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Monday,
February 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Spectacular opening to cricket extravaganza Beware of bookies, captains warned Death threats to
England players Aussies panicky: Waqar Ganguly needs just one good innings
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Challenging week for New Zealand Murali the biggest threat Lanka, Kiwis have outside chance FROM THE DRESSING
ROOM Baptism by fire for Namibia
 India make 4-1 sweep in Davis CupNew Delhi, February 9 Rohan Boppana came good when it mattered most, and Leander Paes scored yet another regulation victory as India made a 4-1 sweep of their Asia Ocenia Group I Davis Cup clash against Japan at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association centre court here today. Signals lift hockey title
Legendary cyclist wins gold India (Red) triumph GYM named after Parbodh Chandra
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Spectacular opening to cricket extravaganza Cape Town, February 9 The South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, declared the eighth edition of the World Cup open amidst thunderous applause by the capacity crowd at the swanky Newlands Stadium, heralding the much-hyped 14-team cricketing extravaganza. The nearly three-hour Olympic-style opening ceremony, watched by an estimated 1.5 billion television audience worldwide, showcased the diverse culture of the continent before the teams battle for glory and honour in the next few weeks in the mega event being held in South Africa for the first time. “Let the games begin,” Mr Mbeki said in the presence of a galaxy of dignitaries and cricketers of all the participating teams as the crowd at the floodlit stadium, with the picturesque Table Mountains at the backdrop, responded with a roar. After the enthralling cultural programme, the teams marched in alphabetical order with Australia in front and the hosts South Africa bringing up the rear. The Indians led by Saurav Ganguly, dressed in blue suit, got a warm applause from the tri-colour waving fans. Catching the mood of the night were world’s premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar and the baby in the team wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. The ‘Protocol’ scene, sixth of the seven-part gala function, began with a march of Africa’s sporting ambassadors, including cricketers Graeme Pollock, tennis star Amanda Coetzer, sprinter Frankie Fredericks and Formula One racer Jodie Sketter. Following them were umpires and referees of the cricket World Cup 2003 and the teams. The dignitaries came next starting with South African Sports Minister Ngonda Balfour, Malcolm Gray, ICC president, Malcolm Speed, ICC CEO, Dr Ali Bacher, Executive Director of CWC 2003, Percy Sonn, President UCBSA and Gerard Majola, CEO UCBSA. Earlier a two-hour long spectacle depicting the beauty and diverse culture of the continent took the viewer on a journey through the continent. A group of five tourists, and along with them millions of viewers around the globe, was taken through a spectacular safari, bustling city
scrapes and golden beaches by the host of the show, comedian Marc Lottering.
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Beware of bookies, captains warned Cape Town, February 9 The captains were told of possible forms of an approach by potential bookies and were shown video footage compiled by the ACU which appeared to have detailed the modus operandi of known bookmakers. The footage, apparently has been shown to teams before in the past year, the sources added. The ACU was formed in June, 2000, following the match-fixing scandal which led to life bans being imposed on three Test captains, the late Hansie Cronje of South Africa, Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Salim Malik of Pakistan.
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Death threats to
England players Cape Town, February 9 England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman Andrew Walpole told Reuters that the letter had become ‘’a significant part of the discussions’’. “The players were understandably rattled when they were shown it,” he added. “It contained death threats to the players and their families if they play in Zimbabwe.’’ ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said the letter had been passed on to experts who had declared it a hoax before being shown to the 15-man England squad.
