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India’s tour to West Indies
Coach Ogrodnik emerges; defends himself and athletes
Campers vanish as NADA raids NIS
Chaudhary: Manager with a difference
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Mayookha bags bronze in triple jump at Kobe meet
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‘Stressbuster’ Viru helps me score runs: Gambhir
England on top
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India’s tour to West Indies
Earlier, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni top-scored with an unbeaten 65 as India produced a strong batting display to consolidate their position. As many as four visiting batsmen scored fifties as India, resuming at eight for no loss, ended the day at 308 for six while replying to the hosts' first innings total of 204 all out. Dhoni shared 103-run sixth wicket stand with Suresh Raina (50) and made sure that the good work of opener Abhinav Mukund (62), VVS Laxman (56) Virat Kohli (30) does not go waste. West Indies, deprived of the services of Ravi Rampaul and handicapped by a hobbling Darren Sammy, wilted under a scorching sun and a flat pitch on a day when 94 overs were bowled at the Windsor Park. Nearly 90 overs were lost on the first two days of the match due to poor light and rain but no such problem interrupted play yesterday. India lost two early wickets of Murali Vijay (1) and Rahul Dravid (5) but thereafter steadily mounted their total without ever dominating a depleted attack. Dhoni played his first innings of substance in the tour, and when on 52, completed 3000 runs in Test cricket in the 86th innings of his 57th Test. The Indian captain has so far batted for 157 minutes and struck three fours from 109 balls. He walked in when India were frittering away the advantage, losing three wickets in the afternoon to ordinary deliveries. Mukund, Kohli and Laxman were all guilty of poor judgment as the visitors lost three wickets in the middle session. Mukund had serenely moved to his top Test score of 62 when he shaped to play a rising ball from Bishoo towards mid-wicket, but only managed to edge it for Adrian Barath to gleefully accept the offer at forward shortleg. Kohli seemed intent on making up for his lost chances and had reached 30 without much ado but poked at a harmless delivery from Sammy down the leg-side for wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh to pull off a brilliant catch. Laxman's dismissal was a freak one when he allowed a leg-spin delivery from Shivnarine Chanderpaul to go to Baugh but his backfoot lost contact with the ground for just a fraction of second, which was enough for the keeper to whip off the bails. Laxman was flabbergasted but there was little doubt that it was his own carelessness which did him in. — PTI |
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Coach Ogrodnik emerges; defends himself and athletes
Deny that he was behind six athletes, who were training under him, failing dope tests, Ogrodnik said that he had been giving the same food supplements to Indian athletes from almost a decade and was surprised how the athletes tested positive since they had been consuming the same substance for years. “I am not stupid but a professional coach,” Ogrodnik said. “I will never recommend anything which goes against the rules and could spoil the careers of the athletes. I have never given any anabolic steroid to any athlete throughout my career. I have worked really hard to bring these athletes to the position they are at today.” Asked whether he had purchased Ginseng from China, which is allegedly the cause of the athletes failing the tests, Yuri admitted that he had brought it but quickly added that he had got it tested at the NIS labs. “I purchased sealed packets, so how would I know if they were contaminated?” he stressed. “Still, I got them tested. It is not the first time that we got supplements from abroad. Whenever we go out for tournaments, we try to get good quality food supplements only, not steroids.” On the question whether the girls might have consumed some substance on their own, he said, “If someone tomorrow consumes something and fails the test, how I am responsible for that? They might have taken something by mistake because they are very talented and do not need any steroid to enhance their performance, especially Ashwini (Akkunji).” Refusing to believe that the failed athletes had blamed him, stating that they had consumed whatever their coach gave them; Ogrodnik said they could not say anything against him. “I have full faith in them. They call me almost every day and tell me that they trust me completely and vice-versa. They can ever blame me for anything. It is the federation and media that was creating such rumours,” he added. Asked whether he now felt unwanted in India, he said that India was like his second home and he loved Patiala, but was very disappointed with the turn of events. “I want the truth to come out and I am ready to cooperate in every way,” he further said. “Whatever anyone may say, the fact remains that I am not responsible for this dope scandal,” he said. As the visibly disturbed coach walked out of the media conference, he said, “What I have given to India is medals and nothing else. I am being framed unnecessarily.”
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Campers vanish as NADA raids NIS
Patiala, July 9 Two NADA teams collected samples inside NIS. While one team from Delhi conducted searches and raids and did random sampling of all athletes, the other team involved Patiala-based NADA medical officers, who collected samples from weightlifters in the National camp only. The second team was on a scheduled visit. A visit inside the NIS campus by The Tribune team revealed that while the NADA team entered the institute around 1 p.m., many men and women athletes left the campus at the same time. “Some of the hostel rooms were found locked while some campers could not be located,” said an insider who was on duty inside NIS. While the medical team, headed by NADA Delhi Project Officer Dr Ankush Gupta claimed that it was a surprise visit, his claims were far from the reality as some women campers had already contacted The Tribune team, revealing that the team was arriving from New Delhi for random sampling. “Two of our hostel mates have left the venue by getting leave as it rained heavily today,” they stated, while leaving the venue themselves. The NADA team also included Assistant Project Officer Jai Singh and a woman officer. A national cam boxer said that he had left the hostel room at around 1.15 p.m. and had already reached his village as he had sought an off from evening practice. “A few others have also done the same and the remaining might be rounded up by the NADA team for a quick out-of-event sampling,” he stated. Those who escaped today’s raids include some former National champions and Indian Core Group campers under training for the past few years. The NADA team, meanwhile, collected samples from other prominent campers. Dr Gupta said that though they never had decided who would be tested, those who escaped today or left the campus could be sampled next time. “We have till now collected five samples and more could follow by the evening,” he said. All efforts to contact NIS, Executive Director L.S. Ranawat were futile as he neither answered calls made to his mobile phone nor replied to text messages. However, officials said that Ranawat, who earlier in the day missed Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogrodnik’s press conference, was summoned to Delhi by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) top brass.
