 |
|
| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, March 29, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
|
Resurgent Indian cricketers fall at the last hurdle Plushenko reclaims world title TEEING-OFF |
|
|
Resurgent
Indian cricketers fall at the last hurdle Never before in this country of one billion people has
one witnessed a totally focussed nation trying to invoke the blessings
of all the known deities for the Indian cricket team’s success in the
World Cup finals against Australia at the Wanderers in South Africa.
The astrologers, numerologists and the soothsayers stretched their
imaginations and predicted an Indian victory after the proverbial (bees
sal baad). The belief of the common man in the team was strengthened
after convincing wins against England, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and
New Zealand. The Aussie citadel was the last hurdle to be conquered
before the Indians bubbling with their new found self-belief and focus
could realise the dream of their diehard fans and admirers back home and
across the world who had been chanting "Kab aaoge, cup laoge".
But all these dreams were shattered by the rampaging Aussie war
machine which fired on all cylinders with their young captain Ricky
Ponting leading from the front by blasting an unbeaten 140 runs of 121
balls laced with four boundaries and eight towering sixes and ably
supported by D. Martyn (88 not out) in an unbroken stand of 234 runs for
the third wicket.Adam Gilchrist (57) and Mathew Hayden (37) had laid a
solid foundation with a century opening stand. An imposing total of 359
for two in 50 overs by the Aussies was the biggest task ever in a World
Cup encounter. As Saurav Ganguly won the toss and invited the
Australians to bat, the cricket commentators and pundits by and large
agreed with his decision as there was some moisture in the wicket, which
could be exploited by the Indian pace trinity of Javagal Srinath, Zahir
Khan and Ashish Nehra. But all the hopes were dashed to the ground by
the lackluster and unimaginative bowling of the Indian seamers. Zahir
Khan and company committed the cardinal sin of sacrificing line and
length in their bid for extra pace. In face it was harakari committed
by the Indian speedsters in the same way as was done by Pakistani fast
bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis while playing against India in
the league stage. At that time Sachin Tendulkar had put the wayward
Pakistani pace attack to sword and this time around it was Aussie
captain Ricky Ponting. The Indian seamers got stuck in a mind tangle
and could not come to terms with themselves during the all-important
final. The Australians on the other hand kept their cool and were able
to dictate terms throughout the match. The Indian supporters all along
felt that this big chase was difficult but not impossible and they were
pinning their hopes on the golden boy of Indian cricket Sachin
Tendulkar, who had been in such a cracking form in the competition. But
Sachin’s dismissal in the first over almost sealed India’s fate. But
the diehard Indians’ spirits continued through the blazing blades of
Varinder Sehwag (82) laced with 10 fours and three sixes and ever
reliable rock of Gibraltar Rahul Dravid (47). The challenge finally
ended in 39.2 overs leaving the Aussies victors by 125 runs. The
Australians once again proved that they were the best side in the world
in this form of the game. They, at no stage, got rattled by the absence
of their main bowlers Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie which speaks
highly of their mental toughness and professional approach. India’s
World Cup campaign which ended on March 23 at Wanderers was very
satisfying despite the loss in the finals. The early loss in their
second match against the Aussies which had come on the heels of a
disappointing New Zealand tour had prompted the Indian fans to give vent
to their anger by violent protests in the streets all over the country.
This, however, acted as a timely alarm for the teams psyche and brought
back their self belief and focus. From that point onwards Saurav
Ganguly and his boys did a quick turn around in the matches that
followed by carving out facile and convincing victories against
Zimbabwe, Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Kenya. From
individual brilliant performers they started gelling as a committed
team. The most heartening feature was the coming of age of the medium
pace attack led by old war horse Javagal Srinath ably supported by young
Zahir Khan and Ashish Nehra who improved with every outing. It was a
very pleasing sight to watch the Indian pace battery functioning. The
Indian spinners for the first time came in a supporting role and Kapil
Dev must have felt elated on this swing in bowling from spin to pace
which augers well for the future of Indian cricket as it will help us to
end the drought of victories on foreign soils where wickets have more
bounce and are conducive to pace bowling. The Indian performance in the
World Cup to my mind is very satisfactory and the Indian team would be a
strong contender for the next World Cup in 2007 in the West Indies. As
a matter of fact it is beginning of a new era of Indian cricket which
will revolve around the young turks i.e. Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif,
Ashish Nehra, Zahir Khan, Varinder Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel,
Harbhajan Singh and of course with solid support from Sachin Tendulkar,
Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Let us hope that the Indian young
brigade becomes more tough and makes winning a habit which will bring
joy to millions of cricket fans. |
|
Plushenko
reclaims world title
Russian Yevgeny Plushenko captured first place on the
scorecards of all nine judges to win the world figure skating title on
Thursday. The 2001 world champion, who missed last year’s event due
to injury, performed his signature move — the quadruple-triple-triple
jump combination — on the way to the gold medal. The silver went to
American Tim Goebel while Japan’s Takeshi Honda claimed the bronze. ‘’It’s
nicer to win a second time. It was a lot of pressure,’’ Plushenko
told reporters. His dramatic routine, a tribute to St Petersburg’s
300th anniversary, also included a second quadruple jump and five more
solid triples. Plushenko struggled on the landing of the triple flip. ‘’It
was hard. I’m very tired right now,’’ said Plushenko, who had a
sore left knee but decided against a painkilling injection before
yesterday’s free-skate final. Goebel was cruising towards a perfect
skate that included two different quadruple jumps, but a hand down on a
wobbly loop jump in the final seconds cost him dear. Still, his
smooth-as-silk American in Paris routine brought the MCI Center
Washington crowd to its feet in a thunderous ovation. ‘’It’s
been such a hard year for me. Last year I had so much success,’’
Goebel said. ‘’I started off the year injured, had a disastrous
nationals and didn’t have much time to prepare.’’ Goebel said
his three best performances of the year came here. Honda hit one of
the three quadruple jumps planned in his Riverdance programme, plus six
triples. Japanese and Canadian flags waved in appreciation, an
indication that Honda is an honorary Canadian, having trained there for
five years. Honda has an injured left ankle that hampered his training
in the weeks leading up to these championships. Michael Weiss, the
hometown hero and co-leader in round one, packed seven triples into his
finale but flipped off the landing of his quadruple jump and seemed to
lack the fire of the opening rounds. The former world bronze medallist
was forced to settle for fifth behind Li Chengjiang of China, who hit
two quads in his Star Wars finale. Reigning world and Olympic champion
Alexei Yagudin of Russia opted not to defend his crown after being
forced out of competition by a hip injury early in the season. Results
are being determined here under the new and oft-criticised secret
judging system, implemented in the wake of the 2002 Olympic scandal.
