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BCCI to finalise itinerary today
Manager clears Shoaib
of misconduct
North concede lead to West
Waugh keen to set up ‘Cricket City’
Mohun Bagan, SBT split points
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Narain scorches Barcelona track
Sasikiran falters
Roddick, Malisse
advance
Ijaz, Mongia to lead
Jasjeet, Gaganjeet tie for
lead
Jasjeet Singh watches his approach shot on second day of the Royal Challenge Samarvir Sahi IGU Amateur Golf Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club on Wednesday.
Camp for Special Olympics
ends
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BCCI to finalise itinerary today
New Delhi, February 16 Ahmedabad, a proposed venue to host a Test match in the series between the arch-rivals, is expected to figure prominently in tomorrow's Working Committee meeting after Pakistan's refusal play there on security ground. Pakistan expressed reservations of playing a Test or even a one-dayer in Ahmedabad which witnessed communal riots in 2002, and this may probably leave BCCI with no other option but to change the venue. The Board has tentatively fixed Mohali, Bangalore and Ahmedabad as the venues for the three Tests while Kochi, Vishakhapatnam, Kanpur, Jamshedpur and Delhi are proposed to host the five one-dayers. The vexed TV rights issue is also in the agenda for discussion and BCCI is likely to take a decision on the matter tomorrow. The Board had told the Madras High Court last week that it would not finalise the telecast rights for the series till February 17. The BCCI counsel had given an undertaking to the court, following a petition by Zee Telefilms Ltd, that it would not finalise tenders or contracts for telecast of cricket matches to be played in the country including the India-Pak series till February 17. The meeting will also approve the budget for the Pakistan team's tour besides ratifying the appointment of John Gloster as the physiotherapist of the Indian teams with effect from February 1. Gloster, who worked with the Bangladesh national team over the last four years and was instrumental along with coach Dave Whatmore in putting in place a system for them, will replace Andrew Leipus. Leipus quit as physio after India's tour of Bangladesh last month as he wanted to pursue higher studies. The meeting will also consider the report of the Grounds and Wicket Committee regarding pitch preparation for matches during the tours of Australian and South African cricket teams in October last year. It will also discuss recommendations of the Umpires Committee which met in Delhi December last year. Besides updating the members on the pending legal cases against the Board, the meeting will also finalise the modalities of the release of 'Social History of Indian Cricket' and '70 Years of Domestic Tournaments' and other related arrangements. —
PTI |
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BCCI challenges Zee plea on telecast
rights
Chennai, February 16 In a counter-affidavit to Zee's writ petition, which challenged the BCCI’s decision denying it the telecast rights, the Board said it could not be compelled by Zee and the television channel could not seek to restrain the national cricket body from awarding any contract for cricket telecast rights on the ground that it had been earlier awarded the contract. The BCCI argued that the writ petition itself was not maintainable after the Supreme Court clearly held that the Board was not a “State” and sought the petition's dismissal with costs. The case will come up for hearing tomorrow but during the last hearing, Mr. Justice K. P. Sivasubramaniam had extracted an assurance from the Board that no tender or contract would be finalised by it until the next hearing. He had also directed the BCCI and its former president, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya, and ESPN Star-Sports, cited as respondents, to file their counter-affidavits. Zee had argued that it had been given all telecast rights for international matches arranged by BCCI for four years from October 1, 2004, as the highest bidder and that it had deposited $ 20 million as required by the Board within the stipulated time. In its petition the television channel wanted the tender be enforced and the BCCI be restrained from awarding it to any other party. The BCCI's counter affidavit argued that the Court's writ jurisdiction under Art. 226 of the Constitution could not be used to enforce any contract as Zee was claiming. The Board contented that following some observations by the Bombay High Court on a petition by Zee, the tender was cancelled in September last year and Zee was returned the money it had deposited the next day. In its counter affidavit the Board said, “As such the purported relief cannot be enforced or implemented in the eye of the law and as the owner of the events, the BCCI was entitled to deal with its rights. The petitioner, in the absence of any vested rights, cannot compel the BCCI to have any dealings with it.” The hearing comes just before he India-Pakistan series that begins next month but the telecast rights are yet to be finalised for the series. |
