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| Tuesday,
March 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Pakistan will not play India anywhere: Tauqir
Zia Indian, Australian
teams in Pune
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Railways storm into
semis Yuveraj, Sodhi for B’desh exhibition
tie Pak gear up for final
Test Anand crushes Van Wely, maintains
lead If I’m glum I’ll go for a
run Roddick vanquishes
Sampras Mohun Bagan scrape past
AI
Thorpe shatters
800m record OBC, Delhi Audit in
final
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Pakistan will not play India anywhere: Tauqir Zia New Delhi, march 26 “Pakistan will not play India anywhere in any event in the future and that’s it,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia told AFP in Karachi reacting to reports that Indian government had refused permission to its team to play in Sharjah. “Enough is enough and we now don’t want to get bothered about India anymore,” he said. However, the Indian government has denied having refused permission with a spokesman saying the decision on the issue was expected within the next couple of days. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are to play in a limited overs series in Sharjah from April 8 to 20. “We will not go for ICC knock out event if India hosts it next year,” he said. “We will also take advice from the government,” AFP quoted Zia as saying. PCB Director of Operations Brigadier Munawwar Rana had earlier said Pakistan was not averse to playing in the knock-out tournament next year even if it was held in India. “As per the current policy, note current policy, Pakistan will surely go but what happens in a year’s time is hard to forecast,” Rana had said. Sports Minister Uma Bharti, during a meeting with ICC President Malcolm Gray earlier this week, had given the go-ahead to the world body to organise the tournament in India. Gray had later laid down a deadline of April 30 for the government to clear its stand on playing with Pakistan so that its participation in the tournament could be ensured. India twice pulled out of the annual Sahara Cup bilateral tournament in Toronto and refused permission to its team to tour Pakistan late last year citing its neighbour’s continued support to cross-border terrorism in Kashmir as the reason. Zia, also the president of Asian Cricket Council, threatened not to preside over its meeting in Sharjah next month. “When India is doing all these anti-cricket things the Asian body ceases to exist. I will not preside the ACC meeting in Sharjah next month,” he said. Zia said ICC should have “asserted more in this regard and acted like football’s FIFA, which forbids government involvement in sport.” DUBAI: The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) has expressed surprise over reports from New Delhi that the Indian government has once again refused to allow its cricket team to play against Pakistan in a one-day tournament at Sharjah next month and said such a decision would be disappointing for the game. “I am surprised at the report. In India, the ministries are closed on Sunday...So how could an official make a statement”, CBFS Chairman Abdul Rehman Bukhatir told Gulf News. He was reacting to the report which quoted an official as saying that permission had not been granted to the Indian squad to visit Sharjah to take part in the Coca Cola Cup tournament, also featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin on April 8. The official said a formal announcement in this regard would be made by Sports Minister Uma Bharti. Mr Bukhatir said everyday someone or the other has been writing about it. However: “We have not heard anything about it,” he added. He said: “I had even talked to A C Muthiah (Indian cricket board President) yesterday on the phone. He never even mentioned that any such decision has been taken by the Indian government.’’
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Indian, Australian teams in Pune Pune, March 26 The second one dayer is slated for Wednesday here. Indian team manager and former Test opener Chetan Chauhan said that the team has regained confidence after the Test win of 2-1 and added that if they continue in the same spirit, they would surely pocket the one-day series as well. Chauhan, who also started his small stint in first class cricket from Pune, immediately left for the ground after his arrival here. The Indians have decided to have the net practice this evening and tomorrow morning, while the Aussies, who arrived at the Lohegaon airport two hours behind schedule, have decided to forgo the nets this evening for tomorrow, the respective local managers of both the teams informed. Mr Chauhan, while talking to mediapersons, attributed india’s win in the first one dayer to the team effort. He praised the younger players including allrounder Virendra Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Vijay Dahiya who measured up to the situation splendidly after veterans Ganguly and Tendulkar had fallen early. He said the team’s strategy has paid off so far. “I don’t think there will be any change in it,” he added. The Aussie team will be without seamer Jason Gillespie who has opted out to have more rest before the Ashes series and has been replaced by all rounder Shane Lee in the 15-member squad.
