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| SPORTS TRIBUNE |
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IN THE NEWS
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Future stock Indian juniors might have been prevented by Pakistan from laying their hands on the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, but it was still a very fruitful tournament for them. Through their superb performances, three players have shown that they are good enough to become part of the senior team sooner than later. The World Cup for juniors has often seen promising Indian cricketers making their mark on the international stage. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif signalled their arrival on the scene in a big way during the 2000 edition, which India won. This time, India made it to the final largely due to the contributions of batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who was declared the player of the tournament, and allrounders Piyush Chawla and Gaurav Dhiman. With the three-Test series against England coming up, followed by seven one-dayers, at least one of them is likely to get a big break. Eighteen-year-old Pujara scored a total of 349 runs in the World Cup, including an unbeaten 129 off 146 balls in the semifinal against England. The right-handed opening batsman’s knock consisted of 10 four and a six. In the quarterfinal against the West Indies, he narrowly missed a century, falling for a well-made 94. He was dismissed for a duck in the final, but then four of his team-mates also suffered a similar fate as Pakistani paceman Anwar Ali destroyed the Indian top order. In first-class cricket, he has one century to his name in three matches — 145 for Saurashtra against Goa. With Gautam Gambhir not in good form, the Indian team badly needs a good opener. Pujara seems to fit the bill, at least in the one-dayers. Uttar Pradesh leg spinner Piyush Chawla, who is also a decent lower-order batsman, has also started knocking at the doors of the selectors. In the World Cup final, his incredible figures read 8.1-3-8-4 as Pakistan were bundled out for 109. Though India were reduced to 9 for 6, Piyush fought valiantly and top-scored with an unbeaten 25. His herculean effort went in vain as India were shot out for 71. Just before the World Cup, Piyush played a key role in Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy victory. In the final against Bengal, his deadly spell secured the all-important first-innings lead for his team. He is also the man who dismissed Sachin Tendulkar with a googly during the Challenger Series last year. Having age and form firmly on his side, 17-year-old Piyush can give senior spinners like Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik a run for their money. Opening batsman and new-ball bowler Gaurav Dhiman is another player to watch out for. In the quarterfinal against the West Indies, he smashed 77 off 56 balls and followed it up with three wickets for 27 runs to walk away with the man-of-the-match award. He gave good company to his opening partner Pujara in several matches. The one-day series against England, beginning on March 28, might see one or two of them making their debut at the senior level. If they make the most of the opportunities that come their way, Pujara, Piyush and Dhiman stand a good chance of fitting into coach Greg Chappell’s scheme of things and being drafted into the team for the 2007 World Cup. It would be some achievement for them, playing in cricket’s ultimate event while still in their teens.
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On the write track He is a policeman, hockey lover and writer rolled into one. An Inspector with the Metropolitan Police in London, Diljit Bahra, fondly known as Dil, is working on a book, “Sikh Hockey Olympians — 1928 to 2004”. For the purpose, he has been globetrotting to meet former and current players. “As many as 127 Olympians will find a place in the book. Almost 80 per cent work has been done. The remaining groundwork, too, is likely to be over shortly”, said Dil, who was in Chandigarh last week for the first two matches of the India-Pakistan hockey series. During his visit to the City Beautiful, Diljit got a chance to meet veteran Olympians Balbir Singh Senior and Tarlochan Singh Bawa. Diljit, who was born in Kenya and migrated to England at the age of seven, rates Pakistan above India in contemporary hockey. “Pakistan’s performance might be uneven, but it has been a constant downslide for India. At the junior level, there seems no problem but repeated failure of the senior team in major events is certainly a cause for concern”, said Diljit. Giving reasons for the declining standard, he lamented that overage players participated in junior events, where they performed well. But at the senior level they failed to deliver. “To overcome the problem, the Indian Hockey Federation should identify and shun such players who flout rules. Besides, some more age groups should be formed”, he suggested. However, he believes that India has a lot of talented players, who are technically very sound. “The real problem lies with the management and organisation which is very poor in comparison to that of European countries”. Diljit, who has been the Technical Officer of the England hockey team for 15 years and has also served as the Media Officer of the international hockey federation (FIH) at the 2002 Champions Trophy in Germany, recommends a four-year term for the chief coach with clearly defined goals. “When the coach will be given set targets with sufficient time to achieve them, positive results will come” He also stresses on the responsibility of the team manager. “He should be techno-savvy as it is the need of the hour to improve the standard of the game. He should be made accountable to provide all necessary paraphernalia to the coach,” he opines. According to him, frequent chopping and changing in the team should be avoided to achieve consistency. “India has the ability to bring back lost glory but the need is to take right steps in the right direction”, concludes Diljit. |
