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Dravid wants to keep
Good guys don’t end up losers all the time Aussies’ shot selection was poor Path to victory was not exactly rosy |
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Prabhakar identifies Mukesh Gupta as match-fixing kingpin Gagandeep, Vineet skittle out Andhra Pradesh for 30
Kerala thwart Delhi
HP all out for 111 Gurmehar maintains Tollygunge stun
Mahindras
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Dravid wants to keep the momentum going
Hobart, December 17 Dravid produced a career-best knock of 233 and 72 not out in Adelaide to shape India’s first victory on Australian soil after 22 years but has kept the celebrations aside to concentrate on the job at hand. “It was a great victory for us. As a team, we want to keep the momentum going, keep the intensity up for the remaining matches,” Dravid told reporters as he arrived here with the rest of the team for the three-day match against Australia ‘A’ beginning on Friday. “We had a bit of celebration with the boys. It was a nice evening and good for the team,” Dravid said, looking composed but weary after his exertions in the second Test. “But we should not take the foot off the pedal. When you are representing your country, you have to give your best all the time,” he said. Dravid, who batted close to 14 hours in two innings in Adelaide, said the effort was worth it as it had made millions of countrymen happy. “We have all spoken to our family and friends. We are happy that we have made a lot of people happy back home.” Dravid said rather than feel weighed down by alien conditions, the present bunch of players are able to focus harder because they are “cacooned away from the familiar conditions back home”. “We are all used to touring. You are away on a tour, you are in a team environment and cacooned away from what is happening (back home). Sometimes it is a good thing because it keeps the focus on the job at hand.” The coming three-day tie against Australia ‘A’ will be used to prepare for the third Test beginning in Melbourne from December 26, Dravid said, adding that the Indians would not be complacent after the victory. “We are trying a few things and trying different combinations. Side games are usually more relaxing but it does not mean we would take the foot off the pedal”. The Indians hopped two flights to reach the capital city of Tasmania, only to be greeted by chilly winds and slight drizzle in this tourist city of mountains and rugged wilderness. The team will have a quiet celebratory dinner tonight, Dravid said, reiterating the team’s commitment to stay focussed in the series. India’s stunning win in the second Test against Australia sparked national celebrations at home but the tourists are enjoying being away from the spotlight, coach John Wright said. “We’ll just keep our feet on the ground and keep working,” Wright told reporters in Hobart. The former New Zealand opening batsman added: “(Staying grounded is) a little bit easier here than in India.” “We’ve enjoyed the success but there’s still two Tests to go,” the coach said following India’s first Test victory in Australia for 22 years. — PTI, Reuters
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Good guys don’t end up losers all the time It does not get better than what Rahul Dravid did in this Test. His batting was outstanding. Everyone has already exhausted superlatives so I would not bother myself with any additional praise but you could be sure my admiration for him has grown tremendously. While his batting is the talk of town, I think it was his catch of Damien Martyn on the fourth afternoon which set up the game for India. Martyn and Waugh had laid the basis of what appeared to be a big stand, recovery was well and truly underway when Dravid stuck his hand out and caught Martyn in the slips. There are moments in a Test, certain twists and turns, which shift the balance. It was one such moment, to be followed up with the catch of Stephen Waugh. Dravid’s rearguard batting in the first innings revived the Indians. His second knock ensured the good work was not wasted. It is good to see good guys do not end up as losers all the time. There is no need to bring Sachin Tendulkar into equation and begin comparisons between him and Dravid. For me, Tendulkar has always been the man towards whom Indian cricket has turned to quite so often in the past. Dravid had been solid but an unsung hero. Only now he is coming onto his own. He nearly never lets you down and the series has begun brilliantly for him. It is quite a contrast to the fate Dravid had suffered the last time around. There was no respite for him with the quality bowling which Australians commanded in Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. I thought he had gone too much into his shell on the previous tour. Now he has matured and plays with the confidence of a grown-up bat. His shot selection was out-of-ordinary and he chose the right ball to attack. VVS Laxman once again confirmed what a thorn he has been in the Australians’ flesh in recent past. I can not believe only till recently Laxman was not an automatic choice for India’s playing eleven. We thought India must have been a tremendous outfit to leave a player of his calibre out of the team. He seems inspired by the challenge and reserves his best against the best attack of the world. He might be a bit unorthodox but that too not on the side of erring. The way Laxman attacked the Australian bowling in the second innings when he hit some critical fours in no time, showed the self-belief which is running through his veins. Stuart MacGill played an absolute second fiddle to him. It was engaging stuff. I thought the Australians were victim of their own attacking nature. They were too flamboyant for their own good in this Test match. They should have given respect to the conditions. It is dangerous to be loose in your methods when things are not quite suited to your style of play. They should have given credit to the conditions. Usually in the past, it is Gilchrist or Steve Waugh who lift a side out of mire when wickets have fallen cheaply. Quite a few times in the past we have seen Australia slip to 265 for five or thereabout and then Gilly and Tugga have taken us past the 400-run mark at least. There was no such revival this time. It was particularly distressing to see from an Australian point of view to let Tendulkar take those two crucial wickets with his leg-spinners. Somehow the little genius finds a way to torment us with bat or ball.
