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Fed Cup: India blank Singapore
Tendulkar’s dismissal
most satisfying: Naved
Sami to undergo heel surgery
Inzamam has matured as skipper: Imran
India needs three-dimensional players
India placed eighth
East Bengal lose to Al Faisaly
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Dudu guides Sporting to victory
Sasi ends first lap with easy draw
Randhawa paired with Jimenez
Sports minister’s resignation sought
Consolation win for Indian eves
Sridhar, Rastogi storm into last eight
Evergreen club register
5-wicket win
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Fed Cup: India blank Singapore
New Delhi, April 20 In the first singles, Ankita Bhambri began in style, clinching the first set but looked a bit jaded in the second when her opponent Wei Ping Lee raised her game. Bhambri's superior serve and return had Lee in trouble but the latter tried her best and created problems for the Indian before Ankita chalked out a 6-1, 7-5 win. The second singles was in fact a no match as Shikha Uberoi, in her first Fed Cup appearance for India, mowed down a hapless Yun-Ling Cassandra Ng 6-0, 6-0. Shikha's powerful serve had Cassandra in a spot of bother and the Indian's return also was far more superior. Cassandra struggled throughout before Shikha clinched both the sets without dropping a single game, thus bringing Cassandra's woes to an end. In the doubles too, the Shikha Uberoi, Rushmi Chakravarthi pair made a mockery of their opposition before wrapping it up 6-1, 6-1. The better built Indians taught a frail Cassandra and the diminutive Shao Fang Ong a lesson or two about tennis as they made them run across the court besides coming up with some powerful volleys. India coach Enrico Pipperno expressed happiness with the result and said, ''Shikha was in awesome form and her movement was good. Ankita played good in patches but she can play better and you have to keep in mind that this is her first real match since the Hyderabad Open.'' Shikha too was happy with her performance and said, ''I was in good form but I did not expect it to be such a cakewalk.'' India play Kazakhstan in their second tie tomorrow. In other matches in the day, Australia took an unbeatable 2-0 lead over New Zealand after Evie Dominikovic and Samantha Stosur won their singles match. Dominikovic downed Leanne Baker 6-2 6-3 while Stosur beat Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-4. Formidable China also took a 2-0 lead after Jie Zheng and star player Na Li won their singles matches with consummate ease. Korea also led 2-0 against Chinese Taipei. In group II, Philippines led 2-0 against Turkmenistan to ensure a win in the tie while Syria also took an identical lead against Uzbekistan.
— UNI |
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Tendulkar’s dismissal most satisfying: Naved
Karachi, April 19 Naved, who was Pakistan's strike bowler on the tour after Shoaib Akhtar failed to make the side due to injury, said the dismissal of Tendulkar in the first one-dayer was the "high point" of his short career. "Although I dismissed Sehwag four times, I immensely enjoyed my first wicket of the series," he said referring to Tendulkar's dismissal in the second over of the match for four. "To get rid of Tendulkar cheaply in that first encounter in Kochi was the high point for me. I always felt that Sehwag would give us a chance to get him out because he's on the attack from the word go. But Sachin is a master technician in comparison," he said. Naved won the man-of-the-series award after Pakistan clinched the series 4-2, but the 27-year-old cricketer from Sheikhupura said he never thought of playing the role of the main strike bowler. "I really never dreamt about playing the role of the main strike bowler. But I always had one thing in mind and that was to give my best whatever the conditions," he was quoted as saying by the local daily 'Dawn' today. "The experience of playing in Australia prior to the Indian tour helped my game a lot. I was confident of doing well when the team left for Delhi", Naved said. "Without Shoaib Akhtar, we were more than determined to prove that we can win against heavy odds. India were touted as favourites at the start of the one-day series, but we knew that we had a chance because in
limited-over cricket, it all depends on luck and how you perform on the given day." Naved attributed Pakistan's grand victory to great team work and praised his captain Inzamam-ul Haq and coach Bob Woolmer for showing faith in his abilities. "Their support not only boosted my confidence but that of the entire side," he said. "Frankly speaking, our success was mainly because of the excellent team spirit and the camaraderie we had for each other since every individual contributed. " Naved termed the tour as the best of his career. "The conditions in India at this time of the year were extremely tough because of the unbearable weather," said Naved, who was named Man-of-the-Match for the first time in his 28-match ODI career at Jamshedpur where he took 6 for 27. "The pitches were unfriendly for pace bowling. But fortunately, we managed to bowl in the right areas." Having done his job well in India, Naved said he was looking forward to next month's tour of the West Indies. "We must not sit on our laurels. What we have achieved in India is history. West Indies at home will be a difficult side to play against because most of us have not played on their pitches. But we will be ready for them," he said.
