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Entire team will go to
Pakistan, says Ganguly
Both teams equally balanced: Anwar
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Indian colts beat Kiwis
Zoysa recalled for Aussie series
India scrape past
Singapore Venus has much thinking to do Indian women go down to Japan Jalandhar boys in Nehru hockey semis Delhi wrestlers win championship Dementieva out
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Entire team will go to Pakistan, says Ganguly
Kolkata, February 18 “We are still concerned about security, but the government is looking after it. We hope there will be tight security,” Ganguly said adding that “everybody will be going”. “All the team members are physically and mentally fit,” Ganguly told reporters at the State Secretariat where he had gone to meet Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to discuss the setting up of a cricket academy in the metropolis. He said the entire team would be going to Pakistan with the exception being Harbhajan Singh, who is yet to recover completely from a finger injury. When the Indian skipper’s attention was drawn to the cricket board’s stand that no player will be forced to go on the tour he said, “this is normal procedure and happens before every tour.” Ganguly, however, said that he was not aware of the report of the three-member BCCI team which recently toured Pakistan to assess the security arrangements at all the venues. The southpaw said he was confident that sufficient security arrangements would be made during the team’s tour of Pakistan. He said none of his team members had informed him that they were scared to tour Pakistan because of security reasons. “Each player can think of security while visiting Pakistan. This is quite normal but nobody has told me that he is reluctant to go to Pakistan,’’ he said. To a question on Sachin Tendulkar, he said unnecessarily some hue and cry was being made about his trip to Pakistan. “Sachin has never said he would not tour Pakistan, but anyone, even you, can talk about security before touring Pakistan,’’ he said. Ganguly said he was confident of success in Pakistan, adding that the team would give its best to defeat the arch-rivals on their home ground. Ganguly expressed confidence that the Indian team would return victorious from Pakistan in view of its recent performance in Australia. “We played very well in the series against Australia. Considering the fact that Australia is the world’s number one team, even if we play 60 per cent of our game, we will win the Pakistan series,” Ganguly said. The Indian team is scheduled to leave for Pakistan in the first week of March. The cricket board was expected to announce the itinerary of the series later this week. — PTI, UNI
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Zaheer, Nehra raring to tour Pak
Chennai, February 18 “The sessions last evening at the gymnasium here and bowling to the advise of Lillee at the nets have made me feel better and I am raring to make the trip to Pakistan, if selected,” Khan said. The two left-arm strike bowlers, who have made it a practice to hone their skills whenever Lillee visited the MRF Pace Foundation, had their bowling sessions under the watchful eyes of the Aussie. “He had been of great help to our bowling and this was our routine trip to the Foundation. I was not feeling fully comfortable last week. For over two years now, I have been taking Lillee’s advice before a tour,” Khan said. Nehra said he was concentrating on building techniques to avoid injuries and has recovered from the ankle injury sustained during the recent Australian tour. “I made a comeback during the Australian tour after being out of action for nearly eight months. I am fit now and always make use of Lillee’s visit to fine tune myself,” Nehra said adding the facilities here are good and most importantly, Lillee is considered the best teacher on the art of fast bowling. “His advice has been of great help to me in past and I always look forward to talking to masters like him,” he said. Lillee said he had advised the bowlers on how they could avoid getting injured. “I had advised Zaheer to take fewer steps in his run-up and avoid jumping too high before releasing the ball. Nehra, too, needed some changes. He has been asked to be more side-on to avoid putting the load on his legs,” Lillee said. Khan had sustained a knee injury and then suffered from hamstring problems. After Javagal Srinath’s retirement, Khan and Nehra had to take all the work load and the two suffered from frequent injuries.
A youngster like Lakshmipathy Balaji was picked to tour Australia due to injury to another fast bowler Avishkar Salvi of Mumbai. T A Sekhar, former Indian bowler, who is the Director of coaching at the Foundation said: “It has been the practice of our bowlers to seek advice from Lillee, who has been involved with the Foundation since 1987. Both Khan and Nehra would be watched in action by Lillee for another three days.”
