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Second ODI
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PCA changes tack,
20-yr-olds for T20 now
Captain Cook wary of ‘world class’ India
Each one responsible for win or defeat: Gauti
live on star cricket ( 12 NOON):
Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir take a break. — PTI
Djoko, Sharapova advance
Delhi Waveriders beat Punjab Warriors 2-1 in HIL opener
BCCI working committee gets into hobnobbing mode
Duncan Fletcher discusses strategy with a team member. — PTI
SA crush Kiwis
IOC suggests formula to end IOA suspension
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Pressure on India to level the series
Bowlers under pressure after conceding 325 runs in the first One-dayer
Kochi, January 14 Nothing seems to be going right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men as after their 1-2 series loss in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, India again started on the wrong foot against England last Friday. The Indians will have to give a serious thought to the team composition as another defeat may put immense pressure on the team and may make it very difficult to stage a comeback. With the top oder batsmen failing repeatedly, the team management may toy with the idea of bringing in Cheteswar Pujara though Dhoni is not keen to tamper with the compisition of the team as yet. In the first ODI, India's bowling frailties were exposed as they conceded 38 runs in the last two overs, which cost them the match and the bowlers really have to sort out their problems of bowling at the death overs if the hosts have to bounce back tomorrow. There is very little margin for error for bowlers on batting friendly conditions and unlike in the Pakistan series, conditions are not going favour the bowlers this time during the five-match one-day series against England. India's seam bowlers and spinners have lacked venom and it would be interesting how the hosts bowl at the Nehru stadium, which is also going to be a batting paradise. In the spin department, R Ashwin is very crucial for India but the off-spinner has not really been effectiveness so far. He used to control the game and take crucial wickets. But now, he is unable to bring in the required control and is becoming too predictable. The English batsmen have come well prepared and any mistake by the Indian bowlers will be detrimental to the team's cause. During the Pakistan series, India were struggling to get a good start which had affected the teams' results. But, in the last one-dayer, India got a decent start but the top-order failed to convert them even on a placid track at the newly built Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh came up with good scores but none of them could stay on for a longer time. One of the major concern for India has been Virat Kohli's lack of form. In the last five matches, he has not been able to bat to his potentials and India lost three of them. At number three, Kohli has a big role to play and he has to come good if India hope of coming back to winning ways. Following their historic 2-1 victory over India in the Test series, the England side has returned for the one day series after Christmas and have an edge going into the second ODI. England bowlers have shown tremendous resilience as even in difficult situations they never gave up. In the first ODI, the English bowlers were unperturbed and continued to attack even when Raina and Dhoni were scoring freely. James Tredwell deceived the Indian batsmen with his well crafted off-spin and his figures of 4 for 44 — four out of India's top five — set the foundation for England's nine-run victory last Friday. The pace trio of Jade Dernbach, Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn too have contributed well, sharing five wickets among them. — PTI Squads: 2ND odi India: MS Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Shami Ahmed England: Alastair Cook (captain), Joe Root, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Joseph Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter(wk), Stuart Meakar, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Petersen, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes
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PCA changes tack,
20-yr-olds for T20 now
Chandigarh, January 14 Hailed once as a pioneering cricket body when it barred under-21 players from T20 cricket in favour of the longer format, PCA — within a year — has reneged on this rule. It has given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to a budding player, 20 years of age, to play for the Kings XI Punjab in IPL-6. Punjab Cricket Association secretary MP Pandove said, “The said rule has been amended and the age bar has been brought down to 20 now. We received applications for Sandeep Sharma and Manan Vohra. Manan’s application was approved as it fulfilled the criteria, while Sandeep was below the specified age.” It is not clear when the amendment was made. The decision to shepherd the young players came, according to the PCA press release then, after the realisation that the Ranji Trophy team had failed to achieve the optimum results while the Punjab teams at the junior age tournaments like Under-16, 19 and 22 had been performing creditably. And it was felt that the youngsters needed to be groomed for the longer format. To the supporters of this decision, it was a major factor behind Punjab reaching the Ranji Trophy semifinals after a gap of 20 years. It's ironical, thus, that the association has taken a step backward. It was probably caused by the market forces and the rich IPL teams that wish to sign up young talent. At the time of framing the path-breaking rule there was only one exception. "PCA committee felt that there can be exceptional and extraordinary talent which matures early and reaches a stage of perfection. In order not to deny opportunities to such players exception would only be made for contracted players of the BCCI even if, they were below the age of 21," the PCA release said.