— PTI
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Sami to undergo heel surgery
Karachi, April 20 Sami, who spearheaded the Pakistan pace attack in the absence of Shoaib Akhtar in the just-concluded Test as well as one-day series, developed a corn in his right heel, that forced him to skip the last two
one-dayers. Specialists believed hard grounds and landing areas on which he had recently played and bowled were the causes of the corn, said to be about two inches in radius. “I will take the specialist’s final opinion later in the day and will make up my mind by tomorrow when I should get my heel operated. I have been told that I will recover in two weeks,”
Sami, who had taken 102 one-day and 58 Test wickets, said today. The Pakistan cricket team would leave for the West Indies tour on May 7, during which it would play three
one-dayers at St Vincent (May 18) and St Lucia (May 21 and 22) while the two Tests would be played at Barbados (May 26 to 30) and Jamaica (June 3 to 7). — PTI |
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Inzamam has matured as skipper, says Imran
Karachi, April 20 “For me the high point
of the series was Inzamam’s captaincy from the front and Sourav Ganguly’s failure to do the same for India,” Khan said. The 53-year-old Khan had severely criticised Inzamam’s captaincy skills after Pakistan’s 3-0 rout in Australia earlier this year. “I had said that he did not lead from the front in Australia. But in India he looked more involved and captaincy seemed to have matured and improved him as a batsman as well,” said Khan. Ranked underdogs before the tour, Pakistan surprised critics by drawing a three-match Test series 1-1 with a come-from-behind win in the third Test at Bangalore and then upstaged India 4-2 in the one-day series on Sunday. The 35-year-old Inzamam stood out both as captain and batsman, notching a brilliant 184 at Bangalore and capping his 100th Test with a win. “Inzamam does not realise his ability as a batsman. I have been saying that he is the best batsman in the world for the past 10 years,” Imran said. “Inzamam is probably the greatest match winner of Pakistan cricket as a batsman, much more than any of his contemporary batsmen,” said Khan, who launched Inzamam as a 22-year-old during Pakistan’s World Cup triumph in 1992. Inzamam’s 21st hundred in Bangalore was the 16th time his century had contributed to a Pakistani win. Khan also praised vice-captain Younis Khan’s batting. “The other difference was Younis coming at number three. He changed the Bangalore Test with his double hundred and gave a solution to Pakistan’s number three problems,” said Khan, tipping Younis as a future captain. Younis overcame a poor batting and fielding performance in the drawn first Test at Mohali to hit a century in the second Test at Kolkata, which Pakistan lost. He then propped up the tourists’ batting with an epic 267 and a brilliant unbeaten 84 at Bangalore. “Pakistan lost a home series to India last year primarily because they did not have a good number three batsman then,” said Khan, referring to Pakistan’s one-day and Test defeats against their long-time rivals last year. —
AFP
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India needs three-dimensional players
One of the great things about cricket is that it stimulates debate. It is the sort of game where no one really knows if they are right or wrong when they assess teams or individuals. After conceding the lead in the Test series against Pakistan and then again losing their way in the one-day internationals, naturally pundits, critics and coaches will ask the question ‘why’ to India.
