Hyderabad, March 6
Today, the fifth day of the second Test, the Australians batted with robustness and strategy on the worn-out fifth-day pitch. The batsmen handled whatever the spinners could throw at them with confidence and skill.

They tried to use their feet, attempted different shots. Sadly, though, it was only a case of the mice playing among themselves while the cat was away. After winning the Indian team members had dispersed and departed for their hometowns yesterday. The Australians, thus, had the ground all to themselves, and they played among themselves.

When they started at 74/2 yesterday morning, the Australians desperately wanted to be still playing on the fifth day of the Test. But they didn’t last the morning session itself. But their desire to play on the fifth day was fulfilled, after all, when they practised batting against spin, and bowling it, for over 90 minutes today.

Xavier Doherty, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Moises Henriques and Michael Clarke all had a bowl. James Pattinson and Peter Siddle, their two main pace bowlers, were missing from action.

Also missing was Matthew Hayden, the former Australian opener who is in India as a commentator; he had spent time with the team yesterday,apparently advising them about playing on Indian conditions. He had flown to Mumbai yesterday. Hayden has scored 1027 runs in India at an average of 51.35, over three tours.

He’s eminently eligible to advise strugglers to play in India. He seemed to be doing this with the batsmen yesterday, after they started practising in the middle soon after the match ended.

But Mickey Arthur, the Australian coach, sought to play down Hayden’s role yesterday. “Nah, he was just standing around there,” Arthur said today. “Sure, a couple of guys went up to Matthew Hayden and got some advice. I’m not sure.” Arthur was more enthusiastic about learning from the Indian batsmen.

He said that watching the Indians bat in the first innings here was a great lesson.

“I’ve asked our batsmen to learn from the way Pujara and Vijay played,” he said of the two men who formed the cornerstone of the Indian innings with a 370-run partnership. “The way they went about their innings was a lesson to all our batters about playing in these conditions.” “You know, they scored 47 runs in Session One on that day (second day of the match), 106 in the next session and because they were still batting, they scored 150 in the last session of the day,” Arthur said with grim admiration. “If you’re still batting you can get to score a lot of runs but you need to bat till tea. They were a very, very good example to our batsmen on how to go about an innings in the subcontinent.”

He also said that Clarke is the captain and batsman the team respects a great deal; he said the players listen to him because of what he’s done in these conditions. “We had a chat with our batsmen about forming a partnership, investing in other batsmen... He was just doing that today,” Arthur said.

“When Michael talks, the other players listen. He went out of his way to make sure he connected with every batsman, gave them every bit of advice he could and help them through their net session today.” “We just want to keep improving our batsmen against spin,” the man most often described as ‘genial’ went on. “When India comes to Australia, we take them to the WACA (the ground with the fast wicket at Perth) and India get to bat there. It’s exactly the same for us here. Our players are still young, they’re still learning. For them to get out there and practice on day-five wicket... You don’t buy that kind of experience.”

Hyderabad, March 6
Desperate to claw their way back in the series, Australia's chief coach Mickey Arthur today said they were not averse to the idea of making a few changes in the playing eleven if that can bring good result for them.

Australia have suffered back-to-back defeats and they need to win the last games two retain the Gavaskar-Border trophy.

“Look, I would be lying if I say that we are not contemplating changes. We do have to reassess the whole situation. We have got two Tests to stay in the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which is big thing for us. We would try to assess and field the best possible team to win and if that means making changes, we surely will," Arthur replied when asked about the composition of the team for the third Test, beginning in Mohali from March 14.

The coach tried to put up a brave face and said that the morale of the team is 'very good' despite huge defeats. “As a team, we have to work really hard for a turnaround but morale is very good at the moment. We have done some soul searching last night and guys have come back strongly.”

The chief coach also defended an out-of-form Shane Watson, who hasn't yet made any significant contributions in the four innings he has played so far.

“It becomes a case of balance for him (Watson) now. He has decided to put all eggs in one basket. When he was bowling, he was our No. 1 allrounder and now he is among the top six batsmen and he knows his responsibilities. He has played well so far without excelling. He knows that and aware of that. I think we are all waiting for a big innings from him and nobody knows that better than Shane (Watson),” he said.

Shane Warne had spoken to spinners after the Chennai Test and told them that his bowling average here is 45. Arthur was asked that whether such a comment had a demoralising effect on the bowlers, he answered in negative.

“Shane (Warne) gave us some good information which was great. Certainly it added value and didn’t play (negatively) on our minds. About Mathew Hayden, he has definitely given some advice to the batsmen.” Arthur feels that the nine-day break will help the players “reflect on their game” and comeback fresher.

