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Tuesday,
January 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India
eying third successive win Reconsider Tendulkar’s batting order Batsmen must back bowlers Parthiv not the right choice: Kirmani New Zealand pitches need ‘fine-tuning’
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Anand too good for Topalov Mankad advances Abhishek runs through
East Punjab 162 for 8 against Delhi CM: upgrade sports infrastructure BSNL meet results
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India eying third successive win Hamilton, January 13 After the humiliating defeats in the two Tests and first four one-dayers, the victories in the last two matches have come as a whiff of fresh air for the team and captain Saurav Ganguly said the third win in a row would put the side in a better frame of mind for the World Cup. “We need to win this game. It is important. It would be good to have three wins in a row and wind up the tour,” Ganguly said today. “It has not been a good tour for us but it happens when you play day in and day out,” he said referring to the team’s hectic schedule over the last one year. “We would have two weeks off before heading for South Africa and it would be useful. We have been on the road for 10 months and we need to spend some time with our families.” India came to New Zealand riding on a crest of successes but were totally exposed on the fast and bouncy tracks tailor- made for the home bowlers. Their first victory, in the fifth one-dayer, came only after losing both the Test as well as the one-day series. Ganguly, who has severely criticised the condition of pitches especially in the first half of the tour, said a third consecutive victory would boost the confidence of the team but refused to call it a moral victory. “I have never believed in moral victories. But it would be good to get three wins. This series has been a lot closer than the results indicate,” he said. “We need to get back to good habits. We did well under pressure in the last two games. It’s time to get back to winning ways.” India can look forward to good batting conditions at the WestPac Park here tomorrow. The pitch, which became the butt of criticism during the second Test with many saying it was unsuitable for international cricket, wears a vastly improved look and the groundsmen felt it was just the right track for a final game. Two days of baking hot sun has made up for the heavy rains of the last week and turf manager Doug Strachan said even 550 runs were not impossible on this pitch. It is probably just the right setting for the batting trinity of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Ganguly to score some runs ahead of the World Cup. While Ganguly has struggled badly on this tour, Tendulkar and Dravid have missed out on a big score in the one-dayers after scoring a half-century each in the Test series. In fact, Tendulkar, who missed the first four one-dayers due to injury, has just one run from two matches while Dravid hasn’t progressed beyond 20s. Ganguly said he would regain his form soon, if not in tomorrow’s game. “I will be back in form soon.” he said. Ganguly has scored just 29 runs from four innings in the Test series and 43 from the six one-dayers. He played his most comfortable innings of the tour in the last match when he scored 23 before edging a catch to wicketkeeper. The skipper said the batsmen, including himself, needed to show a bit more patience in tomorrow’s game. “I was hitting the ball well in the last game and should have carried on. People like (Sanjay) Bangar and (Mohammad) Kaif need to give themselves more time in the middle. Once the bat starts hitting the ball, the confidence comes back,” he said. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming wanted his team to keep itself motivated and was worried that his bowlers were losing focus since the one-day series had already been decided. “The number of no-balls and wides were a reflection of the attitudes of the bowlers in the last two games. Basically, the last three games are dead rubbers. So we have to create a challenging environment,” Fleming said. “We have to be very sharp to go 5-2 up in the last game and we want to do that." “The edge has just gone a bit and there are signs that the guys are in a bit of a holding pattern before the World Cup. That is wrong,” he said. But it might not be easy for the home team this time as it is plagued with injuries to a few key players. Fast bowler Shane Bond is almost ruled out of tomorrow’s game with an ear infection and his replacement Mike Mason too has a fitness problem. Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum has compounded the woes by complaining of dizziness. Fleming was very happy with the pitch condition. Hours of play (IST):
6:40 to 10:10 am and 10:50 till close of play. PTI |
