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Chance for India to redeem themselves
Shiv Sena forms ‘suicide squads’ to disrupt ODI
BCCI TV channel may hit a goldmine
Vincent’s double ton puts Kiwis on top
Lou Vincent of New Zealand plays a shot during the third day’s play of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Wellington on Wednesday. |
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South Africa win second Test
4th Chess Oscar for Anand
Digvijay fires 69, emerges leader
Bhupathi, Paes enter second round in doubles
CGF concedes India’s demand
BSF lift Beighton Cup
12 take part in vintage car rally
Aussie club to play in Dharamsala
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Chance for India to redeem themselves
Kanpur, April 13 The lush green stadium, located just about 100 metres from the bank of river Ganga in the industrial city here, has been known for favouring the Indian cricketers at most of the times. India have played eight matches at the stadium, out of which, they have been triumphant on six occasions and have lost the other two matches. Facing suspension by the ICC for slow overrate, Indian skipper
Sourav Ganguly always had a good run at the pitch here and all the four matches played under his captaincy at the stadium were won by the Indian team. Only four Indian batsmen, including master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar, have the record of hitting a century at this field. Sachin hit a ton off just 89 balls, including seven sixes, here against Australia in 1998. The Green Park pitch has always been found to have been in favour the team losing the toss in the earlier matches played here. In fact seven times, the teams losing the toss have won here while only twice, the toss-winning team emerged victorious. However, the team batting first has won five times while those batting second have won the match four times. The Indian team has registered win at the Green Park against Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe and Australia while it has also been defeated once by
the West Indies and Sri Lanka. During the first one-day international played at the stadium in 1986, India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka when chasing the latter's score of 195 runs, the host team was toppled at a paltry score of 78. This has also been the minimum score ever recorded at the ground. Better known for favouring the batsmen, the Green Park proved a victory turf for the Indian players in 1989, when they defeated England in a thrilling tie by six wickets. During the match, India had scored 259 runs, which is the highest score at the ground till date. Indian bowler Chetan Sharma played a historic innings as he led the Indian team to victory by hitting a four on the first ball of the 49th over and also by completing his only century of his one-day cricket career here. In 1993, India defeated Sri Lanka on the ground, but only next year, lost to West Indies by 46 runs. However, India won the next four matches at the ground. During the World Cup match in 1996, India trampled Zimbabwe by 40 runs, while registering victory over Australia in the Pepsi Cup series in 1998. In 2000 and 2002, the hosts again defeated Zimbabwe and England, respectively, and maintained their winning record at the Green Park.
— UNI |
Kolkata, April 13 "Ganguly has decided to appeal against the decision," sources close to the skipper told PTI. Ganguly decided to prefer an appeal against the ban given by match referee Chris Broad after a lengthy meeting with former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya during the day. Ganguly headed straight for Dalmiya's business office after he flew in here this afternoon. Sources close to Dalmiya said that efforts were on to rope in former West Bengal Chief Minister and legal luminary S S Ray as Ganguly's counsel. Ray had successfully defended Ganguly in November in an appeal after the cricketer had been served a two-Test ban by ICC match referee Clive Lloyd for the Indian team's slow overrate in the BCCI platinum jubilee match against Pakistan. "Ganguly will file the appeal today itself. We are yet to receive any official communication from the ICC. But the fax is expected any time," sources close to the cricketer said. Ganguly's legal team would argue that under clause CI for slow over rate, no one could be punished with a ban for level 2 and 3 offences. "This was our main legal premise in November along with some additional points. We intend to follow the same course this time also," they said. The Indian skipper was banned after his team was found guilty of slow over rate for the second successive match prompting the match referee to book him for level-3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct. As per the provisions of the clause, the penalty could be a ban between two to four Test matches and four to eight one-dayers. Ganguly has been penalised 70 per cent of his match fee for a level 2 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct after his side committed the same offence in the previous one-day match against Pakistan at Jamshedpur. As per the ICC Code, any repetition of any particular level-2 breach within a 12 month period automatically made it a level 3 offence.
— PTI |
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Ganguly did not heed the warning, says Chris Broad
London, April 13 “I made Ganguly aware of the potential penalties at the previous hearing and it is unfortunate that this warning was not heeded,’’ Broad said. “This is the second match in succession that India has not bowled its overs within the required time-frame and no excuse was offered by the captain,’’ he added. Chris Broad found Ganguly in breach of Clause C1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game on the basis of time wasting in relation to
India's over rate. Ganguly was penalised for India’s slow over rate. As this is his second breach of this provision within 12 months, the penalty is automatically upgraded from Level 2 to a Level 3 breach under the ICC Code. In addition to the ban, Ganguly, as captain, was fined 30 per cent of his match fee for the slow over rate. The other Indian players were fined 15 per cent of their match fees. — UNI |
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Cricket fans create ruckus Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 13 Postponement of the sale of tickets for the sixth one-day international between India and Pakistan, to be organised here on April 17, today led to uproarious scenes in front of the Central Bank of India at Parliament Street here, which was one of the outlets. Hundreds of fans, who had been camping since early morning, were greeted by a board as soon as it opened that tickets would not be sold today as these had not been made available to it by the Delhi District Cricket Association. The fans almost went berserk before police personnel came from the Parliament Street police station nearby and were joined by Rapid Action Force personnel.
