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BCCI panel to discuss players’ contract
Waugh slams Ganguly’s ‘pitch fixing’
Yousuf, Akmal put Pak on top
Himachal-Tripura match called off amid controversy
Indian eves level series
Namdhari XI enter final
Amritsar, Jalandhar enter semis
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Rain may play spoilsport
Chennai, December 1 Much of the attention on cricket — the island neighbours playing their first Test series in the subcontinent since 1997 and Sourav Ganguly returning to Greg Chappell’s fold — has been taken away by the forecast of a thunderstorm for the next four days. The M A Chidambaram stadium, lying metres away from the Marina seashore, escaped the fury of the tsunami last December but Mother Nature has not been similarly kind in recent weeks. The India-South Africa one-dayer was a total wash out a week ago, and a public petition charging the TNCA of “deliberate intention to deceive the gullible public” by holding matches in the monsoon period comes up for hearing today. The Indians, however, seemed to go about their practice sessions with little thoughts on the weather. VVS Laxman would like us to believe that the whole team was looking forward to Sachin Tendulkar’s 35th Test hundred but, without doubting the suave Hyderabadi’s words, one would know that it is Ganguly’s place in the batting order that has kept the team management thinking. Both captain and coach sought to downplay the issue of accommodating Ganguly in the line-up for the first Test. While Ganguly has one Test to prove himself as an “allrounder”, the task before the team management would be to find a batting slot for the ex-captain. “It is very hard to say but he is a very important member of the team and I don’t see any problem (in working with Ganguly),” Chappell said. Dravid was his typical diplomatic self when asked to comment on Ganguly. “He has played well in the past. We will also definitely have him as a bowler,” he said. “However, it all depended on the condition of the wicket before we finalise the eleven. “He is a very experienced player. I have always believed that I cannot do everything on my own, I look for support," Dravid said. Asked if it would not be unfair on Yuvraj Singh or Mohammad Kaif should they make way for Ganguly, Chappell said, “Let us worry about that tomorrow, we have not finalised the final team yet.” There was a minor fitness concern about Virender Sehwag but Dravid dismissed it as a non-issue. “We don’t want to make an issue out of it. He had light work out at the nets yesterday and today, he is fine,” the skipper said. “There is a slight shoulder strain on the left, we will assess him like we assess every player before we finalise the team tomorrow.” Visiting captain Marvan Atapattu said his team did miss the services of stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya but his exclusion gave the youngsters a chance to prove themselves. “Jayasuriya is a great player, we definitely miss him but it is the decision of the selectors to give a chance to young players in his place. Only time will tell how they are going to be as useful for the team,” Atapattu said. He said playing in India after a gap of eight years would be a challenge in itself for the players. “All of us have not played in Chennai, after eight years the team has come (to India). It is not an easy task, it is going to be a good challenging series.” Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody believed his players had it in them to bounce back from the 6-1 thrashing they received from the Indians in the one-day series. Court declines to restrain TNCA Declining to restrain the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association from going ahead with the first of the three India-Sri Lanka Test
matches, commencing here tomorrow, a local court today held that the civil suit had come too late. The plaintiff had come to the court at the eleventh hour even though advertisements for the match had been issued several days ago, the Second Assistant City Civil Judge I Pandurangan pointed out. Dismissing the interim prayers in the suit filed by M Suresh Babu seeking to stop the match and sale of tickets following the weather office forecasting rain, the judge imposed costs on the plaintiff and posted the main suit for hearing on December 29. The suit had sought a court order to the TNCA not to conduct international matches during monsoon in future. Zee Sports to telecast series
New Delhi: Zee Sports was on Thursday awarded the telecast rights of the three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka. The deal was clinched after a meeting with top BCCI officials where all bidders were present. “It was an open and transparent meeting and Zee Sports was able to successfully acquire the rights for the series,” a Zee Sports spokesperson said.
