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| Thursday, December 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Sriram to open with
Tendulkar Criminal case against
Azhar, Jadeja Pak players denied visas Windies’ hopes rest on Lara Anand registers crushing
win |
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Paes-Bhupathi duo posts upset win Randhawa in race for top
spot Hard-fought victory
for Aussie pair Newsman who could ‘smell’ a scoop
Punjab, IA move into
semis Ishan slams 125 Sarandeep sparkles Haryana forced to follow on
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RAJKOT, Dec 13 (PTI) — Sans a sulking Saurav Ganguly, India will look up to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid for providing the hosts a happy ending to the month-long series against Zimbabwe in the final one-day international here tomorrow. Slapped with a one-match ban for showing dissent and intimidating the umpire, Ganguly will be reduced to a mere spectator leaving Dravid to lead the side, which has already taken a 3-1 unassailable lead in the five-match series. Tendulkar and southpaw S. Sriram will open the Indian batting — the only likely change in the top order from the side that beat the visitors in Kanpur. "It will obviously be Sachin (Tendulkar) and Sriram who will open the Indian batting after the unfortunate incident at Kanpur that has put Ganguly out of action," Dravid told reporters after net practice here. "I don’t have any pressure captaining the side as I know it is just a stop-gap adjustment for one match and secondly, the series has already been decided in our favour," he said. Dravid, who was being tipped as future captain before Ganguly got the nod early this year, said it was an honour to lead India. "I will go all out to win tomorrow’s game as India’s track record on this ground has not been very good. We would like to improve the record with better performance," he said. India has just one win to their credit on this ground from five outings. The only win for the hosts came against Sri Lanka in 1994. India lost the first international played on this ground, against Australia in 1986, then went down to the West Indies two years later. The host’s other defeats here came against South Africa (1996) and New Zealand (1999) when the Kiwis amassed their highest total in one-dayers, scoring 344. In 1989 the West Indies and Sri Lanka clashed on this wicket and the Lankans achieved their first ever success against the mighty Windies. Dravid expressed satisfaction over the wicket and said it would be a good batting track. Though India has only 13 players to select from, Dravid refused to name the playing eleven. "We will select the team tomorrow morning," Dravid said but did not hint on whether Yuvraj Singh, rested in the Kanpur match, would be recalled. The Punjab left-hander has had a series of poor outings, but the selectors retained him when the team for Kanpur and Rajkot matches was announced in Jodhpur. Looking back, Dravid said he was happy with the way the series went against the Zimbabweans but added there was a room for improvement in every department of the game. "We need to improve our fielding and there should be more consistency in our batting and bowling to become a world class team in future". Coach John Wright too was quite impressed with the team’s performance so far and said he was looking forward to a 4-1 result in the series. "I feel the India’s overall fielding performance in the series has been very good though there is room for further improvement. "We have got some exciting new ball bowlers like Zaheer Khan, who has shouldered the responsibility well with seniors like Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad," he added. "I think even the spinners have done quite well despite mainstay Anil Kumble not being fit to play any of the games in this series. The batting has also been consistent with a couple of youngsters making their mark and all in all it has been a good series for the Indians," Kiwi Wright said. Dravid joined the coach in praising the youngsters and remarked, "They seem to be improving with every game," he added. Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was, however, optimistic considering India’s poor track record on this ground. "They have a very poor track record on this ground and this should be a psychological advantage to us," Streak said. The Zimbabweans are likely to make one change from the squad that played at Kanpur bringing in left-arm spinner Dirk Viljoen for out of form Henry Olonga. Teams: India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Kapoor, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Vijay Dahiya, Sunil Joshi, Hemang Badani, S. Sriram, Venkatesh Prasad, Virender Sehwag and Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Coach: John Wright. Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (capt), Guy Whittall, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Trevor Madondo, Douglas Marillier, Brian Murphy, Mluleki Nkala, Henry Olonga, Gravin Reinie, Bryan Strang and Dirk Viljoen. Coach: Carl Reckmann. Umpires: V.N. Kulkarni and A.M. Saheba. Third umpire: K. Murli. Match referee: Barry Jarman (Australia). |