UNI |
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Dahiya again played well THE first one-day finished at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore with India winning by 60 runs. The game was actually much closer than the victory margin shows, and a few wickets in a span of few overs put the game in our favour. It was the only day-nighter of the series and the ground looked in top condition. The outfield looked lush green and the wicket was an absolute beauty. It was a good toss to win, a toss which I have won after a long time. We batted well to reach 315 and special credit should go to Rahul Dravid and Virendra Sehwag for we were a little on the backfoot after being 122 for 4, and they both batted with responsibility. The best part of their partnership was that right throughout the run rate was 6 an over. This was a problem in our batting in the past and we have made a major improvement in the last eight months. That’s the reason we have won 80 per cent of our games. Vijay Dahiya once again played very well for his fifty and his contribution with the bat in the lower order has given us a lot of depth in the batting. When we walked out to field, I knew we have to fight hard to defend the total for the Aussies had a good batting side. I was also aware that picking wickets was important. The dew was also a bit of worry for me for we had two spinners and gripping the ball would be difficult both for bowling and also on the field. We picked wickets of Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting early, but Bevan and Hayden put a good partnership. They were taking the game away from us but Sehwag and I picked their wickets in quick succession. That turned the match in our favour. Sehwag bowled very well considering the dew and the wicket was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match. I was happy with the way our bowlers bowled under difficult conditions, especially Zaheer Khan who has always delivered under pressure. He bowled well in the first 15 overs and also at the stage when Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist were playing. It was a good start to the one-day series, but there is still a lot of cricket to be played in the series. We have to play good cricket for the Aussies are going to come hard at us. We have to uplift our fielding standards and keep our focus for we are playing a very good team. Gameplan |
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Bonanza for
Harbhajan Chandigarh, March 26 The Punjab Cabinet also announced to give a 500-sq.yards residential plot in an urban estate to the Jalandhar lad. The meeting while congratulating the prodigy for capturing 32 wickets in the series, a record for any Indian, unanimously resolved to honour him at a state-level function.
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Railways storm into semis New Delhi, March 26 Railways will take on Punjab in the semifinals. Last year’s semifinalists Karnataka were given an impossible victory target of 633 in 65 overs. Railways in their first innings had made 451 runs and Karnataka had replied with 237. The hosts declared their second innings at 418 for nine. Karnataka were 279 for four in 65 overs when the match ended. A fine unbeaten 100 by opener B.M. Rowland saved Karnataka from defeat as he along with V.S.T. Naidu put up 104 runs for the fourth wicket to deny Railways an outright victory Resuming at their overnight score