Indeed my guess is that it was caused by a multitude of factors, one being that Pakistan played as a team and all contributed and that the side seemed to have a better gameplan. Of course, this is pure speculation as I do not sit with the Indian team and discuss these things. I am only able to comment from our perspective as the opposition. I am often asked what I think of the Indian team. In fact, someone asked me the other day can India win the 2007 World Cup. So much can and will take place between now and the World Cup that the only answer is that India have the same chance as most other teams in the competition. India’s performance in the last World Cup in South Africa was interesting. They were unheralded before the tournament started, for reasons I am unable to explain. They have on paper a batting line-up that rivals Australia’s, both in ability and talent. Yet following their World Cup performance they have been unable to sustain that momentum and probably, as I write, have regressed slightly. With a batting line-up boasting of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, most of us would agree that they would never be short of runs. Apart from the Delhi chase on a pitch not fit for one-day international cricket, they stacked up the runs heavily against us in the just-concluded series. So why did they fall from a 2-0 lead to concede the series? My opinion is this most modern-day limited-overs sides have at least five frontline bowlers, usually six and sometimes with South Africa in the 90s they had seven. This allows for flexibility in strategy and tactics. They also have an interesting problem that they have three very fine left-arm bowlers, but like right-arm bowlers bowling over the wicket the ball ends up going wide of the off stump and the modern one-day player will latch onto any width. I though Ajit Agarkar’s inclusion and his ability to cramp the right hander with reverse swing gave India more options. Interestingly Laxmipathy Balaji to me is a Test match bowler, not a one-day bowler, as he also tends to give too much room outside the off stump. Another area where India will have to look at the make-up of the team will be in the fielding department. Kaif stands out, but it looks pretty pedestrian, apart from Tendulkar, who is a great all-round cricketer. The batting I do not think is a problem as the ability to score heavily is always there. One thing that really struck me though was a lot depended on Dravid to do the donkey work in the middle, taking the ones and twos. It seemed that the individuals roles were blurred. I hasten to add here that I am not privy to their meetings, but I guess the instructions are pretty much play your natural game, Rahul you bat through, Kaif you pressurise them later with running between the wickets etc. All teams have that. However, if one of Tendulkar or Sehwag were to bat through the innings instead of blasting together then India would have a great advantage. Yuvraj is a fine player whose form has not come to the fore in this series. He has not had that much opportunity to bat for long periods, but it is these strategic areas that India were unable to put it together, or that is how it seemed to me! In the Test match arena it is similar — runs are very rarely the problem, but it is containing and pressurising the opposition with a balanced attack. Whether they like it or not, the side need to find an all-rounder with the capabilities of an Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock or Jacques Kallis. I suspect that most sides would crave that. I have always believed that in order to win one-day internationals, it is important to have three-dimensional cricketers in the team, but not bits-and-pieces players. I suspect that with the depth they have, India can put together many combinations. Despite V.V.S. Laxman not being included in the one-day side, batting was never a problem. I was very impressed by S. Sriram at Hyderabad as he is a quick singles and twos man, hits the ball hard and is a brilliant fielder, completely three-dimensional. Irfan Pathan looks like he can bat. He might be encouraged to be used at seven with a specific role. In M.S. Dhoni, India have found a good all-round cricketer and as he improves, he will be a very important part of their one-day side. Yes, I think India can win the World Cup, but I also think Pakistan can! I suspect Australia think they can too! Do not forget the other teams as well! The most important part of any debate are concrete facts not hypothesis. As I said, cricket is just the sort of sport where no one will ever be one hundred per cent correct, but it is fun to speculate and hope that your team plays better on the day than the opposition!
