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Rain prevents 2-0 sweep by Sweden
Time to identify those who will last till 2007: Chappell
We would like to chase: Shukla
Haq, Dravid to replace Sachin in ICC squads
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Punjab Cricket Club lose
Delhi beat Punjab
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Rain prevents 2-0 sweep by Sweden
New Delhi, September 23 Though the rain was purely localised, within a two-kilometre radius of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association complex, grey clouds and fading light forced the chief referee to call off the day’s play after waiting for 125 minutes. The remaining part of the rubber will be played one hour before the doubles match tomorrow morning. Jonas Bjorkman put Sweden 1-0 ahead when he prevailed over Prakash Amritraj 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes in the morning. Though Prakash was not expected to win the tie, he played competitive tennis to keep the goodly crowd entertained. But he failed to knock in the big points to lose in straight sets. But it was no cake-walk victory for Bjorkman, who is 11 years senior to Prakash and is ranked in the 90s in the ATP list. But Bjorkman, despite his age, covered the court with panther like agility, and served and returned with remarkable swiftness and poise to subdue Prakash, whose lack of mobility on the court was a prime reason for his failure to cash in on breaks. But he did
display a lot of pluck and determination to keep the Swede engaged, and make a match of it. “I played a tight game, served well and created pressure”, summed up Bjorkman after beating Prakash. The Swede admitted that Prakash played well, “but he tended to lose focus”. Prakash said he did as well as he could, though he conceded that needed to improve a lot. Prakash’s father and veteran Davis Cupper Vijay Amritraj said it was a good learning experience for the youngster “but he has to learn how to handle pressure”. Prakash’s problem was that if he served well, he also erred as many times. He fired nine aces and double faulted on eight occasions, and this inconsistency eventually led to his defeat. Bjorkman was very methodical and all his nine aces came at crucial junctures which helped him make light of his five double faults. Prakash, who saved five break points before holding serve in the
very first game of the opening set, did show his ability to serve with consistency, rush to the net to volley, and fire blinding down the line and cross court winners, time and again, to surprise Bjorkman. Yet, he could never really get on top of the all-round court craft of the Swede, and that, in the end, made all the difference. Prakash was broken in the seventh game of the first set, third and seventh games of the second set, and fifth game of the third set as Bjorkman raced to an expected victory. The Swede faced a few minutes of anxiety when he was broken in the sixth game of the second set, but he
roared back to break back in the very next, never to look back. Rohan Bopanna came with a refreshingly aggressive booming serve and power game, to give a hard time to Sweden’s No. 1 Thomas Johansson, who is ranked 15th in the world. The Swede was often caught on the wrong foot to take on Bopanna’s booming serves and lightening passing shots, to get pushed to the limit in the first two sets. But Bopanna failed to maintain consistency as his aces were followed by double faults. He also failed to reproduce his big serves when it mattered the most, in the tie-breaker. He slammed 15 aces and committed 10 double faults, but otherwise, played a tit-for-tat game that matched Johannsson’s. Bopanna looked like toppling Johansson’s apple cart when he broke him in the sixth game of the first set. But the Indian rookie failed to cash in on the break as in the very next game, he committed three double faults to drop serve. Thereafter both held serves to take the battle to the tie-breaker where Bopanna displayed wavering nerves, to falter. In the second set, both played solid serve and volley game, but in the tie-breaker Bopanna flopped yet again to trail 0-5 when it started raining. |
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Time to identify those who will last till 2007: Chappell
Harare, September 23 “Any discussion on selection from this point has to have in mind the 2007 World Cup,” Chappell said in an interview after India completed a 2-0 rout of Zimbabwe. “It will take time to develop a team and I suppose a decision has to be taken on which of the senior players are most likely to last and be potent enough that long,” he said. The Australian great said identifying the pool of players was possible through a combined decision from administrators, selectors and coaching staff. “We need to very carefully think about the balance of the side both in one-day cricket and Test cricket. Administrators, selectors, coaching staff and I will have some decisions to make soon,” he said. Chappell also made it clear to those who were groaning under his workload within the team that it would not get any easier from now on. “There are some things which are non-negotiable. Fielding and fitness are two of them. Players will not find it any easier,” said Chappell, as he prepared to head for India after the African odyssey. “Guys who are buying into it are going ahead and those who are not buying into it will find themselves by the wayside,” said Chappell in a chillingly plain tone. Chappell said the pressure on the boys so far had only been in a controlled manner. “The pressure that we have applied is to find out those who have the character and the capacity to deal with what is required to be a successful team.” “Some of the guys have struggled. Some of them have resisted the change. But if you want to stand up to the demands of the modern game, you have to be able to back up day after day.” “Over the last couple of months, everything we have done is to find out the players who have a way to go forward.” Chappell said he would find it strange if players were to worry about their positions in the team for getting picked or dropped was a way of life for international cricketers. “I find it interesting if players complain that pressure of selection is getting to them. It is part and parcel of life of an international cricketer.” “I have no control over the selection process, but worrying about it is not going to help. All we can do is to take on things which we can do. We have to prepare properly and give ourselves enough chance as individuals and as a team.” “Above all, the players have to realise that if the team does well and starts winning, there is less pressure on individuals.” Chappell said risk was part of the equation and if players on their part put their best foot forward, hopefully selectors too would recognise the effort and give them the leeway. “Certain risks come into equation for cricket is a tough game. But that is the only thing we can do as a group. There are some players who will perform and others will not. If the selectors buy into the process, they will recognise the effort and give them some leeway,” Chappell said. The coach believed the boys had better chances of surviving if they reached certain standards. “I do not deny we are putting a lot of pressure on the players. I am expecting them to reach certain standards. Those that reach and maintain those standards will be the one who will survive.” “If we want to have any chance of success in the 2007 World Cup, we will need a strong group, mentally and physically. We cannot afford to fail only because we have not prepared properly.” Besides bowling, batting and fielding, Chappell felt the players needed to earn points into the fourth criteria of intangibles, which he and the support staff had developed. “This is the intangible of running between wickets, mental strength, situational awareness and personality strength. Unless players are strong in three of these four areas, they are going to find that it tells against them in the selection process.”
