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SC favours one observer for BCCI poll
Selectors may have to decide on Ganguly: Mahendra
Aussies are vulnerable: Lara
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Tendulkar, Lara are the best I’ve faced: Flintoff
Mushtaq ready to bamboozle England
Viswanathan Anand faces uphill task
Mountain biking meet from Oct 6
Railways in sight of victory
Total tennis meet starts
Sania seeks Japan glory
Toronto academy on winning spree
HPCL car rally to start on
October 21
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SC favours one observer for BCCI poll
New Delhi, October 3 The suggestion was given by a Bench comprising Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice R.V. Raveendran during the hearing of petitions seeking advancement of the AGM to elect BCCI President and other office-bearers. Three cricket bodies — the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), Chennai’s Netaji Cricket Club and the Bihar Cricket Association — had filed petitions for advancing of the AGM, which was voluntarily deferred by the BCCI by two months on September 23, in a day full of high tension and drama amidst differing orders from the Calcutta High Court on the status of observers. The apex court allowed the BCCI and the three cricket bodies to suggest the name by October 18, indicating that a former renowned cricketer who would act neutrally could be a preferred person. It further told the counsel for the parties to submit their additional affidavits, if they preferred to file any. The three cricket bodies had pleaded that the apex court should issue a direction for convening of the AGM immediately, which was supposed to hold the election of the BCCI President and its executive on September 23. The fight for the post of BCCI chief was between Mr Ranbir Singh Mahendra and Mr
Sharad Pawar. The RCA, in its petition, had challenged the September 22 verdict of the division Bench of Calcutta High Court, setting aside an order of a single Judge, appointing former Chief Justices of India K.N. Singh and M.M. Punchi as additional observers along with retired apex court Judge S.C. Sen to oversee the AGM proceedings. The high court had overturned the verdict of the single Judge on the application of former board President Jagmohan Dalmiya, who had questioned their appointment on the ground that as per BCCI rules, only the board Secretary had the powers to convene the AGM. The petitioning cricket bodies had contended that as per rules, the AGM had to be convened before September 30 every year to set in place a new BCCI executive. “Deferring of the AGM will give a handle to the office-bearers to twist the rules according to their suitability during the interim period, which will not in the interest of the game,” their counsel had contended. |
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Selectors may have to decide on Ganguly: Mahendra
London, October 3 BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra has said it will not be prudent to pass a hasty judgement on coach Greg Chappell, whose public spat with the captain created headlines recently, and his preference for doing away with the zonal system of appointing selectors. Mahendra said the board was concerned over Ganguly’s poor form, but believed that it was appropriate to give the players, especially the captain, some time to find their form. “You should give some time to the Selection Committee and the players, particularly Sourav. If in the coming days, the performance does not improve, the Selection Committee will take an appropriate decision,” Mahendra told BBC Hindi Programme in an interview. To a specific question on whether Ganguly should continue as captain, Mahendra said, “It is for the Selection Committee to decide and the board does not interfere in the matter.” The BCCI chief rebutted suggestions that the board was turning a blind eye to Ganguly’s poor form and his tendency to get embroiled in controversies, which was a dangerous sign for the country’s cricketing future. “What you are saying can also be the feeling of many other cricket fans in the country, but let us not forget that Ganguly scored a Test hundred in Zimbabwe recently,” he said.
— PTI |
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Aussies are vulnerable: Lara
Melbourne, October 3 Lara said Australia, hurt at losing the Ashes to England last month, looked ready for the taking and urged his Rest of the World team-mates to put the pressure on Ricky Ponting’s team. Lara formed a potent batting line-up in the World XI along with Indians Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, Englishmen Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen and South African Jacques Kallis. Asked at today’s official launch of the Super Series here if Australia were looking vulnerable, Lara said, “Most definitely. It is just after England and I think at present, they are wounded after the Ashes. We can even things up by applying the pressure from the Rest of the World, because that is who we represent.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting quipped that the only scar he had from the Ashes series was on his right cheek after ducking into a short-pitched delivery in the first Lord’s Test. But he said his team had moved on from the agony of relinquishing the Ashes. “I think we have all had some time to sit back and think about the Ashes series. Obviously, it was a disappointing one for us. England played very well. That is over and done now and forgotten,” Ponting said at the press conference. “It is another great challenge that lies ahead of us over the next couple of weeks. That is all we have been focusing on. Hopefully, we have learned from our mistakes that we made during the Ashes,” Ponting said. “If we do not learn from them, then we are pretty stupid. But we have done that, we have forgotten about the Ashes, we have moved on and we are looking forward to this challenge,” the Australian skipper stated. Ponting confirmed that Simon Katich would open the batting along with Adam Gilchrist in this week’s ODI series after the axing of Matthew Hayden. World skipper Shaun Pollock played down talk that his team of all-stars would struggle to mould into a team capable of downing Australia on their home turf. “A lot of people say our hardest challenge will be to gel as a team, as a unit. We have not played together before and some of us have played in the same side, but I do not see that as much of a problem,” the South African said. “As professional cricketers, we all take our jobs very seriously. We are used to being in different roles and once those roles are identified, I do not think we will see any problems with guys having to do that,” Pollock stated. Big-hitting Pietersen said he was excited playing in a team of world cricket luminaries. “I am just very happy to be here. If this had been suggested to me six months ago, I would have laughed. This year has been incredible,” Pietersen said. “It is the enjoyment factor, coming out here to enjoy ourselves, and to pick the brains of the absolute geniuses that are around in the dressing room. I am just thrilled to be a part of it,” he said.
