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Thursday,
August 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Indians try to focus on
game
Expert comments: Ian Botham Chetan Sharma writes Laxman, Tirkey get Arjuna Award |
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Sri Lanka beat SA Malhotra for cut in wasteful expenditure in sports WADA collects samples of
lifters Punjab Police beat RCF Shooting squad
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Indians try to focus on game Leeds, August 21 The controversial ICC agreement for next month’s Champions Trophy has engaged most of the players’ attention in the last few days, though a fruitful outing in a four-day game against Essex would have given them the confidence to go for the kill in their efforts to square the four-match series 1-1. Even while taking on the establishment back home and refusing to sign an agreement which can cause them legal and financial damages, the Indians have been practicing regularly to maintain their focus on the game. In fact, the situation is not entirely new for them. Last year, as the ICC and Indian cricket board were on warpath following controversial punishments meted out to six Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar, on alleged ball-tampering charges in South Africa, the Indians played a Test against the hosts and earned a respectable draw under tremendous pressure. Saurav Ganguly and his men had an extensive practice session here yesterday and also had a good look at the wicket which is reputed to be a seamer’s paradise but expected to play a little slow. The Indians are expected to make a few changes in their squad with Orissa opener Shiv Sunder Das almost certain to make a return following his huge 250 against Essex. However, India’s real concern lies in their bowling department, which has failed to contain a rampaging England batting line-up. The three seamers — Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar — have been found unequal to the task till now and both Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble have struggled to get wickets. Harbhajan Singh’s seven-wicket haul against Essex has sought to change the pattern and coach John Wright has advised the off-spinner to stick to the classical style of bowling. Wright has asked him to bowl “the Vaughan way”, from wide of the stumps, aiming at the off-stump or outside rather than darting it in at middle or leg-stump. Wright has also given a few tips to Nehra to sort out his bowling action where his head and right shoulder seem to fall away at the point of delivery, making him lose control of the ball. The Indians are actively thinking of going in with two spinners in this match which can be a big gamble considering that the best bowling figures by a spinner on this track in the last 10 years are three for 142 by Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996. Even the legendary Shane Warne has gone for 89 runs apiece for his three wickets at this ground. But with the medium-pacers unequal to the task, the thinking in the team management seems to be it is a risk worth taking. The return of Das, who was out of favour for the first two Tests following his disastrous run in the West Indies, spells doom for Wasim Jaffer as Virender Sehwag has almost secured his place as an opener after his fine shows in the first two Tests. Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Shiv Sunder Das, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Ajay Ratra, Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Wasim Jaffer, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan. England:
Nasser Hussain (captain), Michael Vaughan, Robert Key, Mark Butcher, John Crawley, Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, Dominic Cork, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles, Alex Tudor.
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English players back Indians London, August 21 England players’ representative Richard Bevan said the Englishmen would abide by the decision of the Indian players. If a deal could be reached to the Indians’ satisfaction, then the English would also fall in line, Bevan was reported as saying by The Daily Telegraph today. The Indian players have refused to sign the agreement for next month’s Champions Trophy because of a clause that requires them to forego their individual endorsements for a period of one month before and after the tournament in favour of the official sponsors in the event of clash of interest. At the moment one unnamed English player is reported to have signed the contract, but he was described as being “out of the loop”, said The Daily Telegraph.
PTI
London, August 21 Mumbai: With top Indian cricketers rejecting a fresh deadline for signing the contract for next month’s Champions Trophy, International Cricket Council today said the team should retract from its “stubborn stand” and participate in the tournament for the sake of the game. “I sincerely hope the Indian players would retract from their stubborn stand for the sake of the game and participate in full strength,” ICC’s chief executive Malcolm Speed told PTI here.
