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Laxman can be our batting ace: Ganguly
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Special trains for Pak fans
Bindra questions BCCI over TWI
Decision taken “unanimously”
Golf tournament from tomorrow
Narain ready to give his best shot
India fancy chances against China
Chakola ends Pak challenge
Bangladesh tottering at 117 for 6
North take 159-run lead
Awards worth 4 cr for medallists
Chetna Cricket Club win
Complimentary passes: case
adjourned
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Pak prepare for tour opener
Dharamsala, March 2 During the briefing to mediapersons, team coach Bob Woolmer and skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq made it abundantly clear that the current Pakistan squad might be short on experience vis-a-vis the Indians, but they certainly would not be found wanting on account of hard work, intensity and enthusiasm. These were the qualities which would stand them in good stead during the 50-day tour, they added. “The guys are playing under me for nearly two years. They are all very hard working and committed to produce the desired results,” Inzamam said, shrugging off all criticism regarding the relative inexperience of his players. “They played well in Australia and gave a good fight to the Australians. I am confident of their abilities,” he said. Pakistan lost the three-Test series to the mighty Australians during the tour last month. The young Pakistan team lost the one-day series also, but not before putting up a spirited fight. The burly batsman from Multan was also dismissive of the absence of tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. “He is injured. Without him we have played well in the past and my team will try to do the same here,” a curt Inzamam stated. Inzamam, the batting mainstay of Pakistan along with former vice-captain Yousuf Youhana and vice-captain Younis Khan, was under fire for his captaincy recently and some of his detractors wanted him to be removed from captaincy for the crucial tour against India. Cool to all such talk, Inzamam looked focused on the job at hand. On the reports suggesting that the current Pakistan team was the weakest team ever to visit India, Inzamam replied that his team not as inexperienced as it was being made out to be. To a question regarding the series being crucial to him as his future as captain, Inzamam replied that even the when India visited Pakistan last year, similar speculations were being raised, but nothing happened. “Had I won the previous series in Australia, it would have been very gratifying for me as a captain,” he observed. Mohammad Kaif, Board President’s XI skipper, stated that the match was a golden opportunity for the youngsters who had been performing so well for some time now to do well. On his exclusion from the first Test, scheduled to get under way at Mohali from March 8, Kaif replied: “A little disappointed, to be honest.” “In my comeback games I did reasonably well. But I have confidence in my abilities. I am sure selectors know what they are doing. They are the best judge. Hopefully, I will get the nod,” said the wiry and supremely fit Kaif, a permanent member of the one-day squad. About the three-day match slated to get under way tomorrow, Kaif replied: “I do not think I need to prove myself. My form has been good during the season. But all games are important and I am keen to well in this match. I want to score more runs and get better”. The three-day contest starting in the picturesque stadium with snow-clad mountains forming the backdrop promises an exciting contests between a team too keen to get into the groove straightway for the sterner tests ahead and the one comprising youngsters who have done well in the domestic circuit. The likes of Neeraj Patel, Y. Venugopalan Rao, Delhi’s 19-year-old opener Shikhar Dhawan and Satyajit Parab will be too keen to continue their good work with the bat, while for seamers S.S. Paul, Gagandeep Singh, R.P. Singh and Ranadev Bose it is an opportunity to make further progress while watching the likes of Mohammad Sami and Abdul Razzak in action. Board President’s XI Team will by announced tomorrow. Saleem Altaf, former fast bowler and the manger of the Pakistan team, revealed that the players who were likely to play the Mohali Test would be given the opportunity to warm up during the match here.
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Kaneria has a lot of potential: Woolmer
Dharamsala, March 2 “He is a bit different then traditional leg-spinners. He has so much of variation to deceive at his disposal,” Woolmer said. The former South African coach, under whom his team became one of the top teams in the world, said Kaneria had a well-disguised googly. Kaneria, who after Anil Dalpat was only the second Hindu to play international cricket for Pakistan, was expected to do the bulk of bowling to rein in the strong batting line-up. Kaneria was aware of the responsibility and had said before the start of the series that he was looking forward to start his battle with the Indian batsmen and try do his best to ensure victory for his side. Woolmer, however, cautioned against too much expectations from the bowler. “We should not put too much pressure on the bowler. This may have an adverse effect on his bowling,” he said. Kaneria had taken 102 wickets in 23 Test matches. He had made rapid strides as a leg-spinner and during the recent tour Down Under he was fairly successful. The 25-year-old leggie would be required to bowl long spells on Indian wickets, which gave certain assistance to slow bowlers. Woolmer, the astute coach who was the first to introduce laptops to pinpoint the weaknesses of the rival teams, said Arshad Khan, the off-spinner on a comeback, would assist Kaneria. The coach felt that the current Pakistani squad was brimming with talented players and if coached properly, they had it in them to be world beaters. The picturesque cricket stadium in the lap of snow-laden Dhauladhar hills seemed to have caught the fancy of Woolmer. “When completed, it will be one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world,” he observed. “I am not too sure whether the wicket will be as hard as the one in Mohali. But the stadium looks great.” he said.
