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davis cup
These boys are winners
for me as they put country first: Paes
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Clarke and Ponting might end up with a good deal in IPL 6
Pak Steyn-gunned for 49
Fans shouldn’t suffer in games hit by rain: CA
Gillespie warns of England threat
Punjab, Ranchi play out a draw
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Lee, Purav pull off win in doubles rubber
Beat S Korean Lim Young-Kyu and Sun Nam 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in 2 hrs and 25 minutes MS Unnikrishnan/TNS
New Delhi, February 2 Leander and Raja quelled the challenge of Lim Young-Kyu and Sun Nam 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in two hours and 25 minutes to revive the Indian chances. Though the Koreans lead 2-1 after winning both the singles matches yesterday, India’s doubles win has put the visitors under some pressure in the reverse singles tomorrow. V.M.Ranjeet will meet Jeong Suk-Young while Vijayant Malik was expected to clash against Cho Min Hyeok. Vijayant, who had conceded his singles tie against Jeong yesterday, has recovered from the cramps, and practiced today. Non-playing captain S.P.Mishra was confident that Viyanat will be fit to play the second reverse singles. The Indian team were virtually on cloud nine with celebrations and all when Leander and Purav pulled off the doubles tie in straight sets in front of a near-packed stands. Leander, as a true leader of men and experienced pro, not only had to play a solid game on the slow court, which was not his normal chip and charge tennis, but also mentor Purav to keep up his morale. And the young Mumbai player, who has been Leander’s sparring partner for the last two years, fully seized the chance to play in a Davis Cup tie, which he thought would never come his way, to make it truly memorable. Playing on the deuce court, Purav came up with some amazing winners from the back court and by rushing to the net, to give his best shot to support the solid game Leander had unleashed. Leander, as always showed quick reflexes to make net charges, and get winners through net volleys and smashes. The Koreans, though did not particularly target weakling Raja, expected the rookie to crack, but Raja surprisingly took inspiration from Leander to put on his best show, as perhaps never before. Though Leander made a shaky start, trailing 15-40, he held serve after the game went to deuce five times. Lim also trailed 15-40 in the second game, but he failed to hold serve, as he lost it after the game went to deuce thrice. Purav then held serve as India charged to a 3-0 lead. And the Indians did not loosen the grip till they snatched the set. The second set went neck and neck till the fourth game, but when Purav was broken in the fifth, doubts about and Indian win arose. However, Lim was broken in the eighth game to tie the score 4-4. All India Tennis Association felicitates legends, but most miss the ceremony It was a ceremony meant to honour their commitment to India's Davis Cup campaign over the years but just two of the eight chosen were present when the All India Tennis Association felicitated them in a brief ceremony. Jaideep Mukherjee and Leander Paes were the only ones present at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium as AITA's chief guest Shatrughan Sinha gave away the 'inaugural Davis Cup Commitment Trophy' amid roaring applause from the crowd. The others who were chosen for the honour were Anand and Vijay Amritraj, Ramesh and Ramanthan Krishnan, the late Premjit Lal and the disgruntled Mahesh Bhupathi. While Bhupathi giving the ceremony a miss was understandable given his bitter relationship with the AITA, others, barring Lal, had already conveyed their inability to be there much in advance. For the record, Mukherjee, who made his Davis Cup debut in 1960 against Thailand, enjoyed a win-loss ratio of 62-35 in the Davis Cup. Paes, on the other hand, is involved in his 49th Davis Cup tie -- the ongoing one against South Korea. This award was conceived as part of the ITF's 2013 Centenary celebrations. — PTI
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These boys are winners
for me as they put country first: Paes