“The two days off will give us a chance to reflect as to how we can retain the trophy." Asked whether the team lacks skill or patience, he answered, “Neither of them. Aussies need to have a look at the way Pujara and Vijay batted. It's a lesson for our batsmen. They scored 47 (49) in the first session, 106 in the second and because they were batting till tea, they scored 150 in the final.”— Agencies

Melbourne, March 6
"Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad yesterday?", the Australian media asked today in the wake of their team's humiliating defeat at the hands of India.

The team's capitulation to India's spinners in the second Test was described as "the Hyderabad horror show" on a "dark day" for Australian cricket. "It was, without doubt, a crime scene and one that Australian cricket fans should not have had to witness. The saddest thing about yesterday's capitulation was that the Australians weren't mugged - this was an act of self-harm," the 'Australian' wrote.

The paper said that none of the batsmen except captain Michael Clarke looked to take the fight into the Indian camp. "Suicide cults have displayed more resolve than the procession of batsmen who walked to the middle and volunteered to drink the cordial yesterday.

"..The captain owns the two highest scores of this series by an Australian (130 and 91) and posted both of them in the critical first innings when the running needed to be made. "Unfortunately his pale warriors don't have the legs to go with their skipper. Some join him for a couple of kilometres here or there, but none can go the distance. Nor do any seem intent on forming a partnership without him."

The critical write-up added that if Clarke wept when Ricky Ponting left the team, he must have felt a "sense of dread when Michael Hussey followed at summer's end".

Another newspaper 'Herald Sun' writes, "THIS is not the crisis Australian cricket was meant to have. Not with the Ashes 16 weeks away. In a dark day for Australian cricket, the Hyderabad horror show was over by lunch on day four."

It added that Rajiv Gandhi Stadium resembled a "cricketing abattoir" yesterday as a slew of "Australian batsmen batted like meandering Brown's cows before meeting a swift 237-minute execution". A report in the Sudney Morning Herald said the time has for Clarke to take some tough decisions.

... after consecutive drubbings in India? It is time for Clarke to get his hands dirty. To move out of the comfort zone. Choose your cliche. Until now, we have indulged a fantasy in which Australia would find four batsmen who could hold up an end until Clarke had time to fasten the pads. Thus, Clarke's tardy arrival would be demoralising for a beleaguered opposition. That fantasy has exploded like the bowlers' foot marks at Roland Chennai.

Hyderabad, March 6
Virender Sehwag is averaging nine from his three innings in the series so far and looks the likeliest man to be dropped (or ‘rested’) when the selectors pick up the squad for the final two Test matches against Australia.

The selectors were to announce the team for the final two Tests “after” the Hyderabad Test — that would be yesterday, but the buzz is that the team would now be announced tomorrow. Sehwag scored a century on his Test debut in South Africa in November 2001.

Exactly 12 years after that Bloemfontein knock of 105 — which came while batting at No. 6 — India would tour that country. Sehwag’s immediate and long-term future with the Indian team is likely to depend on what the selectors think of his role in that country later that year.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni was asked about Sehwag’s future, the captain didn’t answer directly. He said: “We will be touring abroad and we don’t have that many Test matches after this series. In between we hardly play any Test matches and we go off to South Africa. So we will have to wait and watch.”

This comment could be interpreted in favour of Sehwag’s inclusion in the squad, and against it too.

One, Dhoni could have suggested that India would need an experienced opening batsman against a fast bowling attack that’s probably the world’s most formidable right now — comprising Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. Dhoni possibly meant that India would need Sehwag against this attack. Two, Dhoni could have meant that since India don’t play any Tests between the last two against Australia and the ones against South Africa, a new opener must be tested in home conditions.

This is exactly what former captain Rahul Dravid believes should be done. “I think it makes sense to try out another youngster, or try out another opener, and give him the opportunity to play at least a couple of Test matches in more familiar conditions, before going to South Africa,” Dravid said today. “I think it will be unfair on any young opener to be asked to go to South Africa straightaway, and play against the likes of Steyn, Philander and Morkel.” He also suggested that it might be a good idea to move Sehwag into the middle order. “If they are going to look ahead, I think there could be a realistic possibility of Sehwag coming into the middle order,” Dravid said.

“You know if opportunities open up at some stage, maybe Sachin is going to move on, then I think Viru is the man with the experience to be able to come in and bat in the middle order. He has said in the past that he would like to, and that could be an option.”

In his last 21 innings, Sehwag has made one century and two fifties; he did score a century in the win over England in November last year, but after that his innings have been disconcertingly brief — 25, 30, 9, 23, 49, 0, 19, 2 and 6.

