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Wednesday,
October
15, 2003,
Chandigarh, India
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Wright expects more from Mohali wicket How will the pitch behave?
Strenuous nets for India, New Zealand
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Astle to miss one-day series Chandigarh, October 14 Explosive New Zealand middle order batsman Nathan Astle will return home at the conclusion of the second Test against India to have a knee injury (left knee) medically assessed, Black Caps Manager Lindsay Crocker confirmed today. More stories on Chandigarh
page
Aussies to arrive on Oct 22 Sanjay Ghosh, Saraswati fastest
Himachal cagers thrash West Bengal Bhim Award for Mamta, Geetika Baba Joginder
Singh
cremated Sakattar shines
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Wright expects more from Mohali wicket Chandigarh, October 14 “I am pleased with the performance of Zaheer Khan. He was very impressive that evening.” He was referring to the performance when Zaheer, in an inspired spell, rocked the visitors with three early wickets. Blaming the track for the first Test in which the visitors hung on tenaciously to ensure a draw, he defended the bowlers saying that top three spinners — Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Daniel Vettori — struggled to get wickets there. But the long spells they bowled there would help them perform better in this Test. The ball there did not do anything at all.” He rued the fact that a favourable result could not be achieved even though India had put up 500 runs on the board. Wright said it was the responsibility of the people who prepare wickets to ensure that better tracks were prepared. “There was no harm in exploiting the home advantage,” he stated. “We have to play on the wicket which is provided to us. We played a good game, though we could not finish it off,” he said. About the chances of one-day specialist Yuvraj Singh making his debut on his home ground Wright said: “He is knocking at the doors loudly for some time. He is going to be a top class player.” Wright again remained non-committal about the chances of wiry all-rounder Ajit Agarkar playing in the match saying it was early to talk about the playing eleven. He was not unduly worried about the twin failures of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar in the previous Test saying that the master batsman was too good a batsman. Asked about his observation about the greenish track, New Zealand coach Ashley Ross said it might have a little more pace and bounce than the Ahmedabad wicket. “The Black Caps have a decent seam attack having the ability to exploit the conditions. He said that it was premature to say which way the wicket would go. “We are looking forward to the challenge ahead.” Dwelling on about the ability of a team to adapt to different conditions as faced by various international squads, he said his team had shown remarkable ability to adapt as was revealed by the draw achieved by the Kiwis in the first Test. “Indian batsmen showed their inability to adopt to the conditions, when they visited New Zealand last time.” India lost both Test in the series just before the World Cup. Elaborating further, he stressed that the team should be able to adapt itself to uncomfortable environments. He praised middle order batsman Nathan Astle in this regard, saying that the batsman adapted well to the extremely hot conditions in Ahmedabad and battled his indisposition to graft an invaluable innings. “More you adopt, better you would be as a team.” “We would discuss the selection of the side tomorrow night”, he replied when asked about the team composition. “Maybe, it will be a different playing eleven.” Ross said slow tracks like the one at Ahmedabad would not help Indians when they play abroad. He said New Zealand batsmen negotiated the Indian spinners well in the first Test, which would boost their confidence for this Test manifold. |
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Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, who had blister on his left leg, visited Fortis hospital at Mohali for minor treatment due to which he could not join his team-mates at the nets. Sources revealed that there was nothing serious about the blister. The doctors attending on him extracted puss from his thigh and Ganguly left the hospital soon. Meanwhile, according to a PTI report Ganguly became a doubtful starter for the match. The doctors attending on him said he would require rest for the next 24 hours, throwing an element of doubt on his taking the field for the series decider. The Indian skipper had been in some discomfort during the first Test at Ahmedabad. Ganguly later joined the squad in the evening.  |
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How will the pitch behave? Chandigarh, October 14 This time too the PCA Stadium strip was the subject matter of discussion, both among officials connected with the game as well as among followers of the game. Will the strip have a major say when the second Test gets under way on Thursday? Will the fast bowlers of both sides have a say in the proceedings or will the batsmen rule the roost? Or will finally the Indian spinners get a pitch to suit their type of bowling? In any case the Indians must be desperate to produce a result in their favour, specially after the strip at Ahmedabad was blamed by the skipper for producing no result in the first Test on Sunday. Daljit Singh, who has been in charge of the PCA Stadium wickets ever since they were laid more than a decade ago, was of the view that the strip would have something both for the bowlers as well as the batsmen. The strip, according to him, could provide more bounce than it did in the previous Test, against England, two years ago when both Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble played a stellar role in India’s 10-wicket win over the visitors. This same pitch has seen a rampaging Winston Benjamin and Countney Walsh of the West Indies run through the Indian batting line-up in just 35.2 overs when India and the West Indies played in the first Test at this venue in 1994. The pitch, of course, has now settled down, but then time and again the fast bowlers have benefitted from the strip, especially in the early hours of play. This time the top dressing of the wicket has been changed with a mixture of black and red soil. The relaid strips have seen some good league-level cricket with both batsmen and bowlers doing well. The pitch was last used for the JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament a month ago where quite a few Ranji-level players played and has had good rest of nearly a month, according to Daljit Singh. He denied reports that the Indian team management had sought a strip which would suit the bowlers of the home team. Reports were making the round today that as soon after the Indian team members reached Chandigarh yesterday, Daljit Singh was directed to remove all the grass from the wicket, which looked quite green yesterday, so that the spinners could have a bigger say in the proceedings. He said he had never accepted directions on preparing pitches at the stadium “not even when Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra was the President of the board.” “I have always been directed to produce a good wicket and this time too my effort has been to give a good, sporting wicket for the match. The Indian team management has not given any directions to me in this regard. The pitch will see good cricket in the Test.” Incidentally, Daljit Singh is a member of the BCCI pitch committee which helps various affiliated units to lay pitches.
