Cricket is a great leveler. A batsman who gets a century in one innings can be dismissed first ball in the second innings, a bowler who picks five wickets can be thrashed in the next innings, and the fielder who takes a brilliant diving catch can drop a sitter the next time the ball is in the air.

The Indian cricket team found how true the saying was when after the high of winning the World Cup they lost comprehensively to England in all formats of the game and have come down to earth with a bang. Nobody in their wildest imagination would have thought that the Indians would not win a single game on the tour, but that is precisely what happened.

The Indians were the number one ranked team in the world in Test cricket and were also the World Cup holders when they arrived in England and the expectations were very high indeed, but a combination of factors resulted in them not only losing their number one ranking but also being unable to win a single limited overs game too.

The IPL bashers who are mainly those, who are envious of those, who are involved in it and who will spare no opportunity to bring it down were convinced that it was because of the Indian players participation in the IPL that they lost. They forgot that the BCCI had ensured that no player would play more games than in the previous three editions despite two new teams being added to the league. Even if participation in the league was a factor then how is it that the Indian team won in the West Indies immediately after the IPL was over?

Then there are some who feel that the Indian team did not have enough warm up games in England, but if playing warm up matches is the only way for a team to get better then how is it that the team continued to lose despite playing Tests, which are infinitely more competitive than the warm up matches where counties usually rest their best players and play their younger team members.

Shouldn’t the Indians have got better with every Test by that logic? Instead they lost even more comprehensively. Now the argument was that they were tired, but then the man who played the IPL and then went to West Indies, Rahul Dravid scored the most runs and spent the most time at the crease. The bowling success Praveen Kumar also was one who was in the West Indies so that argument does not wash either.

The simple truth was that England had planned and plotted well. Their players were high on confidence after the defense of the Ashes in Australia and wanted to be number one desperately. It was a team that also had better balance than India’s though with so many bowlers capable of being handy, stubborn batsmen and with their keeper Matt Prior now looking a Test class batsman England would do even better with a five man attack than the four bowlers that they went in with.

India were not helped by injuries to their key players and were seldom at full strength. They did not have replacements that could fill the breach and the bowlers just did not have the firepower to get rid of the lower order batsmen which is so crucial in International cricket today since no team seems to have tail-enders anymore. Despite all this the Indians were technically temperamentally and tactically not good enough on this tour and that is the cricketing reason why they lost so miserably.

There are lessons to be learnt though from England and even if some of them are absorbed, Indian cricket can bounce back. Time will tell if that is the case. — PMG 

Ranchi, September 18
Bowlers never like batsmen hitting them past their follow through and this is exactly what Indian veteran Sachin Tendulkar likes as his favourite stroke - the straight driven boundary.

Sachin Tendulkar

"My favourite shot is the straight drive, opening up the face of the bat... no bowler likes to see the face of the bat," Tendulkar said in reply to a query by a cricket lover during a special programme on 'NDTV'. Answering questions ranging from why he failed to score in the recently-concluded England series to his shot selection, Tendulkar revealed how he avoids reading newspapers to cut out pressure.

"I can't do what millions of people have had to say. One should always focus on one's game as ultimately it is you who have to do it," he said replying to a query on how he handled pressure.

Tendulkar advised the kids to avoid thinking about the past. "If you think of the past, you will tend to think of all negative things.

If you think of the future, you will worry whether you could score or not. What is important is to focus on the job at hand," said Tendulkar as he appealed to all to contribute in his "Support My School Campaign".

"We do 80 per cent positive things and only 20 per cent negative things in the past. Only negative things come to our mind, building up the pressure. Always think positive, sort out the mistakes (made in the past) and don't think of them anymore," Tendulkar said.

On why he could not score in the recently concluded India-England Test series, Sachin Tendulkar said the game should be seen in its totality. "Sometimes a batsman gets out to a good ball or falls to a mistake," he said. — PTI

Mumbai, September 18
The current BCCI secretary Narayanaswami Srinivasan and joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale will officially take over the responsibilities of president and secretary, respectively at the 82nd AGM to be held here tomorrow.

While Srinivasan, the President-elect for one year, takes over the reins from Shashank Manohar, outgoing joint secretary Jagdale became the lone nominee for the secretary's post after pipping hot favourite Ranjib Biswal from Orissa.

