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| Saturday, February 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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India go down to Pak in hockey |
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Can India rise from dumps?
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India go down to Pak in hockey KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 (PTI) — Asian Games gold medallists India continued their inglorious run here when they crashed to reigning champions Pakistan, who took a major step towards retaining the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with 2-1 victory today. Pakistan scored both their goals in the first half — Ali Raza giving the lead when he hammered in a penalty corner in the seventh minute and then Kashif Javaid scoring off a reverse hit which beat Indian goalkeeper Jude Menezes all ends up in the 28th. Pakistan led 2-0 at the break and it took 17 minutes into the second half for India to pull one back — Dhillon firing in a penalty corner flick. Pakistan now have four points while India, with two defeats, are yet to open their account. In their earlier matches, Pakistan drew with Korea 1-1 while India lost to Germany 1-2. India started off well, forcing three penalty corners in the first five minutes of the match, but all in vain. A set piece from the second penalty corner saw Dhanraj Pillay evade the Pakistani custodian but his shot hit the upright and deprived India of an early lead. With India clearly lacking cohesion in the midfield, Pakistan started dominating and forced their first penalty corner in the seventh minute, which they converted. A strong hit from defender Ali Raza took a deflection off Pillay’s stick and flew over the sprawled Jude Menezes. India could still have pulled back as they earned seven penalty corners in the first 20 minutes but the shots either went out of the post or the stopper failed to collect the ball cleanly. For a world class team that has already qualified for the Olympics, this was nothing short of a huge embarrassment. Mukesh had a sharp chance in the 21st minute but his goalbound flick was brilliantly saved by Pakistan goalkeeper Ahmed Alam. In the 28th minute, Pakistan scored their second goal, again off a break. Kashif was right in the circle and his reverse hit beat Jude Menezes. The Indian goalkeeper was just not in position. It’s been too many times now that Jude has not covered spaces where the defender has to go ahead and hustle the attacker. India, who were totally out of depth in the midfield, tried to scramble back. But Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar still had to go back to the Indian half and grab the ball as the Indian midfield totally failed in the first half. Ten minutes into the
second half, India started dominating, thanks to Dhillon
and Mukesh, who were threatening the Pakistan defence but
were unable to pierce it. |
Mahindras favourites against BSF CHANDIGARH,Feb 18 —Further ignominy for debutants Border Security Force Jalandhar,appears to be in store as they gear up for another test of nerves against Mumbai's Mahindra and Mahindra in the National Football League at Ludhiana's Guru Nanak Stadium tomorrow. Lying at the bottom of the table with only six points to their credit,BSF's hopes of retaining their hard-earned spot in the NFL are fast diminishing.The security men can only hope for miracles to stave off relegation and their grim struggle over the next couple of days will be fought with this objective in mind. Coach Shyam Kumar has already tried out various strategies without any major breakthrough.Veterans like Gauranga Paul and Avtar Singh have been tried out to sharpen the attack but the scoring rate remains dismal.So far the team has scored only four goals in 15 matches.It is this aspect which has hampered BSF's progress in the league.Going by past performance,it seems unlikely for BSF to create an upset in the NFL tomorrow.In fact,the para-military outfit will be lucky if they escape with another narrow defeat as they will be facing the firepower of a fearsome strikeforce,which includes top Jordanian striker Bassam Khatib. Mahindras have already caused ripples in the second phase of the league with some startling performances.In their last match at Ludhiana,they trounced JCT Phagwara