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Pillay’s Olympic hopes jolted
Sandeep earns call for Athens selection camp
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Contracts within a month: BCCI
secretary Bowlers’ fitness remains a woe for India NZ bank on Lord’s motivation SA keen to play Tests in India Sarwan, Smith script Windies win
Gangjee wins Asian Tour title
Tennis veterans return from Pak
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Pillay’s Olympic hopes jolted
New Delhi, May 2 Pillay was not picked in an 18-member “experimental” side to play in a four-nation tournament in Japan, starting on May 13, and was not called to join a fitness camp for 12 other players at Barog. IHF chief K.P.S. Gill said the probables for Olympics would be picked from these 30 players but added that one or two players could be considered from outside this pool of 30. “We would see the performance of the boys in Japan and after that we will see who would join the camp. We may consider making some changes and include one or two more players from outside the 30,” Gill told reporters here. Gill also said that the team for Olympics would be announced in July after a four-nation tournament in Holland. Gill did not give any direct reply when asked about the chances of Pillay making it to the squad for the Olympics. “We can only take 16 players to Olympics. So we have to ensure that one who has the potential to play the entire duration of 70 minutes of tough games under extreme pressure are selected,” he said. Two more senior players, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Baljit Singh Saini also found themselves excluded from the pool of 30. The IHF’s policy of playing musical chair in team selection has seen the performance of the side dipping in sharp contrast to last year when a balanced side had fetched the country victories in important international tournaments, including the Asia Cup. But Gill was unfazed by the recent poor performances. “In the past when we played well in one tournament, in the next tournament it was just the opposite. So don’t read too much into this,” he said. “We are doing all these (experimentations) keeping in mind the Olympics.” Before the Athens games, the eight-time Olympic champions would play a four-nation tournament in Holland from June 25 to July 5. They may also go to Germany for a similar tournament and a training programme. “We are looking for a place in Germany where our team can stay and continue training. The Germany Hockey Federation has also proposed a four-nation tournament but that has not been finalised yet,” Gill said. Besides the hosts and India, the Holland meet features Germany and Pakistan. If the Germany event takes place, Germany, England and France would be India’s opponents. The experimental side, announced today by Gill, will leave for Japan on May 12 and will play matches against Korea and China besides the hosts. Team for Japan tournament: Adrian D’Souza, Suraj Kantha (both goalkeepers), William Xalxo, Sandeep Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh (fullbacks), V.S. Vinay, Vivek Gupta, Gurbaj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Girish Pimpale (midfielders), Hari Prasad, Inderjeet Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Birender Lakra (forwards). Harender Singh (chief coach), Clarence Lobo (coach), Dr Saju Joseph (trainer). List of players for Barog fitness camp: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh (both goalkeepers), Dilip Tirkey, Harpal Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh (full backs), Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Sunil Yadav (midfielders), Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh (forwards). Rajinder Singh (chief coach), M.R. Negi (coach), Sampath Kumar (trainer). — PTI
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“I don’t want to talk about it. Whatever you have to ask you must ask the Indian Hockey Federation,” Pillay told PTI over phone from Mumbai. The 35-year-old forward, who has maintained that he was fit, found himself out of this pool of 30 players from which the team for Olympics would be picked. “I know what happened there (in the press conference). I don’t want to comment on it,” said the Khel Ratna awardee who ran out of favour with the IHF after his open spat with coach Rajinder Singh following India’s maiden Asia Cup triumph in Kuala Lumpur in September last year.
“It is too late to experiment with the team with the Olympics just a few months away. Had the experimentations been done last year, there would have been some justification,” the 30-year-old full-back said. “The experiments have not helped. Last year there was a feeling that the Indian team could beat anyone but that impression is fast fading away.” “Who said I can’t play for 70 minutes. Just a few days back I played the full duration in some matches in Kolkata in a departmental tournament. “I don’t see any reason behind the decisions... I can’t understand why I was not picked,” Saini told PTI over phone from Jalandhar. “I am disappointed obviously, but not shocked. The developments in the last few days were enough to indicate that we three were on our way out.” |
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Gill denies
Tejbir tested positive New Delhi, May 2 Tejbir Singh, who was sent back home before the start of the Olympic qualifiers in Madrid last month, had told PTI that he was informed by the coach that he had tested positive for a banned drug and could not take part in the event. But today, when asked about the Tejbir episode, Gill told reporters that “no player has ever been found using performance enhancing drugs. “The players are regularly tested at the international level and the tests carried are of international standards.” The Punjab Police player had said he was administered an injection by a doctor in Amritsar for an injury he had sustained during the Nehru hockey tournament, a month before the Olympic qualifiers, and it could be responsible for his positive test. Gill, however, insisted that Tejbir had never spoken to anyone in the media on the issue. “I had a discussion with Tejbir and he said he never spoke to any media.” Gill said the IHF was not worried about the stringent dope-testing methods to be followed in the Olympics. “The tests start from the pre-Olympic camp itself. But that does not worry us,” he said. Interestingly, Tejbir has neither been picked for the four-nation tournament in Japan nor the fitness camp in Barog.
