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Sunday,
September 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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A nail-biting finish on the cards Chetan Sharma writes Srinath to play
Test cricket Expert comments: Glenn McGrath Hockey: holders India ready for task ahead |
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Rowers confident
of decent show
China, Korea set to
dominate in archery Northern Railway, PSB in semifinals Punjab cops win Madan’s ton helps PCA Colts win Mixed luck for Chandigarh Dhnanjay excels
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A nail-biting finish on the cards
Colombo, September 28 Both the teams are high on confidence after ousting favourites South Africa and Australia in the semifinals and look equally balanced too. Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly believes his side’s superior batting skills will take the team through while his counterpart Sanath Jayasuriya says his bowling department is stronger and will do the star turn for them. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh at their destructive best against the guiles of Muttiah Muralitharan and company is a potentially mouth-watering proposition and expectations of a tough and absorbing match, something which this tournament has not witnessed much so far, are soaring in this island nation. India, who had lost to New Zealand in the title clash of the previous edition of this tournament in Nairobi in 2000, are making sure they don’t falter at the last hurdle this time. They have recalled their leading fast bowler Javagal Srinath to replace an injured Ashish Nehra. Srinath, who was playing county cricket in England, is almost certain to play tomorrow though Ganguly did not reveal his final eleven. “Srinath is in contention” is all that Ganguly had to say today. But a good look at the wicket has apparently convinced him that the track at the Premadasa Stadium for tomorrow’s game is not going to be as spinner-friendly as it was for the hosts’ semi-final against Australia yesterday. “It should be a good batting wicket. Unlike yesterday, it won’t be a turning track,” Ganguly said. In fact, Sri Lanka are also likely to reinforce their pace attack and include an extra fast bowler in the side considering that Indians are much better equipped to handle spin than the Australians. Sri Lanka had used five spinners in the semi-final, playing both Kumara Dharmasena and Upul Chandana while leaving out Dilhara Fernando. But the strategy could be entirely different tomorrow. Jayasuriya said a turning track for tomorrow’s game could cut both sides since India too had world class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. “They are also a good bowling side. They have spinners too,” he said. But he was convinced that since the strength of both the teams lay in batting, the bowlers might well make the difference in the final. “And I think we are a better bowling side,” he asserted. Asked about his gameplan, Jayasuriya said: “Its pretty simple. We will play the basics well”. India’s strategy would certainly revolve around their batting and a lot would depend on how Sehwag fares tomorrow. The Delhi youngster is in smashing form and if he gets going tomorrow then he might well again prove to be the difference between the two sides. Ganguly indicated that there would be no major changes in the team’s composition and Tendulkar, who had yesterday revealed that he would still prefer to open, would continue to bat at number four. India have slight worries about their bowling department as Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have not been able to work their magic till now. But left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan has been exceptional and he can only improve in the company of Srinath. Sri Lanka’s problem lies in their middle order. Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold have not had much to do in this tournament so far and they might feel a bit edgy. But the top-order comprising Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, and Kumara Sangakkara is going great guns. Sri Lanka’s batting mainstay Aravinda de Silva was very blunt in backing his team. “India is good, but I think Sri Lanka is better,” he said. “However, both are favourites.” A lot will also depend on the toss as both sides would like to bat first and put up a formidable total in the day-night encounter. The Indians though have been doing remarkably well while chasing too, and thus would appear unconcerned about who wins the toss. The organisers are glad that the two teams which attract the largest crowds are in contention for the $ 30,000 prize money that goes with the trophy. All the tickets have been sold out, and hundred of fans who had gathered outside the cricket board’s office today hoping to get tickets, had to return disappointed.
