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Monday,
November 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Expert comments Vivian Richards Chetan Sharma writes India can win World Cup: Tendulkar |
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Pollock, Boucher edge SA ahead
Youhana, Younis put Pak on top Agarkar, Salvi rip through Delhi batting Jalandhar eves win team title East Bengal, Mahindras win Basketball team DU hold PU State-level
basketball meet begins
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Balaji set to make debut
Vadodara, November 17 With left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra being largely unimpressive against the free-stroking West Indian batsmen in the fourth match at Ahmedabad, and the Indian think-tank trying out different combinations prior to the next year’s World Cup, the right-arm seamer from Tamil Nadu was all set to make his international debut tomorrow. “We will play Balaji in place of Nehra tomorrow,” Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said, naming the only change in the Indian team that pulled off a stunning victory in the fourth match at Ahmedabad. The seven-match series is interestingly poised at 2-2 and with the teams matching each other in strength, tomorrow’s outing promises to be another thriller of a contest. The match has also generated renewed public interest after the home team stormed back in style, winning the third and the fourth one-dayers after losing the first two at Jamshedpur and Nagpur. India’s stupendous five-wicket win at Ahmedabad was just what was needed to wipe out the bad memories of crowd trouble that marred the first three matches. That it was incident-free and India successfully chased a mammoth 324, made the Ahmedabad match a memorable one for the players and fans and with the kind of security in place for the match here, it is too expected to go off smoothly. As in the previous matches, the pitch at the IPCL Stadium too was unlikely to provide any assistance to the bowlers and was expected to be a high scoring affair. Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly will be hoping to win the toss and put the opposition in to bat as his team has chased well in the last two matches. In fact, the confidence of the Indian team is such that it seems India can chase any total with the way the batsmen have delivered in crunch situations. But Ganguly would like his new-ball attack to be more disciplined and provide early breakthroughs this time and would prefer to restrict the suddenly-aggressive new-look visitors to around 270 or 280 runs. Paceman Javagal Srinath has bowled his heart out in the last three ties but he is yet to get good support from the other end so far. A lot would also depend on the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik who did well in controlling the run rate in the previous match. Part-time bowlers — Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh will have to pull their act together and bowl a tighter line to give more bowling options to Ganguly who himself can play the role of utility bowler. The revelation of the Ahmedabad match — Sanjay Bangar — has raised expectations after his match-winning performance with the bat and will feel the pressure when he comes out in the middle tomorrow. Ganguly will also be hoping to give his team a solid start along with his opening partner Sehwag who has developed a reputation of tearing the opposition attack apart once he survives the initial overs. India will have to match the West Indies in exploiting the first 15 overs to the hilt the way Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds have done. Gayle has been really unrelenting in his onslaught on the hapless Indian bowlers and India must think of ways to find the chink in his armour and send him back to the pavilion before he gets into the plundering act. The Indian middle order seems stable at the moment with V.V.S. Laxman, who helped himself to a useful 66 runs at Ahmedabad and vice-captain Rahul Dravid with a century under his belt, lending solidity. Though youngsters Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif failed to click, Bangar showed there were more than one match-winners whom India can rely upon. With even Kartik, Harbhajan and Srinath capable of some big hitting, India’s batting line looks more than adequate. Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, V.V.S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj singh, Mohammed Kaif, Sanjay Bangar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Javagal Srinath, L. Balaji, J.P. Yadav, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Mongia and Parthiv Patel. West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Pedro Collins, Corey Collimore, Cameron Cuffy, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Darren Ganga, Ryan Hinds and Marlon Samuels. Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SL), A.V. Jayaprakash (Ind). PTI
