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Indian colts beat Lanka, enter semis
India reserves right to call off cricket tour Saurav expects tough series in Pakistan
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly (R) and former
cricketer Sunil Gavaskar attend a Press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. Ganguly, speaking in an interview, expressed confidence that the Indian cricket team would do well in its upcoming series against Pakistan. — Reuters
photo Miandad has plans for Indian batting North, West lock horns in Duleep
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Powar replaces Rohan Gavaskar JCT, Churchill Bros evenly matched Mohammedan Sporting
beat Indian Bank Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur, defeated Dr B.R. Ambedkar Government Polytechnic College, Ambota, by 5-0 in third football match on the second day of the 9th Inter-Polytechnic College Sports Meet here today. Bopanna ousted
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Indian colts beat Lanka, enter semis Dhaka, February 26 Winning the toss and electing to bat, India piled up 316 runs for the loss of five wickets in 50 overs and then skittled out their opposition for 260 runs in 46 overs. Praveen Gupta scalped three wickets for 25 runs while skipper Ambati Rayudu took two for 47 to spell the doom for the Lankans, who began well and at one stage were cruising through at 83 for no loss. For Lanka, openers W U Tharanga top scored with 61 runs while H E Vithana chipped in with 35. Tharanga hit 10 boundaries and one six while Vithana had four hits to the fence. As many as five middle-order batsmen got out in the 20s and that was not good enough for the run-chase. Earlier, Dhawan’s 146 runs in 136 balls was studded with 19 hits to the fence and two sixes. This was his third century in the tournament. India’s first wicket fell when A R Uthappa (9) gave a catch to Kulasekara of the bowling of P U M Chanaka and the team’s score read at 19 for one. Rakesh Solanki (9) was next to go as Chanaka got him caught by Vithana. India’s score was 37 for two. Chanaka got his third wicket in the form of A T Rayudu (1) who just managed to open his account. Then Dhawan changed the complexion of the game as he decimitated the Lankan bowlers putting up a brilliant 134-run fourth wicket partnership with Suresh Raina (54) and then along with Dinesh Karthik (70) added 115 runs for the fifth wicket. Raina hit four boundaries while Karthik had six four and two over-boundaries to his credit. For Lanka, Chanaka scalped three wickets for 63 runs while Maharoof managed one for 68. Scorecard: India (Under-19): A R Uthappa c Kulasekara b Chanaka 9, S Dhawan run out (de Zoysa) 146, R K Solanki c Vithana b Chanaka 9, A T Rayudu b Chanaka 1, S Raina c Silva b Maharoof 54, K K D Karthik not out 70, G Dhiman not out 14. Extras: (lb 1, w 10, nb 2) 13. Total: (5 wickets, 50 overs) 316. Fall of wickets: 1/19, 2/37, 3/39, 4/173, 5/288. Bowling: Maharoof 10-0-68-1, Chanaka 10-2-63-3, Kulasekara 8-1-48-0, Suraj 10-1-56-0, Ratnayake 8-0-50-0, de Zoysa 1-0-10-0, Vithana 3-0-20-0. Sri Lanka: W U Tharanga b Singh 61, H E Vithana c and b Gupta 35, C K B Kulasekara c and b Gupta 15, G T de Silva c and b Rayudu 26, M F Maharoof run out 0, N P Navela run out 20, M G A Ratnayake st Karthik b Rayudu 24, J K Silva not out 28, M M Suraj c Wahgela b Gupta 24, P M Chanaka c Dhawan b Raina 8, R S R de Zoysa run out 0. Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 9) 17 Total
(all out, 46 overs) 260 Fall of wickets: 1/83, 2/101, 3/142, 4/146, 5/158, 6/185, 7/201, 8/251, 9/260, 10/260. Bowling: G Dhiman 5-0-51-0, S Singh 6-0-40-1, S Raina 10-0-37-1, P Gupta 8-0-25-3, A Sharma 9-0-52-0, T Rayudu 8-0-47-2.
