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Dalmiya scotches rumours; team selection on March 1
Pak look
for trainer ahead of India tour PCB invites Indian cricket greats
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Rayudu handed 1-match ban
England ‘A’ collapse for 225
North bounce back in Duleep Trophy
Jones for Windies Motocross: Vijaykumar, Dhillon exude confidence
Paes, Bhupathi to team up after
Dubai Open?
NR win in railway
football Jeev fourth in DHL Open
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Dalmiya scotches
rumours; team selection on March 1 New Delhi, February 28 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmia said here today, after an emergency meeting of the Working Committee, that the players will assemble in Delhi on March 10 for a briefing from the Ministries of Home and External Affairs on the “dos and
don'ts” before leaving for Pakistan by a special Indian Airlines flight. Mr Dalmia said except for spinner Harbhajan Singh, all the other players, who were on the injured list, will be fit for selection. He said no decision has been taken to appoint a bowling coach, and refused to name any name. BCCI joint secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty will be the manager and Mr Amrit Mathur will be the media co-ordinator of the team. Mr Dalmiya, scotching some rumours and clarifying certain points in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), informed that it consisted of “general and enabling clauses governing commercial, technical and other standard aspects of the tour”. He said it was wrong to give the impression that the Indian team would return home in case of any incident at match venues. Mr Dalmiya said one important point specified in the MOU was that India will view any issue on the “seriousness of the incident” and will not share the financial burden should any incident occur. He said since India and Pakistan were resuming cricket ties at the senior level after a gap of 14 years, “we were very demanding, but the Pak Board has been very accommodating.” “They (PCB) are co-operating with us to a great extent”, Mr Dalmiya disclosed. He said even though Pakistan has committed to fully adhere to the conditions in the MOU, it has also made it clear that “perfect
execution” of the MOU was an impossible task, to which the BCCI has reciprocated with the stand that the “final responsibility of the security of the Indian players rests with the hosts”. But the BCCI has assured its Pak counterpart that it will take “no emotionally or hastily” planned decision to return home in the event of any trouble. “We would take any decision only after consulting with the Union Government”, adding that the BCCI was not “apprehensive of the tour”. “It is very important that India and Pakistan restore their cricketing ties for the larger good of Asian cricket, as well as to safeguard our interest in the ICC (International Cricket Council”, the Board chief explained. Mr Dalmiya recalled that India and Pakistan had jointly bid and successfully hosted the 1987 and 1996 World Cups, and he himself had received the full support of the PCB when he was the ICC president. Mr Dalmiya said though the BCCI calendar was crammed with international commitments for the next 10 years, efforts would be made to have a return visit by Pakistan within one year. He indicated that India would go ahead with the proposed tour of Bangladesh, after the series against Pakistan. Mr Dalmiya said he had no specific information about the number of visas to be issued by Pakistan to the Indian fans for watching the matches, nor about the sale of tickets, though the BCCI would ensure that some tickets were blocked for India. He said the BCCI would invite all the former Indian Test captains to visit Pakistan, “this being a goodwill tour”. The Working Committee meeting has also decided to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of the Board in a befitting manner. Mr Dalmiya said an Apex Advisory Committee has been formed for the purpose, comprising former Board presidents. P M Rungta will be the chairman with NKP Salve, B N Dutt, Indrajit Singh Bindra, Raj Singh Dungarpur, A C Muthiah, BCCI secretary S Karunakaran Nair, treasurer Jyoti Bajpai and Prof R S Shetty as members. Mr Dalmiya will be the
convenor of the committee. The Board has also initiated a “Platinum Pension Scheme” under which a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 will be paid to all the