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Strenuous
nets for India, New Zealand Chandigarh, October 14 Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, skipper Stephen Fleming, and Robbie Hart and others had a long batting session, extending well beyond the lunch break revealing how serious they were taking the Test. Lanky pacer Darryl Tuffy, chief tormentor of the Indian when they were in New Zealand for the two Test series, along with others, tested the skills of fellow batsmen. After that they were engaged in catching practice, while others tried their skills at rugby. Skipper Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh trooped into the stadium along with the rest of the players in the afternoon. They immediately headed towards the stadium. After having a round of the stadium, they were engaged by trainer Gregory Allen King in various drills designed to sharpen their reflexes and agility. Then they had a session at the nets under the watchful eyes of coach John Wright.
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Astle to miss one-day series Chandigarh, October 14 “Nathan has had some aggravation in his left knee since early in the tour and he is returning home to have injury examined by a medical specialist,” Crocker said. “It is difficult to ascertain the exact nature or extent of the injury. The Black Caps on-tour medical panel feel it is unlikely he will aggravate the injury further by playing in the second Test. “However there would be a greater risk of aggravation of the injury during the triangular tournament because of the more strenuous fielding demands in one-day cricket. The aim of sending him home is to try to ensure he is fit for the home international series against Pakistan and South Africa,” he said. Nevin is leaving New Zealand today with four other one-day players and will join the rest of the squad soon. |
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Aussies to arrive on Oct 22
Mumbai, October 14 In their second match, Australia will take on their trans-tasman rivals New Zealand at Faridabad on October 29. The world champions’ other league fixtures are against India (Nov 1, Mumbai), New Zealand (Nov 3 Pune and Nov 9 Guwahati) and India (Nov 12, Bangalore). — PTI
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Sanjay Ghosh, Saraswati fastest Patiala, October 14 This was the last chance for the athletes to prove their mettle with the all important Afro-Asian Games just round the corner. The meet has also made the job of the selectors all the more difficult as it was to act as final trials to select the Indian contingent for the games. Sanjay Ghosh did not have to exert himself much as he breasted the tape with a timing of 10.45 seconds. With the present national record holder P. Anil Kumar absenting himself like some other top athletes including Sunita Rani, K.M Binamol, Madhuri A.Singh and K.M.Binu, the Service sprinter was a strong contender to win the gold in the dash and he lived upto his top billing. Ghosh was followed by Piyush Kumar of Delhi who posted a timing of 10.57 and Sandeep Sarkaria of Delhi who finished with a poor 10.67. On the distaff side, the race was expected to be a close affair as Saraswati Saha managed to edge a few inches into the lead in the last 10 yards ahead of well-built Delhi girl Poonam Tomar. Saha eventually finished the race clocking 11.73 while Poonam timed 11.91. The third place went to Greeshma K.M of Kerala who ended up with a poor 12.15. The poor standard set by all the three podium finisher’s can be reflected from the fact that the national record stands at a creditable 11.38 in the name of Rachita Mistry. Saraswati was not happy with her start and felt that she could have posted a much better timing had she been a little quick off the blocks. In the women’s 110 metres hurdles, the photo finish had to be brought into play as both K.N. Priya of Tamil Nadu and her much more experienced rival J.J. Shoba clocked 14.05. However, the camera recorded that K.N. Priya had breasted the tape ahead of J.J. Shoba. West Bengal girl Soma Biswas clocked 14.36 to finish third. Anuradha Biswal’s national record stands at 13.38s. In the discus throw for men, Anil Kumar of ONGC hurled the discus to a distance of 54.80m — a far cry from the national record which stands in the name of Shakti Singh at 61.72m. Anil was followed by Gursewak Singh of Police who recorded a distance of 52.02m while Devinder Singh of Punjab recorded 51.68m to help himself to the third spot. In the long jump, where the national record stands in the name of the famed T.C Yohnanan at 8.07m, Sanjay Rai of RSPB came first recording a poor distance of 7.76m and he was followed closely by Shivshanker Yadav of Uttar Pradesh who jumped to a distance of 7.75m. Punjab ladMaha Singh’s jump measured just 7.65m and even this feeble effort was enough for him to be placed third out of a field of eight jumpers. The women’s discus event showed little competition as Neelam J. Singh of RSPB expectedly walked away with the honours with a distance of 59.75m. Her nearest rival, Harwant Kaur of Punjab could measure only 52.52m while the third placed girl Swaranjit Kaur, also of Punjab, managed just 50.59m. Other results: Shot put (men): Shakti Singh-1 (Police,18.95m), Bahadur Singh-2 (Police,18.83m), Navpreet Singh-3 (Police,18.62m). Hammer throw (women): Hardeep Kaur-1 (Punjab, 56.44m), Rajwinder Kaur-2 (Punjab, 52.12m), Alka Pandey -3 (UP, 52.09 m). |
