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Speed has no thrill for India pacers
Skipper Dhoni gives No. 4 spot to Raina
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Hussey eats his words, apologises to Srini
Flip of a coin sends North Zone into Duleep Trophy final
Golden oldie Babar puts Pak on top despite Amla’s ton
INDIA
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denmark
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Surjit
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Speed has no thrill for India pacers
Pune, October 14 First up, Mitchell Johnson bowled at such a bristling speed, touched 155kmph at least once, that Indian cricket fans must have felt a tad embarrassed at their own fast bowling stocks. And then, the Australian skipper George Bailey’s gleeful remark that “Mitchell was brilliant … he intimidated the Indian batsmen with his blistering pace” added insult to injury. So the question to which we have no answer most of the time reared its head again – why can’t our pacers bowl quick enough to be called fast bowlers in real sense of the term? A few reasonably quick speedsters, of course, do come around once in a while, but they somehow either lose pace or simply give it up, fearing that extra load on the sinews is an invitation to injuries. “Get these fast bowlers from abroad to bowl on dead Indian pitches for a season or two, and you will see them bowling at half their pace within no time,” snapped an India bowler, who too lost/dropped considerable pace, during a private conversation. Height and physique
Be that as it may, their counterparts from Pakistan, where pitches are even flatter than in India, seem immune to this drastic-drop-in-pace malady afflicting the Indian pacers. Good height and big frame, to which Pakistan’s inexhaustible supply of world class pacers is loosely attributed to, are prerequisite for anyone wanting to intimidate batsmen, unless of course one is Malcolm Marshall or Dale Steyn. Sunday’s game reinforced the fact as the likes of Clint McKay and Shane Watson, bowling at almost the same speed as their Indian counterparts, looked more effective. “We don’t have fast bowlers, we have swing bowlers. Their bowlers who bowl at similar speed as our bowlers look more effective as they get disconcerting bounce owing to height and use of shoulders,” explained Dhoni. Little Hope
With no genuine quick, except for Umesh Yadav, breaking through via the wide-ranging domestic structure, the BCCI, about a year back, cast its net even wider by holding bowling trials for those who were not playing official cricket at any level. The effort apparently bore little fruit; one would have heard about it if it had unearthed some real talent. “We did find some good talent and they are playing for their state teams,” said Yoginder Puri, part of the three-member panel —Sandeep Patil and Karsan Ghavri being the other two — that conducted the trials in Dharamsala, Jammu, Meerut and Ranchi. That explains the success (or the lack of it) the first of its kind talent-spotting had; the BCCI obviously didn’t go literally out of the way to unearth state-level bowlers. So, with little promise within and outside the system, one could do nothing but wait and watch the bowlers from opposition teams “intimidating their batsmen”.
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Skipper Dhoni gives No. 4 spot to Raina Pune, October 14 The suspense over the spot in the ODIs is however over with MS Dhoni making it clear that Suresh Raina would get shot at the spot for a considerable time in the near future. For those who thought the spot automatically belongs to Yuvraj Singh, here’s Dhoni’s rationale for giving the UP left-hander a big promotion. “Right now Yuvraj is the only batsman who has batted at No 4 position for a considerable period of time with some success. We don’t want to go into the 2015 World Cup with no alternative for that spot, just in case Yuvraj is not available for some reason. So we want to give Raina an ample opportunity between now and then to get used to it.” Raina, who has batted for much of his career at No 5 and No 6, will need to check his almost compulsive urge to play a big shot every now and then to succeed at his new position. On Sunday, for instance, he and Kohli were doing just fine before he got impatient and played a reckless stroke. “He has played at No 6 for a long time, hence those instinctive shots,” offered Dhoni. Nevertheless, it will take some effort, both temperament and technique wise, to come good at the new spot for the left-hander. For Yuvraj, though, the move would probably make little difference for he has been more successful at No 5 and No 6 than at No 4.
