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India hit back with a vengeance
Tendulkar misses another opportunity
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ICC threatens to shift Champions Trophy to Pak
BCCI can earn 10,000 cr annually from channel: Bindra
Contempt of court notice against Dalmiya, Nair
Punjab seamers run through Mumbai
Sunny, Bisht to Haryana’s rescue
Hyderabad bundled out for
166
Harinder surges ahead
Jaspal Rana shoots gold
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India hit back with a vengeance
Kolkata, March 18 After being outplayed for the better part of the first two days, India put up a much improved bowling performance to dismiss Pakistan for 393 to gain a slender first innings lead of 14 runs. The top-order batsmen then consolidated the advantage as they reached 133 for three at close, an overall lead of 147, at close on the third day at the Eden Gardens. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid was batting on 54, his second half century of the series complementing a fine century in the first innings, with skipper Sourav Ganguly at the other end on four. The dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar in fading light, adjudged caught behind off Abdul Razzaq, might have been the lone unfortunate event for the Indians on a day when almost everything went their way. Having scored his third fifty of the series, Tendulkar (52) was once again denied that elusive 35th ton. The batsman had every reason to be fuming after the verdict as there was daylight between bat and ball. Earlier, resuming at 273 for two, Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 62 runs to be bowled out for 393 half an hour before tea. Indian bowlers picked three wickets in the morning session before running through the tail in the post-lunch session. Pakistan, who were 331 for three at one stage, suffered a late-order collapse and lost their last seven wickets for 62 runs. Vice-captain Younis Khan was the lone batsman to hold out against the marauding Indians before being out for 147. Pakistan lost Yousuf Youhana in the fifth over of the day after the batsman had added only three runs to his overnight score. Laxmipathy Balaji (2-81) delivered a big blow when he had the right-handed batsman plumb in front for 104, ending the record third wicket stand which was eventually worth 211 runs. Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, however, threatened to take the match away from the Indians with his brilliant strokemaking. Irfan Pathan (2-90) then provided the breakthrough with a well-angled ball that took Inzamam’s edge for a simple catch to the wicketkeeper. Inzamam struck four fours for a 43-ball 30 during his brief stay at the crease. Asim Kamal (6) became a victim of hesitant running between the wickets. After Younis Khan drove Balaji to long on, Tendulkar picked up the stop by Ganguly and hurled it to the far end to catch Kamal well short of his crease. Kumble (3-98) then dismissed Younis Khan and the visitors lost the tailenders quickly to give the hosts a slender 14-run lead. Pakistan then picked two early wickets to peg back India in their second innings when Mohammad Sami dismissed the two openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, in the space of seven balls. Sami bowled Gambhir (1) on his very first ball before he reined in the high-flying Sehwag with a skidding delivery that the batsman played on to his stumps. Sehwag’s 15 runs came in 10 balls and contained three fours. Dravid and Tendulkar denied the visitors further breakthroughs as they added 98 runs for the third wicket before the latter fell to Razzaq. The two maintained a run rate of above four an over even as Inzamam’s bowlers fell back on to a leg side attack. That, however, did not prevent the batsmen from finding their gaps with simple improvisation. Tendulkar was at his best as he repeatedly paddle swept Danish Kaneria past short fine leg. The master batsman, stung by the sharp criticism for his slow batting in the first Test, admirably kept himself from pointing to distractions from behind the sightscreen. But as fate would have it, deteriorating light became a cause for concern. Tendulkar’s request for light, however, was turned down by the umpires. He certainly had problems in reading the short-pitched deliveries of Razzaq and Sami. Adding to the batsmen’s difficulty was the two-paced bounce of the Eden pitch which saw Dravid being hit on the shoulder blade. Just when it seemed that the batsmen would see through the last few overs remaining for the day came Tendulkar’s dismissal. Tendulkar withdrew his shot just in time from a rising delivery outside the off stump that swung late after beating the bat. To his surprise, umpire Steve Bucknor upheld the lone vociferous appeal of the bowler, Razzaq, even as his team-mates were least interested in the appeal. Two overs later, the umpires offered light to the batsmen, who accepted it immediately. Scoreboard India (1st innings) 407 Pakistan (1st innings) Umar c Harbhajan b Balaji 18 Afridi c Tendulkar b Pathan 29 Younis c Laxman b Kumble 147 Youhana lbw b Balaji 104 Haq c Kaarthick b Pathan 30 Kamal run out 6 Razzaq c Dravid b Kumble 17 Akmal c Tendulkar Sami c Ganguly b Harbhajan 7 Khalil c Sehwag b Kumble 4 Kaneria not out 3 Extras
(b-5, lb-13, nb-8, w-2) 28 Total (all out, 113.1 overs) 393 Fall of wickets:
1-35, 2-70, 3-281, 4-331, 5-347, 6-361, 7-362, 8-378, 9-378. Bowling:
Pathan 23-5-90-2, Balaji 21-1-81-2, Kumble 37.1-11-98-3, Ganguly 2-0-12-0, Harbhajan 30-5-94-2. India (2nd innings) Sehwag b Sami 15 Gambhir b Sami 1 Dravid batting 54 Tendulkar c Akmal b Razzaq 52 Ganguly batting 4 Extras
(lb-4, nb-3) 7 Total (3 wickets, 33.3 overs) 133 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-23, 3-121. Bowling:
Khalil 6-0-32-0, Sami 10-2-45-2, Kaneria 9-0-21-0, Afridi 3-0-12-0, Razzaq 5.3-2-19-1.