cricketers and umpires who have played and officiated in Test matches, after their retirement. In addition, a medical cover of Rs 3 lakh will be provided to former Test
crickets and umpires in case of terminal illnesses. The BCCI will bring out three publications as part of the celebration— a book on the “Social History of Indian Cricket”, written by Dr Boria Majumdar, a book on the complete statistics of “70 Years of Domestic Cricket” and a souvenir. Mr Dalmiya announced that the Col C K Nayudu Awards for 2002 and 2003 will be bestowed on B B Nimbalkar and Chandu Borde respectively. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh. |
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Pak look for trainer ahead of India tour
Islamabad, February 28 Chief selector Wasim Bari said many of the cricket playing nations have appointed professional trainers to improve their performance and it was time for Pakistan to have one on a regular basis. Bari said Miandad was a “first class” coach but not a professional trainer. “The Australians, South Africans and Sri Lankans had hired the services of specialists in different departments and it is time Pakistanis too have one.” Bari, who quit as chief selector after Pakistan’s debacle in the World Cup and was recently appointed to the same post, also said the team doctor, Dr Tauseef Razzaq was only a doctor and could not double up as a trainer. When reminded that Pakistan performed poorly in the last World Cup despite the services of a trainer, bowling and fielding coaches, Bari said there were other reasons for the debacle. “We played badly in the World Cup due to ill-planning. I believe a specialist can improve the performance of a team,” Bari was quoted as saying in the ‘Dawn’ newspaper today. The chief selector’s comments could cause a stir in the team management as Miandad recently said the team did not need any specialist for the series against India. Bari, who replaced Amir Sohail as the chief selector, said the Pakistan team for the one-day series would be announced on March 6 or 7. “I am not in a hurry to announce the team,” he said. He also hinted at some surprise names in the final squad saying it was not necessary that the team would be picked from 22 probables attending a camp in Lahore. “We are watching the performance of the players in the ongoing Quaid-i-Azam rophy and we have noted Azhar Mahmood is doing well,” he said, opining that a sixth bowler was necessary for the team. — PTI
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PCB invites Indian cricket greats
Islamabad, February 28 "No, this is not correct. But if anyone from the entertainment industry from India or Pakistan wants to come and watch the matches he is most welcome to do so," he said. Raja said the Indian cricket board would be asked to nominate one great Indian player from every era, who would then be invited to Pakistan as an honoured guest of the PCB. "We are inviting our own greats and we want some of the great Indian players also to be present for the series. To avoid any controversy we will ask the Indian board to send us a list of their players but we have people like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar in mind," he told mediapersons in Karachi. On holding a colourful opening ceremony to launch the historic series, the PCB chief said "we have taken no decision but we will be speaking to the title sponsors of the series - Samsung - to see if they have any ideas." Raja also made it clear that no complimentary passes were being issued for the series as per the directive of the President, Prime Minister and provincial heads. Raja said special cricket visas were being issued for Indian nationals from the Pakistan High Commissions in different parts of the world and this visa would not have the condition of police reporting. — PTI