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Hussey eats his words, apologises to Srini
New Delhi, October 14 In his book — Underneath The Southern Cross — CSK opener and former Australia batsman Hussey has said that the Chennai IPL team owner and BCCI president N Srinivasan had handed the control of the franchise to his son-in-law Gurunath. But, Hussey backtracked his assertion, saying that he was not completely clear about Gurunath's position in the CSK team, according to a report. “Certainly Guru was around the team a lot. I knew he was talking to Kepler (Wessels, Super Kings' coach in IPL 2008) and the players, and we saw him at training and at the hotel. I didn't know what his official title was but he was around the team quite often. I probably may have written the wrong thing,” Hussey was quoted as saying. “I knew he was a close part of the team, no question about that, and I saw him around the team pretty much every day. (But) I am certainly not going to question the word of Mr Srinivasan. I think he would know a lot better than me about who is running the show. So maybe I got that a little bit wrong,” he insisted. Hussey also said that he has met Srinivasan and has apologised. Stating that he has cleared the air with Srinivasan when he met him during a team dinner, Hussey said, “We had a team dinner where Mr Srinivasan came along. I spoke to him very briefly about it and apologised if I caused him any grief. “He was fine and said, 'No, don't worry, it is all fine. There is no issue with all you said. It was all written before all the controversies came out, anyway. You don't have anything to worry about.” Hussey said he hoped to be associated with the CSK in some capacity even after he stops playing. “I certainly hope not (that the comments in his book would affect his relationship with the franchise). I have a fantastic rapport with everyone at CSK. I get on very well with the coach and players,” said Hussey. — PTI
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Flip of a coin sends North Zone into Duleep Trophy final
Kochi, October 14 With no first innings lead to look at due to relentless rain on the fourth day and soggy conditions on the reserve fifth day, luck sided with North Zone today when the coin was used to pick the winner. North Zone will clash against South Zone in the final here from October 17 to 21. No play was possible on the entire fourth day or the reserved fifth day of the match. North Zone, after opting to bat, declared their first innings at 591 for eight and in reply East reached 32 for one at stumps on day three. With the fourth day's play washed out, there was a chance for a result on the fifth day but there was no play possible today as well. Having lost a lot of sessions due to bad weather and outfield, there was no way a first innings lead could have been decided through play. After the match was called off by the umpires following a number of inspections today, it was a matter of pure luck as the fate of the teams was be decided by the toss of coin. The coin landed in North Zone skipper Harbhajan's favour. Earlier in the day, there was a shower and the two umpires — Pashchim Pathak and Suresh Shastri — decided to have an inspection at 11.00 am. The duo inspected the ground at the alloted time for the second time but were still not happy with the adjoining areas close to the square. They took a good look of the entire ground and decided to have one more inspection after lunch at 1:00pm. Finally, the match was called off after 2.30pm. — PTI
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Golden oldie Babar puts Pak on top despite Amla’s ton
Abu Dhabi, October 14 Amla, ranked the world's best batsman, provided another innovative display to hit 118 not out while most of his team mates showed some ring rustiness after 10 months without test cricket. Spinner Zulfiqar, who became the second oldest debutant for Pakistan, took three wickets in the final session to turn the match back his side's way after Amla had led a South African fightback at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The seamers took three wickets in the opening session but Pakistan lost the initiative between lunch and tea with a bizarre run-out of AB de Villiers their only success. Then, as the pitch began to turn, Zulfiqar ended a 95-run partnership for the fifth wicket by dismissing JP Duminy. — PTI Brief Scores South Africa: 245 for 8 (Amla 118*, Duminy 57, Babar 3-89) v Pakistan
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INDIA