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Laxman can be our batting ace: Ganguly
London, March 2 “All the players are good, but in this series, I back V.V.S. Laxman. My feeling is that he is going to get a lot of runs,” said the captain, ahead of the series beginning next week. Ganguly did not agree with his Pakistani counterpart Inzamam-ul-Haq’s assertion that pressure would be on India to perform well at home. “Irrespective of whether the two neighbours play in India or Pakistan, England, South Africa, wherever — pressure is equal on both teams,” he told a BBC Hindi and Urdu joint programme last night. Asked to comment on the views of many former Pakistan players that their team was weakened by the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and some other players, Ganguly said: “It has become a system in the sub-continent, where own people like to speak against their team. When we went to Australia, someone had said the Aussies would win 3-0 or 4-0. It is a problem of the sub-continent. The results are there for all to see.” On Mohammad Kaif being dropped from the team at the expense of Yuvraj Singh, Ganguly said: “I do not want to discuss Yuvraj and Kaif. Both are good players.” — PTI
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Special trains for Pak fans
Chandigarh, March 2 Sources said that the proposed trains would run between Attari and Chandigarh on March 6 and 7 and between Chandigarh and Attari on March 12 and 13. The journey between Lahore and Attari is expected to be coordinated by the Pakistan government. Till late on Wednesday evening, Northern Railways had not received any notification to run the trains. Sources in the Railway Ministry told TNS that the railway only has to ensure availability of the rake to run the trains in both directions. Punjab Cricket Association President, I.S. Bindra said that cricket lovers from Pakistan who have bought tickets for the match will now have the option to travel by bus or train. Match tickets sold by the PCA are priced at $ 35 and include travel from Wagah to Chandigarh and back. About 10,000 cricket enthusiasts from Pakistan are expected to travel to Mohali to watch the match and cheer their players. The PCA said that about 4000 visas had been issued till Wednesday evening. |
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Dubai, March 2 The youngster spent those holidays honing a power-packed game — one which enabled her to become the first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour title last month and this week to beat US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. It has vaulted her onto the front pages in her homeland but despite the frenzied praise the teenager remains firmly grounded. She had never set out to become a millionaire tennis star, merely fell in love with her hobby. “Maybe if I was a guy I would be playing cricket,” she told Reuters earlier this week. “My parents were always very sports-minded. They never wanted me to play tennis professionally, but they wanted their child to play a sport, whatever it was. “I used to go swimming and passed the tennis courts every day, and that’s how it started. My mum said ‘Why don’t you play tennis in your summer holidays because you have nothing to do except swim for an hour or whatever?’, and that’s how I started playing. “And tennis just suited my style and personality.” It is not uncommon for the Tour’s leading lights to wax lyrical about the strength of their forehand or serve or tactical acumen, but Mirza is disarmingly honest about her strengths and weaknesses. “To be honest, I’m not that fast on my feet,” she said. “But I have amazing timing on the ball which is why, although I’m not that strong, I still hit the ball harder than most of the players on the circuit. Asked if she had put in some special preparation in the lead-up to this event, Sania, currently ranked 98, said, “I do not have any special preparation, I just go out and play my natural game. Inshallah (God willing) tomorrow also I will be able to play good tennis.” Sania, who created history by becoming the first Indian to win a WTA title in Hyderabad last month, picked 35 WTA points after her win in the first round here against world number 34 Jelena-Kostanic of Croatia and after her giantkilling act of the second round, she is all set to move into 60s in the rankings. Having started the year around the 168-mark, it has been a remarkable run for the teenager who became the first Indian woman ever to make it to the second round of a Grand Slam during the Australia Open in January this year. — Reuters, PTI
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Bindra questions BCCI over TWI
