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Reid joins Indian squad
India should pick five bowlers IN GRAPHIC: Indian
Cricket Team In Australia
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India A
annihilate Lanka A
Yuvraj, Dharmani flay Delhi bowling Punjab, Haryana settle for draw Indian Oil, IA in final Big victories for CRPF, RPF
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Reid joins Indian squad Brisbane, December 2 The 40-year-old, Reid, who has been appointed as the bowling coach for the four-Test series against Australia, had a session with the pacers before spending some more time with left-arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. Reid took the two speedster for a quiet session where he stressed upon them the correct wrist position and the arc in which the arm should swing at the point of delivery. Indian coach John Wright looked particularly happy that his bowlers were getting the assistance of one of the best left-arm seamers, who had also helped Zimbabwe during their recent tour of Australia. “Bruce was highly recommended to us. It was a good opportunity for us to use his vast experience,” Wright said. “Bruce has vast experience of bowling in Australia and he knows what is the correct length to bowl. “Our attack is young and most of them only have a couple of years under their belt. We hope he would help them out with advice which would be useful for the Test series,” said Wright. “But then there is one thing to explain and another to execute it well.” The Australians too regarded Indian team’s move to appoint Reid as their bowling coach as an important one with opener Justin Langer suggesting that the towering left-hander could help Indian bowlers to step up their performance on the current tour. “We are happy he (Reid) is not bowling for India. India has got three left-arm medium-pacers and he is an excellent coach. I know young players respond well to him. I am sure he would be beneficial to the Indians,” said Langer. Former off-spinner and manager of the Indian team Shivlal Yadav also expressed happiness with Reid’s first day in office. “He certainly looks the man who knows his job. It’s too early to say how useful he would turn out to be as he has only joined the team today and attended just one session. But we are hopeful his association would prove fruitful for us,” said Yadav. Reid, who gave nothing away through a nagging line during his playing days, took 113 from 27 matches at an impressive average of 24.63.
— PTI |
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India should pick five bowlers It will surely cross the Indians’ mind whether to play two spinners in the first Test in Gabba. Spinners traditionally don’t play a huge role in Brisbane but as Shane Warne has shown in the past, you could do your stuff on the fourth and fifth day. For that to happen, the Indians will need to take the Australians on the final days, something a lot of visiting sides haven’t done against the world champions recently. They could do it if they play near to their potential as Australians are not used to be stretched. If that happens, spin bowlers could be decisive. I think the Indians should look to take their four best bowlers in the game. If two of their best four are spinners, then so be it. They could also show themselves positive and aggressive by having five bowlers since Australians tend to rattle up a huge score and then put the opposition under pressure. A lot of visiting sides show negative attitude, try not to lose ground to the Australians in the first game and then hope for headway as the series wears on but I’m not sure if this is the right way. The Indians need to get their attitude right and resist the Australians who surely would be looking to breathe fire and dominate them from the first session of the first Test. If Indians take six batsmen, including a wicketkeeper who could bat, and if they still lose trying to be positive, so be it. At least they would have shown a positive attitude at the start of the series. Harbhajan Singh to me lately doesn’t seem a bowler who has done too well in Test cricket. It could be because he has been too much into one-day bowling mode. It will be important for India if he retains his Test match bowling form. It is not beyond him either since quality players raise their game when it comes to big matches. He surely has a role to play because Australians traditionally haven’t done too well against quality off-spinners. It is really positive on the part of Indians to seek out Bruce Reid’s services as a bowling coach. He was one great Australian cricketer whose career was cut short by injuries. He had the potential to be one of our all-time best bowlers. He has done tremendous work with Nathan Bracken and has been responsible for his elevation. If he could work with your left-arm pacemen, he could really give crucial inputs about the deficiency of Australian batsmen and help put the pressure back on the hosts. I think the best way to get to the Australian batting is to bowl with controlled aggression. It wouldn’t help if they try to breathe fire and end up bowling rubbish. They would be whacked around if they show mindless aggression. They need to bowl a good line, maintain control and be aggressive and Reid could play a role here. If the two left-arm pacemen could swing the ball, bring the ball in for right-handers and bowl deliveries which leave the left-handers they could be handful. But they must bowl in the right corridor and show controlled rather than mindless aggression. Australia would surely look to target Sourav Ganguly. They have always done it against the visiting teams. He would be a target, as surely would be other batsmen, as their ability to cope with short-pitched stuff would be put to question. Sachin Tendulkar, as always would be a key batsman for for the Indians but it would be folly if they leave everything for the great man to deliver. They couldn’t be putting all their eggs in one basket and rely on him all the time. Other guys have to step up and play their roles. It can’t be if Tendulkar comes good everyone fires and if he fails the others perform as if they have no hope. This Indian line-up has a lot of quality and Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly are all capable of producing big scores. If Indians could raise a huge total, their bowlers could bowl better and it would put the team in better shape.