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Criminal case against
Azhar, Jadeja RAJKOT, Dec 13 (PTI) — A criminal case has been registered by police against Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja for “cheating and criminal conspiracy” in allegedly fixing the one-day cricket match between India and South Africa here in 1996. The Commissioner of Police Sudhir Sinha told PTI here today the case was registered, on a complaint lodged by a spectator, under two separate sections of the IPC 420 and 120-B. He said investigations would be conducted after a detailed study of the CBI and Madhavan Committee reports on match fixing and if they are found guilty, legal action would be initiated. The complainant, Sanjay Vyas, an advocate, in his FIR said by fixing the Rajkot match played on October 29, 1996, both the senior players had cheated the spectators, who had come to enjoy a fair game. It was apparently loss of money and time, he said in his complaint. Azharuddin was banned for life, while Jadeja was slapped with a five-year suspension from international cricket by the board earlier this month. Marsh quits to take
up role with BCCI SYDNEY, Dec 13 (AFP) — Former Australian opener Geoff Marsh quit today as a national selector to take up a consulting role with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He was replaced by David Boon, Australia’s fourth highest Test run-scorer with 7,422 runs, who currently works for the Tasmanian Cricket Association. Marsh had been a front runner to take over as the first foreign coach of the Indian cricket team but the job instead went to New Zealander John Wright. |
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Pak players denied visas CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — The stage is set for the sixth Asian Junior Rowing Championship to begin at Sukhna Lake here from tomorrow. The draw for tomorrow’s heats was held in the afternoon. India, in women’s singles skulls, has been drawn in heat A with Uzbekistan, Japan and Chinese Taipei. In men’s doubles skulls, India are placed in heat B with Korea, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei, in coxless pairs they have been drawn against Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. The Pakistan rowing team has finally conveyed their inability to compete due to visa problems, according to Mr C.P. Singh Deo, general secretary, Rowing Federation of India. They had been
denied visas, he said. The Chinese have sent a full-strength team. ‘‘They will give tough competition, said Lt-Col R.S. Bhanwala, Arjuna awardee in rowing. ‘‘But we well definitely get a medal in almost all events.’’ “Chinese, of all teams, have the best support system. They really groom their players and their academics are well established whereas in India we lack infrastructure. Chandigarh has a very good rowing course which currently is under-utilised. Except a few other centres, we hardly have good courses and facilities. In women’s coxless fours India in Heat A will compete against Uzbekistan and China. Meanwhile the organisers have made arrangements for testing the contestants. Random tests would be carried out for banned performance enhancing substances and also to check the contestants’ age. The samples will be sent for analysis to the laboratory at NIS
Patiala, which is the only place in north India to have these testing facilities." We
will be very strict with the testing. Anybody we think is above the age limit will be tested,” said Col Madhu Berry, Chief
coordinator. The contestants have to be of 18 years and below. Regarding the controversy involving heavier boats being provided by the Lake Club, Col Berry, who is also the manager of the club, said:” all the countries had the option of bringing their own boats but except India and Hong Kong they did not choose to do so. We have provided them with the best we had and they adhere to the international
standards. Of course, the weight differs from boat to boat.” The preparations were still going on at the Lake Club. The jetty, which the responsibility of the engineering department, chandigarh, was supposed to have been ready by December 7, but was finally prepared today afternoon. All the lanes have been laid.” the engineering department has done an excellent job in laying down the