— PTI
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Pak wants tour to be big success: Shetty Mumbai, February 18 "With Pakistan President (Pervez Musharraf) himself keen to host the Indians and closely monitoring the security arrangements for the Indian players, it is certain that they want this tour to be a big success as Pakistan's image has not been very good in recent past and would like to change all that with clean conduct of the series," Shetty told PTI here. "The common Pakistani is very eager to see Indian cricketers play there," he said. "The people of Pakistan have seen only Sachin Tendulkar and they want to see players like VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan especially after their good showing in Australia," Shetty, who was part of the three-member BCCI team that visited Pakistan last week, said. "The Indo-Pak matches played anywhere in the world are high-voltage contests so tight security is a must. If the tour goes off smoothly it will be a feather in the cap of the hosts," Shetty said. "Moreover, there is a huge financial revenue for the hosts and the successful conduct of the series (three Test and five one-dayers) will have a positive impact on the PCB in particular and on their country's image in general," he said. Asked about a recent report that Karachi and Peshawar, the two most sensitive cities in Pakistan, may not host any matches, Shetty said. "Even I was shocked to read about this new development as the general public and the facilities were quite good."
— PTI
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Both teams equally balanced: Anwar Wagah (Amritsar), February 18 Saeed Anwar, veteran player, who had notched up his career-best batting performance against India, said that Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid would be star attraction in Pakistan during the forthcoming series. “Pakistanis were eagerly awaiting to see them playing there”, he quipped. He said by playing this goodwill match in India they wanted to send the message that Indian team face no security threat in Pakistan. Anwar, who hails from Lahore, said that Indian players must participate in the coming series in full strength. Like Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmad, a former Pakistan mainline spinner, was of the view that Indian batting line at this time was exceptionally brilliant. Ahmad, who was supporting traditional beard like Saeed Anwar, did not mince words when he said Indian team at this time had at least five players who play to Sachin Tendulkar’s potential including Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. However, Saeed Anwar was quick to add that both India and Pakistan teams were equally balanced as India had an edge in batting whereas Pakistan had an upper hand in bowling. About the heat generated during India and Pakistan matches, Saeed Anwar said it had always been there and added that the team which copes with pressure better will win. He said the pressure increases when both the teams play after a long period. If the two countries play “often” if not “frequently” then this pressure would subside, he added. Ijaz Ahmad, captain of the team, said that his team was very happy to be part of Patiala Heritage Festival, which would bring the two Punjabs closer. Members of the team are Ijaz Ahmad (Captain), Saeed Anwar (vice-captain), Mushtaq Ahmad, Manjur Elahi, Shahid Anwar, Zahoor Elahi, Mohammad Asif, Ashraf Ali (wicket keeper), Shaqeel Khan, Javed Hayat, Amzad Rana and Naeem Ahmad (Manager). |
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Blind cricketers cross over to Pak Wagah (Amritsar), February 18 The team will play five ODIs, including first at Lahore on February 20, second and third in Karachi on February 22 and 24, fourth at Shekhupura on February 27 and last match at Rawalpindi on February 29. George Abraham, chairman, World Blind Cricket Council, said the team had a blend of fresh and experienced players. He said around four players had played in the last World Cup. He said the aim of the tournament was to give exposure to players so that they gain experience to play in 2006 World Cup. He said the lack of exposure was the main reason for defeat of the Indian Cricket team in the last World Cup held in 2002. Manvendra Singh, captain of the team, said that his team had undergone a five-day camp from February 14 at Delhi to prepare for the series. During the camp the players worked to improve running between the wicket and honed skill in fielding. The other players are Vishal Kumar (vice captain), Rajesh Singh, Inder Singh, Amandeep, Gurpreet Singh, Shekhar Nayak, Malikarjun, Nanaji, Pushpraj, Nirmal Kumar, Rajinder Verma, Ashish Negi and
Manjunath. |
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Dhaka, February 18 New Zealand were at one stage 94 for two and then 132 for four before their batting collapsed. Delhi's 18-year old Abhishek Sharma (2-33) ended the 68-run second wicket partnership between wicketkeeper batsman Bradley Watling and Brad Wilson by having the latter caught by Sunny Singh. Watling's calm 55 from 121 balls and Wilson's supportive 30 from 52 balls belied the disaster that lay ahead for the Kiwis. Praful Waghela dismissed captain Daniel Flynn for a first ball duck before seamer Rudra P Singh (2-23) and the 17-year old left-arm spinner Gupta (2-17) broke the back of the Kiwi batting. Watling and Sam Mackay (19) put up 32 for the fifth wicket but the former's run out by Suresh Raina signalled the doom as the last six wickets fell for 14 runs in the space of eight overs. In the morning, Sunny Singh scored an unbeaten 68 that helped India post a respectable total slipping to 101 for six. Sunny Singh faced 81 balls and hit seven fours while adding 66 runs for the seventh wicket with Gaurav Dhiman. Dhiman himself played a rollicking innings, hitting three fours and a six for his 38 that came from just 51 deliveries. Their stand, combined with some generous bowling by the Kiwis who conceded 23 extras, made up for the collapse of the top order that had plundered 425 for three in their previous match against Scotland. Brief scores: India U-19 215 in 47.2 overs (A.T. Rayudu 36, S. Singh 68 no, G. Dhiman 38; T.A. Davis 2-47, C Smith 3-42) beat New Zealand U-19 146 in 44.5 overs (B. Watling 55, B. Wilson 30, R.P. Singh 2-23, P. Gupta 2-17, A. Sharma 2-33). — PTI