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Aussies panicky: Waqar Johannesburg, February 9 “The Australians are panicking and we must cash in on it to have a cracking start in the tournament,” Waqar told AFP here. The finalists of the last World Cup in 1999 go head-to-head at the Wanderers here in a mouth-watering clash between two of the most explosive sides in world cricket. Waqar based his assessment on the recent utterings of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who said his side’s entire focus was on the Pakistan game. “We can’t think any further ahead,” Ponting said earlier this week. “If we did, we would not be paying enough attention on what we need to do in our first game.” “It’s about as simple and as complicated as it gets at the moment, our focus is on Pakistan.” History suggests Ponting’s apprehensions may be justified as defending champions have struggled to make an impact when it comes to the defence of their crown. The West Indies, champions for the second time in 1979, lost their opener four years later to India, who went on to win the World Cup. The Indians in turn lost to eventual winners Australia in 1987, while New Zealand beat Australia in the opening match of the 1992 World Cup. The 1996 champions Sri Lanka lost to hosts England when the tournament opened at Lord’s in 1999. “We will try to continue this trend,” said Waqar, facing Australia for the first time in a World Cup game. Australia and Pakistan have a 3-3 record in the World Cup, but the embarrassing eight-wicket defeat in the final four years ago at Lord’s still hurts the Pakistanis. Ponting said he was hoping for a similar result, but Waqar would have none of it. When told the Aussies were planning a full-scale assault on Pakistan, Waqar hit back: “We too have a plan to tame them.” “If he (Ponting) reminds me of the Lord’s final, I will remind him of the Super Challenge series last year which we won on their home turf,” the Pakistan captain said. Pakistani wicket-keeper Rashid Latif continued the mind games, saying Australia will pay the penalty for showing former captain Steve Waugh the door. “Dropping Steve Waugh tantamounts to dropping the Cup,” Latif said, and predicted that Tuesday’s winner would win the tournament. “As far as I am concerned, this is going to be the match of the tournament,” he said.
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Ganguly
needs just one good innings His neck is on the block and it is most unfair that it is. The dip in his own batting form, particularly in one-day cricket, 58 runs in seven innings in New Zealand, has sparked some cries for his head. The fickle seem to have forgotten his immense contribution to Indian cricket but, rightly or wrongly, Sourav Ganguly is at the crossroads. We spend half the time crying for a leaders and the other half in nailing them to the cross for prejudice. However, the business of a leader is to turn weakness into strength, obstacles into stepping stones and disaster into triumph. From the time he took over as captain, he has worked relentlessly at forging the Indian team into a fighting unit, hungry for success. There is no need to refer to the number of Tests he has led India to victory in. All you need to do is see how he has made the Indian side give it back to the Australians. It is instilling this self-belief, which is Ganguly’s greatest contribution. After all, a good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of credit. There is no doubt that talent like Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh owe it to the captain for being there in the first place. He backed them against all odds, against accusations that he was playing favourites, and has encouraged them to parade their skills on the international stage. There was a touch of statesmanship in the manner in which he combined with coach John Wright in conceiving Rahul Dravid’s role as wicket-keeper and in convincing him to take on an unfamiliar and uncomfortable role. It called for a lot of courage to be able to pursue the unconventional in the face of mounting criticism. Ganguly is prepared to gamble on a workable idea and spring surprises, backing his gut feeling. Unfortunately, unlike some other great captains — Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Mike Brearley are good examples — Ganguly’s captaincy has been directly proportional to his performance with the bat. He comes across as a great captain when he is wielding the willow well but seems a bit lost when he searches for form at the crease. His mind meanders when he is not among the runs and this can be a bit detrimental to his captaincy. Stand still and watch the world go by — it will. A lot of powerful people, not the least being Indian cricket administrators and selectors, may perceive him as being adamant and could be baying for his blood. He is nobody’s poodle. Despite hailing from Kolkata, the seat of power in the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he chose to stand by his players through the thick and thin of the Player Terms spat. This is something that can be said of few captains. And, in doing this, he has risked his own neck. A good example is the best sermon you can preach. It is imperative, therefore, that he gets his batting act together in the World Cup if he is not to be made a scapegoat at the end of the tournament. All he needs is one good innings for the blues — and the critics — to vanish in thin air. From Indian cricket’s point of view, it is important that he does well at batsman — and captain — at the ensuing World Cup. Don’t make the mistake of writing him off. Back in 1991-92 when he toured Australia, he earned the tag of Maharaj for not the best of reasons. Then, when he roared back from the wilderness to the Indian team on the tour of England in 1996, he was branded a quota candidate. There is this resilience about Ganguly which is striking. Just when the lid seems to be closing on his cricketing grave, he rises like the Phoenix.