lanes," said Col Berry. Uzbekistan have arrived in Delhi and will reach Chandigarh tonight. The championship will be inaugurated by Lt-Gen (Retd) J.F.R. jacob. The opening ceremony will be held tomorrow at 11am. |
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Windies’ hopes rest on Lara ADELAIDE, Dec 13 (AFP) — Brian Lara will be the man holding centrestage again as the West Indies attempt to reverse their wretched cycle of adversity when the third Test against all-conquering Australia starts here on Friday. Trailing 0-2 after three-day thrashings in Brisbane and Perth, the Windies have plenty of motivation not to plunge to a third successive defeat. Such a result would plant them firmly on the path to the biggest battering either side has received in 70 years of Caribbean-antipodean competition. Australia beat Clive Lloyd’s 1975-76 side here 5-1, but neither team has walloped the other by five clear games. If there is one ground in Australia where Lara, the enigmatic Trinidadian can stamp his class, it has to be Adelaide Oval, home of one of the world’s most batsman-friendly pitches. |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 13 (PTI) — Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand struck a telling blow to Michael Adams’ hopes when he crushed the Englishman in a Ruy Lopez second game of their semifinal match, even as Spain’s Alexei Shirov was decimated by Russian teenager Alexander Grischuk in the World Chess Championship. World No. 2 Anand, who took his tally to 1.5-0.5 in the four-game semifinal, employed the oft-successful Ruy Lopez opening with precision which forced Adams to make some positional blunders. Defending woman’s champion Xie Jun of China, meanwhile, consolidated her position in her quest to retain the title as she drew her second match of the four-game final against compatriot Qin Kanying. Jun, who won the first game yesterday, now leads 1.5-0.5 and just needs one more point to stamp her authority in the women’s chess. Anand acquired a reasonable advantage from the opening and then built on it to frustrate the Englishman. A positional blunder by Adams in the middlegame allowed the Indian to squeeze the black pieces from both the flanks before using his rook to threaten his opponent. Anand’s rook penetrated Adams’s seventh rank and challenged the black king before the beleaguered Englishman resigned on the 36th move. Latvia-born Shirov, who was on a high after crushing Grischuk yesterday, was made to bite the dust as the 17-year-old Russian bounced back with a vengeance. Playing with white pieces, Grischuk opened with English attack and Shirov defended in Sicilian which allowed the Russian a luxury of comfortable position in the middlegame. In an opposite colour bishop middlegame, Grischuk easily cornered the Spaniard in 29 moves to level their duel 1-1. Ruy Lopez seems to have caught fascination of the players with most of them preferring to open in this Spanish attack. While Anand benefited from it today — Shirov and Jun had savoured the same successfully yesterday — Kanying tried to exploit but in vain. Up against the defending champion, Kanying drifted a bit from the Spanish attack and opted for Ruy Lopez Smystov variation, which did not fetch the desired results. After trying
their wits, Jun and Kanying signed a peace treaty after 40 moves to take their fight into the third game. |
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Paes-Bhupathi duo posts upset win BANGALORE, Dec 13 (UNI) — On a day of upsets, India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes started their campaign in the Gold Flake ATP World Tennis Championship on a rousing note, shocking second seed Paul Haarhuis (The Netherlands) and Sandon Stolle (Australia) in straight sets here tonight. Wild card entrants Bhupathi and Paes took 87 minutes to create a major upset on the opening day itself, winning 7-5, 6-4. Despite not playing together for more than a month, the Indian pair combined well. In the second match of the evening, third seeded Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer of the USA were drubbed by fifth seeds Donald Johnson (USA) and Piet Norval (South Africa) 5-7 6-7 (7-9) in 87 minutes. The late charge of defending champion O’Brien, who won the title last year in the company of Sebastian Lareau of France, in his title defence, was not enough as they went down gallantly. Johnson and Normal were upto the task of making a match of their better known rivals. Josh Eagle and Andrew Florent of Australia scored a hard-fought victory over South Americans Jaime Oncins and Daniel Orsanic. In the 102-minute encounter fourth seed Australian pair of Josh and Andrew warded off a