Bengaluru, November 1
Virat Kohli has the strokes of a genius and the confidence of a monarch — this is a lethal blend. It almost raises the illusion of arrogance. If this is arrogance, it’s a trait that marks the personalities of all the greatest sportspersons.

Belief moves mountains; in sport, it creates miracles.

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Kohli’s iron-clad belief, born of his talent and extreme hard work, has made him the perfect man to anchor a huge One-day chase. Kohli has scored 11 of his 17 ODI centuries in run-chases — this is a testament to his ability to keep a cool head in pressure. He’s done it twice in this series; both times the target was over 350. He made the chase thrilling and successful with centuries off 51 and 61 balls.

Since his debut in the August of 2008, India have successfully chased totals above 280 ten times in One-day Internationals. Kohli has scored centuries in six of them, apart from scores of 91, 38, 35 and 0. That gives him a crazy average of 153.33 in India’s super-280 run chases since his debut. This is not normal, even if nine of those innings were played in India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

“When there’s a target to chase, it feels good. I can plan my innings better,” Kohli said today, the eve of the final One-day International against Australia. “You can analyse how you want to bat, you can calculate and play — which bowler to target and which bowler you can allow yourself a three-run over against.”

Kohli has a fine batting technique. He’s got a good balance and quick feet, and strokes on both sides of the wicket. He’s got amazingly quick eye and quicker hands — in his hands, even the modern, heavy bat seems like a feather, so swiftly does he whip it. He says being grounded in the right technique is the source of his belief. “If you have worked on your technique properly, you can back yourself to hold your position and hit where you want to,” he said. “If you have a strong base and have worked on your technique, you’re much more confident about hitting the ball where you want.”

Confidence is contagious; Kohli radiates confidence, his teammates imbibe it. The cool MS Dhoni becomes supercool when Kohli is driving the ball to the boundaries and the bowlers to anguish.

Kohli’s form gives India a good opportunity to record a rare home ODI series win over Australia. Excluding a 1-0 win in 2010, when two of the three ODIs were washed out, India have beaten Australia only once at home, 27 years ago.

Australia have the firepower to win, too. They’ve got their captain, George Bailey, scoring runs at will, hitting sixers for fun. Bailey has made 474 runs in the series, at 118.50 an innings. They also have several other ball-haters, who have hit a total of 47 sixers in five innings, nearly 10 a match. India’s two big run chases, and Australia’s stunning win in Mohali, mean that no total is safe on these tracks, with the rules loaded against the bowlers. The thumb rule was that if you score over 350, you can’t lose. India’s win in Jaipur — where the ground is rather small — may have been dismissed as an exception that proved this rule. But then Nagpur happened, suggesting that the rulebook has been shredded. The Chinnaswamy Stadium here has encouraged big scores. Only three times have teams scored less than 200 runs in a full innings here; there have been 18 totals above 250, 11 of them over 300. The outfield is quick, and Diwali eve is likely to see lots of fireworks.

However, there are chances that rain might spoil the affair, as Friday witnessed showers and the forecast says there are chances of rain on match day. 

Squads: 7th ODI

India: MS Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Shami.

AUSTRALIA: George Bailey (captain), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wicketkeeper), Moises Henriques, Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges and Shane Watson

Bengaluru, November 1
Australia are going to miss Mitchell Johnson. The return to Australia of Johnson, Australia’s best bowler in this series, two days before the series-decider, raises some interesting questions.

The Ashes is the highlight of Australia’s cricketing year, the trophy dearest to the nation. It’s quite understandable, thus, that Australia should want the resurgent Johnson in the best possible shape if he’s selected to play against England.

But what of the ones who’ve been left behind in India, trying their best to win here, but having to attempt that without their best bowler?

Johnson’s return is consistent with the principle of the supremacy of the highest form of the game, Test cricket; but won’t his removal be disheartening to his teammates in India?

Brad Haddin, the Australian wicketkeeper, was asked today if the recall of Johnson showed that Australia, rightly, prioritised the Ashes above this ODI series. Haddin gave an inconclusive answer, saying that the team is focused to win the final ODI, but adding that it was right to send Johnson back.

“No, from our point of view I think this is a fitting way to conclude this series. It’s 2-2 going into the last game, so from our point of view it’s a very exciting game,” Haddin said. “Mitch has been monitored like every other player and we thought it was in his best interests to go home and get right for the two four-day games and put himself up to be available for selection for the Ashes. It’s a very exciting way to end this series. I think it’s just reward that it’s 2-all now leading into the final because it’s been an outstanding series so far.”

“These decisions aren’t a shock to us,” he added. “We’ve known about this for a while and as we’ve said before, all players are monitored on where they’re at. We thought this was the best preparation for Mitch leading into the summer.”

Haddin added that Australia have some other promising quick bowlers with them. “We’ve got guys like Nathan Coulter-Nile and Moises Henriques, who have been on the sidelines for the entire tour,” he said. “I think Nathan Coulter-Nile is known to a lot of you guys over here with the success he had in the Champions League. We’ve got enough cover.”