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Dhaka, February 28 Rayudu was handed a one-match ban by ICC match referee John Morrison on charges of excessive time wasting in the super league game against Sri Lanka on February 26. The match referee’s ruling means the batsman would now have to watch the semifinal clash from the sidelines and hope his team to win so that he could play the final. The Indian captain was reported by Brian Jerling and Billy Doctrove, the umpires for the Sri Lanka game, under provision C2 of the code of conduct, for a Level 2 misdemeanour that brought the game into disrepute. Morrison’s ruling followed a meeting attended by Rayudu, Indian manager Dr Ram Babu Gupta and both umpires last evening. “The umpires reported the player after he failed to respond to a number of warnings relating to time wasting,” Morrison said afterwards. “In this instance, I endorsed the view that his conduct brought the game into disrepute and the appropriate penalty is a one-match suspension.” The charge against Rayudu was related to excessive time-wasting in the opening overs of the Sri Lankan innings when they got off to an explosive start chasing India’s 316. In the first 50 minutes, India bowled just eight overs, with Rayudu changing his field often, and consulting with his bowlers at length. Rayudu cannot appeal against the ruling since there is no right of appeal for a Level 2 offence. — PTI
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England ‘A’ collapse for 225 Amritsar, February 28 Shib Sankar Paul, a medium pacer, showing remarkable line and length scalped five wickets. In his spell of 18.5 he gave 61 runs with four maiden to his credit. Paul, who plays for Eastern Railway, said the wicket was slow and he bowled in a line. During this first class cricket season he has a total of 40 wickets in his kitty, including five five-wicket hauls. Paul, who has been playing for the first class cricket for the last four years, said he was happy with his performance but thought that he could have done much better during the season. Uppal Chaterjee, left arm spinner, helped Paul from another end as he claimed three wickets for 55 runs in his 22 overs spell. However, favourite Debashish Mohanty, a former Indian player claimed only one wicket for 23 in his nine overs. Matthew Prior was the most prolific player among England A. He remained unbeaten at 82 which included 12 fours. His innings was characteristic by good footwork which helped him to display his best shots against spinners. Three players of the visitors were out without opening their account while three other gave away their wickets cheaply. Scott Newman (20), Michael Lumb (33), Kevin Pieterson (32) and Graham Napier (28) contributed to inflate their team’s score. East Zone playing their second innings lost three wickets for 65 in 23 overs. Deep Das Gupta (7) and Arindam Das (7) lost their wickets cheaply, while Mahindra Singh Dhoni (24) was caught at cover by Napier off Sajid Mahmood. For the visitors, Sajid Mahmood took two wickets for 27 runs in nine overs. Steven Kirby got a wicket. At the close of the today’s match East Zone took 123 runs lead over England A. Mr R.L. Bhatia, M.P., gave Rs 5 lakh to the Amritsar Games Association for the improvement of the ground. East Zone
(Ist innings) 283 (all out) England A: Scott Newman b. S.S. Paul 20 Ed Smith c. A. Das B. Mohanty 0 M. Lumb
l.b.w. S.S. Paul 33 K. Pieterson c. Mohanty b. U. Chaterjee 32 M. Prior not out 82 Kadeer Ali lbw S.S. Paul 0 G. Napier c. K. Powar B. U. Chaterjee 28 G. Wagg c.
D.D. Gupta b. K. Powar 8 J. Tredwell c. A Das b. U. Chaterjee 1 S. Mahmood b. S.S. Paul 12 S. Kirby b. S.S. Paul 0 Total
(all out in 64.5 overs) 225 Extras (lb 3, nb 6) 9 FOW:
1/0, 2/36, 3/87, 4/104, 5/106, 6/171, 7/187, 8/188, 9/223, 10/225. Bowling:
S.S. Paul 18.5-4-61-5-0, Mohanty 9-1-23-1-2, L.R. Shukla 1-0-5-0-0, Lahiri 8-0-57-0-4, U. Chaterjee 22-3-55-3-0, Kiran Powar 6-0-21-1-0. East Zone (second innings): D.D. Gupta b. Mahmood 7 M.S. Dhoni c. Napier b. Mahmood 24 Arindam Das b. Kirby 7 K. Powar not out 16 S. Lahiri not out 7 Total
(for three in 23 overs) 65 Extras (lb 3, nb 1) 4 Bowling:
Mahmood 9-4-27-2, Kirby 6-2-16-1, Napier 3-1-4-0, Tredwell 5-0-15-0 |
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Bulawayo, February 28 Bangladesh openers Hannan Sarker and Shahriar Hossain survived a testing spell of fast bowling by Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak to reach the interval on 24 without loss. They took 51 balls, however, to score their first runs off the bat as Streak and medium pacer Douglas Hondo generated swing through the air and seam movement off the pitch. Bangladesh (first innings) Hannan Sarkar b Ervine 25 Shahriar Hossain c Habibul Bashar c
Friend b Streak 4 Rajin Saleh c Mohammad Ashraful c Manjural Islam Rana not out 5 Mushfiqur Rahman not out 0 Extras:
(lb-3 w-4 nb-9) 16 Total:(5 wkts, 37.1 overs) 88 Fall of wickets:
1-64 2-73 3-73 4-81 5-87 Bowling: Streak 10-5-16-1 (nb-1 w-2), Hondo 10.1-5-11-1 (nb-1 w-1), Ervine 9-2-26-2 (nb-2), Mahwire 4-0-26-0 (nb-4 w-1), Friend 4-2-6-1 (nb-1).