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association boss Anurag Thakur will become the joint secretary while Maharashtra Cricket Association secretary and Sharad Pawar confidant Ajay Shirke will be the treasurer. Rajiv Shukla is set to become the new IPL chairman.

It wasn't exactly a cakewalk for Srinivasan and company as far as the post of joint secretary is concerned. While Biswal, who is a Srinivasan aide, was tipped to take over the mantle, his candidature faced strong opposition from the eastern units.

"The Cricket Association of Bengal, Assam Cricket Association and Jharkhand State Cricket Association strongly objected to Biswal being projected as the secretary. In fact, JSCA president Amitabh Chaudhry was the choice by eastern states.

There was so much of disharmony that Jagdale turned out to be a compromise candidate," a BCCI official in the know of things informed.

It was learnt that Biswal was peeved as he never expected such stiff opposition and even wanted to fight elections but decided otherwise once he came to know that he didn't have mandate to get into straight fight with Jagdale. — PTI 

Colombo, September 18
Angelo Mathews moved to within 15 runs of a maiden test century as Sri Lanka steadily extended their first innings lead against Australia in the third and final test on Sunday.

In reply to Australia's first innings total of 316, hosts Sri Lanka, trailing the three-test series 1-0, ended day three on 428 for six wickets for a lead of 112 runs. At stumps, Mathews remained unbeaten on 85 off 207 balls with debutant Saminda Eranga (5 not out) keeping him company. Mathews, who has twice been dismissed in the nineties in his 16-test career, was involved in two useful partnerships that enabled Sri Lanka to move ahead of Australia's total.

He stitched together a record fifth-wicket stand of 121 with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and followed it up with another partnership of 81 with Prasanna Jayawardene. — Reuters

Hyderabad, September 18
Some of the world's best Twenty20 players would be seen in action at the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament that gets underway with the qualifying round here tomorrow.

Gautam Gambhir will lead the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Sri Lanka's Ruhunu Eleven, Trinidad and Tobago from the Caribbean, Kiwi side Auckland Aces, India's Kolkata Knight Riders and England's Leicestershire and Somerset would fight it out in the CLT20 qualifiers for three spots in the main tournament, beginning in Bangalore on September 23.

In the first match of the qualifiers, Ruhunu Eleven will take on Trinidad and Tobago, while the second game will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Auckland Aces at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Ruhunu is banking heavily on its powerful batting department led by hard-hitting Sanath Jayasuriya to book its place in the main draw of the high-profile tournament, which will be played across three Indian cities - Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.

"Our strong point is batting. We are lucky to have Jayasuriya in our side. He is such a great player and has so much experience. He will surely provide us with some ideas," Ruhunu skipper Mahela Udawatta said ahead of his team's opening match. But what remains a concern for the Sri Lankan side is its bowling department and coach Sumithra Warnakulasuriya candidly admitted the fact.

Ruhunu's task is easier said than done as in Trinidad and Tobago, they face a highly-motivated side that reached the semifinals in tournament in 2009.

Though they have lost big-hitting Kieron Pollard to Mumbai Indians, the Caribbean side is determined to move on.

"If we can go one step further to what we did in 2009, it would be a great feeling," Trinidad and Tobago captain Darren Ganga said.— PTI

Pune, September 18
I-League champions Salgaocar were held to a goalless draw by Mumbai FC but Prayag United rode on Joshimar Dasilva's strike to beat Chirag United Kerala 1-0 in their respective Federation Cup matches here today.

While the likes of Ryuji Seoka and Chidi Edeh failed to find the net for Salgaocar despite trying everything, Joshimar sealed the issue for Prayag when he scored off a rebound on the 17th minute at the Balewadi Sports Complex. With Seoka partnering Chidi upfront, Rocus Lamare and Mehrajuddin Wadoo did all the hardwork for Salgaocar in the midfield.

Mehraj played all over while Rocus caught the eye as he fed Ishfaq Ahmed and Chidi on a number of occasions. On the other hand, the Mumbai FC defence stayed as stubborn as ever – Kingsley Chioma and Faisal Rehman – the two central defenders not giving the Salgaocar strike force time and space. — PTI

Madrid, September 18
A hat-trick by Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona to an 8-0 rout of Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday as the champions responded with a devastating performance after a poor week by their high standards.