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Chaudhary: Manager with a difference
New Delhi, July 9 Though Chaudhary is younger to three senior players in the Indian team -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman -- he was confident of doing a good job, as he would be managing a flock of “obedient, responsible” players, though many of them are superstars. India’s England tour will be historic in many ways, as when the teams meet for the first Test at Lord’s, they will be meeting in their 100t bilateral Test and the 2000th Test overall. “It is a huge responsibility and immense honour. I shall do my best to rise to the occasion,” the soft-spoken Chaudhary said in a chat with The Tribune. He will be leaving for England from Mumbai on July 11, along with Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, S Sreesanth and Wriddhiman Saha. Tendulkar is already in England while Virender Sehwag will join the team later. The rest of the squad will travel straight from the West Indies to England. Though Chaudhary is not new to Board assignments -- as he was the media manager of the Indian team for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England, the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and a tri-series prior to that in South Africa -- this will be his most challenging assignment. “It is a very crucial and sensitive tour as there is tremendous interest both in India and England. I am already besieged with requests of one-to-one interviews with the Indian players from the British media,” he said. But Chaudhary was pleased that he would be managing a pack of “responsible, sensitive, helpful individuals, despite their star status, which makes my job that much easier”. “I have never felt it difficult to manage them in any way. They are all good human beings, willing to help others, very aware of the responsibility of representing the country, and very conscious of the love and support they get from the Indian people,” he stated categorically. Chaudhary added that with a fine and proven captain like Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the helm, the team was bound to do well in England. “What can I say about Dhoni? He’s one of the best captains cricket has seen. He has earned his place in the pantheon of cricket Gods after becoming the only captain to win the T20 and 50-over ICC World Cups. Dhoni’s place in history is secure.” Anirudh Chaudhary becoming manager of the Indian team will also be an interesting coincidence in Sachin Tendulkar’s chequered career. When the little master undertook his first foreign tour, to Pakistan in 1989, Anirudh’s father Chaudhary Ranbir Singh was the BCCI secretary. “The BCCI bosses have been very encouraging, receptive to the suggestions by young administrators like us, keeping in view the necessity to groom and promote a young line of leadership. There is a conscious effort on the part of the board to groom young administrators,” Anirudh stated.
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Webber shades Vettel for Silverstone pole
Silverstone, July 9 The 34-year-old Australian, who won last year's race, demonstrated his liking for the Silverstone circuit with a fastest lap of one minute and 30.399 seconds as his team locked out the front row again. It was Webber's second pole this season and the seventh of his career. Spaniard Fernando Alonso was third fastest for Ferrari ahead of his team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa as rivals McLaren struggled to mount a serious challenge. Briton Jenson Button, in the leading McLaren, was fifth and his team-mate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton was only able to qualify in 10th place. Another Briton, Scot Paul Di Resta, took sixth place on the grid for the Force India team ahead of Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in a Williams with Japanese Kamui Kobayashi eighth for Sauber and German Nico Rosberg ninth for Mercedes. On a cool, damp and drizzly afternoon at the revamped old circuit in central England, the entire field was swiftly out in pursuit of times early in Q1 - all going for banker times in case of subsequent heavy rain making the track more treacherous and slower. Many of the teams had been involved in frantic activity before the session following a morning of technical meetings, rows and u-turns on the rules. Massa was soon on the radio warning of "rain at Copse" before his team-mate Alonso lost control at Brooklands and slid off into the gravel at Luffield. He recovered, rejoined and was soon back among the pace-setters. — AFP
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‘Stressbuster’ Viru helps me score runs: Gambhir
Kolkata, July 9 The left-handed batsman, who was here to shoot for a TV quiz show hosted by former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, also said that he is looking forward to the England tour. "Batting with Viru (Virender Sehwag) is always a treat. He plays his natural game and takes the pressure off his partner, allowing him to play naturally. "He is like a stressbuster. He has always helped me to score big runs”, Gambhir said. — PTI
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Manchester, July 9 Suraj Randiv's maiden five-wicket haul did the bulk of the damage when england batted. Off-spinner Randiv took five for 42 during his maximum 10 overs in a match where a win for either side would give them a 3-2 series win. Dhammika Prasad, in for injured fellow seamer Suranga Lakmal, responded impressively with two for 26 in six overs. England lost wickets either side of a fourth-wicket stand of 118 between Jonathan Trott (72) and Eoin Morgan (57) after captain Alastair Cook won the toss and batted in initially overcast conditions. Craig Kieswetter (43) and Cook (31), who'd shared an unbroken stand of 171 in England's crushing 10-wicket win at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, enjoyed another rapid first wicket stand. — AFP
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Roseau, July 9
Patiala, July 8
The old is giving way to the new in the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI), slowly but surely. Not so long ago, the BCCI would have chosen a battle-scarred veteran as the manager for a ‘historic’ event like India’s tour to England.
Roseau, July 9
Patiala, July 8
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