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Thursday,
August 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Mahela to
Lanka’s rescue
BCCI to
abide by govt’s decision |
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Asian
Test Championship as per schedule No
differences with Kalmadi : Uma Eligibility norm for
sportspersons relaxed |
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Was
Champions Trophy the hindrance?
PSB, IHF (Jrs) in
semis Sporting Club down Tollygunge Panel to
screen foreign coaches Haryana
athletics from Sept 16
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Mahela to Lanka’s
rescue
Kandy, August 22 The visitors enjoyed distinct advantage for most of the day after putting Sri Lanka in to bat but Mahela Jayawardene scored a fighting century to turn around the fortunes for his team. Jayawardene’s 104 was the highlight of the Sri Lankan batting today after India took wickets at regular intervals to force the hosts on the backfoot. However, the initiative had slipped away from the Indians by the end of the day as Sri Lanka, six down for 189 with all the mainline batsmen back in the pavillion, added substantial runs down the order with Chaminda Vaas contributing an unbeaten 42. Zaheer Khan was the most successful of the Indian bowlers taking three wickets for 62 runs while Venkatesh Prasad and Saurav Ganguly took two wickets each. There were three distinct phases of the game today with fortunes fluctuating on both sides. India were jubilant with the early dismissal of Sanath Jayasuriya, who was run out for three, but Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara put up a solid partnership for the second wicket to deny any advantage to them. Just ahead of lunch, India dismissed both these batsmen and from there on till the middle of the final session, they were on top though it was during this time that Jayawardene completed his century. However, just when it seemed that Sri Lankan innings would fold up somewhere around 220, Vaas came up with his cameo knock and with enough support from the tailenders, the hosts looked to have made a strong comeback into the game. It was really Jayawardene’s innings which marked the turn around for Sri Lanka. Coming at No 4, Jayawardene displayed both caution and aggression and never looked in trouble during his 144-ball knock. He played some astonishing pull shots that really forced the Indian bowlers on the defensive. He pulled Harvinder Singh over the mid-wicket region for two fours and treated Prasad similarly whenever the lanky bowler pitched anything short. Jayawardene reached his half-century with his 10th boundary, a beautiful cover-drive off Ganguly, and continued to frustrate the Indians with his attacking batting. When on 94, Jayawardene guided the ball to third man from where Harvinder Singh sent a wayward throw resulting in five overthrows which took the batsman to 99. Jayawardene completed his century in style pulling Harbhajan Singh over mid-wicket for a four. However, he was out after adding just one more run, caught by Samir Dighe off Prasad, much to the relief of the Indians. Jayawardene hit 17 boundaries in his sterling knock. Reuters SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka (Ist innings): Atapattu b Zaheer 39 Jayasuriya run out 3 Sangakkara c Ramesh
b Ganguly 31 Jayawardene c Dighe b Prasad 104 Arnold c Dravid b Zaheer 5 Tillekaratne c Dighe b Prasad 10 S. Perera lbw b Ganguly 18 Vaas not out 42 Murali b Harvinder 5 Fernando c Dighe b Zaheer 4 R. Perera not out 0 Extras:
(lb-7 nb-5 w-1) 13 Total: (for 9 Wkt, 78 overs) 274 FOW:
1-18, 2-78, 3-82, 4-101, 5-138, 6-189, 7-232, 8-245, 9-274. Bowling:
Z. Khan 22-6-62-3, Harvinder Singh 14-1-62-1, Prasad 18-4-52-2, Ganguly 17-5-69-2, Harbhajan Singh 7-1-22-0. |
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BCCI to abide by govt’s decision Chennai, August 22 Talking to newspersons here, he clarified that the BCCI had made a commitment to participate in the Asian Test meet based on the government’s clarification earlier that the national team could participate in triangular series, but not in bilateral matches against Pakistan. To improve their performance, the Indian team needed to play against the top teams in the region, he added. Matches played between India and Pakistan were not only popular in the Asian region but the world over, as they are two important teams, he said. Stating that the Centre could have made known its decision a little earlier, Dr Muthiah said the BCCI would meet in Mumbai on August 24, where the issue would be taken up. Asked if the credibility of the board had been lost, he said the BCCI’s decisions were subjected to the centre’s approval. The board’s credibility was intact, he added. The government’s decision might have been prompted by the threat from Asian Cricket Council