— PTI |
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BCCI panel to discuss players’ contract
Mumbai, December 1 “The players’ contract is to come up for discussion along with the decisions taken by the Fixtures Committee which has been convened urgently,” BCCI Executive Secretary in charge, Ratnakar Shetty, said today. The term of the earlier players’ contract has already expired and a new one is yet to be inked, though a preliminary report, including recommendations on changes by a three-member special committee, is with the BCCI. The Fixtures Committee is to decide on the venue of the third and final India-Sri Lanka Test, scheduled from December 16-22, following the inability expressed by the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association to host it at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium. The sub-committee, headed by BCCI Vice-President Shashank Manohar of Vidarbha, is also to decide on changes requested for the two warm-up games scheduled for England at Jamshedpur and Agartala and over the venues for the seven-match ODI series. The decisions of the Tours Programmes and Fixtures Committee would have to be approved by the 23-strong Working Committee. Asked whether any new sub-committees not already formed at the AGM would be decided at the Working Committee meeting, Shetty said newly elected BCCI President Sharad Pawar would do so on his own. Among important sub-committees not finalised at the AGM is the marketing committee, he added. The Marketing Committee is entrusted with finalising the contentious TV rights issue which has seen the board being dragged into courts over the past two years by various parties. The Marketing Committee is also in charge of deciding on the new sponsors for the Indian team and as such these matters would not come up for disucssion at the Working Committee meeting here, Shetty informed. After his victory in the Kolkata AGM, Pawar had announced that the board wanted to streamline its functioning to bring in more transparency and the finer points on how to go about achieving this are expected to be discussed at the Working Committee meeting. The report of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore would also be discussed, besides the reports of various other sub-committees, Shetty said. He said a disciplinary committee, with Pawar at the helm and BCCI vice-presidents Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin, had already been formed at the AGM. This is the first meeting of the Working Committee after Pawar took over the reins of the country’s cricket body. — PTI |
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Waugh slams Ganguly’s ‘pitch fixing’
Sydney, December 1 In his autobiography, “Out Of My Comfort Zone”, the former Australian skipper slams Ganguly’s tendency to interact with groundsmen before international matches. “Ganguly was... constantly bickering over the nature of pitches and trying to influence the groundsmen in India. To me, this wasn’t too different from match-fixing, because captains who try this are attempting to alter the conditions in collusion with a force they shouldn’t be tampering with,” Waugh writes. The two former skippers shared a strained relationship during the two historic series they were involved with, Ganguly’s turning up late for toss during India’s home series being the lowest point in their game of one-upmanship. Mentioning the toss episode, Waugh says he was “wound up” by Ganguly’s “continued petulance” in being late for the toss and then walking off by himself. However, Waugh does spare a good word for the Bengal left-hander.“I saw in Sourav a committed individual who wanted to inject some toughness and combativeness into a side that had often tended in the past to roll over and expose a soft underbelly”.
— PTI |
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Yousuf, Akmal put Pak on top
Lahore, December 1 The home side, needing only a draw to win the series and condemn England to their first series defeat for two years, were 446 for five in their first innings, a lead of 158. Scoreboard
England (1st innings) 288 Pakistan (1st innings) Malik c Plunkett b Hoggard 0 Butt c Jones b Plunkett 28 Kamal lbw b Hoggard 5 Yousuf not out 183 Haq retired hurt
35 Raza c Flintoff b Harmison 21 Shoaib c Udal b Plunkett 38 Akmal not out 115 Extras (b-1, lb-9, nb-7, w-4) 21 Total (5 wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-12, 3-68, 4-180, 5-247. Bowling: Hoggard 18-4-58-2, Flintoff 29-8-66-0, Harmison 33.4-3-115-1, Plunkett 24-1-95-2, Udal 15-1-71-0, Collingwood 6-0-22-0, Bell 2-0-9-0.
