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Important to start series well: Dravid
India should go with 5 bowlers Agarkar happy
to be back Younis Khan’s omission a big mistake |
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Pray for team: Inzamam Notes from Pakistan
Two century stands prop up SA
Mane, Jaffer hit centuries Anand beats Kramnik Del Olmo sole leader
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Important to start series well: Dravid Multan, March 27 “I think we start even, it is 50-50. It will be a good series but the momentum is not with any side,” Dravid told reporters here on the eve of the first Test here. The stylish right-handed batsman, however, agreed that having won the five-match one-day series, his side would go into the first Test with a “better frame of mind”. “I’m not a great believer in psychological advantage or momentum... Of course, having won the one-day series we will go into the Test with a better frame of mind,” said Dravid who will stand-in for Saurav Ganguly, nursing a troubled back. The team was keen to play well despite Ganguly’s absence and Dravid said the first Test was crucial to the side’s chances of winning the series. “The first Test is always very important. It is crucial to start the series well, because it is not always easy to come back after trailing. The first day’s play will be vital and we have to play well,” he said. Dravid said the team would miss the services of Ganguly but it had a good back-up player in Yuvraj Singh. “Obviously, we will miss him (Ganguly). Experience can’t be replaced so easily. But Yuvraj is a player of international class and he is in good form with two centuries in Duleep Trophy. He will bring exuberance of youth to the side.” Dravid also revealed that the team management had shortlisted 13 players for the match, leaving out Mumbai off spinner Ramesh Powar along with Ganguly. Although, the playing eleven would be named only tomorrow after having another close look at the track in Multan Cricket Stadium. “Ganguly and Powar have been left out. We have 13 players who will be eligible for selection. We have a fair idea what we would like to do, but we will decide the team tomorrow morning,” he said. Dravid, who will be leading the team for the second time tomorrow having stood-in for Ganguly in the Mohali Test against New Zealand last year, said captaincy should not be a problem. “I don’t think it will be a problem. When you are the vice-captain, you always think a lot of things and also discuss the strategies. It is not that difficult, I had done it at Mohali,” he said. On the pitch prepared for the match which will mark Pakistan’s 300th Test, Dravid said it looked a good Test wicket which could support the bowlers initially.
— PTI |
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India should go with 5 bowlers Put together, four Indian batsmen — Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman — have hammered 25,000 runs in more than 300 Test matches they have played so far. Their overall batting average is more than 50 and the average age is 31. It is cold statistics but speaks volume of the wealth of experience and class of top order Indian batting. And with all four at the peak of their career, we are confident, Indian batting graph will only show an upward movement in the next few years. A team, which has such four batsmen, should seldom fail. On the eve of the Test series, the Indian batting, is the biggest threat to Pakistan bowling. At the same time, I feel that the bowling attack of the hosts is more suited to Test matches than one-dayers. To me, Mohammed Sami looks the most potent threat to India than Shoaib Akthar. Sami appears to be a far more organised bowler than Akthar. Although sheer pace is always a good ingredient for Test cricket, my experience says that controlled pace while conserving energy fetches more wickets. Sami’s inherent ability to move the new ball and his equally effective old ball bowling will lend the tenacity to the Pakistani attack. Shoaib, on the other hand, will always look for intimidation tactics. He is one bowler who is always in search of reverse swings. No doubt, he is devastating when the ball starts reversing, but how often one can do that successfully? As the one who has been in the similar business for many years, I know that the ability to bowl with deadly reverse swings is an extremely addictive thing to any fast bowler. It makes a bowler get engrossed in pursuit of it. In the bargain, the bowler sometimes forgets or ignores the usage of the new ball completely. This is one of the common problems with subcontinent bowlers. Despite the wicket being slow and low, a good line and length always has a productive role to play in any form of cricket. Wasim Akram was one bowler who used the new ball and the old ball effectively under any condition. The Indian attack is reinforced with the inclusion of ace spinner Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar. Both the bowlers have come out of injuries and have not played a single game since the Australian tour. Anil being a seasoned campaigner certainly knows how to get back to the groove as quickly as possible. But the same cannot be said about Ajit Agarkar. The policy of the Indian team to go with four bowlers will be severely hampered if one of the bowlers doesn’t hit the right line and length. The attack, in all likelihood, will comprise Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble. Since the rehabilitated two are automatic choices, the chances of a couple of bowlers failing to find rhythm are always a possibility. In that case, going in with four regular bowlers seems inadequate. If India are truly a team of batsmen, then they should accommodate a fifth bowler to bring the right balance between the ball and the bat. Batting long and deep might take the match to the winning position, but getting those 20 wickets is equally important in winning it actually. I can completely understand the necessity of the sixth batsman while playing in Australia and South Africa, but on subcontinent wickets, a team needs more cushions in the bowling department. One needs to understand the fact that the Indian bowling attack is marred with injuries and can have debilitating effect under such harsh and hot conditions. So far, I haven’t seen any Indian team taking a bold decision to field five bowlers despite a lot of debates. If India have to create history in Pakistan, they have to be innovative and accommodative.
