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Subcontinent to bid for 2011 World Cup
Flip-flop on openers’ issue continues
Wright bats for Ganguly
Fans breach Sachin’s security
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Muralitharan may retire in 2007
Patiala girls win in Harbhajan soccer
Sporting down Mohun Bagan
Williams sisters ready to roar
Konica fastest at Chaman Vatika meet
Cycling meet begins
tomorrow
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India face uphill task
Lahore, January 14 Younis Khan (199), Mohammad Yousuf (173), Shahid Afridi (103) and Kamran Akmal (102 not out) made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack as they plundered runs at will before the hosts declared their first innings at a commanding 679 for seven declared, shortly before the tea interval. While all the Pakistani batsmen scored at a brisk pace on a placid track at the Gaddafi stadium, the flamboyant Afridi was particularly belligerent as he clobbered seven boundaries and as many sixes during his blistering 80-ball knock which completely pushed the visitors on the backfoot. Faced with a stiff target of 480 to avoid the ignominy of a follow-on, India made a steady start to the run chase, reaching 65 for no loss at close on an eventful second day. Captain Rahul Dravid, who opened the innings instead of Sourav Ganguly who was widely speculated to don the opener’s mantle, was batting on 22 while Virender Sehwag was on 36 when bad light stopped play with 21 overs remaining to be bowled. It was yet another forgettable day for the Indians , who were sent on a leather hunt for most of the day as the Pakistanis scored at an amazing 4.7 runs per over to completely dominate the proceedings. The day belonged to the host team’s strong batting line up and in particular Afridi who smashed the Indian attack to smithereens on the featherbed pitch to make make 103 in 80 balls. The exciting all rounder, who clubbed off spinner Harbahajan Singh for 27 runs in an over, including four sixes, also put on 170 runs for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who too batted in carefree style to remain unbeaten on 102, inclusive of 11 fours and two sixes in 81 balls. They were the third and fourth batsmen to get into triple figures in the Pakistan innings and followed the example set by the third wicket duo of Younis and Yousuf who put on a mammoth partnership of 319 runs in 270 minutes and 392 balls to set up the platform for the Afridi-Kamal pyrotechnics after lunch. Pakistan, who resumed at the overnight 326 for two, declared their innings closed with 32 minutes left for tea as soon as Akmal completed his ton with a four. In reply, Sehwag and Dravid started on a fluent note. Sehwag was his confident self, driving and flicking with ease in his run-a-ball unbeaten knock that had 7 fours while Dravid struck 3 fours during his more sedate approach. Nevertheless, India face a formidable task tomorrow, although the wicket still looks full of runs. Earlier, it was the Afridi’s fireworks that lit up the Gaddafi Stadium as he entertained a crowd of 7,000 with his batting pyrotechnics that sent the entire Indian team diving for cover. The dashing all-rounder truly lived up to his reputation as a marauder of bowlers, unleashing audacious strokes, most of them on the on-side. Afridi’s big-hitting prowess during his 111-minute rampage left the Indian attack dead for ideas. His explosive sixth wicket stand with Akmal at just under two runs per minute in 129 balls left only one option for India in the match, a draw. Akmal's century off 81 balls was the fastest by a wicketkeeper, overtaking Australian Adam Gilchrist's 84-ball 100. The twin assault by the two Pakistanis helped them shoot up the already galloping run-rate to more than four an over as the Indian fielding and bowling wilted under this caning for the second session running. The final Pak total was the fourth plus 600 total against India and the second highest after 699 for 5 at Lahore in 1989-90 and 674 for 6 in 1984-85 at Faisalabad. Akmal was in a very aggressive mood against the lacklustre bowling but he was still overshadowed by Afridi who slammed his fourth hundred in Tests. Sixes rained on the Indians as Afridi took apart their bowling, especially Harbhajan Singh who was carted for four sixes off the first four balls of his 34th over in which he gave away 27 runs, all of them to Afridi. Harbhajan got another spanking in his post-lunch two-over spell in which he conceded a whopping 35 runs. He ended up giving away 176 runs in 34 overs without any wicket. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 59 Butt run out 6 Younis run out 199 Yousuf st Dhoni b Kumble 173 Inzamam lbw Kumble 1 Afridi c Harbhajan b Agarkar 103 Akmal not out 102 Naved c Ganguly b Agarkar 9 Mohammad Sami not out 1 Extras (b-4, lb-12, nb-8, w-2) 26 Total (for 7 wickets decl.) 679 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-136, 3-455, 4-456, 5-477, 6-647, 7-668. Bowling: Pathan 32-4-133-1, Agarkar 24-3-122-2, Ganguly 6-1-14-0, Harbhajan 34-5-176-0, Kumble 39.3-2-178-2, Sehwag 6-0-24-0, Tendulkar 2-0-16-0. India (1st Innings) Sehwag batting 36 Dravid batting 22 Extras (5lb, 1w, 1nb) 7 Total (for no loss) 65 Bowling: Shoaib 5-2-14-0, Rana Naved 4-0-23-0, Afridi 2-0-12-0, Sami 2-0-11-0. — PTI
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Subcontinent to bid for 2011 World Cup
Lahore, January 14 Addressing a crowded press conference, BCCI President Sharad Pawar, alongside his PCB counterpart Shaharyar Khan, said the consent of the Sri Lankan and Bangladesh boards have already been taken. “Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have welcomed this proposal while confirming to join Pakistan and India in 2011 World Cup bid. It’s not that we can’t host the event independently but we want to share it so that the cricket followers of all the four countries can enjoy the excitement,” Pawar said. According to ICC rotation policy, Australia have the right to host the 2011 World Cup. But insiders said Bob Merriman has communicated to Pakistan and Indian cricket chiefs that his country was not ready to host the event for the simple reason that they fear they might not find the sponsors. Pawar also announced a series of bilateral one-day matches that was finalised after his meeting with Shaharyar on Saturday although it is believed that Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, who is also the Patron of the PCB, was taken into confidence in Islamabad on Friday. Pawar said Pakistan and India will play two one one-day international in April on a neutral venue and 75 per cent of the earnings from the first one-dayer would go to the earthquake victims in Pakistan while the remaining would go to quake victims of India.“The neutral venues can be any,” he replied when asked if Gulf cities of Sharjah, Singapore, Morocco etc, who have been banned by the ICC, were under consideration. He added: “Of course, we will take the consent of the governments before finalising the venues. Needless to say that I am part of the Indian government.” Pawar also announced that he had signed a five-year contract with Pakistan for a series of one-day internationals every year that would also be played on neutral venues. “Our preference would be countries where there is majority of Pakistan and Indian expatriates. That is part of our strategy to promote and globalise the sport. “Once again we would go to our governments for approval before finalising the venues but places like United States and few European countries are under consideration,” Pawar said. He said the decisions have been made only on Saturday morning and very soon the two board officials would sit down to finalise the details. “We have to resolve several issues like logistics, sponsorships, venue selections and schedule of the matches.” Pawar disagreed that one-day cricket would kill Test cricket and the two boards were not reducing cricket between the two teams but only increasing. “I don’t agree with that because I think it is the right balance. We will play a five-match one-day series every year and a Test series after every two years.” — PTI
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Flip-flop on openers’ issue continues
Lahore, January 14 Only yesterday, Dravid had said after the toss that his predecessor Sourav Ganguly would launch the Indian innings with Sehwag. It needs the sleuthing skills of a Sherlock Holmes to unravel the mysteries surrounding the team, which has been dogged by the Ganguly factor ever since it landed here. After days of speculation it was known that the former captain, at loggerheads with coach Greg Chappell ever since their public spat on the tour to Zimbabwe, would be in the playing eleven only when the two rival captains exchanged the team list at the toss. On the eve of the match Dravid, while refusing to say whether Ganguly was in the eleven was not, categorically said he had finalised the team composition and he knew what he was doing. Adding to the drama was a mid-field animated discussion involving Ganguly, Dravid and coach Greg Chappell at the start of the match. The coach, however, said they were discussing cricket and the media need not read too much into it. He was also not forthcoming about the batting order, saying the media need not know it. The compromise formula that seemed to have been worked out to include Ganguly by dropping both regular openers Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir was that he would open the innings, but even that has been sent for a six with the decision of Dravid to launch the innings with Sehwag. He had opened the innings in the absence of the Delhi batsman due to indisposition in the Delhi Test against Sri Lanka, with Gautam Gambhir for company. — PTI
