 |
|
|
Ganguly suspended for two Tests; to miss SA series
Youhana, Pathan fined
India tactically not flexible enough
Cricket fan ends life
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Persist with Ganguly: Akram
Team announcement dampened the spirits, says Bahutule
New South Wales stun Kiwis
Davenport bows out despite win
Nahar Komal wins four gold medals
N. Rly sink Navy in Nehru hockey
|
|
Ganguly suspended for two Tests; to miss SA series
Kolkata, November 14 Ganguly was found guilty by the ICC match referee Clive Lloyd who held a hearing of the match officials. Later, an ICC press release announced the suspension of the Indian captain. The ICC also imposed fines on India's Irfan Pathan and Pakistan's Yousuf Youhana finding them guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct for entering into an altercation during the match. According to the release, Ganguly breached clause C1 of the ICC code of conduct for players and/or team officials for his team's slow over rate in the last evening's encounter. Since this was Ganguly's second similar offence within a span of 12 months -- the previous being during the tour of Australia earlier this year -- the seriousness of the offence has become more resulting in his suspension with immediate effect, the release said. The first Tests begins on November 20 in Kanpur while the second starts at Kolkata from November 28. Ganguly had also missed the last two Tests in the recent four-match Test series against Australia due to injury. Lloyd said "the ICC Code relating to over rates needs to be strictly observed and it is important for all the stakeholders in the game, to have matches finished on time. "The allotted three-and-a-half hours is ample time to bowl the required 50 overs. So captains need to ensure that all efforts are made to achieve this." Saturday's one-off match between the traditional rivals was dragged on for more than one hour beyond the scheduled close of the match due to slow over rate in the second innings when Pakistan was batting. The match originally scheduled to end at 10:10 pm carried on till 11:15 pm when Pakistan won the match with one over to spare. The ICC match referee took the decision on the basis of reports by the match officials. A level three breach of the ICC code carries a suspension of between 2 and 4 Test matches or 4 to 8 ODI match ban. Ganguly has first found guilty of level two offence during the tour of Australia earlier this year.
— PTI |
|
Ganguly to appeal against suspension Thiruvananthapuram: Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly would appeal against his suspension by the ICC for two Test matches for slow over rate in the Platinum Jubilee one-day match between India and Pakistan in Kolkata yesterday, cricket board Secretary S K Nair said today. Mr Nair said in a press release here that BCCI had a discussion with Ganguly on the matter today after ICC's media release on the suspension was handed over to the board. "Both are of the opinion that as per the ICC code of conduct, Ganguly should prefer an appeal against the Match Referee's (Clive Lloyd) decision once the written notification of the decision is received," he said. The slow over rate was due to loss of time on many counts like attending to repeated injuries to two players, heavy dew conditions and several similar instances, he said. Asked whether an additional player would be picked for the coming test series against South Africa beginning on November 20, BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra said "it depends on the ICC's response to India's appeal against the suspension."
—PTI
|
|
Youhana, Pathan fined
Kolkata, November 14 Youhana was fined 75 per cent of the match fee and Pathan 50 per cent of the match fee for a tiff between the two players in the 35th over of the match, according to an ICC release issued here today. At a hearing today ICC match referee Lloyd found both the players guilty for breaching clause 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play in the above match." Their offence was a level two breach of Code which carries a fine of between 50 to 100 per cent of the players' match fee and/or a one Test match or two ODI match ban. The action was taken on the basis of reports made by the match officials, the ICC release said.
—PTI |
||
|
India tactically not flexible enough
The fall of the Indian cricket team from dizzy heights in the last six months has been a saga of missed opportunities.