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Reconsider Tendulkar’s batting order The important lesson for India to be drawn from the sixth one-dayer is that nothing in this game should be taken for granted. India were coasting to victory, riding Virender Sehwag’s brilliant hundred, till the innings came apart suddenly. Why this should have happened is something that the Indian team management must examine thoroughly, not only for the last match for this series, but also for the World Cup. In the last year, the Indian team has won some memorable matches, often from difficult situations. Many of the youngsters have come good. The side was on a roll till this tour. Now it seems that there are may gaps to plug. Keeping your head, coming to terms with circumstances and maintaining the winning momentum is obviously paramount. On this tour, I have sometimes felt that the Indian team took it easy because they did not believe they could lose. This was very flawed thinking, especially since the two Tests had been lost. On seaming
tracks, where bowlers will always have upperhand, the batsmen showed little inclination to stick around ad play out the 50 overs. What was disappointing was that the batsmen kept making the same mistakes every time. The exception has been Sehwag who has made two wonderful hundreds to state his class as a one-day player. His innings at Auckland was a gem again, but he must learn to bat through the innings once the hard work has been completed. His dismissal triggered off an embarrassing collapse, and instead of winning with wickets and overs to spare, India just about managed to win. I am also uncomfortable with the batting order, as I have pointed out often. There should be more flexibility instead of rigidity. For instance, playing Sachin Tendulkar at number 4. The thought behind that decision was that he would be the pivot of the side, and hold the innings together when a whole lot of inexperienced players had arrived. But now, with the youngsters more or less settled, Tendulkar’s batting order needs to be reconsidered. He is the best player of the side, and he needs to be comfortable and putting the pressure on the opponents. At number four, it is Tendulkar who comes under pressure, which makes little sense to me. In the choice of bowlers, and the balance of the team too, the team management needs to show greater flexibility. Horses for courses is what I would advocate, not needless rigidity. There is a wealth of talent in this side, and with conditions in South Africa unlikely to be as difficult, the team should do well. In many ways, this is a very happy team, with a settled captain and a good mix of experience and youth. What is needed is the focus to be sharpened, and the urge to win revitalized.
(Gameplan) |
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Batsmen must back bowlers The last match of the one-day series gives India a golden chance of getting back their prestige. Any day, 3-4 would look better than 2-5 and if India are able to wind up the series tomorrow with a victory, they can at least come back home with their pride intact. That does
not mean that honours will be even between India and New Zealand because India were mauled 2-0 in the Tests and they will lose the one-day series but their victories in the last two matches have given hope. Otherwise, even the most optimistic of Indian supporter had already written them off for the World Cup. For the first time in the series India had their batting order right. Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag as openers, followed by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif should be the order India need to persist at the World Cup and in all fairness, they need too stick to that in tomorrow’s match too. India then have an option of playing Sanjay Bangar as an allrounder with Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan as fast bowlers and a spinner from amongst Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar will be reserves for Bangar’s slot, if he fails with the bat. The last two matches also demonstrated how India missed an opportunity of beating New Zealand in the series. How I wish the India batting had clicked in the Tests and one-dayers. But the past is
behind them and all they need to do is to end the series on a winning note. And I don’t need to write again that our batsmen have to support the bowlers, who have been splendid on the tour. |
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Parthiv
