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Government decision on Pakistan Board will not force players to
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Khoda 145 n.o. Bhutia to lead Indian team 22,000 runners for marathon Yusuf Ali leaps ahead in Forest Hill Open Sunny Sidhu may not defend title
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Government decision on Pakistan tour welcomed New Delhi, February 14 They said security concerns were dealt with at the highest level in the government of both the countries, and the respective cricket boards had to follow the government decision. They, however, conceded that even the Board was seized of the security aspect considering the fact that when India last toured Pakistan in 1989 under the captaincy of Krishnamachari
Srikant, the players had to encounter hostile reaction in some of the match venues. But they cited the example of the Indian Davis Cup team of 1976, led by Vijay Amritraj, who were keen to play against South Africa in South Africa in the challenge round but accepted the government stand of not resuming any contact — neither diplomatic nor sporting — with South Africa till that country did away with its obnoxious practice of Apartheid. The Indira Gandhi Government at the Centre was firm on not allowing the Davis Cup team to travel to South Africa though Vijay Amritraj and his brother Anand Amritraj, who were then in peak form, were keen to play as it was thought of as India’s best chance to lift the coveted Davis Cup. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel said here today that the government has left it to the BCCI to finalise the details of the Indian team’s tour. He said the Ministry of External Affairs had given “political chance” for this tour, describing the government decision as a step to “further strengthen the ties between the two countries and fulfill the aspirations of the cricket lovers”. He said the board was expected to finalise the itinerary after receiving the report of the three-member team presently touring Pakistan to assess the security arrangements. He said the Sports Ministry will extend all possible support to the BCCI in organising the cricket tour. A board source said some match venues may be inter-changed and whether to play only Tests or one-day internationals will be taken after the three-member team’s arrival on Monday. All India Council of Sports President Vijay Kumar Malhotra also hailed the government’s green signal to the cricket tour. He said the Indian team’s tour of Pakistan will send out the right message across the border in view of the fact that India would be fielding a 400-strong contingent for the 9th South Asian Federation Games to be held in Islamabad from March 29 to April 7. Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Randhir Singh also hailed the government decision to go ahead with the cricket tour. He said this was a sensible decision as sponsors of the cricket series, Samsung and Hero Honda, were also major players in sports promotion in India. He said the cancellation of the tour would have brought on a heavy financial burden on sponsors, and would have had an adverse impact on Olympic sports. Randhir Singh said Samsung was also the sponsor of the Indian team for the Athens Olympics, and the cricket tour will consolidate the improving sporting relations between India and Pakistan. |
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PMO, MHA differ on tour, says Cong New Delhi, February 14 “There is confusion in government on every issue. There appears to be differences between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Home Ministry on the cricket issue. On every issue there is confusion in the government rather than a clear-cut direction,” Party spokesman S. Jaipal Reddy told newspersons here. BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s decision to go ahead with the Indian cricket tour to Pakistan and said it would help strengthen people to people contacts. He expressed confidence that the tour would go on smoothly in Pakistan. Mr Naidu said India always favoured strengthening people to people contact. He cited the recent reciprocal visits of MPs belonging to the two countries and the return visit by Pakistani lawmakers and businessmen to India. |
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Ministry didn’t okay postponement, says Swami Jalandhar, February 14 Addressing a press conference here, Mr Swami refuted the reports in a section of media that the NDA government had recommended to the BCCI to postpone the proposed tour to Pakistan on security grounds or due to its impact on the coming Lok Sabha elections. “In fact, the Home Ministry has no authority to recommend postponement of the series as the decision is to be taken by the External Affairs Ministry in consultation with the BCCI officials. Besides, the government had always been in favour of resumption of sporting ties with Pakistan,” he added. Hailing the decision of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for giving green signal to the tour, the minister said the security of the players would be given top priority and appropriate steps would be taken in this regard. |
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Board will not force players to go, says Dalmiya Kolkata, February 14 Describing the decision of the government in giving the green signal for the tour as “cricket friendly” BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya told newsmen here: “we want the tour to start in the first week of march as originally scheduled.” When asked about the security concerns of the players, the BCCI President said, “they (the cricketers) are not going there for war, but to play cricket. If somebody is not comfortable, he will not be forced to go.” Dalmiya, however, made it clear that none of the players had so far made any such request to the board. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had expressed his apprehensions about the security arrangements in Pakistan shortly after returning from the Australian tour. On whether he would speak to the players on the security issue, the BCCI chief said: “If this is required, then I’ll definitely speak to the players. I’ve to do this if I’ve to remain board president.” “If somebody does not want to go, he does not go. Someone else will go. These (players) are the trusted lieutenants of the country.” When a scribe asked him to spell out the board’s stand in case some senior players were reluctant to go on the tour, Dalmiya said: “In a team, there is no major, junior or senior player. On the field, all are same. Its an 11-member team.”