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Expert comments Vivian Richards In my last article, I had spoken about the crowd disturbances before speaking about the game itself. This time round, I would like to congratulate the spectators, administrators and policemen for the magnificent match at Ahmedabad. We were all worried about what would happen during the day-night game, but the people of Ahmedabad responded positively by turning out in large numbers to enjoy a good day’s cricket where around 650 runs were scored. Their Mexican waves and cheers contributed to a wonderful atmosphere right through the game. Full marks to the authorities for learning from the earlier incidents and keeping the situation firmly under control, they certainly did their city proud. Now we move on to Baroda where a crucial match will be played with both teams desperate to inch to a 3-2 lead. With India proving that they are excellent at chasing, Carl Hooper will be pinning his hopes on winning the toss. There is no guarantee that Carl will call right, but if he does, he will certainly invite the Indians to take first strike. The West Indies have got some injury concerns with Marlon Samuels, Vasbert Drakes and Mervyn Dillon limping their way into the injury list. They are all being monitored and a decision on whether or not to play them will be taken on Monday morning after a fitness test. The visitors were very disappointed by the way things turned out in Ahmedabad. Their batsmen responded superbly when Saurav Ganguly invited them to bat, and during the break I thought: “Wow, that’s a huge total.” However, the bowlers lost control of the ball during the latter stages of the innings, because the dew was making it difficult to grip the ball. The most disappointing aspect for me was the way the bowlers kept bowling no-balls and wides right through the innings. When you are bowling to a batting line-up as strong as India’s, every extra ball is a cardinal sin. This indiscipline used to plague our bowling a few seasons ago, and it is worrying to see it resurface during such a crucial match. The catching and fielding only made matters worse and the West Indians will need to get these areas sorted out as fast as possible. In a one-day game you have to keep your focus going right through the 50 overs. This is something the West Indies must work at. However, I would like to take nothing away from the West Indian batting. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were absolutely marvellous. The former showed glimpses of the great Clive Lloyd as he got into the Indian bowling. He hits the ball as hard as Clive did, and is gifted with the same immaculate timing. Let’s hope the young man now works on his consistency so that he too can serve his country for many years. It’s a little sad that during the Tests it was the West Indian batting that was letting the team down while the bowlers toiled without much to defend. In the one-dayers the roles have been reversed with the bowlers not being able to defend the massive totals that the batsmen are putting up. For the Indians, it was once again Rahul Dravid who impressed me with his solid knock. His innings was the cornerstone of India’s remarkable run chase. Once you see the backs of Sehwag and Ganguly, you feel you are in with a chance, however, Dravid never gave up and was there for his team till the end. Sanjay Bangar was the guy who surprised every one on Friday night. After seeing his sedate batting in the Tests, the West Indians must have been a little complacent when he came in. However, he set about the task of getting his runs with the ferocity of a caged animal. He was quite magnificent in his strokeplay and while he did have a thick slice of luck, one cannot argue that his was a crucial contribution. Bangar may not be able to replicate his Ahmedabad knock if West Indies do their homework well. They will certainly change their length and avoid the areas that he likes the ball in. In fact, these run chases on the magnificent tracks in India might make many feel that this is the way things will be in South Africa during the World Cup. Make no mistake, conditions will be very difficult, and the scores that are being reached here will be nearly impossible to achieve on those testing pitches. (Gameplan)
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Chetan Sharma writes With the series tied now at 2-2, it is anybody’s series. West Indies took the lead but India have come back strongly to win the last two matches and with form behind them, India will be trying to take the lead at Baroda tomorrow. This series has seen close and interesting matches and that may have to do something with the fact that batsmen from both sides have been in tremendous nick and the wickets have been devoid of any help to the bowlers. Well, one-day cricket is all about the runs and big shots so the crowd must be loving the action but as someone who was himself an Indian fast bowler, I pity the plight of the bowlers. As I said, the wickets are loaded in favour of the batsmen so even totals like 324 are difficult to defend, as the West Indians found out at Ahmedabad on Friday. This must be good for the confidence of batsmen but are we seriously preparing for the World Cup? What about the confidence of the bowlers? Till attention is paid to the pitches aspect, I can vouch for the fact that no team can become world beaters. However, I am not suggesting that the bowling from both the sides, pacers and spinners alike, have put in their best. Both the Indian and West Indian bowlers have bowled without any sting in their attack and this must be worrying for the team managements. Till the time I was playing in international cricket, the West Indian fast bowlers used to be a terror in their own, but sadly the current bowlers are no patch on the likes of Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, and Malcolm Marshall.