PTI
Cape
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Expert comments: Ian Botham The pushing cricket itinerary is tough not just on the players but on commentators too. Which is why I took a weeklong break in Spain thanks to the 10-day gap between the second and third Test. During this time I have received very little news on cricket matters, but the little that I have heard about pertains to the ICC-players standoff. The current situation is yet another example of the thoughtless manner in which the ICC enters into agreements. The basic principle which must be kept in mind while drawing such contracts is that players are free enterprises and must be entitled to market themselves as long as such activities do not affect their game. They are professionals and have every right to stick to their guns when the governing body blithely enters into contracts without thinking of them. Most countries have spokesmen in place to look after the players’ interests. This ensures that players’ are looked after even as they get on with the game. The Indians were doing the negotiating at least when I left for Spain. I wish I were around. I would have loved to do the talking on their behalf! The ICC must stop being naive. They have to wake up to the facts of professional sports. A player is a perishable commodity and will understandably try and maximise his income during his playing days. Unlike ICC officials who are around till they are 60-plus, irrespective of their capabilities, cricketers have a short shelf life and must be allowed every opportunity to make the most of the offers that come their way. When the ICC claims that the players must choose between money and country, they are doing a grave injustice to the players. The governing body is trying to justify a situation they have created due to either poor planning or plain brainlessness. They had no right to sign off the players’ rights and they have no business implying that the players are being unpatriotic when all they are doing is protecting their basic rights. I don’t think this unfortunate mess will have any impact on the Leeds Test starting Thursday. After all, the players are pros and once they step on the field I have no doubt that they will be absolutely focused on the game. India will have a tough time in Headingly, especially since Andy Caddick will be back in the side. He will get good support from Matthew Hoggard and Harmison, both of whom were very impressive at Trent Bridge. If the weather is cloudy, the match could be over in four days since the Indians have traditionally struggled in such conditions. Moreover, the hosts have looked the better side right through the first two Tests. Nasser Hussain will not have the services of Andy Flintoff for the rest of the series, but that might just be a blessing in disguise. England need the services of a fresh and revitalised Flintoff during the Ashes. Moreover, Caddick and co. should be enough to do the job against India. (Gameplan) |
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Chetan Sharma writes Like all the Indians, my biggest worry is whether our players will be in the right frame of mind when they take the field in the third Test at Leeds (Headingley) tomorrow. A Test match is no joke but recent developments must have taken the focus away from the Indian players and it will require a good first session tomorrow to bring the team back on track. The past week’ off-field controversies have been deterimental to the game because when a cricketer himself is left fighting for his own rights on tour, his mind will naturally be away from cricket. That’s why I said that it will not be easy for the Indians to raise their game here. If batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly have been pre-occupied with non-cricketing matters, their game is bound to suffer. The Headingley pitch has always been a seamers paradise and it can test the best of batting. Going into the match, I have to concede that England start favourites — not because their seamers are world-class or something but due to the fact that they are more in-form than their Indian counterparts. If ever Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan have wished for a bowler-friendly pitch to bowl on, this will be the closest they can get. They will get movement in the air and off the wicket and if they can be consistent, not give away runs like they have been doing in the series so far, patience will get them wickets. If they can do that, they would have done their captain Saurav Ganguly a great favour. India are a Test down in the series and if they lose this Test, the series will be gone too. That’s why the Indians need to put their best foot forward and not let England dictate terms. With Andy Caddick coming back in the England fast-bowling line-up, it will ease the pressure off relatively inexperienced bowlers like Matthew Hoggard and Andy Flintoff. Hoggard and Caddick to me are the two most dangerous bowlers under the conditions and if our openers can play out the new ball without an loss, the middle-order will consolidate. As I said about bowling, such tracks also want batsmen to be patient. They have to play close to their body and not commit themselves into driving too much unless their footwork gets them to the pitch of the ball. Batsmen will have to wait for loose balls and if they play out the good ones defensively, the bowlers are bound to err. It brings me to the Indian team composition. Shiv Sundar Das will get in for Wasim Jaffer and the rest five batsmen retain their places, so does the wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel. It will be a choice between three seamers/one spinner ot two seamers/two spinners. I would go for three seamers because of the conditions there. If you don’t play three seamers at Headingley, you can’t play them anywhere. Again it will be a tough choice but either Harbhajan Singh or Anil Kumble will have to be dropped. I suppose Kumble will again miss out as Harbhajan showed good form in the match against Essex. |