New Delhi, February 2 Taking a dig at all those 11 players who put personal interest above that of the country, Leander said win or lose, all those who played in the tie against Korea put the country’s interest first. Leander, justifying the All India Tennis Association’s (AITA’s) prerogative to pick the national team, said he never got involved in the team selection, and he gave his opinion only when he was asked about the preferable combination for the London Olympics. “It’s not the players’ responsibility to bother about the selection of the team, or governance”, he asserted. On India’s doubles win, Leander said he had to play a solid game to succeed on the slow court, as during practice matches, he was running ahead of the ball, as the ball was coming slow. He said it helped him and Purav Raja gel on the court today due to the time and effort they had put in during the last two years, by training together whenever they were in Mumbai. He praised Purav’s game, as he did not display any nervousness of a debutant. “He served well, he returned well. And SP sir (coach S.P.Mishra) was a solid, calming force. He keeps the team grounded. I enjoy playing for the country under him, and I was happy that I won today”, Leander noted. “I am very happy to get my doubles point for the country. I felt extremely good”, Leander said. Leander also praised the AITA for assembling five young players for this tie, as the exposure would make them richer. “Whenever we play home matches, the AITA assembles 8 to 10 players, which is a good thing as the players would otherwise get no chance to be part of the Indian team, and it would not be possible for the association when the team play abroad to send so many players.” Leander, however, cautioned that winning the tie was a long way off. “We still have a big job to do. We have to play a really formidable Korean team. Win or lose, the boys have done a wonderful job. They put their country first. They came out and played, and did not bother about the result”, he added. He said all those who are part of the Davis Cup team have got the biggest breaks of their career. Purav Raja, beaming ear to ear, with his fiancée sitting at the back of the media room (they are getting married in a fortnight), said this was the “biggest match of my life, by a long shot”. “I have never been in this situation before. To say that there were no butterflies in the stomach would be a lie”, Raja added. |
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Clarke and Ponting might end up with a good deal in IPL 6
Chennai, February 2 While 101 players will go under the hammer during the auction, which will be only for the next edition, Clarke and Ponting, who are in the highest base price bracket of USD 400,000 (approx Rs 2.1 crore) will be the sought after players. In Clarke, some of the franchises like Mumbai Indians see a potential leader after Harbhajan Singh relinquished the post. According to IPL sources, Mumbai Indians are likely to loosen their purse strings for the current Aussie captain, who played six matches for the Sahara Pune Warriors during the last edition. Clarke could also be a good choice for the Pune Warriors in case their marquee player Yuvraj Singh decides to only concentrate on his batting. Warriors have a purse of over USD 3 million and can indulge into a bidding war for Clarke but according to one of their officials, "It is not necessary that if you have money, you need to spend it." Ponting, who played four matches for Kolkata Knight Riders in first edition of IPL can be an interesting pick considering his performance for Hobart Hurricanes in the recently concluded Big Bash League. He has couple of 60 plus scores to show for his effort against Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunders. An official, who has closely been associated with the auctions, felt that Hyderabad Sun Risers might look at Ponting as a potential mentor-cum-captain. "Since this is a one-season deal, there is no harm in getting Ricky Ponting, who is a thorough professional. Since Kumar Sangakkara hasn't done too well as captain and Cameron White is not an automatic choice either, Ponting can be their Go-To man," he told PTI. Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals are two teams who would be going into the auction with highest purses (around USD 6 million) and would have the luxury of bidding for some of the players of their choice. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders also has a tea, that looked settled and may not be very active at the auction which is expected to be a low-key affair. "We are not going into the auction aiming at a particular player but we will definitely track the proceedings. Let's see how it pans out and may be if we find a player interesting enough to put our money on, we might go for it," a support staff said. — PTI Money in hand, players to buy Chennai Super Kings Current Indian players: 11, slots left: 11 Current overseas players: 6, slots left: 5 Salary cap spent: $9.4m Salary cap remaining: $3.1m Signed before auction: B Aparajith, Vijay Shankar Delhi Daredevils Current Indian players: 15, slots left: 7 Current overseas players: 8, slots left: 3 Salary cap spent: $11.1m Salary cap remaining: $1.4m Signed before auction: Kedar Jadhav, Siddharth Kaul, Sujit Nayak, Venugopal Rao (re-signed), Gulam Bodi (re-signed). Kings XI Punjab Current Indian players: 14, slots left: 8 Current overseas players: 7, slots left: 4 Salary cap spent: $5.6m Salary cap remaining: $6.9m Signed before auction: Manan Vohra Kolkata Knight Riders Current Indian players: 12, slots left: 10 Current overseas players: 9, slots left: 2 Salary cap spent: $10.3m Salary cap remaining: $2.2m Mumbai Indians Current Indian players: 17, slots left: 5 Current overseas players: 6, slots left: 5 Salary cap spent: $10.2m Salary cap remaining: $2.3m Signed before auction: Rishi Dhawan, Jalaj Saxena Pune Warriors Current Indian players: 21, slots left: 1 Current overseas players: 8, slots left: 3 Salary cap spent: $9.2m Salary cap remaining: $3.3m Signed before auction: Ishwar Pandey, T Suman, Udit Birla, Steven Smith (re-signed), Tamim Iqbal (re-signed) Rajasthan Royals Current Indian players: 11, slots left: 11 Current overseas players: 7, slots left: 4 Salary cap spent: $4.8m Salary cap remaining: $7.7m Signed before auction: Samuel Badree, Harmeet Singh, Dishant Yagnik (re-signed), Owais Shah (re-signed) Royal Challengers Bangalore Current Indian players: 18, slots left: 4 Current overseas players: 6, slots left: 5 Salary cap spent: $10m Salary cap remaining: $2.5m Signed before auction: Abhinav Mukund, Sandeep Warrior, Sunny Sohal, P Parameswaran (re-signed). Sunrisers Hyderabad Current Indian players: 14, slots left: 8 Current overseas players: 6, slots left: 5 Salary cap spent: $5.5m Salary cap remaining: $7m
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Buoyant India take on jittery England
Mumbai, February 2 Everything fell in place for the Mithali Raj-led home team as they totally outplayed their counterparts from the Caribbean islands two days ago to register a thumping victory at the same venue to log two points. A record opening wicket stand of 175 between India's first-ever World Cup centurion Murugesan Tirushkamini and Poonam Raut set up a huge total for the hosts to defend in style under lights, a day before Sri Lanka sent a shockwave by upsetting the apple cart of England with a last-ball, one-wicket win. England, led by five-time Cupper Charlotte Edwards, are under tremendous pressure to save their stuttering campaign as a loss to India would almost certainly spell curtains for their hopes of winning back-to-back titles in the most important tournament for women.
The three-time winners and India have fought close bilateral rubbers in recent times with the latter winning 3-2 at home in 2009-10 and England winning the last rubber in their backyard by a similar margin after coming from 0-2 down. In between England won a one-off game at Derby. But the way Lanka played and notched their first-ever win over England in nine ODIs, it must have given Mithali Raj's team a tremendous mental boost. Putting more pressure on the 2009 Cup winners ahead of the game, Mithali today termed England's bowling as "weak". "I think England has a good batting side, but their bowling is weak. They depend on Katherine Brunt a lot. Last year we played England and our batters are comfortable playing their bowlers. We are well prepared," said the India captain. Edwards said, "If we don't win, it is going to be very hard to make it to the super six." As per the format, one team from the group is eliminated and a loss to India will dent England's hopes further if the West Indies beat Sri Lanka in the other game to be held concurrently at the MIG Club in Bandra. Teams (from): England: Charlotte Edwards (captain), Jenny Gunn (vice-captain), Tammy Beaumont, Arran Brindle, Katherine Brunt, Holly Colvin, Georgia Elwiss, Lydia Greenway, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Danielle Wyatt. India: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Ekta Bisht, Amita Dass, Jhulan Goswami, Karuna Jain, Reema Malhotra, Mona Meshram, Thirushkamini Murugesan, Sulakshana Naik, Niranjan Nagarajan, Rasnara Parwin, Poonam Raut, Shubh Lakshmi Sharma, Gouher Sultana. Playing a day game won't be different: Mithali Raj India skipper Mithali Raj is unperturbed about her team playing