— PTI |
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Sandeep earns
call for Athens selection camp New Delhi, May 2 Senior national hockey coach Rajinder Singh said Sandeep had improved his game by leaps and bounds and would be called for the selection camp ahead of the Olympics in August. However, the coach said although Sandeep was talented, it was too early to say whether he would be picked in the Olympics team. “Sandeep has made a lot of improvements in his game. But his performance in the
selection camp will be taken into consideration before thinking of picking him in the Olympics team,” he said on phone from Jalandhar. The talented youngster impressed one and all with his goal scoring spree in the ten-nation tournament and more so on account of his beautifully executed drag flicks that reminded one of Jugraj Singh, recuperating from injuries sustained in a near-fatal accident last year. But Rajinder said it was too early to compare the youngster to Jugraj Singh. “No doubt Sandeep has improved his game but it will take a lot of time for him to replace Jugraj Singh,” he said. “Senior hockey is a different ball game altogether. We have to wait and watch whether Sandeep can withstand the rigours of international hockey for the entire duration of the match at the senior level,” Rajinder said. Trying to steer clear of the controversy surrounding the omission of ace striker Dhanraj Pillay, the former Olympian said, “I cannot comment on Dhanraj at the moment. We have to sit down and decide which players to call for the selection camp.” The coach denied the team was being affected by the absence of Pillay and said he could be “given a chance” in the four-nation tournament in Holland in July provided he was fit. “If the senior players are fit then I will have no problem in giving them a chance,” said the coach while promising to put up a good show in Olympics this time around.
— PTI |
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Contracts within a month: BCCI secretary
Bangalore, May 2 He told newspersons here that all necessary discussion on the system had been completed and even the documentation of the discussion had been undertaken. “Once the documentation process is completed, it will be introduced. The work may be completed within a month,’’ he added. No other discussion on the system was pending, he said adding that there was no hitch attached to the contract system which was being finalised after a through discussion. “Even players have agreed and so also has the process of exchange of contract documents been completed. Only thing left was the documentation which will be over soon.’’. Mr Nair said “We don’t want to push the system hurriedly. We were busy with Australia and Pakistan tour and players were also busy and now that both the players and the BCCI is also free, it is time for both to sit across the table and finalise,’’ he added. To another question he said next major tournament for Team India was the Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Colombo in July and the contract system for the graded players would be introduced within a month. The Committee, entrusted with the task of grading the players in A, B, C and D categories had also performed its work. To a question about criteria attached to pension scheme recently introduced by the BCCI, Mr Nair clarified that playing in one official Test match was the only criteria was and was not according to the financial condition of players. “This is applicable to umpires, who are also awarded pension under the scheme,’’ he added. On the likelihood of including anyone further in the scheme, besides the 175 players awarded pension recently, he said “the scheme has been introduced just now. If the board’s financial condition permits, more players and umpires may be getting benefit under the scheme,’’ he added. Mr Nair was here for the launch of the National Cricket Academy’s(NCA) Training Programme for the year 2004-05. Speaking on the occasion, he said team spirit was the need of the hour which was witnessed during the recent tour of Pakistan in which India won both the one-day and the Test series. Promising all help to the NCA, he said the NCA had boosted the confidence of the BCCI in finding better players for the national team. NCA Chairman Sunil Gavaskar, in his address, called upon the trainees selected, to take full advantage of the facilities. “Each trainee should set out a target about his future in cricket and try to achieve his target. Have a dream of becoming international cricketer and work hard in making the dream come true,’’ he added. — UNI |
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Bowlers’ fitness remains a woe for India “Attitude is everything in life”, screams a poster in a Test cricketer’s home. The throwaway line may sum up most of what the self-improvement publishing industry has been trying to convey in millions of titles. The larger philosophical question comes up as the same poster also displays a glass half filled with water. While the optimist must see the glass as half full, those not so cheery about life must perforce see the glass as half empty. While there is clear reason to believe that India have the best possible batting line-up for most conditions likely to come up in international cricket, the outlook on the bowling front is not that buoyant. Yet, the scenario is a vast improvement on the scene just after the home Tests against New Zealand last season. It’s not often that an Indian team has twice bowled out the opposition twice in a Test in an away series. The win in Pakistan is all the more remarkable because such a feat was accomplished thanks mainly to the two opening bowlers, Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji, who were well supported by Anil Kumble. Comparing such a performance with that in the earlier home series against New Zealand is a quick step to concluding that things have changed dramatically although