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Sourav in Test squad
Sachin is mentally very strong
Crowe bitten by India bug
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Inzamam’s run out unlawful, claims PCB
Eves in sight of win
Third umpire to debut in PHL
Harika draws, misses medal
Asian cycling from Dec 11
Punjab Police clinch title
Sangrur are champs
Rural sports meet from today
Vaishavi leads
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Sourav in Test squad
Chennai, November 23 Incidentally, Ganguly, who continues to be excluded from the ODI team, is the second highest run-getter in this form of the game after Sachin Tendulkar. There were a few other surprises in the 15 players selected for the Test series. Stylish middle-order batsman V.V.S. Laxman and spinner Anil Kumble have also been recalled. In the wicket-keeping department, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been picked ahead of Dinesh Karthick. More was foxed when reporters insisted on knowing the reason for not considering Baroda paceman Zaheer Khan and selecting rookie medium pace bowler R.P. Singh in his place. He said, “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices when the competition is very stiff from players to get into the first 15.” “As of now the squad for the remaining one-day matches against South Africa remains unchanged,” More added. Team (Test):
Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Gautam Gambhir, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Murali Kartik, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, and R.P. Singh. Team (ODI): Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir, R.P. Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Jai Prakash Yadav. |
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Sachin is mentally very strong
I
always found that when I played against the great batsmen of the modern era, I often ended up getting sucked into the emotion of the occasion. Everyone comes to watch Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting or Jacques Kallis bat and the rest of us just make up the numbers.
As great as it was for the spectators to watch these players bat, the prime objective for any opposition is to get the great batsmen in early so that you can make it as difficult as possible for them and hopefully send them to the showers before they get going. If this did not happen, one could very easily become just another spectator as the great batsmen became the “stars of the show” and the fielding side became ball boys, running to and from the boundary all day long. Sachin Tendulkar is one of those players. I used to find it fascinating when playing in India how some people actually ended up leaving the stadium the moment Sachin got out. They had come for the sole reason to see their hero in action and if he was out, watching the rest of us wasn’t quite as exciting (and rightly so!!) As Sachin gets set to become the most capped player in ODI history, I have no doubt the little man has it in him to reach perhaps the 500-match milestone. As a fielder with supposedly the best seat in the house, one lived in fear of dropping a simple catch with Tendulkar on 15 and he goes on to make 235. This happened to me in an unofficial Test match in South Africa (I think 2002 or 2003) when I dropped him in what can only be described as one of the easiest catches of all time. Thank goodness he only got 45 and my embarrassing moment was watered down a little. One gets a sense with a player like Sachin that if he gets going, there is actually very little one can do. He is running today’s show and please hurry up and bowl the next ball so he can send it on its way to the boundary. This happened on more than one occasion while I was playing and if the bowling side falls into this negative trap, they will be guaranteed to spend a day-and-a-half in the field. As with any of the greats, his positive play can also provide an opportunity and one needs to be ready to grab it. It will more than likely be a half chance and if not taken, it will inevitably lead to the most famous two words in cricket — “if only...” When watching him bat from mid-off or mid-on, I would often end up saying to myself “he hits the ball hard for a little guy.” Invariably I would be spending a lot of time diving to my right or left as he unleashed another powerful straight drive which always seemed to be just out of reach. As with all great batsmen, putting a plan together to try and get him out was often a futile exercise as he had no perceived weaknesses. This was especially evident in India, where the lack of bounce and 60,000 Mumbai supporters spelt real danger and a long time in the field. I got a sense he has kept it as simple as possible with his batting. Good balance, trying to hit everything as straight as possible and showing the blade of bat in the execution of his shots have been the cornerstones of his success. Mentally, I believe he has one of the strongest minds in the game. To go out to bat day in and day out with the massive expectations of a nation and to have been able to perform as consistently as he has is a remarkable achievement. I remember reading an article on him a few years ago when he spoke about the importance of every innings he played and how disappointed he felt when he did not perform. One always got the sense when he walked out to bat that he was mentally in tune and was going to give 100 per cent for India on that day. Although I did not get to know him that well, he has always come across as a thoroughly decent human being. I get the impression that he is a humble man who does not take success for granted and is a great ambassador and role model for the game of cricket. He has a huge amount to offer this great game and I sincerely hope he gets involved in some way once his playing days are over. As for now, as much as I enjoy watching him bat, I hope he will save some of his best performances for the next series against who, I’m not sure! A historic one day series win for the Proteas in India will be something I would enjoy just a little more for the meantime.