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Challenging
week for New Zealand New Zealand’s cricketers go into the next week knowing that it could be the most crucial one in our careers. We play Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies during the next seven days and we know that each of these games is a must-win for us to get into the next stage. The situation has been made more challenging for the Black Caps by the New Zealand cricket board’s decision not to play in Kenya. No team likes to forfeit points, but there are larger issues than the sport governing this decision, and while it puts us in a bit of pressure, we stand by it. It is a little unfortunate that we will not be playing at the ground on which we scored our most significant one-day victory — the mini World Cup win in 2000. It was a great venue and we have fond memories of playing there, but there are other issues dictating our decision this time, and we will have to go with what the governing bodies finally decide. We are supposed to know the fate of the match within the next 24 hours, but right now we are trying our best to focus on our opening game, versus Sri Lanka. I feel that is a positive thing to play Sri Lanka in what will be their opening game as well. We hope the wicket at Bloemfontein has some bounce so that we can exploit the discomfort that Sri Lankans generally feel when playing on such wickets. In the past, Sanath Jayasuriya’s team has shown an inability to start off well, since the batsmen take some time to get acclimatized to the conditions. It would therefore be a plus for our bowlers to have a go at their batsmen before the latter have come to grips with the pace and bounce in South African wickets. Our bowlers are fully fit as we start our campaign, and the one positive of having our matches early is that the wear and tear that bowlers suffer during a long tournament, will not be a factor in our big games. Shane Bond and Jacob Oram who missed a few games in our series against India are fully fit, while Chris Cairns will be playing the match as a batsman. We are not too worried by the fact that the last time we played at Bloemfontein, in a Test, we ended up on the losing side. This time round, we are taking on a visiting team and not the home side and that is bound to make a difference. We are aware that our bowlers have to get it spot on if we are to keep the likes of Jayasuriya and Aravinda De Silva quiet. Discipline will be a key factor for our seamers, and they must look to keep down the runs in order to build pressure on the Sri Lankans, who fret a little if they are not allowed to play their shots freely. The latter have the flair and ability to hurt you if you don’t bowl on one side of the wicket, so bowling the right line is crucial. Muttiah
Muralitharan is the other key factor on which this match will hinge. He can make the ball spin on just about any surface, and our strategy is to play him with the respect he deserves, and look to score off the other bowlers instead.
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Murali the biggest threat Bloemfontein, February 9 The losers of tomorrow’s game would be left to beat both West Indies and South Africa to clinch a place in the Super-Six, assuming that the matches against minnows Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada go according to expectations. However, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya was not worried about getting such a crucial match early in the tournament. “It is good to get a tough match out of the way early,” he said looking at the positive side of it. “That ways we can plan better for the rest of our matches.” New Zealand, on the other hand, have a tougher task since a mere win may not be enough for them. Having decided not to travel to Kenya for their league game, they are almost certain to concede four points, and they would be looking for a big win tomorrow to improve their net run-rate which could prove decisive in the final analysis. “We generally start the tournaments well,” New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said. “We will do well because we believe in the squad we have got.” Sri Lanka have been boosted by the return of their match-winning bowler Muthiah Muralitharan who has recovered from a thigh-muscle injury sustained during the tri-nation series in Australia last month.
