Dravid stars in India’s win
Ashis Ray

Kingston, May 19
Notwithstanding the recent 5-1 victory over England, India realised the problem of openers not producing centuries — generally essential in maintaining consistency in one-day cricket. So, with Sachin Tendulkar unavailable and Virender Sehwag out of form, Rahul Dravid — as coach Greg Chappell said at a post-match press briefing — took it upon himself to solve the problem.

Typically, he scored a match-winning hundred to facilitate a psychologically important five-wicket win over the West Indies in the first one-dayer here at Sabina Park, albeit by a narrow margin. India arrived at their target with just a ball to spare. If Chris Gayle had earlier powered his way to three figures off 116 balls, the Indian captain did it in 99 deliveries.

Chasing a challenging West Indian total of 251 for 6 — an asking rate of 5.6 from 45 overs — India were pegged back following a strokeful opening stand when Sehwag was run out and the gamble of sending Irfan Pathan at number three didn’t pay off. Indeed, at 86 for three, India desperately needed to rebuild in a manner of giving moral support to the massive reconstruction work under way at the venue of the match in preparation for next year’s World Cup.

But such is the Indians’ current durability there is no crisis they cannot extricate themselves from. Losing the in-form Yuvraj Singh, who appeared not to have adapted as yet to the more bouncier — though not pacier — conditions, was a setback. But Mohammed Kaif propitiously chose to end his lean trot with an unbeaten half century. He was involved in a 123-run partnership for the fourth wicket with his captain, which really paved the way for the victory.

With sumptuous drives and electric hooks, Dravid brightened an afternoon of fluctuating light. He succumbed when attempting to clear long-on off the tidy but unthreatening Dwayne Bravo, who with Ian Bradshaw returned the best figures for the hosts.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave a brief glimpse of his destructive potential. With a characteristic short-arm drive he hoisted a six to long-off and then contrastingly steered a four to third man off successive deliveries. But he, too, found the long-on fieldsman in trying to loft the ball into the premier George Headley Stand.

What impressed thereafter was the maturity of young Suresh Raina, not to mention the ease with which he kept rotating the strike as the pressure mounted on the Indians.

Earlier, Dravid’s decision to insert the opposition seemed to have backfired as ragged bowling by the younger, more talked about Indian medium pacers gave Gayle — who hit 15 fours and a towering six — and, over a shorter period skipper Brian Lara, the upper hand. But the experienced Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh ensured the West Indians did not post an unattainable score. The latter’s stranglehold over Ramnaresh Sarwan, whom he trapped leg before wicket, was particularly delightful.

The crowd inflated as word spread of a nail-biting tussle. But while the Indian supporters went home happier, Lara persisted with his fighting talk for tomorrow’s fixture.

Scoreboard

West Indies

Gayle c Dravid b Agarkar 123

Morton c Dhoni b Agarkar 23

Sarwan lbw Harbhajan 2

Lara c Kaif b Patel 35

Chanderpaul c Sehwag b Pathan 18

Samuels run out 10

Baugh not out 12

Bravo not out 0

Extras (lb-15, w-7, nb-6) 28

Total (6 wkts, 45 overs) 251

Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-94, 3-176, 4-222, 5-233, 6-248.

Bowling: Pathan 9-1-50-1, Patel 9-1-48-1, R.P. Singh 7-0-45-0, Harbhajan 9-2-33-1, Agarkar 9-0-38-2, Sehwag 2-0-22-0.

India

Sehwag run out 22

Dravid c Taylor b Bravo 105

Pathan c Morton b Bradshaw 1

Yuvraj c Samuels b Bradshaw 12

Kaif not out 66

Dhoni c Morton b Bravo 18

Raina not out 7

Extras (lb-8, w-10, nb-5) 23

Total (5 wkts, 44.5 overs) 254

Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-62, 3-86, 4-209, 5-233.

Bowling: Edwards 9-1-50-0, Taylor 9-1-56-0, Bradshaw 9-1-40-2, Bravo 8.5-0-50-2, Samuels 6-0-34-0, Gayle 3-0-16-0.

Rahul set to become regular ODI opener
Ashish Shukla

Kingston, May 19
Rahul Dravid appears set to be a regular ODI opener for India after hitting a century in that slot against the West Indies with coach Greg Chappell saying that it suits the team to have the captain at the top of the batting order.

