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| Saturday,
July 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Ganguly to sit out; Laxman, Zaheer, Ashish Nehra nursing
injuries Batsmen need to be
disciplined: Wright Windies in strong position
Attitude sums it up for the Indian
team |
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Sachin’s innings not
among top 100
All eyes on Kumble,
Srinath Colombia through to
final Seles remains dedicated to
tennis Ex-Olympian left
disillusioned Huegill lowers world
mark 5th gold for Thorpe National Games on schedule: Badal Gopi
struggles into semis
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Ganguly to sit out; Laxman, Zaheer, Ashish Nehra nursing injuries Colombo, July 27 “I have been informed by the match referee, Cammie Smith of West Indies, that Ganguly has been suspended for one game,” India team manager A.N. Mathe said tomorrow. “The suspension is with immediate effect and means Ganguly will miss India’s next game of the triangular series against Sri Lanka on Saturday.” Mathe said the suspension was with regard to a complaint made by the umpires that Ganguly had shown dissent after he was given out lbw for four to New Zealand paceman Kyle Mills by Sri Lankan umpire Gamini Silva. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid will lead the Indian team tomorrow. This is Ganguly’s third suspension from an international match. He was banned for a game against Australia in the southern city of Cochin in 1998 and a one-day game against Zimbabwe at Rajkot last year. As if that was not enough, three key players V.V.S. Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra — were nursing serious injuries and were doubtful starters for tomorrow’s game. Indian team management said the trio was expected to play tomorrow but would in most probability miss the Test series against Sri Lanka that follows the triangular tournament. However, even if they play, it remains to be seen whether they are able to perform to the best of their ability. “Laxman has a swelling in his right knee which needs to be operated on,” Mathe said. “He may play tomorrow’s match but he will fly back to India after that.” Laxman has been advised to take four weeks rest from the date of surgery and may also be ruled out for India’s three-Test series against Sri Lanka which starts in Galle on August 14. Mathe said Khan had injured his right shin and would be returning to India following tomorrow’s game. “He may come back if he is cleared on time.” India are already without leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who has a fractured right foot. After three defeats in a row, India will have to win tomorrow’s outing as well as the remaining two and hope that New Zealand lose their last match to Sri Lanka, if they are to make it to the final — a remote chance by any standards. A dejected Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly admitted the team had put up a poor show throughout the series and bouncing back would be an uphill task. One major problem for India has been striking the right combination in batting order. Without the heroics of maestro Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian opening has looked quite vulnerable and the quest to find the right pair still continues. Ganguly has juggled the order on all the three occasions but not with positive results. Some of his decisions, including insisting on Yuvraj Singh to open the innings and promoting Harbhajan Singh as a pinch-hitter, have been bizarre and critics back home are already gunning for the Bengal ‘tiger.’ The visitors should take a leaf out of the books of Kiwis who have performed remarkably well with the available talent and even in absence of their skipper Stephen Fleming, put up great team effort to earn victory. Indian bowlers have been able to do their job — restraining the run flow with disciplined bowling and scalping wickets at regular wickets — but the batsmen have been groping for the right shots and looked largely at sea even with a very manageable total to chase. Sri Lankan have sounded the alarm bell for India by excelling under pressure and pulling off a victory right from under the nose of the Kiwis on Wednesday. On their way to victory, Sri Lankans became the first team in the series to win a match after batting second. The formidable side that Sri Lanka have proved to be in this tournament, winning all their matches, India must come out of the psychological morass and go in the game with the killer instinct that it sorely needs. Skipper Sanath Jayasuria, who would be looking for a big score after he was out for a mere 5 runs against New Zealand on Wednesday and the form of Russel Arnold (91 not out) and Maravan Atapattu (66 with seven boundaries), could send India scurrying for cover unless they come up with innovative counter-attack.
PTI, Reuters |
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Batsmen need to be
disciplined: Wright Colombo, July 27 India have lost their first three games in the series and now need to win all their remaining matches to qualify for the August 5 final. “You’ve got to learn from your mistakes in international cricket. Unfortunately we have not done that, which is evident from what happened in the third game after we had lost the first two in a similar fashion,” Wright told reporters. India lost by 67 runs against New Zealand yesterday when they were bowled out for 133 in 39.4 overs. “The mistakes are simple ones —not preserving wickets, bad running and not making an effort to get at least four runs every over. It’s a basic rule,” said the former New Zealand captain. Wright said he was still searching for answers. “I’m finding it hard to put my finger on it. We’ve been doing half the job by bowling and fielding well and then our batting has just fallen apart.” He said India’s batsmen needed to be more disciplined. “The batsmen are not clicking. There has been a certain amount of indiscipline and lots of bad shots.” India came into the tournament without leading player Sachin Tendulkar, who has fractured his right foot. Now, they have run into more problems. Captain Saurav Ganguly has been suspended for the next match, against Sri Lanka tomorrow, for showing dissent during yesterday’s game against New Zealand. Batsman Vangipurappu Laxman and left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan are doubtful for the rest of the tournament due to injuries.