that it would go ahead with the tournament even without the participation of India, Dr Muthiah said. “I suspect that the government was irked by the ACC threat that the tournament would be held without India,” he said. Jagmohan Dalmiya, Chairman of Asian Cricket Foundation which implements the ACC programmes, had said on August 16 that the ATC would go ahead as scheduled even if India does not participate in it. Dalmiya had given time till tomorrow (August 23) for the cricket board to confirm its participation. Dr Muthiah, however said he could not say with certainty what the actual reason for the government decision was. “We do not know the exact reason for it and cannot react without knowing the reasons for non-clearance (of the team to play in Pakistan),” he said. “But we are at a loss to understand why the team has not been cleared for a multi-lateral tournament.” In an earlier decision, the government had said it had no problems in Indian team playing against Pakistan in multi-lateral tournaments at ‘regular venues’ and the ban was restricted to bilateral series between the two countries. The ATC is technically a multi-lateral tournament involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh besides India and Pakistan and was being played at venues approved by International Cricket Council. Dr Muthiah said the cricket board would abide by the government guidelines in matters of foreign tours by the Indian team. “For maintaining the sovereignty of the country, the board will abide by the government’s decision,” he said. He was non
committal on withdrawing from the ACC in case the tournament was held without India’s participation. “There have been such feelings among senior board members. All these matters of interest to Indian cricket will be discussed at the working committee meeting in Mumbai this week and at the annual general meeting next month,” he said.
UNI, PTI |
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Asian Test Championship as per schedule Kolkata, August 22 Reiterating the Asian Cricket Council’s policy to go ahead with its calendar events with or without the participation of any one team, Mr Dalmiya said, “Similar situation was faced during the Asia Cup events in 1986 and ‘90’’. “In 1986 India pulled out of the tourney held in Sri Lanka. The tournament was played among Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and ultimately Sri Lanka went on to win the championship,’’ he said. “Again in the 1990 edition of the Asia Cup staged by India, Pakistan decided to abstain. India emerged victors in the event that featured Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.’’ “In this instant India will not participate, so the championship will be played by the other three,’’ Mr Dalmiya said. He described the government’s decision not to allow the Indian team to participate in the championship as an “internal matter”. “It is purely an internal matter between the Government of India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The ACC (Asian Cricket Council, or ACF has no jurisdiction to deal with the respective governments. I have no comment to make on the decision,” ACF chairman said. The decision not to participate in ATC was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh in New Delhi last evening. The discussions took place on the basis of a letter Sports Minister Uma Bharati wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting India should not participate in the Asian Test Cricket Championship which begins in Multan on August 29 with a match between defending champion Pakistan and newcomers Bangladesh. Reacting to a report published in a section of the press today that the government had also ruled out his proposal for charity matches between India and Pakistan for Gujarat earthquake victims, Mr Dalmiya said “ACC or ACF had not proposed any charity match between India and Pakistan. I am not aware if there is any proposal for charity matches by any of the two cricket boards”. There will be no change in the ATC fixture and matches involving India will be dropped. Pakistan will take on Bangladesh in the inaugural match from August 29 to September 2 at Multan. The next match will be between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Colombo from September 6 to 10. ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board said it would officially react to India’s decision to pull out of the Asian Test Championship after formally hearing from the Indian Cricket Board even as a Asian Cricket Council official described it as a major blow to cricket in the region. PCB’s media in-charge Khalid Bhutt told PTI over phone from Lahore that PCB President and ACC Chairman Lt-Gen Tauquir Zia has asked him to convey to the media that the PCB would not react until it officially received a communication from the BCCI.