— PTI |
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Kale’s probe report today New Delhi, December 2 “The report is almost complete. I will be submitting it to the cricket board tomorrow,”, Mr Rao, also the chairman of the Bar Council of India, told PTI over the telephone from Visakhapatnam. The preliminary probe into the bribery allegations was completed last Saturday with Kale and the two national selectors — Kiran More and Pranab Roy — deposing before the commissioner in Visakhapatnam. Apart from the three, Rao had also summoned national cricket selector from central zone, Sanjay Jagdale, for a hearing since the two selectors had written to the commission that they had discussed the issue with him. Mr Rao refused to divulge the nature of the report contents, saying it was a “confidential matter”. “All I can say at this stage is that the report is nearly ready. It is based on the terms of reference given by the cricket board”, he said. The inquiry commissioner said the recorded statements of the four persons who deposed before during the six-and-half hour hearing on Saturday would also form part of the report. “All the parties were given an opportunity to present their case at the hearing. The report has been preparared after going through all the statements”, he said. The cricket board had suspended Kale from playing first class matches on November 21 for allegedly offering Rs 10 lakh each to selectors Roy and More for a place in the Indian Test team for the tour of Australia. The two selectors gave their complaints in writing to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya. The board appointed Mr Rao as the commissioner of inquiry and asked him to submit his findings within 15 days. The inquiry report would be referred to the board’s disciplinary committee for final adjudication and till that time Kale would remain suspended from participating in any tournament conducted by the board. Kale, who has denied the charge, had also appeared before the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s three-member inquiry committee in Pune on November 22.
— PTI |
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India A annihilate Lanka A Pune, December 2 Earlier, India ‘A’ skipper Shiv Sunder Das declared their innings at the overnight score of 556 for 7, in reply to Sri Lankan first innings score of 340 and thus gained a match winning lead of 216.
— UNI |
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Giles’ spell stuns Lanka Galle, December 2 Squandering the advantage of batting first after skipper Hashan Tillekeratne won the toss, Sri Lanka were tottering at 138 for four after Giles’ penetrative spell ripped through the top order. Giles dismissed opener Sanath Jayasuriya (48), Mahela Jayawardene (17) and Tillekeratne (0), while opener Marvan Atapattu (29) fell to pace bowler Andrew Flintoff. At stumps, Kumar Sangakkara was batting on 39 and Thilan Samaraweera on one. The Test’s opening day was disrupted by heavy showers that wiped out 30 overs despite play being extended by 40 minutes. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st
innings): Atapattu c Read b Flintoff 29 Jayasuriya c Collingwood
b Giles
48 Sangakkara batting 39 Jayawardene c Collingwood b Giles 17 Tillakaratne c Read b
Giles
0 Samaraweera batting 1 Extras: 4. Total: (4 wkts, 60 overs) 138 Fall of wicket:
1-76, 2-88, 3-132, 4-132. Bowling: Hoggard 12-3-32-0, Johnson 12-4-33-0, Flintoff 10-3-16-1, Collingwood 2-0-9-0, Batty 14-4-33-0, Giles 10-4-13-3.