open Tribune news service New Delhi, October 14 Shivam Arora was the only Indian who pushed his opponent, Anthony McGill, before losing 3-4, while the others gave in without a fight. National champion Manan Chandra failed to take his chances and lost 1-4 to Robbie Williams. While Kamal Chawla lost 1-4 to Rod Lawler, Faisal Khan lost to Paul Davison with an identical score line. Sandeep Gulati was a complete dud against Jeff Cundy, as the latter cruised to a 4-0 victory with three half-century breaks. Chandra seemed to be in good touch, but made mistakes at crucial junctures. The 32-year old from Delhi sparkled briefly when he took the fourth frame with breaks of 32 and 45, but Williams, ranked 73, took the fifth to close-out the match. “Robbie played a fine all-round game and made better use of the chances, while I made mistakes at crucial stages. Overall, I was happy with the way I played, though it could have been better,” said Chandra. In the main draw, serious action unfolded when World No.1 Neil Robertson (Australia) potted three century breaks of 103 in the first, second and fifth frames to rout Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham 4-1 in a first round match, while Mark Joyce swept past fellow Englishman Sean O’Sullivan 4-0 with a 114 break in the fourth frame. Thailand’s Dechawat Poomjaeng shut out higher-ranked Ryan Day of England 4-2 to author the first upset of the tournament. Even though Day fought back from 0-2 to 2-2, the Thai wrapped up the match by posting breaks of 52 and 58 in the fifth and sixth frames. Results Main draw (first round): Lawler w/o Allister Carter (Emg); Neil Robertson (Aus) b Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) 4-1; Mark Joyce (Eng) b Sean O’Sullivan (Eng) 4-0; Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha) b Ryan Day (Eng) 4-2.
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denmark
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Odense (Denmark), Oct 14 “I am the defending champion in Denmark. It will be tough but I am ready for the challenge of defending the title,” Saina told PTI. “I have been in good form in the IBL. I will give my 100 per cent and I hope to do well in Denmark,” added the fourth seeded Indian, who will open her campaign against Bulgaria’s Stefani Stoeva, ranked 58 in World, on Wednesday. The World number four Indian was in supreme form in the inaugural IBL as she finished the tournament unbeaten, having won all seven of her matches.She skipped a few tournaments after that to shake off the tiredness and has now regained her strength to compete with the best. “After the IBL, I was tired but I had a good break and I trained hard for the last one and half months and I am fit now,” Saina said. The 23-year-old has not been in the best of form this season and also had some injury concerns and it reflected in her performance as she could only manage quarterfinals and semifinals. So, if she can defend the crown here, it would be her first title of the year. It won’t be an easy ride as Saina is likely to face World No. 6 Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea in the quarters and if she keeps her 4-0 record intact then she is expected to be up against top seed Chinese Li Xuerui, who will start her campaign against India’s Arundhati Pantawane. Another Indian in women’s singles, World Championships bronze medallist P V Sindhu will face a difficult opponent in World No. 17 Eriko Hirose of Japan in the first round. If the world number 10 Indian can get past her, Sindhu is likely to face World No. 2 and World Champion Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand in the quarterfinals. National chief coach Pullela Gopichand’s advise to his wards is to not look at the draw and play freely. — PTI
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Surjit
Hockey Rachna Khaira
Jalandhar, October 14 Punjab (India) girls took the lead quickly into the match when Navjeet Kaur scored but Pakistan girls equalised within five minutes with the goal from Asma Ashraf. Thereafter, like a magical spell, Sukhjit kaur scored four goals in a row (22nd, 24th, 27th and 30th minutes) to take the Indian girls up 5-1. In the second half, the Indians conceded a self goal, when defender Ramandeep Kaur accidentaly deflected the ball into her own goal in the 41st minute. But Gurwant kaur (52nd minute) and Ramandeep (56th minute) completed the rout for the home team. Army XI, Indian Oil enter semis
Army XI became the first team to enter the semifinals as they topped pool B with 6 points after a 5-2 win over Mumbai XI, while Indian Oil, Mumbai, defeated Indian Air Force, Delhi, 5-2 in their pool A match to make it to the last four. The army men took the lead through Milan Muthappa. Milan doubled the lead in the next minute before Vishva Thakur made it 3-0 from a penalty corner. In the other match, Deepak Thakur (34th, 57th, 67th) scored a hat-trick to lead Indian Oil past the Indian Air Force (both at three points each) in a must win match to progress from their pool. |
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Jalandhar, October 14