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Warne prepares for battle of spin kings
London, February 18 The selectors have yet to announce whether Warne will be fast-tracked back into the world champions’ squad for next month’s test tour of Sri Lanka following his one-year drugs ban. However, the irrepressible Muttiah Muralitharan, he of the crooked arm and rotating wrist, will certainly be playing in all three games, getting his hands on the ball early and refusing point blank to return it when his team mates ask for a bowl. It would be a shame if Warne, with 491 Test wickets to Muralitharan’s 485, were to miss the three-match series at such an important time. The two men, such complete contrasts in so many ways, share one thing at least - a genius for inspiring shock and awe, affection and antipathy in equal measure. They belong on the same pitch, like the two faces of a tossed coin. Warne is credited in large measure with saving the art of leg spin, following years of dominance by long-limbed, calypso-rhythmed pace bowlers. He has a classical action, allied to fierce spin and, at his best, extraordinary control. His behaviour away from the square has been less appealing. As a young larrikin, he demanded to be loved, his rebellious streak endearing rather than provocative. His character, however, failed to keep up with his art as it rapidly evolved and matured. His close shave with an illegal Indian bookmaker a decade ago suggested a serious lack of judgement. His roving eye tested his marriage to the limit. He then threw away the chance of a second World Cup triumph by failing a drugs test which Warne blamed on one of his mother’s slimming pills. Muralitharan’s model behaviour beyond the rope has never raised a single eyebrow. Inside it, however, the off spinner has courted controversy like no other player of his generation. Umpires have stopped calling him for throwing since his tours to Australia in 1995-96 and 1998-99, and camera-wielding experts have exonerated him, but many in the game remain deeply uneasy about his unorthodox bowling action. Former India great Bishen Bedi even likens him to a javelin thrower. Sadly, Muralitharan will never escape the question mark. The more successful he is, the more tongues will wag. In Australia in particular, they never stop. There is no doubt that he will set a new record for Test wicket-taking in the very near future, first overhauling Warne and then the all-time mark of 519 set by Courtney Walsh. There is little doubt that he will outlast Warne, who at 34 three years his senior. There have been suggestions that 800 Test wickets are within Murali’s ambit. He takes more wickets per match than Warne, and at a lower average. In his last 20 tests, he has taken 145 victims to the Australian’s 115 as the gap has closed inexorably between them. For Warne, the second place in spinning history can only be a matter of time. It may be just a matter of weeks. — Reuters
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Zoysa recalled for Aussie series
Colombo, February 18 The 25-year-old was dropped from Sri Lankan side because of poor form after a Natwest Series match against India in July 2002. Zoysa who previously opened the bowling with Chaminda Vaas for Lanka has captured 73 wickets in 67 ODIs. The squad for Friday’s match also includes legspinning allrounder Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who was handed a four-month ban from cricket after being involved in a late night fatal motor accident last August. Saman Jayantha, a 30-year-old uncapped right-handed batsman finds a slot in the squad after good performances in domestic cricket. The squad includes four specialist spinners - Muttiha Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandana and Lokuarachchi, along with part-timers Russel Arnold and Sanath Jayasuriya. The seam attack, spearheaded by Vaas, includes Zoysa and Nuwan Kulesekera. The opening two matches of the series will be played in Dambulla on Friday and Sunday. The squad: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Kumar Dharmasena, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan and Nuwan Kulasekara. — AP
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India scrape past Singapore Margao, February 18 India who controlled the match, played with aggression to dominate the first half and after missing four scoring chances, registered the all important goal in the 49th minute through a penalty by Renedy Singh. The penalty was awarded after striker Ashim Biswas was brought down by defender Subramani Shunmugham inside the box and Renedy made no mistake as he beat the keeper to his left. Singapore who were a disorganised lot in the first half came back strongly in the second. They almost equalised midway but keeper Sangram Mukherjee dived to his left to make diving save of Tan Kum Leng left footer.