its first day game in the ICC Women's World Cup against holders England here tomorrow, as she felt it won't make much difference barring some assistance that the bowlers would get in the morning. "I don't think there is a lot to get adjusted to, because it is not real winter, like what we get to see up north where the dew factor or moisture is heavily in the air. Because the matches start at 9 am, there will be a bit of assistance to bowlers, which I saw in yesterday's game. "Other than that, I think the wicket is behaving beautifully in both the innings," Mithali said at the pre-match press conference today at the Cricket Club of India. "I think playing a day game will not affect us much, what we saw was that ball wasn't doing much. Maybe in the initial 4-5 overs, but it was the same throughout the day," she added. India's day game against England follows the day-nighter that the team won easily against the West Indies in their opening Group A match on January 31. The no. 1 ICC-ranked woman cricketer exuded confidence ahead of the important clash and said the team was well prepared to face any situation. “I think England has got a very good batting line-up but I don't think they are very strong in their bowling attack other than Katherine Brunt. They heavily depend on her for the breakthroughs," she said. "We played England last year as well, most of our batsmen are comfortable playing their bowlers. I would say tomorrow is a different game...We are expecting all kinds of situations and we are prepared for everything," she added. Asked if England would come hard after losing against Sri Lanka, Raj said, "I am sure they would field a strong side to play us in tomorrow's game, we are well prepared for it." — PTI
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Johannesburg, February 2
Earlier, Dale Steyn took six for eight as Pakistan collapsed to their lowest Test total of 49. Pakistan's previous lowest innings total was 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002. Steyn, the world leading paceman, recorded his best Test figures at home against a Pakistan batting lineup who were unable to cope with the pace and bounce of a lively Wanderers' pitch. South Africa were dismissed for 253 after winning the toss and electing to bat with Pakistan off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez capturing a career-best four for 16. Steyn dismissed Hafeez in his first over of the day when the opener got a faint edge which went straight through to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers after failing to add to his overnight total of six. Debutant Nasir Jamshed survived a television referral from Vernon Philander when the bowler was convinced he had him lbw, only for the replay to confirm the ball was going over the top. Two balls later, Steyn swung the ball into Jamshed (2) and trapping him in front. The batsman challenged umpire Billy Bowden's decision, but this time Hawk-eye had the ball crashing into the leg stump. Veteran Yoinis Khan lasted just five balls before he pushed forward to a full Steyn delivery and edged to Graeme Smith at first slip without scoring. Forty-two dots ball in a row followed Yoinus's dismissal as Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq tried simply to survive. Ali fell when he received a vicious bouncer from Kallis that was headed for his throat, which he edged to de Villiers behind the stumps. Misbah (12) became Kallis' second victim in controversy after Bowden gave a caught behind decision not out and South Africa reviewed. — Reuters Score board S Africa 1st innings 253 Pakistan 1st innings Hafeez c de Villiers b Steyn 6 Jamshed lbw b Steyn 2 Azhar c de Villiers b Kallis 13 Younis c Smith b Steyn 0 Misbah c de Villiers b Kallis 12 Shafiq c de Villiers b Philander 1 Ahmed c de Villiers b Steyn 2 Gul c Smith b Philander 0 Ajmal c de Villiers b Steyn 1 Junaid not out 8 Rahat c du Plessis b Steyn 0 Extras: (lb 3, w 1) 4 Total: (all out; 29.1 overs) 49 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-12, 3-12, 4-36, 5-37, 6-39, 7-39, 8-40, 9-41 Bowling Philander 9-5-16-2 Steyn 8.1-6-8-6 Morkel 6-3-11-0 Kallis 6-2-11-2 S Africa 1st innings 253 Petersen c Hafeez b Gul 27 Smith c Ahmed b Gul 52 Amla batting 50 Kallis c Shafiq b Ajmal 7 de Villiers batting 63 Extras: (lb 4, w 1, nb 3) 8 Total (3 wkts; 53 overs) 207 Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-87, 3-99 Bowling Gul 9-2-25-2 Junaid 11-1-41-0 Rahat 11-1-44-0 Hafeez 5-0-32-0 Ajmal 16-1-61-1 Younis 1-1-0-0