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New Delhi, January 14 In an interview with Aaj Tak, Wright refused to attach much importance to the allegations made by Mr Dungarpur, manager of the Indian team touring Pakistan, and said, “Raj is a good friend of mine. He is a colourful man and is sometimes prone to saying colourful statements. I saw the news briefly on the Internet. I looked at it and said goodness gracious what is happening.” On his relationship with Ganguly, Wright said: “I would not say that Sourav and I agreed completely on all issues. But the disagreements happen. I have always believed that the captain is in charge of the team. My job as the coach was to make him a good captain.” “Sourav would have frustrations with me and me with him. Bottom line is, Sourav is captain and my job was to go out and get the job done. The same is the case with Greg (Chappell) and Rahul (Dravid). There will be times when Greg and Rahul will disagree on issues,” he said. Heaping praise on the southpaw, Wright said, “I think the legacy that Sourav wanted to leave behind is that of a team where there was no difference between the senior and the junior players. He fought very hard for some of the youngsters in the selection meetings. As far as Sourav and I are concerned we were in the same boat.” He also refused to subscribe to Mr Dungarpur’s allegation that Ganguly was the laziest fielder around. “That is Raj’s opinion. I am not involved in that thought process. There were times when I could single out Ganguly and there were times when the same could have been said of (Javagal) Srinath or (Anil) Kumble.’” On whether Ganguly feigned injury, Wright said: “I don’t think it is fair. A lot has been said about Sourav and his career. I think the bottom line is that Sourav captained India to more wins than any captain before him and I hope that Rahul is the person who will break that record.” Wright also felt that either captain or the coach should have voting rights and India should follow the Australian model of having paid, professional selectors. “Selection in India is a tough job because of the system of being voted in and out every year. I would prefer it if professionals were appointed and paid as is the case in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere too. I think the captain or the coach at least one of them should have a vote.” — UNI
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Lahore, January 14 ‘The News’ reported today that the cops on duty at the Indian team hotel have been suspended on charges of breach of security for allowing their relatives to approach Sachin Tendulkar for his autograph and photographs yesterday. The matter was reported to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) security officer Sohail Khan. “The Indian team management brought the incident to the notice of Sohail Khan after some people knocked at Tendulkar’s hotel room door and asked him for his autographs and requested to be photographed with him,” the newspaper quoted a PCB official as saying. “We are concerned about this incident and we have taken measures to ensure such an incident does not happen again,” DPO Ejaz Ahmed said, adding that security had been beefed up at the hotel. India to host
tri-series in Sept
Pakistan, India and Australia have agreed in principle to host a triangular one-day series this year in September before the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan told Reuters the countries had held discussions on the possibility of holding the tri-series between September 12 and October 5. “We all agree in principle it is a viable proposal. The only problem is that Pakistan is hosting Zimbabwe from late September and we are still not sure if their tour will go ahead on schedule,” Shaharyar said. India is already arranging bilateral series and other tournaments with the ICC members outside the world governing body’s future tours programme. Under the tours programme, all 10 test playing member nations play each other over a six-year cycle.
