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India look to continue domination
Inzamam, Shoaib fit to play
Shoaib refuses to shorten
run-up
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HC tells Doordarshan to telecast ODIs
Punjab win under-14 handball titles
Bisla hits ton as HP score 275
Punjab Police, PSB in final
Punjab reeling at 25 for three
Jagraon Police, CISF win in hockey
Badal
inaugurates football tournament
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India look to continue domination
Chittagong, December 22 Harbhajan was reported for suspect bowling action during the second Test, but that seems to have had little or no impact on the Indians preparing to sweep the series and end what has been a roller-coaster year on a positive note. “It is a routine, a number of bowlers have been reported in the last few months. It has become part and parcel of the game,” coach John Wright said. “Harbhajan and the whole team is pretty relaxed. We want to try and replicate the performance of the Test series. We are looking for a 3-0 result,” he said. Bangladesh would be drawing hope from their spirited performance in the first innings of the second Test, which saw young Mohammad Ashraful hit a dazzling 158 not out. The 20-year-old right-handed batsman became the top scorer for Bangladesh in Tests and the disdainful manner in which he batted against Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan should inspire more confidence in the hosts. Bangladesh, after coming close to avoiding the follow on, then collapsed in the second innings as they lost nine wickets in 26 overs on the same day. Yet, if their graph should come anywhere near to the heights of that third day’s performance, the lowest-ranked Test team could pose a more serious challenge in the series. Bangladesh’s weakness has been their batting against the new ball. But in the shorter version of the game, a team that holds firm for a session could match the best. “Yes, we expect ourselves to put up a better fight,” said coach Dave Whatmore, who called for consistency from his players. “We need to show the resistance like we did in the first innings,” he said. From India’s point of view, the spotlight would be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who replaced Dinesh Kaarthick as the wicketkeeper-batsman. The Jharkhand player, who originally hails from Uttaranchal, has earned rave reviews for his batting exploits, which is the primary reason why he was being tried out. “From all reports that we have received, he is suited for the one-day game, and the selectors thought it was time to give him a chance. It is tough on Dinesh (Kaarthick), but that is what the selectors had to decide, and it is not a bad thing,” Wright said. There were also a few comeback cases, including that of Yuvraj Singh, who returns to the Indian team after being dropped from the Test squad. His Punjab captain Dinesh Mongia is another player who is back in the team after a gap of nearly 18 months. Incidentally, Mongia’s last appearance in a one-day match was also in Bangladesh in the TVS Cup tri-series in April, 2003. Mohammad Kaif will be in the thick of action for the first time in two weeks. He has been in this country while Murali Kartik, as well as Ajit Agarkar, may also play as the strike bowlers could be rested in turn. Sridharan Sriram, who has played six one-day internationals, the latest being way back in 2000-01 in Rajkot against Zimbabwe, and Joginder Sharma, the Haryana player hoping to make his debut, are the other two players in contention. The second and third one-dayers are to be played under floodlights in Dhaka on Sunday and Monday. India enjoy a cent per cent record against Bangladesh, having won all their 11 matches. The slate is likely to be as clean when they return home for the new year. Teams (from): India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Sridharan Sriram, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Joginder Sharma. Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mahmud, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahman, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nafis Iqbal, Manjural Islam, Aftab Ahmed, Nazmul Hossain. — PTI
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Biomechanist to work with Harbhajan
New Delhi, December 22 Harbhajan, who was reported for his “doosra” delivery during the second India-Bangladesh Test at Chittagong last week, will have to work for six weeks with the expert, probably in Australia. The home board of the bowler in question is free to choose the expert and Harbhajan, who was also reported for bending his elbow beyond permissible limits in 1998, can continue playing cricket. In this case, he is likely to play the one-day series against Bangladesh, starting on Thursday at Chittagong. Harbhajan’s “doosra”, a delivery that goes away from a right-handed batsman, is suspected to have exceeded the five-degree tolerance level prescribed by the ICC Umpires Aleem Dar of Pakistan and Mark Benson of England reported Harbhajan to ICC match referee Chris Broad after India defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 83 runs at Chittagong on Monday. “This issue now comes under the ICC’s bowling review regulations, which stipulate that over the next six weeks, an expert biomechanist from the ICC’s approved list should be appointed by the BCCI to work with the bowler to clearly identify and address any flaws that may occur during the delivery action,” said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed. If Harbhajan is found guilty, he will be banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months from the date of the finding, or till he rectifies his action to the satisfaction of the experts. He will, however, be permitted to play domestic cricket under BCCI supervision. The BCCI will have to assist him in rectifying the problem with his bowling action. Former England batsman Broad had earlier this year reported leading Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for bowling the “doosra”. Under ICC rules, the level of tolerance is five degrees for slow bowlers, 7.5 degrees for medium-pacers and 10 degrees for fast bowlers. The ICC is currently in the process of making it a uniform level of tolerance for all bowlers to resolve one of the most hotly debated issues in the game.
— IANS |
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Inzamam, Shoaib fit to play
Melbourne, December 22 Coach Bob Woolmer said skipper Inzamam had received a diagnosis on his long-term back injury, while paceman Shoaib had been cleared of any significant shoulder damage. Inzamam had a problem with the sacroiliac joint in his lower back, but Woolmer said the team’s most experienced batsman would play against Australia in the Test, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day. “It is more related to posture — if you notice how he bats, he bats very hunched over,” Woolmer told reporters today. “It is probably something he has gradually picked up over the years — the management is pool work, gym work, specialised exercises,” he said. “It is one of those horrible things that can flare up at any time and we have to try and manage it now — he has to try and manage it now,” he said. “All it does is makes him stiff and sore,” Woolmer explained. Woolmer said Inzamam had not wanted to aggravate his back problems in the past few weeks. Shoaib came out of the 491-run Perth Test debacle with a painful ankle, thanks to strapping tearing off with some skin, and a sore shoulder. “His shoulder seems fine and he did all the exercises today, the skin tear is fine,” Woolmer said. The coach added that Shoaib’s much-analysed long bowling run-up would not dramatically change on this tour.
— AFP |
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Shoaib refuses to shorten
run-up
Sydney, December 22 “We are going to go through our overs quickly. We talked about it. I am not going to change, but I am going to go back to my run-up quickly,” said
Shoaib, who runs 40 yards before each delivery. Shoaib tried to explain his stance by drawing a parallel with a jet plane. “I will ask you a question. Can a plane take off without a run-up? No, so I have got to take the run. It is how I generate my pace and everything flows into the right action. I am not going to cut down,” Shoaib was quoted as saying in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’. Coach Bob Woolmer was concerned about Pakistan’s slow over-rate in the first Test at Perth, where they were humbled by a massive 491-run margin, and outlined Shoaib’s run-up as one of several areas that needed to be rectified ahead of the Melbourne Test.
Woolmer had termed the over-rate “ridiculous and very poor”. Former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan had also asked Shoaib to cut short his run-up during the recent one-dayer against India in Kolkata marking the BCCI’s platinum jubilee.
— PTI |
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HC tells Doordarshan to telecast ODIs
Kochi, December 22 The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice B Subashan Reddy and Mr Justice Kurian Joseph, in an interim order, directed ESPN to share the revenue at the ratio of 80:20 tentatively and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Supreme Court in the pending cases. The Bench also made it clear that Doordarshan should exhibit the logo of ESPN and advertisements which ESPN had committed for the one-day series.
— PTI |
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Punjab win under-14 handball titles
Ludhiana, December 22 In the boys’ section, Punjab faced a stiff challenge from their opponents from Delhi. They won by a narrow margin (19-16) while the girls came out triumphant without much resistance. Punjab eves defeated Delhi 16-8 to bag the title. In kho-kho, Punjab (boys u-14 years) fought a spirited battle against Maharashtra and eventually emerged winners 15-12. Other results: handball quarterfinals (boys u-14)- Goa b Delhi; Haryana b Madhya Pradesh 28-23; Punjab b Uttaranchal 24-13 and Rajasthan b Gujarat 24-15; boys (u-17)- Delhi b Chandigarh 39-25; Punjab b Chhattisgarh 35-12; Uttar Pradesh b Rajasthan 26-23 and Gujrat b Haryana 29-10. Semifinal (girls u-14)- Delhi b Maharashtra 10-5; Punjab b Rajasthan 14-5; (girls u-17)- Kerala b Chhattisgarh 13-7; Punjab b Delhi 8-1; boys (u-14)- Delhi b Rajasthan 18-2 and Punjab b Haryana 18-8. Softball (boys u-14): Maharashtra drew with Andhra Pradesh 3-3; boys (u-17 years)- Andhra Pradesh b Maharashtra 4-3; Delhi b Chandigarh 9-0; girls (u-17 years)- Delhi b Maharashtra 5-4; boys (u-19 years)- Punjab b Jammu and Kashmir 13-0; Goa b Chhattisgarh 11-0; Maharashtra b Gujarat 8-1; Chandigarh b Andhra Pradesh 9-0. Hockey (quarterfinals): boys u-17 years- Madhya Pradesh b Delhi 6-5; Karnataka b Himachal Pradesh 2-1; Uttar Pradesh b Chhattisgarh 4-1; Punjab b Chandigarh 2-1; Maharashtra b Chhattisgarh 3-1; Punjab b Chandigarh 2-1. Girls (u-14 years): Haryana b Chhattisgarh 9-0; (u-17 years)- Himachal Pradesh b Uttaranchal 4-0; girls (u-17 years)- Punjab b Orissa 2-0; Haryana b Uttar Pradesh 5-0; Karnataka b Andhra Pradesh 1-0. |
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Bisla hits ton as HP score 275
Jamshedpur, December 22 In reply, Jharkhand were four without loss in their first innings at stumps. Openers Manish Vardhan and Ratan Kumar were at the crease on 2 and 1, respectively. Earlier, Jharkhand skipper Sumit Panda won the toss and opted to field in a lively wicket and his decision paid dividends when Panda picked up the wicket of opener Ankur Bassi off the second ball of the day for a duck. Bassi was adjudged leg before wicket. Opener and captain Sandeep Sharma (17) also did not last long as he sneaked an outswinger of Mihir Diwakar and new wicketkeeper Madhusudan Tantubai, who replaced M.S. Dhoni, took it behind the wicket. After the dismissal of Sharma, Bisla joined Sangram Singh (14) and not only rescued his team from further collapse, but played superbly, hitting a strokeful century. He put a valuable 71 runs with Manish Gupta (22) for the fifth wicket. Bisla was also involved in another 52-runs partnership for the eighth wicket with Ashok Thakur, who remained unbeaten on 36, before he was caught and bowled by Panda for 135. His responsible 160-ball innings was studded with two huge sixes and 13 boundaries. The visitors were all out for 275 in 80.4 overs a few minutes before close. Leading from the front and with the help of a pace-friendly wicket, Panda scalped four wickets for 55 runs while his pace partners Diwakar and S.S, Rao,who took 11 wickets in the previous match against Orissa, bagged two and three wickets conceding 60 and 61 runs, respectively. Left-arm spinner Shaid Khan had to satisfy himself with one wicket. — UNI
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Punjab Police, PSB in final
Jalandhar, December 22 The Punjab and Sind Bank team dashed the hopes of Indian Airlines. BSF beat Canada XI 2-1. Among the women teams, Starch Mills beat the Uttaranchal XI. Indian Airlines gave a tough fight to Punjab and Sind Bank. The only goal of the match was scored by Jatinder Pal Singh in the 21st minute as he converted a penalty corner. The bank men got penalty corners in the 23rd, 50th and 58th minutes, but they could not gain any advantage. Indian Airlines did not get any penalty corner in the match. BSF won the match with a score of 3-2 against Canada XI. The first goal was scored by Steve Warne of Canada XI in the 26th minute. The next two goals were scored by Peter Turkey and Harpinder Singh of BSF. Davinder Kumar of BSF scored in the 44th minute and Dharminder Singh of Canada XI scored after a few minutes.
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Punjab reeling at 25 for three
Hyderabad, December 22 Putting to rest the controversy over the cricket board `resting him’ for the one-day series in Bangladesh, Laxman showed his style, elegance and hard-hitting tactics, scoring with 13 fours off 102 balls. Laxman was severe on Amit Uniyal, whom he hit for four fours, three fluent cover drives and one cut to the point fence, before the bowler was taken off. V.R.V. Singh proved to be the most effective bowler for Punjab, claiming seven wickets in 16.4 overs giving away 75 runs, while R.S. Sodhi took the prize wicket of Laxman and A.T. Rayudu in quick succession to bowl out the hosts for 233. Hyderabad speedsters N.P. Singh and Vishnuvardhan soon hit back with vengeance and swung the ball to take three quick wickets as the visitors plunged to 25 for 3 at stumps. Put in to bat, Hyderabad openers Daniel Manohar and Anirudh Singh gave a steady start, countering the Punjab pacers, who moved the ball exceptionally well, before Singh (7) returned to the pavilion when the total was 28. Daniel did not last long, with V.R.V. Singh dismissing him, caught by skipper Pankaj Dharmani in the slips for 21, which brought cheers to the well-gathered crowd with Laxman taking guard. Laxman and Vinay Kumar then steadied the innings, adding 73 runs for the third wicket before Kumar became the third victim of V.R.V. Singh after a well made 28.
— PTI |
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Jagraon Police, CISF win in hockey
Nabha, December 22 In the first match of the day, Ropar Hawks started aggressively and came near scoring when centre half Mandeep Singh fed a measured diagonal pass to centre forward Jagjeet Singh, who flunked his shot even as the rival custodian was completely out of position. CISF went ahead when defender Parambir scored off a rasping shot which sounded the board with a loud thud off a penalty corner. The Ropar boys, apparently stung by this reverse, once again went into an overdrive, with strikers Deepak Sharma and Jagjeet Singh working up some good moves upfront. They managed to equalise when a short corner came their way and deep defender Rajinder Singh made no mistake in converting the chance. However, this was all the Ropar lads managed as CISF notched up two more goals midway into the second half. First, the fast moving S. Kiro made his way into the striking circle before tapping the ball home and minutes later, the nippy Shahid Hussain closed out the contest with a blinder which beat the entire defence,including the goalkeeper. The second match too was played at a fast pace as both teams, Jagraon Police and Amritsar XI, played with a lot of punch. For Amritsar XI, the spotlight was hogged by striker Tejinder Singh, who managed to weave a web around the defence with his stick work. However, he lacked support and most of his moves were solo efforts, which ultimately fizzled out as often he was hemmed in by the defenders. In the second half, the cops managed to mark Tejinder with the result that the Amritsar forward line came to a virtual standstill. Once Tejinder was marked, the cops found enough breathing space to outwit their rivals. Skipper Gursapinder Singh opened the scoring for the cops off a goalmouth melee while Mandeep Singh (Senior) made it a safe 2-0 for his team with a fine effort. In tomorrow’s matches Eastern Railway, Kolkata will take on CISF, Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, will clash with Jagraon Police and Centre of Excellence, Patiala, will square off against SAI, Chennai. The last match will see Thapar Academy, Sansarpur, and Wanderers, Bangalore in action.
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Badal
inaugurates football tournament Fatehgarh Sahib, December 22 This five-day tournament was organised by the Dashmesh Sports Club in which 16 teams from all over the country are taking part. Mr Badal in his address appreciated the efforts of club in organising such tournament. President of the club Kirpal Singh Libra, said the club was organising the tournament for the last 37 years. He said the winning team of the tournament would be given cash prize of Rs 51,000 and Rs 31,000 would be given to the runner up. Bibi Jagir Kaur, SGPC President, would preside over the prize distribution function. In the first match the Sikh National College, Banga defeated the Jammu and Kashmir police 5-4 in the second match Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) defeated the Union Club, Yamunanagar by 1-0. Amardeep
Singh Dharni, Organising Secretary of the club, Amarinder Singh Libra, Randhir
Singh Cheema also addressed on the occasion. |
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