Dravid, who has been opening the innings in the shorter version of the game in recent matches, slammed a brilliant 105 to fashion India’s dramatic five-wicket win against the West Indies in the first one-dayer here.

“His hundred was awesome as some years ago it was said he couldn’t play one-day cricket. He’s got better and better and I think he is enjoying the role at the top of the order. It suits to have him at the top for he can play an innings like that,” Chappell said at the post-match press conference.

The coach said of late India was seeing a frequent top order collapse and unless the team had someone to score a hundred, the win would not have been possible.

“We needed somebody to get a hundred at the top of the order. Unless we had it, we wouldn’t have won today,” he said of Dravid’s match-winning 105-run knock in the first one-dayer against the West Indies at Sabina Park yesterday.

The Australian great picked Mohammad Kaif, who struck form with an unbeaten 66 after sitting out four successive games in the past few months, for a special mention. “He is a very experienced player, who has played well in patches. He deserved those opportunities because of what he has done in the past.”

“Looking at the World Cup, we still see him as a very important member of the side. It’s good for his sake and good for the squad,” Chappell said.

The Indian coach was also pleased that his side could recover from early mauling by Chris Gayle.

“To win without quite playing as well, as we have been doing, has been pretty satisfying. West Indies is a side, which could hurt you because they score their runs quickly. We see them as a side who could very easily turn things around.”

Chappell, however, said the West Indies have forgotten how to win. “It’s a very talented side but they have forgotten how to win,” he said indicating that the hosts were not good at handling pressure.

He, however, was not happy with his team’s bowling in the initial overs. “We need more discipline in bowling area. We gave too many extras. We have to make sure that it’s something we don’t repeat.

“Most of us thought the chance of playing the game was zero (because of heavy rains) and it took us by surprise (when the game began). That’s something we have to be careful in the future.

“We allowed ourselves to expect no cricket today and may be it took us a while to get started. That certainly was the way it appeared and we need to bear that in mind as well.” Chappell said he expected early moisture on the batting strip and justified the decision to insert the opposition in on winning the toss. — PTI 

Records galore

Kingston, May 19
For Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, the first ODI against the West Indies provided more than one reason to be delighted. Dravid, in making 105, became the first Indian to post three centuries against the West Indies in one-dayers. Sachin Tendulkar and K. Srikkanth have scored two centuries each against the Windies.

Dravid’s 105 was his first away ton as skipper and also the highest one-day knock by an overseas player at Kingston. — PTI

Indian bowlers need to fire

Kingston, May 19
India will look to bowl with better discipline after the scare in the opening match to ensure they keep their winning juggernaut rolling against a vastly improved West Indies in the second cricket one-dayer here tomorrow.

The Indians were tested by an inspired performance from the hosts, languishing at number eight in team rankings, in the opener and had Brian Lara’s men kept their nerve, the result could very well had been different.

India coach Greg Chappell admitted he wanted his pacemen to bowl with better discipline in the second game after their profligacy allowed West Indies to make an impressive 251 for five from their allotted 45 overs. It could have been worse had not the bowlers made up for their mistakes later on in the innings.

The Indians could call upon S. Sreesanth if really pressed since the youngster’s heel injury has responded well to treatment. Off-spinner Ramesh Powar though has still not recovered well enough to play the second match.

Injury to two key bowlers has been a huge drain on the resources of a team which is now left with only 13 fit players for the gruelling schedule of playing five one-day internationals in 10 days, hopping from one island to another.

The Indians thus have reason to make a swift snatch of victory in the one-day series as it would allow them to rotate their senior players with untested men of the side, Venugopala Rao and Robin Uthappa, straining under the leash to make a favourable impression.

The visitors are happy that when the chips are down, somebody or the other is raising his hands and making the difference.

When the Indians began badly yesterday, it was Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar who hauled them back. Similarly in batting, Rahul Dravid took the opener’s slot like duck to water and gave an absolute masterclass in precision batting.

Lara, on his part, said his side needed to do a few things better in order to square the five-match one-day series.

The batting great was not pleased with the show of his batsmen in the slog overs as well as the fielding and looseness with extras.