— UNI |
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India reserves right to call off cricket tour New Delhi, February 26 This is believed to be part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sent to the PCB by the BCCI for its consent, sources in the Indian board said. They said the BCCI has suggested some changes in the MoU so that it would not have to face any demand for “huge compensation” from Pakistan in case of cancellation of the tour “in any eventuality”. It is believed that cancellation arising out of violence on the ground from crowd behaviour has been mentioned as a specific issue in the MoU and that the BCCI could not be asked to compensate for it. Signing of an MoU between the boards of two countries was a ‘normal practice’ and was done with the Australian board before India’s recent tour Down Under, the sources said. The BCCI has further told the PCB that if the tour was aborted, the PCB would not approach the ICC for a compensation. The board argued that since India was sending the team based on Pakistan government’s assurances of stringent security, the onus lay with them. Meanwhile, reports in Pakistan quoted a PCB spokesman as saying that as per ICC regulations, in case of any untoward incident during a match, the particular venue would be banned and all member countries have signed that agreement. While the PCB was leaving no stone unturned for the smooth conduct of the series, India would also send three security officials with the cricket team to coordinate with the local officials. According to reports in Pakistan, the PCB chief executive Ramiz Raja said India had included in the MoU a clause asserting the right to abort the tour for security reasons. Apparently, their players have the fear of the unknown while venturing on this tour and we can understand that, ” Raja was quoted as saying. Raja had also reportedly said the PCB had asked the Indian board in the MoU to avoid any emotional and hasty decisions while dealing with any sort of problem or incident. “Both boards and team need to approach things with a rational and clear mind,” he reportedly said. In their negotiations with the BCCI, Pakistan had also wanted very much to have a Test and one-day international in Karachi but India had to go by intelligence reports and players wishes, the reports quoted Raja as saying.
— PTI |
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Saurav expects tough series in Pakistan New Delhi, February 26 Saurav put the tour in perspective when he observed that “we cannot shy away from high expectations as there is always pressure when India and Pakistan play cricket. India and Pakistan are different entities. You cannot deny that fact”. But he noted that the Indian team had the ability to come up trumps “if we play like we did in the Test series and the early part of the one-day series against Australia”. “There is no reason why we cannot come good in Pakistan”, he wondered. Saurav said it was unfair to put too much pressure on the players “as cricket is a sport, and it should be kept as such”. India have had a mixed record in previous tours of Pakistan as in 1983, under the captaincy of Bishan Singh Bedi, India were swept off their feet while in 1984, under Kapil Dev, the Indian team returned home midway through the series following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. India made their next tour of Pakistan in 1989 under the leadership of Krishnamachari Srikkanth, when he led a team sans some of the senior players following differences with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the contract issue. The team had three young colts—Sachin Tendulkar, who at 16 years was the youngest to play for the country, Vivek Razdan and Salil Ankola—who all came out with flying colours. The last tour India undertook was in 1997 under the captaincy of Robin Singh for a three-match one-day series in which Saurav and Rahul Dravid were members of the team. Saurav said he was not overawed by the reputation of some of the Pakistan players, particularly their quick bowlers. “Pakistan have a very good bowling attack, but merely bowling fast will not fetch wickets”, Saurav said. He conceded that the “reverse swing” was a potent weapon with the Pakistan speedsters, but pointed out that the present Pakistan team did not have a pacer of Wasim Akram’s calibre, who could swing the ball “both ways”. Saurav put Australia ahead of India in the present pecking order of world cricket and had no hesitation in rating India as the “second best”. He was rather proud of the fact that India lost to Australia in the finals of one-day matches in recent times, and has worked out strategies to