not the right choice: Kirmani New Delhi, January 13 “Wicket-keeping is the most difficult job. We need an experienced, specialist wicket-keeper, not an inexperienced one”, opined the former stumper, who made a fleeting halt in Delhi today, in the company of former Indian player and senior selector Madan Lal. Kirmani said either Ajay Ratra or Vijay Dahiya should have been preferred to Parthiv Patel, because Ratra, who scored a century against the West Indies, is a good bat too, while Dahiya “is the best”. Kirmani lamented the fact that the powers that be of Indian cricket have not been able to “spot and groom the right man” for the wicket-keeper’s job. He said there was no dearth of talent in the country, but it was just a question of picking the right player and giving him the right kind of grooming. Kirmani, citing his own example, said he had played as the understudy of the legendary Farookh Engineer for four long years before earning his spurs, though he admitted that he was lucky to “get the right break at the right time”. He asserted that any youngster, howsoever talented, should be put on a probation for a minimum of two years to assess his “temperament, physical fitness and work behind the stumps” before promoting him to the India team. “How can you ask a 10th standard student sit for the B.Com final examination straight away?”, wondered the famous stumper. Kirmani said it was pointless to expect the wicket-keeper, who normally bats lower down the order, at the seventh or eighth position, to make a substantial contribution to the team total if the top six batsmen fail. “You look for a keeper first and then a batsman”, Kirmani cautioned. “A specialist knows the importance of keeping”, he noted. Kirmani pointed out that a good keeper should have “natural abilities like diving skills, reflexes, agility etc.”. He felt that the hue and cry being created about Sachin Tendulkar’s batting position in one-day matches was a pointless exercise. He said the team management, comprising the coach, manager, captain, vice-captain and some senior players, should be allowed to decide what’s best for the interest of the team. “Sachin should play at a position where he can contribute his best for the team”, Kirmani remarked. He advised the captain and other players “not to bother about the comments and opinions of others”. Kirmani said hosts South Africa and twice champions Australia were hot favourites to lift the World Cup with India being the “dark horses”. He said the West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were also contenders for the Cup and did not count out “white horses like New Zealand”, either. Madan Lal took an objective view of India’s shaky performance in New Zealand as he felt that the defeats suffered in the Kiwi land would help the Indian players “learn a lot before the World Cup”. He said there was no point in criticising captain Saurav Ganguly for the team’s failure. He said it was also unfair to put the blame on coach John Wright for the team’s failure. “We are trying to find fault with Wright after him being with the team for three years”, Madan said. He also supported the view of Kirmani that Sachin Tendulkar should bat at a slot decided by the team management “for the interest of the team”. Madan observed that any team who “concede less number of extras, whose running between wickets and fielding are good” stand a better chance of lifting the Cup, than others. |
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New Zealand pitches need ‘fine-tuning’ Hamilton, January 13 New Zealand Turf Culture Institute guru Keith McAuliffe said nearly all the pitches India played on during their month long tour were new and had a lot of grass because of a new policy by New Zealand Cricket to push for more pace, bounce and lateral movement. “This has been achieved and our pitches are not the slow, low dungers,
as they were in the past,” McAuliffe was quoted as saying by a website.
PTI |
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Lanka beat England Sydney, January 13 Scoreboard Sri Lanka Atapattu c Knight b Caddick 0 Jayasuriya c Knight b Blackwell 106 Tillakaratne c Trescothick b Collingwood 44 De Silva c Stewart b Caddick 51 Sangakkara c & b Anderson 10 Jayawardene c Collingwood b Anderson 33 Arnold run out 0 Vaas not out 6 Muralitharan not out 3 Extras: (b-1 lb-10 nb-4 w-16) 31 Total: (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 284 Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-144 3-199 4-224 5-264 6-269 7-277 Bowling: Caddick 10-3-29-2 (nb-1 w-1), Anderson 9-0-58-2 (w-4), Harmison 9-0-59-0 (nb-2 w-9), Irani 9-0-53-0 (w-1), Blackwell 10-0-54-1 (w-1), Collingwood 3-0-20-1 (nb-1). England Trescothick run out 85 Knight c Sangakkara b D.Fernando 42 Hussain c Sangakkara b D.Fernando 13 Shah c Jayawardene b De Silva 39 Collingwood b Jayasuriya 2 Stewart run out 6 Blackwell c Atapattu b De Silva 16 Irani c & b De Silva 2 Caddick not out 14 Anderson b Muralitharan 1 Harmison c Arnold b De Silva 7 Extras: (b-1 lb-13 nb-5 w-7) 26 Total: (all out, 49.2 overs) 253 Fall of wickets: 1-115, 2-146, 3-161, 4-167, 5-179, 6-217, 7-227, 8-227, 9-234. Bowling: Vaas 9-1-54-0 (w-1), B. Fernando 7-0-36-0 (w-2), De Silva 6.2-1-30-4, D.Fernando 7-0-38-2 (nb-5 w-1), Muralitharan 10-1-36-1, Jayasuriya 10-0-45-1 (w-3).