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IN THE NEWS
Pakistan once again stamped their authority over traditional rivals India by sweeping the first leg of the six-match hockey series. India put up a pedestrian performance in front of their fans to go down in all three matches. Poor finishing, the bugbear of Indian hockey, was the chief cause of the rout, but all credit must go to the Pakistan team, led by centre-half Muhammad Saqlain, which was always a step or two ahead of the Indians. But beating India is not the sole point of focus for the Pakistanis as they are treating this series as a warm-up affair to try out new players and strategies for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the World Cup in Germany and the Doha Asian Games. The World Cup might well be the swansong for Saqlain, as he has announced that he will retire after the event. He has always been in the news both for his skillful hockey as well as his temperament, the latter having earned him a suspended ban by the international hockey federation (FIH) for assaulting a Australian player during the Hamburg Masters tournament in August, 2005. He has also missed two Olympics because of his mercurial behaviour. His temper has got the better of him in numerous matches but that has not stopped the Pakistan Hockey Federation from naming him captain time and again as he is indispensable and regarded as the best centre-half in hockey at present. He has a huge fan following in India too and was one of the star players in Premier Hockey League-I and II. In the Chandigarh PHL, the 28-year-old represented Sher-e-Jallandhar. Though he acknowledges that his temperament is suspect, he says he has mellowed down a lot and all his misdemeanours, hopefully, are a thing of the past. Saqlains’s biggest triumph, as a player and captain, came when Pakistan beat a very strong Australian side to lift the Rabobank mini World Cup title last year. It ended a major title drought lasting 11 years for the Pakistanis. But they flopped miserably in the Champions Trophy in December, finishing fifth ahead of India. According to Saqlain, after their heady win in the Rabobank tournament, the team suffered due to complacency in Chennai. After the India-Pak series, both teams will again face off in the Commonwealth Games. Pakistan hockey needs Saqlain in this very important year, and if they can win one or more of the major titles up for grabs, nothing will be more sweeter as a farewell for Muhammad
Saqlain.
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Superb Indian fightback After losing the Test series and the first one-dayer against Pakistan, India made a remarkable recovery to win the ODI series. They owed their victory in the Multan match to the penetrative bowling of Irfan Pathan and R.P. Singh. It was a superb effort on their part to restrict Pakistan to just 161. The batsmen did the rest to give India an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series. Y.L. Chopra, II Congratulations to Indian captain Rahul Dravid for winning the one-day series against Pakistan comprehensively. Kudos to Yuvraj Singh for the man of the series winning award credit also goes to coach Greg Chappell. Gurudev Singh Jain, III Chasing a stiff target of 289 runs, Indian players Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played extremely well to obtain victory in the third one-day international against Pakistan. The importance of Tendulkar as a match-winner has come to the fore. Technically and mentally he is the fittest cricketer in world cricket. Nirmal Kumar, Dhoni’s hair Gen Pervez Musharraf has rightly advised Mahendra Singh Dhoni not to cut his hair. Dhoni’s mane brings to mind an old English movie, Samson and Delilah, in which Samson possesses unlimited strength due to his long hair. Ved Parkash Gupta, Unfair treatment Indian shutters were in for a shock when the organisers of the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup qualifiers in Jaipur look them to a hotel which was far below the standards suitable for international players. Should only Indian cricketers be provided accommodation in five-star hotels? Players in other sports deserve equal treatment. The shuttlers staged a walkout as it was nothing less than an insult to them. Ironically, the Rajasthan Badminton Association had made arrangements for foreign players in a five-star hotel. Why does the Sports Ministry always try to impress foreigners when it can’t meet the needs of its own players? The Sports Authority of India should take notice of this unfair treatment. Tarika, Flop show South Korea drubbed India 4-1 to wrap up the Asia-Oceania Group-I Davis Cup tie in style. Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj meekly lost their opening as well as reverse singles. The youngsters, on whom India had pinned high hopes, disastrously failed to live up to the expectations. Their “excuse” that they could not simply click in the “alien, cold and hostile” conditions just does not hold water. The only saving grace was that the ever-dependable duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their doubles encounter. Tarsem S. Bumrah, |