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Chetan Sharma writes Two neighbouring countries will be fighting it out for the Champions Trophy crown. As it stands out, there is little to choose between India and Sri Lanka but if there is any advantage, even if it is very little, it is with Sri Lankans. They will be confident after such a convincing win over the world champions Australia so when they face India tomorrow they will be aware of how the home conditions will make them an outfit difficult to pin down. Sri Lanka played a dream match yesterday in the semifinal. It was not that they were playing some weak team but the Australians and they way they outplayed them in all the three departments of the game, their supporters had plenty to cheer about. The win was possible because the Sri Lankans had out-thought the Australians. They bowled their part-time off-spinner Aravinda de Silva when the Australians hardly expected, catching them off guard. I expect the Sri Lankans to come up with another smart piece of thinking against India tomorrow. India like the Sri Lankans thrive on slow and turning wickets so the hosts cannot relax with the thought that their spinners will be
unplayable. India’s batting is their best hope. They bat deep and with Mohammad Kaif coming in at No 7, the batting can even recover from an early collapse. Against the likes of Muthiah Muralitharan fast scoring may not be easy but if anyone can play the spinners well, it has to be the Indians only. I know two years ago Sri Lankan bowled them out for just 54 in Sharjah but I don’t think it will ever happen again. This Indian batting line-up has been coming up with scores big enough to trouble any team and if my guess is right, tomorrow’s match is going to be a high scoring one. In that case much will depend on the ability of the Indian bowlers to deliver. I heard the good news of Javagal Srinath being flown into Colombo for the final and I am sure his experience will keep the team in good stead. Zaheer Khan is already bowling well and if the two spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble can keep the Sri Lankans in check, India have a golden chance to win such a prominent tournament after a gap of about 17 years. The last time we won the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup in Australia in 1985 and I was a member of the team. If Saurav Ganguly can win the cup tomorrow, it will be a day to cherish for long. All the best India. |
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Srinath to play Test cricket
Colombo, September 28 Talking to media on the eve of the ICC Champions Trophy final against Sri Lanka, Ganguly said, ‘’He (Srinath) is going to play again (in test cricket). He has told Brijesh Patel (Chairman of the Selection committee) and he told us.” Srinath had announced his retirement from Test cricket after the West Indies tour a couple of months ago and wanted to concentrate on one-day games. However, the then BCCI selection committee headed by Chandu Borde did not consider him for the ICC Champions trophy despite Srinath making himself available for selection. However, following the injury to left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra during the semifinals against South Africa, the team management has sought a replacement and a majority of the selection committee members voted against sending Srinath as an emergency replacement. Following intervention by the BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya the members met again and ‘unanimously’ agreed to the choice of Srinath, who is expected to join the Indian squad here today from London where he was playing for Leicestershire in English county. Ganguly also said that Srinath is in contention for tomorrow’s final against Sri Lanka. Describing Srinath as a true performer for India, Ganguly said, “I always told him that we need you to play Test matches. We badly needed him in England. We were disappointed that he backed out. But that’s all past...He is going to play again. Now that he has changed his mind, we are happy with that,” the Indian skipper remarked. UNI
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Sahara withdraws plea
New Delhi, September 28 Sahara has a four-year agreement with facilitating agents International Merchandising Corporation for sponsoring the Indian team, members of which sport the Sahara logo. However, after objections from South African Airways, which has an agreement with the ICC, the international body instructed the BCCI, under the special agreement for month-long cricket tourney, to in turn ask the players from temporarily stop using the Sahara logo. Aggrieved by this, Sahara had decided to approach the court. But as the group had a direct agreement only with the IMC and not with the BCCI, it decided not to move the court and instead try for an out-of-court settlement.
