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It’s magic, says an ecstatic Wright
Inzamam puts bowlers
on notice Saqlain axed,
Imran Nazir in |
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Pak panicked on eve of Multan Test
Entire nation erupts in joy Cricket fans
perplexed
Gold rush continues in swimming Pillay not among probables
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It’s magic, says an ecstatic Wright Multan, April 1 “Yes, there have been some fine achievements in the past two years but this one is special. It has a bit of history to it and the boys wanted it,” Wright, the first ‘outsider’ to coach the national team, said here after India beat Pakistan. He said the players worked hard and enjoyed their cricket and hoped the fans back home, whom he described ‘the best in the world’, would be happy. “It is fantastic to lead such a gallant side,” said an ecstatic Dravid. Dravid, who will also be leading the side in the second Test because of the injury-induced absence of Sourav Ganguly, however, said the team would not be carried away by the victory. “We will be celebrating the win but our feet will be firmly on the ground. The series is not over and Pakistan is a great side. We would be continuing in the same vein,” he said. “It was a great team effort. Sehwag and Sachin were outstanding with the bat. Our bowling attack is young and inexperienced but they showed great heart an a will to fight on a wicket that was not easy to bowl on. Kumble was simply magnificent.” Asked to describe the team’s performance, Wright said “it was magic. Players like Yuvraj Singh and Aakash Chopra, who took a great catch, are natural and worked hard.” Ganguly, forced to watch the historic win from the sidelines, praised his bowlers for bowling out the formidable opposition twice on what was a perfect batting track. “I am as happy as any other member of the team. It is a fantastic feeling. Winning the one-day series and the first Test after coming to the country after 15 years is superb. “Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, L Balaji, Zaheer (Khan) — all bowled with confidence. Finishing the match on a flat wicket in just over four days is an achievement,” he said. Ganguly said it would not be a problem for India even if Pakistan prepare green tops for the remaining two Tests at Lahore and Rawalpindi. “I have always said green wickets are good for us. It is not going to make much of a difference to us. “We are here just because of the hard work we have put in and we are enjoying it.” Vanquished captain Inzamam-ul Haq blamed his bowlers for not performing upto the mark on a placid Multan track. “The pitch was not good for fast bowlers but we also did not bowl well. We should have bowled with more discipline and control,” he said. Sehwag, named ‘man of the match’ for his record breaking 309, served a warning for the hosts when he said he was looking to carry his batting form to the next Test at Lahore. “I hope to continue the same way in the next Test,” said Sehwag, whose triple century was the first by an Indian in Tests.
— PTI |
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Inzamam
puts bowlers on notice
Multan, April 1 “Bowling is a problem and we may have to leave out those who are not performing,” Inzamam warned after his team suffered an innings and 52 runs defeat to give India their first-ever Test win on Pakistani soil. “The Indians bowled very well on this track, while our bowlers failed. They could not put the ball in the right areas which allowed the opposition to put up a big score,” he said referring to India’s mammoth first innings total of 675 for five. The skipper said it was imperative for the bowlers to perform if the side was to bounce back in the series. “They are working hard in the nets, but are not able to perform in the matches. We have to sort out our bowling problems if we are bounce back in the series.” Inzamam defended his batsmen despite their pathetic show in the second innings and said the pressure of conceding such a lead was too much.