— PTI |
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India placed eighth
New Delhi, April 20 Shahid Afridi’s consistent run-getting has put him among the top 10 ODI batsmen, as he is now ranked eighth. He has scored 572 runs in the last 20 innings at an astonishing strike rate of 171. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has moved up two places to the third spot while Rahul Dravid, ranked seventh, is the only Indian in the top 10 in the world ODI rankings. Pakistan pacer Naved-ul-Hasan’s performance against India has helped him enter the top five elite bowlers’ list in the ODI ratings. Ranked eighth at the start of the series, Naved has improved his position to number four. In the team rankings, Australia lead with 82 points, followed by Sri Lanka (66), New Zealand (64), Pakistan (62), England (58), South Africa (55), West Indies (46), India (42), Bangladesh (27) and Zimbabwe (14). In batting, Dravid is at the seventh position with 76 points, followed by Afridi on 75 points. In bowling, Naved-ul-Hasan is at the third position with 125 points. |
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East Bengal lose to Al Faisaly
Kolkata, April 20 The visitors, who gave a 5-0 drubbing to East Bengal in the first leg tie at Amman, struck the only goal in the 30th minute from a penalty converted by skipper Hatem Nohammed Aqel on a hot and humid afternoon at the Salt Lake stadium. Sandip Das tripped an advancing Qusai Moh'd Alieh inside the box, prompting the Uzbek referee Irmatov Ravshan to point to the dreaded spot. Hatem made no mistake in netting the easiest of setpieces with a power-packed shot that went in to the right of East Bengal custodian Rajat Ghosh Dastidar. East Bengal, yet to recover from the battering in the away match, began with an ultra-defensive approach, but switched to an attack mode after the breather in their search for the equaliser. They rattled the Jordanians with a series of raids and were unlucky not to have restored parity in the final minute when the post stood in the way of a Jeremiah shot. Al Faisaly, who took things easy and never seemed even close to their awesome best, were reduced to ten men in the 69th minute when seasoned international Qusai Moh'd Mah'd Ali Alieh was given marching orders after he received his second yellow booking. After four matches, East Bengal remained on only one point with a sole draw and three losses, while the Jordanians continued to lead the four-team group with 10 points. The oppressive weather sapped the energy of players, especially that of the visitors, and the handful of spectators were treated to a pedestrian fare. In the end, what was expected to be a one-sided contest between a club from a middle east nation ranked as high as 42nd in FIFA rankings and an outfit from India who now are placed as low as 134th, turned out to be a close affair, more so because the Jordanians found it difficult to manoeuvre in the extreme conditions. The tourists did not exert themselves to the full, and relied on sporadic moves to test the packed East Bengal defence in the first half. But they amply demonstrated their superiority in ball possession, playing with short passes, and their superior build and height always posed problems for the locals. Faisaly got the first positive chance of the match as early as the tenth minute, when their Iraqi recruit Arkan Shamoul's measured free kick came to an unmarked Hatem, but he shot over. East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick left out stars Alvito D'cunha and Bhaichung Bhutia from the starting line up in order to keep them fresh for the NFL derby tie versus arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and tried to crowd out the opponent forwards near the box. At times, 10 of the East Bengal players were seen in their own half, leaving Bijen Singh a loner upfront.
— PTI |
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Dudu guides Sporting to victory
Margao, April 20 Dudu Omagbemi, who is the highest scorer in the League so far, scored the only goal of the match when he headed home a well directed cross by Adebayo Adewusi cross from the left to give Sporting full points. The strike, three minutes before the interval, also took Dudu's tally to 15 goals in the League. The win took Sporting to the top spot with 38 points from 18 matches, two points ahead of East Bengal, while Salgaocar, who suffered their eighth defeat, remained in seventh place with 22 points from 18 matches. Desperately searching for an equaliser in the second half, Salgaocar went on the offensive and were only denied a point by Man of the Match Luis Barreto, who brought some brilliant saves off Freddy Mascarenhas, substitute Samson Singh and Felix Ibrebru. Salgaocar had a chance to equalise early in the second half but Ibrebru, who was well placed inside the box, shot off a long pass from the right by Jyoti Kumar in the 46th minute.