— PTI |
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Tendulkar misses another opportunity
Kolkata, March 18 *** The President’s Box at the Eden which ought to have been occupied by VVIPs, virtually looked deserted today. There were no ministers either from the Centre or the state, no special invitees like the Governor or foreign dignitaries. *** State Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty, who has not visited the Eden during the past three days and preferred watching the match on television, suggested today that the CAB should issue free passes to students through schools and colleges where examinations were already over, for enabling them to watch the last two days of the match. |
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ICC threatens to shift Champions Trophy to Pak
New Delhi, March 18 “The Board has resolved that the 2006 Champions Trophy be held in India subject to clearance on tax matters,” ICC chief Ehsan Mani told reporters here after the two-day Executive Board meeting of the game’s governing body. “We understand that the government and the BCCI need more time. So we will wait till May,” said Mani, who had held talks with the Indian officials last month asking for 100 per cent tax exemption. Mani said if India failed to take a decision by May, then it would be shifted to Pakistan, who have assured full tax
exemption. “I had talks with Mr P Chidambaram and Mr Sunil Dutt, both of whom gave a patient hearing. At this stage I believe the Finance Ministry is looking into the matter. So obviously nothing to be concerned. “But we have given them a deadline till May. We want a 100 per cent exemption. Tax is an issue when you plan to host major events like F1 and tennis.” Mani said he was not in favour of the Indian cricket Board offering to bear the taxes so that the event could be staged in the country. “It would be unfair for the ICC to expect the BCCI to do so. Anyway, the BCCI is in touch with the authorities concerned,” he said. The ICC decided to give official status to all Super Series matches — the three one-dayers and a six-day match to be played between Australia and the World XI in Melbourne.
— PTI |
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BCCI can earn 10,000 cr annually from channel: Bindra
Speaking exclusively to The Tribune at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, which has now become the yardstick for cricketing centres not only in India but also across the world, Mr Bindra says by having its own channel the BCCI stands to earn around Rs 10,000 crore annually, which can be ploughed back into the promotion and development of the game in the country. “Each association would stand to get about Rs 350 crore annually from the channel,” Mr Bindra said.
Pillar of strength Mrs
Kamal Bindra, wife of Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra, has been a
pillar of strength for the PCA President. In the just concluded
Test match between India and Pakistan at the Mohali stadium, Mrs
Bindra personally supervised all arrangements in the pavilion
block for the visiting VIPs, both from India and Pakistan. She
opted to stay in the background and sort out all maintenance
problems of the stadium. “The stadium generated over three
tonnes of garbage at the end of each day’s play,” Mr Bindra
says. “She stayed back every day till 1.30 a.m. getting the
stadium cleaned for the next day’s play,” the PCA President
says about his wife. He disclosed that a detailed project report was being prepared by the best minds in the television industry which would be presented at the next Working Committee of the Board. “The project report should be ready very soon. I have spoken to former Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya, and he, too, is enthusiastic about this,” Mr Bindra said. The current BCCI President, Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra, has also gone on record to say that the Working Committee would examine the proposal at its next meeting. Mr Bindra knows what he is talking about when it comes to the telecast and marketing of cricket matches. As the President of the BCCI from 1993-96, he brought about a sea change in the finances of the Board. In 1993, when he was yet to take over the top job in the BCCI from his predecessor, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, he negotiated to bring in TWI for producing the pictures of the India-England series and sold these to Doordarshan for $ 40,000, a first in India’s television history. TWI used special chartered flights to move the tonnes of equipment used for the telecast of the matches, a thing unheard of in India till then. In 1994, as President of the Board, Mr Bindra negotiated with ESPN to sell the telecast rights of all matches played in India for $ 4 million for four years. It was during this period that the Board had problems with the telecast of the Hero Cup matches and the issue went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled in favour of the Board. Mr Bindra was also instrumental in selling the telecast rights for the 1996 World Cup, hosted jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, for $ 24 million. In contrast, the telecast rights of the 1987 Reliance Cup was sold to Doordarshan for $ 20,000. It was for this reason that the Punjab Cricket Association was insisting this year that the telecast rights for the India-Pakistan series be marketed by tender. There was no reason why the rights were sold to Doordarshan for Rs 225 crore when the Board could have earned Rs 700 crore, Mr Bindra argues. “The way revenue from telecast rights of cricket matches is rising, it makes sense for the Board to have its own channel,” Mr Bindra concludes. The PCA is the only cricket association in the country today with five international centres at its