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Captain Cook wary of ‘world class’ India
Kochi, January 14 "They're (India) a world-class side and statistics show how hard it is to win here, but we're prepared for that. We will have to keep up our skills and our standard of performances, if we want to win this game and the series," Cook added. Cook backed his pace duo of Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach to come good tomorrow even though they leaked a few runs in the first ODI at Rajkot. "On that wicket (at Rajkot) it was incredibly hard for us to bowl. It was a really quick outfield. It was probably one of the fastest wicket I've played. There was no margin for error, everytime you stray slightly it was easy for batsmen. "It was a very, very tough job and those two (Finn and Dernbach) held their nerves. They got hit for a few, but they put it to bed and came in the next ball and tried to get it better. We know how hard bowling in the first 10 overs are.Those two handled the first 10 overs very well, which is probably the most important thing," he said. The English skipper also came in support of his part-time spinner Joe Root. "I thought Joe did really well. It was only the last couple of over, those were big runs. But I thought he handled the pressure of being a part-time bowler really well. He was fantastic. I hope to be able to use him at some stage of the game," Cook said. "He is an old head on young shoulders. He is still a very young player and he has huge amount of learning to do and he knows that." Asked whether he was looking at spin duo Root and James Tredwell to do the job for him in the ODIs just like what Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann did for the side in the Test series, Cook said: "I certainly have that thought." "In Tests matches we bowled very well. Monty and Swanny really showed what world class bowlers they are. In the first ODI, it was Tredwell. He has been around for a while now and he just proved that with experience you can achieve success." Cook said he will continue to rotate himself so as to help England build a strong base. "I have always said that I wanted to play as much cricket as I can for England and whenever I can. But rotation is going to be a part. Luckily we are building a squad of guys who have been around for six, eight months in international cricket and they are gaining experience," he said. "I thought I won't play any cricket for the ODI side but right now I am feeling very fresh and I am feeling excited by the challenges," Cook added. Cook said: "I think that is one of the skill that you need as a top-order batsman to be able to assess the conditions quickly and know what a good score will be. But it also depends on the out-field , the kind of wicket."
— PTI |
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Each one responsible for win or defeat: Gauti
Kochi, January 14 However, Gambhir said it would be wrong to paint the bowlers as villain as the side prepares for the second ODI. "Only bowlers don't win the match for you. All the 11 players that get on to the field have to do it for you. Whenever the batsmen don't do well, bowlers cover up for them and vice versa. I don't believe in blaming one area of the game. I think the bowlers are putting in all the hard work, and the way they won the match for us against Pakistan (in Delhi) was commendable," Gambhir said. "There has been just one match in this series, and unfortunately the problem here is after every defeat we start talking about form. That's not the way to look at it, we have to look at a broader picture," the left-handed batsmen said. Gambhir said there was no need to be harsh on gangly paceman Ishant Sharma and argued that the England bowlers too struggled in the first game. "I think he has done well in the three matches against Pakistan coming back after such a long time. It's just the last game that things didn't go his way. But he is working hard and he has been bowling really well and the results are there for you to see. "If England scored 325, we managed to score 316. So there wasn't much difference between their bowlers and our bowlers." Gambhir, who scored 52 in Rajkot, said good starts have to be converted into big ones but said they were chasing such a huge total in the fist match that they could not avoid playing good shots even in the middle-overs. "You can't say as an opener you have to do this and that, we contribute as a team, we play as a team. I think I started off well and one thing is once you get a start you need to continue and get a big one. If one of us had got a big one, results would have been different. "When you are chasing 325, you have to score at a decent run rate. It's not like you have plenty of time and keep playing. So ultimately you have to take your chances even in the middle overs. We got four half-centuries in the last match and no one could carry on, if one of us had carried, it could have been different story," he said. Gambhir also said that media should restrain itself from putting pressure on youngsters such as Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. "Just let him be what he is. Don't start tagging him as an all-rounder and people will start talking that he should work on his batting. He is bowling well and if he contributes with the bat as well, it's going to be a bonus for us.”