— PTI |
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Pakistan heaves a sigh of relief Islamabad, February 14 Khan told mediapersons that despite the intense speculation, he never believed that the tour was in doubt. “Only the media speculated that the tour was in doubt. But we were optimistic as we have not heard anything officially from the Indian government or the BCCI,” he said adding that any adverse decision would have deprived millions of cricket fans on either side of the border. Khan, a former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, also said the PCB effectively ruled out the option of playing in neutral venues like Sri Lanka or Sharjah. “There was no question of postponement as there was no way cricket matches were possible in the extreme dry heat of May and after”. “The announcement has made the PCB as well as the cricket lovers in India and Pakistan extremely happy,” he said. The relief was palpable as the Pakistan foreign office officials, the top brass of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the captain Inzamam-ul Haq expressed their relief and satisfaction on hearing the news from New Delhi. Haq expressed his sense of relief after the end of the speculation over the fate of India’s tour. “We are ready for the tour with adequate preparations,” he told mediapersons at Lahore. He said despite the doubts the tour was never in doubt. “Now that the speculation ended we can focus on our preparations.” The reported comments by Indian Home Ministry officials that the tour may not be cleared due to security and political reasons had caused a deep sense of disquiet among the Foreign office and PCB officials. Top PCB officials had warned yesterday that any move to delay or cancel the tour could jeopardise the thaw in the relations and cast a shadow on the talks between the two countries starting here to agree the modalities for the composite dialogue to discuss issues like Kashmir and terrorism.
— PTI |
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Aussies arrive in Sri Lanka Colombo, February 14 The Australians will take part in a solitary one-day warm-up game against a Russel Arnold-led Sri Lanka Cricket President’s XI on Tuesday, before travelling to Dambulla for two one-day internationals under lights on Friday and Sunday. The tour will include a total of five one-dayers and three Tests. The first Test match will begin in the southern city of Galle on March 8. The remaining two will be played starting March 17 at Kandy and March 24 at Colombo. Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium will host one-dayers on February 25 and 27, with the final match at the Sinhalese Sport Club ground in Colombo on February 29. Australia’s Test squad is expected to be announced on February 20. Sri Lanka beat Australia 1-0 in their last Test tour of Sri Lanka in 1999. The teams last met at South Africa last year in a World Cup semifinal match, which the Australians won. Australia one-day squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Brad
Haddin, Ian Harvey, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon
Katich, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds and Brad Williams. — AP |
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Unbeaten century by SS Dass Dharamsala, February 14 Early on in his innings, S.S. Dass played survival over strokeplay and experience over elegance. He paced his knock beautifully and proved that there could be no better demonstration of committed batsmanship as he ended the day with a chanceless unbeaten 107 to his name. The 111-run second-wicket partnership between S.S. Dass and Arindam Dass almost decided the course of the innings and the later matched the former in producing a committed innings. Dass drove and cut imperiously while Arindam, strong square of the wicket on either side, never missed out on an opportunity when the bowlers erred in line and length. Arindam found himself in two minds against a cleverly flighted Sunil Joshi delivery and was trapped plumb in front of the wicket for 55. The fall of Arindam saw Rohan Gavaskar taking charge but the Bengal southpaw failed to rise to the occasion and was quickly consumed by Sunil Joshi for just 13. Joshi was one bowler who kept the batsmen guessing all the time. East Zone (Ist innings):
229 for 4: S.S. Dass 107 n.o, Deep Dasgupta c Barrington b R. Ram Kumar 10, Arindam Dass lbw Sunil Joshi 55, Rohan Gavaskar c S. Sharath b S. Joshi 13, Devang Gandhi c Shivaji Yadav (sub) b
N.P. Singh 17, Rajeev Kumar 10 n.o, Extras: 17; FoW: 1/37, 2/148, 3/164,
4/180; Bowling:
N.P. Singh 13-2-40-1, Shiv Shant 21-11-48-0, R. Ram Kumar 26-1-51-1, Sunil Joshi 31-10-75-2, Venugopala Rao 1-0-1-0. |
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Khoda 145 n.o. Gurgaon, February 14 Central were 277 for two with
Khoda batting on 145 at stumps on the first day at the Devi Lal cricket
stadium. Devender Bundela was the other not out batsman on 44 after Khoda
won the toss and elected to bat. Rohit Prakash scored a sedate 73, his 164-ball knock spanning three hours and 34 minutes. But it formed part of the huge 170-run stand for the second wicket which consumed 372 balls and took the momentum away from west. Central Zone: Bangar b Patel
3 Khoda batting 145 Prakash c Mane b Bahutule 73 Bundela batting 44 Extras: 12 Total: (2 wkts in 91 overs) 277 FoW: 1-16, 2-186. Bowling:
Munaf Patel 18-3-49-0, Rakesh Patel 22-4-63-1, Nilesh Kulkarni 19-0-58-0, Sairaj Bahutule 17-2-44-1, Ramesh Powar 15-2-53-0. |
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Bhutia to lead Indian team Margao, February 14 The team, announced by coach Stephen Constantine at a press conference yesterday evening, has four new faces with a majority of them from East Bengal. India who are placed alongside Singapore, Oman and Japan, will play their first match against Singapore here on February 18. “We are ready for Singapore,” a confident sounding Constantine said adding “Singapore are rated above us and are a very competitive side... We are expecting a good fight.” “We have done our homework well and I am confident that the boys can turn things around. I had a man watching them play twice and have got all the feedback,” Constantine said. Team: Goalkeepers: Sangram Mukherjee (East Bengal), Naseem Akhtar (Mahindras). Defenders: Deepak Mandal, Mahesh Gawli, Debjit Ghosh, M Suresh (East Bengal), Satish Kumar Bharti (Mohammedan Sporting). Midfielders: Tomba Singh, Climax Lawerence, Jatin Singh Bist (Salgaocar), Renedy Singh (Mohun Bagaan), Sameer Naik (Dempo), Shanmugan Venkatesh (Mahindras), Subhas Chakraborty, Alvito D’Cunha (E Bengal), Jo Paul Ancheri (JCT). Forwards: Baichung Bhutia (capt, E Bengal), Ashim Biswas (M Bagan), Abhishek Yadav (Mahindras), Shaikh Sanjeev (Mohammedan Sporting). Stand-byes: Prasanta Dora (M Bagan), Selwyn Fernandes (Vasco), Gurjinder Singh (Salgaocar), Ishfaq Ahmed (Dempo). Coach:
Stephen Constantine. — PTI |
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22,000 runners for marathon Mumbai, February 14 Sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and with several A-list corporate houses funding it, the organizers have put together a prize pool of US $ 210,000. While the fastest male athlete will take home, $25,000, the fastest female athlete will win $15,000. The organisers are expecting to raise over Rs 5 million from the event which will be distributed to several voluntary organizations. The 42-km marathon will see a number of high profile Indians, including industrialist Anil Ambani and several film stars, in action. Ambani, who runs 100 kms every normal week, has been training hard for the marathon, according to Reliance Industries sources. He will face a tough challenge from the world’s best, including former South African Olympian Zola Budd and veteran Marathoner Johannes Kekana. The race kicks off at 7.15 a.m. from Azad Maidan opposite the imposing Chatrapati Shivaji or Victoria Terminus railway station. The full and half marathon will begin simultaneously while the Dream Run, a truncated version, will kick off at 9.45 a.m. The serious runners have been provided with special shoes with an imbedded micro-chip to keep track of them to prevent cheating, say the organizers. In all 2000 shoes have been fitted with the chips so far. One day before the event, the downtown venue of the marathon will have a large number of eager participants undergoing a stress test organized by the Asian Heart Institute. According to the hospital, 30 of its patients, who have undergone by-pass surgery, will be running the Dream Run. First-aid stations equipped with ambulances have been set up at several places and traffic on the main road coming into South Mumbai will be diverted for the main event. |