of 385 for six, Railways added 33 runs in 15.2 overs losing three wickets before declaring their innings at 418 for 9. Yere Goud was unlucky to miss his century by eight runs as he was caught by Rowland off Vijay Bhardwaj. He hit one six and 13 boundaries in his knock. First innings century maker Sanjay Sahu contributed 23 (5x4). Medium pacer Doda Ganesh and spinner Vijay Bhardwaj claimed three wickets each. Karnataka began their reply on whirlwind fashion as their openers put up 52 runs on the scoreboard off 42 balls. The visitors lost their first wicket on 52 when beerala was caught by Sanjay Bangar off Harvinder. The batsman made 35 (8x4). Opener Rowland and Vijay Bhardwaj then batted caustiously and added 59 runs for the second wicket in 20.1 overs. Spinner Kulamani Parida clean bowled Bhardwaj (43,8x4) to break the partnership. Scoreboard Railways (Ist innings) 451 Karnataka (Ist innings) 237 Railways (IInd innings) A. Pagnis lbw b Ganesh 68, Bangar b Ganesh 59, T.P Singh lbw b Yalvigi 17,Y. Goud c Rowland b Vijay Bharadwaj 92, Abhay Sharma c Vijay Bharadwaj b Vadeyaraj 14, S Raza Ali c Rowland b Yalvigi 13, S.N. Khanolkar c Rowland b Ganesh 90, K Sahu c sub (Shanbal) b Vijay Bharadwaj 23, Hussain c Akhil b Vijay Bharadwaj 5, Harvinder Singh not out 4. Extras (b 11, lb 8, w 2, nb 12) 33 Total (in 132.2 overs) 418 for 9 Fall of wicket: 1/131, 2/138, 3/169, 4/192, 5/219, 6/355, 7/395, 8/413, 9/418 Bowling: D.Ganesh 19-4-63-3, B. Akhil 8-1-39-0, Vijay Bharadwaj 33.2-6-77-3, S.K. Vadeyaraj 44-9-113-1, A.R.Yalvigi 25-5-98-2, B.M. Rowland 3-0-9-0. Karnataka (IInd innings) Beerala c Bangar b Harvinder Singh 35, Rowland not out 100, Bharadwaj b Parida 43, Anil Kumar c Bangar b Singh 27, Naidu c Bangar b Parida 46, Akhil not out 03. Extras (b 10, lb 4, nb 11) 25 Total (in 64 overs) 279 for 4 Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-111, 3-155, 4-259 (Naidu, 59.2 ov). Bowling: Harvinder Singh 12-0-62-1, Zakir Hussain 11-4-36-0, K. Parida 15-2-46-2, T.P.Singh 17-0-66-1, S.N. Khanolkar 6-0-30-0, Raza Ali 1-0-5-0, S. Bangar 2-0-20-0.
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Yuveraj, Sodhi for B’desh exhibition tie Dhaka, March 26 Sports officials said the three Asian giants — India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — have named their players for the match to be played on Tuesday as part of Bangladesh’s celebrations of independence in 1971 from Pakistan. Bangladesh celebrates its 30th independence anniversary tomorrow. Young Indian stars Sadagopan Ramesh, Shiv Sundar Das, Yuveraj Singh, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Reetinder Singh Sodhi will join Pakistan’s entertaining openers Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir and speedstar Shabbir Ahmed to play for the International Eleven. From Sri Lanka former Test player Hashan Tillekeratne is expected to lead the international team. Other possible players include Kenya’s star batsman Steve Tikolo, son of Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar — Rohan Gavaskar and former Pakistani Test spinner Mohammed Hossain who are currently in Bangladesh playing for local clubs. Tuesday’s limited-overs match would also be a warm-up match for the Bangladesh national squad led by Naimur Rahman which leaves for Zimbabwe on April 1 for its first Test series. The team is due to play two Tests and three one-day internationals along with couple of three-day practice matches in Zimbabwe.