— AFP |
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Tait, Hogg out of Super Series
Melbourne, October 3 Hogg withdrew from the three limited-overs cricket internationals in Melbourne on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday after injuring his left knee in training last week and aggravating the problem on the weekend. Tait, 22, who made a promising Test debut against England on the recent Ashes tour, injured his right shoulder and was also ruled out of the one-dayers and the six-day Super Test in Sydney from October 14 to 19. Hogg and Tait would undergo surgery this week. Victorian captain Cameron White and New South Wales’ fast bowler Stuart Clark, both uncapped, were drafted into the Australian squad as replacements. Clark was called into the Australian squad during the Ashes series as cover for Glenn McGrath, but did not play. Tait said he experienced pain while bowling in a club match on the weekend and a review following practice today showed that he had torn a cartilage in his shoulder. He could be sidelined for up to three months. Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Hogg’s injury could give White an opportunity to break into the Australian line-up. “Brad has been ruled out with a knee injury. It is bad news for him, a setback. But it is a good opportunity for White, an up-and-coming leg-spin bowler. He is a very exciting young player,” Ponting said at a press conference. White, 22, had been groomed for international cricket for several seasons and had been captain of Victoria since he was 20 years old. But he had not played for Australia at the top level and his inclusion came at a time when the limited-overs squad was being overhauled in the wake of the Ashes loss. Regular opener Matthew Hayden and fast bowlers Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz had been dropped from the limited-overs squad. The loss of Hogg, a 34-year-old one-day specialist, further reduced experience in the squad. Meanwhile, paceman Glenn McGrath supported calls for specialist coaches for the Australian team in the wake of their Ashes loss. Cricket Australia had been reviewing the national set-up after relinquishing the Ashes and there was speculation about the future of head coach John Buchanan. McGrath said Australia would soon emulate England’s set-up, with players having access to specialist coaches in a range of areas. “You look at all the big professional teams around the world and they have got every base covered, If we want to become more professional as a unit, I feel that is the way we will go. It is only a matter of time before that comes in,” McGrath said. Brett Lee supported Buchanan while Damien Martyn said it would be wrong to blame the head coach for everything that went wrong in England. Martyn, dropped from the team for the Super Test, said, “The blame cannot be solely on anyone because most of us did not do well. I will not just blame him (Buchanan) and I will not just blame one player.” He added, “Our game was no quite what we wanted, it was frustrating for us. Nothing sort of clicked from a team point of view and an individual point of view.” Meanwhile, Australia’s chastened team today summoned an American baseball coach to help rid them of the fielding fumbles that blighted their Ashes campaign. The Australians were putting their Ashes lessons to use by recruiting senior American baseball coach Mike Young. Young once managed the Australian national baseball team and had worked with the Australian one-day cricket team for five years. He conducted fielding drills during the team’s training today. He said Buchanan contacted him and asked him to help out for the series. Australia once were unchallenged as the world’s best fielding side, but their standards slipped alarmingly during the failed Ashes series, with Buchanan having been criticised for not concentrating enough on sharpening the team’s ground fielding skills. Cricket Australia had been reviewing the national team operations in the wake of the 2-1 Ashes series loss to England and Young said he wanted to become a full-time fielding coach within the team set-up. “I have made no bones about wanting to work more on a full-time basis with cricket. I gave up my baseball career to do this
because I believe in it,” Young said. — AP, AFP |
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Tendulkar, Lara are the best I’ve faced: Flintoff
London, October 3 “I will say Lara and Tendulkar are the two best batsmen I have faced, although you always think you have more of a chance when you are bowling at Lara,” says the flamboyant cricketer in his autobiography ‘Being Freddie — My Story So Far’. According to
Flintoff, “Tendulkar has a very simple technique, whereas Lara has a lot of movement at the crease and looks very flashy, but his hands are so good.” He does not elaborate what he means by Tendulkar’s simple technique. Referring to Lara’s record-breaking innings of 400 in the final Test in Antigua, Flintoff says, “The word genius gets bandied around a lot, but in his case, I think you can call him
that.” Flintoff also makes a fleeting reference to the lot of criticism England spinner Ashley Giles has received for what they call negative bowling by coming over the wicket to players like Tendulkar, but justifies it, saying it was his job at that time. “If you look at where he bowls from around the wicket, he gets his front foot so close to the stumps, it is like a lot of other spinners going around the wicket.” “Ashley has taken going around the wicket a lot further, he uses it as a wicket-taking option throughout the game.” The then England captain Nasser Hussain had asked Giles to bowl in that fashion to frustrate Tendulkar in the second Test at Ahmedabad in 2001.
