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Sehwag wants India to post 500-plus total
Turning Point
Saqlain was not handled properly: lntikhab
Dungarpur favours CEO for BCCI
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Weather to remain unsparing
Jeevreet wins best cyclist title
at PTU
meet
Draw dashes Anand’s hopes
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Sehwag wants India to post 500-plus total
Mohali, March 9 Showing no emotions whatsoever and dispatching the queries with utmost ease, Sehwag was his usual self. “We would like to bat for five or six sessions more so that we have enough runs on the board and bring the opponents under pressure,” was Sehwag’s curt reply when asked what the team strategy would be when the play starts tomorrow. Asked to define specifically total India would like to put on the board, Delhi batsman said: “Between 500 to 600 runs. I would try to score runs at a brisk pace tomorrow.”
Sehwag was at his belligerent best during the earlier part of his innings and completed his 50 facing 49 balls during which he hit seven fours, his typical slash over the third man fence for a six off seamer Naved-ul Hasan being his best shot. Sehwag grew circumspect after completing his half century. When close to the three-figure mark, he uncharacteristically eschewed all flashiness and looked content to play safe. Asked about the reason, the flamboyant batsman explained that he was keen to be extra careful not to lose his wicket. “I want to bat throughout the day tomorrow. I do not want to throw my wicket so that the team does not come under unnecessary pressure,” he stated. Sehwag referred to his masterful innings in Melbourne when he, batting on 195, lost his wicket attempting to complete his maiden double century with a six. Sehwag took the aerial route and lost his wicket. The team suffered a batting collapse and was all out for 330 runs. “I do not want to see it happen again,” he stated. Sehwag had his share of luck as he was dropped twice during the entertaining knock. Asked to comment on the dropped catches, he said he would like to make best use of the opportunity provided. Asked if the absence of world’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s helped the team, he stated that it was not the case. “Pakistan have some good bowlers like Danish Kaneria, Rana Naved and Razzak in their rank. But they did not put the ball on right spot.” Asked about the Mohali wicket, he said that the wicket was good. The ball was coming on to bat nicely. There was help for bowlers, who pitched the ball on the right spot. The outfield was very quick which helped the batsmen in scoring a lot of boundaries. Sehwag denied that he was giving any tips to his batting partner and state team-mate Gautam Gambhir. “We were just concentrating the ball on merit,” he said. About to comment on the 100-run stand with Gambhir, Sehwag stated that he had been involved with such partnerships with Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar earlier. Sehwag and Gambhir played in the typical one-day fashion and completed the 100-run stand in 101 balls in 15.5 overs.
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Pakistan will rue
dropped catches
Abhijit Chatterjee
The
two dropped catches of India’s opening batsman Virender Sehwag could well be the turning point of the second day of play of the first Test between India and Pakistan at the PCA Stadium at Mohali on Wednesday. And as the game unfolds over the next three days, the visitors could well rue what would have happened if they had held their chances.
Pakistani paceman Mohammad Sami induced an edge of Sehwag when he was 15 and the Indians were 22. Taufiq Umar standing at second slip failed to hold on at what was a regulation catch at this level of the game. Catches win matches and the Pakistanis failed to hold on to their chances. With the weather conditions ideal for the new ball bowlers, a breakthrough for the visitors at this stage of the Indian innings would have forced India on the backfoot. But that was not to be. And Sehwag has already made the Pakistanis pay heavily for the mistake. He has so far been very severe on all the Pakistani bowlers He along with Gautam Gambhir gave India an explosive start. In the first 50 minutes’ of play possible before the tea break, the Indians scored 67 runs at the rate of 6.7 in 11 overs. Had Taufiq held on one knows for sure that the Indian score would not have been 184 for one by the close of play. First Sehwag would have been back in the pavilion and this would slowed down the scoring rate as the later Indian batsmen would have been circumspect of the Pakistan bowling. And who knows how the pressure of losing the wicket of Sehwag would have acted on the minds of the other Indian batsmen. And the visitors would not have been so dejected as they were at the end of the day. Sehwag got his second life on 82 when he edged Danish Kaneria while attempting an expansive drive, but Younis Khan put down a simple catch. The Indian total then was 157 for one. A wicket here would have helped the Pakistani cause. Sehwag, playing in his 32nd Test, did not show any sign of panic after getting the first life, or for that matter the second, and went on hitting the bowlers without any fuss. A nervous Inzamam-ul-Haq brought in Abdul Razzaq. Sehwag hit him for three fours — one to midwicket, one to extra cover and the last one a classic straight drive. The murderous assault launched by Sehwag also inspired Gautam Gambhir, who hit Sami through the covers. It was a classic drive executed in copybook style. And given the strength of the Indian batting line-up, the trouble of the Pakistanis is far from over. |
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Saqlain was not handled properly: lntikhab