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Expert comments: Glenn McGrath To say we are disappointed by our performance in the semifinals against Sri Lanka would be an understatement. It would have been one thing if we had fought hard and got defeated, but we played below par and that is what upsets us most. We lost too many wickets in the first 15 overs of the game, and that actually cost us the match. Moreover, teams batting first in the tournament had consistently got 250-plus right till the first semifinals. Perhaps, we read the wicket wrong and aimed at 300 when a total of 220-230 would have been enough. Sure, we knew that the hosts would be laying out a wicket that would suit their strike bowler Muttiah Muralitharan. However, none of us expected Aravinda de Silva to get so much turn in the seventh over itself. In the earlier games, all fast bowlers had received assistance at the Premadasa, but things were very different on Friday. The slow bowlers were unplayable, and Aravinda used all his experience to bowl a magical spell. He must have realised that Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden enjoy pace on the ball, which is why he bowled really slow, making strokeplay near impossible. To make matters worse two of our batsmen got run out trying to up the pace — another fallout of chasing a 250-plus total. The Sri Lankan batsmen survived some anxious moments at the start of the innings to take their team into the semifinals in style. The locals were hoping for a Sri Lanka-India encounter from the start and things have worked out that way. The finals will be a really engrossing contest because while Sri Lanka have bowlers who turn the ball more, India have a batting line-up that flourishes against spin. In fact, the long and distinguished Indian batting line-up could play a crucial role in the finals. Against Zimbabwe and against South Africa, the depth in the batting ensured that they crossed 250 even after losing their top batsmen early. This must have given John Wright and co. immense confidence. The Sri Lanka batting line-up on the other hand has a slightly vulnerable look about it. Kumara Dharmasena comes in at no. seven, so if you get a few quick wickets, they could look a little shaky. The Indians are playing splendid cricket at the moment. We were away in Maldives when they trounced England, but from all reports it was an astounding performance. They came back from the brink of defeat against South Africa, though in that case South Africa blew it by playing unnecessarily slowly in the middle overs. Full credit to the Indian bowlers for hanging in there, but the South Africans have to take more than half the blame for their defeat. Australia have never had much success in the Mini World Cup — we were knocked out in the first match in Dhaka and in Nairobi by India. This time round we were feeling in great nick after our victories against New Zealand and Bangladesh. We had been practicing hard and were confident that we would be meeting India in the finals. It would have been a keen contest, but it was not to be. Sri Lanka and Australia have a keen rivalry thanks to some statements made on both sides. That makes the defeat harder to digest, but such things are part of the game, so we must live with this defeat. Gameplan
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Hockey: holders India ready for task ahead Busan, September 28 India, who claimed the top spot at Bangkok in 1998 after a long gap of 32 years, will face a formidable challenge from arch rivals and seven times champions Pakistan, besides hosts and Sydney Olympic silver medallists South Korea. Apart from them, the much-improved Malaysia and Japan are also capable of creating ripples in the hockey tournament at the Asiad. India are in pool A of the competition with S Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, while Pakistan, Malaysia, China and Bangladesh are drawn in pool B. India made two changes from the Champions Trophy team at Cologne, dropping half-backs Sukhbir Singh Gill and Arjun Halappa. The team was pruned from 18 players who donned the national colours there. Mercurial striker and former skipper Dhanraj Pillay and captain Dilip Tirkey are the only two who were part of the golden squad of Bangkok four years ago. The recent Indian showing at the Cologne Champions Trophy, where they finished fourth after a dismal World Cup performance at Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, has propped the confidence level in the team. It appears that they have finally struck a balance with a young strike force spearheaded by the 36-year-old Pillay. He has for company the Junior World Cup-winning quartet Gaganajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh and Tejbir Singh besides Daljit Dhillon upfront with him. The midfield is well marshalled by Bimal Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Vikram Pillay and Viren Rasquinha with penalty corner exponent Jugraj Singh capable of playing both as a full-back and medio. Tirkey, Dinesh Nayak and Kanwalpreet Singh form the last line of defence and with goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan in good touch, India could well emerge champions and book their berth for the Athens Olympics. Incidentally, Pillay will become the first Indian to play in four successive Asian Games beginning from Beijing in 1990. India coach Rajinder Singh said that all problems within the team were things of the past. He was commenting on media reports regarding some attitude problems Pillay may have had with some teammates. The coach said that two-time winners South Korea, even though they are out of next year’s Champions Trophy, would put its best foot forward on its home turf. Their consistent success track record against India will also be a key factor in the competition. They have played India thrice this year and have a two-win and one-draw record. The last meeting was 4-2 in their favour at Cologne. They had beaten India at the Kuala Lumpur World Cup, too, while they drew 2-2 at Amstelveen in the four-nation Rabobank tournament prior to Champions Trophy. The South Koreans won the title in 1986 at Seoul and in Hiroshima eight years later beat India to the gold. However India beat them in a tie-breaker final last time. The average age of India is the youngest since 11 players are from Junior World Cup-winning team at Hobart last December. South Korea, on the other hand, have a very experienced squad with an average in late twenties. Captained by 31-year-old war-horse Kang Keon Wook with 198 caps, he forms the nucleus of the team with his clubmates from Seongnam Cityhall, Shin Seok Kyoei and Kim Yong Bae. They also have one of the quickest and most agile attackers in world hockey, Song Seong Tae, who plays in the German Bundesliga for Gladbacher HTC along with Kim Kyung Seok. Pakistan last won the title at Beijing in a round robin format which was decided with the last game against India. It was 3-2 in their favour. Since then, the seven-time champions have had to be content with bronze. They will again be without their star right half Md. Usman who is out due to injury sustained at Cologne. He was the captain-designate for Bangkok ’98 but had to withdraw due to an injury.
