ISLAMABAD : Wasim Akram (left) skipper of Pakistani cricket team being received by Mujeen-ur-Rehman, newly appointed Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board in Islamabad on Tuesday. — AP/PTI

Akram refutes charges ISLAMABAD, July 28 — The suspended Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram has offered his full cooperation and support to investigators going into betting and match-fixing allegations against him and some of his team-mates even as the authorities maintained that he would not be considered for selection until he is cleared.

KPS Gill flays Gavaskar
BANGALORE, July 28 — Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President K.P.S. Gill today criticised cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar for his suggestion that the government should take over both billiards and hockey federations.

Sampras gives King rude ‘treatment’
LOS ANGELES, July 28 — Pete Sampras, owner of 12 Grand Slam titles, gave Californian teenager Phillip King a rude welcome to the ATP tour crushing the junior player 6-1, 6-2 in a first-round match.

Yawar new manager of Pak cricket team
RAWALPINDI, July 28 — Pakistan’s new cricket chief on Tuesday named former English county player Yawar Saeed as manager of the national team, which has been rocked by World Cup humiliation and allegations of immoral conduct.

Win puts Kidambi closer to IM norm
BIEL, July 28 — India’s junior national champion Sunderajan Kidambi pulled off yet another upset by defeating Israeli grandmaster Mark Tseitlin in the eighth round of the International Open Chess Tournament here to inch closer to his maiden international master (IM) norm.

Gough wants Adams, Atherton in team
LONDON, July 28 — Injured England paceman Darren Gough has added his voice to the bring back former captain Mike Atherton’ campaign and also demanded that Sussex captain Chris Adams be brought into the England squad to bolster the dreadful middle order batting line-up.

PHF may axe Alam, 2 others
KARACHI, July 28 — The Pakistani Hockey Federation has said that star goalkeeper Ahmed Alam, forward Shahbaz Junior and Mohammed Irfan will not be attending the trials because of fitness problems making it almost certain that they will not be a part of the Pakistani team will be touring Europe for two quadrangular tournaments in August.

Ex-hockey player dead
CHANDIGARH July 28 — A former Indian hockey player, Kushal Kumar Ohri, died at Ambala today after a protracted illness. He was around 60.

Sachin appointed captain

NAGPUR, July 28 (PTI) — Sachin Tendulkar was today unanimously appointed Indian cricket captain by the national selection committee which axed Mohammed Azharuddin in a widely expected change at the helm.

The 26-year-old master batsman has been appointed for India’s first two limited overs ventures after the World Cup, in Sri Lanka and Singapore, in his second tenure as captain. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary, Mr Jaywant Lele and selection committee Chairman Ajit Wadekar announced after a 95-minute meeting that Tendulkar was the lone choice for the high-profile job and that Azharuddin was not considered.

Tendulkar, who led India in his first stint from the August 1996 tour to Sri Lanka till the end of the emerald islanders visit to this country in December 1997, was widely tipped to take over the mantle from Azharuddin, who failed to lead India into the semifinals of the World Cup last month.

“It took just two minutes to decide the new skipper of the Indian team and Sachin was the right choice,” Wadekar told a press conference after the meeting.

Tendulkar will lead the Indian side in the series in Sri Lanka (August 22-31) followed by another at Singapore (September 2-7), they announced.

“Only one name, that of Sachin, figured during the meeting and no other name came up for discussion”, the Chairman asserted. “We are looking ahead and his choice is the right decision”, he added.

“He is the best player in the team, is a thinker and has good rapport with his colleagues”, he replied to a query and added that the rest of the team will be selected on August 6 either at Baroda or Delhi.

Wadekar expressed the hope that Tendulkar will not be weighed down by the job.”I hope Sachin’s batting performance will not be affected by the burden of captaincy”.

When asked whether the national selectors informed Azharuddin before replacing him, Wadekar said. “It is not the practice to tell the concerned player”.

“His (Azharuddin’s) selection in the Indian squad will be subject to his medical fitness,” he said.

He insisted that the veteran Hyderabad batsman was not ‘sacked’ from captaincy. Azharuddin, who was first made captain in 1990 had held the post till now, barring the brief 17-month tenure of Tendulkar.

Wadekar denied that the change at the helm was effected due to mounting pressure on the selectors to replace Azharuddin following the listless performance of the team in the World Cup. “We don’t go by popular demand” he shot back.

The national selectors also discussed the report of Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad on the overall team performance in the World Cup, but Mr Lele refused to reveal the contents of the report and discussions that took place over it in the meeting today.