— UNI, Reuters |
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Muralitharan may retire in 2007
Sydney, January 14 Muralitharan, currently in Australia for the triangular one-day series with Ricky Ponting’s world champions and South Africa, said he would play through at least until the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies then make a decision. “I will play until 2007, then keep an open mind about whether to play or not,” he said. “I have got married. In another 10 days time, I will get a baby boy. I am looking forward to that. I have enjoyed my cricket for 15, 16 years. Now I have my family life.” Muralitharan broke Courtney Walsh’s world record for the most Test wickets in 2004 but has since been overtaken by Shane Warne after being sidelined for most of last year. Muralitharan has 584 Test wickets to Warne’s 659 but is three years younger than the Australian and takes his wickets at a faster rate. However, Muralitharan said regaining the record meant nothing to him. “I had the record. I had my moments,” he said. “Fifteen, 20 years time, somebody will come along and take 1000 wickets. Records are nothing.” — Reuters
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Patiala girls win in Harbhajan soccer
Chandigarh, January 14 The tournament was inaugurated by Mrs Gurkanwal Kaur, Minister for Social Welfare, who announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the Principal Harbhajan Singh Sporting Club. For the Patiala team, Harkamaljit Kaur scored the match winner in the 25th minute. In the school category, Sports Wing, Mahilpur, defeated GSS School, Jian, Chabbewal, 2-0. In the third match FA Hoshiarpur defeated Govt SS School, Kharar Achharwal, 1-0. In the fourth match, Khalsa SS School, Baddon, defeated GS School, Mahilpur, 2-0. |
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Sporting down Mohun Bagan
Kolkata, January 14 Mohammedan shot into lead in the 44th minute of the match. Patrick was tripped from behind by Meherazuddin resulting in a direct freekick from the spot. Palsh Karmakar let go a 25 yard volley that almost curled into the net, but Bagan custodian Subrata Paul’s athleticism saw the ball returning to play after kissing his palm and the crosspiece. Patrick, who was lurking nearby, picked up the pieces by volleying the ball home (1-0) to give Mohammedan the all important lead. The proceedings were dominated entirely by the green and maroon brigade from word go and by the end of the first 45 minutes, they should have been up by four goals. An exciting contest is on the cards as Sporting Clube De Goa take on JCT in the 10th ONGC National Football League at Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.
— UNI, PTI |
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Bangalore Lions maul Sher-e-Jallandhar
Chandigarh, January 14 Any hopes the Shers had of reaching the final have been dashed with this loss. Till now they have played four matches and have won only one match and are at number four in the overall standings. Today for the first time in PHL a goal was referred to the third umpire. Right from the beginning, Bangalore Lions played at fast pace and kept their cool at crucial times which helped them win the crucial tie. The half time score was 2-0. The first goal came in second quarter in the first half when in the 28th minute a magnificent pass from Bimal Lakra enabled Rehan Butt to push the ball into the goal. Just after four minutes another move was created by Tushar Khandekar and Sandeep Michael made no mistake in converting it into goal and a vital 2-0 lead. Then came a flurry of chances for the Shers but all of them were wasted. Prabhjot Singh came close to scoring but failed to give finishing touches to a fine move. Just before the hooter of the third quarter, Kamalpreet’s goal was disallowed by the third umpire. In the last quarter, Bangalore Lions went on the defensive and the ball remained in midfield most of the time while Shers could not succeed in any of their last minute efforts to make a comeback. Rehan Butt of Pakistan was declared man of the match. Tomorrow, Chandigarh Dynamos will face Bangalore Lions at 7 pm. Veerans down Nawabs
Chennai Veerans survived a scare to down Lucknow Nawabs 3-2 in the Tier II match of the Premier Hockey League played at Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here today. The issue was resolved in the silver extra time after the 70-minute stipulated period ended in a 2-2 draw. Nawabs took lead in the 10th minute through a penalty corner when Cyril Ekka sent the ball wide to the far post and Prateek Srivastav despatched it to the goal evading the Veerans’ custodian P.R. Sreejesh. This goal gave a boost to Nawabs who played with zeal and with the help of Cyril Ekka, Hamza Mujtaba and Prateek mounted pressure on the rival’s defence with good moves. Veerans were bent upon gaining the upper hand which was witnessed in the second quarter of the play. Their forwards Adam Sinclair, Raja, Raghunath and Vikram Kanth were prominent in initiating the moves but they could not get the desired results. In the 25 th minute, Veerans restored parity with well-coordinated defence where Raghunath gave a wide diagonal pass to Ramesh in the rival’s 25-yard area and sent a pass to Venkatesh, who scored the equaliser from the top of the circle. Thereafter, Veerans were awarded four short corners in the second