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Team India eyes revival
simply
Sunny
Nasser Hussain calls Indian fielders ‘donkeys’
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Sri Lanka face defeat
Gaurav wins PGTI event
Bolt sprints into final
Sania-Bhupathi ousted, Somdev advances
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Chester-le-Street, September 2 Coming into the series as world's numero uno Test team and ODI world champions, India have had a nightmarish English summer so far with the visitors tasting victory only in the three practice matches ahead of the limited overs rubber. After the 0-4 pounding in the Test series, India lost the lone Twenty20 game against England by six wickets at Manchester on Wednesday and things dont look too bright ahead of the ODI series. And looking at England's ruthless form and India's misery, it would prove to be a Herculean task for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to get the better of the motivated home team. England are presently world's number one Test side, which they achieved by virtue of a 4-0 clean sweep over India, and reigning Twenty20 world champions and it is only logical to believe that they would now aim for the pole position in ODI charts as well. A 5-0 sweep in the ODI series would take England to the number three spot in the ICC rankings behind Australia and Sri Lanka and downgrade India, presently number three, to fifth position. Besides, the upcoming series would also give England an opportunity to avenge their 1-5 and 0-5 drubbing at the hands of India on two previous visits to the sub-continent. Besides, it would put Alastair Cook's men in right frame of mind for the return visit to India next month for five more ODIs. To add to their agony, the Indians were also done in by a spate of injuries to their key players since stepping on English soil. India will be without the services of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in the ODI series after they were ruled out due to injuries. While Zaheer Khan's tour ended before it started, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Harbhajan followed suit with Gambhir being the latest casualty. But inspite of these injuries, the Indians still have a formidable batting line up with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dhoni and new entrant Ajinkya Rahane up their ranks. While Tendulkar would be eagerly waiting to reach his much-anticipated 100th international century, Dravid would like to leave his mark in the final ODI series of his career as he has already announced his retirement from limited overs cricket after the England tour. But the series would be a test of character for Kohli, Sharma, Raina and Rahane against a potent English attack, which is expected to use the short deliveries now and then to trouble the young guns. But going into the match, the main concern for Dhoni would be his toothless bowling attack, which has so far failed to extract assistance from the favourable English conditions. — PTI
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simply
Sunny
India found out in the one off T20 match that it may well need an earthquake to shake off this England team. It is a team that typifies the bulldog way and simply does not give up and is at you all the time. It is a team that is patient when needed and is attacking when offence is what is called for. Moreover unlike the Indian team it has tremendous depth in its batting with its bowlers all being more than handy batsmen and that’s why even if they lose half their wickets they can and do recover and get back on top. In such a scenario what chance does India have? Well all is not lost as was seen in the T20 game with some players showing that they are born for the shorter version of the game even if they may not be born to face the short stuff. Suresh Raina is one example of the tormented becoming the tormentor as he launched into Tim Bresnan to hit him for two huge sixes and pressed the accelerator down fully. Unfortunately there were a few speed breakers, and once they were hit the Indian vehicle went into a spin and didn’t land well. The inherent nature of the T20 does not allow too many dot balls and the batsmen are looking to hit the maximum even before they have taken guard correctly. Unfortunately in Indian minds it seems to be the only way since it does not involve much running. The difference between a boundary and a sixer is only two but the risk factor in attempting the maximum goes up considerably, and it is here Ajinkya Rahane’s innings was so refreshing. He would have been under tremendous pressure being asked to open the batting but grasped the chance to play some lovely cricketing shots. He realized that going for the sixes was not easy in conditions where the ball was moving a bit and the wind factor would slow the distance it could go so he looked to just chip the ball over the infield and got boundaries. More crucially he didn’t play across the line at all and played orthodox shots which showed more of the face of the bat than its angles and thus looked secure even when he was hitting over the fielders. The others went for the glamour shots and perished and that will worry the Indian think tank. The collapses are getting regular with little or no contribution from the lower order so even a terrific start is wasted. India’s fielding was much better than the Test series but the deployment could do with improvement and it is here that the vice captain has a role to play. The ultra short format puts enormous pressure on the skipper who has his hands full thinking of how to rotate the bowlers and so he may not be looking hard at the field placements and his deputy can help here in ensuring that the swifter guys are patrolling the deep and stopping the fours. The one day series is another opportunity for India in trying to bring some sunshine into what is turning out to be a bleak and gloomy summer but it will need clear heads and big hearts to do it. — PMG
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Nasser Hussain calls Indian fielders ‘donkeys’