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Rowers confident of decent show Busan, September 28 Spurred by a “systemised four-year training programme”, the rowers, under the guidance of Romanian coach Nicolae Vulpe, are in good stead and eager to bring out their best at the Games. The facilities provided by the Rowing Federation of India (RFI) are likely to have a bearing on the performance of the rowers who have some world class performers in their ranks. The RFI’s decision to engage Vulpe, who had coached Romania’s 1994 Olympic gold medal winning team, in September last year has given a boost to the team’s prospects. India’s chances of winning a few medals here are bright as Vulpe is known for his result-oriented approach. The 19-member contingent, including six women, arrived here almost a fortnight ago to acclamatise themselves to the conditions in South Korea. The Indian women’s team would be participating in the Games here after a gap of 12 years. Their last appearance was in the 1990 Beijing Games. In all 39 medals in 13 different rowing events are up for grabs in the four day event starting September 30. Col C.P. Singh, secretary, RFI told PTI that the team had prepared hard for the meet and the rowers were focused to put up their best performance. PTI
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N Korean
delegation in Busan
Busan, September 28 The 360 musicians, reporters and sailors joined 312 athletes and team staff who had already arrived for the two-week long 14th Asian Games, which begins tomorrow. North Korea’s female music band in uniform and young women in traditional dress and make-up emerged from the ferry that brought them to the city, South Korea’s second-largest. North Korea, split from the South since the Korean War, has previously shunned all big sporting events hosted by its rival, including the 1986 Asian Games, the 1988 Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup soccer finals. Yonhap news agency said the North’s vessel had flown the North Korean national flag at sea but, in a show of unity with the South, replaced it just before arrival with a flag depicting a map of the whole peninsula. A South Korean band welcomed the civilian group with a traditional song and the North’s musicians returned the compliment with more Korean music. Forty-four Asian countries are sending 9,900 athletes and officials to Busan. South Korea’s Sports Council said North Korea was expected to win about 10 gold medals from the 419 available. It ranked eighth, getting seven golds, in the last Asian Games in Bangkok four years ago. South Korea co-hosted the World Cup with Japan in June. Reuters
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China, Korea set to
dominate in archery Busan, September 28 A four-member Indian team had failed to win a medal in the discipline in the last Asiad in Bangkok and this time, with 12 medals at stake in four events, the archers are not likely to do any better. Lack of motivation and the will to fight the odds facing the sport in the country could be blamed for poor performances by the archers as the sorry state of affairs continue to haunt the game’s supporters. Though the team’s results in the Asian circuit championship early this year has been far from encouraging, they are likely to pose some problem to top countries in the initial stage of the
completion before fizzling out later. In Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, the Indian archers won the initial rounds in couple of events before bowing out in the next stage. Meerut-based Satyadev Prasad created a stir in the 70m event when he upset leading archer Vadim Shikarov of Kazakhstan 156-154 in the first round of the 18-arrow competition. He however, failed to repeat the performance in the next round and lost to Wu Tsung-yi of Taipei. Rajesh Hasdak stunned 70m world record holder Hiroshi Yamamoto of Japan 160-158 and Skalzang Dorji also beat the Japanese in the first round to raise hopes for a medal.