spirited challenge from sixth seed Oncins of Brazil and Daniel of Argentina 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The Aussies, who have a career record of entering eight finals, looked poised for a straight set win as they began in a brilliant fashion. They raced to a 5-0 lead breaking the South Americans in the second and fourth games as Oncins who struggled with his serves twice double-faulted in the second game. The South American pair started showing their real game winning the sixth by holding their serve. But that was all they could do in the first set. Josh and Andrew said they were happy to begin on a winning note. “They (Oncins and Daniel) lifted their game a bit in the second and third sets. We made a few mistakes” they said. The two were unhappy as they had to adjust to the shadow and sun hitting the eye. “The court is very well (laid). It is medium to fast and does not help those playing from baseline. We will complain about the shadow and the sunshine. Otherwise it would have been much better”, they added. The strategy to play from baseline misfired and South Americans bounced back into game winning the second set. For the first time, Oncins and Daniel were in the lead when they broke the opponents in the fourth game and held their serves to level the set score at one-all. The match witnessed some good returns by both teams. The South Americans committed double faults at crucial stages allowing the opponents to get a firm hold. Semifinalists in Roland Garros, Oncins and Daniel, could not continue their fine run and allowed the Australians to gain an early lead in the decider. The winners were 3-0 up when Daniel served superbly to win the fourth game. Immediately, the Australians were broken, but Eagle and Florent broke back and held the serve again surge to a comfortable 5-2 lead. An exciting finish appeared to be on the cards when the Australians were broken in the ninth game. However, the South Americans, making their first appearance, were again broken in the tenth game as the Aussies brought the curtains down on the thrilling encounter. |
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HONG KONG, Dec 13 (UNI) — A close contest is on the cards between India’s Jyoti Randhawa, England’s Simon Dyson and Taiwan’s Yeh Wei Tze as the last official world ranking golf event of the year — the Omega Open — with a prize money of $ 500,000 gets under way here tomorrow. An intriguing battle will also take place between two of tournament’s star players — Sweden’s Patrik Sjoland and Wales’ Ian Woosnam. The two European Tour players played a memorable tournament last year, before Sjoland triumphed by a shot. Woosnam, winner here in 1987, will be out for revenge this week. Heavy rain forced the cancellation of today’s pro-am and put pay to any of the players’ last minute preparations for the tournament. “I have been coming here for many years, so I know the course as well. I am happy just to practice today’’, said Yeh. The Taiwanese star leads the Davidoff Tour Order of merit with winnings of $ 220,456 by only 3,465 dollars from second placed Randhawa. Yeh had a comfortable lead heading into the season-ending events until both Randhawa and Dyson moved to within striking distance following exceptional performances in last week’s Singapore Open. Randhawa won in Singapore while Dyson finished joint third. Randhawa’s win last week was his fourth Davidoff Tour victory but his first success outside of India. He won the Indian Open earlier this year and was the Hero Honda masters champion in New Delhi in 1998 and 1999. “It was a great result last week, coming into the final two events it was my goal to win one and finish high up in another so that I’d have a chance of winning the merit list. I’ve taken the first step towards that. I just need to finish it off here in Hong Kong,’’ said Randhawa. Rookie professional Dyson won the Macau Open and Volvo China Open back-to-back in May, and has finished second twice and third once this year. He’s also on a high after having won his card at the European Tour Qualifying School last month. South African Craig Kamps, Indian Arjun Atwal, and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee also have a chance to finish the year as the Davidoff Tour’s No 1 player but they must win this week and hope the top three have a poor tournament. The Omega Hong Kong Open’s star players, that includes Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and Italy’s Costantino Rocca, could spoil the party for the Davidoff Tour’s top professionals. Sjoland fired a course record eight-under-par 62 in the third round last year for a four stroke lead going into the final day. He was as many as seven in front early on in the fourth round but, after a fight back by Woosnam, he had to hold on to a one stroke lead with two to play. Korea’s Kang Wook-soon, the 1998 champion, and twice a runner-up at the Hong Kong Golf Club, will also be a threat this week. |