Mumbai, March 2 Dismissing the press note issued on behalf of the board yesterday after its emergency working committee meeting in Delhi as “total misrepresentation and distortion of decisions”, he said he could not understand “how and when the decision was taken to accept the production offer of TWI and (at) what rate”. He said there were three other offers, including the lowest one from Nimbus, and the committee had authorised the BCCI chief to take a decision on the matter. “The press note saying the decision was taken unanimously by the working committee is inaccurate because we had only authorised the president to negotiate with both parties and take a decision keeping in view the cost of the production so as to ensure that we maximise our revenue and minimise our expenditure in terms of cost of production and revenue generated,” Bindra said in a letter to BCCI chief Ranbir Singh Mahendra. Bindra, also said the person who had issued the press note had “done a great disservice to the working committee and its members” by misrepresenting facts. “As regards production (right) was concerned I had specifically pointed out about the three offers received. The lowest offer was of Nimbus and it was a specific and unambiguous offer categorically stating that production for live coverage for the upcoming series would significantly exceed the specifications laid down in the BCCI tender document of August 2004 and the total charges of production was $ 1,290,000,” Bindra said. Bindra refuted the part of the press note which said, “The President of the BCCI was authorised to decide upon the satellite overseas rights of the series on the basis of the received offer”. “This is totally inaccurate and in contravention of the unanimous decision which was to invite open offers within 48 hours from overseas satellite and terrestrial channels as well as reputed marketing companies for sale of overseas rights,” he said. Bindra also dismissed the statement that the Working Committee did not agree with Prasar Bharati’s views with regard to the Indian terrestrial and satellite rights. “The clear and unambiguous decision was to give terrestrial rights to Doordarshan and President was authorised to negotiate either minimum amount or a sharing formula where the agency for marketing would be decided by the BCCI on the basis of offers to be invited,” Bindra said. “It was further unanimously resolved by the working committee that as regards satellite rights for India, we should invite offers from Doordarshan Sports, Set Max and Ten Sports, the three satellite channels operating in India,” Bindra said. “This decision was taken in the light of the orders of the Madras High Court, which specifically prohibits Zee TV network and ESPN-Star Sports for being the vehicle for the signal produced by BCCI,” Bindra said. He also wondered why there was no mention of his charge that the BCCI had lost Rs 300 crore or more due to the television rights wrangle while noting that Niranjan Shah of the Saurashtra Cricket Association was capable enough to clarify whether he had apologised to the working committee or not for having raised the same issue through another letter. “Para 5 makes a mention about Niranjan Shah expressing a regret. I will not like to comment on anything about Mr Shah because he is capable of defending himself,” he said. “However, I will like to mention that when Mr Dalmiya referred to my letter wherein I had mentioned the loss of Rs 300 crore and more, I categorically stated that I stand by my statement. Strangely enough, no mention is made. Whosoever has issued the press note, in my opinion, has done a great disservice to the working committee and its members. I have no doubt it was done without your (Mahendra’s) clearance,” Bindra said. “In the light of the above, I will request you to clarify the matter forthwith and inform the public and the members about the correct decisions,” the letter added. — PTI
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Decision taken “unanimously”
Chandigarh, March 2 Reacting to a letter from former Board chief I.S. Bindra which has dismissed the media release issued on behalf of the BCCI in Delhi yesterday as “total misrepresentation and distortion of decisions,” Ranbir Singh categorically said that there had not been any discrepancies in awarding the rights. “Why did Bindra not talk to me yesterday when we were both booked on the same flight to Chandigarh,” he said, adding he was not aware of any such letter sent by Bindra. Ranbir Singh said that the Board’s decision in awarding the rights to TWI was “unanimous”. On being asked to comment on the official protest by a bidder Nimbus Sport who claimed that their bid of $ 1.29 million was the lowest received by the BCCI, he said “whatever was decided by the Board is in everybody’s knowledge and all facts have been cleared at a press conference at Delhi yesterday”. On Nimbus accusing an unnamed Board member of misleading its Working Committee (on the rights issue), he said “this is 100 per cent lies”.
— PTI |
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Golf tournament from tomorrow
New Delhi, March 2 This year, the tournament teed off with the Kolkata round in November, followed by the Bangalore event in December and the Mumbai round in January. The two-day championship will witness the country's best golfing CEOs come together with the top golfing professionals. The event, started in 1995, has established itself as the premier Pro-Am in the country. Pavan Varshnei, publishing director of Business Today, said here today that big names like Vijay Chauhan, Harsh Mariwala, Rana Kapoor, Bharat Patel, Ashok Kumar, Ali Sher, Rohtas Singh, Digvijay Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Arjun Singh would participate in the championship.