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Lanka, Kiwis have outside chance Cricket is a team game but more often than not, individual contests hog the limelight. Monday will once again focus, what I predict to be an exciting affair, between two ‘quickies’ — one in sending down the ball to the batsman and the other in despatching it to the fence. Bond, Shane Bond, will lock horns with the irrepressible Sanath
Jayasuriya when New Zealand meet Sri Lanka in Bloemfontein, in a crucial group B tie. The early spell by the South African bowlers has proved right that the ball will weigh heavy over the bat, although the same may not be true in the later stage of the innings. Lara’s knock, especially the way he shaped his century, is a perfect example of how batsman have to play in this tournament and Powell’s late surge only gave confirmation to the above theory. West Indies have shown the door for other teams to mould their innings in these conditions, a cue which they have to catch for their own good. Given the scenario, Shane Bond and
Daryl Tuffey are expected to make life difficult for the Lankan openers but sensing
Jayasuriya's credentials, he is sure to make his presence felt with some towering shots. Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand have an outside chance to get their hands to the trophy. Sri Lanka have Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Dilharo Fernando as main attack bowlers while old fox Aravinda De Silva, Sangakkara, Atapattu, Arnold and Jayawardene will form the nucleus of the batting along with their skipper
Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankans too, are affected from the deadly subcontinent virus called ‘
inconsistency’ and like their cousins are highly erratic for someone to think seriously about their chances. However, potentially they are very much a part of six teams qualifying for the next stage of the tournament. New Zealand, on the other hand, are on a high after quashing India and with no further injury problems, they will be looking to claim their first World Cup. Chris
Cairns, in his ‘clipped’ role will be a huge influence on the side and so will Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan. These three have to come firing on all cylinders because of their big hitting abilities while skipper Fleming have to essay the sheet anchor role. Murali factor will always, as ever, remain a hurdle for the Kiwis and this is where they have plan their innings accordingly, opting to play safe his overs or otherwise. On the bowling front, Chris Harris will be crucial in the middle overs with his innocuous leg cutters and left arm spinner Daniel Vettori would be keen to get his act together. In another encounter, Zimbabwe are expected to cakewalk past new entrants Namibia but not before the African debutants give some exhibition of their cricketing skills.
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FROM THE DRESSING ROOM Cape Town, February 9 Soon they were herded into the team bus and arrived Newlands in good time before being pushed into a huge hall which opened into a tunnel and in an entry to the main stadium. It was unbearably hot inside. Teams had now started filing in, including 40-odd umpires and referees and a good two-dozen sporting South African icons from different disciplines, fiddling with their ties and running combs over ruffled hair. The floor space was now occupied to the last inch. Most were looking at their watches, waiting for the needle to strike 8.30 in the evening, the hour when the world would warm up to cricket. The moment arrived but the boys were still
stuck inside. They could sense the world was united in celebrations-in Africa, Australia, India, Europe and America and the rest-unmindful of different time zones, day or night, rain or light. However, they appeared cut off from the rest, no better than hostages at the organizers mercy. For Indian cricketers, used to spotlight of frenzied crowd seeking autographs and pleading for photos-it was a chilling moment of isolation, ironically when cricket was being celebrated outside. Indian cricketers, nervous before the start and anxious as the scheduled start had approached, were now in panic at missing out on the action. They pushed and jostled each other to catch the action on television. But there was no luck here too-the pictures were hazy and quality was poor. Besides, they had already been elbowed out by heftier and stronger cricketers of other countries. It was only the start of their trouble. The usherers soon asked them to line up and move slowly. They would walk 10 steps and then asked to wait, a good 10 minutes or so before setting off again. It took 55 minutes before they could cover the breadth of the hall! By the time they broke out in the open sky, in dazzling stadium and wildly cheering crowd, it was already 10 p.m and the opening ceremony was only half an hour away from completion. They tried to soak in as much as they could and capture images in their memory to last them the lifetime. Little did they realize the disappointment was far from over. There was no food for them inside the hall and there was none now at the end of the ceremony. They were angry before-now they were hungry. They arrived hotel around midnight and reached for room service to order food. It didn’t arrive before 1.30