— AP |
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Yuvraj, Dharmani flay Delhi bowling Chandigarh, December 2 The day, however, belonged the local hero Yuvraj. Be it his failure in debut Test against the Black Caps here, his non-too-impressive record on his home ground or the impending tri-series one-day tournament in Australia. Yuvraj, it seemed, was determined to come good and play a big knock today. Not a regular opener, he came out to open the innings. And he immediately stamped his authority on the proceedings, unleashing fierce strokes off the very first two balls he faced as the balls thudded into the extra-cover fence. The bowler to suffer the fury was left-arm seamer Kunal Lal. Yuvraj later settled into his groove and played an array of attractive strokes to graft an innings of immense value for his side. He was very strong in extra-cover area where he scored most of his boundaries. He has hit 16 scorching hits to the fence so far. In the course of the virtual immaculate innings, the southpaw avoided the temptation to adopt the aerial route and played all along the carpet for most of the time. When he nudged off-spinner Sarandeep to short fine-leg area for a single to complete his century, joy and happiness were writ large on his face. For, the swashbuckling batsman had finally broken a jinx. This was his first century in eighth outing on his home ground. Pankaj Dharmani, who came in after the fall of skipper Dinesh Mongia’s wicket, looked compact and solid. Mongia, with two big centuries under his belt in first two games, disappointed. He scored uncharacteristic four runs during his half-hour stay at the wicket before he was trapped lbw by medium pacer Narender Negi. Ravneet Ricky earlier fell to the same bowler after the batsman had scored 25. Dharmani, who was unlucky to miss out on a century in the previous match against Baroda, looked determined enough to make amends this time. The Patiala lad, playing this match purely as a batsman, matched Yuvraj stroke for stroke. Dharmani has so far hit 11 scorching hits to the fence and the lone six of the day. Earlier, seamer Gagandeep Singh claimed two wickets more to take his match tally to five. He first castled wicketkeeper Varun Kumar on his overnight score and then sent back Kunal to complete a five-wicket haul. Amit Uniyal flummoxed and bowled Sarandeep Singh to take his third wicket to emerge the second most successful bowler of the side. The way Yuvraj and Dharmani were batting at close, a hard grind looks imminent for the rival bowlers on the morrow. Scoreboard Delhi (1st innings):
Salil Oberoi lbw Vaneet 0, Rajat Bhatia lbw Gagandeep 4, Rajan Gupta lbw Uniyal 19, Mithun Manhas c Madan b Vaneet 129, Ajay Jadeja c Madan b Uniyal 1, Pradeep Chawla c Madan b Gagandeep 39, Varun Kumar b Gagandeep 50, N S Negi b Gagandeep 2, Sarandeep Singh b Uniyal 27, Kunal Lal lbw Gagandeep 11, Sanjay Gill not out 1. Extras:
(nb 15, w 2, lb 10): 27. Total: (all out in 96.4 overs): 310. Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-6, 3-34, 4-37, 5-135, 6-249, 7-259, 8-274, 9-308. Bowling:
Vineet Sharma 25-6-87-2, Gagandeep Singh 25-8-55-5, Amit Uniyal 16.4-2-69-3, Reetinder Sodhi 11-2-41-0, Navdeep Singh 14-2-35-0, Ravneet Ricky 1-0-4-0, Dinesh Mongia 4-0-9-0. Punjab (Ist innings):
Ravneet Ricky lbw Negi 25, Yuvraj Singh batting 106, Dinesh Mongia lbw Negi 4, Pankaj Dharmani batting 73. Extras:
(b 1, lb 3, nb 11, w 1): 16. Total: (for 2 in 68.2 overs): 224. Fall of wickets:
1-65, 2-76. Bowling: Sanjay Gill 18-0-59-0, Kunal Lal 11-2-44-0, Narender Negi 17-2-57-2, Sarandeep Singh 12-1-43-0, Rajat Bhatia 9.2-5-16-0, Ajay Jadeja 1-0-1-0. |
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Haryana pile up huge total Rohtak, December 2 At the close of play today, Haryana were in driver’s seat as Tripura were still trailing by 420 runs with nine wickets in hand. The highlight of day two was the 137-run partnership between Ishan Ganda and night watchmen Mahesh Rawat for the fourth wicket. Ishan Ganda capitalised on a dropped chance given by Tirtha Roy who missed a catch at the first slip when team’s total near 257. Ganda was on 39 then. Ishan’s marathon innings came to an end on 95 which came in 284 balls, with 11 hits to the fence. His innings lasted 285 minutes. Fourth wicket fell at 370. Sonu Sharma gave another two jolts to the hosts at the same score in his next over. He accounted for Mahesh Rawat and Sumit Narwal (0). Rawat played a gem of innings to contribute 68 runs in 171 balls with the help of five boundaries during his 212 minutes at the crease. Local lad Joginder Sharma played an entertaining unbeaten knock of 52 runs in just 62 balls. His swashbuckling knock included six powerful hits to the fence and three over the rope. He hoisted two sixes off Ashish Kapoor. Shafiq Khan remained unbeaten at his individual score of 22 runs. In reply, visitors lost the wicket of opener Ritesh Joyswal. Scoreboard Haryana (Ist innings): Jitender Singh b Sonu Sharma 26, Chetan Sharma c Sachdev b Sonu Sharma 74, Sunny Singh c Sachdev b Ashish Kapoor 67, Ishan Ganda c Tirtha Roy b Ashish Kapoor 95, Mahesh Rawat st. Joyswal b Sonu Sharma 68, Shafiq Khan not out 22, Sumit Narwal c Dahad b Sonu Sharma 0, Joginder Sharma not out 52. Extras: (b-17, lb-9, nb-28, w-3) 57. Total:
461 for 6 declared in 171 overs. Fall of wickets
1/111, 2/116, 3/233, 4/370, 5/370, 6/370. Bowling: S. Mahesh 15-4-29-0, Sandeep Dahad 18-1-80-0, Arindam Sarkar 6-0-18-0, Ashish Kapoor 54-12-126-2, Sonu Sharma 43-11-89-4, Tushar Saha 29-7-71-0, Chetan Sachdev 3-1-6-0, Timir Chanda 3-0-16-0. Tripura (Ist innings): Tirtha Roy batting 19, Ritesh Joyswal c Rawat b Vashisht 14, Timir Chanda batting 7. Extras:
(b-1) 1. Total: 41 for 1 in 12 overs. Fall of wickets:
1/30 Bowling: Joginder Sharma 6-1-21-0, Sumit Narwal 4-1-12-0, Gaurav Vashisht 2-0-7-1. |
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Punjab, Haryana settle for draw Patiala, December 2 The hosts managed to score 348 in their first essay. The highlights of today’s play was a fine 75 by middle order batsman Sumit Sharma and supporting knocks played by allrounders Charanjit Singh (26) and Munish Bhatia (25) and wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh (24). Brief scores: Haryana (1st innings): 238 all out. Punjab (1st innings):
348 all out (Sumit Sharma 75, Sunny Sohal 60, Gurkirat Singh 60, Munish Bhatia 25, Charanjit Singh 26, Sarabjit Singh 24, Deepak Chowdhury 2 for 61, Sunny Chowdhury 2 for 07, Imran Khan 1 for 48, Aditya Chauhan 1 for 75). Haryana (2nd innings):
36 for no loss (Sant Kumar 27 n.o). |
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Indian Oil, IA in final New Delhi, December 2 In the clash of the two oil majors, Oil India clinched the issue when they displayed better firing power than BPCL to book their berth in the final, with World Cupper Bipin Fernandez firing home both the goals. In a close contest, both the teams made many abortive attempts to score before Fernandez succeeded in putting the ball home when he converted a penalty corner in the 20th minute. The teams stepped up their fight to hit the mark in the second session, but the defence played the spoilsport as they kept the attackers at bay till Sandeep Michael broke through the Oil India cordon to level the score in the 62nd minute. But Oil India regained their lead in the 66th minute when Bipin Fernandez found the mark yet again. In the second semifinal, Indian Airlines called the shots in the first half, and jumped into a comfortable 3-1 lead by half time. India star Arjun Halappa weaved his way into the goal to put the ball home in the 12th minute to put Indian Airlines in the lead. And then Girish Pimpale added two quick goals in the 19th and 20th minutes to maintain his amazing form, his first goal coming off a penalty corner. After taking a 3-0 lead, Indian Airlines relaxed the tempo, and Air India exploited this situation to knock in a goal through Jitender Saroha, who converted a penalty corner in the 28th minute. On resumption, the contest became intense and Air India ran close when they earned a penalty stroke in the 46th minute, which was translated into a goal by Surinder Kundu to narrow IA’s lead to 3-2. Indian Airlines, however, managed to hold onto their one-goal lead in the rest of the match to come up trumps. |
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Big victories for CRPF, RPF Jalandhar, December 2 Karnataka defeated West Bengal 5-2 while ITBP won their match against RPF 8-0. Earlier, in an one-sided affair, CRPF ousted Tamil Nadu 6-0. CRPF started their victory mission in the seventh minute, when Rajesh Kindu converted a penalty corner to sound the board (1-0). In the 28th minute, Simon Tirkey easily dodged the rivals’ defence to convert a penalty corner 2-0. The lead was further consolidated in the 45th minute through a field goal by Rajesh Kindu (3-0). Then it was the turn of Simon Tirkey to strike again. He scored an impressive field goal in the 58th minute (4-0). In the 61st minute, Topher Kojur netted the ball from the left flank to improve the tally to 5-0. Finally, Jolen Topno scored a field goal in the 62nd minute to lock the fate of their opponents (6-0). |
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Chandigarh, December 2