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India can win World Cup: Tendulkar Shimla, November 17 “They are all good bowlers but at times it is difficult to deliver. Perhaps they are trying too hard to make things happen” he told newsmen at a press conference here today. The bating maestro, who is recuperating from a hamstring injury, will be fit to take field in another 10 days. He said he was going through a fitness schedule and start practising over the next few days. The media-shy cricketing genius exhibited his skills while answering questions, making a discrete selection whether or not to respond to a query, as he has been doing while facing the best bowlers on the truf. There were no ambiguous replies, answers were terse and to the point. He refused to be drawn into any controversy and flatly declined to answer any question on issues like “match-fixing”. Like millions of countrymen, he was thrilled by the successful Indian run chase in the one-day match against West Indies at Ahmedabad. He remained glued to the television and watched every bowl. He said it was good to see the younger players coming good at the crunch time. The team had an extremely talented “bunch of players” who could clinch the World Cup. It was just a matter of sticking to the basics of the game. Replying to a question regarding the formation of players association he said the players were not trying to fight anyone. It was formed only to improve communication with the Board for Control of Cricket in India. There have been some communication gaps in the past. The batting ace favoured the “rotation” policy being followed in Australia which, he said, provided opportunities to younger players. However, it all depended on the situation and the best team had to be picked up as per the demand of the situation on a given day. Answering another question he said he was happy to bat at any position. The interest of the team was supreme, after all it was a team sport. Sachin, who was on a holiday along with his family, spent five days in the picturesque Wild Flower hall resort, near here. |
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Pollock, Boucher edge SA ahead Centurion, November 17 South Africa were 421 for nine at the close, a first innings lead of 98, after Pollock and Boucher put on 132 to set a record seventh wicket partnership for matches between the two countries. The stand swung the fortunes of a match which had been finely balanced for much of the day as the tourists kept a stranglehold on the South African batsmen. Sri Lanka (1st innings): 323 South Africa (1st innings): Smith lbw b D Fernando 15 Gibbs run out 92 Kirsten c H Fernando Kallis b H Fernando 84 Prince c Sangakkara b Vaas 20 McKenzie lbw b Gamage 28 Boucher c and b Gamage 63 Pollock batting 78 Hall lbw b Murali 0 Elworthy c Tillakaratne Ntini batting 3 Extras
(b-4, lb-10, nb-5, w-3) 22 Total (9 wkts, 159 overs) 421 Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-71, 3-211, 4-219, 5-258, 6-264, 7-396, 8-400, 9-408. Bowling: Vaas 32-7-77-1, Gamage 22-2-71-2, Fernando 25-0-85-2, Muralitharan 53-10-116-2, H Fernando 18-5-45-1, Mubarak 2-0-6-0, Jayawardene 2-1-2-0,
R Arnold 5-2-5-0. AFP
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Youhana, Younis put Pak on top Bulawayo, November 17 Half centuries by Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana earned Pakistan the lead. Zimbabwe squandered an opportunity to end the partnership at 74 when slow left-armer Grant Flower induced an edged drive from Yousuf, on 46, with his third ball of the match. Alistair Campbell at slip dived to his left but failed to hold the sharp chance. Pakistan resumed on 29 without loss and lost their first wicket in the 13th over of the day when Elahi dragged a delivery from the Olonga on to his pads and then his stumps to be bowled for 27.
Scoreboard
Zimbabwe (1st innings): 178 Pakistan (1st innings): (overnight 29-0) Umar c Taibu b Olonga 34 Elahi b Olonga 27 Y Khan lbw b Blignaut 52 Haq b Price 11 Youhana not out 116 Raza b Olonga 4 Akmal not out 27 Extras
(b-5 lb-5 nb-7 w-2 p-5) 24 Total (5 wkts, 106 overs) 295 Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-64, 3-82, 4-209, 5-225 Bowling: Blignaut 19.4-5-62-1, Olonga 16-4-49-3, Price 39-10-82-1, Nkala 21-4-63-0, G. Flower 10-4-20-0, A. Flower 0.2-0-4-0.