am and most were already dozing off. Soon it was morning and time to board coach for Paarl, a good one and a half hour drive from their Waterfront abode in Cape Town. There would be a practice session in the afternoon in preparation for the opening game against Holland on February 12. Now the only centrestage these boys could aspire for-a stage where they would then not be denied their place in front of the world audience-is if they reach the finals. Come to think of it, it’s an inspiration enough to put the disappointment of opening ceremony aside and play with a mission. |
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Baptism by fire for Namibia Harare, February 9 With all the focus on whether World Cup games should be played here being permanently fixed on England’s trials and tribulations, the Namibians are preparing to slip quietly into the country for their first ever tie in the tournament. But they could find themselves in the eye of a storm. On Saturday, just 48 hours before the clash at the Harare Sports Club, a Zimbabwean coalition of opposition groups claimed that 50 of its activists had been arrested during a series of protests — although the police said only six persons carrying placards were arrested. Planned demonstrations failed to take off in the capital, but National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) spokesman Doulgas Mwonzora said another demonstration was planned for Harare on Monday to coincide with the match. Namibia’s state of mind would not have improved on hearing that later on Saturday, three leading lawmakers from Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were arrested as the authorities carried out their pledge to crack down on potential protests ahead of the six scheduled World Cup games in the country. However, the Namibian team said that they were determined to concentrate on the game. “The Zimbabwe controversy has damaged the build-up to the World Cup but we have been determined to avoid all the fuss and are focused on our debut,” team manager Francois Erasmus told AFP. “We have no problems about playing here and are not concerned what the England and Wales Cricket Board have been doing, it’s their problem. “We enjoy good relations with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and expect good support on and off the field.” Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak said that although Namibia would be rank-outsiders having qualified for the World Cup via the ICC Trophy in 2001, his own team’s experiences tell him not to underestimate their opponents. We are treating this match exactly as if we were playing Pakistan or India,” said Streak. “We have made a careful study of all their players and we are well prepared. We know we will have to play very good cricket to beat them. We are taking them very seriously as we have to.”
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India make 4-1 sweep in Davis Cup New Delhi, February 9 Rohan
Boppana, whose erratic display had caused his defeat at the hands of Goichi Motomura in the opening singles on Friday, made suitable amends in the reverse singles when he bested Jun Kato 7-6 (7-5),
6-4, 6-3 in 155 minutes to give India an unbeatable 3-1 lead. Rohan’s victory took a heavy load off Leander Paes, who had risen to the occasion to win the opening singles against Takao Suzuki and then
partnered Mahesh Bhupathi to down Jun Kato and Thomas Shimada in the doubles to put India on the road to victory. Following Rohan’s victory, which helped India clinch the tie, Leander’s reverse singles match against Goichi Motomura was reduced to a best-of-three contest. Leander seemed to be in an easy-going mood and sprang to life only after losing the first set to author a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in 137 minutes. This was India’s 17th victory against Japan in 19 Davis Cup ties. This was also India’s eighth 4-1 sweep against Japan, but the first after beating the visitors in Chandigarh in 1990. The Chandigarh tie was memorable on another count, as the debonair Leander Adrian Paes had made his memorable debut then. Leander has been the anchor of India’s Davis Cup campaign ever since, and Rohan
Boppana's victory may herald the rise of another star on the tennis horizon. But Rohan was lucky that he was spared the difficult job of tackling the Japanese top gun, Takao Suzuki. Instead, Japan sprang a surprise by pitting the weak Jun Kato as Suzuki was reportedly nursing a shoulder injury. Still, it was creditable on the part of Rohan to record a straight-set victory with a focused performance. He was positive and effective, as his game was error-free. Rohan had given away too many negative points to Motomura in the opening singles through his wayward returns. Though his booming serve is his biggest asset, Rohan controlled his serve to get points, instead of blasting ace after ace, and nullifying them with an even number of double faults. Games went with serves in the first set as Rohan and Kato played with precision. In the tie-breaker, after a close run, Kato committed a mistake, and Rohan blasted away a service winner to clinch the matter. Kato was broken in the ninth game of the second set and the very first game of the third. Kato committed two double faults in the opening game of the third set, to make the job of Rohan that much easier. Rohan, serving for the match, zoomed to victory when Kato hit deep and wide to gift away the match point. Leander was shaken out of his relaxed mode only when he was broken in the second and fourth games of the first set. Motomura was no easy prey, as he kept on pushing Leander to the limit, but the Indian ace is a class act in his own special way, and stepped on the pedal in the second and third sets to settle the argument. Motomura was broken in the fourth game of the second set, and the ninth game of the third set. Serving for the match, Leander was comfortably placed when he led 40-0. When about to serve the match point, a loud cat call from the stand upset him, and he could get the winning point only after muffing two match points. India take on New Zealand in their next Davis Cup match at home from April 6 to 8. New Zealand defeated Pakistan to move up. |