— PTI |
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Aussies’ shot selection was poor Entering the third day of the Adelaide Test I had noted that the stage was set for an epic encounter. As we now sit back and dissect the loss and analyse just where we went wrong, it is obvious that we need an epic performance of our own to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But a come-from-behind series victory is not out of the question and we only need to cast our minds back to the beginning of 2001, when India came back from 0-1 and beat us 2-1, to realise just how possible it is. Ironically, the men who turned the tide for India in that series have done it again. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were outstanding in Adelaide, with Dravid in particular displaying outstanding concentration and magnificent technique over two match-winning innings. He plays with such a straight bat and once he is set, he is a very hard man to get out. The challenge is now there for our bowlers to lock horns with several in-form Indian batsmen come Boxing Day when we set out to level the series. There are several areas where I felt we let ourselves down in Adelaide. Our shot selection and execution on the fourth day of the Test certainly was poor, and I think it can be said that we didn’t necessarily choose the right way of going about the job at hand. But we can take some positives from the match. Ricky Ponting’s highest Test score of 242 in the first innings signalled his status as one of world cricket’s finest batsmen. It was an outstanding effort and despite his disappointing second innings, it should see him carry some genuine confidence into Boxing Day. The other standout performance for me was Brad Williams’ courage in taking the field after suffering a strained AC joint. Entering the final day of the match, most people had probably written Willo off, but he knew that for us to win the match we were going to need all of our bowlers firing, not to mention a special effort. His work-rate was inspirational, and it was quite evident that even though he was playing in pain, he knew the sort of sacrifices it takes to win a Test match. Willo’s courage and desire has hopefully set the tone for our performances in the last two remaining Test matches. From here, we look forward and not back as we embrace the challenge ahead of us and the wonderful occasion of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne’s equivalent of Eden Gardens, the MCG. It is a Test that generates a real sense of occasion and like many of our players who walk out on to the famous Kolkata turf for the first time, I am sure the Indians will be captivated by the sheer magnitude of this historic venue. The huge, grey concrete collesium is the ideal venue for that epic encounter.