— Reuters |
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Punjab pacers restrict Haryana
Mohali, December 1 Exploiting the conditions in the morning session, both seamers wrecked the top order of Haryana. Gagan ended with figures of 4 for 37 in 21 overs, whereas Malhotra took 4 for 78 runs in 21.3 overs. Haryana skipper Amit Mishra’s decision to bat first after winning the toss boomeranged as they lost the first wicket just after two minutes of the start of the match. Gagan trapped Chetan Sharma leg before wicket on the fourth delivery of the opening over for two. The second blow came through Gagan again, who made Sunny Singh (3 off 10) edge a delivery to wicketkeeper Pankaj Dharmani. Malhotra opened his account with the wicket of Sidharth (13 off 32). Opener Bagheshwar Bisht braved the fiery attack of the duo before being dismissed for 38 by Gagan. Haryana’s allrounder Joginder Sharma completed his 1000 runs in Ranji Trophy today but he threw his wicket for 11 by offering a simple catch to Mongia at first slip off Malhotra. At lunch Haryana were tottering at 90 for 6. Tailenders Sachin Rana and skipper Amit Mishra shared a partnership of 73 runs to enable the team to reach a respectable total of 232 scores. Gagan took Sachin’s wicket, while Malhotra removed Amit. Sodhi and Mongia claimed one wicket each. Debutant Karan Goel, along with Ravneet Ricky, opened Punjab’s innings and survived maiden overs of Joginder Sharma and Sachin Rana before play ended for the day. Haryana’s coach Ashwini Kumar was upset with his team’s show. “I was expecting a total of over 350 runs. The collapse of our top order was a matter of concern. Now we need some early wickets tomorrow”, he said. Scoreboard: Haryana (Ist innings): Chetan Sharma lbw Gagandeep 2, Bagheshwar Bisht lbw Gagandeep 38, Sunny Singh c Dharmani b Gagandeep 3, Sidharth Verma c Dharmani b Ishan Malhotra 13, Shafiq Khan c Gagandeep b Reetinder Sodhi 0, Joginder Singh c Dinesh Mongia b Ishan Malhotra 11, Pardeep Sahu c Gupta b Ishan Malhotra 32, Mahesh Rawat c Ricky b Dinesh Mongia 31, Sachin Rana c Ricky b Gagandeep 49, Amit Mishra c Dharmani b Ishan Malhotra 34, Saurav Vashisht not out 6; Extras (nb-11, w-1, lb-1) 13; Total (all out, 85.3 overs) 232; Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-10, 3-39, 4-41, 5-59, 6-81, 7-122, 8-149, 9-222; Bowling: Gagandeep 21-8-37-4, Ishan Malhotra 21.3-7-78-4, Reetinder Sodhi 17-5-27-1, R Sharma 13-1-56-0, Navdeep Singh 11-2-29-0, Dinesh Mongia 2-0-4-1; Punjab (1st innings): Ravneet Ricky batting 0, Karan Goel batting 0; Total (no loss, 2 overs) 0; Bowling: Joginder Sharma 1-1-0-0, Sachin Rana 1-1-0-0. |
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Himachal-Tripura match called off amid controversy
Dharamsala, December 1 Earlier, the association led by Mr Rajinder Zar produced a letter from the BCCI confirming that the team headed by him was “permitted to play in the Ranji Trophy.” In retaliation, the office-bearers of the old association led by Mr Anurag Thakur allegedly put sprinklers in the outfield, the police said. In a statement to the police, Mr Narender Menon, the match referee appointed by the BCCI, said the attempt to sabotage the match was made by office-bearers of the old association. The Superintendent of Police, Mr S.P.Singh, told The Tribune that on the basis of Mr Menon’s complaint, a case had been registered against Mr Sanjay Sharma and Mr Gautam Thakur, office-bearers of the association led by Mr Anurag Thakur, under sections of unlawful association, obstruction and causing mischief. Mr Zar said the letter received from Mr R.S.Shetty, executive secretary in charge of the BCCI, clearly stated that the team headed by him was permitted to play in the domestic tournament. “To sabotage the match, the other group put the sprinklers and the pitch virtually turned into a pond in no time. The matter was reported to the BCCI and they asked us to reschedule the match, as there has to be some play on the first day of the four-day match. A new date would be conveyed to us by them,” he added. He said no changes had been made in the HPCA team that had been selected to play by the other association. On the other hand, Mr Sanjay Sharma said the BCCI Secretary was informed that the matter was before the High Court and the BCCI could not authorise Mr Zar to conduct the match. “The letter produced by them could be fake as we have received no correspondence from the BCCI. Their own people put the sprinklers. Moreover, if they were so keen on holding the match, they could have waited for a few hours for the pitch to dry up. They only needed an excuse to call off the match and the administration is towing the line of the state government in defending Mr Zar’s association,” he alleged. |