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Narain ready to give his best shot
Melbourne, March 2 The Indian role model has made critics in Euroe, not happy with his signing, tone down with his work ethics and decent results. He has also lived up to Jordan’s sorting director Trevor Carlin’s faith by clocking the best time for his team during testing in Barcelona last week. “This is my first visit of any kind to Australia. So far, the circuit looks quite dirty, but I think it is not too difficult to learn and it is going to be okay. I am looking forward to it,” Karthikeyan said. “It is a steep learning curve as a rookie, but I am up to the challenge and I will give my best shot,” the 28-year-old said. Karthikeyan got a call to race in F-1 following a string of impressive performances in the last few seasons. After winning the Formula Asia Championship in 1996 with a host of records and being the only Indian and Asian driver to win this Championship, Karthikeyan entered the British Formula 3 championship. In 2002, he started racing in Formula Nissan World Series as well as in the FIA GT Championship. Racing alongside Karthikeyan on Sunday would be Tiago Monteiro from Oporto, Portugal, who started his career in the Porsche Carrera Cup in 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he entered the French F3 Championship, where he raced very successfully. After one season in Champ Car World Series, he decided to return to Europe and race in the Nissan World Series, where he finished second in the championship with five race wins with Carlin Motorsport. He was also awarded the Rookie of the Year prize. — PTI
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India fancy chances against China
New Delhi, March 2 He said he would be “completely loving” the experience, and was looking forward to a clean sweep against the visitors. Leander said when it comes to Davis Cup, reputation can take quite a beating and rankings go crashing out of the window as in match situations the players tend to forget what they have learned on the practice courts, as the pressure would be immense. But he would be looking to deal with such a situation against the Chinese, and wrap up the tie in the shortest possible time, what with the mercury soaring in Delhi. Indian coach Nandan Bal, a former Davis Cupper himself, is not worried about the final outcome of the tie, which he emphatically states that would be in favour of the hosts. It’s not only the formidable strength of the squad that favours India, but also the surface as the Chinese are not very adept on grass courts. The centre court at the RK Khanna Stadium of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association complex has been shaped into a billiards-top surface to suit the aggressive serve-and-volley games of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Prakash Amritraj. Though Prakash Amritraj and Harsh Mankad have been playing mostly on hard courts for the past few months, they have got adapted to the surface quickly after their practice sessions at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) courts in New Delhi for the past couple of days. The NSCI has spent over Rs 6 lakh to spruce up the courts at no expense to the All India Tennis Association, thanks to the initiative of its president Subhash Chopra, who is a great tennis fan, to give the perfect practice
facilities to Leander and company. Nandan Bal observed that there has been a marked improvement in their game, which looks sharp, after playing at the NSCI courts. The tie is likely to be settled on the first two days as there will be no stopping Leander and Mahesh in the singles and doubles. The Chinese can only hope to breach the guard of either Prakash Amritraj or Harsh Mankad in the lost rubber, or at the most extend India in opening singles match against the weaker Indian player. There is “no-go” for the visitors in the doubles as Leander and Mahesh stand tall, and cannot be conquered by the Chinese, not by a long shot. |
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Chakola ends Pak challenge
New Delhi, March 2 In the other contests that went on to play-off, Md Siddikur of Bangladesh triumphed over Delhi’s Chirag Kumar while Chandigarh’s Karanjeet Singh ousted Manas Das of Ambala, the winner of the all-India amateur title. In other key matches, top-ranked amateur Gaganjeet Bhullar advanced to the pre-quarterfinal with a comfortable 5 and 4 win over Sanjeev Singh. Three-time winner of the Sri Lankan amateur title, Simarjeet Singh, and Gagan Verma of Delhi, due to face each other in the next round, conquered their opponents D.S. Khullar and Wilfred Paul, respectively, with identical scores of 5 and 3. Meanwhile, K.A. Chandradasa of Sri Lanka, the only other foreign player left in the draw, triumphed over 13-year-old Pan Chun Tsung of China. In two other matches, veteran Sanjeev Talwar defeated 21-year-old Manav Jain while Vinay Goel scored 4 and 3 victory over teenager Raj Randhawa. |
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Bangladesh tottering at 117 for 6
New Delhi, March 2 Central Zone, who were bowled out for 351 in the first essay, piled on the humiliation on the visitors, who suffered yet another batting collapse. Bangladesh, playing with almost their national team, had failed to reach even 200 in both the innings of their opening match against East Zone last week, which they had lost by an innings in Nagpur. Bangladesh had a shocking start to their innings when the openers were back in pavilion by the second over itself with the side yet to open its account. Al Shahriar fell in the last ball of the first over bowled by Harbinder Singh when his edge was brilliantly taken in the third slip by Amit Pagnis. A ball later, Nafees Iqbal followed his partner back to the dressing room after being trapped leg before by Salabh Srivatsava. Aftab Ahmed (18) and captain Mohammed Ashraful (30) tried to stem the rot by adding 52 runs for the third wicket before Central skipper J.P. Yadav (3-29) removed the duo and Alok Kapali to put the pressure back on Bangladesh. — PTI |