— Gameplan |
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Path to victory was not exactly rosy The winning moments are the most cherished moments in one's sports career. It is worth pledging my life to be a part of the Adelaide Oval Indian dressing room .The atmosphere, I can well imagine sitting here, would be electrifying. Bottles of champagne flowing and words of appreciation with vociferous applauds filling the sacred room of the players. The small differences between the players, which sometimes build up on such a long and arduous tour, vanish as they come together to form a much stronger and cohesive unit. Though, a series victory can only become a World Cup equivalent, beating the world champions in their own backyard is indeed a stupendous achievement. This Test had all the ingredients to go down in history as one of the India’s best wins abroad. The path to victory was not exactly rosy. Odds were against the Indians on several counts. They lost the toss, dropped catches, were denied decisions and then lost quick wickets, but showed great character and a tremendous sense of responsibility. They were resolute and resilient to come back into the game. No one, including yours faithfully, dreamt of India forcing a result when they were tottering at 80 for four on the second day. I only prayed for another Rahul-Laxman partnership to save the Test. Agarkar was the man who set the pace and made India think of winning the match. Chasing a moderate total like 230 on the last day of any Test match isn’t easy. Teams more often fail to deliver under such circumstances, as it requires nerves of steel to succeed. Our batsmen batted with great responsibility to reach the target. The dismissals of Sachin and Sourav also suggest how cautious they were in their approach in the second innings. Rahul is undoubtedly the right choice for the man of the match, but Laxman remains the real character. He has engineered the success of the team so far, especially against the Australians. It all started for Laxman during the last tour of Australia where he scored a big hundred in Sydney. He then continued to torment the Aussies when they came to India next. Ever since he has remained a thorn in the flesh for the mighty Australians. It’s only true to say that other batsmen have taken a leaf out of Laxman’s look. It takes at least few good years to make a world class player at the international level. Rahul and Laxman also took their time to be labelled as world class batsmen. Both have contrasting styles. Rahul is more of a perfectionist with emphasis on technique while the Hyderabadi loves to operate his magical wand with sheer elegance. Laxman makes batting look simple while Rahul just grinds it his opponents. The common factor between the two is their hunger to play and occupy the crease for long, which could be a lesson for any youngster. Rahul doesn’t seem the man who would set a target in terms of runs but would see to it that he stays for long hours. It brings him runs at the end any way. His approach of staying at the wicket for long hours makes him one of the best players in regulating the innings with controlled aggression. Test match batting is all about taming the opponents' bowling attack. Rahul’s game is powered by mind. For him cricket is a game, in which mind has a bigger role to play over matter. Ajit
Agarkar, till this match, had always played as a second fiddle. Here, in the absence of
Zaheer, he became the leader of the pack. The responsibility of being the strike bowler has done wonders for him. Players can mature fast only when entrusted with responsibilities. On a flat wicket like Adelaide, he really made out a game out of nothing. Ajit’s six-wicket haul will give the much-needed impetus to his career from now on. I am extremely pleased to see Ajit doing well. Indian fast bowling department is only waiting for Ashish Nehra to join the party in full swing. I am confident that the Indians won’t have to wait for too long. It was another feather in the cap of skipper Sourav Ganguly. His bowling changes were simply excellent. The masterstroke, however, was to bring in Sachin to get rid of Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh, who could have become dangerous. The immediate introduction of Agarkar thereafter was yet another true indication of Ganguly’s great captaincy.
—Chivach Media. |
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McGrath ruled out ADELAIDE : Australia, who suffered a rare Test defeat against India on home soil here on Tuesday, suffered yet another blow when pace spearhead Glenn McGrath was ruled out of the remainder of the four-Test series.
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Harbhajan's surgery
on Friday
Hobart, December 17 Harbhajan, who enjoys the reputation of "Turbantor" because of his wicket haul against the Australians in a home series in 2001-2002,
had lately been troubled by his middle finger which worsened after the Test in Gabba early this month. The operation will be a 45-minute affair. Harbhajan, along with physio Andrew Leipus, arrived with the team at Melbourne this afternoon but while the rest of the team proceeded to Hobart for the three-day game against Australia 'A' beginning Friday, the off-spinner stayed back in the Victorian capital for his appointment with Greg Hoy, the doctor who also performed operation on Shane Warne's shoulder. The offie, who played in the first Test at Brisbane, has already been ruled out of the series.
