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champions trophy
Pride is what Pakistan will play for
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Of war minus the guns and warriors with willows
BCCI won’t change stand on DRS, says Patel
Saina storms into semis
Mickelson holds on to lead after Donald bogeys
NBA star Chris Bosh to visit India
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Damp squib, not quite
The India-Pak contest, though inconsequential, is still a matter of life and death for the fans Rohit Mahajan in England As far as damp squibs go, this India-Pakistan match is perhaps the dampest of them all. Never in recent memory has so little or nothing hung on the result of a contest between the two teams. In the context of the tournament, they have nothing to fight for. India are through to the semifinals after their two wins, Pakistan out of the tournament after their two losses. This contest, though, is still a matter of life and death for the fans of the two teams. India have beaten Pakistan all five times they have played in the World Cup, from 1992; but in the Champions Trophy, Pakistan have won the two matches they’ve played. This being the last Champions Trophy tournament, India have the one final opportunity to correct this statistic. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq knows that he needs to win this to wash away the pain of the fans, and get himself some breathing space. He hasn’t done too badly as a batsman, actually — he’s scored 96 and 55 in the team’s two defeats; Nasir Jamshed has contributed 50 and 42. The rest of the batsmen have contributed zilch. these two have made 243 of Pakistan’s 337 runs in the two matches -- that’s a staggering 72 percent. If your two batsmen make such a large proportion of runs in two low-scoring matches, you have not an earthly chance of winning. Cruise mode
India seem to be poles apart from Pakistan. Shikhar Dhawan has dazzled with two centuries in two matches, Rohit Sharma has made two half-centuries. Captain Mahendra Dhoni today said that his team is perhaps the best fielding side in the tournament — that’s not what Dhoni has been able to say ever before. The bowling is not fearsome, though, and the pacers have leaked runs towards the end of the innings. “We have seen if there's a bit of help for the fast bowlers, even our fast bowlers can come back in the game, bowl really well in the middle overs,” Dhoni said today. Misbah indicated that he won’t the change the XI for this match. “You can’t do things, even in these sort of circumstances, you can't just take decisions in a panic situation,” he said. “We need to just think about it, plan it, about how we're going to go about the future.” Yet, the criticism has been so intense that Misbah could be forced to make a change or two, if only to pacify fans with some illusion of penalty for failing players. The bowlers have been quite good, and even the fielders, surprisingly. But the batting might be tweaked a bit. Imran Farhat, with four runs from two innings, looks like a good candidate to be dropped; Asad Shafiq could come in for him, and Kamran Akmal or Mohammad Hafeez could open with Jamshed. This could be an opportunity for Dhoni to experiment a bit with the team, but he’s unlikely to do that -- he wouldn’t wish to be beaten by Pakistan, even if it would have no real impact on the team’s fortunes. It was miserably cold and windy today, and it rained in the afternoon, and the Indians trained indoors. Later, though, it became sunny and warm. The forecast for tomorrow includes a spell of rain in the second half of the day. This could result in a delay, or even a washout if the rain doesn’t go away.