iron out the flaws noticed during the last four matches against Australia in the tri-series. Saurav asserted that whenever the Indian team toured abroad, “we went there with a mindset to win, and Pakistan won’t be different”. Former captain Sunil Gavaskar too echoed the view that “Pakistan are no different than others. It’s pretty much the same as in other cricket tours”. Speaking from his experience on how to tackle the short-pitched stuff, Gavaskar advised Ganguly “to keep your eyes on the ball all the time”. Gavaskar said the “single-minded support” of the Pakistan fans will also work in favour of the hosts, but added that if the Indian fans could make it to the matches in large numbers, it would definitely boost the morale of the Indian team. Saurav said due weightage will be given to the performance of the players in domestic cricket while picking the Indian team on March 3 (in Kolkata). He said the injury to spinner Harbhajan Singh will force the selectors to plumb for talent elsewhere as “we will have to assess the performance of other spinners who have done well in the domestic circuit”. Kumble and Murali Kartik were part of the Indian tour party Down Under. Saurav also indicated that the team were on the lookout for a dependable wicket-keeper though Parthiv Patel had done “reasonably well” in Australia, particularly in the Test series. The captain said there was no plan to upset the present opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Akash Chopra as “they have done oustandingly as an opening pair”. On the need to give a chance in Test cricket to dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh, Saurav said Yuvraj will get his chance, but will have to wait. Saurav admitted that the experience with bowling coach Bruce Reid “did not work out well” in Australia, and the team were now in the lookout for another bowling coach, This time, however, it will be an Indian coach, for sure. Saurav said the fielding standard of the team had made considerable improvement ever since the World Cup. “But we look to improve in this area”, he maintained. Krish Srikkanth felt that the present Indian team was one of the best. He paid glowing compliments to Saurav’s leadership qualities and the “great job” he has done in grooming young talent in the team. Srikkanth said the true mettle of an extraordinary captain is tested in difficult conditions like in Australia “and
Saurav has proved his captaincy skills and leadership qualities in Australia.” He said the Indian batting was world class as it was a “collective effort, and does not rely on individual feats alone. If Sehwag or Sachin fail, there are Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman... to come up with good scores. We have a decent bowling attack too. Irfan Pathan is good, Agarkar is a late mover of the ball”. An electronic company got together the “captains of India” for a media interaction, though Ravi Shastri never led the Indian team to Pakistan. Bedi and Kapil were the other captains who led teams to Pakistan. |
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Miandad has plans for Indian batting
Lahore, February 26 “India-Pakistan matches mean pressure. And I will feel the pressure. As the hosts people have more expectations, and that can be telling as the players feel the pressure of expectations and I will have to guard against that,” Miandad told PTI here. Miandad said he had devised plans to contain the formidable Indian batting line-up and believed that his team had an edge in the Tests because of a superior bowling attack. “Naturally as the coach I have the responsibility to plan and my plans are special for each Indian batsman because we realise that they have a formidable batting line-up,” said the Pakistani coach.
— PTI |
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North, West lock horns in Duleep
Trophy Dharamsala, February 26 The four-day tie assumes all the more significance as it is the last competitive match before the selectors sit down to name the Indian team for the high profile Pakistan tour. The chairman of the selection committee Syed Kirmani and his colleague Kiran More are scheduled to come today evening. North Zone, by virtue of their 5 wicket victory against Central Zone at Gurgaon a few days back, go into the match with 4 points while West , in an earlier outing failed to even complete a single innings against Central and have yet to pocket any point. They will be going all out on the morrow and aim for an outright win if they are to stay in contention in the three team pool, the third team being Central zone. West in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli and Zaheer Khan, have no option except to field a depleted team. Moreover, Baroda seamer Irfan Pathan went through the motions today morning carrying a bruised shoulder and is unlikely to make it to the playing eleven tomorrow. Like West, North, too, are without some of their top stars as Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are still recuperating from injuries. The spotlight will be on young medium pacer Gagandeep Singh who is having a wonderful run this season. He has bagged 36 wickets in the Ranji Trophy and is the joint highest wicket taking bowler. The strip has enough life in it for a bowler like Gagandeep to make a mark and the Punjab youngster is all keyed up for the match. In the absence of Harbhajan, skipper Dinesh Mongia will be giving Sarandeep Singh an extended spell of bowling. The Delhi off spinner, who shifted loyalties from Punjab a couple of seasons ago, has been languishing in the shadows of Harbhajan for long and tomorrow’s match will provide a perfect opportunity for him to impress the selectors. West will be looking forward to Dhiraj Jhadav who showcased his batting talent in the league match against Central Zone at Gurgaon by scoring 154. The teams: West Zone: Sairaj Bahutule (captain), N. Kulkarni, N. Mongia, Satyajit Parab, Vinayak Mane, J. Martin, Dhiraj Jhadav, Kaushik Afle, Romesh Powar, H. Kanitkar, Rakesh Patel, Munaf Patel, S. Trivedi, Akash Christian, Ranjeet Khirid. North Zone: D. Mongia (Captain), A. Chopra, G. Gambhir, A. Ratra, Amit Bhandari, Joginder Sharma, P. Dharmani, Fazal Mohammad, Gagandeep Singh, Sarandeep Singh, Sangram Singh, Vishal Bhatia, Sandeep Sharma, Mithun Minhas. Umpires: Mr S.K. Tarapore and Mr K.R. Shanker. Match referee: Mr S. Banerjee. |