So many chances have been allowed to slip between July and now that last seasons momentum was not regained even in the Test win on a dubious Mumbai pitch against the worlds best team. The tumble to number seven in the one-day rankings and a stay at a not so dynamic joint third in the Test table says it all. When a rookie batsman on his first trip to India becomes the first to score a winning century against a Test-playing team chasing under lights at Eden Gardens — a venue with a distinct bias in favour of the team setting the target — it does point to a certain vapidity in the performance of the Indian team. Ganguly has been chivalrous in his praise of the Pakistanis. Can anyone contest the comprehensive quality of superiority expressed in the victory of the Pakistanis who have scored successive wins at venues as diverse as Colombo, Amstelveen, Edgbaston and Kolkata? While acknowledging the merit of opponents is to be appreciated, what is not so clear is whether he realises the problems lie in his own team. India carried on for too long as Ganguly’s XI because the underlying principle is why fix a problem where none exists. It took the Teflon (non-stick) gloves of Parthiv Patel to drive home the point that all was not right. There is no arguing against the merits of six batsmen, six bowlers and the wicket-keeper in Indias Test squad of 14 to face a weak South Africa. But it may take the selectors a while to reckon that Gautam Gambhir is not their answer to a search for a Test opener to accompany Sehwag. The problem is India is not tactically flexible enough to climb out of a rut. For instance, it would have made perfect sense to play five bowlers on a good Eden Gardens strip even if the fifth was Ajit Agarkar. On a good pitch, a seventh batsman becomes superfluous. The greater problem is this obsession with packing a team with batsmen. While a Test side with as many as three spinners against South Africa should be the norm, where India will suffer is in terms of giving one batting slot to a specialist opener to complete the fixation with seven batsmen. Having ignored the claims of Sadagopan Ramesh despite his century against the Kiwis at home and runs in the warm-up game down under, the Indian team is searching for an opener with the zeal of someone hunting for the mythical Yeti. It would make more sense strategically now to pick someone from among the specialist batsman and make him open. A pity then that Yuvraj Singh’s Test claims were ignored simply because he does not reveal the technical prowess needed to open. And opening will be the only difficult task against South Africa with the new ball overs of Pollock and Ntini likely to post the real and possibly solitary challenge. There is always the hope that Gambhir will succeed, in the short term at least. Of course, bigger problems lie in the area of motivating the team to regain the heights of 2003-04 when competent performances away from home were the distinguishing features. The hard luck stories with the Chennai weather, the Nagpur pitch, the rub of the green with marginal umpiring decisions and injuries to key players will not be reflected fully in the scorebook or the rankings. Team India should be aiming to annihilate everyone else even if it cannot quite get on terms with playing the Australians. The axis of the World Cup performance was the ability to beat all nations except the champions and India drew sustenance from that semi-exalted status to climb high in the Test arena also. Forget Australia and concentrate on beating all others to claim the number two spot in Tests and one-dayers. That is the only route to excellence and a saner way to nursing an ambition to become the worlds best cricket side. It’s not Ganguly’s words that will matter anymore. If we are swayed by his words, then Team India will continue to languish.
— UNI |
||
|
Cricket fan ends life
Bolpur (WB), November 14 The police has registered a case of unnatural death. Rabindranath’s father, Debabrata, claimed today that his 27-year-old son, after hearing the news of India’s defeat at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last night, entered his room, bolted the doors from inside and did not respond to calls. “He had returned after attending a Kali immersion ceremony in the area. After some time, we noticed smoke coming out of his room. We broke open the doors and found Rabindranath in flames and writhing in pain,” he said. The police said the man died before being taken to hospital. Rabindranath was a cricket fan and would suffer from depression whenever the Indian team lost, his family members said.
— PTI |
||
|
Persist with Ganguly: Akram
Bangalore, November 14 “Right now, the Indian team is going through a bit of a lean patch. I don’t think you have to take drastic steps,” the former left-arm fast bowler told reporters here when asked for his comments on Mark Waugh’s suggestion to replace Ganguly. “Ganguly is not old. He is 32 or 33 or even younger. Just give him some time, give him confidence. I think the team can come back. My advice is — leave the team alone for a while. They will get back into the groove,” Akram said. He said though India lost the series against Australia, they were the favourites in the two-Test series against South Africa. “India are going to win this series,” said Akram, who is the only bowler in the world to have captured more than 400 wickets both in Test and one-day cricket. Akram also supported Kapil Dev’s view that a player always played for the country and not for the cricket board. “I think Kapil is right there. All cricketers are professionals. They don’t play for their board; they play for their country. What is the cricket board? We play for our country. I think all players of India and Pakistan are proud to represent their country.” Asked if he thought Australia’s domination over other teams would continue in the near future, Akram said: “Looks like”. But Akram, who played 104 Tests claiming 414 wickets and scored 2,898 runs with a highest score of 257, believes it would be impossible for the current West Indies team to regain past glory. Akram, also the highest wicket-taker in ODIs with 502 scalps to his credit at an average of 23.5 in 356 matches, said becoming a coach was not on his mind right now. “Coaching needs specialised skills. You need to learn that. Great players are not necessarily great coaches. Right now I am enjoying life. Maybe I will think about it coaching a little later,” added Akram.