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Hard-fought victory for Aussie pair BANGALORE, Dec 13 (UNI) — Josh Eagle and Andrew Florent of Australia scored a hard-fought victory over South Americans Jaime Oncins and Daniel Orsanic in the Gold Flake ATP Tour World Doubles Championship at the KSLTA Stadium here today. In the 102-minute encounter fourth seed Australian pair of Josh and Andrew warded off a spirited challenge from sixth seed Oncins of Brazil and Daniel of Argentina 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The Aussies, who have a career record of entering eight finals, looked poised for a straight set win as they began in a brilliant fashion. They raced to a 5-0 lead breaking the South Americans in the second and fourth games as Oncins who struggled with his serves twice double-faulted in the second game. The South American pair started showing their real game winning the sixth by holding their serve. But that was all they could do in the first set. Josh and Andrew said they were happy to begin on a winning note. “They (Oncins and Daniel) lifted their game a bit in the second and third sets. We made a few mistakes” they said. The two were unhappy as they had to adjust to the shadow and sun hitting the eye. “The court is very well (laid). It is medium to fast and does not help those playing from baseline. We will complain about the shadow and the sunshine. Otherwise it would have been much better”, they added. The strategy to play from baseline misfired and South Americans bounced back into game winning the second set. For the first time, Oncins and Daniel were in the lead when they broke the opponents in the fourth game and held their serves to level the set score at one-all. The match witnessed some good returns by both teams. The South Americans committed double faults at crucial stages allowing the opponents to get a firm hold. Semifinalists in Roland Garros, Oncins and Daniel, could not continue their fine run and allowed the Australians to gain an early lead in the decider. The winners were 3-0 up when Daniel served superbly to win the fourth game. Immediately, the Australians were broken, but Eagle and Florent broke back and held the serve again surge to a comfortable 5-2 lead. An exciting finish appeared to be on the cards when the Australians were broken in the ninth game. However, the South Americans, making their first appearance, were again broken in the tenth game as the Aussies brought the curtains down on the thrilling encounter. |
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Newsman who could ‘smell’ a scoop R. SRIMAN (75) who passed away on Wednesday morning after a brief illness, was a brilliant newsman. He had a ‘nose’ for news and could smell a ‘scoop’. Extremely knowledgeable and quick in writing his copy, Sriman, like Lala Amarnath, thrived on controversies. The more controversial the issue, the better he wrote. When Sriman was at his best, he filed several ‘scoops’ for The Times of India in late 1950’s and early 1960’s. His only rival then was Vernon Ram of the Indian Express. He often came out triumphant, though both of them held divergent views on the topic they were writing. “Never say die” was Sriman’s hallmark. If he was ever beaten by Ram or any one, he would produce a ‘scoop’ the following day. Versatile and helpful, he was friendly with players, officials and others. Sriman was comfortable reporting hockey, football, athletics and even races, but he was proficient in all other disciplines. “In passing away of Sriman, country has lost an outstanding sports journalist”, said former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi. Friends indeed Sriman and Bedi were, but it was sheer delight to see them engaged in lively discussion. Sriman had a brief assignment in Madras before he came to Delhi in early 1950. After flirtation with The Statesman and The Hindustan Times, he moved to The Times of India where K.N. Prabhu was the chief of sports. When Prabhu moved to Mumbai, he became Sports Editor and stayed sports Editor until he retired in mid-1980’s. In 1956, Sriman went to Melbourne to cover the Olympic Games. He covered another 5 to 6 Olympic Games. His last Olympics was in 1988 at Seoul. Apart from Olympics, he covered other international events at home and abroad. He toured Pakistan with the Indian cricket team in 1980’s and also covered one-day matches in Sharjah. He wrote for Khaleej Times (Dubai). A fine speaker, though longish, Sriman had a very subtle sense of humour. He was ever ready to pull someone’s leg. Once a colleague told him that he had been invited for radio commentary, his immediate reaction was: “Now you have no chance of making a spelling mistake”. It was cricket matches, promoted by Ramanujam (Newsweek), that led to the formation of the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) at Calcutta in mid-1970’s. He became the first president of the SJFI. |