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Northern
Railway, PSB in semifinals Chandigarh, September 28 Despite the absence of seven key players, five of whom are in the Indian team which is currently in Busan for the 14th Asian Games, Punjab Police put up a marvellous fight and could have even carried the day had luck been on their side. Nevertheless, team manager Pargat Singh, himself an Olympian and former India captain, though a bit disheartened, expressed satisfaction over his team's performance. "Some of the youngsters are new to top-level competition and I hope they will shape up well in future," said Pargat adding that the absence of key players like Jugraj Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Daljit Singh Dhillon, and Tejbir Singh, all of whom are on national duty at Busan, besides Jagbir Singh and Gabbar Singh, who are in the junior national team, did affect their team's showing. Northern Railway, on the other hand, had to mobilise all their resources to overcome the Punjab Police resurgence. Though up by an early goal, the railway outfit found the going tough with every passing minute. The equaliser by Punjab Police midway through the second session put Northern Railway under pressure but they managed to escape unscathed in the tie breaker by a 5-4 margin. The game was hardly three minutes old when a move on the left by Northern Railway's Daud Suleman was utilised to the hilt by Ajinder Pal who managed to put the ball in the net in the melee. The action thereafter was confined to the midfield and towards the end of the first half, Punjab Police forced as many as four penalty corners in rapid succession but failed to score. Former India captain and Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon, whose ommision from the Indian team for the Asian Games kicked up a controversy, and Olympian Ramandeep Singh utilised their experience to prop up Punjab Police. In the second half, Baljit Dhillon's short corner variation saw a narrow miss. Northern Railway forced a penalty corner in the 39th minute and off the push, Ajinder Pal attempted an indirect hit which missed the target by inches. Soon after, Brij Nev who had raced towards the striking circle, only managed to shoot wide. The equaliser for Punjab Police came in the 57th minute. A move initiated by full back Balwant Singh down the centre saw the ball travelling to Ravinder Singh near the goal-line. Ravinder sent a quick pass to Gurmit Singh who put the ball in to make it 1-1. With the issue remaining deadlocked, the tie-breaker rule was applied in which Rajiv Misra, Daud Suleman, Sundeep, and Ajinder Pal were on target for Northern Railway while Baljit Dhillon, Prabhdeep Singh, and Ramandeep Singh converted the strokes for Punjab Police. The last quarter-final was a lacklustre affair with an off-colour RCF finding the going tough against Punjab and Sind Bank. The bank men owed their success to a double strike by Ajit Pal Singh while Parminder Singh, and Olympian Baljit Singh Saini scored one goal each. For RCF, Sabul Barla scored a consolation goal off a pass from Jagmohan Singh late in the second half. The final score read 4-1. Baljit Saini, who did duty at the Kuala Lumpur World Cup, limped off the ground after receiving a nasty hit on the leg towards the end. Sunday's fixtures (semifinals):Punjab and Sind Bank v CRPF- 2.30 pm; Northern Railway v Corps of Signals - 4 pm. |
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Punjab cops win Namchi, September 28 The winners went ahead in the 39th minute with Vijay Pal neatly placing the ball into the goal. Leading 1-0 at the breather, the burly policemen increased the margin in the 54th minute when Bashitar Singh outwitted the hosts defence line-up and found the target with a spectacular chip. However, refusing to give up, the locals played their hearts out and carried a number of forays into the rival half, but missed the chances which came their way. Finally, they got a consolation goal seconds before the scheduled time, when Nima Thendup converted a penalty. The setpiece was awarded after Thendup was brought down inside the penalty box by a Punjab defender. PTI
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Madan’s ton helps PCA Colts win Chandigarh, September 28 Young wicket-keeper batsman Chandan Madan scored a scintillating century to lay the foundation for the PCA Colts win. Batting first the PCA Colts, at one stage, were in a precarious position at 35 for five. But talented Madan, who was part of the last Under-19 World Cup squad, in the company of all rounder Sanjay Mahajan helped Colts stage a remarkable recovery. Madan, batting at No 7 toyed with the Hyderabad bowling attack scoring a century in just 99 balls which included 10 fours and a hit over the fence, while Mahajan, batting at No 6, scored a valuable 79-ball 55 as PCA Colts put a healthy 259 for the loss of eight wickets in 50 overs. Ghoush Baba was the most impressive bowler and claimed two wickets for 31 runs while Vishnu Vardhan and Denial Manohar also claimed two wickets each. Chasing this target Hyderabad found going tough against off-spinner S P Singh who, in a controlled spell of 7.1 overs, sliced through the rival innings claiming a rich haul of five wickets. Hyderabad were never in hunt and were bundled out for 171 in 43.1 overs. No 11 batsman N P Singh decreased the margin of defeat hitting 26 off 19 deliveries. Vikram Rathore who scored almost run-a-ball 69 not out fashioned the IPCC's five-wicket win over PCC at PCA Stadium at Mohali. Batting first, the strong batting line-up of PCC consisting largely of Punjab Ranji players came a cropper. Pankaj Dharmani, who scored 36, was the highest scorer while Reetinder Sodhi contributed 35 as PCC managed a paltry 178 before being all out. Chasing this total Rathore, former Punjab skipper, held the innings together to see through IPCC in just 33.2 overs without any major hiccups. Efforts of medium pacer Gagandeep Singh, who bowled an impressive spell claiming three for 33 in his quota of 10 overs, proved futile. Victorious PCA Colts and the IPCC got one bonus point collecting five points each from the match.