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Indian eves level series
Lucknow, December 1 Indian eves made heavy weather of a modest target of 163 runs and could only win in the last over of the match played at the K D Singh Babu Stadium here. Earlier, some spirited bowling by the Indians restricted the visitors to 162 for eight in 50 overs after losing the toss. Indian batswomen had to fight hard to achieve the target and they lost six wickets in the process. Former Indian skipper Anjum Chopra was adjudged the player of the match for her match-winning knock which was studded with three boundaries. Anjum sustained a lip injury in the 32nd over of the match, when a ball from skipper Edwards rose from the good length spot. Earlier, England won the toss and elected to bat. The Indian pace duo of Jhulan Goswami and Amita Sharma did not allow them to settle and wickets fell at regular intervals. C Atkins was the top scorer for England with 34 runs. Jhulan and Reema Malhotra took two wickets each for 22 runs apiece, while Amita bagged three for 27 runs. Varsha Agarwal gave away 14 wides in her seven overs.
— UNI |
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Namdhari XI enter final
Ludhiana, December 1 The semifinal between Centre for Excellence, Patiala, and Punjab and Sind Bank Academy got off to a brisk start. Players of both sides weaved some good moves but failed to convert the chances. Patiala lads went into the lead in the 20th minute when Surinder Singh gave a parallel pass to Pawan Bassi at the top of the striking circle who sent in a sizzler to open the account. After changing ends, Patiala centre pumped in another goal in the second minute when full-back Amrik Singh succeeded in converting a penalty corner to make it 2-0. With three minutes to go for the long hooter, they increased the lead (3-0) through Kanwaljit. This followed some frantic forays by the PSB academy players who ultimately forced a penalty corner in the dying minutes. Gurpeet Singh capitalised on this chance to reduce the margin to 1-3. The final will be played tomorrow at 3 pm. |
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Amritsar, Jalandhar enter semis
Chandigarh, December 1 In the quarterfinals played this afternoon, Faridkot stroked out Ludhiana A 15-14 in a prolonged battle which went to the penalty shootout. Jalandhar scored twice to defeat Ropar in the second quarterfinal while Amritsar snuffed out the tough challenge from Ferozepore before emerging winners 2-1. In the last quarterfinal, Ludhiana B blanked Nawanshahr 10-1. Earlier, Mr Pargat Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab, inaugurated the three-day championship being conducted for the first time on an Astro-turf in a rural area. The Astroturf of Namdhari Vidayak Jatha is the first one in the country which belongs to a private institution. In the first round, Jalandhar defeated Gurdaspur 8-0, Ludhiana A defeated Hoshiarpur 3-1, Faridkot defeated Moga 6-5 and Ludhiana B beat Muktsar 7-0.
— TNS |
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Tirkey sick, may miss Champions Trophy
New Delhi, December 1 The ace defender is suffering from “high fever and typhoid-like symptoms” for the past few days, sources in the Indian Hockey Federation told PTI today. It is also learnt that the IHF has asked young defender William Xalxo to leave for Chennai tomorrow and join the Indian team as a back-up for Tirkey. However, the sources said the IHF was not pressing the panic button as yet to announce a replacement for Tirkey.
— PTI |
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Rohtak, Jhajjar win trophies
Karnal, December 1 |
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Polo tourney
New Delhi, December 1 |
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