The scores of only nine of 14 judges on the panel, randomly and
secretly selected by computer, count in determining the result.
|
|
TEEING-OFF It was Royal Challenge international match between
India and Asia and India won. This was indeed heartening although all
four players were Indians. Digvijay Singh is highly promising and
talented; Mukesh Kumar is experienced and he is currently in devastating
form. They combined their strength to outclass their rivals, Arjun Atwal
and Jyoti Randhawa, currently first and third Asian PGA Order of
Merit. Atwal, a champion with two European tour victories and Jyoti,
Asia’s top, found the going tough against Indian duo, who won the
title for the second time running. While Mukesh and Digvijay earned Rs 4
lakh, the Atwal-Randhawa team got Rs 2 lakh. "It was great playing
against Atwal and Randhawa", said Digvijay Singh. To this, Mukesh
Kumar added that it was wonderful that we stole a march over
them". In the long drive, it was expected that Atwal would emerge
easy winner. But it did not happen as Mukesh hit his drive to 291 yards
to Atwal’s 289 yards. The competition in different sections of golf
saw the Indian team collect 47 points to Asia’s best collecting 41. It
was a kind of competition that evoked a lot of interest and enthusiasm
as spectators had their quota of fun and enjoyment. The pro-am was
enthusiastically contested and all participants, particularly a galaxy
of stars from abroad, had a good look of the course, which was running
smooth. Things will be different in the $ 300,000 Indian Open. Jeev
Milkha Singh is not participating but the field is wide and competition
is expected to be tough. The Malaysian Open champion Atwal explains:
"Every day of competitive golfing is important to us. It is a
national open and we all will endeavour to do our best", he
said. The players expressed satisfaction at the course but many of them
were heard saying that the ‘greens were a bit slow’. But fairways
are fine. This was the general opinion among participants. At the Delhi
Golf Club (DGC) course many reputations have been made and some have
been marred. It is not a tricky course nor difficult but it is unique in
many ways. The peacock surrounded course, can see new champions. Both
Digjay Singh and Mukesh Kumar, with 10 titles on the domestic circuit,
could cause surprises. It will be great to watch Brad Williams
(Australia), James Kingston (South Africa), and Scot Simon (Yates) in
action. In the last few years, Indians have dominated but one cannot be
certain in golf, which is even more unpredictable than cricket. The
start of the tournament, eagerly awaited after non-stop 45-day World Cup
cricket, was colourful and end is expected to be rousing. The Indian
golfers have been on the march and it will be seen how they perform in
this all-important tournament, sponsored by Shaw Wallace. The Indian
company has done well in sponsoring Kenyan cricket team, which became
the first non-Test playing country to move to the last four.
|
sm
|
 |
Indian cricket dream shattered The World Cup brought life to a grinding halt in India. Had our team won the cup, it would have ensured over Rs 1 crore to each player along with gifts and perks. Unfortunately the dream turned into a nightmare. Back in 1983, the BCCI had no money to felicitate Kapil Dev's victorious team. Lata Mangeshkar was roped in for a concert in Delhi's Indraprastha Stadium to garner funds. DR NITIN BATRA, Ludhiana II In the World Cup final, we won the toss
and elected to bowl. In the match we had no control and our pacers
1ost all their strength. In spin we had no length. The Aussies scored
seven runs per over, and it appeared to be a difficult target. Our
batting was extremely bad which made us very said. AMANDEEP
SINGH,
III Like others I also watched the cricket
matches with great zeal. But subsequently I got disillusioned with the
game because I came to realise that there was something about the game
that I did not like. The performance of the Indian cricketers was not
consistent. When we pin hopes on them, they disappoint us. In the
final it seemed as if only the Australians were playing. The total
collapse of the Indian team showed that the previous good performance
of Indians was only a temporary phase. JOGA SINGH,
IV Kudos
to the Indian cricket team for the excellent performance in the World
Cup. However, all Indians were sad as the team failed to come back
with the World Cup. Never the less they played a good game and gained
in experience and confidence. Sachin's performance was admirable.
Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag, Nehra and Zaheer did a good job but luck did not
favour all of them. SANJAY,
V It is indeed
disappointing that our cricket team failed to make the grade in the
cricket World Cup. The nation's expectations have been shattered and
the country has been put to disgrace. Whenever the Aussies struck
boundaries, our boys did try to intercept the ball. They were seen
falling on the ground in almost all cases, yet the boundaries
materialised. R. KAUNDINYA
|