Reuters |
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Agarkar, Salvi rip through Delhi batting
Mumbai, November 17 Delhi 1st innings: Akash Chopra c S Bahutule b A Salvi 27, Gautam Gambhir b A Salvi 16, Pradeep Chawla c N Patwardhan b A Salvi 6, Mithun Minhas b A Agarkar 1, Vijay Dahiya c A Muzumdar b A Agarkar 18, Kuldeep Rawat hit wicket b A Agarkar 1, Abhishek Sharma b R Pawar 5, Sarandeep Singh c N Patwardhan b A Agarkar 5, Rahul Sanghvi b S Bahutule 23, Arun Singh b A Agarkar 1, Amit Bhandari not out 10. Extras: 10 (b1, lb5, nb4) Total: 123 all out in 53.1 overs. Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-51, 3-52, 4-55, 5-61, 6-70, 7-82, 8-96, 9-99. Bowling: A Agarkar 16-4-40-5, P Mhambrey 4-1-9-0, S Bahutule 12.1-4-28-1, A Salvi 11-4-24-3, R Pawar 10-4-16-1. Mumbai (Ist innings): Vinayak Mane c A Singh b A Bhandari 10, Wasim Jaffer batting 35, Milind Tamhane batting 15. Extras: 6 (1lb, 5nb). Total: 66 for one in 34 overs. Fall of wickets: 1-19. Bowling: A Bhandari 7-2-18-1, A Singh 7-5-4-0, K Rawat 3.4-1-8-0, R Sanghvi 7-0-15-0, S Singh 6.2-2-11-0, A Sharma 3-1-9-0. Rathore helps HP recover KOLKATA: Vikram Rathore struck an unbeaten captain’s knock of 93 to pull out Himachal Pradesh from an early setback to a decent opening day total of 203 for four in the four-day Ranji Trophy tie against Bengal at the Eden Gardens here. Rathore, who came to the crease after the visitors lost their first wicket at 38, added valuable 93 runs for the fourth wicket with Amit Sharma. At close, Rajiv Nayyar (14 not out) was giving company to Rathore in the middle. HP (Ist innings): N Gaur c A Chakrabarty b Sanyal 16, S Sharma c Gavaskar b Bose 27, V Rahore batting 93, S Singh c A Chakrabarty b Bose 0, A Sharma lbw b Chatterjee 31, R Nayyar batting 14. Extras: (b-4, lb-5, nb-7, w-6) 22.Total: (for 4 wkts, 83 overs) 203. Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-78, 3-104, 4-197. Bowling: R Bose 19-4-60-2, SS Pal 9-1-29-0, S Sanyal 6-1-21-1, LR Shukla 13-4-37-0, S Lahiri 18-5-37-0, U Chatterjee 17-12-9-1, A Chakrabarty 1-0-1-0.
TP Singh shines JAIPUR: Brilliant batting by TP Singh (95), and his 163-run second-wicket stand with Amit Pagnis (89) enabled defending champions Railways to score a resounding 282 for three at the close on the first-day of their four-day Ranji Trophy match in the elite group against the hosts Rajasthan here today. Prolific scorer Yere Goud and Jacob Martin were batting with 36 and 6 runs, respectively, at the draw of stumps for the side which took the field wihout their four stars — Sanjay
Bangar, JP Yadav, Murli Karthik and Abhay Sharma — the last in the injury list and the first three doing duty for the national team against the visiting West Indies. Railways (Ist inning): Khandolkar lbw M. Aslam 50, A. Pagnis c Kaushal b Krishna Kumar 89, TP Singh c Doru b Krishna Kumar 95, Yere Gould batting 36, J Martin batting 6. Extras (lb 1, nb 5) 6. Total (for 3 wickets in 91 overs) 282 Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-232, 3-24. Bowling: Sumit Mathur 10-2-38-0, Krishna Kumar 14-1-63-2, Rahul Kanwat 29-8-58-0, Sanjeev Sharma 7-0-31-0, Mohd. Aslam 19-3-62-1, Lokesh Jain 12-2-29-0.