— PTI |
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Djoko, Sharapova advance
Melbourne, January 14 Top-ranked Djokovic faced only three break points in the match, saving them all, and lifted his tempo when it counted most. His five-set, 5-hour, 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 final is already part of Australian Open folklore. He tore off his shirt and flexed his muscles after the marathon win last year, and is hoping to add another chapter to story by becoming the first man to win three consecutive Australian titles in the Open era. Nine others have won back-to-back titles, none have completed the hat-trick since the Open era started in 1968. Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams had nearly flawless opening matches in the women`s draw earlier in the day. Sharapova finished her first match of the year in 55 minutes, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Olga Puchkova to start on center court. The No. 2-ranked Sharapova faced only two break points in the match and she saved both of those in the first game. Then she went on a 12-game roll that earned her a second "double bagel" inside a year. Venus Williams registered 6-1, 6-0 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan. No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska won the last nine straight games in her opening 7-5, 6-0 win over Australian wild-card entry Bojana Bobusic 7-5, 6-0 and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur beat Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 7-6 (3), 6-3 to end a run of five losses on home soil. Sixth-seeded Li Na had a 6-1, 6-3 win over Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan, while No. 18 Julia Gorges of Germany and No. 27 Sorana Cirstea of Romania also advanced. Former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic beat Sweden`s Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-2. On the men`s side, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych defeated Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat American qualifier Steve Johnson 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2, No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka beat German qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
— PTI |
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Delhi Waveriders beat Punjab Warriors 2-1 in HIL opener
New Delhi, January 14 Delhi were finally rewarded for their toil when German forward Oskar Deecke’s cross from the left went in via defender Gurinder Singh in the 15th minute. According to the HIL rules, it was not considered as a self-goal, but a goal by the rival team, crediting the goal to the last attacker who hit the ball. And in the fifth minute of the second quarter, Gurwinder Singh Chandi ran down the right flank before sending a sliding shot from minus angle which beat the tall Punjab goalie Jacob Stockmann all ends up. Delhi also muffed three penalty corners before Punjab struck the consolation goal in the seventh minute of the third half when Roger Padros Borrel reversed flicked past Delhi custodian Nicolas Jacobi. Punjab also squandered two penalty corners. Mumbai Magicians shift base to Delhi
The Mumbai Magicians team, which is part of the Hockey India League, was shifted to Delhi this morning, following the Shiv Sena protest that disrupted its practise session due to the involvement of Pakistani players. The events got off to a spectacular start, with a mesmerizing laser show and breath-taking fire works keeping the large number of spectators engrossed. But the event had its share of downside too, as none of the Pakistani players hired by the Delhi (Muhammad Rizwan Sr and Junior) and Punjab (Kashif Shah) were in playing XI. And two protesters, who barged into the ground waving pamphlets against Pakistan players at the end of the second quarter, struck a sore note, though the protesters were quickly chased. |
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BCCI working committee gets into hobnobbing mode
Mumbai, January 14 At the previous meeting of the committee on Nov 21 last year, a consensus could not be reached whether to bring Mohammed Azharuddin back under the parent body's fold after the Andhra Pradesh High Court lifted the life ban imposed by the BCCI on the former India captain. "The decision on Azharuddin's future in BCCI has been deferred," a senior BCCI official had said. Venues of India-Oz Test series revised
The venues for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia have been revised with the opening Test of the series to be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from Feb 22 to 26. The second match will be in Hyderabad, followed by Mohali and Delhi. The teams will move to Hyderabad for second Test, from March 2-6. Mohali will host the third Test from 14 March.
— PTI
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SA crush Kiwis
Port Elizabeth, January 14 Scoreboard S Africa 1st innings 525/8 dec. New Zealand 1st innings 121 New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 157/4) Brownlie c de Villiers b Kallis 53 Flynn c de Villiers b Kleinveldt 0 Watling b Steyn 63 Munro c Petersen b Morkel 15 Bracewell c Petersen b Steyn 0 Wagner c de Villiers b Steyn 4 Boult c Peterson b Morkel 3 Patel not out 0 Extras: (lb 2, w 1) 3 Total (all out; 86.4 overs) 211 Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-64, 3-84, 4-84, 5-182, 6-203, 7-203, 8-204, 9-207 Bowling: Steyn 15.4-2-48-3, Morkel 16-6-36-2, Kleinveldt 15-8-44-2, Peterson 26-13-47-2, Kallis 9-3-18-1, Smith 1-0-10-0, Petersen 4-0-6-0
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IOC suggests formula to end IOA suspension
New Delhi, January 14 In a letter addressed to VKMalhotra and Randhir Singh, IOC’s National Olympic Committee Relations Director Pere Miro and Olympic Council of Asia director-general Husain
AI-Musallam noted that “The relevant authorities definitively amend or repeal any Government regulations of laws which interfere with the functioning, and that it reviews its constitution and regulations and makes necessary amendments to improve its internal governance, there can be a way forward.” |
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England captain Alastair Cook said even though they have made a "great start" to the series, he is no mood to take a "world-class" India lightly in the second
ODI. Cook said England will have to consistently maintain their standard of performance if they desire to beat India in the ODI series after the triumph in the Test rubber.
Kochi, January 14
Mumbai, January 14
