Dhillon may miss remaining ties
Kuala Lumpur, January 12
India’s veteran forward Baljit Singh Dhillon may be forced to miss the remaining three matches in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup due to a fractured nose. The former Indian skipper underwent an x-ray and had plaster put on the nose yesterday.

Umpires under fire
KUALA LUMPUR: South Korean team manager Jae Hong Jeon has dubbed the umpiring standards in the ongoing seven-nation Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament here as “poor” and called for an immediate overhaul.

Anand, Leko in joint lead
Wijk Aan Zee, January 12
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand was brilliance personified as he crashed through the defences of overnight leader Vladimir Akopian of Armenia to emerge as joint leader along with Grandmaster Peter Leko of Hungary in the category-19 Corus Chess tournament here yesterday.

NCR page: Koshy draws with Short

Mahindras crush Vasco 3-0
Mumbai, January 12
Local outfit Mahindra United crushed Vasco Sports Club, Goa 3-0 after leading by a brace at the breather in a crucial ninth round match of Coca Cola National Football League at the Cooperage here today.

IOA to bid for 2016 Olympics 
New Delhi, January 12
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), at its Executive Council Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held simultaneously at the India Habitat Centre here yesterday, “unanimously” decided to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in New Delhi.

Uncertainty over National Games
Guwahati, January 12
Bureaucratic wrangles and interference from higher ups have almost derailed the preparedness of the National Games, 2005, in Assam, putting a question mark about the state’s sincerity.

Ganguly is sixth in the all-time list of most runs in one-day cricket but in terms of centuries and average he is behind only to Sachin Tendulkar.

Ganguly is behind Tendulkar (12748 from 322 games), Inzamamul Haq (9389 from 305), Mohammad Azharuddin (9378 from 334), Aravinda de Silva (9284 from 308) and Sanath Jayasuriya (9172 from 308) in the all-time list. But it is not beyond him to score 341 runs from the next seven league games — and possibly 10 including the finals — to perch himself right behind Tendulkar.

Zimbabwean captain Heath Streak had last week given a call for revamping of one-day cricket if it was to retain spectators’ interest.

Streak had pleaded for flexibility in the fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs, saying the game was becoming too predictable between 16 and 40 overs.

“If I could use the 15 overs in blocks of say five overs each, it would allow me to experiment more. It might help change the quiet period you often get in games between 14 and 40 overs,” Heath had said.

Ganguly felt the one-day game was competitive enough in its present format and the one-bouncer an over rule had done a world of good to limited overs cricket.

“It could be said about the one-day games of past that they could become flat at certain times. But the one-bouncer rule has brought a competitive equation to it,” he said.

“Now a good bowler has the freedom to test out a batsman. It is not as if the batsmen are having a free run all the time,” remarked Ganguly.

“But for fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs, a fielding side and a bowler are free to do whatever they want to on a cricket field,” he said.

Former Australian captain Greg Chappell had also mentioned that one-day cricket was becoming too much batsman- oriented and there was not much for bowlers in this format of the game.

“I believe one-day cricket could retain its interest if there is a contest between bat and ball. Without it, the game could turn out to be too flat,” remarked Chappell.

Ganguly did not agree with Chappell entirely but admitted the bowlers are now conceding more runs than they were before a decade or two.

“A good one-day figure for a bowler these days is 40 runs in his 10 overs — unlike in the past when none for 35 was considered a good figure — but that’s because batsmen are scoring runs faster in all forms of the game,” he said.

Reid initially did not think the Indians would offer much challenge to the Australians but he is now a convert and admires the work ethics of the visitors.

“I was so impressed with their mindset. There is much to learn from the Indians for the other Test nations,” Reid said.

A former Australian star, Reid joined the Indians before the first Test at Gabba last month and gives an eye-witness account of what cooked in the team meetings and inside the visitors’ dressing room as they nearly toppled the world champions from their lofty perch.

“They were just not worried about individual reputations. They just played as they saw it. At team meetings they barely mentioned the names of the Australian bowlers.

“They played each ball as they saw it but it was irrelevant who bowled it. I know they rated Jason Gillespie very highly but they felt the more they talked the bowlers up the more of an issue they would become so they hardly spoke of them,” Raid said referring to the success of the Indian batsmen on the tour.

Reid witnessed Indians master Australian bowling and completely neutralised the spin of Stuart MacGill, who averaged 26.31 before the series but had returns of 50.79 for his effort against the Indians.

“When coach John Wright tried to teach his players how to play spin they laugh at him. They just don’t rate it — they know how to play it.

“I guess they subscribe to Ian Chappell’s theory that you should use your bat all the time against spin and it seems to get them in far less trouble. All of them play that way. They just try to avoid pad play.”

Reid found Indians less worked up about their techniques even though some of them possessed the best-organised methods to play pace or spin bowling.