— PTI |
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We would like to chase: Shukla
Dharamsala, September 23 “Since we are not very sure of the batting depth of the Australian line-up, it would be better if we play second and plan according to the score put up by the opposition,” he told mediapersons here today. On the performance of the team so far, he said spending more time on the crease was one thing the batsmen needed to work on. “The first five batsmen should try to stick around till the 40th over by avoiding any early mistakes so that they can strive for a big total in the last overs,” he said. The Indian coach, V. Prasad added that playing against Australia had been a learning experience for the team, that too with a white ball, which is seldom used in under-19 matches. On the other hand, Bryan McFadyen, coach for the Australian team, said his team needed to put a check on conceding too many extras by way of wides and no-balls. “The figures have not been very impressive so far and we would definitely want to bowlers to work on this aspect,” he said. |
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Haq, Dravid to replace Sachin in ICC squads
Dubai, September 23 The ICC also invited West Indian Chris Gayle to join the World XI ODI squad after South Africa’s Herchelle Gibbs pulled out of the series due to a knee injury. Tendulkar, who was included in both Test and ODI squads, had confirmed his unavailibility to play after he was advised further rest to his injured elbow, which recently underwent a surgery. Inzamam, who was surprisingly left out of the World XI squad initially, would take Tendulkar’s place in the six-day super Test from October 14 to 19. Dravid, who had been named vice-captain of the Test squad, would also be in the squad to play the ODIs on October
5, 7 and 9. Super Series chairman of selectors Sunil Gavaskar said the selectors were fortunate to have such elite players available for the event. “Obviously we are disappointed that Sachin and Herschelle have been forced out with injury, but we have been able to call on three world-class players to cover this loss,” Gavaskar said. “Both Inzamam and Gayle were extremely close to making the original squads, so we were delighted to have an opportunity to bring these two great players into the ICC World XI sides for the Super Series,” Gavaskar said. “To also be able to promote a player of Dravid’s quality from just the Test squad to both squads is a tremendous bonus,” he said. Inzaman, Gayle and Dravid had been selected in the provisional squads of 20. Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Steve Harmison, Shoaib Akhtar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori. ODI squad: Shaun Pollock (capt), Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Rahul Dravid, Andrew Flintoff, Kumar Sangakkara, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori.
— PTI |
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Punjab Cricket Club lose
Chandigarh, September 23 Punjab Cricket Club won the toss and elected to field first. Prag Madkaikar (34) and Harshed Pawle (58) added 74 runs for the fifth wicket. Harshad Rawle’s 50-run knock was off 75 balls, which included three hits to the fence. V.R.V. Singh and Rajesh Sharma took four wickets each to restrict Mumbai Cricket Association to a meagre total of 177 for 9 in 50 overs. Chasing the modest total, Punjab batsmen failed to respond against a good seam attack of Mumbai as Santosh Shinde (2 for 17) and Nair (3 for 34) sent back the top batting order of the Punjab team. The Punjab were reeling at 83 for 7 after 25 overs. Left-arm spinner Bachani took four wickets Mumbai Cricket Association, with this win, took their points tally to eight from two outings while Punjab Cricket Club had seven points from two outings. In another match, held at DAV grounds, Sector 8, Cricket Association of Bengal beat ONGC by 37 runs in a rain-curtailed 35-overs-a-side match. ONGC won the toss and elected to field first. Riding on a fine knock of 60 off 48 balls (2x4 and 5x6) by Shubmoy Dass, the Bengal team were able to post 195 for 8 in 35 overs. Munaf Patel (2 for 26) and Amit Mishra (2 for 31) were the main wicket-takers for ONGC. In reply, ONGC were bowled out for 168 in 32 overs. Amit Sharma (36) and Mohd Saif (36) were the main scorers for ONGC. Medium-pacer S.S. Paul (3 for 25) was the main wicket-taker for the Bengal team. With this win, Cricket Association of Bengal got five points and ONGC gained one point. The points tally for Cricket Association of Bengal after two games was eight and ONGC were on seven points. |
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Delhi beat Punjab
Amritsar, September 23 Despite best efforts, both teams remained goalless in the first half. Punjab took the lead through a field goal in the 40th minute of the game. Five minutes later the visitors scored the equaliser when Sajjan Singh converted a penalty stroke. Moments later he repeated the feat. Major Singh scored the third goal for Delhi. In another match Mumbai routed Bhopal 4-1. Left out Akash Pawar of Mumbai scored the first goal in the 14th minute. Beg scored equaliser in the 12th minute of the second half. Pawar scored his second goal in the 51st minute. The remaining two goals for the winners were scored by captain Vikas Pillay and Vikram Yadav. Rourkela humbled Lucknow 5-1. Lucknow by scoring the first goal in the sixth minute of the game raised hopes of a tough contest but gradually the expectations faded when they failed to convert any of the six short corners they received. Rourkela scored the equaliser in the last moments of first half. In the second half players of the winning team kept raiding the rivals’s goal post and scored four more goals. In the last match of the day Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy defeated Chennai 3-0. The Academy got the lead of 1-0 in the first half. In the second half second and third goals were scored by Kanwar and Navpreet Singh, respectively. |
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