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London, February 18 Stomach pulls, wrist strains and a range of tendinitis injuries have pock-marked the American’s professional career and this week she was forced out of the Antwerp Diamond Games. That she has the physique to return from this latest setback — a knee problem — is beyond doubt. Whether or not she has the resilience to return to the top of the game, the heart to put in the long hours required on the practice court, is another matter altogether. Four times a Grand Slam winner, Venus returned to the big stage at the start of this year. Her trip to the Australian Open was her first competitive outing since losing to little sister Serena in the final of Wimbledon 2003. “Oh yes I am back now,’’ she nodded confidently after thrashing fellow American Ashley Harkleroad 6-2 6-1 in round one. Her fragile belief was shattered days later in the third round when she was beaten by doubles specialist Lisa Raymond. “I’m pretty much in shock,’’ was her honest analysis. “It’s like ‘Noooooooo’.’’ Instead of hitting the practice courts, Venus had other plans. “So I have two weeks off now. I’ll be a tennis tourist, go see the Twelve Apostles now, who knows, Ayers Rock -all those good things,’’ she grinned. Whether Venus did venture to the red centre of Australia is not the issue. What is telling is that she then pulled out of the Pan Pacific Open after just one match, citing a leg problem. “It’s not really funny. But good things come to those who work hard and I will,’’ she told the disappointed Tokyo crowd earlier this month. Fans in Antwerp were left disappointed again this week when Venus was a no-show. “Venus aggravated her knee during (last month’s) Australian Open...she re-aggravated her knee at last week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo,’’ a statement on the tournament’s website said. Champion in Antwerp in 2002 and 2003, Venus would have won outright the gold and diamond racket worth $ 1.28 million had she triumphed again in Belgium. While money is clearly no longer a major motive for the multi-millionairess, it seems increasingly clear that tennis goals are becoming less important to the 23-year-old. Certainly her off-court pursuits are many and varied. A career in design is burgeoning and these days the striking American, forced to grow up in front of the cameras, has more on her mind than forehands and backhands. Already she is chief executive of her company V Starr Interiors, named after her own exotic moniker, Venus Ebone Starr Williams. She has been spending more and more time ‘hands-on’ at the company’s Palm Beach Gardens headquarters in Florida. “I go to the office, I pick out fabrics, I take telephone calls, I do all kinds of things,’’ she said last year. While on the WTA Tour she developed an eye for interiors “staying in fancy hotels, shopping at pricey stores and visiting historical places’’. She is already certified as an interior decorator and is due to graduate with a degree in fashion design from the Art Institute at Fort Lauderdale. Her company motto boasts “Your wish is our design’’.