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Powar replaces Rohan Gavaskar Amritsar, February 26 Confirming this, manager of the team, Karsan Ghavari said that Gavaskar had confirmed his unability to come as he had high fever. He said Gavaskar was being replaced by Kiran Powar, a left-arm batsman of Assam. East Zone — Arindam Das, Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta (Wicketkeeper), Devang Gandhi (captain), Kiran Powar, Rajeev Kumar, Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, Samravhir Lahiri, Utpal Chaterjee, Debashish Mohanty, Shiv Shankar Paul, Vasanth Sarvananda, M.S. Dhoni and Chetan Sachdev. England ‘A’ probables — Kadeel Ali, Simon Francis, Steven Kibby, Shaftab Khalid, Michael Lumb, Sajid Mahmood, Graham Napier, Scott Newman, Devin Pieterson, Matthew Prior, Bilal Shafayat, Ed Smith, James Tradewell, Graham Wagg (captain), Rod Marsh, Nigel Laughton and Stuart Osborne. Umpires are 1. Shivaram and Vijay Chopra, while Raju Bhatt is match referee. |
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JCT, Churchill Bros evenly matched Chandigarh, February 26 What has added to the mill men's confidence is the return of star midfielder Joe Paul Ancheri, who missed the previous tie against Indian Bank following an injury which he sustained in India's pre-World Cup match against Singapore at Margao earlier this month. With Ancheri expected to be named in the starting line-up and international IM Vijayan likely to bolster the attack in the second session, JCT seem determined to put up another memorable show in their quest for a respectable position in the high-profile league. Also making a comeback will be stopper back Musa Aliu, who was rested in the previous tie against Indian Bank. Churchill Brothers, who were runners-up in the inaugural edition in 1996, and are currently placed third in the 12-team league have, of late, shown remarkable resilience. In their last encounter with Tollygunge Agragami in Kolkata on February 21, they came from behind to overwhelm the hosts 3-2 after trailing by 0-2 at one stage. The star player for the Goans is undoubtedly Yusif Yakubu, the scorer of two goals against Tollygunge. This stockily-built player has beaten the best of defenders not only in the current league but also in the preceding editions. In Mark Mascrenhas, the Goans have a dependable goalie while the defence manned by SA Feroze, Noel Wilson, and Rajesh Meetei has also displayed alertness in full measure. In the midfield, Churchill Brothers have the roving Somatai Shaiza, whose inclusion in the previous tie against Tollygunge sparked a protest from the hosts. While Yusif Yakubu is expected to spearhead the attack with assistance from Tiken Singh and Riston Rodrigues. Another player who has performed wonders for the Goan outfit is foreign recruit Osumanu Husseini, whose power-packed shots are indeed a delight for the spectators. John Kingsley and Roque Pereira are also the players to watch. Performance-wise, the two sides are evenly matched. Both have accumulated 21 points from six victories and three draws each although the Goans have a slightly better goal average. For JCT, goalkeeper Mansuru Mohamed is again expected to play a key role. Defenders Daljit Singh and KV Dhanesh, who have shown a lot of confidence, will seek to put up another good show. With Joe Paul Ancheri back in his usual role of attacking medio, the pressure on right winger Jaswinder and Ram Pal will be less which will be an advantage for the attacking line where Nigerian Stephan Abarowei is expected to play a dominant role. The kick-off is at 6 pm. |
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Mohammedan Sporting
beat Indian Bank
Kolkata, February 26 Mohammedan Sporting now have 13 points from as many matches while Indian Bank stares wide at relegation having scored just two points from the same number of outings. The all-important goal came in the 28th minute of the second half when Indian Bank’s Sebastian Neto fouled Edeh Chiddi inside the penalty box. Dipendu Biswas converted the spot kick placing the ball to the far left with a firm grounder. This goal apart, there was nothing significant about the match where both the teams gave a lacklustre performance. Mohammedan Sporting maintained their domination over the match and the likes of Rahim Nabi, Dipendu Biswas or Sheikh Sanjib never looked like converting from the chances that came their way which were few and far between. For Indian Bank it was Sri Lankan recruit Jayasuriya who showed some touch of class but he was fighting a lost cause against an entire Mohammedan defence.