New Delhi, September 2 Strongly objecting to Hussain's comments during the one-off Twenty20 between India and England on Wednesday, BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla said the Board would look into the 'donkey' comment. A member of the commentary panel covering the series, Hussain's comment came after Parthiv Patel misjudged Kevin Pietersen's catch off Munaf Patel's bowling. "I would say the difference between the two side is the fielding. England are all-round good fielding side. I do believe that India have few...3 or 4 very good fielders and one or two donkeys in the field still," Hussain had said. "Hussain's comment was totally uncalled for. One should adopt restraint while making observations about players. Commentators should not make such comments. We will definitely look into it," Shukla told reporters outside the Parliament. "Every player has to be respected irrespective of his performance. I don't think this comment was appropriate," he added. Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin said Hussain should apologise. "I feel he should not have said that, he should apologise. Nasser has been a captain. He should not have said so...he should tender an apology. There are many ways of commenting but calling players donkey is unbecoming of a player of his stature," Azharuddin said. Asked whether Nasser should be removed from the panel of commentators, Azharuddin said, "I do not know about that but he should definitely tender an apology to the Indian team specially to those fielders at that time." — PTI
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Galle, September 2 Former captain Mahela Jayawardene provided a batting lesson for his team-mates, making an unbeaten 57 with the help of eight boundaries. Angelo Mathews was the other not out batsman, on 32, having put on 52 runs for the sixth wicket with his senior partner. Australia start the fourth day's play on Saturday needing five more wickets to win and take the lead in the three-Test series, their first in Sri Lanka since 2004. Sri Lanka need to defy history to stop the tourists — the highest fourth innings score at the ground is 210 by New Zealand two years ago. — AFP
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Kolkata, September 2 The first half of India's first ever FIFA international friendly between Argentina and Venezuela ended in a goalless draw. The Argentina team had their moments as they created chances in the barren first half but were not able to convert these chances into a goal. The sprawling Salt Lake Stadium swarmed with police personnel as security was at an all-time high at the venue hosting India's first ever international friendly. Spectators underwent multi-layer security checking but the police personnel were polite. The playing arena was enveloped in a three-layer security ring comprising 5,000 armed police personnel. A contingent of over 2,000 combat police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel has been entrusted the task of crowd management, said a police officer. —Agencies
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Gaurav wins PGTI event
Karnal, September 2 Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh, who was tied in second position with Gaurav after the second round, carded five-under 65 to grab second place at 11-under 196 for the tournament. Arjun Singh Chaudhri of Noida finished tied fourth to bag the PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit title for 2011. Chaudhri topped the Order of Merit with earnings of Rs 224,740. He has now earned a full card for the 2012 Aircel PGTI season. Rajesh Kumar Rawat of Lucknow finished second on the Order of Merit with earnings of Rs 218,580. Gaurav (67-64-64), returned his second straight 64 of the week to capture his second professional title and made an eagle, seven birdies and four bogeys in his eventful third round. The 27-year-old Golfer made a great start with birdies on three of the first four holes. He was three under at the turn and then began his charge to the top with an eagle on the 11th.
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Daegu, September 2 The Jamaican reigning world and Olympic champion, and world record holder (19.19sec), clocked 20.31sec and never looked in danger after an impeccable start. He came off the bend well in front of the field and coasted through to the finish line, affording himself several glances over his shoulder at the chasing athletes, as he had also done in his morning heat. Bolt, who admits he is not in world record shape this season, had insisted he would not dwell on the disappointment of his 100m disqualification. And at a packed Daegu stadium, Bolt did not fail to entertain. Luka qualifies for Olympics
India's campaign in the World Athletics Championships ended on a disappointing note with woman 800m runner Tintu Luka failing to qualify for the final round though she booked a berth for 2012 London Olympics on Friday. Luka clocked 2:00.95, her season's best, to finish sixth in heat number two of the semifinals and 15th overall. She, however, booked a ticket to the London Olympics as she crossed the Games 'B' qualifying standard of 2:01.30. — Agencies |
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Sania-Bhupathi ousted, Somdev advances
New York, September 2 Sania and Bhupathi lost 3-6, 6-7 (5) to the Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak in a contest that lasted a little over an hour. Somdev advances
However, Somdev, who lost in the men's singles opening round against Andy Murray, ensured that India didn't go winless on day four of the season's last Grand Slam. Somdev and his Filipino partner Treat Conrad Huey defeated Russians Igor Andreev and Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-4 to enter the men's doubles second round. The Indo-Filipino pair broke their rivals four times in the course of the match that lasted one hour and seven minutes. Somdev and Huey will face 14th seeds Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank in their next match. — PTI |
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Battered and bruised in what has turned out to be an abysmal tour, a demoralised India go into the five-match ODI cricket series against England here tomorrow with repeated batting collapses and toothless bowling continuing to haunt them.
New York, September 2
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