by three goals without reply and in their latest clash,they split points with Tollygunge with a 1-1 draw at Calcutta.Of the 15 matches that Mahindras have played so far,they have won six and drawn seven. The 7-1 win over Dempo,in fact,is a record in the current league till date.The team has suffered only two defeat thus far and with 25 points, the Mumbai outfit is placed third behind Churchill Brothers and Mohun Bagan. In Bassam Khatib and Manjit Singh,Mahindras have two excellent forwards.While Khatib scored twice against JCT,Manjit Singh scored one goal each against JCT and Tollygunge.Satish Minz,Aqueel Ansari,Khalid Siddique and Shamshi Raza form the vital link between the defence and attack .The overlapping role of Abbas Ali Rizvi and Mohammed Najib is also turning out to be a major source of worry of the rivals.In the defence,Christopher and Bernard provide solidity while Virender Singh under the bar is on the verge of becoming the most successful custodian. BSF's major worry is the attack and the Jalandhar outfit is heavily dependent on Gurjit Atwal and DS Negi,who despite creating chances,fail to find the target.The defence,nevertheless,is sturdy and it remains to be seen whether it can withstand the onslaught of Mahindras on the morrow. The kick -off is at 2.30 p.m. The following are the latest standings of the teams at the end of the 15th round yesterday (read under teams, matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for goals against, and points):
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Saurashtra in sight of victory ROHTAK, Feb 18 — Saurashtra were in sight of an outright victory against Haryana at draw of stumps on the third day of the Ranji Trophy super league cricket match at Vishwakarma Stadium here today. After being forced to follow on, Haryana lost nine second innings wickets at 206 having a lead of only 25 runs in hand. For Haryana it turned out to be a black Friday as they lost 15 wickets besides facing the ignominy of a follow on at the hands of a team who had been badly beaten by Tamil Nadu in the super league opener at Chennai. Today, Haryana’s hopes were pinned on the yesterday’s not out batsmen Rajesh Puri and Ajay Ratra who were unbeaten with 62 and 13, respectively, in Haryana’s score of 184 for 4. On the fourth ball of Ajay Ratra who had not yet added any run to his overnight score. The batsman was adjudged leg before wicket. In his next over Hitesh Prasanna succeeded in getting the prized wicket of Rajesh Puri who had lashed at the bowlers with consummate ease yesterday. He scored 64 in only 67 balls in 78 minutes. He batted so aggressively that 52 out of his 64 runs came by way of boundaries. His innings was studded with 10 fours and two huge sixes. After the dismissal of Jitender (51) and Parinder (43) Puri’s innings was the only bright patch in Haryana’s fist innings. Satish Dhlan, who had made a miserable debut in the previous match against UP where he had failed to open his account scored 21 this time with the help of two boundaries. Haryana’s innings folded up at 224 — 181 runs short of Saurashtra’s first innings total. In the second essay also, Haryana batsmen made a meek surrender. They started in a disastrous manner. Opener Jitender chased an outgoing ball to be caught behind off the bowling of Altaf Merchant. SCOREBOARD Saurashtra (Ist innings) 405 Haryana (Ist innings): Jitender Singh run out 51, Parinder Sharma st Manoj Parmar b Sitanshu Kotak 43, Jasvir Singh c Manoj Parmar b Hitesh Prasanna 2, Sanjay Dalal c Altaf Merchant b Hitesh Prasanna 1, Rajesh Puri c Praksh Bhatt b Hitesh Prasanna 64, Ajay Ratra lbw, Hitesh Prasanna 13, Satish Ohlan c Prakash Bhatt b Hitesh Prasanna 21, Pankaj Thakur b Sitanshu Kotak 9, Vineet Jain b Sitanshu Kotak 5, Feroze Ghyas c Niraj Odedara b Hitesh Prasanna 2, Manish Shakhalkar not out 1. Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-4) 12 Total (all out in 70.3 overs) 224 Fill of wicket: 1-99, 2-101, 3-101, 4-102, 5-185, 6-186, 7-209, 8-221, 9-221, 10-224. Bowling: Narendera Rana 9-3 37-0, Altaf Merchant 6-1-25-0, Niraj Odedara 11-5-12-0-, Firoz Bambhania 5-0-18-0, Hitesh Prasanna 22.3-5-68-6, Dharmendra 9-3-42-0 (4nb), Sitanshu Kotak 8-2-14-3 Haryana (2nd Innings) Jitender Singh c Manoj Parmar b Alfaf Merchant 12, Parinder Sharma run out 17, Jasvir Singh c F. Bambhania b Niraj Odedara 3, Sanjay Dalal c Altaf Merchant B.F. Bambhania 19, Rajesh Puri batting 77, Ajay Ratra c Manoj Parmar B.F. Bambhania 0, Satish Ohlan c & b F. Bambhania 36, Pankaj Thakur c Hitesh Prasanna B.F. Bambhania 1, Vineet Jain lbw Niraj Odedara 4, Feroze Ghyas c Altaf Merchant b Hitesh Prasanna 16, Extras (b-9, lb-1, nb-11) 21 Fill of wicket: 1-26, 2-35, 3-46, 4-86, 5-86, 6-140, 7-146, 8-161, 9-206. Bowling: Narendera Rana