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Manager clears Shoaib
of misconduct
Islamabad, February 16 Haroon, who was the team manager during the tour, submitted his report to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in which he gave his comments on Shoaib’s behaviour on the tour and separately also to the inquiry committee constituted by the PCB to probe into charges that he violated four clauses of his central contract. The inquiry committee specifically asked Haroon for his comments on Shoaib. The fast bowler had been charged with visiting nightclubs, giving press statements without permission and reporting late to the board after returning from Australia. Haroon sent a letter to the inquiry committee, outlining clearly that except for one occasion, when Shoaib was fined for coming late to a practice session, he had not been involved in any other act of indiscipline in Australia, ‘The News’ reported today. “As far as I am concerned, Shoaib was prompt in attending all team meetings, he followed the team dress code, attended all team dinners and official receptions,” Haroon was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “There was no case of him being involved in any misbehaviour off the field,” he said. “As far as my domain is concerned, there were no problems with any player. But if there were instances of Shoaib not bowling in the nets or not taking part in some training session, that comes under the purview of the captain and coach and not the manager,” Haroon said. The inquiry committee, which includes PCB director media Abbas Zaidi, legal adviser Syed Asghar Haider and former Test player Imtiaz Ahmed, has now referred Shoaib’s case to the board’s disciplinary committee, which meets tomorrow for a hearing with the fast bowler. Justice Amir Alam Khan heads the PCB disciplinary committee, which also includes Abdul Salam Khawar, Maqbool Ellahi and Asghar Haider. The disciplinary committee is expected to give a verdict on the charges against Shoaib before the national selectors meet on Saturday to announce the touring squad for India. The paper reported that Haroon, in his tour report, dealt extensively with the behaviour and attitude of each player, the fitness problems with the players and the overall potential of each player and his value to Pakistan cricket. He also submitted his tour accounts to the board, waiting for a tour report from coach Bob Woolmer. — PTI |
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North concede lead to
West
Lucknow, February 16 North, who were sitting pretty at 113 for two after dismissing their rivals for 201 overnight, began cautiously in the morning session before being bowled out for 195 with spinners Rajesh Pawar and Ramesh Powar doing the maximum damage. North, who were 151 for three at one stage, lost their last seven wickets for just 45 runs at the K.D. Singh Babu Stadium. West, in their second innings, were 146 for five at close of play on the second day. Earlier, North resumed at the overnight score of 114 for two but soon crumbled to West’s double spin attack of Ramesh Powar and Rajesh Pawar, who claimed four wickets each. First to depart was Aakash Chopra, who managed to add just one more run to his overnight score of 44, edging a catch to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel of Zaheer Khan. Yuvraj Singh (21) did not last long and was smartly stumped by Parthiv off Powar. Ravneet Ricky followed soon after making 33. Dinesh Mongia (2) also disappointed when he was caught by Wasim Jaffar off Powar. The last six batsmen added only 45 runs as North was bundled out out soon after the lunch break. West began their second innings on a confident note through openers Satyajit Parab and Wasim Jaffar before Parab (14) fell leg before to part-time bowler Dinesh Mongia. Scoreboard West Zone (Ist innings): 201 North Zone (overnight 114 for 2) Gambhir b Zaheer 13 Sehwag c Parthiv b Pawar 33 Chopra c Parthiv b Zaheer 45 Ricky lbw b Powar 33 Yuvraj st Parthiv b Powar 21 Mongia c Jaffar b Powar 2 Bisla b Powar 0 Mishra b Pawar 18 Nehra b Pawar 10 Gagandeep c Jaffar b Pawar 0 Bhatia not out 8 Extras:
(b-1, lb-6, nb-6) 13 Total: (all out, 61.4 overs) 196 FoW: 1/17, 2/74, 3/115, 4/151, 5/156, 6/156, 7/163, 8/183, 9/194. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 19-3-64-2, Rakesh Patel 4-0-42-0, Rajesh Pawar 11.4-2-30-4, Ramesh Powar 23-8-40-4, Siddharth Trivedi 4-0-13-0. West Zone (2nd innings): Parab lbw b Mongia 14 Jaffar c Chopra b Gagandeep 47 Jadhav lbw b Mishra 31 Patel c Chopra b Bhatia 17 Parthiv c Yuvraj b Bhatia 1 Kiran Pawar batting 19 Rajesh Pawar batting 15 Extras (nb-2) 2 Total (5 wkts in 51 overs) 146 Fall of wicket: 1-22, 2-78, 3-96, 4-120, 5-127. Bowling: Ashish Nehra 9-1-25-0, Gagandeep Singh 9-3-17-1, Vishal Bhatia 9-1-41-2, Amit Mishra 14-2-34-1, Dinesh Mongia 4-2-9-1, Virendra Sehwag 6-0-20-0. —
PTI |
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Medium-pacers rule the roost