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Laxman, Tirkey get Arjuna Award New Delhi, August 21 Hockey is the only game in which two players have been selected for the Arjuna Award. Surprisingly, neither any athlete, nor any weightlifter, figure among the Arjuna Awardees. The ageing tennis player Sandeep Kirtane, who won the national title this year, has also been selected for the Arjuna Award. The most notable awardee is the low-profile national shooting coach Sunny Thomas, who has been rewarded for his consistently productive stewardship of the Indian shooting squad, with the Dronacharya Award. Shooter Samresh Jung, who struck a gold and a silver in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, gets the Arjuna Award. Many times world billiards champion Michael Joseph Ferreira, who has now turned coach of the Indian cueits, has been selected for the Dronacharya Award. Surprisingly, only two coaches have been picked for the Dronacharya Award. The awards will be presented on August 29, which is celebrated as the National Sports Day, at the ornate Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan by the President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The following is the full list of the awardees: Arjuna Award: VVS Laxman (cricket), Dilip Tirkey (hockey), Bruno Coutinho (football), Devendera Joshi (billiards and snooker), Sita Gossain (women’s hockey), B.C. Ramesh (kabaddi), Kasam Khan (rowing), Samaresh Jung (shooting), Sandeep Kirtane (tennis), Amir Singh (volleyball), Ramesh Kumar (wrestling), Lt. Cdr R. Mahesh (yatching), K.R. Shankar Iyer (athletics and cricket for disabled). Dronacharya Award:
Michael Joseph Ferreira (billiards and snooker) and Sunny Thomas (shooting). |
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Sri Lanka beat SA Tangiers August 21 Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Donald b Boje 71 Atapattu c Smith b Donald 25 Sangakkara c Dippenaar b Boje 40 De Silva c Boucher b Kallis 33 Jayawardena lbw b Donald 5 Arnold c Gibbs b Klusener 13 Chandana b Klusener 4 Vaas not out 18 Muralitharan not out 11 Extras (b5, lb5, nb1, w4) 15 Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-119, 3-167, 4-179, 5-191, 6-202, 7-209. Bowling:
Pollock 8-0-35-0, Telemachus 4-0-36-0, Klusener 10-1-35-2, Smith 4-0-17-0, Donald 8-0-35-2, Boje 10-0-40-2, Kallis 6-0-27-1. South Africa: Gibbs c Jayasuriya b Vaas 6 Klusener lbw C Fernando 13 Smith b Vaas 15 Kallis c Atapattu b Chandana 24 Dippenaar c Jayawardene b Gunaratne 53 Rhodes run out 6 Boje b Murali 3 Boucher c Sangakkara b Gunaratne 70 Pollock run out 3 Telemachus b Murali 0 Donald not out 0 Extras:
15 Total (all out. 48.3 overs) 208 FoW: 1-7, 2-24, 3-52, 4-71, 5-81, 6-91, 7-192, 8-199, 9-208. Bowling: Vaas 10-0-33-2, Gunaratne 9.3-1-38-2, C Fernando 7-0-38-1, Chandana 9-0-43-1, Muralitharan 10-0-35-2, De Silva 2-0-10-0, Arnold 1-0-3-0.
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Malhotra for cut in wasteful expenditure in sports New Delhi, August 21 Though the AICS has been revived with the specific purpose of advising the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on all matters related to sports, Mr Malhotra asserted that the practice of sending jumbo contingents for international competitions like the Olympic Games and the Asian Games should be stopped as the many of the free-loaders who accompany the contingent as “observers” are a major drain on government resources. Mr Malhotra said during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, India sent nearly 60 officials to Sydney as “observers”, representing various agencies, without serving any purpose for the promotion of sports in the country. He said many of the “observers” did not even have accreditation cards, and as a result, they were denied access to the games venues and the games village. So what they “observed” in Sydney was a matter of pure conjuncture. “It was a sheer waste of government money”, he observed. Mr Malhotra hinted that the AICS would have a major say in the selection of athletes and officials for major competitions like the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. The AICS will also play a vital role in the selection of the Arjuna, Dronacharya and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees. In his first interaction with sports writers after assuming charge as the AICS Chairman, Mr Malhotra said another priority area would be the optimum utilisation of the sports infrastructure available in the country, particularly under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) administration in Delhi, and creation of more sports infrastructure where ever it was necessary. He said the AICS, which had already started functioning from its make-shift office at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, will have a total strength of 21 or 22 members. The government has already nominated former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Presdient B Sivanthi Adityan and Senior Vice-President of the IOA Abhay Singh Chautala as Vice-Presidents. Mr Malhotra indicated that the