4-0-15-0, Altaf Merchant 7-2-20-1, Firoz Bambhania
16-6-39-4, Hitesh Prasanna 16.2-4-6-2, Niraj Odedara
14-5-29-2, Dharmendera Chudasama 12-5-21-0, Sitanshu
Kotak 2-0-12-0. |
Can India rise from dumps? CHANDIGARH, Feb 18 — Will Indian cricket be able to rise from the dumps it had fallen into during the tour of Australia, where they were whitewashed in the three-match Test series and mauled in the three-nation one-day series involving Australia and Pakistan as they prepare to take on South Africa, who arrived in Mumbai yesterday. Not only were the Indians defeated 3-0 in the Test series without giving a semblance of a fight to the Australians, they were able to win just one game (out of 10) in the one-day tournament. Nobody minds losing but the fact which hurt the Indian fans the most is the Indian players were totally outplayed in match after match and nobody, not even skipper Sachin Tendulkar himself, could do anything to stem the rot. The South Africans are scheduled to play two Test matches at Mumbai and Bangalore (March 2 to 6), as also five one-day internationals at Kochi (March 9), Jamshedpur (March 12), Faridabad (March 15), Baroda (March 17) and Nagpur (March 19). The first Test, to be played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, commences on February 24. Prior to that the visitors are scheduled to take on Board President’s XI in a three-day match at Brabourne Stadium at Mumbai. While the visitors will have a feel of Indian conditions in the match, the tie will be closely watched by the Indian selectors as players like Ajay Jadeja and Mohammad Azharuddin go through the paces. The chances are that India will be a totally transformed team when playing at home as has been the case in the past. First, of course, is the fact that in India the ball will not bounce as much as it did on the hard Australian strips, making the task of the Indian batsmen that much easier. Secondly, the Indian spinners will be able to extract much more help from the pitches than they were able to in Australia. Given India’s track record at home one would be tempted to say the odds, even if the Indian team now is totally demoralised and dejected, will be in favour of the hosts. How good will this be for Indian cricket is a different question altogether. It was in 1996 that South Africa toured India last where they lost 1-2 to the hosts in the Test series. Subsequently, India did tour South Africa in 1996-97 where South Africa overwhelmed the visitors in the first two Tests (with the matches finishing in less than four days) while the third ended in a draw. That series was also Sachin Tendulkar’s first series as skipper, a post he was elevated to after India’s poor showing in the Wills World Cup. In fact, India have been almost invincible at home and over the years visiting teams dread to play on the designer pitches prepared by Indian curators for international ties. And in the forthcoming series too things will not be much better given the fact that there are reports that a “designer” pitch is already being prepared for the first Test at Mumbai. According to media reports the ball will turn square, if not on the first day itself, but at least from the second day of play. Ever since the World Cup
in England (where India and South Africa did meet in the
league stage of the tournament when India lost), the
South Africans have maintained their form in both
varieties of the game. They have come to India after
beating England in Test series at home and another
victory in a tri-series, which also featured Zimbabwe. |