Gwalior, February 16 Central Zone, after skittling out East in their second innings for a paltry 131, now required 130 runs for an outright win with nine wickets in hand. Skipper Mohd Kaif (4) and veteran Sanjay Bangar (1) were at the crease as Central Zone reached seven for one at stumps. Central Zone resumed their first innings at 74 for four before East spearhead Shiv Shankar Paul (six for 50) and fellow medium-pacer Ranadeb Bose (four for 79) triggered a batting collapse, sharing all 10 wickets between them. Only Naman Ojha (40) could defy the attack for some time, with some support from J.P. Yadav (29) and Murali Kartik (29 not out), but the Central innings folded up for 189 — five runs short of East’s first innings total. Though their pace duo brought them back in the game, East forefeited the advantage and put up a sordid display in their second innings as well. After the departure of openers Shiv Sundar Das (15) and M.S. Dhoni (14), East again plunged into crisis as J.P. Yadav scythed the middle order with some incisive bowling. East Zone (1st innings): 194 Central Zone (1st innings): Fazal c Dhoni b Paul 0 Bangar c Dhoni b Paul 5 Kaif lbw b Bose 31 Raina c Dhoni b Paul 36 Ali c Dhoni b Bose 7 Ojha c Dhoni b Paul 40 JP Yadav c Dhoni b Bose 29 Kartik not out 29 RP Singh c Dhoni b Paul 0 Harvinder b Paul 1 Parida lbw b Bose 1 Extras (b-6, lb-4, nb-4) 14 Total (all out in 70
overs) 189 FoW: 1-0, 2-9, 3-60, 4-66, 5-74, 6-144, 7-144, 8-144, 9-158. Bowling: Shib Shankar Paul 26-9-50-6, Ranadeb Bose 25-7-79-4, Sanjib Sanyal 10-3-22-0, Sanjay Satpathy 1-0-4-0, R Satish 5-2-11-0, Shahid Khan 3-0-13-0. East Zone (2nd innings): S.S. Das lbw b Bangar 15 Dhoni c Ojha b Yadav 14 A Das lbw b Yadav 9 Jaychandra b Yadav 1 Shukla not out 53 Satish c Ojha b Yadav 0 Sanyal c Yadav b Bangar 4 Satpathy c Ojha b Yadav 7 Shahid lbw b RP Singh 3 Paul c Bangar b RP Singh 1 Bose c Ojha b RP Singh 8 Extra (b-4, lb-7, nb-3, w-2) 16 Total (all out in 37.4
overs) 131 FoW: 1-23, 2-33, 3-36, 4-43, 5-49, 6-66, 7-77, 8-106, 9-112. Bowling: Harvinder Singh 6-0-31-0, JP Yadav 14-4-34-5, Sanjay Bangar 13-1-49-2, Rudra Pratap Singh 4.4-0-6-3. Central Zone (2nd innings): Fazal c A Das b Paul 2 Bangar batting 1 Kaif batting 4 Total (1 wicket in 9.4
overs) 7 Fall of wicket: 1-2 Bowling: Shib Shankar Paul 5-0-6-1, Ranadeb Bose 4-3-1-0, Sanjay Satpathy 0.4-0-0-0. —
UNI |
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Waugh keen to set up ‘Cricket City’
Kolkata, February 16 Waugh, who has a long-standing relation with West Bengal with his philanthropic activities, has also expressed willingness to build a small satellite township, according to state Municipal Affairs Minister Ashok Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya, with whom Waugh had a meeting at Salt Lake before meeting the Chief Minister, said the state government had suggested that the township, slated to include a golf course, be set up in the neighbouring Baruipur in South 24 Parganas or Dankuni in Hooghly district. “However, if he does not find these spots suitable he can come to North Bengal,” Bhattacharya, who represents the Siliguri seat in the state assembly, said. During his meeting with Waugh, who was accompanied by representatives of Macquarie Bank Limited of Australia, Bhattacharya put forward a suggestion that the proposed ‘Cricket City’ could be built in the new satellite township ‘New Town’ at Rajarhat. “Waugh has liked the idea. But the final decision would be taken once he returned to the city six weeks from now,” he said. Accompanied by the minister, Waugh also visited Salt Lake where Sourav Ganguly is planning to set up a cricket academy. — PTI |
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Mohun Bagan, SBT split points
Kolkata, February 16 Mehtab Hossain struck for Mohun Bagan in the 61st minute but substitute Asif Shahir struck seven minutes from close for the visitors who neutralised their rivals’ advantage, much to the dismay of the Bagan fans at the Salt Lake stadium. Bagan, who held sway from the outset with their medios and defenders combining well, went into the lead in the 61st minute when a Renedy Singh corner was followed up by Asim Biswas with a right footer and Mehtab gave the finishing touch by tapping home from close. SBT, on the defensive for most part of the game, went into the attack mode after the goal and finally restored parity in the 83rd minute. Shahir, who had replaced Mohammed Aslam early in the second session, got the ball following a melee inside the rival box, and his goalward push went in off a defender. Continuing their onslaught, the Kerala side launched another attack soon after and Shahir’s power-packed effort hit the crossbar and rebounded into play. Bagan were similarly thwarted in the closing stages of the opening half when Asim Biswas’s shot hit the woodwork. —PTI |
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Narain scorches Barcelona track