The Champions League holders were accused of complacency after blowing leads against Real Sociedad and AC Milan to twice draw 2-2 but they stormed into a 5-0 halftime lead against Osasuna at the Nou Camp.

David Villa scored twice, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and visiting defender Roversio (own goal) joined Messi on the scoresheet as Barca climbed to second in the table with seven points from three matches.

"It was the same last year, people question you when you don't win but this is normal," Barca defender Sergio Busquets told Spanish television. "We played very well, we had a lot of chances, it was a very good performance."

Barca are two points behind leaders Valencia who were 1-0 winners at Sporting Gijon earlier in the day after striker Roberto Soldado scored his fifth league goal of the season. Sevilla, in third spot, joined Barca on seven points after Frederic Kanoute scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Real Sociedad.

Soldado, in the running for a place in Spain's Euro 2012 squad, tapped in at the back post for Valencia after Gijon keeper Juan Pablo could only parry a shot in the 29th minute. — Reuters 

BRIEFLY

Season-best finish for Jeev
Macau: Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh lost momentum after a good start but the two-under 69 was still enough to fetch him a season's best finish of tied fourth in the USD 750,000 Macau Open here today. Jeev did make that promised charge with an eagle on the second and a birdie on the third to quickly move up the leaderboard even as the overnight leader and eventual winner Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei opened with a double bogey in the final round. — PTI

Sushil Kumar crashes out
New Delhi: In what came as a huge shock, defending champion and star Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar crashed out in the second round of the 66kg freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul today. Sushil, who last year created history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold in the world championships in Moscow, was shocked 5:3 by Ukraine's Andriy Stadnik. India's other freestyle wrestlers - Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg), Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74kg) and Pawan Kumar (84kg) all failed to clear their first hurdle. — PTI

Indian women beat Bahrain
New Delhi: Riding on striker Sasmita Malik's double strike, Indian women football team defeated Bahrain 2-1 in its first international friendly in Manama. Sasmita, the captain of the side, scored her first goal as early as the third minute of the match. "They have worked hard in the camp and deserve all the praise," said chief coach Mohammad Shahid Jabbar. — PTI

A golfer tees off during the Chalets Naldehra Golf Tournament at Naldehra on Sunday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Ghosal plays Gaultier
New Delhi: Saurav Ghosal couldn't help but rue his luck as India's top ranked player has been landed a tough first round draw, against Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, in the $115,000 ROWE British Grand Prix starting tomorrow in Manchester. Unseeded Ghosal, who led India to top-8 finish at the recently concluded World Men's Team Championship in Germany, will be facing sixth seed Gaultier at the National Squash Centre, and will have to be at his best if he is to improve on his last edition's quarter-final performance in the biggest squash event of this year. — PTI

‘Amir has done brave thing’
Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has backed tainted bowler Mohammad Amir's decision to come clean about his involvement in last year's spot-fixing scandal. "I think he has done the right thing and brave thing," the Daily Times quoted Afridi, as telling reporters in Karachi. "I think he should have done this earlier. But even if late, it is good he has realised his mistake," he added. — ANI

Federer donates sports gear
Islamabad: Top international tennis stars, including Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic, have donated their sports gear for generating funds for Pakistan's flood affected people. Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has initiated a campaign to raise funds in collaboration with the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tennis Federation. — ANI

WADA rethink on clenbuterol
London: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is likely to consider relaxing the absolute ban on clenbuterol, a drug used illegally by athletes to build muscle. According to the BBC, WADA officials will discuss controversial changes to drug rules at an upcoming meeting in Switzerland. Some athletes had earlier complained that eating beef caused their positive test results for the drug. — ANI

Chandigarh Chess body
Chandigarh: The Chess Association of India (CAI) has provided recognition to the Chess Association of Chandigarh with an eye at promotion of the game in the country. The Association has recognized Aditya and V.K. Sharma as the president and secretary of the organization, respectively. Apart from the two, Reena Thakur, Anju Sharma, Durgesh, S. Sharma and Vishesh Sharma are part of the Association. The CAI has also decided to hold a Rs. 2 lakh prize money tournament in Chandigarh in December 2011. The winner of the tournament will go on to play in an international tournament, sponsored by CAI. — TNS