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Agarkar happy
to be back MULTAN: Mumbai pacer Ajit Agarkar is very happy and excited to be back in the team and is ready to shoulder the responsibility. “I have been here (Pakistan) only for the last two days but I hope I will settle down soon and find my rhythm,” he said and added that he had been to this country in 1998 with the India A team. “I think we did a great job in the one day series. I watched one dayers on TV and now I feel that it would be a good challenge in the Test matches as well,” he
said. Talking about the opponents, he said: “It all depends on how you bowl really. They are still good players, especially, Youhana and
Inzamam. But you don’t need to worry about what they do.” — UNI
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Younis Khan’s omission a big mistake At the start of the tour, I had said that India would win the one-day series, while Pakistan would do well in the Tests. However, I will have to add a proviso after the way the Pakistanis went down in the last two one-dayers. For the hosts to win the Test series, Inzamam will have to succeed on two fronts. First, he has to find a way of bringing out the best in his bowlers and secondly he will have to lift the morale of the team after the one-day loss. For that to happen, the hosts will have to show a higher level of professionalism than they have in the last week or so. The wides and no-balls proved that there was a lack of basics in Pakistan’s gameplan, and the problems were so solvable that it was frustrating to see them crop up time and again. Inzamam-ul Haq will also have to show a greater ability to take the bull by the horns. He missed a trick by not promoting himself to three or to opening slot during the one-dayers, because he could have really punished India’s poor bowling. I have often felt that Inzamam does not understand his own talent, and his batting at two down, even when Yousuf Youhana was failing, was proof of that. Hopefully the captain will be a little more proactive in the Tests because his side is capable of winning this series. The good news for Pakistan is that Multan will favour his bowlers, as it is a wicket similar to the one on which the one-dayer at Peshawar was played. From the start of the tour I have felt that the hosts will have an advantage in the Tests, thanks mainly to their bowling attack. Shoaib Akhtar has turned Tests in the span of one hour many times, and he will be ably assisted by Mohammed Sami and Shabbir Ahmed. Inzamam will have to choose between Danish Kaneria and Saqlain Mushtaq for the spinner’s slot. While Kaneria has been the preferred spinner in the recent past, Saqlain might prove more effective in this series because leg-spinners have rarely been successful against Indians. As far as the batting is concerned, the omission of Younis Khan is a big mistake. He was the only batsman who looked solid in the middle order, and dropping him on the basis of a single bad shot is a kneejerk reaction. You cannot expect batsmen at number five or six to be consistent because they invariably come in at a crisis or when there is a need to score quick runs. The players who replace him do not have his batting temperament, and hopefully Pakistan will not have to suffer too much for this mistake. From the Indian point of view, the absence of their captain Saurav Ganguly through Injury would be a double blow. He has looked in fine touch right through the one-day series, and the middle order will miss his experience. As captain he handled his depleted bowling resources extremely well and was better than his counterpart in this department. A comparison of the bowling quality of both sides, and what they finally achieved is proof of Ganguly’s success in bringing out the best in his bowlers. The only consolation for India is that they have a readymade replacement in Rahul Dravid, who has the same amount of experience, and is also a class batsman. I wonder what Pakistan would have done if Inzamam were injured - there is no replacement in sight, with Younis Khan, the only player suitable to lead the team, being dropped. The Indians will be relieved to have Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar back in their ranks. Kumble is an old warhorse, and I think he will play a crucial role in this series. I am not so sure about Agarkar, who I think might have been more effective in the one-dayers. In have no doubt that Pakistan has a side that will do well in Tests, and if I had been captain, I would have backed myself to win with this attack. However, the glorious thing about cricket is that mental strength counts for a lot, and eventually it is the team that fights as a unit, believes in itself and backs each other that wins. The captain that instils these qualities in his squad will be the one that finally wins the series.
— Gameplan |
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Pray for team: Inzamam Multan: Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq today urged the people of this holy city to pray for him and for the team’s victory over India in the Test series starting here from on Sunday. “I am a Multani and I want the people here to pray for me and my team’s success in the first Test and also in the series,” he said while addressing a press conference. Inzamam was candid enough to admit that the absence of Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly will give Pakistan some psychological advantage. “Yes, it is an advantage for any team if the rival captain is not playing and we will like to take advantage of it.” He echoed Rahul Dravid’s sentiments saying one-day series Test series are two different ball games. “I don’t think you can compare the two.” Terming the wicket here as a “sporting and good one”, he said: “Anybody who gives 100 per cent will reap the benefits. It (track) will suit bowlers also.” “We are going into the series with a clean slate,” he added. The Pakistan captain said in recent times “we have lost one-dayers but came back strongly to win the Test Series. “Insha Allah, we will emerge winners in this series.” He asserted his team will put up a good fight. “We may have lost but we did not cave in, we fought till the end.”