Reuters |
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Venus wins, Capriati ousted
Melbourne, January 13 Defending champion Jennifer Capriati was bundled out today after a shock 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 shock loss to Marlene Weingartner. The twice Australian Open champion blew her chance of a hat-trick of titles when she crashed to an unexpected loss after looking to have the match under control. The American raced through the opening set then opened up a 4-2 lead in the second when her game suddenly fell apart with a series of uncharacteristic mistakes. Second-seed Williams fought back from 3-0 down in the first set before finally overwhelming Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 on the Rod Laver Arena. Thriving in sweltering conditions, Williams got stronger as the game progressed and came home comfortably. Agassi, meanwhile, indicated that he was going to cause problems for top seed Hewitt, aiming to become the first Australian to win in Melbourne since Mark Edmondson in 1976. Looking lean and sharp, and with wife Steffi Graf watching in the stands, second seed Agassi disposed of American compatriot Brian Vahaly with a minimum of fuss, winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan had been given the honour of playing the opening match on the main court, and returned the favour by beating Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 in 2hr 18min. The win set up a possible second round encounter with Australian Mark Philippoussis, who was playing later. Men’s fifth seed Carlos Moya, regarded by many as a dark horse for the men’s crown, also got away smoothly, beating Belgium’s Dick Norman 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 despite being bothered by a sore elbow. There were wins too for compatriot and fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Franco Squillari, 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and eighth seed Albert Costa, who defeated Germany’s David Prinosil in four sets. In the women’s singles, hard-hitting Belgian Justin Henin-Hardenne, seeded five, overcame Switzerland’s Myriam Casanova in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour. The 20-year-old Belgian had too much power for Casanova, using her wider range of shots to ease past an opponent who sits 48 places below her on the world rankings. About the closest thing to an upset occurred in Russian glamour-girl Anna Kournikova’s match - she won. Kournikova fell at the first hurdle in all four Grand lams last season, living up to her reputation for being a tennis player who is more style than substance. A first round defeat in last week’s Sydney tournament had many predicting a similar fate was on the cards at the Australian Open. But producing what she later described as a “nearly perfect” performance, the Miami-based world number 42 was never challenged on her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Slovakia’s Henrieta Nagyova. AFP Kournikova
settles tattoo debate
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Anand too good for Topalov Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), January 13 Defending champion GM Evgeny Bareev of Russia continued with his winning ways to outclass GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and move in to sole lead with a perfect 2/2 score. Anand and GM Anatoly Karpov of Russia follow the leader half a point behind while a pack of seven are tied with one point each. Eleven more rounds remain to be played in this 14-players all-play-all category-19 tournament. In what turned out to be one of the most unexpected results of round two, and perhaps of the tournament, world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine defeated top seed and Braingames world champion Vladimir Kramnik in an almost one sided game. Ponomariov, smarting under a disastrous loss against Bareev in the first round, bounced back in reckoning to join the one-pointers. For Anand, it turned out to be an easy outing as Topalov’s home work did not yield him anything decisive. It was a Petroff defence where the Indian ace, playing black, had a level position after the opening and appeared in fine fettle even as Topalov went for an ambitious exchange sacrifice (Rook for a Bishop) on his 17th move. The idea was untried so far and Anand had to work out things over the board.
PTI |
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Mankad advances New Delhi, January 13 In the singles, a grueling two-setter that went for an hour and five minutes, saw Mankad, who made it to the semi-finals of the Lucknow ITF meet last week, break his opponent’s serve five times — twice in the first set and thrice in the next. In the second round, Mankad will meet Tomistav Peric (Croatia). Tomistav today was awarded the match against top-seed Mikael Elgin of Russia 6-3,6-4. The chair umpire ruled that Elgin violated the code after he threw his racket down at the other end. Even in the Lucknow meet, Elgin was knocked out in the first round by local lad Rishi Sridhar. Two other Indians in the fray — Vijay Kannan and Ashutosh Singh both lost in the first round matches against tougher opponents. Kannan went down to fourth-seeded Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan 2-6, 2-6. Iwabuchi with his solid baseline play and tremendous court coverage loomed over the Chennai lad.
UNI |
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Abhishek runs through East Rohtak, January 13 North Zone (first innings):
M.Bisla c H.Dass b Sarkar 17, Shikhar Dhawan c Mohanty b Tushar 71, Salil Oberoi lbw Tushar 44, Vikram Dhariwal lbw Sarkar 24, Deepak Sharma run out 5, Sachin Rana c Behra b Nayak 59, Kuldeep Rawat lbw Nayak 19, Pankaj Thakur not out 55, Abhishek Sharma c
sub. (Jahangir) b Amber Roy 28, Aparajit Singh not out 8, Extras:
(b-21, lb-13, nb-10, w-2) 39. Total: for 8 wickets declared 376.
Fall of wickets: 1/38, 2/113, 3/163, 4/169, 5/182, 6/239, 7/269, 8/331. Bowling: Saurav Sarkar 28-6-98-2, Amber Roy 16-1-73-1, Rakesh Mohanty 19-4-53-0, Niranjan Behera 19-7-43-1, Pravat Nayak 13-0-49-2, Tushar 16-5-26-2 East Zone (first innings): Abhishek c Dhavan b Abhishek Sharma 26, Avik c Deepak b 0, Rakesh Mohanty lbw Rawat 0,
S. Biswal c Bisla b Abhishek Sharma 15, Niranjan c Rawat b Abhishek Sharma 4, Dinesh lbw Aparajit 4,
H. Dass c Rana b Abhishek Sharma 0, Pravat c Aparajit b Abhishek Sharma 5, S. Sarkar lbw Abhishek Sharma 7, Amber Roy b Abhishek Sharma 5, Tushar Saha not out 0,
Extras: (B-2, lb-1, nb-3) 6. Total: ( in 39.4 overs) 72.