— Reuters
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North bounce back in Duleep Trophy Dharamsala, February 28 Having gained a crucial 107-run first innings lead, North tightened their grip over the contest by scoring 17 for the loss of Akash Chopra, whose middle stump was sent for a walk by a Munaf Patel in-cutter which kept a trifle low. The pendulum has surely swung in favour of North who will now be looking forward to registering an outright win which in any case seemed to be an illusion yesterday if the display of their top order was any indication. Earlier, North wrapped up their first innings at 279 with Sarandeep Singh chancing his arm to score a breezy 42 which included two towering sixes. West were off to a not so rosy start as Satyajit Parab uppish drive was latched on to by Gautam Ganbhir at gully. His departure brought H. Kanitkar to the crease in company of Dhiraj Jhadav and with two left handers batting skipper Dinesh Mongia was quick to introduce offie Sarandeep Singh into the attack. The tall Sardar gave the ball enough air to trouble the batsman but it was an inspired spell of bowling from Haryana rookie Joginder Sharma which led to Jhadav’s downfall. After bowling a couple of fuller length deliveries, Sharma surprised the batsman by a sharply rising delivery. Jhadav fell for the bait when he hooked the ball straight to the fine leg fielder. And when Sarandeep Singh viciously spun a ball to the solid looking Kanitkar who jabbed it to Sangram Singh at silly point, North surely had a match on their hands. Circumspection was the key word for Vinayak Mane and Jacob Martin who added 62 for the fourth wicket before Mongia castled the latter with an armer. The next batsman Parthiv Patel slashed a Amit Bhandari outswinger to second slip where Akash Chopra held on to the sharp chance and with the next three batsmen adding just seven runs among themselves, West were fighting with their backs to the wall. Only V.Mane stood tall among the ruins as West folded up for 172 with the last three batsmen failing to add even a single run. Scoreboard North Zone: (1st innings):
(overnight 254 for 8) 279 all out : Sarandeep Singh c S. Parab b S. Bahutule 42, Gagandeep Singh c S. Parab b R. Pawar 1, A. Bhandari 6 n.o. Extras 17. Bowling:
M. Patel 15-3-54-2, R. Patel 15-1-62-0, S. Trivedi 10-1-32-1, R. Pawar 24-4-62-4, S. Bahutule 20.2-6-64-3. West Zone: (1st innings):
172 all out D. Jhadav c Sarandeep b J. Sharma 24, S. Parab c Gambhir b Gagandeep 6, H. Kanitkar c Sangram Singh b Sarandeep 21, V. Mane lbw Bhandari 54, J.Martin b Mongia 18, P. Patel c A. Chopra b Bhandari 0, S. Bahutule b Sarandeep 19, R. Pawar c A. Ratra b A.Bhandari 1, R. Patel b Mongia 21, M. Patel b Mongia 0, S. Tivedi 0 n.o. Extras 8. F.O.W: 1-17, 2-53, 3-59, 4-121, 5-122, 6-127, 7-128, 8-172, 9-172, 10-172. Bowling: A. Bhandari 18-3-50-3, Gagandeep 13-5-22-1, J. Sharma 15-3-39-1, Sarandeep 25.2-7-45-2, D. Mongia 8-1-13-3. North: (2nd innings):
17 for 1 A. Chopra b M. Patel 4, G. Gambhir 8 n.o, P. Dharmani 6 n.o. Extras 1. F.O.W: 1-4. Bowling:
M. Patel 4-1-9-1, R. Patel 4-1-6-0, R. Pawar 1-0-1-0. |
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Jones for Windies London, February 28 It appeared to be another blow to a fast bowler who was sidelined for a year after he ruptured right knee ligaments fileding against Australia in Brisbane in November 2002. But two scans of his left shin revealed on lasting damage and Jones was allowed to fly out to Jamaica where England have their opening game of the tour starting on Monday.
— AP |
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Motocross:
Vijaykumar, Dhillon exude confidence Chandigarh, February 28 Today was the day to have a feel of the track prepared by the former national champion SPS
Garcha, also the President of the Chandigarh Motorsports Association. The riders generally started slowly with single and double jumps. A few also tackled the triple jump comfortably. Top riders of the country promise to make this event thrilling as it is also the first round of the National Motocross Championship 2004. The other rounds will be held at
Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and Chennai. Riders will compete in eight categories and the main competitions are expected between riders of Team TVS and Team Yamaha. Reigning national champion C. Vijaykumar will compete on a TVS 250X in the foreign open category and on a TVS Shaolin in the Indian expert class. Other team members are Syed Rehman and G Prasad in group D Indian experts and group B Indian experts category, respectively. Team TVS will field nine riders while Team Yamaha will have 10 riders, among them Karan
Kadam. He is the youngest rider in the country to be given a competition licence at 13 years by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of
India(FMSCI). Yogesh Barguje, TK Vishwanath and Syed Eathasham of Team Yamaha are expected to give a tough fight to the TVS riders. In the privateer class all eyes will be on Revat
Dhillon, a professional show jumper in the USA. He was impressive during the practice session today and is expected to make spectators hold their breaths during the actual
competition. Shayam Kothari, former motorcycle champion, was all praise for the track. "It is a good track and will be quite taxing on the brain. The riders will have to concentrate through out. The soil is solid and the traction good and the riders will enjoy the track." He was, however, not ready to take a chance with predicting the winner, saying, "It is difficult to say who will win as both the teams have good riders. It can be a close affair the standards of racing are rising in the country." Nineteen-year-old Jahnavi Upadhyay of Jaipur is also expected to grab the attention as she is the only woman rider among the 94 entries. She will ride a Yamaha in the novice class as she storms the male bastion. She may be only two races old but exudes the confidence of an old-timer. Despite a minor collision with another rider during practice today, she was raring to go. "Of course I will compete tomorrow. It was a minor accident. Just scratches and bruises, but I am ready for tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Chandigarh has been a happy hunting ground for C
Vijaykumar, who won here last year. He sounded positive of winning this year too. If the practice session is an indication then he is expected to scorch the track and retain the title tomorrow.