— PTI |
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Roddick, Agassi win
Raleigh, (North Carolina), April 20 The 34-year-old Agassi dominated the opening set against Czech Michal Tabara, but had to work in the second set to claim a 6-2, 7-6 victory. Roddick turned back American qualifier Matias Boeker in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Defending champion and third-seeded Tommy Hass of Germany also won. He defeated Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 7-5. Ferrero advances
BARCELONA: Spain’s former king of clay Juan Carlos Ferrero showed increasing signs of life on the surface, scraping through a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 marathon over compatriot Alberto Montanes at the Barcelona Open. The former Roland Garros champion, who lifted the Barcelona trophy in 2001, struggled in the first round meeting before finally following up on a semifinal showing last week in Monte Carlo. Play on the clay dragged during a sunny afternoon, with 11th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek earning a comeback win over Irakli Labadze of Georgia 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
— AFP |
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Sasi ends first lap with easy draw
Malmo (Sweden), April 20 But it was Grandmaster Jan
Timman, the highly regarded and oldest participant here, of Holland who stole the honours on day five at the Hipp Theatre after his systematic triumph over tailender Emil Hermansson of Sweden. The victory saw Timman emerge as the sole leader with four points out of a possible five. With four more rounds remaining, Sasikiran shares the second spot with top seed Hikaru Nakamura of the USA and Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova, who all have 3.5 points each in their
kitty. Sasikiran uncorked the Tchgorin variation against Hansen, who played the white side of a Ruy Lopez. It was a long routine theory that followed and neither of the players were able to make any impression in the long drawn middle
game. Sasikiran first played on the queen’s wing and was able to win a pawn, but Hansen had sufficient compensation all through. Curt Hansen of Denmark was right behind the leaders with three points and there was a big gap thereafter, with the joint sixth place held by the Dane’s compatriots Davor Palo and Sune Berg Hansen with two points apiece. Swedish hopes Tiger Hillarp Persson and Jonny Hetor fell way behind with 1.5 points each and Hermansson was stuck at the bottom with just a half point. The event will now move to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the last four rounds after a rest day. Against Hansen, Sasikiran decided to play it safe and both repeated moves to sign peace in 43 moves. But Timman simply outmanoeuvred Hermansson in an English opening. It was a Maroczy Bind, wherein Hermansson found himself at sea despite exchange of pieces at regular
intervals. Timman was quick to spot an error in Hermansson’s calculation in the late middle game and transposed to a pawn plus rook ending, wherein the Swede had no chance whatsoever. The game lasted 54 moves. Tiger Hillarp Persson was outdone by Devor Palo in a fine positional game. Again trading on thin ice, Persson opted for a rare variation in the
Bogo-Indian defence as black and Palo had a tangible advantage after the dust subsided in the opening. Person might have been content defending the inferior position for long, but here the situation demanded a victory and the hunt for the same proved fatal. Palo knocked down a couple of pawns when Persson attacked relentlessly, only to realise later that his attack was just an illusion. For Curt Hansen, it turned out to be a regulation victory with white pieces against Hector, who only had himself to blame for the fiasco. It was a normal position from an Orthodox Queen pawn opening, in which Hector went for a rather unusual attack and paid heavy dividends when Hansen stuck to the basics and wrapped the issue in just 36 moves. Nakamura yet again played enterprising chess, but failed to break the defences of Iordachescu in a queen’s Gambit declined
game. Playing white, Nakamura went for the thematic pawn roll on the queen side, famously known as minority attack, while Iordachescu worked out his counter-play in the
centre. The queens got traded on move 37 and it required only 10 more moves for both to realise that a draw was the result.