— PTI |
||
|
Bahutule spins web around SA
Jaipur, November 14 The visitors were off to a rollicking start as their top order batsmen made the most of a placid track with some aggressive strokemaking before being caught in Bahutule’s spin web. The South Africans lost four wickets, all of them to
Bahutule, for 53 runs in the evening session as they slid from a strong position of 164 for one at tea. But that was not before Graeme Smith and the other batsmen lived up to their pre-match statement of playing attacking cricket and putting the pressure on the hosts. Smith was the dominant partner of the two partnerships he shared with opener Jacques Rudolph and Justin
Ontong. After adding 72 runs for the opening stand, Smith featured in a 92-run association with
Ontong. The captain, however, perished when he stepped out to Bahutule off the second ball after tea and was stumped by MS
Dhoni. Smith’s 86 came off 172 balls and contained five hits to the fence. More notable was the knock of
Ontong, who would be a key element in South Africa’s game plan in the two Tests
ahead. Ontong has been a steady performer with the bat in first class cricket but he was included in the team as a specialist spinner. The 24-year old, however, has made it clear that he would be happy more with a role of a top order batsman and his innings today would have helped his cause. His enterprising knock of 70, which consumed 146 balls and spanned 183 minutes, was studded with five fours and a six off Ramesh
Powar. He was quick on his feet against the spinners and looked comfortable both on the front foot and off the back foot. Today’s display in unfamiliar conditions could have helped heal some of the mental scars that Ontong suffered two years ago when he was the victim of Australian sledging. Smith, who announced himself to the world with back-to-back double tons in his first series as captain in England last year, was in roaring form. His batting proved to be impregnable. A heavily on-side player, Smith handled both the spinners and the fast bowlers with equal comfort. He began with a glance to third man boundary of Amit Bhandari and then drove off-spinner Ramesh Powar through the on side. The placid nature of the track was highlighted when spin was introduced in the eighth over. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) Smith st Dhoni b Bahutule 86 Rudolph run out
26 Ontong c Gambhir b Bahutule 70 Kallis lbw Bahutule 11 Dippenaar c Powar b Bahutule
14 Amla not out 2 De Bruyn not out 7 Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-1) 10 Total
(5 wkts
dec, 88 overs) 226 Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-164, 3-190, 4-209, 5-217. Bowling:
Bhandari 7-3-13-0, Paul 11-3-24-0, Powar 27-3-78-0, Bahutule 31-5-65-4, Badani 1-0-5-0, Mongia 11-1-32-0. Board President’s XI (1st innings) Jadhav batting 3 Gambhir batting 0 Extras
(b-1) 1 Total (for no loss, 3 overs) 4 Bowling: Pollock 2-2-0-0, Ntini 1-0-3-0.
— PTI |
||
|
Team announcement dampened the spirits,
Jaipur, November 14 "Obviously some of the guys were disheartened. I just told them to look at the positive side of playing a three-day match against an international side and make the most of the opportunity," Bahutule said after the first day's play against the visitors. Bahutule, who picked four for 65 before the tourists declared their first innings at 226 for five, said he focussed on bowling a steady line and length as the wicket at the Sawai Man Singh stadium offered little response. "The aim was consistency. I concentrated on bowling a steady line and length, so that the run flow is dried up and the pressure is created on the batsmen." South African coach Ray Jennings said there was no middle order collapse but the team lost wickets as they decided to play shots. "We wanted to make a game of it. We were not looking for just practice, otherwise we could have batted on till tomorrow. The batsmen decided to go for their shots and lost their wickets, there was no collapse as such," Jennings said. Jennings praised Bahutule for his controlled leg spin bowling. "India has enormous spin talent. The leg spinner showed superb control and was a truly high quality bowler. "You could also see our batsmen have got the skills (to play the spinners). They were not fearing anything. We are ready for what you can throw at us. The sun will still come up tomorrow and we are going to have a good night's sleep, we won't die," he said. Justin Ontong, who made a valuable 70, said he needed a lot of patience to succeed against the Indian slow bowlers. "We were told before coming here that we needed to carry two bags, one bag full of patience. The wicket was spinning slowly, and it was really hard in the first 20 balls. "It was strange field setting, I had to be patient when the runs were not coming. And there was sudden release of runs, so it was a see-saw battle."