— PTI |
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Mushtaq ready to bamboozle England
Lahore, October 3 The 35-year-old said he had studied the England batsmen closely during his county stint at Sussex. “If I am recalled I can still spin a web around the England batsmen,” said Mushtaq, who is tipped to earn a recall after two years of being out of the national side. Pakistan host England for three Tests and a five-match one-day series. The first Test starts in Multan from November 12. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Bob Woolmer have hinted at giving Mushtaq another chance after the bearded leg-spinner took 80 wickets for Sussex. His efforts helped the country finish second behind champions Nottinghamshire and boosted his chances of playing for
Pakistan. “I am right up there and enjoying my bowling, and if my country needs me I will be there and even if, God forbid, I am not recalled I am ready to pass on my experience and my knowledge of the English batsmen,” he said. Mushtaq, who played last of his 52 Tests against South Africa two years ago, said he was confident he could get under England's skin despite their recent Ashes success. “England are now a very confident side with players like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, but I have
special plans for both of them and have dismissed them cheaply,” said Mushtaq, who made
his debut against England in 1987. — AFP |
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Australia, New Zealand win
New Delhi, October 3 The fancied Australians, who had to split points with New Zealand after playing a goal-less draw yesterday, looked much more purposeful today. They took the lead in the second minute when captain Nikki Hudson dribbled her way into the Malaysian circle before blasting the ball in. However, the Aussies were kept guessing by the fast-moving Malaysian girls for long spells thereafter before hitting the target yet again three minutes before half time through Nicole Arrold, who converted a penalty corner. A minute before the final hooter, Nadia Abdul Rahman made no mistake with a penalty stroke to pull off the consolation goal for Malaysia. The Aussie girls seemed yet to come to terms with the conditions as they wasted a number chances before managing
to score. New Zealand had to wage an even battle to get the better of Italy after being locked 1-1 at half time. Captain Muirhead Suzie scored off a penalty corner in the 20th minute to put New Zealand ahead, which was neutralised by Italy in the 32nd minute when Francesca Faustini struck home off a penalty stroke, with a stiff shot. Three minutes before close, Dillon Honor regained the lead for New Zealand to record their first win. |
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Viswanathan Anand faces uphill task
San Luis (Argentina), October 3 The Indian ace suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of defending champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan in the fourth round and was third in the tournament, behind Topalov and Russian Peter Svidler. Topalov had collected 3.5 points out of a possible 4 and Svidler was half a point behind. Anand was in joint lead before the fourth round and the loss proved costly as he remained on 2.5 points. With 10 rounds still to go in the eight-player double-round-robin tourney, not much is lost for Anand if he can get back to winning ways. Topalov has been the man of the championship so far, with three sparkling victories and a sole draw with Anand, but the Bulgarian’s high-risk style can get him into trouble against anyone here. Leaving aside the loss against Kasimdzhanov, Anand must have reasons to be pleased with himself, as he has been in his element at the event otherwise. Starting off with a brilliant victory against Judit Polgar of Hungary, Anand showcased his defensive skills to hold Topalov from a lost position in the second round and in the third game, Michael Adams of England was subjected to a whirlwind attack, leading to convincing victory. Topalov has been a class act all through. He outmanoeuvred another title contender, Hungarian Peter Leko, in the first round, troubled Anand throughout in the second, scored a victory over Russian Alexander Morozevich in the next and crushed Adams in a one-sided affair in the previous round to emerge as the best player after the first lap of the event. Peter Svidler has been a surprise as the only undefeated player in the championship so far, apart from Topalov. While the Russian has not quite shown any brilliant patches yet, consistency has been his strength. Two draws against Adams and Kasimdzhanov were followed by victories over Leko and
Morozevich. On a good day, the Russian can be devastating and that is one thought which will cross the mind of Topalov when he sits across Svidler in the fifth round. Kasimdzhanov’s thumping victory over Anand means that in the rounds to come, everyone will be more watchful against him. There is little pressure on the Uzbek as he is the lowest-ranked player in the competition. He is fearless and ambitious, two qualities that helped him win the last world championship at Tripoli in Libya, that was held on a knockout basis. Leko has had a disastrous start and has a lot of ground to cover while his compatriot Polgar is in a similar situation. Morozevich and Adams look out of sorts and will have to strike early to make any impression.