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Bagan have edge on JCT NEW DELHI, Dec 13 — JCT, Phagwara were dogged by injuries while Mohun Bagan were brimming with confidence on the eve of their opening match in the fifth National Football League (NFL) here today. JCT coach Sukhvinder Singh was a worried man as Probjot Singh, Kuldip Singh and international Jaswinder Singh were nursing injuries and may miss the opening match against defending champions Mohun Bagan at the Ambedkar Stadium here tomorrow. The kick off is at 2.30 p.m. Though Delhi is a sort of home away from home for JCT, in effect, for both the teams, it is an away match, though Mohun Bagan have some sweet memories to cherish about the Delhi ground as it was here, a few weeks back, that they had ended their title drought when they hit pay dirt, by lifting the Durand Cup, and a hefty prize money of Rs 5 lakh, after dethroning reigning champions Mahindra United. Mohun Bagan coach, former international Subroto Bhattacharya, said he would be fielding the same team he had fielded in the Durand Cup, though they have a new custodian in Sandeep Nandi, who may don the mantle of the keeper against JCT tomorrow. Bagan have a solid, tested side and their foreign recruits, Hussain Mustafi in the defence, Amouri Da Silva in the half line, and Jao Santos in the attack, have delivered the goods as and when the occasion demanded. They have also a brilliant striker in R C Prakash, a former ITI star player, and overall, the Calcutta giants are in fine fettle. Former champions JCT, on the other hand, have been experimenting with a bunch of youngsters to shape them into stars of tomorrow, and hence they have not had much success in recent months. But Sukhvinder Singh has clearly set his sights on the future and hence is not much bothered about the outcome of the opening encounter of the much-delayed NLF, though JCT would surely be starting as the underdogs. JCT have a score to settle with Bagan for giving them a 1-3 pasting in their return match at the Salt Lake stadium in February this year in the fourth edition of the league, after they had tamed the Calcutta lions in their backyard at Ludhiana in December last year. But playing in Delhi, JCT have always done well and the inaugural league was indeed a good omen for them as they did not put a step wrong after putting the right foot forward in the opening match in Delhi. JCT went on to win the crown, though in the second edition, they had finished sixth with Bagan winning the title and in the fourth edition, they were fifth. Salgaocar had won the title in the third edition, while Bagan wrested the title in the fourth. Injuries to three of his key players may force Sukhvinder to blood stopper Pawan Kumar, but JCT are always a potent force and no team can take them lightly. JCT did not have a good outing in the Durand Cup, as they could not progress beyond the quarter-final league round. But Sukhvinder is determined to put up a good show, no matter what the end result is. |
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ICC team did not probe Indian players NEW DELHI, Dec 13 — Head of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit, Sir Paul Condon, a former Commissioner of Police, London, said here today that his team did not investigate the charges against Indian players and officials involved in the match-fixing and betting scandal, as his brief was to investigate the charges against foreign players and officials. Condon said the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) team, comprising himself, Greg Melic of Australia, Tim Gresson of New Zealand and Desmond Fernando of Sri Lanka, investigated allegations made against overseas cricketers, in the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on betting and match-fixing, like Mark Waugh, Martin Crowe, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva “and we have gathered enough evidence to