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Pak gear up for final Test Hamilton, March 26 Waqar will play probably his last match on New Zealand soil as he leads Pakistan’s bowling attack with the tourists 1-0 up in the series. The 29-year-old still vividly remembers his last Test in Hamilton in 1993 when he and Wasim Akram destroyed New Zealand’s second innings for 93, chasing just 127 to win. Waqar ended the match with nine wickets after taking five for 22 in the second innings. Both teams trained at the Park yesterday and Waqar, on his fourth tour of New Zealand, was heartened by what he saw in the pitch. “Good memories, I had a great match here. It was a good pitch then and it looks similar now,” he said. “I don’t know how our batsmen are feeling at the moment but I’m feeling great about it. “Seeing a pitch like this is always encouraging for a fast bowler, and hopefully they’re not going to cut too much grass off.” Waqar, who has 318 wickets from 70 Tests, said the likely bowler-friendly pitch was a welcome relief after the dead portable surfaces in Auckland and Christchurch. As the senior pace bowler in the absence of the injured Akram, Waqar took match figures of two for 75 in Auckland and three for 132 in Christchurch. “I’ve been a bit unlucky, dropped catches and some decisions here and there,” he said. “It’s been frustrating, I’ve taken five wickets so far and it should have been more. Sometimes you’re on top of your game and not getting too many wickets.” While the pitch should favour the quicker bowlers it shouldn’t be unplayable. Groundsman Doug Strachan produced excellent pitches for the Tests against the West Indies and Australia last season, and he said the recent fine weather meant it would be a similar surface.It should be enough to encourage New Zealand to play four pace bowlers, with all-rounder Jacob Oram looking likely to make his Test debut along side the pace attack of Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and recalled James Franklin. The 20-year-old was named to replace the injured Chris Drum, while off-spinner Grant Bradburn gained a reprieve when leg-spinner Brooke Walker injured a shoulder while bowling yesterday. Bradburn rarely looked a wicket-taking threat on an unhelpful pitch in Christchurch, taking two for 124 off 42 overs, and he may carry the drinks on his home ground. It will mean New Zealand will enter a Test without a specialist spinner for the first time in 44 Tests and five years. The last time was before injured left-armer Daniel Vettori’s career began, in 1996 against the West Indies in Bridgetown when Danny Morrison, Robert Kennedy, Gavin Larsen and Justin Vaughan made up the attack. Pakistan may be tempted to play four pace bowlers as well, but the average showing of recalled paceman Mohammad Akram in the drawn match against Wellington at the weekend might suggest otherwise. They seem likely to keep an unchanged side, with Fazl-e-Akbar as the third pace bowler. Pakistan batted out the final day of their three-dayer against Wellington on Saturday, with an 82 by Faisal Iqbal helping them to 340 for seven after trailing by 168 on the first innings. The draw in the second Test in Christchurch was the first in 12 matches. Pakistan had won nine of the previous 11 Tests against New Zealand.
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Anand crushes Van Wely, maintains lead Monte Carlo, March 26 Anand defeated Dutch GM Lok Van Wely 1.5 - 0.5, crushing his opponent in 30 moves after drawing the rapid game. In the rapid game, Anand employed the queen’s Indian defence and achieved a dynamically balanced position after the opening. Van Wely went for complications at the cost of his pawn structure that looked precarious at the outset. Anand made a temporary pawn sacrifice and it appeared the Indian ace would sail through. However, Van Wely’s forced the exchange of all minor pieces with excellent defensive manoeuvres. Anand decided not to press hard and the two signed truce in 36 moves. The blindfold game was a spectator’s delight as Anand gave a perfect display of a kingside attack. In the French defence, Anand got an advantage after sacrificing a couple of pawns and made another highly enterprising piece sacrifice on his 14th move. Van Wely had to sweat hard to work out a defence to stop Anand’s pieces which looked ready to rip open the king side. The defence was found in a queen sacrifice for two pieces but the ensuing position had very little counterplay as Anand romped home. Kramnik accounted for Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk from the white side of a queen’s Indian defence in the rapid game. From the opening it was apparent that Kramnik was on top but following a perfect defence by Ivanchuk, the pieces got traded at regular intervals. Kramnik had to play very accurately to keep his positional edge and he succeeded in that. Standings after round 8: 1-3 V. Anand (India), V. Kramnik (Russia), V. Topalov (Bulgaria) 11 points; 4. Peter Leko (Hungary) 9 points; 5. A Shirov (Spain) 8.5 points; 6. J. Piket (Netherlands) 8 points; 7. L. Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia) 7 points; 8-9. Z. Almasi (Hungary), B. Gelfand (Israel) 6.5 points; 10-11 V. Ivanchuk (Ukraine), A. Karpov (Russia) 6 points; 12. L. Van Wely (Netherlands) 5.5 points.