Fall of wickets: 1/4, 2/10, 3/31, 4/48, 5/49, 6/54, 7/58, 8/59, 9/71.
Bowling: Kuldeep Rawat 7-2-17-1, Sachin Rana 7-4-6-1, M.Bisla 4-3-5-0, Rajesh 1-0-6-0, Abhishek Sharma 11.4-5-21-7, Aparajit Singh 9-2-14-1. East Zone (2nd innings): Abhishek batting 34, Avik lbw Abhishek Sharma 22, Rakesh Mohanty st. Deepak b Aparajit 2,
S. Biswal lbw Aparajit 0, Niranjan lbw Abhishek Sharma 6, S. Sarkar c Bisla b Rajesh 2, Dinesh batting 15,
Extras: (lb-5, nb-2) 7. Total: for 5 wickets 88 Fall of wickets: 1/46, 2/49, 3/51, 4/65, 5/70
Bowling: Kuldeep Rawat 3-1-9-0, Sachin Rana 2-0-12-0, Rajesh 9-0-26-1, Aparajit 9-0-21-2, Abhishek Sharma 8-2-15-2. |
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Punjab
162 for 8 against Delhi Patiala, January 13 Foggy weather conditions thwarted the hosts. Punjab will now have to strive hard to bag the maximum of 8 points from their contest against Haryana in their last league match that commences here from January 15 to 17. Brief scores: Delhi (1st innings): 217 all out Punjab (1st innings): 162 for 8 (Ankur Kakkar 34,
S.P. Singh 45, Chandan Madan 24, Amit Kakria 23, N.S. Negi 2 for 44, Vivek Mahajan 3 for 29). |
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CM: upgrade sports infrastructure Jammu, January 13 Addressing at a function organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association here this morning to honour the functionaries and members of the association for the promotion of the game, the Chief Minister said that a coordinated effort is required for the purpose. He stressed the need for involving educational institutions, sports organisations and people in a big way for promotion of sports in the state, which has tremendous talent. Referring to football, which has remained a popular game in the state, he said this needs to be promoted to achieve excellence at the national and international level. In the same vein, he asked for all out efforts to promote kabaddi, cricket and hockey. For the purpose, Mufti Sayeed said available sports infrastructure needs to be optimally utilised besides creating more facilities. He said he is keen that youth are provided adequate opportunities of extra-curricular activities as these being imperative for physical fitness along with achieving excellence in academics. |
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BSNL meet results Kurukshetra, January 13 Narasimha Devadiga (Karnataka), in category 82.5 kgs took gold. In squats he lifted 217.5, bench press 125 kg and deadlift 220 kg for a total 562.5 points. K. Prabhakaran (Kerala) in category of weight 90 kgs won gold scoring 215 in squats, 127.5 in bench press and 210 in deadlift for a total of 552.5 points. The results: 52 kg: 1 Brij Mohan, MTNL, Delhi (360 points), 2 D.K. Khajuria, Madhya Pradesh (335 points) and 3 Satiram Singh, Uttar Pradesh East (335 points). 56 kg: 1 Sukesh Babu Mk. Kerala (427.5 points), 2 Kaushal Chand MTNL, Delhi (377.5 points), 3 N. Thirunava Karsu, TN (337.5 points). 60 kg:
1 M.H. Shanmukha, Karnataka (502.5 points), 2 A.B. Rane, MTNL (405 points), 3 Dilip Kori, MP (280 points). 67.5 kg: 1 Jitender Kohli, NTR, Delhi (522.5 points), 2 N.R. Parab, Maharashtra (515 points), 3 G. Ashok, AP (412.5 points). 75 kg: 1 M.R. Guruprasad, Karnataka (530 points), 2 K.S. Awale, Maharashtra (462.5 points), 3 Banbari Lal, NTR, Delhi (450 points). 82.5 kg: 1 Narasimha Devadiga, Karnataka (562.5 points), 2 Mukesh Kumar, MTNL, Delhi (530 points), 3 P.P. Bhagat, MTNL (M) (510 points). 90 kg: 1 K. Prabhakaran, Kerala (552.5 points), 2 Swaminathan, Karnataka (545 points), 3 Deepak Khodke, MP (537.5 points). |
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