PTI, UNI. |
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No differences with Kalmadi : Uma New Delhi, August 22 “I have no differences with Mr Kalmadi, nor for that matter with anybody
else in the IOA. We are taking all decisions in concurrence will the IOA. The IOA is fully involved in the conduct of the games. There is no quarrel with the IOA”, Ms Bharati told this correspondent during her whistle stop tour of the Chattrasal Stadium, one of the venues for the Afro-Asian Games football matches, today. She said she chaired no meeting—neither the organising committee nor any other committee—and the question of her having difference of opinion with the IOA
president did not arise. “Some political forces are out to create problems for the Afro-Asian Games. They don’t want the games to be a success, and therefore, are trying to create a wedge between the Sports Ministry and the IOA”, the minister noted. On the allegation that various committees for the Games had been packed with government people, the minister said it was only expected “because if Ministries like Defence, Finance, External Affairs and Home have to be involved in the organisation of the games, their representatives will naturally be government servants.” She disclosed that the telecast rights had been given to Prasar Bharati for a minimum guarantee money or Rs 2 crore, plus 50 per cent of the income generated. India Tourism Development Corporation has been given the hospitality rights as all efforts are being made to create world class facilities for the Games even if the organising committee had to stretch a begging bowl to secure the necessary funds. She said the marketing rights had not yet been given to anybody as “we want to involve the petroleum agencies and the Urban Development Ministry in it”. She said preparations of the Indian teams were in full swing, and players and federations would be provided whatever facilities they required. Ms Bharati admitted that the construction work in various stadia was slightly behind schedule, but hoped that things would pick up in the coming months. The minister has been visiting the Games venues for the past few days, and today was her date with the Chattrasal Stadium. The Minister went round the stadium, and gave instructions to the concerned officials where ever she found something lacking. She took particular note of the shabby conditions of the toilets, and instructed the officials to construct change rooms alongside toilets. The shabby condition of the toilets and change rooms, particularly at the Ambedkar Stadium and the Chattrasal Stadium, was taken note of by the delegates of the Olympic Council of Asia and Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa when they visited the Games venues on August 17. |
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Eligibility
norm for sportspersons relaxed Chandigarh, August 22 The new notification will benefit sportspersons as well as the handicapped persons and those belonging to SC/ST and BC categories. It may be recalled that in this year’s prospectus, the eligibility criteria was assumed to be 50 per cent for sportspersons. The eligibilty criteria of minimum 40 per cent marks for seats meant for SCs/STs/BCs was also waived by the Welfare Department last week. Earlier, the minimum marks to be obtained by Scheduled Caste/Schduled Tribe or Other Backward class candidates as well as by sportspersons and physically handicapped persons were prescribed. It has now been decided to withdraw the condition minimum qualifying marks so far as candidates belonging to SC/ST or Other Backward Class categories as well as sportspersons and handicapped persons are concerned. Now their eligibility will be determined as per the policy followed for admission for the
academic session PMET-2000’. Ever since the PMET started around two decades back, in the seats meant for the sportspersons, the eligibility criteria kept on changing. Last year the qualifying marks were fixed at 35 per cent in PMET and the rest based on sports
achievements. In this year’s prospectus for SC, ST and Other Backward Classes, the marks obtained in physics, chemistry and biology were taken together to be 40 per cent, but annexure ‘A’ of the general conditions earlier issued by Principal Secretary to Government Punjab Department of Medical Education and Research, had no mention of marks for sportspersons, so it was presumed by these sportspersons that eligibility will be same, as was applicable last year. These sportspersons had voiced their concern alleging that with these conditions , the outstanding sportspersons will be deprived of the benefit and when they had already qualified the examinations, why should their sports merit not be given preference. Moreover, they said new rules should have been made public well in advance. The Health Minister, Punjab Mr Manoranjan Kalia, assured this reporter that a positive action would be taken. Sources disclosed that it was the personal interest taken by Mr Badal, which finally paved the way for providing benefit to outstanding sportspersons. Meanwhile, the Registrar of the Baba Farid University today issued an advertisement in the leading newspapers of the region whereby it was stated that counselling for SC/ST and BC candidates with less than 40 per cent marks, handicapped and sportsperson is being postponed till further notice. The counselling was earlier scheduled for August 22 and 23 for the above categories. |
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Was Champions Trophy