Slip-up reveals gameplan WELLINGTON, Feb 18 (AFP) — Australian cricket’s game plans are usually highly secret, but their strategies against New Zealand were yesterday slipped under the wrong hotel door — and are now everywhere. A guest staying in the same hotel as the Australians woke to find a wad of papers slipped under his door and apparently under lots of other doors as well. A local radio station was notified and the Australians’ list of weaknesses of the New Zealanders and their game plan for the one-day international became public knowledge. The papers instruct Australia to “intimidate” New Zealand with “controlled aggression,” but to keep “sledging and body language” under control. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is said to be “a bit lazy early,” Nathan Astle is “a bad runner” and a straight yorker is the way to bowl to Chris Cairns. Under a category listed mental/current form, Cairns was listed as “fragile — a good front runner — but lacks confidence if you get on top of him. Their key player — others feed off him.” However, the Australian batsmen were instructed to “see off Cairns as the danger bowler. Look to attack the rest.” The instruction for Roger Twose was to “intimidate early... not sure he quite believes in his ability.” The notes revealed plenty of respect for spinner Daniel Vettori. “Good bowler. Turns the ball. Gives the ball good flight. Good arm ball (swings).” Craig McMillan was another worthy of respect with “good timing” but he was also “very impatient ... dot balls the key ... good confident player but prone to silly mistakes.” The Australians were wary of Chris Harris, with instructions to “keep him down” as “body language can effect his team-mates.” The batsmen were to try to score off Harris’ every ball and be “mentally aggressive” towards him. Simon Doull could bowl a good ball “but will bowl a four ball,” and batsmen were instructed to stay patient to wait for those. McMillan was another who would bowl bad balls. Adam Parore was a “dangerous player coming in down the order, can hit straight away.” Australian players were cautioned that New Zealand would be more innovative than other teams with the examples given of the batting order and shots. Apparently the theme of the tour for the Australians is “never satisfied.” Australian manager Steve Bernard said the release of the papers wasn’t a huge concern. “Everybody has a
game plan. The side has to know what they have to do and
though we would prefer the opposition not know the plan
it’s not the end of the world,” he said. |
England win by one wicket BULAWAYO, Feb 18 (AFP) — England’s Craig White fully justified the term all-rounder when he played a major role in his side’s victory over Zimbabwe in their one-day international here today. But his magnificent performance was almost not enough as England just scraped home with one wicket to spare to snatch a 2-0 lead in the four-match international series here. White’s career-best five wickets for only 21 runs with his brisk medium pace destroyed the Zimbabwe batsmen, who were all out for 131 in 47.3 overs, fewer than three an over. Zimbabwe: N. Johnson c Hussain b White 30 A. Campbell c Hick b Caddick 6 S. Carlisle c Reed b White 31 M. Goodwin c Hick b Mullally 21 A. Flower c Reed b White 3 G. Flower b White 2 D. Viljoen c Reed b White 2 H. Streak c Hick b Caddick 1 J. Rennie not out 8 G. Brent b Ealham 10 H. Olonga b Ealham 0 Extras: (NB-6 W-1) 7 Total: (all out 47.3 overs) 131 Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-60, 3-76, 4-80, 5-84, 6-98, 7-98, 8-102, 9-131. Bowling: Caddick 10-4-24-2 (nb-2), Gough 9-1-31-0 (nb-2), Mullally 10-0-28-1 (w-1, nb-2), White 10-1-21-5, Ealham 8.3-0-27-2. England N. Hussain lbw b Streak 2 N.Knight c A.Flower b Streak 0 G.Hick A.Flower b Streak 13 D.Maddy c Olonga b Brent 13 V.Solanki c Streak b G.Flower 24 C.White c Goodwin b Olonga 26 M.Ealham lbw b Brent 32 C.Read c sub (Wishart) b Bremt 0 A.Caddick b Viljoen 0 D.Gough not out 4 A.Mullally not out 5 Extras (lb-5 w-8 nb-2): 15 Total (for nine wickets, 44.2 overs): 134 Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-6 3-30 4-58 5-73 6-120 7-124 8-125 9-125 Bowling: Streak
10-1-26-3, Rennie 5-0-17-0, Olonga 10-1-29-1, Brent
5.2-0-29-3, G.Flower 10-2-18-1, Viljoen 4-1-10-1. |