establish whether this evidence (contained in the CBI report) can be uncovered”. “The CBI report was a significant step forward in the fight against corruption in cricket, and I congratulate the CBI on its thoroughness and professionalism”, said Condon. Condon said his team had meetings with key BCCI officials, including president Dr A.C. Muthiah and Inquiry Commissioner K Madhavan, Delhi Police’s Dr K.K. Paul, CBI Joint-Director R. Sawani, Sports Minister Uma Bharati and Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley as “we are determined to leave no stone unturned in investigating these allegations, but equally players should not be condemned without evidence being available”. But Sir Condon was, however, emphatic in his opinion that the guilty players must be exposed and punished according to the law of the land and the cricket board. He said his specific brief was to “gather information in areas where the CBI has no jurisdiction namely the non-Indian players”. Sir Condon’s ACU team was joined in India by anti-corruption investigators from Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Speaking on behalf of the combined team, Sir Condon said: “All of us have been made very welcome in India and have been pleased by the constructive co-operation we have received from the authorities. There is new evidence available to support our investigations and the immediate task is to make an assessment of its content.” He said the investigation team “have jointly agreed to move forward in a co-ordinated fashion with colleagues around the cricketing world, to take investigations to a further stage”. Australian investigator Greg Melick said: “This visit to India has been a good example of co-operation as we (the Australian Cricket Board) have been conducting an investigation in concert with other boards, which has been co-ordinated by the ICC ACU, and we have made significant progress and established many important contacts that will assist with the furtherance of this investigation”. New Zealand representative Tim Gresson praised the CBI effort as the agency has “produced an extremely thorough report, and it has been very valuable to meet and talk with the officers who were responsible for its compilation”. He said the issue of cricket corruption “is one of global nature, so it is vital that world cricket tackles it in a genuinely cohesive fashion”. Desmond Fernando of Sri Lanka said “each of the boards who have players named in the CBI report are taking the allegations very seriously, and the most effective way forward is through the sharing of information and agreement to a co-ordinated approach. My investigations will continue on this basis”. But none of the investigators, including Sr Paul Condon, went into specifics of their investigations, and refused to divulge the information gathered about individual players and officials, and the bookies and other officials they had talked with in India. Sir Condon said the ICC team will also be liaising with the Pakistan Cricket Board investigators as had been done with the Kenyan board to share and unearth new information. “Everything we do will be lawful”, he added. |
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JAMMU, Dec 13 (PTI) — Defending champions Indian Airlines moved into the semifinals of the 60th Senior National Hockey Championship despite a stunning 2-4 defeat to Services in their last Pool D super-league encounter here today. Indian Airlines joined Punjab, who blanked Bengal 4-0 earlier in the day in a Pool-C match for their third win, Railways and Punjab and Sindh Bank in the last four of the tournament which will be played on Friday. Punjab will take on Pool-A qualifiers Railways in the first semi-final while Indian Airlines will clash with Punjab and Sindh Bank in the other match. In other matches of the day, Chandigarh defeated Uttar Pradesh by a solitary goal in Pool-C while Border Security Force got the better of Jammu and Kashmir 6-4 in a high scoring Pool-D match. Both Indian Airlines and BSF had two wins to their credits from three matches but Indian Airlines qualified for the semi-finals on account of having defeated BSF in the league match. Indian Airlines, with a number of Olympians in their ranks, started with a bang scoring in the first minute itself when captain Dilip Tirkey converted the first penalty corner. The joy was short-lived as Services equalised five minutes later also through a penalty corner. Both teams raided the opponent’s half for about half an hour but failed to convert the chances before Tirkey scored his second goal through a penalty corner in the 30th minute to enable Indian Airlines go into the breather with a 2-1 lead. Sixteen-time winners Punjab rode on the brilliance of Baljit Singh Dhillon who not only scored two goals but also played important role in scripting two others. Bengal looked a demoralised side having already lost two matches, their players just went through the motions to complete the formalities. Punjab took nine minutes to settle down and opened their account through Surjit Singh, who connected a long cross ,cut through the defence and shot