PTI |
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If I’m glum I’ll go for a run Rome, March 26 That was 18 years ago. Yesterday, Crown finished her eighth endurance race, running 42.2 km through the ancient streets of Rome in just under seven-and-a-half hours. Needless to say, the 88-year-old American great-grandmother came in first in her age group. The Rome event’s organisers say Crown is believed to be the world’s oldest active female marathon runner. Brooklyn’s Abe Weintraub, 90, is still running among the men at the New York City Marathon each year. The oldest male entrant yesterday was Sergio Agnoli, a 75-year-old Roman. But Crown, who has recovered from three bouts with breast cancer in the past decade, has used running as an excuse to travel the world. After her first marathon in Los Angeles, she added Montreal, Paris, New York and Shanghai to her resume. “I got the feel for it. And then, they were all so happy to have a 70-year-old that I got spoiled,” she said at her hotel the day before the Rome race. “I wasn’t going to run in any old town.” Still, after struggling yesterday through the final stretch in the Italian capital, the American great-grandmother of three is talking retirement. “This was my last one,” Crown said with a gasp to her 66-year-old running partner, Phyllis Goldstein, at the finish line just past the Colosseum. “No more.” That was the idea back in 1983 when Crown decided to switch hobbies from hiking to running, setting a single marathon finish as her first and only goal. But after running the Avon race in Los Angeles in 4 hrs, 47 mins, Crown watched the New York City Marathon on TV and decided she had to take a crack at the Big Apple’s prestigious course. Then in 1986, she celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary by running a marathon in Montreal, where she and her husband were married. A Ukraine native who fled as a child during the Russian revolution, Crown later worked for 25 years as a dress designer in New York’s garment district. She now lives with her 89-year-old husband in Lakewood, Washington. “It’s like a drug with no negative effects,” she said, describing what keeps her running. “If I wake up glum, I’ll go for a run and always come back smiling. It’s crazy.”
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Roddick vanquishes Sampras Miami, March 26 Only then did young Andy Roddick act his age: he sat down in his changeover chair and grinned like a kid at Christmas. The gangly 18-year-old from Boca Raton lived up to the hype and hopes for the next generation of American men’s tennis yesterday, upsetting Sampras 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in the third round at the Ericsson Open. It was a breakthrough victory for Roddick, the world’s No 1 junior last year. “Definitely the future of American tennis is looking very good,” a gracious Sampras said. “He’ll just get better and better.” Roddick, out of high school less than a year, is ranked No 119 and climbing. He’s the best bet yet to provide a worthy successor to the generation of Grand Slam champions that includes Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. “People have been saying that for almost a year and a half now,” Roddick said. “I’m kind of used to it, and I embrace it. I like it.” Midway through the third round, the fourth-seeded Sampras became the fourth casualty among the top 10 men. Number 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, who has never reached the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne, lost to Gaston Guadio of Argentina 4-6, 1-6. American Jan-Michael Gambill beat No. 14 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 7-5, 6-7 (9-7), 6-1. Women advancing included No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland, No 2 American Lindsay Davenport, No 4 Jennifer Capriati of the USA and No 5 American Serena Williams. Only Williams struggled, needing a comeback to beat 19-year-old Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. On a warm, sunny afternoon before a sellout stadium-court crowd, the lanky Roddick showed uncommon poise from the start. He dominated with a blistering serve that Sampras struggled to put in play. One ace was clocked at 220 kph. The next serve was a 219-kph sizzler at the chest of Sampras, who barely got his racket up in self-defence to deflect the ball. Did Sampras fear Roddick might decapitate him? “Or someone else,” Sampras answered with a smile. “He just throws it up and swings as hard as he can.” The youngster didn’t waver down the stretch, losing only two points on his serve in the second set. His forehand kept Sampras pinned deep, and he whacked six return winners. “He was just swinging away and having fun,” said Sampras, 29. “That’s always the case when you’re first starting out. “He was kind of in a zone there for a while. I give him full credit. He played great and had no fear.” When Sampras dumped a backhand into the net on match point, Roddick gleefully pumped his fists and waved his index finger. Then he removed his cap as Sampras approached, a gesture that may have been unintentional but was symbolic. “He’s probably the greatest player of all time,” Roddick said.