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Indore, March 2 North Zone started well, with openers Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir adding 118 runs for the first wicket, which ended when Sehwag was scalped by Sunil Joshi. A brilliant knock of 110 runs from Yuvraj Singh and Sehwag’s 79 runs from 57 deliveries took North Zone to a strong position. Balaji took five wickets for South Zone. Earlier South Zone were bowled out for 338 runs in the morning session. South Zone resumed on 327 runs for nine wickets and could add only 11 runs to their overnight total. Ashish Nehra took four wickets for North Zone. At the end of the second day’s play, Amit Mishra was batting on 60 and Amit Bhandari on 64. — UNI
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Awards worth 4 cr for medallists
New Delhi, March 2 With Sania Mirza, who had won Rs 20,000 for silver in the Uzbekistan edition of the Senior Asian Tennis Championship, also away participating in the Dubai Open, the ceremony, in which Sports Minister Sunil Dutt gave away the prizes, missed two of its biggest stars. Two hundred and fifty eight sportspersons were awarded a total of Rs 4 crore at the glittering ceremony organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Shooter Mansher Singh won Rs 10,00,000 for four gold while Ronak Pandit and Manavjit Singh Sandhu won Rs 6,79,998 and Rs 6 lakh, respectively. Suma Shirur won Rs 4,33,333 for one silver in the 10th Asian Shooting Championship. Asian chess championship silver medallist S. Meenakshi won a purse of Rs 6,50,000 and Dronavalli Harika bagged Rs 5,60,000 for two gold and one bronze in the calendar. Koneru Humpy was another big name at the awards. She won Rs 30,000 for her gold in the Asian Commonwealth Chess Championship for Women, in Mumbai. Sixtynine chess players received the special awards. The national kabaddi team which lifted the inaugural World Cup took home Rs 60 lakh (Rs 5,00,000 for every man). Each member of the women’s hockey team to win the 5th Asia Cup in February last year won an award of Rs 1,50,000 and each of those in the bronze-winning team in the 4th Women’s Junior Asia Cup won Rs 30,000. Subhadra Pradhan was a part of both contingents. Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghoshal in squash and Achinta Sharath Kamal in table tennis won Rs 4,50,000 each. Geeta Rani (weightlifting) won Rs 5 lakh while Nitin Mongia (yatching) bagged Rs 6 lakh for his Asian Shooting Championship gold. — UNI
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Chetna Cricket Club win
Kharar, March 2 In the second match of the tournament Nanua Cricket Club, Kharar beat the XCC, Panchkula by seven wickets. A.P. Singh of Chetna Club and Anmol of Nanua Club were awarded man of the match awards in their respective matches. CHANDIGARH
KARATE TRIALS: Trials to select Chandigarh boys and girls karate team for the North India sub-junior, junior and senior National Karate Championship would be held at DAV Senior Secondary School, on March 6, at 9 am here. The championship would be held at Faridabad from March 28 to 30. It would be organised by Haryana State Karate -Do- Association. SELECTION TRIALS: The Chandigarh Hockey Association would held trials for the selection of Chandigarh hockey team at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium, on March 4 at 3 pm. The team would participate in 61st Senior Hockey Championship to be organised by the AP Hockey Association from March 16 to 29 at Hyderabad. The final team would be announced a day before its departure for Hyderabad. |
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Complimentary passes: case
adjourned
Kharar, March 2 On February 28, the court had issued notice to the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) following a case filed by Mr Arvind Thakur, president of the Federation of Lawyers against Corruption. The Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Ms Poonam Ratti, had asked the PCA to file a reply in the case by today. Today the plaintiff moved two applications in the court. One requested the court to direct Mr I.S. Bindra, president of the association to ensure good facilities to the match spectators especially during entry to the stadium where scuffles and quarrels take place. In the second application, the plaintiff requested that a local observer be appointed by the court to ensure that no one is watching the match on complimentary passes. Representing the PCA, Mr Rajesh Gupta sought time to file his reply and the case was adjourned till March 4. There was no stay on the issuing of complimentary passes by the PCA, said Mr Gupta. In his application, Mr Thakur had urged the court to restrain the PCA from issuing the complimentary passes for the forthcoming cricket match as it amounted to corruption. A large number of complimentary passes amounting to thousands of rupees each were being distributed among bureaucrats, politicians and other influential persons, which inconvenienced the ticket buyers. Terming the distribution of passes as a corrupt practice under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the application alleged that taking anything beyond legal remuneration by the officials and politicians amounted to illegal gratification. The PCA, in turn, expected pecuniary benefits from the beneficiaries of the complimentary passes, it alleged. |
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