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Yusuf Ali leaps ahead in Forest Hill Open Chandigarh, February 14 Meanwhile Delhi’s Shamin Khan shot a well planned two-under 68 to climb to the second position with overnight leader Vijay Kumar at one-under 211. Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar, the uncrowned ‘King ‘ of Indian golf, was placed fourth at three-over 215 after playing the day’s best card of four-under 66. In an effort to speed up play and avoid congestion on the golf course, the original, par-4 third and 12th holes are being played as par-3. This has brought the par for the course down by two strokes to 70. Yusuf Ali is no star. he is a silent performer with a modest record in over a decade on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. However, his quality can never be doubted and fellow professionals will vouch that there lurks a certain threat in having Yusuf on their tail. A glimpse of his tour record will reveal only one win for the stocky Kolkatan, this coming at the Hindu Open in Chennai in 2001. The Forest Hill Golf Open might well add to that list. Yusuf started the day one stroke behind Vijay Kumar. The Kolkatan played his front-nine to two-under with birdies on the second and fifth. On his return journey, Yusuf birdied the 14th and then erred on the 17th for a bogey. This was promptly rectified with a birdie finish to his round. ‘‘I played really well. Everything I touched today seemed to turn to gold,’’
said Yusuf. ‘‘Tomorrow I will try my best to keep the momentum going,’’ he smiled. Anybody who knows Vijay will tell you that this Lucknow golfer takes no prisoners. Today, Vijay himself was held captive by his sudden loss of putting form. ‘‘I just couldn’t strike the ball properly,’’ said the dejected pro. ‘‘Then again, though my hitting was really good even the slightest of mistakes in that department was punished,’’ he added. Vijay’s round of two-over 72 included birdies on the fourth, fifth and ninth, bogeys on the seventh, eighth and 16th and an unfortunate double bogey on the 13th. Shamin Khan wished his brother Pappan the best of luck when the latter teed-off with the leader-group on Saturday. It’s Pappan’s turn on Sunday. The leader-group remain changed otherwise. Shamin, who shot a 69 yesterday, started and ended his round with birdies with three more coming on the fifth, seventh and 16th. The Delhi Golf Club pro dropped shots on the fourth, 12th and 13th. ‘‘I feel sad for my brother but will try me best to win tomorrow,’’ said Shamin who is in quest for his maiden tour title. Kuldeep wrenches amateur lead from Thind: Kuldeep Singh shot a fine three-over 73 and aided by a terrible round of 95 from overnight leader Ashpreet Thind, opened up a huge 22-stroke lead over the latter with a tally of 225. Thind’s aggregate stands at 244. Scores ( after 54 holes):
207 —Yusuf Ali (70,70,67); 211—Shamin Khan (74, 69, 68); Vijay Kumar (68,71,72); 215— Mukesh Kumar (74, 75, 66); 217 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (76,71,70); 218—Jaiveer Virk ( 75, 70, 73); 219—Sanjay Kumar (74,71, 74), Rahul Ganapathy (73, 70, 76); 220—C Muniyappa (73, 78, 69) Amateurs:
225— Kuldeep Singh ( 78,74, 73); 244—Ashpreet Thind (77, 72, 95). |
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Sunny Sidhu may not defend title Chandigarh, February 14 Till late in the evening the participation of local boy and top seed Sunny Sidhu was not certain due to sponsorship trouble. However, he sounded optimistic about sorting out the trouble and being able to take part in the rally of which he is the defending champion. Besides this, most of the local competitors had a feel of the course and ran a few laps. Local boys Bharatveer Kapoor and Gursimrat Jawanda had trouble with their Maruti Esteem as the new gearbox broke down. The plan to have a bridge for the rally was also scuttled and now it would be run on two courses without the bridge. The stands from the Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, have been put up for the spectators. The practice laps also attracted a few spectators. Most of the competitors had either reached Chandigarh by evening or were on their way to the city. Top rallyists of the country are taking part in the rally and have confirmed their participation. They include Vijay Kumar of Team
TVS, the reigning national champion in the open class, Ashley Gomes of Team Goa, Baruaga of Team Yamaha, Team Jaipur, Vijayant Chaudhary, Sandeep Sharma, Sanjay Sikand, Anil Wadia and Maninder Sharma. The event is recognised by the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India and is organised by the Chandigarh Motorsports Association. The winners will earn 20 points, the runner-up 17 points while the third-placed driver would get 15 points. The event stars at 10am tomorrow. |
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GMN College win badminton title Ambala, February 14 |
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GND varsity eves
enter semis Joe Frazier held Doping case Dementieva loses Forget warned |
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