disposal (Mohali, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala). Shortly after Mr Bindra took over as the PCA President in 1977, the association held its first international match, North Zone vs West Indies, at Burlton Park in Jalandhar in January, 1979, and in December the same year, the visiting Pakistan team played against the North Zone team at Amritsar. It was in this match that nearly 5000 visitors from Pakistan crossed the border at Wagah to watch the match. For these visitors, the PCA made arrangements in gurdwaras, serais and deras around Amritsar. But all the visitors took back warm memories of their India visit as they did again in 1999 when Pakistan played India in a one-day international at the Mohali stadium and again this month when Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula went overboard to welcome the visitors. Punjab hosted its first Test match, again against Pakistan, in 1983, at Burlton Park, Jalandhar, the same year the BCCI held its first annual general body meeting in Punjab. This was also the time that Punjab’s voice was increasingly being heard in the Board. The first Test match played at the PCA Stadium at Mohali was in December, 1994, when the stadium was still being completed. And since then Mohali has become arguably the best Test centre in the
country. Where else in India could have play started on time after torrential rain till 7.30 in the morning? Mr Bindra has also played a significant role in the formation of the Asian Cricket Council. It was he who along with Arif Abassi of Pakistan drafted the constitution of the council in 1983. He was also instrumental, along with Mr N.K.P. Salve, the then President of the BCCI, in getting the World Cup to be played in the sub-continent in 1987, the first time that the World Cup shifted out of England.
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Contempt of court notice against Dalmiya, Nair
Chennai, March 18 Judge Mohideen Pitchai of the Madras City Civil Court today issued the notices to the two after Dalmiya attended a meeting of the International Cricket Council in New Delhi yesterday. On January 25, the city civil court had restrained the BCCI from nominating Dalmiya as its representative for attending the meetings of the ICC. The petitioner, Sri Thyagaraya Cricket Club, based here, moved the court today for contempt of court proceedings against both Dalmiya and the BCCI after the former had attended yesterday’s meeting of the world body. The club had also served a legal notice on ICC President Ehsan Mani on March 15, threatening that contempt of court proceedings would be initiated against him, if Dalmiya was permitted to attend the New Delhi meeting.
— PTI |
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Punjab seamers run through Mumbai
Mumbai, March 18 Mumbai, however, struck back, taking two important wickets, including that of Yuvraj Singh, who was relieved from the Test squad to play this match, as the visitors reached 42 for two at close of the first day’s play, with captain Dinesh Mongia on 13 and opener Ravneet Ricky on 22 at the crease. Mumbai skipper Sairaj Bahutule called correctly and decided to bat on a wicket which had a bit of grass. His gamble did not pay off as the Mumbai batsmen, apart from Amol
Muzumdar, who struck a classy 75 before throwing his wicket away, could not survive the hostile onslaught of the opening bowlers.
— UNI |
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Sunny, Bisht to Haryana’s rescue
Chandigarh, March 18 Sunny Singh, who represented India in the under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, finished the truncated first day’s play at 62 not out. Haryana, put in to bat first, were 137 for three when the play ended before time due to fading light as only 51 overs were bowled during the day. Haryana were in trouble straightway. New ball bowler S.S. Rao struck early in the innings to send back opener Chetan Sharma. The batsman had yet to get off the mark. Deepak Joon, who came in to bat early because of the brief injury induced absence of opener Bagheshwar Bisht, was back in the pavilion without opening his account as Haryana were left tottering at 12 for 2. Joon essayed a drive but ended up giving a catch to the third slip fielder off seamer Divakar. Diminutive Bisht joined Sunny Singh at this stage and batted long enough to steer Haryana out of trouble. Bisht, a product of the Sector 8-DAV Senior Secondary School cricket centre being run by Sukhwinder Bawa, batted well in the company of Sunny Singh as the two strung together a solid 107-run partnership for the third wicket. When Haryana were cruising along nicely and a big score from both batsmen looked on the cards, Bisht suffered a lapse in concentration and lost his wicket. When close to a well-deserved half century, Bisht attempted a cut stroke, failed miserably and was clean bowled. During his 48-run knock, Bisht hit five boundaries and faced 97 balls. Sunny Singh, who hails from Bhiwani, grew from strength to strength and accumulated runs with ease. He looked particularly strong unleashing powerful strokes towards the point area. Most of the fours — he struck nine so far — looked to have been hit by a confident batsman. When the play came to a premature end, Sunny was batting on 62. Keeping him company was Shafiq Khan on 11. For Jharkand, S.S. Rao, Mihir Divakar and S. Khan took one wicket each. Scoreboard Haryana (1st innings): Chetan Sharma c Manish b Rao 0 Bagheshwar Bisht b S. Khan 48 Sunny Singh batting 62 D. Joon c Manish b Divakar 0 Shafiq Khan batting 11 Extras
(nb-11, lb-5): 16 Total (3 wkts, 51 overs): 137 Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-12, 3-119. Bowling: S.S. Rao 13-4-37-1, Mihir Divakar 11-3-35-1, S. Nadeem 14-7-23-0, Sumit Panda 4-0-12-0, S. Khan 9-2-25-1.