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Signals
lift hockey title Ludhiana, February 9 The final match (women) turned out to be a one-sided affair with the Haryana girls dominating the proceedings throughout and gave no time to their rivals to settle down. The score sheet could have been different had the Haryana eves capitalised on scoring chances which came their way. They forced as many as 11 penalty corners but could not translate these chances into goal. Haryana players drew the first blood in the seventh minute when Simarjit Kaur after breaching the Rest of Punjab’s defence line sounded the board 1-0. Eight minutes later, Balwinder Kaur enhanced the lead (2-0). After changing ends, Haryana girls repeatedly made forays into the rival territory but failed to pierce the Rest of Punjab’s citadel. However, these pressure tactics bore fruit in the 48th minute when Simarjit again found the target to help her team clinch the title 3-0. In kabaddi (52 kg), Kaunke Kalan beat Harkiratgarh; 62 kg-Dhoorkot beat Jhande 25-18 and Sajjad beat Dhandri Khurd. An exhibition match between Punjab and Haryana was also conducted in which the former emerged winners. On this occasion, the organisers felicitated Ashok Dewan, goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team which had won the World Cup in the 1975. He was given the Padamshree Prithipal Singh Memorial Award and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Bhupinder Singh (Binder) of Nawan Pind, an outstanding kabaddi player, employed with Punjab State Electricity Board was honoured with the Alankar Tony award while Kulwant Singh Boparai, a sports organiser was given Promoter of Sports, Amarjit Grewal
Memorial Award. Binder and Boparai were also given cash prizes of Rs 5,000 each. They were taken in open jeeps in the stadium where the spectators gave them a standing ovation. Mr Tej Parkash Singh, Transport Minister, distributed the prizes. Mr Malkit Singh Birmi and Mr Malkit Singh Dakha, both MLAs were also present. |
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Legendary
cyclist wins gold Chandigarh, February 9 A retired Headmaster, Pritam first entered the Guinness Book of World Records after covering 5000 km from Hoshiarpur to Mumbai and back in a little less than 14 days. The journey was part of a goodwill mission on behalf of the Punjab Government during November 1992. Pritam won his maiden gold in World Masters Games in Brisbane in October 1994. His subsequent success came when he covered 560 km non-stop from London to Glasgow in a record time in December 1996. The next gold was won in Canberra in October 1997. Continuing his golden run he also annexed gold medals at Dunedin in New Zealand and at Portland, Oregon in the USA , both in 1998 and at Adelaide
(Australia) in 1999, where he covered 60-km distance in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 17.1 seconds. He said he felt transformed and got tremendous strength after he was baptised at Chicago in 1998. Besides, he said, the secret of his success was self-reliance, self-confidence, meditation and perseverance, etc. He was confidence personified when he said he intended to keep going this way until he was 100 year old. |
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India (Red) triumph Bathinda, February 9 The winning team secured 37 points while the runners-up secured 32 points in the final. A many as seven teams, including those who played for clubs in different countries participated in the one-day tournament. The teams were India (Red), India (Blue), Pepsu, Jalandhar Academy and those from clubs of Canada, Germany, and Australia. During the tournament athlete Sunita Rani and veteran kabaddi players of the area were honoured. Mr Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Public Health Minister, Punjab, who was the chief guest, announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh to the club. Mr Surinder Singla, local MLA and chairman of the high-powered finance committee, said although the Indians started taking interest in cricket and other such games, it was kabaddi and other traditional sports which reflected the Punjabi character. |
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GYM named after Parbodh Chandra Gurdaspur, February 9 Mr Chandra, a freedom fighter, remained active in Punjab politics after Independence. During the freedom struggle he went under imprisonment in NSCB jail in Multan. He was the founder President of the National Students Conference at Lahore. He was also a close associate of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. After Independence he represented Gurdaspur in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha before being elected to the Lok Sabha. He was also Education Minister in Punjab. Now his son, Mr Ashwani Kumar, is a member of the Rajya Sabha and is the convener of the Vichar Manch of the All-India Congress Committee. |
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Cape Town, February 9
In video (