Right now it is Venus’s wishes which are in question. — Reuters
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New Delhi, February 18 In the men’s Thomas Cup league match India thrashed rank-outsiders Macau 5-0 to assure at least the second spot in group A, according to information received here. The Indian women, however, stole the limelight against the highly rated Japanese, who were expected to run through the Indians. Japan’s decision to leave out world No 10 Kanako Yonekura backfired badly in the very first rubber with national champion Aparna Popat upsetting Miho Tanaka 11-8 7-11 11-2 to put India 1-0 lead. Popat, ranked 24, began superbly against her opponent ranked 10 places higher to win the first game with relative ease. The Indian, however, lost her footing in the second losing 7-11 but came back strongly in the third to take the match in 55 minutes. The lead gave India a big chance to cause a sensational upset as Japan were under pressure to win both the doubles matches and the second singles to win the tie. But despite a fighting performance by the top Indian doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurien, the 10th ranked Japanese Shizuka Yamamoto and Seiko Yamada won 15-7 15-3 to level the match 1-1. World No 16 Kaori Mori then put Japan ahead beating B.R. Meenakshi 11-9 11-4 in the second singles. The favourites never looked back as Keiko Yoshitomi and Kumiko Ogura beat Fatima Nazneen and Manjusha Kanwar 15-4 15-3 to give Japan an unbeatable 3-1 lead. But in the inconsequential fifth rubber Trupti Murgunde again dented the Japanese pride coming back from a game down to beat Yu Hirayama 4-11 11-4 13-10. The Indian eves now have to beat Hong Kong and Malaysia to keep their semifinal hopes alive. The top two from each group will progress to the last four to fight for three berths in the Uber Cup finals to be held in May. — PTI
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Jalandhar boys in Nehru hockey semis
New Delhi, February 18 In a one-sided quarter-final, DAV pumped in eight goals against a hapless Khalsa College. The winners led 3-1 at half time. DAV shot into the lead in as early as in the seventh minute when Amrjit Singh converted from a penalty corner. Three minutes later, Gurpreet Singh sounded the board to make it 2-0. Navpreet Singh made it 3-0 in the 25th minute. With four minutes to the lemon break, Sukhwinder scored the only goal for Khasla College to make it 3-1 at the break. After the change of ends, Ravinder Singh (44th minute, 56th) and Damandeep Singh (51st, 58th) scored a brace each to give their team an unassailable 7-1 lead. Roop Singh completed the tally with the final goal five minutes to the
hooter. In the other quarter-final, Faculty of Humanity, Varanasi and St Xavier’s, Ranchi were locked 1-1 at close of regulation time play. The team from Jharkhand took the lead in the 29th minute when Thomas Nag converted a penalty stroke. They held on till Mohd Ali equalised for the UP side in the 51st minute. In the tie-breaker, Amjad Khan, Manish K Shahi, Amit K Singh and Shashikant Singh scored for the Varanasi team, while A Pratap Singh’s hit was saved. For Xavier’s Thomas Nag, Vikram Mundu and Sunil Tirkey sounded the board, but Prakash Kerketta and Bipin Tete failed to find the target.
— UNI
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Delhi wrestlers win championship Jind, February 18 Ashish of
NCT Delhi was awarded gold medal. He defeated Surya Narain of Madhya Pradesh. Surya Narain won silver medal. Dharamvir of Haryana and J. Om Lal of Andhra Pradesh won bronze. The following are the results: 97 kg:
Anil Kumar (NCT Delhi), Chandan Singh, Madhya Pradesh, Pawan Kumar (Haryana). 85 kg:
1 Joginder Singh (NCT Delhi), 2 Pardeep Kumar (Haryana), 3 M.A. Jadeja (Gujarat). 76 kg:
1 Jaibir Singh (NCT Delhi), 2 Ramesh Kumar (Haryana), 3 Anand Singh (CC Delhi). 69 kg:
1 Virender Kumar (NCT Delhi), 2 Rajesh Singh (CC Delhi), 3 Om Parkash (Uttar Pradesh). 63 kg:
1 Umesh (Haryana), 2 Jasbir (CC Dehli), 3 Virender Singh (CC Delhi). 58 kg:
1 Rajinder Singh (Haryana), 2 Naresh (CC Delhi), 3 Manoj Soude (Madhya Pradesh). 56 kg:
1 N. Narsighrao (Andhra Pradesh), 2 Sanjay Kumar (CC Delhi), 3 N.P. Parmar (Madhya Pradesh). |
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Dementieva out Brussels, February 18 “It’s a shame,” the world number 10 told the Diamond Games website on Tuesday. “I was looking forward to playing for the first time in Belgium, but because of this shoulder injury, I would not be able to give my best.” “There would be no point my going on court. It’s a shame for the tournament and fans.” she said.— Reuters |
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Kolkata, February 18
In
video:
