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New-look India face daunting task
Ganguly blames batsmen for dismal show
Lara likely to be fit for final
Brad Hodge to replace Ponting
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Rest of India on top as Mumbai collapse
Top players for Atray cricket
President hails Paralympic champ
Al Jaish thrash East Bengal
AIFF to pick new talent from Santosh Trophy
IAF, ITBP record wins in Gurmit hockey
Punjab billiards association
reconstituted
Expedition flagged off
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New-look India face daunting task
Karachi, September 23 A win against their much-fancied rivals seems highly unlikely for the visitors with several rookie players in their ranks who have limited or absolutely no experience of playing at the highest level. The Indian Hockey Federation announced a new-look team keeping an eye on the future, but its move to rebuild the side could get a serious beating at India’s coach Gerhard Rach has promised that his young team would do its best in the series, but the visitors’ best effort may not be enough to stop the home side from continuing their dominance. “Don’t expect much from us because we are in a rebuilding stage where we have given chances to some new players but we will do our best to be serious opponents for Pakistan,” Rach said when asked about his team’s chances in the series. But it would not be an easy task for the Indians to even pose a serious challenge to the Pakistanis, who have a new captain in Waseem Ahmed after Muhammed Nadeem retired from international hockey following the Athens Olympics. The absence of five regulars who were part of the team in the Olympics — Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh — is likely to have its effect on India’s performance in the series as they will be playing with a new forward line to be led by inexperienced Arjun Halappa and Adam Sinclair. Their track record in the Test series between the arch-rivals also does not support the visitors who have lost five of the eight series played so far, having won just two of them with the other ending in a draw. The last time the two sides featured in a bilateral series was in 1999 when they played nine matches — four in India and five in Pakistan. Pakistan won the series 5-3 with the match in Rawalpindi finishing in a 3-3 draw. But captain Dilip Tirkey, a veteran of three Olympics, was not perturbed by past records. “The past is always past as we can’t change it. We are more concerned about the challenge at hand,” Tirkey said. “We know it would be a tough task but we have players who have played in Pakistan at the junior level and won the Asia Cup. So it would be an opportunity for them to click at the highest level. I know they would not let go this chance.”
— PTI |
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Anju upsets Olympic champion, wins gold
New Delhi, September 23 World No. 6 Anju cleared 6.61m to pip the world No. 1, according to information received here
today. Lebedeva also recorded 6.61m but had to settle for the silver as the Indian had a better second jump. Yuka Sato of Japan won the bronze with 6.44m. American Grace Upshaw finished fourth with a jump of 6.43m while two-time Olympic champion Heike
Drechsler, who bid her farewell, finished fifth. Anju had cleared the same distance in the World Athletics Final at Monaco last week, only to find herself outside the medal bracket. Russians Irina
Simagina, Tatyana Lebedeva and Tatyana Kotova had occupied the first three places while Anju finished fourth at Monaco.
— PTI |
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Ganguly blames batsmen for dismal show
Mumbai, September 23 The stylish left-handed batsman also said that out-of-touch Virender Sehwag needs to change his approach a bit in one-day cricket to strike form again. “I think Dravid is doing a splendid job (as ‘keeper in ODIs) and I don’t see any reason for changing it,” Ganguly told reporters last night after landing at the Mumbai airport along with four other team members and manager Gautam Dasgupta. The rest of the squad flew from London to Delhi and then dispersed to their respective destinations. “We played Dinesh Karthik in two games but I thought Dravid did a wonderful job against Pakistan. It’s not just replacing Dravid as ‘keeper’. It’s a question of building a team and having the guys do the jobs in their respective positions,” he said in defence of his strategy which has come under fire in some quarters. “It doesn’t matter whether Dravid keeps or Sehwag bats at number six or Yuvraj (Singh) opens or I bat at number seven or Sachin (Tendulkar) bats at four. It’s a team which needs to be built up for which every individual should be batting or doing things which are good for the team,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who keeps. The best person who is doing the job for the team will keep,” he said in reply to a query whether there could be rethink on the issue. The Indian captain, returning home after the team’s poor run in the Holland tri-series, the NatWest Challenge series and the ICC Champions Trophy in England, said batting had let down the team over the last few months. “Batting was the main concern. In one-day cricket it’s important to put runs on the board which we have not managed to do over the last three months (including Asia Cup in Sri Lanka). The bowlers have done a pretty decent job,” he said. “Too many batsmen at the top of the order were not in good touch. I don’t think you can do well if three or four batsmen at the top do not score runs. Everybody has to contribute,” he said. The India skipper said it was surprising to see Sehwag in poor run in such a form of the game wherein he should be excelling with the type of batting he has. “One-day cricket is a very good platform for someone of Sehwag’s batting style. He is no doubt a class player and has got runs in both Tests and ODIs. There is no doubt he is got the ability. He just needs to change his approach to one day batting a bit. He needs to look towards spending more time at the crease,” Ganguly said. Asked whether he contemplated any changes in the team for the Test series against Australia, Ganguly pointed out that the same set of men had done wonders last year and hoped the downward spiral would be arrested during the series against the world champions. “Most of these boys have done wonderfully in Tests last year. The same guys have won games all over the world, took you to the World Cup final, to a series win in Pakistan and Test win in Australia. It’s a phase we are going through”. “I am pretty much sure if we do well against Australia this (phase) would be over. But at the same time it’s not going to happen only by thinking we have to do well against Australia. We have to get our act together and make it happen,” Ganguly said.
— PTI |
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Lara likely to be fit for final
London, September 23 “Lara suffered a short spell of dizziness and slight headache after leaving the ground, but he has been cleared of any serious injury by the ground medical doctor,” West Indies physiotherapist Andrew Simpson was quoted as saying in an International Cricket Council press note here. “Lara will remain under observation in the coming days but is expected to lead his team in the final,” the note said. The West Indies skipper had to leave the field after suffering a nasty blow on the neck by a bouncer from Shoaib Akhtar at the Rose Bowl yesterday.
— PTI |
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Brad Hodge to replace Ponting
Sydney, September 23 Announcing this here today, Chairman of Selectors Trevor Hohns said the Victorian batsman would join the team in India before the warm-up match against Mumbai on September 30. Wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist would lead the team in the absence of the regular skipper, he said. The 29-year-old Hodge is yet to play a Test and has been named in an Australian touring party for the first time. Ponting was ruled out of the first Test in the upcoming series against India after fracturing his left thumb during the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal clash against England on Tuesday. Cricket Australia had also announced that Ponting would return home immediately for expert medical consultation and hoped that he would be fit before the second Test in Chennai starting October 14. Hohns said the selection of Hodge was a reward for his outstanding performance over the years.
— PTI |
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Rest of India on top as Mumbai collapse
Chandigarh, September 23 After the Rest of India were bowled out for 314, thanks to a six-wicket haul by seamer Robin Morris, Mumbai batsmen were expected to bat well. But none of them could stay at the wicket and build the innings. Wickets kept on tumbling at regular intervals. It required a gritty knock of 55 runs from doughty all-rounder Ramesh
Powar, the highest scorer in the innings, to save the Ranji Trophy champions from total collapse. Opener Vinayak Mane, who scored 27, was the next highest scorer as the Mumbai innings folded at a paltry 198, conceding a first innings lead of 116 runs to the Rest. The Rest of India are now 200 runs ahead, they being 84 for 2 at close of play on the second day.
Powar also took both the Rest of India wickets that fell during the day. The Rest of India pacers deserve praise for the manner in which they bowled. S.S. Paul looked good, Zaheer Khan showed that he was firmly on way to full recovery, while Joginder Singh also bowled tidily. Paul jolted the Mumbai innings with the twin dismissals of Wasim Jaffer and Bhavin
Thakkar. Haryana medium pacer Joginder Sharma, who supported frontline pacers well, sent back promising Mane. Then it was the turn of former India pace spearhead Zaheer to take charge. The Baroda
seamer, recovering from the nagging injury which kept him out from the ODI matches that India played recently, bowled well within himself. The manner in which he plotted the dismissal of V. Samant — digging one short and having the batsman caught at short leg off a lifting delivery — revealed a lot about the confidence Zaheer was gaining. With two more dismissals, Zaheer finished with three wickets in the innings. “The way I bowled during the day I did not feel any problem. Things are looking good for me,” said a relaxed Zaheer after a satisfying day. “I think I am ready for big game,” the genial seamer
said. Zaheer said he was sticking to the fitness schedule provided to him by physio Andrew
Leipus. The next couple of months would be crucial for him, he said, adding that he had full faith in his abilities. Mumbai, already having lost the initiative, suffered a further blow when the MRI scan report of fast bowler Munaf Patel’s shoulder revealed that the injury was serious. Munaf has already left for Mumbai for further treatment to prevent the injury from aggravating. One bowler short, Mumbai would be hard pressed to retrieve lost ground. Scoreboard: Rest of India
(Ist innings): Chopra c & b Salvi 9 Gambhir c Mane b Morris 39
Sriram c Jaffar b Bahutule 77 Mongia lbw Morris 4 Venugopal c
Mazumdar b Bahutule 20
Joginder b Bahutule 16 Patel b Morris
60 Kartik c Samanth b Morris 56 Zaheer c Samant b Morris 0 Golwalkar not out 2 Paul c & b Morris 1 Extras:
(b 4, lb 12, nb 13, w 1) 30 Total: (all out in 99.4
overs) 314 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-65, 3-74, 4-134, 5-168, 6-198, 7-302, 8-307, 9-311. Bowling:
Salvi 26-6-79-1, Munaf 10.4-4-31-0, Morris 19.4-2-69-6, Powar 19-6-57-0, Thakkar 3.2-1-12-0, Bahutule 21-3-50-3. Mumbai
(Ist innings): Mane lbw Joginder 27 Jaffar c Patel b Paul 8 Thakkar lbw Paul
14 Mazumdar c Patel b Zaheer 13 Kambli c & b Kartik 20 Powar c Chopra b Kartik
55 Bahutule lbw Paul 14 Morris c Patel b Khan 12 Samant c Gambhir b Khan 5