— PTI
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Notes from Pakistan The Pakistan cricket team will have “special prayers” before they take field against India in the first Test here on Sunday which marks the country’s 300th Test. Incidentally, Pakistan played its first Test against India at New Delhi in 1952-53. “It is a great occasion for us and we will start the day with special prayers to Almighty Allah before entering the ground for our 300th Test,” said Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq. “We will pray to Almighty to help us with this 300th Test. We have already won both the Tests played at this venue,” said Inzamam, a local of Multan who hit two hundreds in the two games hosted so far here. And one man for whom the 300th Test would be more special is coach Javed Miandad as he featured in Pakistan’s 100th Test and 200th Test as well. * Holiday Inn, where the Indian cricketers are staying in Multan, has summoned a chef from Muscat to give the tourists the best of culinary delight. “We have summoned Aamir George from Muscat because he is very reputed and served the Indian team on their last tour 15 years ago,” a hotel staffer said here. George, 43, is expert in making vegetarian and non-vegetarian food and has a reputation among the experts in the Gulf. “I have been in the business for 15 years and would do my best to give the best food to Indian players,” said George, who hails from Karachi and served the Indian team on their last tour in 1989. * Fans and supporters of the Pakistan cricket team sacrificed goats at Hazrat Bahaudin Zakaria Multani’s Mazar and fed three hundred people after performing prayers for the victory of the home team over India in the first Test starting here on Sunday. More goats are expected to be sacrificed for local hero and skipper Inzamam-ul Haq’s success here. The Pakistan skipper, who has scored two centuries here, had urged the people to pray for him and his team’s success. “We have this tradition of sacrificing goats before any important event and tomorrow’s match is important for local people,” said a cricket fan outside the stadium. “He is our hero and we want him to be successful against India,” the fans said. Meanwhile, there is another celebration for the host team. Coach Javed Miandad will earn a unique distinction when his team play their 300th Test, a series opener against India. Miandad was member of the Pakistan’s 100th Test match team and then captained the side in their 200th. — Agencies
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Colombo, March 27 Sri Lanka were 18 without loss at stumps, still needing 352 to win — the same score it failed to reach in losing both the first two Tests.
Sanath Jayasuriya — who belted Michael Kasprowicz for three consecutive boundaries — was unbeaten on 13 and Marvan Atapattu on five. Langer dragged a ball from Chaminda Vaas onto his stumps to end the sixth-wicket stand and Muttiah Muralitharan trapped Katich lbw for 86 to move level with Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne on 513 career Test wickets, six behind the world record held by Courtney Walsh. Left-arm orthodox bowler Rangana Herath had Warne (0) caught at first slip and took a return catch from Brad Williams (2) as the Australians lost their last four wickets for 24 runs. Adam Gilchrist remained unbeaten on 31, including two sixes in one over of Herath, who returned four for 92. Muralitharan had five for 123 in Australia’s first innings and three for 93 in the second, giving him 28 wickets for the series. Warne, with one innings to bowl, had 22 for the series. Australia needed 10 wickets to become the first touring team to sweep a three-Test series in Sri Lanka after winning by 197 runs at Galle and 27 runs last week in Kandy. Sri Lanka faced five overs today and had three sessions to play tomorrow.
Scoreboard Australia (1st Innings): 401 Sri Lanka (1st Innings): 407 Australia (2nd Innings): Langer b Vaas 166 Hayden lbw b Vaas 28 Ponting c Samaraweera
Gillespie c Jayawardene
Martyn lbw b Herath 5 Lehmann c Sangakkara
Katich lbw b
Gilchrist not out 31 Warne c Samaraweera
Kasprowicz run out 3 Williams c and b Herath 2 Extras:
(b-11, lb-11, nb-6, w-1) 32 Total: (all out, 106.2 overs) 375. Fall of wicket:
1-40, 2-79, 3-80, 4-89, 5-98, 6-316, 7-341, 8-346, 9-368. Bowling:
Vaas 21-3-61-2, Zoysa 12-0-54-0, Muralitharan 29-5-93-3, Herath 24.2-1-92-4, Thilan Samaraweera 15-4-40-0, Jayasuriya 4-0-13-0, Dilshan 1-1-0-0. Sri Lanka (2nd Innings): Atapattu batting 5 Jayasuriya batting 13 Total:
(for no loss,, 5 overs) 18 Bowling: Gillespie 2-1-6-0, Kasprowicz 2-1-12-0, Warne 1-1-0-0.