PTI |
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Windies in strong position Harare, July 27 Left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell (four for 23) and fast bowler Colin Stuart (three for 33) both returned career best figures as Zimbabwe succumbed on a decent surface after being put into bat. Guy Whittall top-scored for Zimbabwe with 43 in a 128-ball knock. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (74 not out) and Daren Ganga (43) then ensured West Indies capitalised on their strong position, sharing a second wicket stand of 100. Chanderpaul was in superb form, striking 13 boundaries in a 84-ball innings which mixed sweet timing with calculated aggression. Earlier, McGarrell took four wickets in three overs and two with the first two deliveries after lunch as Zimbabwe slumped from 62 for three to 72 for seven. First Craig Wishart padded up to a straight delivery and was plumb lbw for eight, then Grant Flower was out for a golden duck, edging a delivery which turned and bounced to wicket-keeper Courtney Browne. Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak made the mistake of going on to the back foot to McGarrell’s arm ball in the spinner’s next over and was given out leg before for six. Left-hander Andy Blignaut was removed for no score, driving at a wide delivery from McGarrell and edging behind to Browne. Scoreboard Zimbabwe (1st innings): Ebrahim c Browne b King 19 Campbell lbw b Stuart 13 Masakadza b Stuart 9 Wishart lbw b McGarrell 8 G. Whittall c Ganga b Black 43 G. Flower c Browne Streak lbw b McGarrell 6 Blignaut c Browne Taibu c King b Stuart 9 Strang c Sarwan b Black 20 Price not out 0 Extras: (lb-1 nb-1 w-2) 4 Total: (all out, 57.1 overs) 131 FOW: 1-20, 2-42, 3-43, 4-62, 5-62, 6-68, 7-72, 8-95, 9-116, 10-131. Bowling: King 16-6-39-1, Black 11.1-2-35-2 (NB-1) Stuart 13-2-33-3 (w-2) McGarrell 17-7-23-4. West Indies (1st innings): Ganga c Taibu b Blignaut 43 Gayle lbw b B.Strang 6 Chanderpaul not out 74 Sarwan not out 2 Extras:
(w-1) 1 Total: (for two wickets) 126 FOW: 1-14 2-114 Bowling: Streak 10-3-29-0, B.Strang 8-2-35-1, Blignaut 7-2-39-1 (w-1), Price 7-3-23-0.
Reuter |
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Attitude sums it up for the Indian
team Chandigarh, July 27 It is apparent that the Indian team has not been able to draw up a cohesive game plan in the face of the professional approach of both hosts Sri Lanka as well as the ICC Knock-out Cup winners New Zealand. There knee-jerk reaction in match after match gives the feeling that the team is rudderless. What to speak of the juniors, even the senior players of the team like skipper Saurav Ganguly, vice-captain Rahul Dravid and V.V. S. Laxman have not been to perform to any kind of level of maturity, thereby putting additional pressure on the youngsters of the team. It is no use saying that India are missing the services of Sachin Tendulkar, who has been forced to miss the series due to an injury sustained during the tournament in Zimbabwe. In fact, Sachin’s injury gave an opportunity to a player like Amay Khuresia to prove that he still had the temperament and the technique to open for India. And mind you, he was the choice of the skipper who literally pulled him out of the hat to give him his India cap once again. And it must be remembered that he had very little to do in the 1999 World Cup in England, where his role was restricted to taking the drinks on to the ground. Amay Khuresia was asked to open the India innings only once and once he failed he was summarily dropped. Now, in all probability, he will just be a passenger for the remaining part of the tournament. The Sri lanka experience will probably sign the end of his international career, if ever there was one. But the question is why did Saurav Ganguly pick him for the tournament? One thinks he must give an answer to this question. But will he? And then there is that star called Yuvraj Singh. Dropped from the India team for the tour of Zimbabwe and one thought rightly so given his indifferent form in the home series against Australia, it was Saurav Ganguly who insisted on his inclusion for the Sri Lanka tournament although he had done nothing of note in the intervening period, Yuvraj was given all the impetus to perform by his skipper since he enjoys Saurav’s total confidence. He was asked to open in two innings, failed and then dropped down the order when he failed to come good. His fielding too left much to be desired. In Thursday’s match against New Zealand he did get some runs but even he will acknowledge that he cannot be proud of the quality of the runs attributed against his name. The other Indian batsmen like Reetinder Sodhi and Hemang Badani also failed to deliver but then are they getting the leadership they deserve? Maybe, coach John Wright will talk to the youngsters because the fate of Indian cricket lies in the hands of such youngsters. The defeatist attitude of the Indian team was apparent even before a single delivery had been sent down yesterday. In the first two matches Indian had faltered while chasing. Common sense said that putting up a total was the best alternative for any team. But although Saurav won the toss he frittered away the advantage by opting to field, knowing fully well that batting second on the strip was fraught with danger with the ball not coming up to the bat. But then he was afraid to face the New Zealand bowlers who might have got some help from the wet conditions prevailing at the Premadasa Stadium in the morning. |