Salvi not out 14 Patel retired absent 0 Extras: (b 2, lb 5, nb 9) 16 Total:
(all out, 52.2
overs) 198 FoW: 1-17, 2-41, 3-60, 4-74, 5-99, 6-131, 7-158, 8-172, 9-198. Bowling:
Zaheer 15-3-44-3, Paul 14-1-43-3, Joginder Sharma 11-0-36-1, Kartik 8.2-1-42-2, Gowalkar 4-0-24-0. Rest of India (2nd innings): Chopra not out
26 Gambhir lbw Powar 30 Sriram c & b Powar 22 Mongia batting 2 Extras:
(nb 4) 4 Total: (for 2 wkts, 23 overs) 84 FoW: 1-51, 2-81. Bowling:
Salvi 8-1-26-0, Morris 4-0-32-0, Bahutule 6-4-11-0, Powar 5-1-15-2. |
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Top players for Atray cricket
Chandigarh, September 24 In view of the ongoing Irani Trophy tie at the PCA Stadium, the opening match between PCA Colts and Bihar Cricket Association will be played at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium. The second match between Indian Airlines and All-India Associate Banks will be played at the Sector 3 Cricket Stadium in Panchkula. Organising secretary Sushil Kapoor said the final would be played at the PCA Stadium and it would be a day/night affair. The stadium will also be the venue of the semifinals. The feature of this year’s edition, an annual curtain raiser for the domestic season, is the participation of top and promising players from 12 renowned teams. Hosts PCC will have Pankaj Dharmani, Reetinder Sodhi, Dinesh Mongia, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and VRV Singh in their line-up. Oil India XI are studded with Test player Zaheer Khan, Iqbal Siddiqui, MS Dhoni and Rajesh Powar while Laxmi Rattan Shural, Sabir Ali, S. Lahri and SS Paul will be playing for Cricket Association of Bengal. Canara Bank will take the services of Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi and Vijay Bhardwaj. Air-India will have Hrishikesh Kanetkar, Suresh Rana, Gaurav Dhiman and RP Singh in their ranks. Other important cricketers who are taking part in the tournament are Vijay Dahiya, Nikhil Chopra, J. Arun Kumar (Indian Airlines), Devender Bundelka, Tilak Raj (All-India Associate Banks), Sairaj Bahutule, Vinayak Mane, Avishkar Salvi, Robin Morris, Swapnil Hazare (BPCL), Gagan Khoda, Mithun Minhas, Gautam Gambir, Sarandeep Singh, Amit Bhandari, Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif (ONGC). The 12 teams have been divided into four pools and the winners of each pool will move into the semifinals. All matches will be of 50 overs each. The winners in the league phase will get four points and in case of a tie or an abandoned match, two points will be awarded to each team. Mr Vivek Atray, son of the late JP Atray, former Additional Director-General of Police, Haryana, said the organising committee would give a cash award of Rs 75,000 to the winners and the runners-up would get a purse of Rs 50,000. The losing semifinalists will get Rs 15,000 each. Mr Vishwajeet Khanna is the chairman of the organising committee. Mr Lalit Sharma, Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator, will give the man of the match award on September 25. The following are the groupings — Pool A: Punjab Cricket Association, Air India, BPCL;
Pool B: PCA Colts, Canara Bank, Bihar Cricket Association; Pool C: Cricket Association of Bengal, ONGC, MP Cricket Association; and
Pool D: Indian Oil Corporation, All-India Associate Banks and Indian Airlines. |
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President hails Paralympic champ
New Delhi, September 23 In his congratulatory message, Dr Kalam said, “This achievement, praiseworthy in itself, is even more laudable as you are the first Indian to win a gold medal at these games, and have also set a new world record in the event.” He said, “This joyous and proud achievement is a testimony of the unbreakable will of the spirit over the body and once again proves that the differently abled can conquer all obstacles to achieve their goals”. |
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Al Jaish thrash East Bengal
New Delhi, September 23 The Syrian Army side, who were held to a goalless draw by East Bengal in the first leg in Kolkata last week, made amends in the second leg match at Damascus by romping to a 3-0 win over the Indian club yesterday. Al Jaish took an early lead through Adel Abdullah who found the net in the 16th minute, heading past Bengal goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar. The first half did not see any more goals as both teams failed to create openings. East Bengal’s efforts to restore parity were thwarted by the home team defence marshalled by their skipper Tareq Jabban, according to information received here. But the change of ends saw Al Jaish growing in confidence as they doubled their lead five minutes after the break with Mohammed Zeino scoring following a fast counter attack. Four minutes later, Syrian international Ziad Shaabo blasted a powerful strike that beat substitute goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee, but came back off the post. Al Jaish sealed their victory three minutes from the end when Firas Ismail netted his team’s third goal.
