradesh defeated Karnataka 2-1 for the third place. |
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Chennai, October 16