—PTI |
|
New South Wales stun Kiwis
Sydney, November 14 New South Wales had resumed on the final day in the four-day tour match at the Sydney Cricket Ground at 25 for no wicket. They lost opener Greg Mail for 13 with the score on 29 but were untroubled to score the additional 100 runs required. Australia Test discard Stuart MacGill completed match figures of 8-109 as New Zealand’s batting line-up collapsed for 201, setting New South Wales a modest target to win. New Zealand’s Mathew Sinclair scored 79 in the second innings after his first innings of 88, sharing an opening stand of 110 yesterday with Mark Richardson, who was bowled by MacGill for 50. No other batsman reached 20 as the Kiwis collapsed, losing their last seven wickets for 18 runs. New Zealand will assemble in Brisbane on Monday to prepare for the two-Test series against Ricky Ponting’s Australia.
— Reuters |
|
Davenport bows out despite win
Los Angeles, November 14 That leaves the door open for Amelie Mauresmo to claim year-end number one honours, although the French player still must win the tournament to do so. Mauresmo, whose five weeks at number one in September and October made her the first French player to reach the tennis summit, defeated Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-4 to emerge from group play as the only unbeaten player. Despite her win over Williams, after which Williams was assured of advancing thanks to taking one set, Davenport’s fate hinged on the outcome of the final group match between French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and fellow Russian Elena Dementieva. Myskina’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Dementieva not only put her into the semifinals, it gave her the top spot in the Red Group rankings. Mauresmo, 25, said she was more eager to capture the title, which carries a $ 1 million winner’s purse, than the number one ranking. “I think these kind of tournaments you can really compare to a Grand Slam,” she said of the season finale that features an elite field of eight. “Being able to play my best tennis at this kind of event is important for me now. I have achieved the number one (before). So the next step is really to be able to have these big titles.” While Mauresmo was nearly flawless in her opening match against Vera Zvonareva and impressive in a straight-set win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the match against Sharapova was a sloppier affair on both sides.
— AFP |
|
Nahar Komal wins four
gold medals
Chandigarh, November 14 Anita Rowala of Uttaranchal bagged the gold medal in the ball event. This year, the club event has been introduced in the senior nationals. Earlier today, the Maharashtra girl surged ahead of Rajni Sharma of Punjab Police in hoop, clubs and ribbon events. In the ribbon event, city girl Mala Rawat clinched the bronze medal. In the boys team championship in artistic gymnastics, Uttar Pradesh again ruled the day by winning the gold medal as they scored 535.50 points. Andhra Pradesh were second with 516.95 points. The third place went to Tripura with 497.40 points. Tomorrow, the competitions for boys will begin at 9.30 am. Today’s results:
Rhythmic all-round individual championship: Nahar Komal (Mah) 1; Rajni Sharma (Pb) 2; Dimple (Pb) 3. Hoop: Nahar Komal (Mah) 1; Rajni (Pb) 2; Dimple (Pb) 3. Clubs: Nahar Komal (Mah) 1; Rajni (Pb) 2; Anita Rowala (Uttr) 3. Ball: Anita Rowala (Uttr)1; Jasmita (Mah) 2,; Dimple (Pb) 3. Ribbon: Nahar Komal (Mah) 1; Rajni (Pb) 2; Mala Rawat (Chd) 3. |
|
N. Rly sink Navy in Nehru hockey
New Delhi, November 14 In a battle of changing fortunes, all goals came in the second half. Northern Railway rolled ahead six minutes into the second session when Rajive Panchal put finishing touches to a good move (1-0). But 12 minutes later, Navy pulled back the equaliser through AU Haque who converted a penalty corner (1-1). The Navy men went ahead when Ajay Kumar scored a field goal in the 57th minute (2-1). Rajive Misra equalised for Northern Railway in the 70th minute and the regulation time ended in a 2-2 deadlock. In the tie-breaker, Northern Railway scored through Rajive Misra, Navsher Singh, Raju, Gajinder and Sundeep while Navy got their goals through Rajan Lakra, MM Lokhande, SB Gorde, AK Kiro and Sanjay Choudhary. With the score tied 7-7, the ‘sudden death’ rule was applied in which Northern Railway triumphed as Rajive Misra and Navsher Singh hit the target while AK Kiro mishit for Navy after Rajan Lakra had found the mark. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In a harsh decision, the International Cricket Council today suspended captain Sourav Ganguly for two Test matches for slow over rate against Pakistan in the Platinum Jubilee one-day international here putting him out of action for the two-Test series against South Africa starting on November 20.
In video (