— PTI |
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Prabhakar identifies Mukesh Gupta as
New Delhi, December 17 While testifying in the match-fixing case before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravinder Dudeja, Prabhakar alleged Gupta used to pay a number of players to fix matches not only in India but also abroad. Identifying the photograph of accused Gupta in the court, Prabhakar, who has been banned from playing cricket by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said, ‘’I know the man. He had introduced himself as John to me.’’ Testifying the veracity of the King’s Commission report, he said, ‘’Gupta had allegedly paid money to disgraced South African captain Hansie Cronje to fix some matches.’’ The commission, set-up by the South African Government to probe into the match-fixing racket, revealed that Gupta had paid $ 30,000 on December 10, 1996, $ 50,000 on January 10, 1997, and $ 30,000 on January 15, 1997, to Cronje to allegedly fix some matches. — UNI
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Gagandeep, Vineet skittle out Andhra Pradesh for 30 Chandigarh, December 17 Put in to bat by Punjab, Andhra Pradesh batsmen found the going extremely tough. Looking totally clueless against a disciplined and determined seam attack, their innings collapsed like a house of cards as the side was bowled out for paltry 30 in the first innings. In reply, Punjab were 141 for the loss of three wickets when the stumps were drawn for the day. In fact, the conditions were tailor-made for seam bowling. Rain a day before which had left the track a bit damp, a thick blanket of fog that hung there and the track with enough sprinkling of grass on it were enough to enthuse the seamers. Punjab seamers struck back with vengeance. The hapless Andhra batsmen looked like novices as wickets started tumbling in the very third over when Gagandeep Singh trapped skipper and former India wicketkeeper
M.S.K. Prasad lbw with just nine on the board. The procession of batsmen to the pavilion which commenced after the fall of this wicket continued as Gagandeep’s sent back first five batsmen in his first five overs with just 23 on the board. The introduction of Vineet from the pavilion end hastened Andhra collapse as the visitors lost the next five wickets with the addition of seven runs to the total. Vineet claimed three wickets at the same score, reducing the side to 24 for eight. Andhra were in danger of being bowled out for their lowest-ever score of 29, which they made against Tamil Nadu at Coimbatore in 1978, at this stage. A boundary hit by Y. Gnaneswar Rao off Gagandeep in the next over and a single run off the next ball enabled the visitors to level their lowest-ever score. Shabuddin next ran a single before Vineet struck off successive deliveries, wrapping up the innings at 30.
Gnaneswar, who remained unbeaten on 11, was the highest scorer of the side. Three fours were hit, two of them by
Gnaneswar, in the entire innings in which seven batsmen failed to get off the mark. Gagandeep had the dream analysis of 9-5-11-5, while Vineet’s spell (4.4-3-3-5) read even better. Such was the domination enjoyed by the hosts that they did not feel the absence of all rounder Reetinder Sodhi and Ankur
Kakkar, both of whom could not make it to the squad on fitness grounds. Reetinder was unlucky to have sprained his back badly while playing with tennis ball minutes before the start of the
game. Yuvraj Singh led the hosts’ reply with a scintillating 40-ball 38, which included six fours and a six. Skipper Dinesh Mongia was in fine nick and was playing on 38 when he mistimed a pull shot to be caught behind the stumps by
M.S.K. Prasad at the fag end of the day's play. Pankaj Dharmani was going strong on unbeaten 36 at close. Scoreboard Andhra Pradesh (1st innings):
Amit Pathak c Dharmani b Gagandeep 5,
M.S.K. Prasad lbw Gagandeep 0, Hemal Vatekar c Madan b Gagandeep 9, Y. Venugopal Rao b Gagandeep 0, Y. Gnaneswar Rao not out 11, I. Srinivas c Dharmani b Gagandeep 0,
R.V. Ch Prasad b Vineet 0, A.S.K. Verma c Dharmani b Vineet 0, G. Shankar Rao b Vineet 0, Shabuddin lbw Vineet 1, Kalyan Krishna b Vineet 0 Extras (lb 4) : 4 Total (all out in 17.4 overs): 30 Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-12, 3-18, 4-19, 5-23, 6-24, 7-24, 8-24, 9-30, 10-30. Bowling:
Gagandeep 9-5-11-5, Uniyal 4-1-12-0, Vineet 4.4-3-3-5. Punjab (1st innings):
Ricky c Pathak b R. Prasad 20, Yuvraj c
R.V. Prasad b Krishna 38, Mongia c M.S. K Prasad b Shabuddin 38, Dharmani not out 36 Extras (lb 6, w 3):
9 Total (for three wickets in 33.3 overs): 141 Fall of wickets:
1-64, 2-68, 3-141 Bowling: Shabuddin 11.3-5-25-1, K. Krishna 9-0-57-1,
A.S.K. Verma 5-0-25-0, R.V. Ch Prasad 6-2-22-1, Shankar Rao 2-1-6-0. |
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Kerala thwart Delhi New Delhi, December 17 Delhi, desperate for full points to revive their hopes for a semifinal berth, were frustrated by Kerala as the openers — Deepak CM and Sujit Somasunder — stood firm against Amit Bhandari and Sanjay Gill in the initial phase of the match. The hosts had to wait for 20 overs to effect the first breakthrough and four overs later the other opener also returned back to the pavilion.