— PTI |
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Mountain biking meet from Oct 6
Shimla, October 3 An international event, to be telecast in 300 countries by Transworld Sports, the event will bring the hill state on the adventure sports world map. Being organised by the Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association, participants from all over the world will participate in the event. At least 60 professional mountain bikers of international repute have confirmed their participation in the event, called Mountain Biking Himachal. There will be participants from Denmark, Canada, the UK, Belgium, the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong. “Though this a very popular sport in Europe and the USA, it is for the first time that an international mountain biking event is being organised in India,” said Mohit Sood, President of the Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association, while addressing a press conference here today. He said the event would now be a part of the annual calendar and would bring Himachal Pradesh in the spotlight, not only from the point of view of adventure sports, but also as a tourist destination. Though known as mountain biking, the participants would use sophisticated geared cycles having aluminum frames. The organisers said holding such events would give Himachal Pradesh a place on the world map of adventure sports as it offered one of the best mountain terrain. The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, extending support to the event, hoped to cash on the media focus that the event would bring on the state. Events like the international paragliding event were being held every year at Bir-Billing in Kangra district. |
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Railways in sight of victory
New Delhi, October 3 Off-spinner Powar claimed seven for 116, his second career-best performance in first-class cricket, to keep Rest in the hunt, but the visitors’ disastrous batting in the second knock undid his good work. After Railways managed to put up 311, the last two wickets eking out 54 runs, for a handy lead of 88 in the first innings, Rest capitulated to be all out for 137. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who missed out on his maiden first-class century in the morning, picked 3 for 28 while off-spinner Kulamani Parida grabbed 3 for 52, for a match haul of 7 for 113. The Ranji Trophy champions now needed to score only 50 runs to claim the trophy for second time in two seasons, having won it in 2003-04 at the same venue. Scoreboard: Rest of India (1st innings): 223; Railways (1st innings): Pagnis c Patel b Sreesanth 14, Bangar lbw b Powar 31, T.P. Singh c Patel b Powar 19, Yadav b Sreesanth 1, Ali c Gambhir b Powar 8, Goud not out 78, Saxena c Gambhir b Powar 9, Kartik c Bose b Powar 96, Wankhede c Patel b R.P. Singh 1, Harvinder st Patel b Powar 26, Parida c Raina b Powar 0, Extras (b-5, lb-14, nb-11, w-1): 21, Total (all out, 125.5 overs): 311, Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-60, 3-61, 4-84, 5-90, 6-104, 7-255, 8-257, 9-297, Bowling: R.P. Singh 24-5-59-1, Bose 16.4-9-30-0, Powar 42.5-7-116-7, Sreesanth 15.2-5-35-2, Ramkumar 23-10-47-0, Rao 4-0-12-0; Rest of India (2nd innings): Jadhav c Wankhede b Yadav 42, Gambhir lbw b Harvinder 5, Raina c Saxena b Kartik 30, Rao run out 17, N. Patel c Kartik b Parida 13, P. Patel c Bangar b Parida 1, Powar c Kartik b Parida 1, Sreesanth lbw b Kartik 3, Ramkumar run out 17, R.P. Singh c Wankhede b Kartik 1, Bose not out 0, Extras (b-4, lb-3): 7, Total (all out, 57.3 overs) 137, Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-66, 3-98, 4-106, 5-109, 6-113, 7-117, 8-119, 9-125, Bowling: Harvinder 7-1-17-1, Yadav 16-8-20-1, Kartik 13.3-3-28-3, Bangar 3-0-13-0, Parida 18-6-52-3.