this must be tempered with the dampening thought that India beat a Pakistan team in disarray. The most distressing aspect of the drawn home series was that the bowling, spin and pace, was so ineffectual save for the quick strikes that Zaheer Khan effected as the Kiwis began batting after two tiresome days on the field in Ahmedabad. The spinners got nowhere and the Indian batsmen, who had to struggle in Mohali to ensure the draw, began blaming those who prepared the Test pitches. Ahead of the home series with Australia, the bowling scenario is far from depressing. What must be avoided are the pitfalls of a loose structure that allows the bowlers to dictate when and where they will return to international cricket after rehabilitation from an injury. Harbhajan Singh was probably the biggest culprit since he kept playing on despite being so injured in his bowling hand that he must have known he could not perform to acceptable levels. A bit of myopia must have been involved in playing Harbhajan ahead of Kumble in the Gabba Test. Had he been able to carry on, India’s dream win in Adelaide would not have come about. The same was the case with Zaheer Khan who was far from match fit when he played the first Test in Pakistan, his decline obvious in the last of the five ODIs. The lack of accountability became even more apparent when Ajit Agarkar replaced him for the second Test. Clearly, the team management was taking huge chances in backing their stars when their real fitness levels were an unknown quantity. The captain may not believe in a bowling coach but that does not mean he cannot insist on a proper appraisal of bowlers’ fitness before putting them into a Test match. It appears ridiculous that while an evaluation procedure exists within the team structure, a medical certificate is more often relied upon when it comes to inviting back to the fold injured bowlers. The selectors did well to insist that Yuvraj Singh play the Duleep Trophy to prove his fitness. Not to extend that principle to bowlers betrays the fact that the selectors are not the ones who really call the shots. A case can always be made out when it comes to defining judiciously the workload of bowlers but that is hardly an argument for doing away with a scientific system of evaluating fitness. It would be in the team’s own interest to ensure that only bowlers who are fit are picked. It’s nice to have a phalanx of pace bowlers to choose from now in Indian cricket, once so impoverished that even a wicketkeeper opened the Test bowling. The question is whether the right people were picked at the right time. The case of Avishkar Salvi suggests otherwise, so too the incidents involving Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar. So many things have fallen in place in the last season that Team India can aim sky high. The bowling cupboard is more than half full and batting confidence is at an all-time high. To maximise performance, known pitfalls must be avoided.
— UNI |
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London, May 2 “Lord’s (is) where we won the second Test last time (in 1999),” Cairns wrote in a column for The Sunday Telegraph newspaper. “Sometimes I feel England fall victim to their own institutions. “I was desperate to have my name on the boards (at Lord’s five years ago), and I took six for 77. Overseas players are hugely motivated at Lord’s, and that is why I believe we will make a winning start.” Cairns, who has said he will retire from Test cricket after the England tour, added the New Zealand squad was one of the strongest he had experienced. “New Zealand cricket never gets the recognition it deserves, but I’m certain that’s about to change,” he said. “Often we’ve toured with players who are learning, but this trip is about the here and now. It’s the first I’ve been on where most of the squad are match-winners. “We have such an exciting squad, starting with Stephen Fleming. He’s a quality batsman and has gone past that bogey of not converting enough fifties into hundreds. His leadership qualities are unparalleled in the world game. “I think our middle-order strength will be a factor, and it shows our batting power that Matthew Sinclair has been left at home.” Cairns plans to end his Test career at Trent Bridge where the third and final Test starts on June 10. The New Zealander, who turns 34 in June, played for Nottinghamshire from 1989 to 1996 and again in 2003. “I had intended to quit after the South Africa series but there is a great tradition of finishing in England,” he said. “It was not a difficult choice. Test cricket has taken its toll on my body — I’ve had five operations on my knees — and I’ve been restricted to 59 appearances, missing 57, since my debut in 1989. “I don’t want to make a fuss as I’ll be around in one-day cricket for a while, and I’d love to play in another World Cup. “This squad are young and, with the talent we have, we can win in the Caribbean in 2007.” Cairns became the sixth player to score 3,000 Test runs and take 200 wickets in the drawn series against South Africa in March. He was the second fastest cricketer to reach the 3,000-200 landmark after England’s Ian Botham. He has scored 3,160 runs at 33.97 in his 59 Tests and taken 206 wickets at an average 29.27. — Reuters
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SA keen to play Tests in India Durban, May 2 The United Cricket Board of South Africa has been negotiating with its Indian counterpart on the matter but might ultimately settle for a visit “as short as 18 days”, a top UCB official said today. “I have a pile of correspondence with the Indians and the problem is that there doesn’t seem to be a suitable time window for a Test series,” Brian Basson, UCB’s General Manager of Cricket Affairs, was quoted as saying in ‘Sunday Times’. “At the moment it looks as though the tour could be as short as 18 days, which realistically means only a one-day series can be played,” said Basson.