— PTI  |
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Saqlain axed,
Imran Nazir in Multan, April 1 “Saqlain Mushtaq has been replaced by Imran
Nazir,” selection committee chairman Wasim Bari announced after a two-hour meeting. Team:
Inzamam-ul Haq (Captain), Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Misbah-ul Haq, Moin Khan (WK), Abdul Razzaq, Danish Kaneria, Imran
Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Umer
Gul. — UNI |
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Pak panicked on eve of Multan Test The great Iqbal once said: “The price of cowardice is death”— Pakistan panicked on the eve of the Multan Test, and perished by an innings in a little over four days. The hosts were psyched by the bowling of Irfan Pathan in the one-dayers, and they thought that if they played on a grassy wicket, their batsmen would not be able to handle the talented Indian left-arm bowler. As a result they got the grass shaved off on the eve of the first Test. It was a senseless, negative move, which left only two possible results to the Test — a win for India or a dull draw. Pace is this Pakistan team’s greatest strength, and once they denied the fast men a helpful wicket, Multan was a lost cause. The touchstone of a great captain and team management is the ability to make big decisions. The two teams are evenly matched in this series, and what will separate them is strategy. There are no risk-free decisions, but the decision to neutralise Pakistan’s greatest strength, its bowling, was a self-defeating decision. To make matters worse, Rahul Dravid won the toss and the moment Virender Sehwag started connecting, hardly a ball beat the bat. Sehwag was in murderous form, but the bowlers made life easy for him by constantly giving him room outside the off-stump. I have never seen any batsman hit the cut shot harder than Sehwag. He uses a short backlift, but really packs a punch when he plays the cut. Spectators in Pakistan have not been treated to such hard-hitting since Zaheer Abbas took on the Indian bowling during the 1978 series. Sehwag was great to watch, as he showed no signs of fear or anxiety while overhauling one landmark after the other. On a placid track, the pacemen were reduced to cannon fodder, and after lunch itself, the hosts looked a defeated lot. They seemed surprised whenever a chance came their way, shoulders were drooping and the ground fielding was
embarrassingly sloppy. Sachin Tendulkar played the perfect foil to the rampaging Sehwag, and his control piled on the agony of the Pakistan bowlers. It was a disciplined knock, and he looked like he would be able to guide the side to 800. The Indians did everything right, including the bold declaration, which put team interests ahead of individual milestones. The mistakes Pakistan made on the field looked even worse once the Indian took the field. The Indians were spectacular in the field, holding half-chances and even creating dismissals, but the Pakistanis made schoolboy errors. Apart from the three catches of Sehwag that were grassed, Abdul Razzaq missed a straight run-out opportunity off the Indian opener, when he decided to stand in front of the wicket to collect the ball. Fielding has never been Pakistan’s strength, but such mistakes were really baffling. If India’s batting was masterful, their bowling in truly testing conditions was even more creditable. To enforce the follow-on after toiling for four sessions must have been a tough call for Dravid, but his bowlers as well as the part-timers responded splendidly. Their bowling effort was even more remarkable if one considered that in the absence of Zaheer Khan, there were only three regular bowlers at Dravid’s disposal. Till the final day, there was nothing in the pitch, and this was demonstrated by Inzamam in the first innings and Youhana in the second innings. Yet Kumble and Pathan toiled tirelessly to take 20 wickets in a little over two days. The Indians were consistently superb in the field and Akash Chopra catch off Razzaq reflected the self-belief that this team possesses. The Pakistan team got exactly what they deserved. Hopefully they will have learnt about the need to be more positive in the rest of the series. Firstly, the management needs to provide a
wicket on which Shoaib and Sami come into play. Sure, there is a chance that the Pakistan batting could also collapse on a green-top, but the hosts have to take that risk now.
Inzamam will have to inspire his bowlers and rejuvenate this defeated side — if he fails to do that, he could be staring at disaster all over again.
— Gameplan |
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Entire nation erupts in joy
New Delhi, April 1 Vajpayee sent a congratulatory message to the winning team as Irfan Pathan snared Yousuf Youhana on the fifth day of the Test match to end Pakistan’s second innings at 216. Cricket fans were seen bursting crackers in several parts of the country and distributing sweets to celebrate the maiden triumph in Pakistan which came after a long wait — almost five decades. In Kolkata, the hometown of Saurav Ganguly, fans and cricket lovers, waiting patiently since yesterday for the fall of the last Pakistan wicket, celebrated the win, waving the tri-colour and shouting slogans hailing the win. In the capital, man of the match Virender Sehwag’s home at Najafgarh was thronged by neighbours who congratulate the family members of the success of the team as well the cricketer’s historic triple century in the match. “It’s a great news for us. India’s win is special and more so since Veeru notched a triple century, which is not an easy thing to do,” his mother Krishna said. Former cricketer Mushtaq Ali also lavished praise on the team for the win. Former skipper Ajit Wadekar rated the team as the best ever to play on foreign soil. According to me this is the best ever team to have gone abroad and the key to their success is that they are playing as a unit,” Wadekar, who led the country to its first series win in the West Indies and England in the 70s, said in Mumbai. Cricket board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya termed the win as historic. “It is a historic win. The boys displayed a superb match temperament to win their first Test in Pakistan,” Dalmiya said. Pune: “It was indeed the triumph of youth and experience,” observed former national cricket selection committee chairman Chandu Borde hailing India’s first ever Test cricket win on Pakistani soil today. Borde said after winning the ODI series, the Indian team’s confidence sore sky high and the psychological advantage thus gained stood them in good stead in defeating Pakistan on their soil to record the historic win after 52 years. The team members displayed tremendous self-belief and have been working as a unit since past two years and the result was quite evident, he added. The former India