Johnson has bowled the maximum number of overs for Australia (41.1), and taken seven wickets in five matches, the highest in the series. His economy rate has been a very impressive 5.68. He’s rattled the Indians often with his pace, clocking upward of 150 kmph regularly. In this series, the bowlers have been bludgeoned into irrelevance; he’s the one bowler who’s looked really sharp for Australia.

The Indians aren’t going to miss him at all.

Perth, November 1
Joe Root could not make the most of a flat Perth track but England's other batsmen dusted off the cobwebs in the opening warm-up match of the Ashes campaign against Australia on Friday.

Michael Carberry (78), Ian Bell (77 not out) and Jonathan Trott (64 not out) registered half-centuries as bat dominated ball for the second successive day of the three-day contest against a second-strong Western Australia Chairman's XI. Root (36) shared a 100-run stand with shadow opener Carberry but could not convert the start into a big knock and was trapped leg before by Jim Allenby. — Agencies

Hokkaido, November 1
Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh ran into a disastrous stretch over the last four holes, dropping four bogeys in a row, to finish at four-over 146 but still managed to make the cut at the midway stage of the Mynavi ABC Championship on Japan Tour.

New Delhi, November 1
The 50th Hero Indian Open Golf Championship has attracted a strong line-up of Asian Tour stars consisting of over 30 tour champions and five players from the current top-10 of the Order of Merit.

In one of the strongest-ever fields to assemble at the Delhi Golf Club from November 7 to 10, multiple Asian Tour winner Arjun Atwal, who was the Asian number one in 2003, Korea’s Baek Seuk-hyun, local heroes Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri and Siddikur of Bangaldesh will be among the big names featuring in the championship.

Bhullar, currently third on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, will be the highest ranked player in the elite field, followed by the fourth-ranked Lahiri, Baek, Siddikur and Kapur. David Gleeson of Australia, the 2011 Hero Indian Open champion, Filipino Angelo Que and South Africa’s Jbe Kruger will also be battling in the $1.25 million event. In all, players from 15 different nationalities will be vying for honours.

Former Indian Open champions Mardan Mamat of Singapore, C. Muniyappa and Jyoti Randhawa of India, are also in the field next week.The 35-year-old Filipino has enjoyed a superb season so far, posting three top-five finishes and currently sits in the 15th position on the Order of Merit.

Kolkata, November 1
A gritty unbeaten half-century by Parvinder Singh helped Uttar Pradesh overcome a jittery start as they reached 206 for five in their first innings at the close of second day's play in the three-day practice match against the visiting West Indies here on Friday.

West Indies scored a healthy 466 in their first innings courtesy a patient 112 by veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul and an impressive 94 by Narsingh Deonarine.

Right-arm medium pacer Imtiaz Ahmed was pick of the UP bowlers with figures of five for 117. Rudra Pratap Singh took three for 86. Parvinder quickly settled down after West Indies reduced UPCA to 96/4 as he remained undefeated on a well-crafted 78.

Brief Scores: UP: 206/5 (Parvinder 78*, Permaul 2-61) trail WI 466 (Chanderpaul 112, Deonarine 94, Ahmed 5-117) by 260. — PTI 

Paris, November 1
Former world number one Roger Federer showed some of his old class when beating Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 4-6 6-3 at the Paris Masters on Friday to set up a semifinal clash with Novak Djokovic.

The Swiss, who had lost his prior three encounters with the towering Del Potro including the Basel Open final on Sunday, will play a Masters Series semifinal for only the second time this year.

He will face Djokovic, who hammered Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1 6-4, for the first time since last year's ATP World Tour finals.

Federer has a 16-13 record against the Serb, who won their last meeting in London a year ago.

“Roger is probably experiencing the worst season that he’s had in the last 10 years, but he’s still a player to beat in every tournament, because he’s Roger Federer, because he has won 17 grand slams,” Djokovic said.

“You can’t underestimate him, although maybe he’s not at the form where he was when he was number one in the world. But I have been watching his matches in Basel last week and here. I think he’s playing really well.”

Fifth seeded Federer proved Djokovic right in the first set of his quarterfinal against Del Potro, reviving his old brilliance to hit 17 winners. However, he lost a bit of sharpness in the second set and the Argentine made the most of it.

Del Potro, who did not have a single break chance until the second set’s 10th game, converted his second to force Federer into the third set. Cheered on by the packed crowd, 2011 Paris Masters winner Federer played more aggressively and broke Del Potro’s serve in the seventh game.

Djokovic, the 2009 Paris Masters champion, had to battle through five sets to prevail in his last two matches against Wawrinka but started fast this time out to take a 3-0 lead. He never loosened his grip and left the seventh seeded Swiss with the feeling he had no chance of victory. — Reuters

Kolkata, November 1
Continuing their fine show, the Indian compound archers clinched one gold, one silver and one bronze to climb to second position of the medal tally in the Asian Archery Championship being held in Chinese Taipei.

The Indian mixed team duo of Abhishek Verma and Lily Chanu Paonam beat the Iranians by one point to win their second gold of the meet.

India now have won two gold, one silver and one bronze to be in second position behind Korea (3-2-2) in the medal standings. Yesterday, the compound men’s team ousted the famed Koreans to open India’s account with a gold.