home. The tally went up 13 minutes later and this time Baljit with his customary drag flick sent the ball home off a penalty corners (2-0). Punjab players did not go flat out on the offensive in the second half and saved their energies knowing fully well that they are through to the semis. Still they managed to slam two more goals in this session to end their league assignment scoring nine goals and conceding two. It was Baljit again who consolidated the lead for the winners, converting yet another penalty corner to score his second and teams’s third goal. This happened in 52nd minute and four minutes before the final whistle Jugraj Singh completed the rout with a fine goal to make it 4-0. Chandigarh scored the all important goal in the 33rd minutes through Sukhbir Gill and held on the lead for next 37 minute as game became a dull and drab affair. |
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PUNE, Dec 13 (UNI) — Middle order batsman Ishan Ganda (125) and Sumit Sharma (64 not out) with their 135-run third wicket stand helped Haryana muster 315 for 3 against Madhya Pradesh in the finals of the four-day under-19 Cooch Behar knock-out match which got underway at the Deccan Gymkhana Ground here today. Sharma and skipper Ajay Ratra (3 not out) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for the day. Skipper Ratra won the toss and elected to bat. They were given a fine start by openers Manvinder Bisla (35) and Bhuvanesh Sharma (70) who put on 97 runs for the opening stand. Sharma was joined by Ishan after Bisla fell to Ambalal Patidar and they added 65 runs for the second wicket. Sharma fell to off spinner Jitendra Likhar who trapped him right in front of the wicket with Haryana total reading at 162 from 41.2 overs. Madhya Pradesh displayed poor fielding both in the air and the ground and making the most of the situation was Ishan who compiled his responsible knock of 125 with the help of 15 crisp fours after having batted for 247 minutes and faced 196 balls in the bargain. He edged a catch to keeper Naman Ojha while trying to square cut leggie Jatin Saxena after surviving not less than three chances. The five-member junior selection panel headed by Rajendra Goyal (North), Mahendra Rajdev (West), Ashok Bhagwat (Central), C. Ashok (South) and Ashish Sinha (East) are watching the players in action before selecting the probables for India under 19 team to play the visiting England under 19 team. Brief Score: (Haryana 315 for 3 in 91 overs (Manvinder Bisla 35, Bhuvanesh Sharma 70, Ishan Ganda 125, Sunit Sharma 64 n.o. Ambalal Patidar 1/52, Jitendra Likhar 1/56 and Jatin Saxena 1/15) |
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Sarandeep sparkles ROHTAK, Dec 13 — The North Zone under-22 cricket league match played at Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium ended in a draw here today. Resuming their first innings at overnight score of 177 for 5 in reply to Punjab’s first innings total of 402, Haryana could only score 304, conceding a 43-run first innings lead. Parveen Sharma (96), Pradeep Sahu (71) and Ashok Kumar (53) were the main contributors in Haryana innings. Punjab bowler Sarandeep Singh returned with the bowling analysis of 44-21-59-4. Harkishan Kali captured three wickets for 64 and Amit Kakaria bagged two wickets. In the remaining 100 minutes of play Punjab scored 94 for two wickets in 23 overs. Ravneet Ricky made 69 in 93 minutes off 70 balls with the help of 11 fours. Punjab gained five points for gaining Ist innings lead and Haryana got three points. |
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Haryana forced to follow on ROHTAK, Dec 13 — Haryana were forced to follow on against Punjab on the second day of the North Zone Vijay Merchant cricket tie at Sat Priya Cricket Academy here today. Punjab added another 75 runs after losing two more wickets to pile up a huge total of 526 for seven declared. Skipper Vishwas Bhalla went on to score 250 before being stumped off Nitin Mehtani. Assem Gupta scored 46. Rahul Gahlot and Nitin Mehtani dismissed three batsmen each. In reply, the Haryana innings folded at 177. Four batsmen failed to open their accounts. Haryana lost their last five wickets for an addition of only six runs. Ankur Jand was the most successful Punjab bowler to capture three wickets for 14 runs in 91 overs. Tarun Kanish took two wickets for 16 runs and Gursharan accounted for two wickets. In the second knock Haryana batsmen came to the crease with a different approach. The opening pair of Puneet Gupta (55) and Kailash Shah (68) added 1543 without being separated. Brief scores: Punjab
(Ist innings): 526 for 7 decl. Haryana (Ist innings): 117 & 143 for no loss. |
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