Board President’s XI take on SA today MUMBAI, Feb 18 (PTI) — The Ajay Jadeja-led Board President’s XI is expected to face a severe test of mental and physical strength and determination when it takes on the firepower of South Africa in the visitors’ three-day tour opener commencing at the Brabourne Stadium here tomorrow. The last time the South Africans visited this country for a Test series four years ago, they had demolished a Board President’s XI inside of two days with the help of their then pace battery of Fanie De Villers, Lance Klusener and Brian McMillan at Baroda. That stunning win was achieved by the South Africans even without their pace spearhead Allan Donald, who was rested. This time around “white lightning” Donald is sure to play the match along with his settled pace partner Shaun Pollock at the other end while Klusener is expected to be the support seamer along with exciting all-rounder Jacques Kallis. The Board XI, with
seasoned campaigners Jadeja, Mohammed Azharuddin and
Nayan Mongia in its ranks playing alongside emerging
talents Mohhammed Kaif, J. Arunkumar and Wasim Jaffer is
eager to do well and set the tone for the test series. |
Onus on men to salvage pride NEW DELHI, Feb 18 — After crashing out in Uber Cup, the onus of salvaging India’s pride rests on the men’s team who after subduing Singapore 5-0 today, will ultimately bank on Sunday’s tie for the third place. Tomorrow, though India are pitted in the semifinal against formidable China, undoubtedly the best among the lot, chief coach Mohd Arif said “Our main concentration area will be the winners of Thailand/Korea”. Definitely, India will like to play Thailand as already we had lost to Korea, thus to avoid any psychological disadvantage, the stiff contest with Thailand could not be ruled out”. Vikram Singh Bisht, former international badminton player and whose wife Madhumita Bisht already donned India’s colours in Uber Cup till today was of the opinion that our boys must go all out to win the possibility for attaining third place, in order to get entry for the Kuala Lumpur final qualifying rounds in May this year. It may be recalled that nearly 12 years back, in the Thomas Cup tie, India had managed to enter the finals which were interestingly held at Kuala Lumpur. But in those days, it was ace legendary Prakash Padukone lead India to glory. Now since Prakash is present, along with former international doubles player Uday Pawar, for inspiration the Indian team must cash in on the situation. The former national badminton coach and now an International Badminton Federation expert, Mr T.P.S. Puri when asked about India’s chances, said: “The boys are playing well and they must win two singles and one doubles tie to make their way to the eight-team finals in Malaysia. Mr Arif, however, quipped: “Nikhil Kanetkar ranked 60th played quite off during previous ties, but he may come back to his original form as he has always played well against foreign players”. Mr Puri felt that Indian doubles had always let them down. In all probability the best singles players will be given rest for tomorrow’s tough match with China so that on Sunday they start afresh. A majority of the coaches and experts are hoping for a do or die situation on Sunday. India’s challenge had been spearheaded by 32nd ranked Gopi Chand, 60th ranked Nikhil Kanetkar, 85th ranked Abhin Shyam Gupta in singles. But in doubles, India might again utilise the services of Gopi Chand. Prakash Padukone said:
“Team championship is quite emotive with everyone
trying to work and play for restoring prestige of
one’s country and here his advice and motivation for
India will be all the more beneficial.” |
Indian eves register victory NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (PTI) — The Indian women salvaged some pride by beating group toppers Hong Kong 4-1 in their final super league encounter to end their campaign on a winning note in the Asian Zone qualifiers for the World Team Badminton Championships for the Uber Cup here today. Already out of semifinal reckoning after losing to both top seeds Indonesia and Chinese Taipei in their first two ties in the tough group X, Indian women had an easy time as Hong Kong coach Chan Chi Choi sent in his reserve players at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here. Hong Kong were already through after they stunned strong Chinese Taipei and top seeds Indonesia in their previous two matches. In Thomas Cup, top seeds China, still playing with out world champion Sun Jun and former All-England champion Dong Jong, rode on the might of world No 11 Chen Hong and the 15th ranked Xinpeng Ji to blank Chinese Taipei 5-0 and expectedly stormed into the Thomas Cup semifinals from group X with a clean slate. Hong Kong coach Choi pulled out his top