— PTI |
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Total tennis meet starts
Jalandhar, October 3 Results of the first day: boys (under-14 singles): Sukhdanish Singh b Shawak Sethi 6-4; Gagandeep Singh b Sharshil 6-0; Gursimran b Sachin Chandel 6-2; Angad Singh b Ankur Trivedi 6-4; Kuber Dutt b Deepak Thapar 6-1; Tushar Khanna b Rustam Chabra 6-0; Manjot Grewal b Raghav Kapur 6-3 and Abhishek beat Paras Thakur 6-2. In the Mens Singles first round Pradeep Kumar b Amrinder Gill 6-4; Javed Ilazary (Pak) b Shikhar Gaddh 6-0; Mansimarat Riar b Faizul Ur Rehman 6-0; Rakesh Kumar b Tanmay Arora 6-2; Lakshit Sood b Praveen Arora 6-0; Mohak Mehta b Samir Garg 6-1, Sachin Gill b Adnan Saki 6-2; Karan Patnaik b Virat Chopra 6-0; Arshbeer Singh b Sudeep Singh 6-0; Jay Vinod b Keshav Mahajan 6-4; Sumit Joshi b Harmat Arora 6-0; Sachin Patil b Hardyal Singh 6-2; Bhupinder Singh b Ranjan Yadav 6-0; Jainder Singh b Ashim Patel 6-3; Shubham Kamboj b Mohit Sharma 6-0; Chandril Sood b Kamaljeet Singh 6-2; Puneet Sidhu b Gursewak 6-2; Ujjawal Khanna b Balwinder 6-0 and Amandeep Singh b Rajat Chopra 6-2. |
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Sania seeks Japan glory
Tokyo, October 3 “I have never played at the senior level in Japan, but I have been to Osaka twice and to Nagoya twice in the juniors. I have always played well in Japan. I am looking forward to a great week,” said Sania. The 18-year-old, who won the Japan Open junior doubles title in 2003, would take on qualifier Vilmarie Castellvi of Puerto Rico, the 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 winner over Ashley Harkleroad of the USA today. Last year, Sania became the first woman from India to capture a WTA Tour title, winning in doubles on home turf at Hyderabad. She became the first Indian woman to reach the third round in her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in January and posted her first singles title, again at Hyderabad, the following month. In her US Open debut, Sania reached the fourth round to move up to her highest-ever ranking of 34th in the world last month. She was ranked 37th this week. Sania said her successful results were just a matter of time and had happened sooner than she had expected. “I got the opportunities and I just grabbed them with both hands. I played some good tennis when it really mattered,” she said. Sania said her feet remained firmly on the ground despite being the most famous sportswoman in India.
— AFP |
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Toronto academy on winning spree
Chandigarh, October 3 The girls team of the academy first won the Senior Punjab State Annual Double League Championship. Then they won the first leg of the Punjab State Annual Double League Tournament at Tarn Taran from September 7 to 10 and the second leg of the competition at Malout from September 15 to 18. Next in line and the fourth title of the year was the gold medal at the Punjab Women’s Festival at Mansa from September 20 to 22. Mr P.S. Nijjer, director-cum-trainer of the academy, said in a recent press conference at Jalandhar that the team had been the seven-time winners of the All-India Baba Farid Basketball Tournament. He said the girls were showing great potential and that they were sure to bring more laurels to the academy in future too. |
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HPCL car rally to start on
October 21 Chandigarh, October 3 The best rally drivers of the country will participate in the rally. Asia Pacific, Asian zone rally champion and four-time national champion Naren Kumar, local drivers Karandip Singh and Sunny Sidhu and Vikram Mathais as well as current championship leader Arjun Kumar will be competing in this event. Arjun currently leads the championship by only two points with Karandip in second place. Naren and Sandeep Sharma (Gypsy class) are only 7 and 6 points behind, respectively, making this event a nail-biting one right up to the last corner as this is the only event in the championship that is held on narrow, gravel mountain tracks. The rally will be flagged off from the Fun Republic multiplex, Mani Majra, at 3 pm on October 21. It would then proceed to Kala Gram for a special stage. The spectators would be able to witness rally cars competing on a 2 km long challenging track from close quarters. The rally will then proceed towards the gravel tracks in the hills around Nalagarh and then return back. Only 30 entries will be accepted on a first come first serve basis and the last date for entries is Monday, October 17. Only MAI homologated cars are eligible for participation.
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