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Sachin’s innings not
among top 100 Mumbai, July 27 For India though, the Wisden 100, put together by the “Bible of cricket,” has come as a big disappointment. India’s very own master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, gets no mention in Wisden’s latest listing of the top 100 Test innings. Wisden officials try to explain this. “Basically we believe that Tendulkar’s best innings in Tests are yet to come. A number of his bigger innings were against weaker teams and other big innings did not end in a win for India,” says Ananth Narayan, Wisden’s software expert. “Also, we believe that his best innings have been in one day matches and not Test cricket. While his average performance is much higher than normal players, his greatest innings in Test cricket has not yet been played.” The Wisden 100, announced on Thursday in Mumbai, has been calculated while taking into factors such as pitch index (based on the number of runs scored in a match and number of wickets fallen) and batting quality index (based on the quality of the top seven batsmen who have played in the innings). In the top 10 Test innings of all time, Don Bradman is first for the 270 runs he scored for Australia against England at Melbourne in 1936-37. Brian Lara comes second with the 153 against Australia at Bridgeton in 1998-99. VVS Laxman (281 for India vs Australia) is the only Indian batsman to make it to the top 10 Test innings. Anil Kumble ranks second in the top Test bowling analysis of all time for the 10 wickets for 74 runs against Pakistan in 1998-99. And another reassuring statistic — Harbhajan Singh was named one of Wisden’s top bowlers.
IANS |
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All eyes on Kumble, Srinath Bangalore, July 27 Twenty nine-year-old Kumble, who played in local league earlier this month for the first time after his right shoulder surgery in South Africa in January last, is leading the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI and will be in action against Andhra Pradesh in the encounter beginning on August 1. Kumble, who could not make it to the Sri Lankan tour as he was not fully fit, is keen on being in the squad for the gruelling South African tour in October. Kumble, with 550 international wickets under his belt — 276 in Tests and 274 in one-dayers—had figures of three for 49 playing for Young Cricketers in the league match against Dooravani Cricketers and helped his team to a two-run thrilling victory. The leggie has been out of cricket for some months and has been rigorously following the rehabilitation programme suggested by shoulder specialist Mark Fergusson of South Africa. In the tournament, in which 14 leading teams in the country are participating, speedster Javagal Srinath gets an opportunity to warm up before the three-Test series commencing in Sri Lanka next month.
UNI |
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Colombia through to final Manizales (Colombia), Jul 27 It also virtually guaranteed high-scoring honours for the 27-year-old striker, who had been tied at five goals with Costa Rica’s Paulo Wanchope. His closest rival is Honduras’ Amadao Guevara, with three.
But it meant more to Colombians, who celebrated with chants of “Ole” and an explosion of joy in the stands and the streets when the game ended yesterday. The commemoration seemed unlikely just four weeks ago when the tournament was almost called off because of political violence. “I dedicate the goal to this beautiful country we have,” Aristizabal said. “We had never experienced this. I dedicate it to a happy people that could be one of the best countries in the world.” For Honduras, the loss ended a storybook run in the continent’s oldest and most prestigious tournament. A last-minute replacement for Argentina, Honduras won the hearts of fans as they upset Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil en route to the semifinals, and will face Uruguay for third place. “Colombia knew how to take control and that unbalanced us,” said Honduran coach Ramon Maradiaga. “I congratulated the players in the locker room and told them they should be proud.”