Barcelona, February 16 Both new Jordan F1 drivers, Karthikeyan and Portuguese Tiago Monteiro, took to the track with the Indian driving the EJ15 and Monteiro using a development version on last year’s EJ14. Karthikeyan, in the new chassis, was clearly the quicker of the two yesterday as he completed 80 laps with a best time of 1:19.09 seconds, just 2.5 seconds off Schumacher’s Bridgestone-best time at the track. After completing his longest drive in an F1 car, Karthikeyan said, “I did 80 laps today which is the most I ever did in one day in a Formula 1 car. It was pretty exciting. But I also understand that I have to learn very much in a very short time. And I am prepared for it.’’ Monteiro completed 86 laps in the old chassis. Jordan sporting director Trevor Carlin too was pleased with the first day here. “It was the first day of our full test programme and we did very well. In the next couple of days, we want to do as many miles as possible to better understand the interaction of chassis, Toyota engine and Bridgestone tyres,’’ he said. “Obviously we have a lot of work still ahead but I am very confident that we will improve dramatically and find ourselves in the position were we want tg be on the Melbourne grid,’’ he added. —
UNI |
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Sasikiran falters
Moscow, February 16 Pitted against local favourite Vitaly Tseshkovsky in Tournament A1, Sasikiran could not live upto expectations and went down to a lowly Tseshkovsky yesterday. Ganguly, however, put up a good show against ninth seed Teimour Radjabov (2667) of Azerbaijan, one of the most exciting young Grandmasters, and forced a draw. Another Kolkata Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda, also came up with a gritty show as he made higher-ranked Xiangzhi Bu (2607) toil before the Chinese Grandmaster decided to split points. In the second round, Sasikiran hoped to open his account when he would take on lowly Alexader Areshchenko. In other second round matches, Ganguly would meet Rafael Vaganian, while Chanda would battle it out with Karen Asrian. In A2, Tania Sachdev was the only Indian to register a win as she trounced Evgenij Kalegin to start her campaign on a winning note. Fellow Indian Tejas Bakre tried his best to outwit Lev Pevner, but had to be satisfied splitting points while Delhi boy Parimarjan Negi went down to Josep Lopez Martinez. In tournament B, Indian Dinesh Sharma earned half point after playing out a drawn match with Konstantin Kostin. —
UNI |
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Roddick, Malisse
advance
Raleigh, February 16 The American would face Arnaud Clement in the second round after the Frenchman defeated Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 7-6, 1-6, 6-1. American Jan-Michael Gambill posted the biggest upset of the day, scoring an impressive 6-0, 6-4 win over fourth seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. Third-seeded American Vince Spadea also advanced, ousting Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist 7-5, 6-2. Xavier Malisse of Belgium, champion of the Delray Beach event earlier this month, also made the second round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber. ROTTERDAM: Tim Henman put injury behind him to carve out a 7-5, 6-4 first-round victory over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer at the World Indoor Tournament. David Nalbandian’s gamble to hone his skills on the indoor circuit backfired when he lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to Czech Radek Stepanek. BRUSSELS: Former world number one Kim Clijsters wasted little time in her comeback from a serious wrist injury, easing past Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic 6-2, 6-3 in the Antwerp Open first round. The Belgian would meet fifth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova in the second round. Petrova beat Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-1. —
Reuters |
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Ijaz, Mongia to lead
Patiala, February 16 Addressing a press conference, Mr Y.S. Ratra, chairman of the organising committee for the one dayer, disclosed that the stadium faced no security threat. He added that the participation of both teams was made possible due to the efforts of Mr Parvez Elahi, Pakistan Punjab CM and his Indian counterpart Capt Amarinder Singh. The teams: Pak Punjab: Ijaz Ahmed (C), Imran Nazir, Naveed Latif, Ali Naqvi, Qalsar Abbas, Kashif Siddique, Kashif Raza, Jaffar Nazir, Zulquarnain Halder (wicket keeper), Fahad Masood, Tariq Masood, Rizwan Akbar, Saqib Irfan (manager). Indian Punjab: Dinesh Mongia (C), Yuvraj Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Pankaj Dharmani, Reetinder Sodhi, Ravneet Rickey, Amit Uniyal, Vineet Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Vipul Sharma, Munish Sharma, Sandeep Sanwal, Ankur Kakkar, Gaurav Gupta and V.R.V. Singh. |
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Jasjeet, Gaganjeet tie for
lead