captain also showered praise on young players like Virender Sehwag, Akash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and L. Balaji for their grit and determination which reflects in the team’s performance he said. Borde expressed the hope that the team will continue to perform equally well in the coming two Test matches as well. |
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Cricket fans
perplexed Amritsar, April 1 Mr C. M. Malhotra, from Chandigarh, said that his entire group was clueless as whom to approach about the matter. He estimated that the trip which would roughly cost each person from his group nearly Rs. 10,000. It would be an exercise in futility if they are not able to watch the first day of the second match. Prof Manoj Kumar, from Jalandhar, said that customs and immigration officials at either side would probably consume the entire day. He appealed that the government must take some steps to provide means to cricket lovers so that they could reach Pakistan a day before the start of match. A railway official at Attari railway station disclosed that they had not
received any information regarding the start of any special train for cricket lovers. As such the cricket fans would travel by the usual Samjhauta Express on April 5, which would reach Pakistan late night. |
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Notes from Pakistan Multan, April 1 “Kapil and Vengsarkar are coming with their wives, while some others may also come with their families,” Indian team’s media manager Amrit Mathur told IANS. Apart from them, all five senior national selectors-chairman Syed Kirmani, Kiran More, Kirti Azad, Pranab Roy and Sanjay Jagdale-would be watching the five-day match from the pavilion. “In all, there is a list of 40 players and officials who are scheduled to come to Lahore for the match,” said Mathur. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar will, however, not be able to make it to the venue where he played his 100th Test match and received an expensive carpet from then Pakistan president Zia-ul-Haq before the start of the match on India’s 1984 tour, as he is doing a commentary on Sky TV. Former captain Chandu Borde, who has also served two terms as chairman of selectors, is also be among the star invitees. Last month, a host of Indian cricket officials and thousands of fans had watched the fourth and fifth one-day internationals at Lahore. l How am I driving? Besides being known for a number of saints, Multan is also notorious for its congested traffic and the manner in which people drive. Residents here seem to have no sense of driving in their lanes on the narrow roads and there is no apparent check on their act by the police. People hardly obey traffic lights and vehicles jump the red signal during day and night. Quite amazingly, even people riding cycles do not make way for bigger vehicles. But everyone here seems to have got used to it — much like the traffic in Delhi. Barring Jameel Khan, who drives journalists in a Coaster to the Multan Cricket Stadium from Silver Sand hotel every morning and brings them back, and who often loses cool when vehicles do not stick to their lanes. Seen in this context, the message written on the back of some vehicles — “How am I driving” followed by a complaint number — seems quite irrelevant.
— IANS |
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Gold rush continues in swimming Islamabad, April 1 The other two gold medals for India came through Arun Venkatram in 50 m backstroke and 4x100 metre individual medley where the Indian quartet of Dipes Bairagi, Gairik Bardhan, Akbar Ali Mir and T.A. Sujith overcame a Bangladsesh team. India also picked up a silver in 50 m back stroke through Dipes Bairagi. Beside Poncha, Gairik Bardhan and Akbar Ali Mir also have three gold medals against their name while Mandar Divase picked up his second today. Divase set the trend for India winning the 1500 free style in a record time. He clocked 16m30.83 seconds bettering the decade old record of 16m 53.85 seconds set by J. Abhijit in Dhaka in 1993. Mandar led all through while Mumtaz Ahmed and Mehboob Ali, both from Pakistan took the silver and bronze with 17m 37.32 sec and 17m 55.93sec respectively. |
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Indian spikers sail into semis Islamabad, April 1 India took less than an hours time to win the match in straight sets 25-13, 25-14 and 25-9. The Indians comprehensively outplayed their rivals in every department of the game, specially displaying brilliant smashing and blocking.
— UNI |
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India earn first rowing gold Islamabad, April 1 |
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Pillay not among probables New Delhi, April 1 “There is no reason for keeping Dhanraj out. We just felt that we should give chance to some young players to prove their mettle before the Olympics,” IHF sources told PTI here today. Also missing from the list were veteran striker Baljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Saini and Sandeep Michael. All the three were part of the team that finished fourth in the Olympics qualifiers. The twin tournaments are to be held in Canberra from April 14 to 18 and in Sydney from April 21 to 25. The IHF named several new faces to attend the camp, starting at Gurgaon tomorrow, including Raju, Inderjit Chaddha, Ajitpal Singh, Sunil Yadav and Devender Pal Singh. The probables: Goalkeepers:
Devesh Chauhan, Bharat Kumar, Kamaldeep Singh. Full backs: Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Sararbraj Singh.
Half backs: Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Vikram Pillay, Viren Reaquinha, Len Aiyappa.
Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Arjun Halappa, Inderjit Chaddha, Deepak Thakur, Rajpal Singh, Raju, Ajit Pal singh, Sunil Yadav, Devender Pal Singh. |
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Multan, April 1
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