— PTI |
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Crowe bitten by India bug
Chennai, November 23 “I have been to India three or four times. I love it and I really enjoy coming here. When the ICC sends out the appointments, I am very happy to accept my appointments with India,” Crowe said here. “I enjoy the people of India, their culture, their fanaticism towards cricket and all the other things like the sights and sounds that India has to offer,” he added. Crowe was currently on assignment to India to officiate in the India-South Africa one-day series and was heading with the cricketing juggernaut to Kolkata, his favourite Indian city, for the next one-dayer. “I do not think that it is really fair to label out one city over another, but if I have to be honest, I will have to admit that Kolkata is my favourite Indian city,” said the former New Zealand Test captain. “When we played in the Eden Gardens in the 1987 World Cup, it was such a great experience. I always love coming back to that ground,” he added.
— IANS |
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England burst restricts Pak
Faisalabad, November 23 Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was 41 not out when play ended 16 overs early due to bad
light. Flintoff’s spell of two wickets for 15 runs from seven overs after tea gave England an outside chance of a
win. Flintoff ended a fourth-wicket stand of 56 with Inzamam when he forced Yousuf to play on to his stumps. He silenced the roaring crowd with a fantastic ball that pitched in sharply to send Afridi’s off-stump
cartwheeling. Afridi had provided much of the entertainment in the first innings with a blistering knock of 92 from 85 balls and after his first-ball dismissal, the majority of the crowd
left. Harmison then had Akmal caught behind in the final over of the day as Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 79
runs. Flintoff also caused the usually solid Inzamam considerable discomfort and had a confident leg before wicket shout against him turned down by umpire Simon
Taufel. Inzamam stood firm and steadied the ship with another patient innings spanning 70 balls, nine runs short of his fourth half century in the series, following scores of 53, 72 and 109. The Pakistan innings fell apart after another solid opening start of 54 by Salman Butt (50) and Shoaib Malik (26). Butt was out one ball after having a run disallowed by umpire Darrell Hair, who warned him a second time for running on to the pitch. The opener played Shaun Udal into the off-side and set off for a single, but on reaching the other end, saw Hair signalling a dead ball and asking him to go
back. Udal trapped Butt leg before wicket next ball, bowling round the wicket. Malik was the first wicket to fall after Pakistan resumed on 50 following lunch. He played a careless-looking drive to cover, where Ian Bell caught him off
Flintoff. Younis Khan (27) was the next man out, given leg before wicket to Matthew
Hoggard. Pakistan bowled out England out for 446 in the first hour of the morning session, 16 runs short of their total of 462. England quickly lost Ashley Giles and Hoggard to
Afridi, who finished with four wickets for 95 runs. Udal and Harmison (16) swung the bat lustily to add a valuable 47 runs from 37 balls for the last
wicket. Udal hit three fours and one six in his unbeaten 33 and took 16 runs in one over from Shoaib Akhtar. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) 462 England (1st
innings) Trescothick c Akmal b Sami 48 Strauss b Naved 12 Vaughan b Naved 2 Bell c Akmal b Afridi
115 Pietersen c Yousuf b Shoaib 100 Flintoff b Shoaib 1 Jones lbw b Afridi 55 Giles b Afridi
26 Udal not out 33 Hoggard b Afridi 2 Harmison run out 16 Extras
(b-1, lb-12, nb-22, w-1) 36 Total (all out, 132.3 overs) 446 Fall of wickets:
1-33, 2-39, 3-107, 4-261, 5-272, 6-327, 7-378, 8-395, 9-399. Bowling:
Shoaib 27-4-93-2, Naved 20-2-63-2, Sami 19-4-51-1, Afridi 30.3-3-95-4, Kaneria 32-3-102-0, Malik 4-0-29-0. Pakistan (2nd innings) Malik c Bell b Flintoff 26 Butt lbw b Udal
50 Younis lbw b Hoggard 27 Yousuf b Flintoff 20 Inzamam not out
41 Afridi b Flintoff 0 Akmal c Jones b Harmison 9 Rana Naved not out 0 Extras
(b-4, lb-4, nb-2) 10 Total (6
wkts, 66 overs) 183 Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-104, 3-108, 4-164, 5-164, 6-183. Bowling:
Hoggard 9-0-28-1, Flintoff 19-2-46-3, Harmison 14-2-41-1, Giles 13-2-35-0, Udal 11-2-25-1. — Reuters |
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Inzamam’s run out unlawful, claims PCB
Faisalabad, November 23 “We have conveyed our concern to the ICC regarding the apparently unlawful dismissal of Inzamam on the second day of the second Test against England at Faisalabad,” the PCB said in a press note. The Pakistani captain was adjudged run out by third umpire Nadeem Ghouri of Pakistan on Monday after he scored 109.