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Seles remains dedicated to tennis Stanford July, 27 Although the 27-year-old former No 1 has been on the WTA Tour for 13 years and notched up nine Grand Slam victories, she remains instensely private and gives little away. She, however, makes it clear that when she does decide to call it a day, it will be a surprise to everyone but herself, friends and family. “I’ve been asked retirement questions for the last five years,” Seles told Reuters in an exclusive interview. “I won’t be making a fuss about it when it happens, I’ll just finish playing. “If someone wants to have a one-year farewell tour then that’s fantastic, but it’s also fine to just slip away quietly. It’s really up to the individual,” she said. Seles is playing at this week’s at the $ 565,000 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford after completing just two matches in the last five months due to a foot injury. When Seles topped the world rankings at the beginning of the last decade, her main rivals were Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Of those four, only Sanchez-Vicario is still playing. But Seles herself doesn’t think past the next major tournament. “I really try to stay in the present, and the way my life is going in all aspects,” she said. “I do what’s expected in order to stay at this level without dwelling on the past or thinking about the future too much.” Seles has been a fixture in the second week of the Grand Slams since she returned to the tour in August 1995, two and a half years after she was stabbed by a crazed German at Hamburg in April 1993. However, since her return she has only managed to win one Grand Slam — the 1996 Australian open — and has been unable to come close to retaking the No 1 ranking that she once held for 178 weeks. At the end of last year, she did begin to regain her form and gave her best performance for some time when just losing out to current No 1 Martina Hingis in a three set classic in the Chase Championships final last November. She ended the year ranked No 4 and felt that she was as close as she’s ever been to reaching the top once more. “I played so well at the (Chase) Championships — it was the best I played last year. “Going into the Australian Open (in January), I was fine physically but not fit enough to play all those matches. “I played too much tennis over a four-week period, both singles and doubles. After that, I started to feel my injury again,” she said. Seles was knocked out of the Australian Open by eventual winner Jennifer Capriati in three tough sets. It is a loss she regrets after having beaten Capriati so often in the past — without any prior defeats in a Grand Slam event. But she remains full of praise for her American rival. “It goes through your head, especially when you had chances to win the match like I had in the second set. But then again, she went on to beat Lindsay (Davenport) and Martina (Hingis), which were bigger matches than she had against me. “It was great to see that and no one expected her to do what she did this year,” Seles added. The biggest question for Seles is whether she can regain her once steely confidence and learn to close out matches against the elite players like Hingis, Venus Williams, Mary Pierce and Davenport. “Last year, I went through patches where I played so well,” Seles said. “It was one of my most interesting years because I didn’t lose to anyone outside the top four and it was just frustrating to lose to the same players. “Fitness came into play, too, and my wanting to win certain matches more than believing I could win them. But the more you work on certain things, the more it helps your confidence.”
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Ex-Olympian left
disillusioned Patiala, July 27 Baldev Singh, who at present is working as Advisor (sports) with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), claimed that he had filed a joint application with the star of the 1964 Tokyo
Olympics, Tarsem Singh, in June 1998 when the IOC advertised for the allotment of the petrol station under the government sports quota in various national newspapers. Both the Olympians fulfilled the age criteria set by the IOC. Tarsem Singh had secured a bronze medal in the Rome Olympics apart from garnering the gold medal in the 1966 Bangkok Asiad. Baldev Singh, apart from playing in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the 1974 Tehran Asian Games, also took part in three World Cups — Barcelona (1971), Amsterdam (1973) and Buenos Aires (1978). Both Baldev Singh and Tarsem Singh not only duly fulfilled the criteria laid down by the IOC but had other achievements to their name to provide further bolster to their case. Baldevcontended that the IOC held the interview for the allotment of the filling station at Chandigarh on May 2 this year. However, neither he nor Tarsem Singh were invited for the interview. Baldev claimed that the only sportspersons called for the interview were former Olympian and decathlete, G.S Randhawa, Surjit Kaur, a former 3000m National champion and Tejinder Singh, who played just one match for the Punjab under-19 cricket team in the North Zone Cooch Behar tournament way back in 1981. Baldev Singh, who along with the legendary full back Surjit Singh scripted many a magnificent win for India in the late seventies and early eighties, contended that when he learnt that he was not called