— PTI |
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HP all out for 111 Dharamsala, December 17 Himachal captain Sangram Singh won the toss today and elected to bat first. Himachal were bowled out for 111 runs in 42.2 overs . Goa used only two bowlers Avinash Abate who claimed 5 wickets for 63 runs in 21.2 overs while Amit Dani took 5 wickets for 45 runs in 21 overs. In reply, Goa lost its first wicket at 15 when Vivek was bowled by Ashok for 1. Captain Swapnil and Adavit carried the score up to 70 when Adavit was lbw to Ashok Thakur for 26. Swapnil was caught by Ajay to the bowling of Rahul Panta. He made 46. |
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Gurmehar maintains winning streak New Delhi, December 17 Gurmehar Singh, who? This question popped up when the tall and strapping player came from behind to stun former national champion Vasudev Reddy in a first round match on Tuesday morning. And once again, Gurmehar's adrenaline got pumped up only when he was pushed into a corner. Down by a set, he fought his way back into reckoning to silence the crafty eighth seed, Parantap Chaturvedi, who himself is a no mean performer. Gurmehar has a high sporting pedigree, as he is the son of former hockey Olympian Ajit Pal Singh and basketball international Kiran Grewal. The 22-year-old handsome Gurmehar has rejected umpteen modelling offers to try his luck in tennis. And he seems to have taken the right decision, if the way he went about decimating Parantap Chaturvedi today was any indication. Vishal, like Gurmehar, is a tall and strapping player, and their encounter is likely to produce a lot of interesting sparks. Vishal Punna disposed of Vijayendra Laad of Maharashtra 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) while fourth-seeded Ajay Ramaswamy was scalped by Sanam K Singh of Chandigarh in straight sets at 6-3, 7-5. Another Chandigarh lad, Tushar Liberhan was, however, not so lucky, as he was ousted by wild card Divij Sharan of Delhi 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Sanak K Singh also kept his chances alive in the boys under-18 singles, though he had to toil hard to overpower qualifier Kaushik Raju of Karnataka at 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (7-8), 6-3. In other men's matches, Kamala Kannan beat Amod Wakalkar 6-4, 6-3, Somdev Dev Varman (Delhi) beat Gursharan Singh of Punjab 6-3, 6-1 and top seed Vinod Sridhar beat R Narendran 6-0, 6-0. Chandigarh girl Shruti Dhawan, the fifth seed, also ensured a place in the women's singles quarter-final when she posted a quick 6-1, 6-2 victory against Ragini Vimal of Bengal. |
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Tollygunge
stun Mahindras Kolkata, December 17 Earlier, Raphael Patron Akapko put the jeepmen ahead in the 16th minute, but the Mumbai club failed to maintain the
momentum as Tollygunge gradually took control of the match and held complete sway. The Tollygunge midfield, led by the hardworking Samsi Reza, displayed good combination to create chances, as the visitors looked rudderless with every advancing minute. Patron’s goal followed a goalkeeping lapse on the part of Tollygunge’s Chinmoy Banerjee. The Nigerian shot into the net from close after Chinmoy failed to properly clear a Rauf Khan corner. Akeem restored parity in 50th minute.
—PTI
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