The hosts also need a more selfless spirit from the team after opener Chris Gayle admitted he slowed down to make sure he got his hundred in the first match.

The team made a definite blunder by sending out Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the fall of third wicket. Chanderpaul is not an attacking batsman and Gayle’s caution close to his hundred meant the team failed to accelerate at a critical period. — PTI 

India likely to retain squad
Ashis Ray

Kingston, May 19
With fast bowler S. Sreesanth and off-spinner Ramesh Powar still undergoing rehabilitation following injuries, India might retain the winning combination of the first one-dayer for the second fixture tomorrow.

According to coach Greg Chappell, Sreesanth has almost recovered and is in with a 50-50 chance of making it to the team. Powar, on the other hand, is unlikely to be available for selection until the third ODI at St Kitts on May 23.

The Indians, who did light stretching exercises on another inclement day here, are conscious of the shortcomings in the opening tie, which they won by just a ball to spare. Top of this list is the failure of Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Rudra Pratap Singh to contain the two West Indian left-handers — Chris Gayle, who got a hundred, and captain Brian Lara, who looked dangerous before becoming a victim of his impetuosity. The pitch had more bounce than Indian wickets, but lacked pace.

The unexpectedly high humidity yesterday was probably a factor. And Chappell confirmed that the team’s support staff was trying out modern methods to protect the players from dehydration.

Virender Sehwag is still in a dilemma over whether to resort to his natural, attacking game or be more cautious. In the first encounter, he appeared to fall between two stools. As for Yuvraj Singh, his sublime touch was clearly missing before he rashly responded to skipper Rahul Dravid’s call to get on with it by attempting a big hit off the very next ball.

The good news was if India could win on what was patently an off-day, prospects can only get better.

With India coasting home in the first outing, the score is now 1-1 at Sabina — the West Indies having won here by 18 runs in 1997. The weather forecast, though, is still dodgy.

Govt machinery used to capture HOA: Sampat
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 19
INLD leader and former Haryana Finance Minister Sampat Singh has alleged that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Haryana Government has thrown propriety to the winds to “capture” the Haryana Olympic Association (HOA). In a statement issued here today, the INLD leader said the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of various districts of the state had no time for their official work as they were busy mobilising support from the HOA members for the “parallel HOA” headed by the Congress MP from Kurukshetra, Mr Navin Jindal.

He said the meeting of the HOA that led to Mr Jindal’s election as its president was held in an illegal manner. At the government’s instance, government officials and Congress workers had succeeded in setting up a parallel HOA under Mr Jindal. But the formalities could not completed at that time and now the government was trying to get the paperwork completed from a back date so that the new body became the legitimate HOA, Mr Sampat Singh said.

The former Finance Minister said restructuring of the HOA with Mr Jindal as its president had been already challenged in the court by the president of the Haryana Weightlifting Association, Mr Puran Singh Dabra.

He said that the procedure laid down for convening special meeting of the HOA was not observed when the Jindal group called a special meeting to get Mr Jindal elected as president. For convening a special meeting, one-third of the members of the HOA should have given a notice to the HOA president one month in advance. In case the president does not pay heed to the demand, 75 per cent of the members can call a meeting and remove the president with at least two-third of the members supporting the move for removal.

The INLD leader said that these formalities were not observed by the pro-Jindal group and now attempts were being made to plug these loopholes.

Tarlochan slams govt interference

New Delhi, May 19
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) senior vice-president Tarlochan Singh today criticised the Haryana Government’s ‘blatant intervention’ to ‘capture’ the Haryana Olympic Association as he felt that such tactics would set a bad and dangerous precedent.

He said BJP-ruled states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and others have not encroached upon the autonomy of the sports federations and the state Olympic associations and the Haryana Government had set a very deplorable precedent.

Tarlochan Singh, a member of the Rajya Sabha and former chairman of the National Minorities Commission, said the IOA should intervene in the matter and prevent the state government from meddling with the autonomy of the Haryana Olympic Association.

Tarlochan Singh raised the issue of reduction in the prize money and the allowances of international sportspersons in the Zero Hour of Parliament, arguing that the Union Government, instead of enhancing the facilities and incentives for sportspersons, was curtailing even the existing facilities, though India would be hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. — OSR

Anand loses to Topalov

Sofia, May 19
Viswanathan Anand went down fighting against world Champion Veslin Topalov of Bulgaria in the seventh round of Mtel Masters international chess tournament here. After a brilliant start in the category-20 event, this was Anand’s second loss in the tournament, the earlier one coming against tournament leader Gata Kamsky of the USA in the third round.

Former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, who was struggling in the tournament thus far, announced his comeback with a finely crafted victory over Russian Peter Svidler. The other game of the six-player double round robin event was a draw between Kamsky and Etienne Bacrot of France.

Kamksy increased his lead over Anand to a full point after the latest results. As things stand with three rounds remaining, Kamksy is on five points while world No. 2 Anand has four. Aided by his victory over the Indian, Topalov moved to joint third spot along with Svidler on 3.5 points. Ponomariov and Bacrot are sharing the fifth spot on 2.5 each.

Earlier in the second round of the event, Anand had beaten Topalov with black pieces but with white, Anand’s form was yet again found wanting as he succumbed to the Bulgarian quite easily. — PTI

Five Indian golfers make the cut

Macau, May 19
Digvijay Singh and SSP Chowrasia were leading the Indian challenge at the halfway mark as just five of the 12 Indians made the cut, with Shiv Kapur being the notable casualty at the $ 300,000 Macau Open here today.

Digvijay carded a modest one-under 70 while Chowrasia was slightly better with two-under 69. Both were at the joint 44th position with an aggregate of one-over 143, 10 shots off the leader Australian Brad Kennedy.

Among other Indians who advanced to the third round were Arjun Singh, Amandeep Johl and Ashok Kumar, all sharing the tied 55th spot with an aggregate of two-over 144.

While Arjun Singh played a one-under 70 round today, both Johl and Kumar returned a two-under 69 card.

Meanwhile, Shiv Kapur, who is going through a lean patch, missed the cut despite an improved showing.

Shiv’s two-over 73 today could not bail him out after his horrible opening round of seven-over 78 and at tied 116th, the Asian Tour Rookie of 2005 fell by the wayside.

Among other Indians, Amritinder Singh (146), Uttam Mundy (148), Gurbaaz Mann (148), Harinder Gupta (150) and Jaiveer Virk (155) also missed the cut.

Jeev tied 29th

Okayama (Japan): Jeev Milkha Singh finished with a birdie to card two-under 70 to make the cut at the KSB Munsingwear Open in Okayama.

After a first round of 71, Jeev carded a three-under 141 to be tied for the 29th place.

The Chandigarh pro had six birdies in his round, to go with two bogeys and a double bogey. His putting was much better today and he needed just 29 as against 34 in round one. But he still three-putted for a bogey on third. — UNI, PTI

Abhijit in Indian junior team for Asia Pacific golf 
G. S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 19
Fourteen-year-old local golfer Abhijit S. Chadha, who is No. 1 on the Indian Golf Union’s junior merit list (13-15 years), has been named in the Indian squad for the 27th Asia Pacific Junior Golf Team Championship to be held at Singapore Island Country Club, Island Course, Singapore.

He is the only one from Chandigarh to make it to the team in the Class B under-15 category. The championship will be held from May 23 to 26. The team will leave for Singapore on May 21. “It’s going to be tough as almost all top golfers would be participating. However, I am quite confident of putting up a good show and finishing in the top 10,” said Abhijit, a student of Class X at St John’s High School, Sector 26.

“I will be accompanied by Amit Baxshi, who is competing in the under-18 category. Yesterday, our Principal Cheema announced our selection in the Indian team for the Asian tournament during the morning assembly,” he said.

With his selection, Abhijit has added another feather in his cap. He came into the limelight when he clinched the first place in the Eastern India Junior/Sub Junior Golf Championship held at Tollygunge Club, Kolkata, in December. Then he won the title at the Western India Junior/Sub-Junior Championship held at Bombay Presidency Golf Club the same month.

He stood second in Class B in the All-India Junior/Sub-Junior Championship held at Poona Club, Pune, also in December.