— AFP |
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Bowlers dominate on first day
Mohali, November 23 Services were all out for 147 in 46.4 overs. P.M.S. Reddy scored 23 runs off 60 balls before being caught at cover by Pankaj Dharmani. Jasvir Singh salvaged the innings with his knock of 30 runs off 33 balls, including five fours. Yashpal Sharma disappointed as he scored only five runs off 15 balls and was caught out by Ravneet Ricky. Ishaan was the wrecker-in-chief, accounting for five wickets for 50 runs. In reply, Punjab started on a disastrous note, losing their first two wickets for nine runs. Both were sent to the pavilion by Fazil Mohammad. Ravneet Ricky was caught by Sarabjit and Munish Sharma was dismissed leg before wicket. Dinesh Mongia scored 25 off 52 balls with five fours, playing some impressive strokes. Pankaj Dharmani was dismissed leg before wicket. Reetinder Sodhi pitched in with 41 runs off 39 balls. They shared a 44-run partnership. Brief scores: Services (1st innings): 147 all out in 46.4 overs; Punjab (1st innings): 130 for 7 in 33 overs. |
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Eves in sight of win
New Delhi, November 23 Scoreboard India (1st innings) 289 England (1st innings): Edwards b Goswami 12 Laura Newton b Goswami 6 Taylor c Jain b Goswami 5 Gunn lbw Dhar 5 Brindle c Karuna Greenway b Dhar 6 Harper st Karuna b Naidu 10 Birch lbw Goswami 15 Morgan c Karuna b Naidu 23 Smit not out 21 Brunt retd hurt 0 Extras
14 Total (all out) 154 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-24, 3-25, 4-35, 5-49, 6-61, 7-99, 8-104,9-154. Bowling:
Goswami 20-6-25-5, Amita 15-3-31-0, Dhar: 11-1-25-2, Nooshin 22-12-23-0, Neetu 21-14-11-0, Naidu 8.4-3-30-2. India (2nd innings) Karuna c and b Edwards 35 Monica c Smit b Harper 11 Mithali c Brindle b Birch 25 Dhar b Birch 30 Anjum not out 31 Goswami not out 34 Extras
9 Total (4 wkts, decl) 175 Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-53, 3-104, 4-105. Bowling:
Gunn: 13-1-31-0, Morgan: 12-1-27-0, England (2nd innings) Edwards batting 2 Laura batting 1 Total
(4 overs) 3 Bowling: Goswami 2-1-3-0, Amita 2-2-0-0. |
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Third umpire to debut in PHL
New Delhi, November 23 The PHL will be preceded by the Champions Trophy in Chennai where the FIH Rules Board will deliberate on some of the innovations made in the PHL for adoption in regular hockey championships. The third umpire will mostly look into disputed goals, and infringements inside the circle, which the field umpires may not be able to detect, or wrongly interpret. Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary-general K. Jyotikumaran said here today that the response from foreign players has been very good this year. So far, 11 international players have confirmed their participation, including two international captains — Jorge Lombi from Argentina and Mohammad Saqlain from Pakistan. In all, seven Pakistani players have given their consent, though there were 13 Pak players in the first edition at Hyderabad. The other international players who have confirmed their participation are Rehan Butt, Dilawar Husain, Salman Akbar, Shakeel Abbassi, Adnan Zakir and Imran Warsi (all from Pakistan), Jordi Quintana and Pau Quemada (Spain) and Balder Bomans (The Netherlands). Naming the Tier I teams, which will be headed by Dilip Tirkey (Hyderabad Sultans), Gagan Ajit Singh (Sher-e-Jallandhar), Viren Rasquinha (Maratha Warriors), Arjun Hallappa (Bangalore Hi-Fliers) and Rajpal Singh (Chandigarh Dynamos), the IHF secretary said the players have been evenly distributed to give all the five teams equal balance. ESPN Star Sports Managing Director R.C. Venkateish announced that special mikes would be provided to the on-field umpires for the first time in the history of hockey to make the viewers familiar with the nuances of the game. “These mikes will take the hockey-viewing experience to a new high as the followers of the game will understand why a particular decision was given by the umpire,” Venkateish explained. Spanish team coach and consultant to PHL, Maurits