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Pride is what Pakistan will play for
Birmingham, June 14 Yet, as the team warms up before nets, the usual jokes and banter fly around. The gangling Mohammad Irfan, over seven feet tall and perhaps unable to sight the ball at his feet from that great height, shows the least dexterity as a footballer and elicits laughter all through. “Pass the ball between his legs” is a regular cry among the players as they make him run around in circles. They actually manage to pass the ball through his legs! All of them seem cheerful enough, laughing and joking and smiling at you — but they seem nervous and edgy, too. They know that a cascade of criticism, already building up in Pakistan, is going to descend upon them the moment they get back home. The team officials are polite and friendly as they greet and approach the Pakistani media — the officials seem to be conciliatory and eager to please the press. “They want to soften us, you see,” says a Pakistani journalist. “There's been such criticism of the team's performance. The officials are not often so friendly to us, but now they want to make sure that we don't criticize them too much. But we will criticize them!” There are usual theories about why the team hasn't done well. It's a divided unit, believe some fans and journalists. “The team management encourages this,” they say. “When you have three-four captains, former or current, in the team, how can they be united?” As evidence of unequal treatment by the management, they cite some rumours that have been doing the rounds here. It seems that Shoaib Malik was allowed to bring his wife, tennis player Sania Mirza, to stay with him in the team hotel. “But the captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, wasn't allowed to bring his wife to stay with him, and so she had to put up with some relatives,” says a journalist. This is quite difficult to confirm, even for the Pakistan media; but this, and more such talk of disunity in the team, are symptoms of the distrust and irrationality teams from the Indian subcontinent often arouse. When Pakistan lost to South Africa here three days ago, they came in for a fair bit of stick. In fact, the crowd seemed so restive and dangerous to the team security official, he advised the players to stay in and allow the fans to disperse. The team bus was to pass through the crowd, and eventually the players came out of the dressing room and managed to leave without the violence the security man feared. The fans shouted vile abuse at them, and some of them threw plastic bottles at the team bus. “I know a friend, a restaurant owner, who bought a ticket for the India-Pakistan match a few days ago for £180,” says a fan, Jamal. “But he says he's not going to come to the match. He's disgusted with the cricket these players have dished up.” At the Ladypool Road region of the city, which has a very large expatriate population, there's anger against the team. “They were not even trying to win, that's the worst part,” says a shop-owner, clearly angry. The south Asian fans are notoriously fickle, though; a win against India would lead to unconditional forgiveness for the Pakistani players. Misbah-ul-Haq is clearly hoping for that.
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Of war minus the guns and warriors with willows
Birmingham, June 14 “When we picked up cricket or any individual picks up any sport, it’s more for enjoyment,” Dhoni mused today, perhaps thinking about the heavy investment of nationalism and jingoism into a team’s fortunes. He said when kids start playing any sport, they just want to have fun. “Nobody really thinks at the early stages that it will be his career where he will earn money,” he added. But, if you’re good enough, you play for your town and then state; then if your very, very good, you play for your country — it’s at this stage that a curious transformation occurs. From being just a boy who can hit the ball beautifully or spin it a mile, you become a national warrior. You become the repository of the hopes of a nation; you get lionized when you win. Your are hated when you lose — in the Indian subcontinent, the odds are high that a particularly severe defeat, to a particular opponent, could lead to your effigies being burnt, or your house being attacked. One such opponent for India is Pakistan — and vice versa. These contests become more than sport. Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, when asked if the intensity and the aggression is going out of India-Pakistan matches, said: “Kal dekhna aakar — just watch tomorrow what happens!” Wouldn’t it be nicer if the heavy symbolism is stripped off these games and the match is treated as nothing more than a sporting contest? “It's a very difficult one to answer,” Dhoni said. “If you see why cricketers are so popular, the reason is that the fan following is such. So it's important that you take it in a positive way because it will be very difficult to change the thinking.” “But I always talk about looking at stuff which is in our control and stuff that's beyond our control. This is definitely something that's beyond our control,” he added. “So it's very important that we set our own expectation level. We try to do well in each and every game, because I think the expectation of the fans in India, it will only go up a level.” “I've never seen it come down, right from 2004 December when I made my debut,” he added. “So I think it's a good thing, it really pushes us all the time to keep doing well. But it's very important to manage ourselves, especially when we are not doing really well. You are representing your country, and you want to do well for yourself and your country.” Dhoni said it’s not possible for the intensity to go down. One only has to make the best of this unwelcome situation — you’re forever going to be regarded as nothing less than warriors with bats.