Praising his protégé Abhijit, Jesse Grewal, coach at CGA Golf Range, said, “It is his seriousness and devotion towards the sport that makes him a class apart. He is very quick in grasping the technicalities of golf. I hope if he goes on with the same dedication and zeal, he can become an internationally acclaimed player.”

According to his father, Mandeep S. Chadha, “It is a great moment for the family and for the city as well. Me, along with my wife and two children who are younger to Mandeep are accompanying him to Singapore to cheer him.”

Mother Simran Chadha is particular about his studies also. “My job is to take care of his study schedule as well as his diet. I ensure that he gets a diet which is high in protein and low in carbohydrates as this sport requires a lot of stamina and flexibility. I am happy to say that he is equally good in his studies too”, she says proudly.

To maintain his fitness level, Abhijit is a regular at the Ozone gymnasium, where he exercises under trainer Manish. “I am also planning to take yoga classes to maintain a perfect balance between mind and body as golf is a game requiring concentration, strength and rhythm,” concludes Abhijit.

Arti finishes 21st in World Cup

New Delhi, May 19
Failing to perform to her potential, Arti Singh Rao finished a disappointing 21st in women’s skeet event at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo, Egypt. Arti, who is the first Asian Championship skeet gold winner women of the country, shot 67 with a series of 22, 22 and 23 yesterday.

Danka Bartekova of Slovakia won the gold medal with a score of 96 (72 +24) and also the Olympic quota place, while the silver was decided in a shoot-off between Christine Brinker from Germany, Chiara Cainero from Italy and Andri Eleftheriou from Cyprus, who were all tied at 95 after the finals.

After Cainero and Eleftheriou missed the target in first attempt in the tie-breaker, the silver went to Brinker. Cainero won the bronze medal by outdoing Eleftheriou in the following shoot-off two to one.

In the men’s section, all Indian shooters shot an identical score of 47 on the first day in the qualifications. Baba Bedi fired 47 (23,24), Amit Sanghi shot 47 (24,23) and Amardeep Singh Rai was shot 47 (24,23). The finals will be played tomorrow. — PTI

Need to groom talent at grassroots level: Bhutia 
M.S. Unnikrishnan

New Delhi, May 19
“We don’t have the right kind of knowledge or knowledgeable people to take Indian soccer to a higher level. People in India are working hard, but they don’t possess the right kind of knowledge. We need to have well-augumented academies to develop our soccer talent, as our players are skilful, technically good and talented, but need proper grooming,” Baichung Bhutia said.

He said India should appoint a good foreign coach to train talent at the grass-root level and even if two or three good players emerged from a thousand odd trainees, the purpose would have served well. “In the long run, it will benefit Indian soccer immensely as the players will learn the right kind of lessons from a good coach”.

Bhutia said the All-India Football Federation should also appoint a good Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from a reputed foreign club to run the game in the country in a professional manner for at least five years so that “we learn how to run our soccer show”.

Bhutia said Indian referees could learn a lot from the upcoming World Cup in Germany as good referees were essential cogs for the growth and success of any good footballing nation. He said the World Cup will witness the best referees in action and there would be many remarkable refereeing decisions to savour.

“The Indian referees can learn the nuances of top-class supervision from this World Cup. If Indian football has to move forward, referees will play a major role for which they need to improve. The World Cup will teach them a lot”, Bhutia said.

He said the World Cup will be one of the greatest as there would be more teams in the fray, and enough time between matches for the players to recover. He said since the World Cup will be played on a knock-out format, the team in form at a given time will win, but not necessarily the best team. 

World Cup treat for Bangladesh

Dhaka, May 19
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has intervened to more than double the coverage of the World Cup in soccer-crazy Bangladesh. Bangladeshi journalists, originally granted only four accreditations, asked Blatter for help when he visited their country to inaugurate last month’s AFC Challenge Cup and they have now received six extra passes to cover the tournament.

Millions of soccer fans in Bangladesh stay up late at night to watch World Cup matches on television, and newspaper circulation rises as the country’s 140 million people look for news of their favourite teams. “The presence of increased number of our journalists will help soccer fans to know more about their teams,” said Anwarul Haq, general secretary of the Bangladesh Football Federation. — Reuters

Compiled by Pankaj Vasudeva; Graphic by Gaurav Sood