— PTI |
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Randhawa paired with Jimenez
Beijing, April 20 Asia’s richest event has four other Indians in the fray. Harmeet Kahlon has been put with South African James Kingston and American Mike Cunning, winner of the 2003 Indian Open. Amandeep Johl has been paired with Charl Schwartzel, the hugely talented South African who some years ago won the Amateur All-India Matchplay and in last two years as a pro had done very well. The third player will be James Nitties. Rahil Gangjee, winner of the Volvo China Open in 2004, will once again hope that China proves to be lucky for him as he plays with Scott Gardinder and David Bransdon. Jeev Milkha Singh, looking for his first win in almost six years, is paired with Thai-based American Greg Hanrahan and Richard Best. Two other eagerly awaited groups include Thomas Bjorn, Retief Goosen and China’s Zhang Liang-wei, the unbeaten star at Dynasty Cup. Ernie Els, who has already twice won in Asia this year in Dubai and Qatar, is paired with the Korean superstar K.J. Choi and England’s Paul Casey.
— PTI |
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Sports minister’s resignation sought
Dharamsala, April 20 In a statement issued here today, Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman of the HPCA, said that a letter written by Suresh Kalmadi, president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to Ms Vasundra Raje Scindia pointed out that the General House of the association had
condemned the move by Rajasthan Government to pass the Regulation of Association Ordinance to
regulate sports activities. The letter, said Mr Sharma, informed that the IOA had also appointed a committee in this regard, which had submitted a report saying the Ordinance will make the sports bodies prone to interference by the government and bureaucrats. Mr Kalmadi had further said that since the Ordinance was in violation of the Olympic charter, it would lead to barring the players from taking part in competitions. Since Mr Thakur is vice-president of the IOA, he must have been aware of these developments but he still supported this bill, misleading the people of Himachal Pradesh, ignoring the fact that our players might have to pay the price. “The bill is not about cricket alone and would affect the other sports as well,” he said. |
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Consolation win for Indian eves
New Delhi, April 20 The win was of no help to the Indians as they were already out of the race for a semifinal berth, having lost their first two matches against Thailand and Korea. At the Namhae Sports Park, one of the training sites during the 2002 World Cup, India took the lead in the 26th minute through striker Bala Devi Ngangom before medio Lalvarmoin Hmar doubled the lead in first half injury time, according to information received here. Changing ends, India’s third goal came 12 minutes after resumption through defender Ranjita Devi Thangjam. Two minutes later Bala scored her second to put the Indians further in command. It was Bala’s fifth goal of the tournament after scoring a hat-trick in India’s defeat to Thailand in their opening match. India scored two more quick goals towards the end through midfielder Chanu Chingtham (75) and M. Bembem Devi (81) to complete Indonesia’s misery. But the margin of defeat must have been of some comfort for the losers, who were thrashed 15-0 by Korea and 11-0 by Thailand in their earlier matches. India, led by defender Wangkhem Thabal Devi, ended their campaign with one win and two defeats after going down 4-6 to Thailand and 0-7 to Korea.
— PTI |
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Sridhar, Rastogi storm into last eight
Mumbai, April 20 Tamil Nadu’s Sridhar, nationally ranked fourth, outclassed Maharashtra’s Aniket Sudhir 6-3, 6-0. Rastogi hit fluently on the forehand to break his Karnataka rival Kiran Kumar’s serve thrice in the opening set and twice more in the second en route to a thumping 6-1, 6-2 verdict in 55 minutes. Kamala Kannan (Tamil Nadu) struggled a bit against Maharashtra’s Pratim Parikh before sailing into the last eight with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) verdict. Kirtane shut out fellow-Maharashtra rival and qualifier Amod Wakalkar 6-3 6-2.
— PTI |
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Evergreen club register
5-wicket win
Kharar, April 20 In another match of the tournament, Hotson Cricket Club beat DCC XI by 22 runs. Brief score: ECC 117 all out in 25 overs (Kaka 32, Pardeep 22, Sanjay 4 for 37) Evergreen CC 118 for 5 in 18 overs ( Deepak 33, Mani 29, Raj Kumar 3 for 28). HCC 116 all out in 25 overs (Ashish 29, Gurmmet 19, Ashok 3 for 20), DCC 94 all out in 20.2 overs (Sanjay 33, Pankaj 19, Pawan 3 for 21). |
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