Iran, however, avenged their defeat in the mixed section by bagging the gold in the individual event. Eyeing his second gold, Verma narrowly lost to Hamzeh Nekoeei 141-144 to settle for a silver medal.

In fact, it could have been an all-India final but Nekoeei first beat Rajat Chouhan by a one-point margin in the quarterfinals and then Sandeep Kumar in the semifinals to make the final cut.

After being unlucky in the semifinals, Sandeep had to be content with a bronze medal after he scored a resounding 146-141 victory over Chanchai Wong of Thailand.

The tournament will conclude tomorrow and India would hope to open their tally in the recurve section. — PTI

New Delhi, November 1
Indian players enjoyed a good day on the ATP Challenger tour as Yuki Bhambri reached the singles semifinals of the Traralgon event in Australia while Somdev Devvarman and Saketh Myneni reached the quarterfinals of the Charlottesville event in the United States.

Eighth seed Yuki pipped fourth seed Japanese Tatsuma Ito 6-4 1-6 7-5 in the quarterfinal, which lasted one hour and 46 minutes.

The 277-ranked Yuki avenged his last year’s defeat in Kyoto against the higher-ranked Japanese — 105 places above the Indian.

Yuki next faces second seed and 138-ranked James Duckworth. Yuki had lost to the Australian last week when they clashed in the quarterfinals of Melbourne Challenger.

Meanwhile, in the Charlottesville Challenger, second seed Somdev scored an easy 6-2 6-3 win over Denis Molchanov of Ukraine to progress to the next stage. He is now up against seventh seed American Rhyne Williams.

Joining him in the last eight is Myneni, who brushed aside the challenge of American Chase Buchanan 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes. He next faces Jesse Levine of Canada.

However, Somdev’s campaign in the doubles competition ended in the quarterfinals. He and Sanam Singh lost 4-6 2-6 to second seeded Americans Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren. — PTI

Manchester, November 1
Saurav Ghosal’s dream run in the World Squash Championship came to an end when he suffered a straight-game defeat against defending champion and world number one Ramy Ashour from Egypt in the quarterfinals.

Ghosal, who made history by becoming the first Indian ever to reach the world championship last-eight stage, put up a brave fight before running out of steam against the top seed, losing 9-11 5-11 9-11 in 48 minutes late on Thursday.

Ghosal, who went into the match without a win against the Egyptian in their last four meetings, made an impressive start as he led 8-4 and 9-6 in the first game. But the 26-year-old, later described by Ghosal as “the most original squash player I have ever seen”, came up with a series of scintillating shots to take the game. Ashour, winner last year and in 2008, raced to a 9-1 lead before taking game two.

It was nip and tuck in the third until 9-9. After a long rally, Ashour played a deft backhand volley into the nick, then clinched the match after another lengthy exchange that concluded when Ghosal put the ball into the tin. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Najam Sethi issued contempt notice
Karachi: There was more trouble for the suspended chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi on Friday when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued him a contempt of court notice for continuing to perform his duties in the board in defiance of court orders. The IHC has restrained Sethi from working as the PCB chief and ordered fresh elections in the board. A citizen, Ahmed Nawaz filed the contempt application, seeking proceedings against Sethi for ignoring court orders.The counsel for Nawaz, Advocate Abdul Razak Rajab in his contempt application had maintained that despite the court order Sethi was performing his duties which amounted to contempt of court.

Modi’s lawyer charges Srini for IPL match-fixing
Jaipur: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's legal counsel Mahmood Abdi on Friday lodged an FIR against BCCI president N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan at a local police station charging them of fixing an IPL VI match between CSK and Rajasthan Royals held on May 12. Abdi lodged an FIR at the Jyoti Nagar police station. Abdi filed a complaint in a local court on October 26 and 28. The court of the additional Chief judicial magistrate-8 issued directions to Jaipur police to investigate into the allegations. In compliance with the directions of the court, Jyoti Nagar police station registered an FIR in the matter.

Clarke reprimanded over dissent charge
Sydney: Australia Test captain Michael Clarke has been reprimanded for showing dissent while playing for New South Wales in a domestic match, Cricket Australia said. Clarke was reported by the umpires on Thursday for challenging an umpire's decision while captaining NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in Sydney. CA said an undisclosed batsman was given the benefit of the doubt when a close-to-the-ground catch was claimed at gully and when the umpire gave a "not out" decision Clarke used the "T sign" or player decision review signal suggesting the decision should be reviewed by the third umpire. As part of the code of behaviour revisions, if any player uses the "T sign", even in jest, it will lead to an automatic report as it shows dissent at the umpire decision, CA said.

Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 40 runs
Mirpur: Tamim Iqbal became Bangladesh's top run scorer in one-day cricket on Thursday as his team beat New Zealand by 40 runs to take 2-0 lead. Set a target of 248, New Zealand caved in for 207 in 46.4 overs to suffer their sixth successive ODI defeat.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 247 (Tamim 58, Neesham 4-53, Anderson 4-40) bt NZ: 207 (Taylor 45, Mortaza 3-43, Gazi 3-34) by 40 runs. — Agencies