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Hyderabad bundled out for 166
New Delhi, March 18 Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha made a dream debut for Hyderabad as he cleared the top batting order of Railways, claiming four wickets for 29 runs to bring the visitors back in the game. Hyderabad skipper Arjun Yadav won the toss and elected to bat but barring Anirudh Singh, the visitors gave a most irresponsible batting display and their innings folded in just 57.5 overs, 15 minutes before tea. Harvinder took four wickets for 28 runs, while Yadav’s three wickets cost him 55 runs. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik took two for 41. Anirudh Singh contributed 92 runs while extras added 20 to their total while nine others chipped in with only 54 runs.
— UNI |
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Harinder surges ahead
Chandigarh, March 18 Falling behind Harinder by two strokes was the Kolkata based Pro SSP Chaurasia who also was the winner of the last tournament on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2005. SSP Chaurasia added a card of two under 70 to his overnight score of four under 68 to tally six under par 138 at the end of 36 holes. Yesterday’s star and SSP’s compatriot Rafick Ali had a bad round today playing a two over card of 74. But yet he occupied the third spot today because of his extraordinary round yesterday. He was five under par 139 at the end of 36 holes. Ashok Kumar occupied the fourth spot after he submitted a card of one under 71 to total four under 140 after 36 holes. Day one dynamo Pappan maintained a stable game returning a card of one under 71 to occupy the fifth spot with three under 141. The surprise of the day came when the best round of the day went to none other than the twice winner of the Indian Open Ali Sher who submitted a card of three under 69 to tally two over 146 after 36 holes as he made the cut. Fifty-four golfers made it to the next round which also includes four amateurs. Harinder Gupta played a good round. He braved the heavy winds blowing during the second half of the day which made many golfers falter in their rounds. Gupta however, made it clear that he has no intention of losing the winner’s cheque this year. He had birdies on the second, 13th and two consecutive ones on the 15th and the 16th holes. He made bogies on the sixth and the 11th hole. Closely following him was SSP Chaurasia who had a good start today with a birdie on the first hole. “I played very well today. I hit the ball pretty well today and will definitely try to get into the lead tomorrow,” said the ever friendly SSP Chaurasia. Meanwhile Lucknow based golfer Vijay Kumar was tied at the seventh spot with Asian PGA Tour Regular Arjun Singh and local lad Vikramjit Singh at one under 143 after 36 holes. Among the amateurs Girish wirk played extremely well today to return a card of one under 71 to tally four over 148 after 36 holes. Tied with him was the local amateur HS Kang who returned a card of one over 73 today. Leading Amateur Gaganjeet Bhullar had a bad round as he finished five over 77 to tally six over 148 after 36 holes. Scores (After 36 holes) Pros: Harinder Gupta (66+70)=136; SSP Chaurasia (68+70)=138; Rafick Ali (65+74)=139; Ashok Kumar(69+71)=140; Pappan (70+71)=141; Nabin Mondal (72+70), Mukesh Kumar (70+72)= 142 Vijay Kumar (72+71), Vikramjit Singh (72+71), Arjun Singh (71+72)=143 Amateurs: Girish Virk (77+71), HS Kang (75+73)= 148; Gaganjeet Bhullar (73+77), Raghav Wahi (73+77) = 150. |
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Jaspal Rana shoots gold
New Delhi, March 18 Ace marksman Rana was in sparkling form in the centre fire pistol event and scored 585 to bag the gold. Compatriot Ashok Pandit finished second best with a score of 576 and pocketed silver. Sushul Ghale put up a brilliant show in the qualifying round but had to be content with the bronze in the finals of the men’s free rifle three position with the score of 1235.3 (1147+88.3).
— UNI |
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Sepang (Malaysia), March 18
Chandigarh, March 18