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Himachal
cagers thrash West Bengal Kangra, October 14 In a one-sided match, hosts recorded a 50-25 victory. Jagmohan of Himachal Pradesh, the highest scorer of the game, played a versatile game and scored 30 points. He kept the ball under control and scored 12 two-pointer baskets and netted two-pointer baskets. Sanjeev of Himachal and Jafer Hussain of West Bengal scored eight baskets. Himachal kept West Bengal under pressure from the beginning and the half time score was 25-9. Karnataka girls defeated Goa 41-8 in a one-sided match. K. Simtha and R. Vinita of Karnataka scored 11 and 8 baskets, respectively and Clarice of Goa scored 3 points. The half time scores were 20-3. In another match, Delhi girls defeated Rajasthan 44-30. R. Gandhi of Rajasthan played a good match scoring 16 baskets but could not save her team from defeat. Ankita scored 12 points and Raspreet scored nine for Delhi. Chandigarh overcame Uttar Pradesh 37-36. Half time scorer was 18-23. Uttar Pradesh had a comfortable lead but Navneet and Gujreet of Chandigarh in a united effort scored 11 baskets each and put the team to a winning path. Amrita of Uttar Pradesh was the highest scorer of the match with 15 baskets. Kerala boys defeated Gujarat by 48-27, Maharashtra boys defeated Manipur with 56-42 while Uttranchal thrashed Jammu and Kashmir in a one sided match with 56-16. |
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Bhim Award for Mamta, Geetika Chandigarh, October 14 The five players upon whom. The Bhim Award would be conferred for the year 2002-2003 are Mamta Kharab (hockey), Sushma (boxing), Virender (wrestling), Ramesh Kumar (kabaddi) and Geetika Jhakhar (wrestling). The award includes Rs 50,000 in cash, a statue of Bhim, a scroll, blazer and a neck-tie. While stating this here today, the Commissioner and Secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare, Mr D.S. Dhesi, said 20 sportspersons would be given cash award of Rs 31,000 for winning gold medals in various national championships. Twentyseven sportspersons would be given cash awards on October 19. Aruna would be given a cash award of Rs 75,000 as she had won silver at the Junior Asian Judo Championship. Two other sportspersons would be given cash prize of Rs 50,000 each. They are Archana, who had won a silver medal at Junior Asian Judo Championship in the year 2002 and Seema Antil, who had won bronze medal in athletics at 10th Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok. |
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Baba Joginder
Singh
cremated Patiala, October 14 Wreaths were laid by the SDM, Mr T.P S Phoolka, and the District Sports Officer, Mr Sunil Khosla, on behalf of the district administration and the Punjab Sports Department, respectively. The Patiala police was represented by the SP, Mr N.S
Sekhon. Also present on the occasion were the District Public Relations Officer
(DPRO), Mr Ujagar Singh, the DSP (City), Mr G.S Bedi, coaches of the Punjab Sports Department and veteran athlete’s and sportslovers of the region. Politicians of the region were conspicious by their absence. Prominent among those who mourned the athletes death were the Secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, Mr M.P Pandove, former Olympic hurdler, G.S Randhawa, the president of the Basketball Federation of India and ADGP, Mr R.S Gill, the Jalandhar SSP, Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, the Executive Director and Regional Director of the NIS, Col B.A Ahluwalia and Mr G.S Anand, respectively, an former District Sports Officer, Mr S.S Tiwana, the Deputy Director (Sports), PSEB, Mr Vir Devinder Singh, the Secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, hockey Olympian Pargat Singh, Dronacharya awardee J.S Saini, the coaching fraternity of the NIS and coaches of the Punjab Sports Department. The athletes who took part in the AAFI’s 5th Domestic Circuit meet held at the NIS today also passed a resolution condoling the death of the veteran athlete.
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Sakattar
shines Nawanshahr, October 14 Football Academy crushed Jalandhar 5-1 in the first semifinal. Sakattar Singh of Football Academy scored four goals in the match. The fifth goal was scored by Aseem Hassan. Sanjiv Joshi of Jalandhar scored the lone goal for his team. |
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Don’t look for
excuses : Kapil Martina in squad Badminton clinic Pushpa best
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Chandigarh, October 14