AP Kolkata, March 26 Substitute striker Amar Ganguly struck the all important goal midway through the second session to save the day for the glamour club in a match which seldom rose to great heights. The green and maroon brigade were a pale shadow of themselves as they failed to play cohesively and were lucky to get away with a victory to consolidate their position on the points table. Bagan’s Brazilian recruit Jose Ramirez Barreto set up the goal scoring move in the 70th minute as he broke through the defence and sent the ball towards an unmarked Amar Ganguly who simply headed the ball into the goal with none of the defenders in position. After a barren opening session, the lone goal brought much relief for the Bagan supporters who had very little to cheer in the first half with the team dishing out a lacklustre show. With this win, Bagan have logged 31 points from 16 matches so far while Air India have just 14 points to their credit from as many outings. With striker R.C.Prakash who had scored a hattrick in the away match against Air India not playing, the Bagan firing line lacked sting and the forwards could create very few openings in the first session. Striker Flavio Lopez, who was fielded in the first eleven, seemed to be totally off colour as he missed a few scoring opportunities, forcing coach Subrata Bhattacharya to replace him with Amar Ganguly midway through the first
session. Lopez got a chance to put his team in the lead as early as the ninth minute of the contest but his left footed volley
from inside the box flew over the crosspiece by a narrow margin. PTI |
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In-form Abhinav clinches
gold Chandigarh, March 26 Abhinav was specially invited by the Swiss shooting Federation as a special invitee to participate and shoot in the Swiss Championship because of his recent superb performance in Europe and to motivate Swiss shooters. He is the first ever Indian rifle shooter to be invited as an invitee shooter by an international federation. After the events Abhinav said: “I am here as part of my pre-Atlanta World cup competitive training. I am being trained here by Gaby
Buehlmann, a former world champion. I have changed my technique a little bit as guided by Gaby and inspite of the changes, I am happy with the score and hope the score will improve drastically in the next few days.”Abhinav will participate in another major competitions, the ICW 2001 on April 1. He will leave for Atlanta on April 11 from Dortmund to represent India at the World Cup in Atlanta. |
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Thorpe shatters
800m record Hobart, (Australia), March 26 He continued where he left off at last year’s Sydney Olympics, setting a world record of seven minutes 41.59 seconds in his first major competition since the games. “It was a night for Gladiators,” 18-year-old Thorpe said, referring to Australian-raised Russell Crowe’s best actor Oscar. Thorpe’s time shattered the previous record of 7:46.00 set by fellow Australian Kieren Perkins at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, by almost four and a half seconds. It was his first world record over a long distance. Remarkably, Thorpe was making his first serious attempt at the 16-lap event and had to swim the final less than 20 minutes after his 200 metres
semifinal. Reuters |
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OBC, Delhi Audit in
final New Delhi, March 26 In the semi-final matches played today, OBC sneaked past Northern Railway 1-0 while Audit also recorded a 1-0 victory, against Employees State Insurance Corportion (ESIC). OBC and Railways played pedestrian soccer as their overcautious approach confined the game mostly into midfield after the former had struck the match-winner early in the seventh minute. Midfielder Vivek Sharma fashioned the goal-bearing move, as he fed inside-left Dharmender Kharola, who in turn relayed the ball to Sanjeev Sharma to give the finishing touches by sending the ball in past advancing custodian Vishwa Nath Dev. In the match between Audit and the ESIC played at a fast and furious pace, the all-important goal was scored six minutes into the match. Audit medios Chaman Bhandari and Daljeet Singh played a one-two before entrusting the ball to striker Sameer Jung, who executed a reverse kick, which was fisted out by the ESIC custodian Anil. But Subhash Negi latched onto the rebound, and tapped it into the box, past goalkeeper Anil, who had charged out. |
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