Chandigarh, February 16 Lying in third position with a score of four-over 148 was Amardip Sinh Malik. Simarjeet Singh, who started the day as the leader, slipped to fourth position at six-over 150. The day’s best score was submitted by Manav Das who returned a card of two-under 70. The cut, which was applied at 21-over 165, resulted in as many as 41 players making it to the final two rounds. Jasjeet was in fine form as he played consistent golf for his score of one-under 71 today. After recording pars on the first 10 holes, he sank a 10-feet putt on the 11th hole to record his first birdie of the day. On the 16th, he created magic yet again on the green as he sank a tough putt from a distance of 12 feet. On the 17th hole however, his luck ran out as he made the only bogey of his round. “I am hitting well and putting even better. The course is in excellent condition and it was a great feeling just being on it today”, remarked the GAIL employee. Meanwhile Gaganjeet Bhullar, who started the day placed second on the leaderboard, climbed up one spot to share the lead with Jasjeet when he repeated his first day’s performance of 73 today. The Kapurthala lad recorded two birdies and three bogeys in his round. His first birdie came on the sixth hole and just when it seemed that he would have an error-free front nine journey he dropped a stroke on the ninth as his putt for par lipped out. He then made two more bogeys on the 10th and 11th. Relief finally came on the 16th hole where he made his second birdie of the day. “I played well but could have done better, I will give it my best shot tomorrow,” said the 16-year old. Two strokes adrift of the leading duo, lying at third place was Meerut’s Amardip Sinh Malik who shot a level-par round of 70 today. Malik played aggressive golf as he birdied four holes — the second, fifth, eighth and 16th. However the effort was negated by some careless work as he dropped shots on the sixth, seventh, 14th and 17th. The weather which had dampened a few spirits on the opening day, was ideal for golf today with bright sunshine greeting the players as they teed off. SCORES (After 36 holes):
146 Jasjeet Singh (75, 71), Gaganjeet Bhullar (73, 73); 148 Amardip Sinh Malik (76, 72); 150 Simarjeet Singh (72, 78); 151 Gagan Verma (76, 75); 152 Manav Das (82, 70), Vikrant Chopra (78, 74), Vikram Rana (75, 77); 153 Navtej Singh (78, 75), Shaurya Singh (74, 79). |
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Camp for Special Olympics
ends
Shimla, February 16 The 16-member Indian floor hockey team, which would participate in the Special Olympics (Winter Games), underwent a six-day training camp, which concluded here today. The team would participate in the Special Olympics Winter Games at Nagano in Japan from February 26 to March 6. The spirit behind holding the games was to provide an opportunity to people with intellectual disability to learn, enjoy and benefit from team sports. “There has been tremendous improvement in the game and overall performance of the team members, as has been indicated in the skill tests we conducted on them today,” informed Charles Borromeo, national sports director for Special Olympics. Hailing from different parts of the country the team members, aged between 13 and 30 years, got to know each other better, which was essential for team coordination and good performance, he added. The participants enjoyed their stay here as they gained a lot from the guidance they received from the coaches. Though the camp was scheduled to be held at Shilaroo, near Theog, due to snowfall and extreme weather conditions, the venue was shifted to the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here. Asian gold medallist in 800 m and Arjuna awardee Borromeo, said India’s performance was excellent even at the last Summer Special Olympics, where a contingent of 81 won 11 medals, including 34 gold. The Olympics were held in Ireland. |
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Islamabad, February 16
Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh has evinced interest in setting up a ‘Cricket City’ on 100-150 acres of land in or around the metropolis.
The project would include a cricket ground, a bungalow, an academy complex and a resort, according to the plan unveiled by the cricketing legend before West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee here yesterday.
Top seed Andy Roddick utilised his booming serve to turn back South Korea’s Lee Hyung-Taik in the first round of the Kroger St Jude ATP Tournament in Memphis yesterday.
The American sent down 11 aces as he eased to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in just 58 minutes.
Jasjeet Singh and Gaganjeet Bhullar played solid golf on the second day of the Royal Challenge Samarvir Sahi Amateur to be tied at the top spot with an identical score of two-over 146 after two days. The event, which forms the 11th leg of the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour, is being played at the par-72 Chandigarh Golf Club.
Lying in third position with a score of four-over 148 was Amardip Sinh Malik.
Simarjeet Singh, who started the day as the leader, slipped to fourth position
at six-over 150.