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Fans shouldn’t suffer in games hit by rain: CA
Melbourne, February 2 CA chief executive James Sutherland wrote to the ICC asking it to instruct its umpires to take a less conservative approach to an issue that is a perennial frustration to cricket fans and broadcasters. "We have been campaigning for a fan-centric approach to managing the resumption of play," said CA spokesman Peter Young, adding that matches should resume as soon as the umpires are satisfied that the ground is not dangerous. "We’re pushing for the umpires to take a very conscious view about putting the fans first. Our concern is that there's an innate tendency among officials towards being ultra-conservative," he added. Sri Lanka was denied a chance to pocket the ODI series last month after the umpires called off the fourth ODI. — ANI
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Gillespie warns of England threat
Sydney, February 2 Gillespie, who took 259 wickets in 71 tests between 1996 and 2005, is well-placed to comment on the strength of the English game given he is currently coach of the Yorkshire county side. “They are incredibly confident over here but they deserve to start favourites, England, no doubt about it,” Gillespie told the Australian newspaper on Saturday. “I think potentially they could underestimate our bowling. I've been speaking about it quite regularly over here and saying, 'Don't underestimate the strength of Australia's pace bowling attack'. “But England won't underestimate Australia. They're too clever for that and I know the England management has already been doing a lot of research. “They've been planning and researching for a long time. I've got no doubt they'll be wary.” Australia have brought on a band of young seamers ready to take on their arch-rivals home and away with the likes of James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Jackson Bird causing much excitement. Gillespie was quick to remind his countrymen that the English bowling unit so crucial to the 3-1 victory in the last Ashes series remained intact and ready to confront an Australian batting order without Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey. “England's bowling is very good at the moment,” he said. “Coming up against the Australians, they will rightly feel they're in the game.” — Reuters
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Punjab, Ranchi play out a draw Ranchi, February 2 Warriors had goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann to keep them in the game, with the Dutchman making at least 10 saves in the match. He was declared Man-of-the-Match for his effort. Warriors started the match well, and entered the Rhinos’ D twice in the first five minutes. Rhinos responded by making their own move, but neither of the goalkeeper was really tested. Warriors earned their first penalty corner in the 10th minute, when SV Sunil was checked by Kothajit. The first drag flick hit the rusher’s leg, resulting in another penalty corner. The second one, struck by Christopher Cirielo, was brilliantly saved by Cortes. Malak Singh eventually put the visitors ahead in the 14th minute. Robert Hammond made a hard long pass, and Malak Singh was in the right place to just deflect the ball past Cortes. Rhinos entered the Warriors circle regularly, and most part of the quarter was played in Warriors half. The equaliser just looked like a matter of time, and eventually arrived in the 33rd minute. A good counter was started by Birendra Lakra, who gave the ball to Nick Wilson. Wilson did the spade work, attracted defenders and passed the ball right in front of the goal, where Mandeep Singh made a diving connection to beat Jaap Stockmann. — TNS
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resilience of debutant Purav Raja to clinch the doubles rubber to keep alive the hopes against South Korea in the Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie at the R.K.Khanna stadium.
Leander and Raja quelled the challenge of Lim Young-Kyu and Sun Nam 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in two hours and 25 minutes to revive the Indian chances.
Australian captain Michael Clarke and former skipper Ricky Ponting are likely to attract most attention when the nine franchises sit for the players' auction of the Indian Premier League 6 here tomorrow.
While 101 players will go under the hammer during the auction, which will be only for the next edition, Clarke and
Ponting, who are in the highest base price bracket of USD 400,000 (approx Rs 2.1
crore) will be the sought after players.