— UNI |
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Hamirpur boys win
in football Kangra, February 26 Hamirpur took the lead in the beginning and scored three goals till half time. The first goal was scored by Arvind Thakur in the 15th minute in the first half and he score four out of five goals of the match. He scored a goal through penalty in the 20th minute. Earlier Government Polytechnic College defeated Government Polytechnic College 1-0. The only goal was scored by Manoj Kumar at the 18th minute of the first half. In kabaddi, Government Polytechnic College Ambota defeated Government Polytechnic College, Sundernagar, by 55-40 points. The maximum scorer for Ambota was Narender. In another kabaddi match hosts Government Polytechnic College, Kangra, defeated Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur, by 37-33 points in a well-contested match. Jeewan of Kangra Polytechnic was the highest scorer. In badminton (boys) Ajay of Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur, defeated Pardeep of Government Polytechnic College, Rohroo 15-1, 15-9 in a one-sided game. In the second singles Grish of Hamirpur defeated Hitesh of Rohroo 15-6, 15-6 Hamirpur defeated Rohroo in doubles 15-3, 15-0. In the first singles Vedant of Government Polytechnic College defeated Ajay of Government College, Kangra, 14-14, 17-14 and Kangra won one set 15-13. In the second singles Piyoosh of Sundernagar defeated Ajay of Kangra 15-6, 15-11. In doubles two sets were won by Sundernagar 15-12, 15-5, and Kangra won one set by 15-7. In girls badminton singles Sapna of Ambota roughed up Pooja of the host college in both sets defeating her 11-2, 11-0. In second singles, Namita of Ambota defeated Renu of Kangra by two sets 11-7, 11-8, and Kangra scored 11-6 in one set. In doubles Renu and Shivani failed to score in both sets again Sapna and Namita of Ambota and Ambota scored 11points in each set. Kangra won the badminton doubles by 14-3, 14-9 beating Ambota. The reverse singles was also won by the hosts defeating Ambota 15-9, 12-15, 15-10. |
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Bopanna ousted New
Delhia, February 26 Completing the semifinal line up were top seed Todor Enev (Bulgaria), 2nd seed Aisam Qureshi (Pakistan) and 3rd seed Orest Tereshchuk
(Ukraine). Boppanna,who had an easy passage till the quarter-finals,
was surprisingly subdued and off colour.The young Coorgi committed far too many unforced errors and paid the price.
— UNI |
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Annual athletics meet Patiala, February 26 Speaking on the occasion Mr Raninder Singh lauded the outstanding achievements of the college in the field of sports. He further assured the Principal of the College, Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, of his cooperation for starting vocational courses in the college. Earlier, Dr Sharma welcomed the chief guest and read the annual report of the college and highlighted the laurels won by the students in the different fields. The head of the department of Physical Education, Prof Kulwant Kaur, also spoke on the occasion. Players honoured SANGRUR: Twelve budding badminton players of Sangrur were honoured on Thursday at Ranbir Club by the District Badminton Association. These players represented Punjab in the National Games this year. The players who were honoured are: Shweta, Simran, Zeenia, Lubna, Sony, Mohammad Aslam, Achhardeep Singh, Munir, Asif, Jishan, Aizaz Khalid and Mohammad Salim. Shakura Begum was also honoured for her services as a coach.
— OC |
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