players Wan Ting Ling, the world No 32, while Wai Chee Koon, ranked 38th, was fielded in doubles only. In their absence, the 82nd ranked Mei Mei Chan, who played the first singles, and No 95 Ching Ng failed to prove much of a threat for the higher ranked Aparna Popat and B.R. Meenakshi, who won in straight games to give India a fine start. Aparna, the 21-year-old world No 29, totally outplayed Mei Mei Chan in the first singles to win 11-6 11-6 in just 26 minutes while Meenakshi, ranked 63rd, needed eight minutes less in defeating Ching 11-4 2-11. Youngsters Jwala Gutta and Shruti S. Kurian then clinched the issue in favour of the hosts, who qualified for the super league with an unbeaten record, when they downed Wai Chee Koon and Wing Mul Li 15-11 15-12 in a close match in which both the pairs committed several unforced errors. Seasoned Manjusha Kanwar
made it 4-0 for the hosts when she thrashed 290th ranked
Ching Man Siu 11-3 11-1 in just 113 minutes before Mei
Mei Chan and Ching Ng scored the lone consolation win for
Hong Kong by prevailing 15-9 15-8 over the experienced
pair of P.V.V. Lakshmi and Madhumita Bisht in a
hard-fought 33-minute encounter. |
First innings lead for Bengal CALCUTTA, Feb 18 (PTI) — Bengal reached a commanding position by taking a crucial 138-run first innings lead over Delhi on a rain-truncated third day of their group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy super league match here today. Delhi were 30 without loss at stumps in their second knock after the hosts declared their first innings closed at 374 for eight 44 minutes into the post-tea session. At close, Akash Chopra (14) and Ashu Dani (14) were in the middle with Delhi needing 108 runs to make Bengal bat again. Earlier, the start of the day’s play was delayed as the entire 150-minute pre-lunch session was lost due to yesterday’s rains, which left the practice pitches soggy. Resuming at their overnight score of 194 for four, Bengal willowers first overhauled the Delhi first innings total of 236 and then stepped up the scoring rate with some courageous attacking shots. Overnight batsman Srikant Kalyani (90; 118 min, 109 balls, 8x4) played a good knock, mixing caution with aggression and in the process adding 70 runs for the fifth wicket with Saba Karim (46) and 59 for the seventh with Wrichik Majumdar (34). Young medium pacer Sanjay Gill (3/41) was the most successful bowler for Delhi. Brief score: Delhi
— 236 all out and 30/0 vs Bengal — 384 for 8
declared (Haldipur 92, Kalyani 90; Gill 3/41). |
Ramesh ruled out of Ist Test MUMBAI, Feb 18 (PTI) — Opener S Ramesh has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa, starting here on February 24, as he has not fully recovered from the thumb fracture sustained in Australia. He has been advised rest till the second day of the Test, cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters today. The Tamil Nadu opener, who was to play for the Board President’s XI against the South Africans in their three-day tour opener beginning here tomorrow, felt some jarring in his injured finger when batting at the nets. “There would be no replacements for Ramesh”, Mr Lele said on the eve of the match at the Brabourne Stadium even with only 11 members of the Board team present for the nets. Two other members —
Karnataka opener J. Arunkumar and Tamil Nadu medium-pacer
T. Kumaran — had not reported at the team hotel till
today. |
8 teams for Guru Gobind Singh
football meet JALANDHAR, Feb 18 — Eight top teams will vie for honours in the second edition of the Shri Guru Gobind Singh Prize Money Football Tournament, starting here on February 29. The three leading teams of Punjab and one team each from Calcutta, Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir have confirmed their participation in the annual tournament to be played at the Guru Gobind Singh Football Stadium here. The final is slated for March 7, Mr Manmohan Singh, organising secretary of the tournament, announced here today. The organisers have also invited a veterans team from Canada to play an exhibition match. Confirmation from the team is still awaited. Mr Inderjeet Singh,
president of the organising committee, said the teams had
been divided into the two pools and the two top teams in
each group would qualify for the semifinals. |
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