“Gaekwad’s fate as coach of the team would be decided by the board,” he added. His term runs till September, when the board will decide whether to extend his tenure or replace him.

Cricketers hail appointment

MUMBAI, July 28 (PTI) — Former Test stars, including former skipper Polly Umrigar and stumper Naren Tamhane, welcomed the selectors’ decision to appoint Sachin Tendulkar as the captain of the Indian cricket team for the Sri Lanka and Singapore one-day tourneys.

Umrigar, who was awarded the Col C.K. Nayudu Award recently for the his contribution to cricket, told PTI here today that Sachin (Tendulkar) was the right candidate to lead the country.

“With Azharuddin not doing too well at the World Cup and his own form sport of sliding down, it was but natural for the selectors to chose the next best man that Sachin,” he added.

“I feel the selectors would do a world of good for Indian cricket if they appoint Rahul Dravid as his deputy. I personally feel that Sachin, who is just 26-year-old, will do well to lead a young and talented side,” Umrigar said.

“However, Azharuddin should be retained (if fit) in the team as he is still our best fielder and a fine batsman with lot of experience which he can share with the younger members of the team”, he added.

Azhar prepared to play under Sachin

MUMBAI, July 28 (PTI) — The deposed Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin today said that he was not disappointed to lose the captaincy to star batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

“Captaincy in not everything in the world and I am prepared to play under anybody. I wish Sachin all the best”, he told PTI here.

Akram refutes charges

ISLAMABAD, July 28 (PTI) — The suspended Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram has offered his full cooperation and support to investigators going into betting and match-fixing allegations against him and some of his team-mates even as the authorities maintained that he would not be considered for selection until he is cleared.

Immediately on his return from England, the allrounder met the interim chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mr Mujeebur Rehman, refuting the charges against him as also against two other suspended team mates, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed.

Dismissing the allegations as baseless, Akram has offered “unconditional help” in resolving the betting and match-fixing issues, according to Mr Rehman, who also said that the Pakistani skipper was ready to record his statements from today.

Akram’s lawyer Khwaja Ahmed Tariq Rahim had dismissed the charges and said the whole affair had been kicked off to justify the recent dissolution of the PCB.

Akram also met Saifur Rehman, brother of Mujibur and chairman of the Ehtesab (accountability) bureau which is going to allegations against the players, especially at the World Cup.

Saifur Rehman said meetings with Akram would continue to collect details. “Facts will emerge in the next two days.

Specific questions were asked and he has been given the entire report (of the PCB probe committee) to prepare himself for further interrogation,” he was quoted as saying.

Saifur Rehman said the investigators “are highly qualified people like chartered accountants, economists, who are also specialists in sophisticated crime investigation”.

He said the accountability bureau would try to complete the investigations in a week and will submit its report to the one-man judicial commission probing betting and match-fixing allegations in Pakistan cricket.

Mujeebur Rehman was also keen to end the probe soon. “We want to know exactly which players are available and that can only be done if the probe ends before September. The way things are going, I am sure the matter will conclude according to our plan,” he said.

Akram and his beleaguered team-mates have received full support from former cricket idol Imran Khan and another former Pakistan skipper Asif Iqbal.

Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to World Cup victory in 1992, termed the suspension of the three leading players by the PCB as “unilateral” and warned Pakistan cricket could be the ultimate loser.

Azhar most successful skipper

MUMBAI, July 28 (PTI) — Mohammed Azharuddin’s reign at the helm of the Indian cricket team for most of the nineties will be remembered for several notable triumphs on home soil both in Tests and in the limited overs game though little success was achieved overseas.

Azharuddin has held his job at the helm from the beginning of 1990 till now barring the 17-month period between August 1996 and end of 1997 when Sachin Tendulkar was the captain.

The second stint of the 36-year-old wristy strokeplayer from Hyderabad as skipper came to an end today with the appointment of Tendulkar at the top of the team hierarchy for the August 22 to 31 tri-series in Sri Lanka and the September 2 to 7 tri-nation event in Singapore by the selectors.

During his long tenure, Azharuddin surged ahead of Sunil Gavaskar to become India’s most successful Test captain. His record of 14 wins in 47 Tests outshines Gavaskar’s nine victories in the same number of Tests.

Azharuddin led India to a series of one-day title triumphs (19 series, trophies) since replacing Krishnamachari Srikkanth as captain after India’s tour to Pakistan in 1989 though he was unable to lead the team to the biggest one-day prize of them all — the World Cup — in three attempts (1992, 1996 and 1999).