Hendriks, who interacted with the team-managers and coaches before the introduction of the new rules and changes in the PHL, said the debut of the third umpire will immensely benefit hockey, though the third umpire will be used in a “subtler manner” so as not to slow down the game with “unnecessary disruptions”. Like last year, the PHL will have two tiers. Tier I will be called “Premier Division” and Tier II will be called “First Division”. The League will follow a round-robin format with all the teams playing each The winners of Tier I will be decided after “best of three” finals, while the Tier II winners will be decided on points gained from the round-robin league. The top-most team from Tier II will qualify for Tier I in next year’s PHL while the team finishing at the bottom will be relegated to Tier II. The Tier I winners will be awarded Rs 30 lakh while the runners-up will be given Rs 10 lakh. The Tier II winners and runners-up will be awarded Rs 4 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh, respectively. Tier I teams: Hyderabad Sultans: Dilip Tirkey, Salman Akbar, Jorge Lombi,Shakeel Abbasi, Devesh Chauhan, Lazarus Barla, Johnson Ekka, Nitin Kumar, Prabhakar Singh, Amit Srivastava, Sameer Dad, Susan Topno, Vikram Pillay, Veer Singh, Nityanand, M A Aleem, Ajitesh Rai and Devender Pal Singh. Coach: Rajender Singh (jr). Bangalore Hi-Fliers: Arjun Halappa, Jordi Quintana, Rehan Butt, Bharat Kumar Chetri, P.T. Rao, Ajay Kumar Saroha, Bimramjit Singh, V.S. Vinay, Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Tushar Khandekar, Sandeep Michael, Hari Prasad, Len Aiyppa, Suresh Kumar and Sabu Varkey. Coach: Ramesh Parameshwaran. Sher-E-Jallandhar: Gagan Ajit Singh, Mohammad Saqlain, Pau Quemada, Maninder Singh, Swinder Singh, Harpal Singh, Harmik Singh, Balwant Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Baljit Singh Saini, Ajmer Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gurvinder Singh Chandi and Prabdeep Singh. Coach: Ramandeep Singh. Maratha Warriors: Viren Rasquina, Adnan Zakir, Imran Warsi, Adrian D'Souza, Suraj Kantha, William Xalco, Sunil Yadav, Gursevak Singh, Vivek Gupta, Dhanraj Pillai, Shivendra Singh, Vijay Alphonso, Heman Gethe, Nitin Kumar, Girish Pimpele, Bharat Kumar, Dhananjay Mahadik and Sai Ram Bishnoi. Coach: Clarence Lobo. Chandigarh Dynamos: Rajpal Singh, Balder Bomans, Dilawar Hussain, Kamaldip Singh, Baljit Singh, Sandeep Singh, Saurabh Bishnoi, S S Gill, Jaswinder Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gaurav Tokhi, Inderjit Chadha, Deep Thakur, Ravipal Singh, Tejbir Singh, Davinder Kumar. Coach: N S Sodhi. |
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Harika draws, misses medal
Istanbul, November 23 Harika collected nine points — same as Kadziolka Beata of Poland and Mamedjarova Turkan of Azerbaijan, but the bronze went to Kadziolka on better average. Compatriot Grandmaster Tania Sachadev’s conqueror Gu Xiaobing of China won the silver with 9.5 points, half points behind Elisabeth. All other Indians failed to impress and none could finish among the top ten, with Tania finishing 14th and Deep Sengupta emerging the highest finisher among Indian boys at 17th position. In other matches in girls section, Eesha Karwade and Kruttika Nadig lost their last round games to Szczepkowska Karina of Poland and Khotenashvili Bela of Georgia respectively while N. Raghavi drew with Chaumont Adeline of France. Among the Indian boys, Deep Sengupta defeated his Polish opponent Heberla Bartlomiej while G. Rohit, G. N. Gopal and Parimarjan Negi drew their games against Zhigalko Andrey, Zinchenko Yaroslav and Barnaure Vlad-Victor respectively. Poobesh Anand and Akshat Khamparia lost their games to Mamedov Nidjat and Cornette Matthieu, respectively. The Boys crown went to Azerbaijani Grandmaster Mamedyarov Shakhriyar who drew his last round game and finished the championship with 10.5 points from 13 rounds with a clear one point lead over Berkes Ferenc of Hungary while Alekseev Evgeny finished third.