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Mixed luck for Chandigarh Chandigarh, September 28 In the women quater-final tie between the hosts Chandigarh and HP, H. Sarda Devi demolished Poonam of HP in straight games finals scores remained 11-2, 11-0. In the deciding doubles, H. Sarda and Mala Gaba had little difficulty in winning against Poonam and Deepali. In men’s section Yogesh Chauhan of Chandigarh gave tough fight to Devender Dhillon. In the first game, the half smashes of Yogesh helped him collect a couple of points. Devinder, though more experienced than Yogesh, had to fight tooth and nail in making a comeback and won the first game 15-10. In the second game again Devinder was on tenterhooks again. As the luck would have it, Dhillon captured the game 17-14 and gained 1-0 lead for Delhi. Ashish equalised for Chandigarh by overcoming the challenge of Delhi champion Manmeet Singh 15-1, 15-13. In the first doubles, Srikant Bakshi and Parveen were given a tough fight by Ashish and Deepak Sidhu but managed to beat them 15-2,15-5 to gain 2-1 lead for Delhi. In the third singles, Arul Sunderam proved to be too good for Deepak Sidhu and won in straight games at 15-9, 15-3. In the other quarterfinal matches of the day, in junior boys section for Narang Cup trophy, Punjab had no difficulty in downing Jammu and Kashmir 2-0. In junior girls sector J&K proved too good for Himachal Pradesh winning by 2-0. In the men quarter-final tie for the Rahimtoola Cup, Haryana won a thrilling tie against Rajasthan 3-2. Sumit lost the first single but it was spirited Piyush Aggarwal who helped in making it 1-1 by winning the singles. The first doubles tie saw Sukhvinder and Chand playing a defiant game to give 2-1 lead to Haryana. But again it was ding-dong battle in which Sandeep Singh of Haryana lost in straight games to Anuj. Finally at 2-2, Sumit and Rohit of Haryana gave the much needed boost to Haryana by winning the last doubles tie from Ajayand Ranveer of Rajasthan. Earlier the three-day meet was inaugurated by Mr BS Dhillon, IRS, Commissioner Income Tax, Panchkula.
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Dhnanjay
excels Chandigarh, September 28 Mandeep scored scintillating unbeaten 50 off 56 balls as Faridabad scored 177 runs in 44.1 overs. Vikram chipped in with 38. Sachin Rana, Aparajit and Dhnanjay were the successful bowlers claiming two wickets each. Dhnanjay was again in the thick of action scoring 59 not out as Gurgaon overhauled the target for the loss of just two wickets in 35 overs. Sachin Rana made 39, while Ravinder Yadan scored 30. |
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NORTH
KOREAN FLAG TO BE HOISTED 3 PLAYERS BARRED KEANE’S
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An exciting tussle between explosive batting and clever spin bowling is on the cards as India and Sri Lanka meet in the final of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament here tomorrow, chasing the second biggest title of the game ahead of next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