the hindrance? New Delhi, August 22 “There is no question of having any bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan”, the minister asserted. “We cannot go along with what the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) says. We have to keep the national interest on top. There is no question of India going to Pakistan to play in the ATC,” the minister explained. She said the decision not to resume cricket ties, for the present, with Pakistan, was a policy decision, and it cannot be reversed unless the Cabinet takes such a decision. She said India did not have any sporting links with Israel and South Africa till “we recognised them”. When asked whether the Indian cricket team would be given permission to play against Pakistan in trilateral series at a neutral venue, Ms Bharati said “we will consider such a proposal as and when the BCCI approaches us.” She was also non-committal about giving permission to Pakistan to visit India. “We have no particular compulsion to resume cricket ties with Pakistan”, the minister observed. Ms Bharati said she had explored all the channels to keep in touch with Pakistan, to make them agree to postpone the Champions Trophy hockey tournament by a few days to accommodate the Afro-Asian Games. “But I got no response from Pakistan. They could have, as hosts, easily postponed the Champions Trophy so as to avoid its clashing with the Afro-Asian Games. But Pakistan have not responded to India’s request”, a peeved Ms Bharati noted. |
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Skipper
by the
horoscope! New Delhi, August 22 “When we choose a captain, we look at their (the players’) horoscopes,” RSFI president Pradeep Ganeriwal told a press conference here today, adding, “you might call it unsporting, but we are looking for medals”. |
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Chennai, August 22 Ironically, it was the controversial former Indian goalkeeper Ashish Balal, who was all the while thwarting IHF key players Bimal Lakra, Prabjoth Singh, Deepak Shounkla and Arjun Halappa, who was out of position as Arjun banged home a cross on the hooter. Arjun’s earlier shot was effortlessly padded away by Balal. But, Bimal Lakra trapped the ball and sent it back to Arjun. If IHF Juniors had their chances mostly in the second half, IA carved out many a good move through former Indian medio Mohammed Riaz, Olympian Mukesh Kumar and Altaf-ur-Rahman. But, IHF custodian Devesh Chauhan made no mistake. Holders Punjab and Sind Bank beat Bharat Petroleum 5-4, via the tie-breaker to enter the semifinals. Punjab and Sind Bank converted through Kulwinder Singh, Sharanjit Singh and Rajbir Singh while Ravi Naicker and A. Aiyanna converted for Bharat Petroleum.
UNI |
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Sporting Club down Tollygunge
Chennai, August 22 After both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time, the match winner came in the 22nd minute of extra time when Sulaiman bulged the net with a rasping right footer from the top of the box to emerge the hero. It all started off a swift counter attack and substitute Nigerian Clifford Chukwuma relayed it to Sulaiman to provide the finishing touches. Tollygunge were the third outfit from Kolkata to crash out of reckoning after NLF champions East Bengal met the same fate at the hands of Sporting Club in the pre-quarter finals. Mohammedan Sporting were the first team from Kolkata to bow out when they lost to Air-India in the first round. The Goans were high on confidence after their stunning victory over East Bengal the other day.
UNI |
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Panel to screen foreign coaches Patiala, August 22 Since a huge amount of foreign exchange is involved, various NSFs used to take undue advantage of loopholes. The ministry has now decided to form a panel to be headed by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Sports, Mr B.K. Dass. The other members of the panel will be the Director-General of Sports Authority of India (SAI), Mr Shekhar Dutt, one representative each of the Indian Olympic Association and the national sports federations concerned and a highly acclaimed sportsperson in whose discipline the NSF wants to import the coach. The sportsperson will be either an Arjuna awardee or a Dronacharya awardee. Earlier, any NSF wanting to have the services of a foreign coach would identify a coach, without properly checking his or her credentials, and would propose the name to the SAI, which merely acted as a rubber stamp. The SAI would recommend the name to the Sports Ministry which normally okayed the proposal. |
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Haryana
athletics from Sept 16 Chandigarh, August 22 Stating this here today, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, president of the association, said the state team to represent Haryana in the National Games being held in Punjab, would be selected out of the participants in the Yamunanagar championship. He said eight top athletes of each district would also be selected for participating in the 17th Haryana State Sports Festival to be held from September 25 to 29 at Kurukshetra. According to Mr H.S. Bhadu, Secretary of the
Association dope tests would also be conducted. |
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‘Sports Day’ on Aug
29 Chandigarh, August 22 |
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Gurmit
hockey Chandigarh, August 22 As during the previous years, all leading teams who have been participating, have been invited to confirm their entries with the organising secretary by September 1. |
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