other members of the AICS, who are yet to be nominated, would include six Members of Parliament, three outstanding sportspersons, one representative from the industry, five top-notch sports officials, and a representative each from the SAI and the IOA. The AICS, which took birth after the inaugural Asian Games organised by India in Delhi in 1951, was disbanded in 1986, when the then chairman, Mr Vidya Charan Shukla, developed difference of opinion with then Sports Minister Margaret Alva. But it may be noted that when the AICS was first constituted, there was no Sports Ministry. The ministry and the SAI came into existence post-1982 Asiad in Delhi. But Mr Malhotra clarified that there would be no clash of interest among the AICS, Sports Ministry, the SAI and the IOA. “There is space for everyone”, he said. The government has constituted the AICS as an advisory body due to the growing importance of sports in the overall development of human resources “as games and sports are essential for development of human resources and play an important role in projecting the image of the country at international level”. The “aims and objectives” of the AICS include advice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on implementation of policies for promotion of sports and games in the country; on steps to implement the plan of action on National Sports Policy; on matters and issues pertaining to functioning of national sports federations; on ways and means to raise resources for the promotion of sports and games in the country; on the effective functioning of state sports academies; on matters relating to preparation of national teams for multi-disciplinary international events; on policies which affect the participation of Indian teams abroad; on ways and means to maximise the medal prospects of the Indian contingent in Olympic Games and other major international championships; on matters relating to prevention of drug abuse in sports; on issues arising out of match-fixing and other malpractices in competitive sports; on ways and means to promote indigenous games and on issues and matters specifically referred to the council by the Sports Ministry. The tenure of the AICS members is for three years, though Mr Malhotra does not discount the possibility of a change of guard if the government changes at the Centre. |
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WADA collects samples of
lifters Patiala, August 21 The representative, whose name is being kept under wraps by the authorities, collected the samples of four top Indian lifters yesterday and left the NIS today morning. The lifters were caught unawares by the visit. The representative, aided by the health centre authorities of the NIS, obtained urine samples of the lone male lifter selected for the Asian games ,Thandava Muthu , while on the distaff side samples of Kunjarani Devi, Sanamacha Chanu and Pratima Kumari were collected. The samples will be sent to the WADA headquarters in Montreal and then will be forwarded for testing to a IOC accredited lab. The samples of the two other lifters — N. Laxmi and P. Selja — will be collected at a later date as both the lifters have yet to join the ongoing camp. Under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules, if four out of the six samples are found to be positive, then the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will be banned from sending any of its lifters to any international meet for a period of one year. In an attempt to cleanse the sport the IOC has directed the WADA authorities to send its representative to any affiliated country at any time. It may be recalled that before the Commonwealth games, the WADA agents had collected samples of Nigerian lifters and four samples were found to be positive. On this base, the Nigerian weightlifting squad was banned from taking part in any international meet, including the Manchester Commonwealth games. During the Manchester Commonwealth games, two lifters — Satish Rai and Krishnan Madasamy — tested positive for using an IOC banned substance. The silvers medals won by K. Madasamy were taken back by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) after he had tested positive for using 19-norandrosterone. A final decision on Satish Rai is still awaited from the CGF. Moreover, the Commonwealth Games was the first major event for Kunjarani Devi, who came back into the sport after serving out a six month ban when the lifter tested positive for a stimulant-strychnine. P. Selja had also tested positive but was not banned by the IWF and she even won a gold medal in the 75kg class in the National Games held in Punjab in November last year. |
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Punjab Police beat RCF Chandigarh, August 21 After a barren first half, striker Sher Singh, who played in the National Football League last season, found the target in the 82nd minute off a cross by Harvinder. Today’s victory powered Punjab Police to the second position. Both JCT and Punjab Police now have 10 points each but JCT continue to be on top on better goal average. Tomorrow, Border Security Force will meet Punjab State Electricity Board at Jalandhar’s Guru Gobind Singh Stadium. The kick off is at 4.30 p.m.
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Shooting squad Chandigarh, August 21 These shooters were selected during the Punjab state shooting championships held at SAS Nagar in July. Mr Sidhu said Mr Inderjeet Jawanda would accompany the team as manager-cum-coach. |
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