Otherwise his record as captain in limited overs cricket is very impressive — 89 wins out of 173 matches.

Azharuddin had teething trouble as captain on tours to New Zealand and England soon after taking over the reins of the ‘team of the nineties’ with Bishen Singh Bedi as the high-profile cricket manager.

Former Test captain and spin ace Bedi and Azharuddin never hit it off together and the former has led the chorus of former captains asking for wristy batsman’s ouster in recent times.

Tough tours to Australia, for the Test series and then the 1992 World Cup, and South Africa followed and Azharuddin’s lack of success on these trips saw his reign at the top becoming somewhat shaky.

But his rocking boat as captain got steadied with sweeping wins at home against England, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Just when everything seemed to click for Azharuddin, with Sachin Tendulkar to be relied upon to invariably deliver the goods, came another tour to England — on the heels of the disastrous decision at the Eden Gardens to field first against Sri Lanka in the semifinals of the 1996 World Cup — to upset the Azharuddin captaincy cart.

The walk-out midway through the tour of veteran opener Navjot Singh Sidhu, citing differences with his skipper, and a poor tour combined to force the selectors eject Azharuddin from the throne and install Tendulkar in his place in August 1996 for the quadrangular tournament in Sri Lanka.

There were criticisms that he was not pulling his weight in the team after a particularly disastrous tour to the West Indies in early 1997. He then had the mortification of being left out of the team altogether for the Independence Cup one-day series at home in the height of that summer.

Azharuddin fought his way back first into the squad and then to the top of the team hierarchy again in January 1998 but not before he was given a “pep talk” by the selectors and asked to show more interest in team matters after some carefree batting in the Sharjah quadrangular in November, 1997.

The Hyderabad stylist’s second stint as captain began in spectacular style as India vanquished Pakistan in a pulsating, high-scoring final at Dhaka to lift the Independence Cup.

With Tendulkar batting in supreme style and with Sidhu, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja, Javagal Srinath Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble chipping in, India went on to drub Australia in the three-Test series at home.

Then they won a tri-series in Sharjah, another one at home and the Independence Cup in Lanka, all in a short span of time, to put Azharuddin firmly in control.

The winning combination was split up unwisely by the board under pressure from the Indian Olympic Association in September to fulfil commitments in the Sahara Cup at Toronto and the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Azharuddin led the depleted team to Canada which was routed by Pakistan while the Jadeja-led squad to Malaysia also showed little enthusiasm and was knocked out early.

Further reverses followed on the short tour to Zimbabwe and the ICC (knock-out) Cup in Dhaka and criticism grew steadily.

The high-profile home Test rubber against Pakistan saw the team grab defeat from the jaws of victory at Chennai. A series-levelling win at Delhi was followed by a comprehensive defeat at Calcutta in the Asian Championship Test series and serious talks surfaced about Tendulkar rejecting the offer of captaincy at the end of it.

India’s dismal show in the World Cup and his own terrible form with the bat gave the selectors little choice except to make a change, a decision perhaps made easier by Azharuddin’s questionable fitness for the Sri Lankan tour after his shoulder surgery in London.

KPS Gill flays Gavaskar

BANGALORE, July 28 (PTI) — Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President K.P.S. Gill today criticised cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar for his suggestion that the government should take over both billiards and hockey federations.

“What does Gavaskar know about hockey?” Gill reacted angrily when his reaction was sought, but hastened to add he has not read the news column where the Little Master reportedly made the suggestion.

“After hearing it, my opinion about him (Gavaskar) has plummeted, “he said. “Now a days, he (Gavaskar) is becoming a rebel”.

In a recent column, Gavaskar had also criticised the IHF for ignoring senior players, including former skipper Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar and Ashish Ballal over a rift with the federation.

Gill, who is in city for the selection of junior squad for the European tour, also defended IHF selection policy.

Referring to omission of senior players — nucleus of the Indian team which won gold medal at the Bangkok Asian Games last December — Gill, who is also chairman of the selection committee, said: “I am selecting the national team. We know the capacity of each player representing the nation”.

About mercurial forward Pillay, who has not been included in the list of probables for the upcoming African tour despite a fine display in the MCC-Muruquppa Tourna- ment in Chennai earlier this month. Gill said: “Dhanraj Pillay may have played well in Chennai, but it was not a competitive Tournament.

Sampras gives King rude ‘treatment’

LOS ANGELES, July 28 (AFP) — Pete Sampras, owner of 12 Grand Slam titles, gave Californian teenager Phillip King a rude welcome to the ATP tour crushing the junior player 6-1, 6-2 in a first-round match.

King, a 17-year-old from nearby Long Beach, at least managed to stretch the encounter to 54 minutes, but the outcome was never in doubt.

“It’s like trying to beat up on an iron man,” King said. “Nothing moves him.”

King admitted to a few sleepless nights since the draw was made on Friday.

“He used to seem like he was in another world, like he was untouchable,” King said. “Like an actor or someone you’re never going to meet. Now he seems more like a guy you could get to know.”

King finally got a break point against Sampras in the final game of the match, after Sampras double faulted and then ended a long rally by hitting a backhand into the net.

Sampras saved it with a service winner, then King fired a backhand past him for another break point. Sampras saved that one, then gave himself a match point with one of his trademark leaping overhead smashes.

On the next point, King rocketed a Stunning service return back before Sampras closed it out with an ace.

Top seed Andre Agassi defeated Jan-Michael Gambill 6-2, 6-2, but said his night’s work wasn’t as easy as the score suggested.

Third-seeded Briton Tim Henman was less fortunate, falling to France’s Guillaume Raoux 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Raoux has made it a habit to knock off fancied players at this event. He beat Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis en route to the semifinals and last year he beat Goran Ivanisevic on his way to the final four.

Henman was especially disappointed in the result since he came into top five in the world.

Raoux, ranked 73rd in the world, had never taken a set off Henman in four previous meetings. Next he’ll face American Michael Chang.

Sixth-seeded Croatian Ivanisevic defeated Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3, 6-3. Seventh-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt advanced with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Alex O’Brien, and eighth-seeded South African Wayne Ferreira beat American Geoff Grant 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).

PALO ALTO (CALIFORNIA) (Reuters): Russian Anna Kournikova beat fellow blonde ponytailed Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 6-2 and American Jennifer Capriati edged Spaniard Conchita Martinez 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at the $ 500,000 Bank of the West Classic on Tuesday.

Playing on adjacent courts at Stanford University’s sold-out tennis stadium, the competitors entertained the crowd with end-to-end sprints, aggressive baseline rallies and lethal returns of serves in their first-round matches.

The sixth-seeded Kournikova moved beautifully against the 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, gamely retrieving Lucic’s low blasts and intelligently taking over the net at key moments.

The tall Croatian battled back from 0-4 down in the first set, but was unable to break Kournikova at 5-4 when the Russian came in behind a crosscourt forehand and put away a stretch volley to win the set.

“I got off to a really bad start. I was moving bad the whole match and missed too many first balls,”Lucic said. “I went for too much at the beginning of the points. Plus Anna started really great. Every one of her balls hit the lines”.

Kournikova said: “She wasn’t ready for my quick start. I hardly had any unforced errors and I showed her I’m feeling fine. I’ve been practising really hard the past few weeks and I feel great. I did what I wanted to do”.

The 18-year-old Kournikova continued to confuse Lucic in the second set and won the match when the power baseliner missed an easy return.

Kournikova owns victories over all the top players but has yet to win a singles title in her nearly four-year career. Still, Lucic said that her opponent is an elite performer.

“She’s a great player,” the 17-year-old Lucic said. “She’s very quick. You can never count her out of a point”.

The 13th-ranked Kournikova says she doesn’t feel she has fallen behind her peers, Martina Hingis, and Venus and Serena Williams, all whom have won titles.

“We all know Martina is great,” Kournikova said. “Venus and Serena have a power advantage. But Martina won her first Slam when she was 16 and Lindsay Davenport won her first when she was 22”.

“That shows you it doesn’t matter how old you are. You have to treat us the same as the old players. We just go out there and play. We are human beings. We don’t judge ourselves by the age or the name, just who wins the match. My time will come”.

Capriati and Martinez battled for nearly three hours. Martinez — the 1994 Wimbledon champion who has slipped to 18th in the rankings — attempted to frustrate her opponent with a variety of spins and loopy balls, but the 23-year-old Capriati stayed tough, breaking Martinez in the contest’s final game with a resounding overhead that sent the crowd into a tizzy.

“It was a great match,” Martinez said. “We both played will. I had my chances in the third set, but my serve wasn’t working well and she returned great”.

Capriati was thrilled.

“It’s a huge victory for me,” she said. “Any victory over a top-20 player is great. It’s a big boost for my confidence and I’m very motivated by it”.