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Cardiff, June 14 Earlier Opener Colin Ingram struck a fluent half-century while David Miller played an unbeaten cameo of 38 as South Africa posted a formidable 230 for six against the West Indies. South Africa's fifth-wicket pair of Miller and Faf du Plessis (32-ball 35) put on display some sensational strokeplay at the business end of the innings and added 68 runs in just 48 deliveries to put their side in the driver's seat. From 153 for four in the 23rd over, both took their side to 221 for five as the last five overs yielded 52 runs for the Proteas. Miller's unbeaten knock of 38 was laced with three huge sixes and a four while Plessis decorated his useful innings with three fours and a six. Ingram hit 63-ball 73 laced with six fours and two sixes while skipper AB de Villiers hit a 25-ball 37 after South Africa were invited to bat first under overcast conditions at Sophia Gardens. The match was reduced by 19 overs each way, with the Powerplay adjusted to nine overs a side. Brief scores: SA 230 for 6 (Ingram 73, Bravo 2-43); West Indies: 190/6 (Samuels 48, Gayle 36) — PTI
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BCCI won’t change stand on DRS, says Patel
New Delhi, June 14 “There is no question of agreeing upon the uniform implementation of the DRS. India's stand has been very clear from the onset and we are against the use of DRS in Test series. There will be no change in our stand at the ICC Annual Conference in London,” Patel, who will be attending the CEO's meet during the Annual Conference, told PTI today. Patel also said that technically BCCI is not in a position to change its point of view on the DRS issue. “It was an unanimous decision taken by the Working Committee that BCCI will be opposing DRS as we don't find it foolproof. If we have to change our stand then it needs to be ratified by the Working Committee which hasn't been done in this case. So the question of agreeing with DRS doesn't arise as it doesn't have the approval of the working committee,” Patel explained. Asked whether BCCI will be able to withstand the pressure from ICC regarding the implementation, Patel countered, “How can they just think of imposing something unilaterally on BCCI? It doesn't work like that.” On a different note, when Patel was asked about the progress of the Ravi Sawani commission, he answered, “Next week, Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Siddharth Trivedi will be summoned by Mr Sawani to depose before him. Once they have presented their side of the story, Sawani will be submitting the report to t he BCCI disciplinary committee.” ‘Don’t blame players for all ills’
Continuing his tirade against the Cricket Board, former BCCI President I S Bindra has said that the players alone should not be blamed for bringing disrepute to the sport. “We should not give the impression that the players are solely responsible for all malefactions and corruption in the game. I suggested that we should start the clean-up operations at the very top and the administrators should set the example by agreeing for public probity, thus standing up for ethical behaviour and higher moral standards,” Bindra wrote on his blog. Bindra said the board's top officials have no moral right to preach to cricketers when they themselves are facing charges of “conflict of interests”. |
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Jakarta, June 14 It was considerably an easy outing for Saina, who won the tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2012, triumphing in her first ever encounter against Carolina. The World No.2, who had also reached the 2011 final, won 21-16, 21-19 in 39 minutes. Saina took time to get into the groove in the first game rallying more than usual. But once she found her rhythm, the Indian found legs to move ahead into the lead and eventually win the game against the World No.27. From 12-all, Saina bagged nine points to Carolina’s four, hitting more clear winners than her opponent. The Spaniard, however, matched her much experienced opponent when it came to smashes and also at the net. The Spaniard was more formidable in the second game, leading from the start. Saina equalised the game at 10-all but Carolina again extended the lead. From 16-15, the unseeded Spaniard then won three points to get closer to sealing the game. But Saina used all her experience by winning the next six points to bag the game and match. In the semifinal, Saina will face World No.3 Juliane Schenk of Germany. Men bow out
However, it was the end of the road for men’s singles shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, who lost their respective quarterfinal matches. — IANS |
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Mickelson holds on to lead after Donald bogeys
Ardmore, June 14 Donald reached four-under par after 13 holes by making birdies on his last three holes before darkness fell Thursday, when two thunderstorms stopped play at Merion for about four hours and 15 minutes. But when the round resumed Friday morning, Donald faced the toughest five holes on the layout in cold conditions with wind from the north rather than the south as it had on Thursday and he took bogeys at the par-4 16th and 18th. “I misread both putts,” Donald said. “I thought they were slightly right to left and they broke well left. I thought I had that one at 18.” — Agencies
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As far as damp squibs go, this India-Pakistan match is perhaps the dampest of them all. Never in recent memory has so little or nothing hung on the result of a contest.
71
matches have been won by Pakistan & 49 lost in 124 ODIs between the two teams. 4 matches did not produce a result.