Mohali, March 9 “There are very few spinners in the world who have the ability to bowl ‘doosra’. But they were never as successful as Saqlain.,” a candid Alam revealed. Continuing further, he said: “Saqlain started bowling ‘doosra’ too often. This was his wicket-taking delivery but soon lost his way as he was plagued by injury also. Had he stuck to bowling his off-spin he would have still been playing for Pakistan,” the coach of the 1992 World Cup-winning team said. Not the one to mince words, the soft-spoken coach, when asked to comment about Bob Woolmer as coach, said: “After one year, the team does not have the right combination. The team has so many talented players. But most of them, except for Asim Kamal, do not move their feet while batting,” he observed. Praising middle-order batsman Kamal, who rescued Pakistan scoring 91 in the first innings, Alam said he was a compact batsman and should be groomed for number 3 batting slot. About team composition, Alam observed that it was like putting pieces at the right places in a jigsaw. Otherwise, right result would never be produced, he said. “A coach is always judged by the results he produces,” he said. Alam, a wily leg-spinner in his time, was all praise for young leg-spinner Danish Kaneria. "He is a very talented player but I would like him to bowl more side on.” "He and Anil Kumble are different in the respect that he spins a bit more than the Indian match-winner. But he has the temperament to be an extremely good leg-spinner in years to come", Alam said. Alam singled out Australian spinner Shane Warne for special praise. Alam blamed faulty coaching for the menace of chucking. “This is a dangerous trend which should not be encouraged,” he added. Former Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore, who was also present, showed her preference for Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid as the best player in the Indian side. “Rahul Dravid is the best player in the side,” she said. Sharmila, wife of former Indian skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, when asked who her favourite Pakistan player was, replied that Pakistan were a new side. She said she was more interested in the longer version of the game and was there in Mohali to see good Test cricket. “I belong to Kolkata, where people are mad about cricket,” she said.
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Dungarpur favours CEO for BCCI
Chandigarh, March 9 And for Indian cricket to become really professional there was immediate need to appoint a chief executive officer (CEO) to run Indian cricket. According to Mr Raj Singh, who still took very active interest in Indian cricket and was associated with the running of the National Cricket Academy, the CEO should have adequate knowledge of law, cricket, administration and finance. And to further help him in running the affairs of Indian cricket, the BCCI should appoint a cricket committee consisting of former players to help and advise him. The former board president wondered why the BCCI could not have a CEO when small countries like Bangladesh and Zimbambwe had appointed CEOs to administer cricket activities in their countries. The appointment of a CEO would in no way dilute the powers of the president, secretary or other office-bearers of the BCCI. But since all of them were working in honorary capacities, it would be better to have a professional at the helm of affairs on a day-to-day basis. See how Australian cricket had benefited ever since the Australian cricket board had appointed a CEO, he remarked. Mr Raj Singh was in consonance with the proposal first made by the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra, that the BCCI should try to have a television channel of its own to telecast cricket matches. Mr Bindra, himself a former president of the board, was largely responsible to bringing private parties in the telecast of cricket matches in India. Mr Ranbir Singh, the current president of the BCCI, said here yesterday that the BCCI working committee would discuss the proposal of having a dedicated board channel at the appropriate time. Mr Raj Singh said India had all the ingredients to put a specialised cricket channel in place. The technical knowhow, the commentators and the cameramen were all available in the country. All that was needed was the willingness to get the channel going.
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Weather to remain unsparing
Chandigarh, March 9 And for those who chose to dismiss today’s downpour as another freak occurrence in the ongoing chain of unpredictable weather changes, here is another piece of “disheartening news”. Weathermen have predicted a cloudy sky tomorrow and the day after. They have also not ruled out spells of rain throughout the day. The sky will thus remain overcast, much to the displeasure of thousands of fans from across as well as within the border, who have converged at Mohali to show what “cricket revelry” is all about.
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Central need 141 to win
Nagpur, March 9 Central, who dismissed North for 169 in their second innings, were yet to open their account.
— PTI |
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Jeevreet wins best cyclist title
at PTU
meet Fatehgarh Sahib, March 9 The college team comprises
Gagandeep Singh. Harmandeep Singh, Karanbir Singh and Jeevpreet Singh
and it won five gold medals and one silver medal. The Director, Sports
of college, Dr D.S. Seerha, said Jeevreet Singh won two golds in 1000
metre and 4000 metre individual and two golds and one silver in team
events to win the best cyclist title. |
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Draw dashes Anand’s hopes
Linares, March 9 The draw put Anand almost out of championship race as Russian Gary Kasparov took a decisive step forward for his ninth title here after crushing Britain’s Michael Adams. Kasparov moved to a near unassailable score of 7.5 points out of a possible 10 and was now virtually assured of the title.
— PTI |
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Mohali, March 9
Indian cricket must become totally professional if it has to improve the way it has over the years, specially over the past decade. This was the view of Mr Raj Singh
Dungarpur, a former president of the BCCI, who was at the PCA Stadium in Mohali today to watch the proceedings of the first Test between India and Pakistan.