UNI, PTI |
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Jalandhar
eves win team title Ludhiana, November 17 In the men’s section, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Vicky Batta of Ludhiana, proved his mettle in the 56 kg category. Vicky lifted 247.5 kg to finish well ahead of others and won the gold. G Munveer Singh of Kapurthala with a lift of 235 kg had to be content with a silver while Gurjeet Singh of Amritsar bagged bronze medal with an attempt of total 212.5 kg. In 62 kg category, Chandandeep Singh from Kapurthala clinched the gold with a lilt of 252.5 kg. Harjeet Singh of Hoshiarpur finished as runner-up with 220 kg and local lad Kanwaljeet Singh also lifted 220 kg but on the basis of body weight the silver medal went to Harjeet. Gurcharan Singh and Narinder Singh both from Kapurthala won gold medal for their district. In the 69 kg category, Gurcharan Singh with a total lift of 282.5 kg and in 77 kg category, Narinder Singh lifted 300 kg for their gold medal winning performance. Baljinder Singh of Amritsar (275 kg) and Santokh Lal of Nawanshahr (275 kg) finished second and third respectively in the 69 kg category. In the 77 kg caegory, the second and third spot went to Gurpreet Singh of Jalandhar (295 kg) and Jatinder Singh of Patiala (277.5 kg). Tajinder Singh of Jalandhar lifted 325 kg to win a gold in 85 kg category while the silver and bronze in the section were bagged by Mukhtiar Singh of Amritsar (307.5 kg) and Baljit Singh also of Amritsar (305 kg). Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister for Stationery and Printing, Punjab, presided over the concluding function and gave away the prizes. |
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East Bengal, Mahindras win Kolkata, November 17 S. Venkatesh and Nigerian Mike Okoro, both of whom switched over to East Bengal from ITI this year, found the target in the scrappy and mediocre game at the Salt Lake Stadium. East Bengal dominated the proceedings from the outset but could forge ahead only in the 44th minute when Venkatesh tapped home with a right footer after Doglous D’Silva did the spadework. MUMBAI: Mahindra United were saved the blushes today by winger R C Prakash in a solitary goal win over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in their opening game. The game was notable for two more reasons — Mahindras Czech midfielder Petr Strandel, on whom the corporate body will be spending about Rs 15 lakh this season, was unable to stand the November heat and was stretchered out in the second half.
PTI, UNI |
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Basketball
team Chandigarh, November 17 The team: Fatehjit Singh, Gurpal Singh and Jagdeep Singh (all Punjab), Ravinder Singh (HP), Mohd. Shahid (Rajasthan), TS Prakash Rao (Chhatisgarh), Ravinder Kumar (Delhi), Umesh Kumar Singh (Gujarat), Karna Deepak Mehta (Maharashtra), Amit Singh Rawat and Vipul Pal (both Uttranchal), D. Dwargesh (Tamil Nadu). Standby- Manish Yadav (Rajasthan) and Akhilesh Kumar (UP). |
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DU hold PU Ludhiana, November 17 PU went into the lead in 12th minute through a field goal scored by Gurvinder Singh. Ten minutes later, Delhi University restored parity through a penalty corner conversion by Sudhir Malik. Just a minute before the lemon break, Harsimran Singh of PU sounded the board to help his team gain the lead. After changing the ends, Delhi equalised in the 53rd minute through R. Yadav. |
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State-level
basketball meet begins Ambala, November 17 The tournament was inaugurated by the president of the Haryana unit of the Indian Youth Congress, Mr Satwinder Singh Timmy. He also donated Rs 11,000. He said the children learn about discipline when they play and sportsmanship spirit should be maintained at all times. About 15 teams including four women team are participating in the tournament. Among others, Mr Nirmal Singh, Mr Brahmpal Rana, Mr Bhanot, Mr Sood and Mr Vishal Chhibber were present. Taekwon-do
teams The contenders for the team which would participate in the state-level Taekwon-do championship were selected today. About 70 players participated in the selection process which was organised by the Ambala District Sports Taekwondo Association. Teams
are — (Sub-junior boys): Ajay Pal, Anupreet Ankit, Neeraj, Manu
Bagga, Nikhil, Manish, Amit, Paramjeet Singh, Vikas, Dharminder, Sahil
Kumar, Arun, Roshan, Balwant Yadav, Piyush Bhalla, Pankaj Dogra, Ajit
Singh and Sunil; junior boys — Vishal, Deepak, Chetan, Vivek,
Rajesh, Sachin Passi, Mukesh and Amit; and sub-junior girls — Sonia
Verma, Sunaina, Soniya, Aradhana, Neetu, Geetanjali, Naveen Kumari,
Sapna, Monica, Malti Pal, Vanita and Poonam. Billiards meet Central Phoenix Club will be organising an Ambala Open Lawn Tennis Tournament from November 24. Meanwhile, in the Ambala Open Billiards and Snooker Tournament, being hosted by the club, on the fourth day, three billiards events and a snooker match was held in billiards, there was a tie between C. Kanpani and Sanjay Kapoor while the winners were Ajay Saine and Anshum Gupta. In snooker, Narinder Vij was the winner, convener sports Mr Neeraj Jain said. Yesterday,
in snooker, the winners were Ajay Mehta, Ajay Saine, Gagan Deep and
Vijay Sharma. |
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Shimla, November 17
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