— PTI |
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Sarwan, Smith script Windies win
Gros Islet St. Lucia, May 2 Consistent batting right down the order helped West Indies to successfully chase a target of 282 and achieve victory with 12 balls to spare to level the rain-hit seven-match series 1-1 yesterday. Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan led the way with undefeated 73 that included four fours and two sixes from 77 balls and earned him the man-of-the-match award. Marcus Trescothick had hit his seventh one-day hundred, 130 that contained 13 fours and two sixes from 138 balls, and shared a century fourth-wicket stand with Andrew Flintoff to lift England to 281 for eight from their full allotment of 50 overs. Sarwan and Dwayne Smith, however, transformed the complexion of the match in a spell of sensational batting that brought the capacity, holiday crowd to its feet and brought West Indies within reach of the magic number. The pair added 80 from 52 balls after Sarwan and captain Brian Lara put West Indies back on course with a stand of 76 for the fourth wicket. After Sarwan clobbered a couple meaty sixes off left-arm slow bowler Ian Blackwell in the 44th over that cost 17 runs, Smith set upon the England pace attack and smote two fours and four sixes in 44 from 28 balls. Scoreboard England Trescothick run out 130 Vaughan c Jacobs b
Bradshaw 25 Strauss b Dillon 10 Collingwood c Jacobs b
Flintoff c Dillon b Bravo 59 Blackwell b Bravo 0 Read c Powell b Bradshaw 24 Clarke b Gayle 6 Gough not out 3 Harmison not out 3 Extras
(lb-6, w-6, nb-5) 17 Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 281 FoW:
1-43, 2-114, 3-124, 4-234, 5-235, 6-249, 7-267, 8-275. Bowling:
Bradshaw 10-0-58-2, Dillon 10-0-0-47-1, Bravo 8-0-57-2, Rampaul 9-0-48-1, Gayle 9-0-33-1, Powell 4-0-32-0. West Indies Gayle c Collingwood
Chanderpaul c Read
Powell b Anderson 29 Sarwan not out 73 Lara c Read b Harmison 37 Smith b Flintoff 44 Bravo not out 12 Extras
(lb-2, w-10, nb-1) 13 Total (5 wkts, 48 overs) 284 FoW:
1-62, 2-102, 3-115, 4-191, 5-271. Bowling: Gough 9-1-45-0, Harmison 10-1-74-1, Flintoff 9-0-32-1, Anderson 10-0-66-2, Blackwell 7-0-47-1, Trescothick 3-0-18-0.