for the interview he immediately shot off a letter to the IOC management strongly expressing his resentment. At that time the IOC assured the Olympian that the interview would be held again and his case would be discussed in detail. However, Baldev Singh said that only yesterday he was shocked to learn that the IOC would not be holding any more interviews and that the allotment had been made in the name of Tejinder Singh — the least qualified player among all the candidates who had applied for the allotment. The former ace full back, said he had full respect for G.S Randhawa. However, he showed documents which clearly proved that his achievements were far more than those of the former hurdler. Baldev Singh, apart from seeking recourse to legal redress, has also written a letter today to the Union Sports Minister, Ms Uma Bharti, in this regard. |
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Huegill lowers world mark Fukuoka (Japan), July 27 Huegill, Olympic bronze medallist in the 100 metres butterfly, set the previous world mark of 23.60 in Sydney on May 14 last year. World short-course champion Mark Foster of Britain had threatened the record in the first semifinal in the Marine Messe indoor pool, which he won in 23.66. But it was left to Huegill to lower the mark in the second semifinal, which he won ahead of South Africa’s Roland Schoeman (23.68) and Sweden’s Lars Frolander, the new 100 butterfly world champion who had taken the 100 freestyle bronze earlier in Friday evening’s session. The 50 metres butterfly final is tomorrow. Inge de Bruijn’s drive for four gold medals at the swimming world championships ended today when the Dutch star pulled out of the women’s 100 metres butterfly due to ‘’scheduling problems’’. The triple Olympic champion, who has already won the 100 metres freestyle and 50 metres butterfly titles at the world championships in Fukuoka, will now concentrate on winning her third gold medal in the 50 metres freestyle tomorrow. “We decided up front that we would probably do this, but we made the decision last night.
Reuters |
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5th gold for Thorpe Fukuoka, July 27 Both events were marred by controversy around the timing equipment which been criticised on several occasions at the season climax. Germany had contested Australia’s time in the relay heat claiming a false start, but later withdrew their protest. Grant Hackett, William Kirby, Michael Klim and Thorpe were then unstoppable in the final as they smashed their own world record of 7:07.05 from the Sydney Olympics by clocking 7:04.66 minutes. It was the second world record on the day and the seventh of the championships after another Aussie, Mark Huegill, bettered his 50 metres butterfly record of 23.60 from last year to 23.44 seconds in a semi-final race. Italy got the relay silver in a European record 7:10.86 and the U.S. had to settle for bronze in 7:13.69. Besides the 4x200m relay, Thorpe also won the 4x100m relay, 200, 400 and 800m freestlye races, but missed out in fourth place in the 100m final earlier Friday. “I didn’t really expect a gold here. It would have been great but I am still satisfied,’’ said Thorpe who is stronger over the longer distances and can get a sixth gold in Sunday’s medley relay. Ervin won in 48.33 seconds, van den Hoogenband had to settle for silver like in the 200m event in 48.43 and the 100m butterfly winner Lars Frolander got bronze for Sweden in 48.79 seconds.
DPA |
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National Games on schedule: Badal Amritsar, July 27 Talking to newsmen, Mr Badal said that the total outlet for the Games was expected to be Rs 46 crore. Of this a sum of Rs 24 crore would be spent on building the infrastructure, Rs 6 crore would be for the purchase of equipment, while Rs 16 crore had been earmarked for organising the games. The Chief Minister said that he had already issued instructions to the finance and development commission to release Rs 33.50 crore within this week. The Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, assured the Chief Minister that he would use his influence to get the Central grant released at the earliest for making the Games a grand success. The Minister for Sports Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, disclosed that the Games would be held from September 16 to 29 at Ludhiana, Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar, Patiala and Chandigarh. The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary, Sports, Mr I.S. Bindra, Special Secretary, Mr B.K. Khanna, Director, Sports Col Raminder Singh and Deputy Commissioner, Mr Narinder Jit Singh. |
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Gopi
struggles into semis Jakarta, July 27 The second seeded Indian lost the first two games 3-7 0-7 to the unseeded Kuncoro, who had defeated sixth seed Richard Vaughan of Wales in the second round without losing a single point, but came back strongly to win the next three games 7-4 7-3 7-3 to book a berth in the semi-final. The hard-earned win gave the all-England champion a match with another Indonesian Marleve Mainaky in the semis. Fourth seed Mainaky had an easier outing against compatriot Agus Hariyanto winning in straight games 7-4 7-3 7-5. Top seed Lee Hyun Il of South Korea defeated James Chua of Malaysia 7-1 1-7 7-4 7-3 in the other quarterfinal.
PTI |
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