— UNI |
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Asian cycling from Dec 11
Chandigarh, November 23 Twentyfour countries have confirmed their participation. Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka are yet to send their details of participation. According to a rough estimate of the organisers, 450 cyclists are expected to take part. Only 16 nations had participated in the last edition of the games, held in Japan. The road races will be held from December 11 to 13 on the 17.5-km road stretch from Doraha to Khanna. The track events will be held thereafter. The opening ceremony will be held at the Cycling Velodrome, Punjab Agricultural University. Thirtyfour sets of medals will be at stake, of which eight will in road races and 26 in track events. A number of sub-committees have been set up for the conduct of the championships. The Punjab Government will assist the federation to make the event a success. The Games Technical Conduct Committee will be chaired by Grewal while R.P.S. Pawar will be secretary general and Amrit Gill organising secretary of the games. |
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Punjab Police clinch title
Patiala, November 23 In the final, Punjab cops quelled the spirited challenge of Punjabi University, Patiala, and managed to win 2-0. Punjab Police had entered the fray as favourites, but had to fight every inch to lay their hands on the trophy. For the university boys, strikers Amarinder Singh and Samuel Masih played their hearts out, but many of their moves were nullified by Punjab Police defenders. For Punjab Police,
Parminder Singh stunned the students with a 40-yard piledriver, which found the net after brushing the pole. The university team changed tactics after the first half and resorted to the 4-4-2 style of play and this put some pressure on the cops’ citadel. For Punjab Police, defenders carried the day for them and striker Amarjit Singh made it 2-0 when he scored off a goal-mouth melee in the last minute. |
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Sangrur are champs
Ferozepore, November 23 In a keenly fought hockey final, Jalandhar defeated Faridkot 4-2, Harnek Singh and Deepak Kumar scored 2 goals each for Jalandhar while for Faridkot, Lakhwinder and Gursharan scored one goal each. Results: Weightlifting: Ludhiana 1, Sangrur 2, Kapurthala 3; Archery: Ferozepore 1, Muktsar 2, Jalandhar 3; wrestling: Gurdaspur 1, Amritsar 2, Sangrur 3; kabaddi: Sangrur 1, Ludhiana 2, Faridkot 3; tug of war: Kapurthala 1, Ropar 2, Amritsar 3; volleyball: Ludhiana 1, Sangrur 2, Jalandhar 3; kho-kho: Sangrur 1, Ludhiana 2, Bathinda 3; football: Hoshiarpur 1, Jalandhar 2, Gurdaspur 3; hockey: Jalandhar 1, Faridkot 2, Ferozepore 3. |
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Rural sports meet from today
Jalandhar, November 23 This information was given by Pargat Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab. The tournament is being organised by the Punjab Sports Department in collaboration with Sports Authority of India. He further informed that competition in kho-kho, kabaddi and archery will be conducted. |
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Vaishavi
leads
New Delhi, November 23 Her first birdie came on the second hole, followed by birdies on the eighth, 10th, 12th and 17th holes. Defending champion Irina Brar was second on 150. A triple bogey on the 10th was a setback. She recovered to be home in 39, thanks to birdies on the 15th and 18th holes. First-day leader Anjali Chopra was just two strokes behind Irina. Parnita Garewal was on 154, two strokes behind Anjali.
— UNI
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