quarter but failed to gain the lead. Maintaining their dominating spree, Veerans could move ahead in the 49th minute through another penalty corner. During this moment, Raghunath’s ground flick was thwarted by the rival custodian but it was the prompt action by Adam Sinclair who took the push locking the score 2-1. Nawabs retorted with an aggressive approach only to gain parity four minutes before the culmination of the last quarter, attacking from the right flank to score a goal. Kamlesh sent a defence-splitting cross from the right corner which was brilliantly stopped by Hamza who sounded the board freezing the score 2-2 and positioned the match into the extra time. During this period, Veerans earned their seventh short corner where it was Raghunath who took the drag-flick which was diverted by rival goalkeeper Raziuddin but Ashwin made no mistake in finding the goalpost and seal the victory over Lucknow Nawabs 3-2. |
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Williams sisters ready to roar
Melbourne, January 14 Serena, in particular, has been the subject of speculation about her fitness heading into her first round match on Monday. Serena said it would be dangerous for her opponents to underestimate her fitness levels. “I am fully fit. If I wasn’t fully fit, I would still say I’m fully fit,” she said with a smile. The 25-year-old added the injury breaks had taught her some valuable lessons about what her body could do, indicating that if she turned up for an event she would be a dangerous opponent. “I was able to learn to accept my limitations. So if I’m unable to play, I shouldn’t expect to play or try to play. I also learned that when you’re injured that you should accept that you’re injured and not expect that you’ll be better the next day.” Sania to face junior champSydney: Sania Mirza will take on the reigning junior world champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in her first round draw in the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne on Monday. The unseeded Azarenka, world number 156, is a familiar face for the Melbourne crowd after she won the Australian Open girls championship last year winning both the singles and the doubles events but the 16-year-old faces a tough challenge in her maiden grand slam appearance as she prepares to take on the world No. 34 Indian. If Sania gets past Azarenka she will face the winner of 60th ranked Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) and 78th ranked Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) match. — UNI
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Konica fastest at Chaman Vatika meet
Ambala, January 14 In boys senior, 100m, Manik Sahni was first, Agam Prashar was second while Arjun Singh was third. In boys senior, 200m, Manik Sahni was first, Navjot Singh Pahwa was second while Nitin Sharma was third. In boys senior, 400m, Arjun Singh was first, Prashan was second while Sparsh Jain was third. In boys senior, 800 m, Rudrashish was first, Prashant was second while Sparsh Jain was third. In boys senior, long jump, Rudrashish was first, Manik was second and Arjun was third. In boys senior, shot put, Rudrashish was first, Rhythm was second and Sparsh Jain was third. In girls senior, 100m, Konica was first, Rashmi was second and Amanpreet Kaur was third. In girls senior, 200 m, Jyoti Kakkar was first, Konika Chawla was second while Navjot was third. In girls senior, 400 m, Rashmi Kumari was first, Navneet Kaur was second and Gaganpreet Kaur was third. In girls senior, long jump, Rashmi was first, Navneet was second while Jyoti was third. In girls senior, shot put, Sabrina was first, Bhanvi Jain was second while Sakshi was third. In boys junior, 100 m, Bhavit Yadav was first, Rohit Singh was second while Abhay was third. In boys junior, 200 m, Tarun Gupta was first, Abhay Joshan was second while Sahil Malhotra was third. In boys junior, 400m, Anubhav was first, Shriram was second and Deepak was third. In boys junior, long jump, Bhavit was first, Rohit was second while Pushkar was third. In boys junior, shot put, Bhavit Yadav was first, Rohit Singh was second while Abhishek was third. In girls junior, 100m, Gaganpreet Kaur was first, Mehak was second while Anushika was third. In girls junior, 200m, Anushika was first, Gaganpreet was second while Shweta was third. In girls junior, 400 m, Anushka was first, Ishneet Kaur was second while Deeksha was third. In girls junior, long jump, Divya was first, Oshin was second and Ishneet was third. In girls junior, shot put, Swati was first, Shruti Gupta was second while Chandrika was third. In boys sub-junior, 70m, Manoj Singh was first, Kabirjot Singh was second and Kashish Gandhi was third. In boys sub-junior, 100m, Manjot Singh was first, Mandeep Singh was second while Nikhil was third. In boys sub-junior, 200 m, Keshav Bajaj was first, Shubham was second while Nikhil was third. In boys sub-junior, 400 m, Manjot Singh was first, Mandeep Singh was second while Navsher Singh was third. |
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Cycling meet begins
tomorrow
Chandigarh, January 14 The championship will showcase 39 events in 10-age categories, including individual time trail, team pursuit, team time trial, point race, Olympic sprint, individual pursuit and mass start.
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In video: Cricket fans throng Lahore. (