—AFP |
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Bhutia striving to raise the bar
Kolkata, May 2 “I always strive to improve. I’ll try to play even better in 2004-5,” says Bhutia, the greatest name in present Indian soccer. “But, at the same time, I feel that football being a team game, it is the team performance which matters. My target for the next season is to ensure that whichever side I play in wins tournaments,” says the 27-year old player told PTI. However, he refuses to disclose his club preferences for the coming season. “I don’t want to disclose now the offers I have received. Also I would prefer to remain silent now whether I have received feelers from foreign outfits,” says Bhutia, who created a sensation by becoming the first Indian to take part in the English professional league in 1999 by joining Manchester’s Bury FC. The Sikkimese played three years with the English second division side Bury, till returning to India in 2002. It has been a fairy-tale story for Bhutia ever since he stepped out of the sleepy Sikkimese village of Tinkitam and landed in Kolkata as an immensely talented 16-year old in 1993 when he signed for East Bengal. “When I started playing football, I never dreamt that one day I’ll turn out for fancied clubs like East Bengal or Mohun Bagan, leave alone playing for India,” Bhutia says. Bhutia acknowledges that it was his uncle Karma Bhutia who made him think big, and played a crucial role in his formative years. “Of course, my uncle’s contribution has been immense. At the same time, I’ve learnt a great deal from my coaches. I also owe a lot to my fellow footballers”. “But it will be a bit delicate for me to name only a few of them. Because that will be unfair to the others, who have helped me in being what I am today,” says Bhutia. He speaks with delight at the way his career has progressed. “I have no regrets. God has been very kind to me. I’m very satisfied with the way my career has evolved.” In the same way, Bhutia is not prepared to single out any particular feat as his greatest achievement saying he never gives a thought to such matters. “I never look at my life that way. I just enjoy my game”. A terror to rival defences, the lethal upfronter with quick-silver reflexes, athletic fitness and a cool temperament feels that an innate “hunger” for goals is the secret of his consistency and success as striker. “I’ve always taken one match at a time. You need to have the hunger for goal. You have to sustain the urge to play well year after year,” he says. Bhutia is the leading scorer among Indians in the current edition of the National Football League, and his side East Bengal has already assured itself of the title. In spite of leading the national football team to a rare title triumph at the LG Cup in Vietnam in 2002 and tasting success galore with various clubs in India and abroad, Bhutia’s philosophy of the game does not permit him to rate any match as his best. — PTI
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Beijing, May 2 Gangjee and South Korea’s Mo Joong-kyung finished tied on 15-under-par 273 after rounds of 68 and 66 respectively. The unheralded Indian triumphed in the first play-off hole with a par on the 18th hole after Mo found trouble in the greenside trap. “Its beyond my wildest dream,” said a jubilant Gangjee, who pocketed $ 48,450 for the win. “I can’t describe what I’m feeling right now. You practice for this all your life and suddenly it happens. This feels really good,” he said. South Korea’s Mo sent his approach shot in the play-off into the greenside bunker and failed to find the putting green with his third shot. After Mo’s chip for par slipped by the hole, Gangjee safely two-putted from 15 feet to finish ahead of joint third-place finishers Phillip Price of Wales, Koreas Kang Wook-soon and Aussie duo Richard Moir and Adam Groom. Mo, who like Gangjee was bogey-free today, was disappointed with his runner-up finish. “During regulation, I hit a nine iron over the green. And in the play-off, I had the same yardage, 144 yards, for the approach shot on 18. “I hit it too easy the second time around and then had a bad lie in the bunker. I am proud though to shoot a 66 but I still came up short,” said Mo, whose finish was his fourth top-10 this season. Five players entered the final round tied for the lead and jostled for position at the top of the leaderboard. Gangjee, who turned pro in 2001 after becoming India’s number one amateur player, turned in 34 and grabbed the lead on his own for the first time when he birdied the par-four 14th, the toughest hole all week, with a 12-foot putt. Mo, meanwhile, charged into contention with four straight birdies from the 13th hole. Ryder Cup player Price and Korea’s Kang had opportunities to join in the play-off but came up one shot shy. “It was disappointing. I didn’t really get going today, didn’t find any momentum. I had a makeable putt on 17 to give myself a chance, hit a good putt but just didn’t make it. It was very much like that the whole day,” said Price, who closed with a 69. Gangjee, playing in only his fourth event on the Asian Tour, said he wasn’t nervous at all heading into the play-off. “I have been playing really badly for the last few months and I wasn’t expecting much this week. I just said to myself to go out there and have some fun and I did just that,” said the slightly-built Indian. — AFP
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Tennis veterans return from Pak Wagah (Amritsar), May 2 In the meanwhile, Kashyap said the doubles team Indian veterans R.I. Singh and Rajwade reached the finals to be played tomorrow. Kashyap said the PTA, Lahore, had decided to open a tennis academy in Lahore for which they wanted to get their coaches to be trained in Chandigarh to improve the standards of tennis in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan tennis team would visit India in October to participate in 9 tournament. |
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In video (
An angry Dhanraj Pillay said he did not want to comment on his controversial omission from a hockey tournament in Japan as well as a fitness camp which virtually dashed his hopes of playing in his fourth Olympics on the trot.
Slamming the “experimentation” policy of the IHF veteran hockey player Baljit Singh Saini questioned the rationale behind his exclusion. 