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Paes, Bhupathi to team up after
Dubai Open? Kolkata, February 28 With Bhupathi talking on similar lines yesterday, the chances of the once formidable Indian Express — who reigned as the numero uno of the world doubles circuit for months together, before deciding to part ways two years back —reuniting, albeit briefly, seems all the more bright. “I wanted Mahesh to join me as doubles partner in the Dubai Open itself. But he could not as he had already chosen his partner,” Paes said. “I have sent him my calendar of events. It’s now for him to decide how he can accommodate me,” Paes told newspersons here. Paes, however, hoped that he would be able to join forces with Bhupathi for a couple of tournaments in the US circuit in the coming summer. Bhupathi had earlier said he and Paes needed to play a couple of tournaments together in the doubles circuit to get back to their old rhythm before the Athens mega event. The gangling Bhupathi had also said he proposed to discuss the matter with Paes in April when the two combine to play the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone second round tie against Japan.
— PTI
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Dubai, February 28 Henin-Hardenne had to work hard as she was drawn into a battle of long rallies by the experienced Shaughnessy.
The French, US and Australian Open champion served well and although her opponent rallied strongly she rarely did enough to win points and made too many unforced errors. Just one break in the third game was enough to decided the opening set, though Shaughnessy was forced to fight off break points in her three other service games.
— Reuters
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NR win in railway
football Kapurthala, February 28 SER forward Balai Mandal today scored a hat-trick, the second in the tournament by scoring the 12th, 62nd and 89th minutes of play. The other two goals were scored by T. Chakarvarti and S. Chakarvarti in the 31st and 40 th minutes. In other four matches, South East Central Railway (SECR), outclassed Metro Railway Kolkata 3-2 in a interesting match. Forward S. Majhi of SECR scored two goals for his team in the 5th and 6th minutes. International Deepak Kumar of Metro scored for the losers. Northern Railway, Delhi, defeated Chitranjan Locomotive Works by 1-0. The lone goal was scored by Sham Kumar in the 85th minute. North Central Railway (NCR) Allahabad beat East Central Railway Hajipur 4-1. At NCR’s Zafri scored two goals for the winners in the 26th and 86th minutes while forward Divesh Kaushik and Afroz scored one goal each for the winners. ECR forward Rai, however, reduced the margin for his team by scoring a goal in the dying minutes of the play. West Central Railway, Jabalpur, defeated Eastern Railway, Kolkata, by 2-0. A.Biswas (80th min.) and E. Mazumdar (92nd Min) were the scores for their team. Southern Railway Chennai drew with I.C.F. Chennai 1-1. Mazid of SR and Jagan of ICF scored for their teams. |
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Jeev fourth in DHL Open New Delhi, February 28 Uttam Mundy and Jyoti Randhawa were tied 26th at 222, while Vivek Bhandari occupied the 31st place at 223. Amritinder Singh carded 76 and with a total of 224 was in joint 32nd place while Gaurav Ghei with a total of 226 was further down the leader board. He shot 76 today. According to information received here, local amateur Juvic Pagunsan carded the day’s best round of five-under-par 66 to earn a share of the third round lead along with Australian, Adam Groom. Pagunsan sank seven birdies at Riviera Golf and Country Club, raising local cheers as he eclipsed some of the Asian Tour’s top players with a three-day total of two-under-par 211.
— UNI
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