And despite his debut century in South Africa, Sehwag’s record in that country is far from encouraging. Overall against South Africa, Sehwag averages 50.23 — on the back of that triple century in Chennai in 2008. But in South Africa, his average falls to 25.46 in eight Tests. On India’s last tour of that country, in 2010-11, he had scores of 0, 63, 25, 32, 13, 11. Dravid makes sense when he says that India must decide quickly whether they’d open with Sehwag in South Africa.

“I think the selectors and management need to decide whether they are going to open with Viru in South Africa,” Dravid said.

“I mean Viruplaying well, Viru at his best, is a great asset to any side, but the reality is that he hasn't been performing particularly well, and he hasn't really done well on overseas trips over the last two or three years. If they feel confident about opening with Sehwag in South Africa, then I think it makes sense to continue with Sehwag and give him the opportunity to get that confidence.” he added.

New Delhi, March 6
With less than a month to go for the sixth edition of the IPL, the nine franchises today announced their registered squads for the cash-rich event, starting April 3 in Kolkata.

After procuring players at the IPL Player Auction, through transfers and signing local and uncapped players, the teams have submitted the core groups that will represent them in the 2013 season.

"There are less than four weeks left for the start of the Pepsi IPL 2013. This period will witness a lot of practice and the planning of strategies by the teams, as they prepare to go all out to win. The stage is set for an extraordinary tournament," IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said after accepting the teams' registered squads.

Chandigarh, March 6
The Anurag Thakur-led Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) is fast losing ground — literally so! — in the state.

In an abrupt decision by the incumbent Congress regime, the government has decided to annul the land lease for the Nurpur stadium. Though no official reasons have come forward, neither has the cricket association been intimated as of now.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh made an announcement to this effect in Nurpur on Tuesday.

But sources say that the cricket body had been aggressively carrying on construction work and expanding the stadium. An estimated Rs 3 crore was to be spent on revamping the stadium with a plan to re-lay the pitch later. Though the stadium has not hosted any List A or first class matches till now, plans were afoot to give it a distinct HPCA stamp. “Probably this has not gone down well with the state government,” said an HPCA source.

Only a year ago, the PK Dhumal-led BJP government had roped in the sports department and the HPCA in an agreement to develop the ground as a cricket stadium with a 99-year lease.

But now the Congress government has a change its mind and wants to develop it as a multi-purpose sports facility. “HPCA has not received any intimation regarding the annulment. We were developing it as a cricket stadium. The stadium was being revamped and expanded but the government has different views,” said Sanjay Sharma, HPCA secretary.

Terming it a big loss for cricket, he said that if the people of the region want a cricket stadium here, they will pursue the matter. “We do not want to politicise the issue,” he said on Wednesday.

Already, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet decision is pending on the HPCA luxury hotel at Dharamshala where cricket teams stay during matches. The hotel is also under the scanner over allocation of land by the previous BJP government. 

London, March 6
Emboldened by comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney was in such a position of strength at Manchester United in 2010 that he took on manager Alex Ferguson and won a lucrative new contract.

At that time, Rooney was at the peak of his powers, easily English football’s star player. He seemed to believe he was too good for United, that the club wasn’t matching his ambitions.

Less than three years later and the opposite may be true.

Ferguson’s decision to drop Rooney now behind Robin van Persie in the pecking order for Tuesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid has left some to question the striker’s future at Old Trafford.

New Delhi, March 6
Gradually gaining in confidence after increased exposure, Indian cyclists will be pitted against the region’s best when the 33rd Asian Championships begin here on Thursday. The 33rd senior and 20th junior Championships will roll out in two venues till March 17.

The track events will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium’s velodrome followed by the road races at the Buddh International Circuit.

Over 50, of the 800 in fray from 29 countries, are expected to be Indians, whose first and only medal in the event, a silver in the women’s team pursuit, came in 2005 when the country hosted the event in Ludhiana.

The quartet of Chandrasekar Rajesh, Amarjit Singh, Amrit Singh and Bikram Singh, who created history by qualifying for the World Championships for only the second time ever, would be the best bets for India in the men’s contest.

All four of them have inspiring stories of struggle and triumph to tell and they would be hoping to go that extra mile in terms of timings and results when they get on their cycles in front of home fans.

Of these, Rajesh did not even know whether he would walk again, leave alone ride a cycle after a fatal head injury during a training session in 2012. He was in coma for 10 days before his father inspired him back to life and cycling.

“When I suffered the injury, I didn’t have any hope about ever racing in the future. All credit to my father for inspiring me to make a comeback,” says the Tamil Nadu-lad, who began the year with a bang by winning the Chandigarh Cyclothon. — PTI