— AP |
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Two century stands
prop up SA Wellington, March 27 Chasing the home team’s first innings total of 297, openers Herschelle Gibbs and skipper Graeme Smith shared a stand of 103 before Jacques Rudolph and Martin van Jaarsveld followed up with an unbeaten alliance of 101 for the fourth wicket. Rudolph ended the day undefeated on 60, with van Jaarsveld 48 not out. New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson c Boucher
Papps lbw b Ntini 7 Fleming c Pollock b Boje 30 Sinclair lbw b Boje 74 Styris b Boje 1 McCullum lbw b Pollock 55 Cairns b Pollock 69 Oram st Boucher b Boje 34 Vettori c Boucher b Pollock 0 Mason c Jaarsveld b Nel 3 Martin not out 1 Extras:
(lb-1 b-2 w-1 nb-5) 9 Total: (all out) 297. Fall of wickets:
1-23, 2-23, 3-90, 4-97, 5-163, 6-248, 7-257, 8-257, 9-264. Bowling:
Pollock 29-2-85-3, Ntini 21-6-63-1, Kallis 7-5-4-1, Nel 27-9-77-1, Boje 20-2-65-4. South Africa (1st innings): Smith b Cairns 47 Gibbs c sub b Martin 77 Rudolph not out 60 Kirsten c McCullum
Jaarsveld not out 48 Extras: (nb-3 lb-1) 4 Total:
(3 wkts) 237 FoW: 1-103, 2-130, 3-136. Bowling:
Martin 13-5-34-2, Mason 13-4-59-0, Oram 8-3-10-0, Vettori 23-5-71-0, Cairns 11-2-44-1, Styris 6-2-18-0.
— Reuters
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Chennai, March 27 Tamil Nadu (1st innings): Suresh c Jaffer b Kulkarni 38 Ramesh c Samant b Patel 1 Sriram c Jaffer b Kulkarni 51 Badrinath C Joglekar
b Kulkarni 0 Badani c Jaffer b Kulkarni 27 Sharath c Jaffer b Bahutule 29 Kartik not out 109 Sivaramakrishnan c Jaffer
Ramkumar c Mane
Ganapathy c Joglekar
Srinivas lbw b Kulkarni 17 Extras: (b-6, lb-3, nb-1) 10 Total:
(all out) 294 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-74, 3-74,4-122, 5-123, 6-207, 7-219, 8-227, 9-238. Bowling:
Munaf Patel 19-3-62-1; Avishkar Salvi 17-2-58-0; Bhavin Thakkar 3-0-8-0; Nilesh Kulkarni 32.2-5-83-6; Sairaj Bahutule 26-4-74-3. Mumbai (1st innings): Mane batting 105 Jaffer batting 121 Extras:
(b-2, lb-1, nb-7) 10 Total: (for no loss,) 236. Bowling:
C. Ganapathy 11-2-49-0, M.R. Srinivas 10-5-33-0, R. Ramkumar 18-6-41-0 S. Suresh 7-2-22-0, Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan 21-3-66-0, Sriram 7-1-10-0, S. Badrinath 4-0-10-0, Hemang Badani 2-0-2-0.
— PTI
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Anand beats Kramnik Monaco, March 27 Evgeny Bareev of Russia joined Anand in lead on eight points out of a possible 12 with a 2-0 whitewash of Latvian born Spaniard Alexei Shirov yesterday. The third place is being held by Peter Leko (7.5) of Hungary, who bounced back after a fifth round debacle to score 2-0 victory over Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain. Russian Peter
Svidler, Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk and Kramnik hold the joint fourth position on seven points apiece with five rounds remaining in this Euros 193500 prize money tournament.
— PTI |
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Del Olmo sole leader New Delhi, March 27 Pablo, who shared the lead with three others yesterday, produced a superb round of 5-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead from Mardan Mamat of Singapore and Keith Horne of South Africa, who jointly held the second position. Mardan, who hit a rather poor 2-under 70 today, carded 11-under 205. Keith Horne of South Africa, who equalled the course record on the opening day to hit the front, and then kept himself floating in the leaderboard with a satisfying performance on day two was, however, pushed to the third place today, with a card of 2-under 70 for an overall 11-under 205. Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, who had shared the lead yesterday, was down at the fourth position with a score of 10-under 206, after a round of 1-under 71 today. Among the Indians, Mukesh Kumar maintained his seventh position to share the spot with five others, with a card of 7-under 209. He had a round of 71 to repeat his yesterday’s performance while Digvijay Singh played an impressive round of 5-under 67 to climb to the 13th position, with an overall a card of 4-under 212. Digvijay Singh was lying at the 41st position with 12 others yesterday. Another Indian star, Firoz Ali, was ahead of Digvijay Singh by one stroke to take the 12th position, carding 5-under 211. |
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