— PTI |
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AIFF to pick new talent from Santosh Trophy
New Delhi, September 23 A meeting of the various agencies connected with the organisation of the mammoth event, to be staged in Delhi after a gap of 60 years, was held here today. This meeting was chaired by All-India Football Federation (AIFF) President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi. Barring a couple of teams from the North East and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, all the States, Union Territories and Railways are expected to field their teams for the championship. The AIFF will utilise the Santosh Trophy as selection trials to pick players for the 2006 Asian Games, to be held in Doha. Delhi Soccer Association Secretary-General N K Bhatia said 2000 seats would be reserved for school students to witness matches from the quarter-final stage onward, till the final, at free of cost, at the Ambedkar Stadium. Mr Bhatia said the opening ceremony would be held at the Ambedkar Stadium, where matches from the quarter-final rounds will be held. |
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IAF, ITBP record wins in Gurmit hockey
Chandigarh, September 23 The inaugural match between Indian Air Force and Chandigarh Hockey Academy saw the former taking an early lead when full back Satvir Singh converted a penalty corner in the third minute to put his team ahead. However, two minutes later, Chandigarh Hockey Academy found the equaliser in a similar fashion through Simran Deep. Thereafter, Indian Air Force took control. A field goal by Inder Pal Singh in the 14th minute made it 2-1 in favour of IAF and there was no further addition till the breather. In the second session, Balbir Singh’s field goal in the 39th minute made the issue rather safe for the defence outfit. In the second match, Indo-Tibetan Border Police were given a rude shock by DAV Academy in the 13th minute when Keshav scored a field goal. However, the experienced ITBP retaliated to restore parity in the 25th minute through a field goal by Varinder who capitalised on a pass from the left to make it 1-1. Thereafter, ITBP were in complete control and scored at regular intervals. Sanjeev’s field goal in the 52nd minute made it 2-1 while Sukhdev Singh added another six minutes later. William scored the fourth goal for ITBP in the 66th minute while Bir Singh completed the rout with hardly a minute to go for the long hooter to make it 5-1. Friday’s fixtures: Dhanraj-Ballal Academy v Ropar Hawks (12.30 pm); Centre of Excellence, Patiala, v CISF (2 pm); Chandigarh XI v PNB XI (3.30 pm). |
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Punjab billiards association
reconstituted
Chandigarh, September 23 The treasurer is Mr Sandeep Jalota while the general secretary is Arjuna awardee and Asian snooker champion Alok Kumar. The vice-presidents include Mr Sunil Auluck, Mr Avtar Bhogal and Mr Joy Mehra. There are two joint secretaries, Mr Navneet Malhotra and Dharminder Lilly. At its first meeting held at Sutlej Club, Ludhiana, the association decided to bid for the National 9-Ball Pool Championship. This would be the first time that this championship would be held in Punjab, if the offer is accepted by the Billiards & Snooker Federation of India. |
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Expedition flagged off
New Delhi, September 23 |
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New Delhi, September 23
Indian
skipper Sourav Ganguly has blamed the poor form of his top order batsmen for the
team’s dismal run in the last few months while maintaining that Rahul Dravid
was the best person to keep wickets in one-day internationals.
Chandigarh, September 23