“For all their technical mastery, the Indian batsmen backed their instincts and were not overtly obsessed about making technical adjustments to cope with conditions and pitches.

“They never got technical about things at all. In the nets, you would never hear them talking about their backlift or where their top hand was. They just played.”

The Indians were not concerned about green pitches, said Reid, and they were markedly different from other teams who go into a psychological shell even before they pad up on Australian wickets.

“They just didn’t worry at all whether the wickets were fast or slow or whatever. It was the same with practice wickets,” Reid said.

“I’ve played in teams who have whinged about practice wickets but it never worried the Indians. They’d just go in and have bash and not worry.”

Reid believes one of the unsung heroes for the visitors in the Test series was Aakash Chopra who nearly always played out the new ball sheilding the middle-order batsmen.

“He never made a 50 in the Tests but you can not underestimate the role he played in sticking around to protect Rahul Dravid from the new ball.” — PTI

Aakash Chopra had a taste of it when he was part of the Indian team that came close to winning its first cricket series on Australian soil this month. It would have been equal to the 1976 series win in the West Indies.

“It was a great experience. Being part of the Indian dressing room was an education in itself. We also did well as a team which made every moment’s stay there worthwhile,” said the 26-year old Chopra, now back in Delhi and soaking in the experience.

A relative new comer, Chopra’s role in India drawing the series — a result that other countries had not achieved against the world champions in the recent past — was no less valuable.

With his resolute performance in what are considered the toughest batting conditions in world cricket, Chopra has very nearly solved Indian cricket’s perennial problem of the specialist opener.

“It (batting in Australia) was different in every way from playing in India because of the pitches and the bowlers,” Chopra said.

“The Kookaburra ball also does a lot than the SG ball we play at home. I learnt a lot from playing in those conditions, and it should make me a better player in the coming days,” Chopra said.

The right hander showed rare determination and concentration in battling the new ball in bouncy and seaming conditions. “I banked on playing one ball at a time,” he said.

“I told myself that I was good enough to be in the Indian team and so I can play at the highest level.”

Competition within the team might have helped him counter the competition from outside. For, while Chopra struggled for runs in the early tour matches, his teammate Sadagopan Ramesh was scoring them at will.

But Chopra said he did not allow such negative pressures to bother him. “There was no pressure of such kind,” he said.

“I mean, there was pressure but not that kind. I did not think about what others did but concentrated on what I have to do. I wanted to utilise the chances that came my way, I think I did that.”

Yet, having provided the team with solid opening stands including two century partnerships, Chopra was disappointed that he did not convert the good starts he got into big scores. “Obviously, I am very disappointed. I stayed long hours at the crease but still could not get a big one.

“But the seniors and other former players who were present told me not to worry too much and it was only a matter of time.”

Did he think he would have got that elusive big score had he dug in there for some more time and waited for the slow bowlers to come on?

“At 100 for no loss, no team is going to try a part-time bowler. They would be looking to break the partnership.

“But, yes, may be if I had stayed for some more time I could have got to play the part-time bowlers and got some more runs.” — PTI

Pakistan are yet to announce the schedule for the series which is to be held in March-April this year.

“Since both the cricket boards have not been able to reach an understanding, the tour itinerary has not been announced as yet nor has the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) started making preparations for the important series,” a source in the PCB said yesterday.

Although the Board had sent a reminder to the BCCI asking to confirm the itinerary, the Indian board was insisting on first playing the five one-day internationals and then the three Tests during the 35-day tour.

“However, PCB is adamant that first the Tests should be held and then the one-day series. Their argument is that by having the Tests first they will attract crowds to the stadiums,” the source was quoted as saying by ‘The News’.

“But if they have the traditionally crowd-pulling ODIs first it will take the gloss of the Test series.” — PTI

Thrice in arrears, Pakistan fought back magnificently, thanks to a hat-trick by penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas (42nd, 51st, 59th), and finally the match-winner from Muhammad Nadeem (65th).

For Germany, who had the match in hand at one stage, Matthias Witthaus (34th), Benjamin Koepp (45th) and Bjoern Michel (53rd) scored as they led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before yeilding ground to the sheer individual brilliance of the Pakistanis and suffering their first loss in four outings.

“A lot of people wrote this team off saying it was a second string and a junior side. But if you were to go by the results, then I think it shows that despite the two narrow defeats and a draw in three games, we have not done all that badly,” said coach Harendra Singh as the Indian players enjoyed a day’s break.

“Of course, we were disappointed that we could not beat Malaysia last night despite being in a winning position. And though a draw is better than a defeat, I thought we had the game in our grasp. But we let it slip,” the coach told PTI.

Looking ahead to the game against Australia, Harendra said, “Previously, we used to get nervous at the prospect of playing against a big team like Australia. But this bunch of Indian players has little regard for the reputation of their opponents, and their body language reflects their confidence.” The Aussies, who are without several key players, especially Jamie Dwyer and Paul Gaudoin, due to injuries, have looked a below-par side in this tournament, and the Indians are only too aware of it.