Other players to advance included France’s Sandrine Testud, American Corina Morariu, Columbia’s Fabiola Zuluaga and Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik.

Yawar new manager of Pak cricket team

RAWALPINDI, July 28 (Reuters) — Pakistan’s new cricket chief on Tuesday named former English county player Yawar Saeed as manager of the national team, which has been rocked by World Cup humiliation and allegations of immoral conduct.

Mujib-ur-Rehman, chairman of an ad hoc committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told reporters that Saeed would help build the team for the next World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2003.

Saeed, who played for Sommerset in the early 1950s and was Pakistan manager in 1996-97, replaces Zafar Altaf, who managed the side during the recent World Cup in England.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat by Australia in the World Cup final at Lord’s last month.

Pakistan President Rafiq Tarar suspended the PCB on July 16 and appointed Rehman as head of the ad hoc committee of the board. Tarar is the patron of the PCB.

Rehman said on Sunday three players — captain Wasim Akram, Ijaz Ahmed and Salim Malik — would not be eligible for Pakistan selection until after a match-fixing probe was completed.

His statement followed the publication on Saturday of a year-old PCB report into allegations of match-fixing and betting against the trio. All three deny the allegations.

Rehman said he had already talked to Malik and Akram.

He said the three players would be given a full opportunity to explain their position about charges brought against them.

However, their ban would continue until publication of the verdict of a judge who has been investigating charges of match-fixing since September.

“We will wait for the court decision. We will do whatever the court says”, he said.

Rehman is the younger brother of the chief of the government’s ehtesab or accountability bureau, senator Saifur Rehman, who said on Sunday his bureau had found evidence of indiscipline and immoral conduct among the players during the World Cup in England.

KARACHI (AFP): Cricket legend Imran Khan lashed out at the suspensions of three top Pakistan cricketers here on Tuesday and alleged the government had framed the star trio.

Imran blasted the suspensions of Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram and colleagues Salim Malik and Ejaz Ahmed as “premature”, and said the long-running judicial match-fixing inquiry was to blame for the uproar.

“I am all at sea at what a mess they have created”, Imran said.

“The Accountability Bureau has framed charges on the players after unilateral allegations”, Imran told AFP.

The government’s Accountability Bureau levelled the match-fixing charges against the three last week.

The bureau’s allegations followed the dissolution of the Pakistan Cricket Board and its replacement by a two-man ad hoc committee on July 16.

The committee has said the three players would remain suspended until they prove their innocence.

Imran was sharply critical of the committee’s actions.

“The present ad hoc committee seems to have acted prematurely, they have made players guilty without giving them a chance to clear their position”, said Imran.

Win puts Kidambi closer to IM norm

BIEL, July 28 (PTI) — India’s junior national champion Sunderajan Kidambi pulled off yet another upset by defeating Israeli grandmaster Mark Tseitlin in the eighth round of the International Open Chess Tournament here to inch closer to his maiden international master (IM) norm.

Double GM norm holder Abhijit Kunte also moved ahead with a facile victory against Jasim Saleh of the UAE but fellow IM and national champion H. Sasikiran (4) failed to make headway for the second successive round when he crashed to Romanian Corina Peplan.

GM Vehudo Grunfeld of Israel joined overnight leader GM Vadim Milov of Switzerland at the top with 6.5 points after demolishing defending champion GM Milos Pavlovic of Yugosiavla in the eighth game yesterday.

Kidambi (5), the youngest member of the Indian contingent in the fray here who stunned highly rated GM Oqnjen Cvijan of Croatia in the fifth round on Friday, now needs only a draw against any player having a rating of over 2400 points in the next round.

Kunte reached five points with a fine win over Saleh. The former national champion countered the modern defence with a quiet system and hoodwinked his opponent in the middle game by cleverly opening the gueen’s flank which netted him two places for a rook.

Another former national champion and GM norm holder D.V. Prased scored a quick 18-move victory against Oliver Koeller of Germany to move to 4.5 points.

Koeller (3.5), who opted the closed Sicilian, got into a inferior position as Prasad’s knight controlled the centre. Prasad later won a piece and the German was forced to give up the struggle.

Sasikiran remained on four points after he was positionally outplayed by Romanian IM Corina Peptan. GM Pravin Thipsay (4.5) was unable to make any headway and agreed for a tame draw against Yugoslav IM Sinisa Joksic.

Among the other Indians in the fray, V.Saravanan (4.5) prevailed over Nabil Saleh (3.5) of the UAE while IWM Anupama Gokhale (2.5) went down to Saleh’s compatriot Abdul Majee (3.5).

Important results of round 8:

Rashkovsky (6) Russia drew Milov (6.5) Switzerland; Gruenfeld (6.5) Israel Paviovsc (5) Yugoslavia; Tyomking (5.5) Israel drew Sturua (5.5) Georgia; Shariazhdhanov (5.5) Russia drew Bagirov (5.5) Azerbijan; Kunte (5) India Jasim Saleh (4) UAE; Tsettlin (4) Israel lost to Kidambi (5) India; Koeller (3.5) Germany lost to Prasad (4.5) India; Joksic (4.5) Yugoslavia drew Thipsay (4.5) India; Nabil Saleh (3.5) UAE lost to Saravanan (4.5) India; Sasikiran (4) India lost to Peotian (5) Romania; Abdul Majee (3.5) UAE IWM Anupama Gokhale (2.5) India.

Gough wants Adams, Atherton in team

LONDON, July 28 (AFP) — Injured England paceman Darren Gough has added his voice to the bring back former captain Mike Atherton’ campaign and also demanded that Sussex captain Chris Adams be brought into the England squad to bolster the dreadful middle order batting line-up.

Gough, who is currently sidelined with a shin-calf injury, called on them to be selected for next week’s third Test with New Zealand following another woeful batting display in the second Test that saw the tourists level the four match series at 1-1.

“If you look around the country, there’s probably only two batsman who could be in contention for a place in the line-up for the Old Trafford Test and that’s Athers and Chris Adams,” said Gough. “Athers to put the steel back into our batting and Chris in the middle order.”

“I’ve bowled against him (Adams) this year and he’s a great player. He loves to attack bowlers. With Nasser Hussain probably out for the Old Trafford Test, there’s definitely one place open which should go to Mike Atherton.”

“And then we need someone in the middle order who’s going to score runs — and that has to be Chris Adams.”

The return of Atherton, who has scored a double century in a county match and 95 in a one day game since undergoing more treatment on his recurring back injury, could push either Mark Butcher or his brother-in-law Alec Stewart down the order as both have failed to convince in the series so far as an opening partnership.

Adams, who failed to shine in the one day series with South Africa last year, has been in fine form with the bat for Sussex and would, if selected, appear a direct replacement for Aftab Habib, who has had a disastrous two match Test career.

Ex-hockey player dead
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH July 28 — A former Indian hockey player, Kushal Kumar Ohri, died at Ambala today after a protracted illness. He was around 60.

Kushal played as a half back and represented the country in Test matches in 1963. Subsequently his name appeared in a list of probables for the 1964 Olympic Games. He played for Railways for a number of years. After retiring from the active hockey, he took to coaching and was associated with the both RCF men’s and women’s teams.

PHF may axe Alam, 2 others

KARACHI, July 28 (ANI) — The Pakistani Hockey Federation has said that star goalkeeper Ahmed Alam, forward Shahbaz Junior and Mohammed Irfan will not be attending the trials because of fitness problems making it almost certain that they will not be a part of the Pakistani team will be touring Europe for two quardrangular tournaments in August.

According to informed sources, the selection committee of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), which will be supervising the trials at the National Hockey Stadium, is unlikely to give any of the three experienced players any exemption from the trials.

There are strong chances that the selectors may bring in right back Mohammed Usman as the captain of the national team in place of Atif Bashir under whom the Pakistanis finished last in the six-nation Champions Trophy in Brisbane last month.

Athletics trials

LUDHIANA, July 28 (FOSR) — Trials to select the Punjab state athletics teams for junior boys and girls (u-16, u-18 and u-18 years) will be conducted here at the Guru Nanak Stadium on August 7 at 9 a.m., according to Mr Isher Singh Deol, general secretary, Punjab Amateur Athletic Association.

The players must bring their age proof certificates. The selected players will participate in the north zone athletic meet to be held at Lucknow on August 20 and 21.

PSEB win bridge meet

PATIALA, July 28 (FOSR) —The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) won the title in the 26th All-India State Electricity Boards Bridge Tournament which concluded at Nasik yesterday.

The Orissa State Electricity Board were second while the Damodar Valley Corporation third in the overall standings.

Seminar at NIS

PATIALA (FOSR): A two-day seminar, to be organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), in which coaches from all over the country will interact with sports scientists and sports medicine experts, will be held at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) here on July 30 and 31, according to the Executive Director of the NIS.