However, it is a moot point whether the Indian team will be able to convert the situation to their advantage.

“We know for a fact that the Australians have not been playing as well as we expected, but still they are a tough side. I expect another close match, like it was against Germany and Pakistan whom the critics had predicted would beat us by big margins,” Harendra said.

He felt that a win against Malaysia last night would have made a huge difference, but said a couple of mistakes in the defence helped the home team draw level.

“But against Australia, we will continue to play attacking hockey. We are aware that the Aussies always like to score early and seize the initiative. So, our tactics would be much the same,” he said.

Australian coach Barry Dancer has been saying at every opportunity that he was not too concerned about the results in this tournament.

“We are still in the process of carrying out experiments as our main target is to win the gold medal at the Athens Olympics this August. I am giving all the 18 players a chance to play here so that I will be able to assess them and then shortlist a contingent for the Olympics.”

“Since we have already qualified for the Athens Games, our approach is very different from some of the other teams here, like India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Spain, all of whom will be travelling to Madrid for the qualifing event,” said Dancer.

The Australian team, despite having many players who had participated in the 2002 World Cup at the same venue where they finished runners-up to Germany, has been rather ponderous here.

Coach Harinder Singh said that his decision was to rest him, as Baljit was a crucial member of the team that was preparing for the Olympic qualifiers in March.

“The injury will take at least four weeks to heal. I do not think that we should take the risk of fielding him in the remaining matches. I have agreed to wait for a while and let the team doctor give us his opinion. We still have time and the next matches is only tomorrow,’’ he added.

Baljit is one of the three players who were injured in the match against Malaysia yesterday. The other two — defender William Xalco and midfielder Ignace Tirkey — have been declared fit to play in the next match.

“Their injuries are not serious and they have responded to treatment. Both players will be available for the match against Australia,” Harinder added.

The Indians are at the bottom of the table in the seven-team tournament with just one point. The earned the point in the 2-2 draw with Malaysia while before that they had lost to Germany and Pakistan.

The coach said if the performance of the team was to be taken into account then they should be happy with the team’s outings.

“The results do not reflect our performance level. The players showed improvement in all areas and from every match they played better. But what counts are the results and we still have three matches to go.

“I firmly believe that we can win at least two matches in this tournament. We could have got that in the previous matches but despite having control of the match we could not translate that into points,” he said.

“I also feel that through our performances we have also answered our critics who said that we had brought a junior team. All the players have improved and I’m sure no team will under estimate us. We will continue to play as hard and also keep on trying out new things in each match.”

Besides Australia, the other matches for the Indians are against South Korea on Wednesday and Spain on Friday.

After a rather disastrous first round loss against Akopian, world number 2 Vladimir Kramnik of Russia bounced back into reckoning, outclassing local hope GM Loek Van Wely on another day when caution prevailed over enterprise in many games. The day produced three decisive games, a huge increase when compared with the opener that had just one.

As things stand now in the 14-player event, Anand and Leko have 1.5 points apiece from their two games while a pack of 10 players follow them a half point behind.

Vladimir Akopian might have been flying high after his rather satisfying triumph over Kramnik but his hopes of even proving equal to Anand were dashed in spectacular fashion.

The fact that a victory against someone who beats Kramnik can be really handy might have played on Anand’s mind as he even refused a peace proposal by Akopian in what the Indian stalwart considered an equal position.

Time and again Anand has shown that his defence is the best in contemporary chess and it was attested once more as the world rapid champion carved out the best possible ways to torment the Armenian while he thought he was in with a chance. — PTI

The hosts outplayed their rivals in all departments of the game and managed to win handsomely despite going on the defensive in the second half.

With this win, Mahindra United have 16 points to their credit while Vasco have nine.

In the eighth minute of the match, Mahindra’s medio Rauf Khan, who had a poor match, shot over from top of the circle following a flag-kick.

With barely 17 months left for the Games, preliminary work began only to be held up by the resignation of the chief co-ordinator J.P. Rajkhowa, also the state Chief Secretary.

No work order had been issued to any infrastructure development work as Stup Consultancy, which had bagged the consultancy work for the entire National Games, has sought more money angering Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Mr Rajkhowa, an official source said.

Mr Rajkhowa, in a two-page letter to Mr Gogoi, urged the CM to relieve him from the responsibility of the Games and instead appoint M G V K Bhanu, Commisisoner to Chief Minister, or Mr C.K. Das, another Commissioner to the Assam Government.

“I am too pre-occupied with other responsibilities and not being able to do natural justice to such gigantic work,” he said in the letter to the Chief Minister.

Mr Gogoi however, has not taken any decision but in the review meeting held last week, he blamed the bureaucrats for causing delay, the source said. At present, only earth moving contracts had been awarded. — UNI