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Shiv Sena forms ‘suicide squads’ to disrupt ODI
New Delhi, April 13 Delhi Shiv Sena president Jai Bhagwan Goel, who yesterday threatened to dig up the pitch, said the five squads would be led by the office-bearers of the party. “We are determined to not allow the match. The suicide squads will enter the stadium undeterred by the elaborate security,” said Mr Goel, whose unit had dug up the same pitch during the tour of the Pakistan cricket team in 1999. He said the Shiv Sena had set up a special training camp for the members of the ‘suicide squads’. “Their brief is to enter the stadium at any cost and disrupt the match,” he said. Each ‘suicide squad’ would comprise 25 Shiv Sainiks and they would be led by Dharmendra Kumar Bedi (Delhi), Suresh Sharma (Haryana), Rupesh Bhatla, president of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena’s Delhi unit, Jaiprakash Baghel and Surendra Puri (both from Delhi). Mr Goel said the Shiv Sena would not allow cricket matches between India and Pakistan unless the neighbouring country took steps to end cross-border terrorism. Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf would be watching the Delhi one-day international along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “General Musharraf is not merely coming to watch the match, but to discuss the Kashmir issue,” said Mr Goel. “This is a clear indication of his intentions,” he said. —
UNI |
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BCCI TV channel may hit a goldmine
New Delhi, April 13 Punjab Cricket Association president Indrajit Singh Bindra and Rajasthan Cricket Association president Lalit Modi, with the concurrence of the Working Committee of the BCCI, has prepared a feasibility report on the BCCI TV Channel, which has been circulated to all the 30 members of the BCCI for their reaction. Mr Bindra, a former BCCI president and Mr Modi, the newly-elected chief of Rajasthan cricket, releasing the feasibility report here today, said BCCI starting its own television channel was an idea and a dream which was discussed during the last Working Committee meeting of the BCCI in Delhi a few weeks ago, before going ahead with preparing a
feasibility report. They said the study has revealed that Indian cricket has the "potential to fund and sustain infrastructure and capacity building across India, right upto the grass-root levels". "The introduction of a global 24-hour pay channel devoted exclusively to cricket will fuel the fortunes of Indian cricket", Mr Bindra elaborated. The Channel would air at least 29 Tests and 43 One-Day International matches, over 118 days of domestic cricket, and at least 56 district-level round-robin leagues. Mr Bindra said domestic cricket was one of the most neglected areas, and if the BCCI floated its own channel, complete focus could be put on domestic cricket. He said a player of Mahender Singh Dhoni's calibre could have caught the attention of the selectors had his exploits in domestic matches been highlighted from the beginning. Mr Bindra claimed that Mr Modi had been the key man behind many of the sports channels in the country, and he has complete grasp of how the system works in the country. According to the
feasibility report, 95 per cent of the television revenue is generated through cricket telecasts, and it was time the BCCI tapped this vast potential to have a complete hold of cricket telecasts in the country so as to avoid the pitfalls of court cases and other headaches, and focus its attention and energy in popularising the game and generating more income. Mr Bindra recalled that the BCCI had to overcome a lot of hassles to sell the television rights for the 1987 World Cup, 1994 Hero Cup and the 1996 World Cup. The Board is still battling a court case with regard to awarding of the television rights. Mr Bindra said the proposed Channel will provide the Board with a tool with which it can wield clout "to generate revenues, to create the much-needed infrastructure in a self-sustainable manner". He said BCCI's earning potential is limitless in a direct and indirect manner, and it will also have the advantage of having the television rights in its hands, thus eliminating the hassle of arriving at contracts with private channels time and again. Mr Bindra said if the private sports channels did not telecast cricket, there will be virtually no revenue from sports telecasts. "Cricket telecasts keep the private channels going", he asserted. The Channell will be run by a professional Chief Executive Officer (CEO) accountable to the Board. If the idea clicks, the BCCI can become the "brightest star of the Indian stock exchange". He said the proposal was to establish an autonomous body/public limited company to fully exploit the potential of cricket in the country, including exploration of alternate media like radio, internet, web and other emerging media. The revenue generated would be ploughed back into the State associations, cricketers present and past and for upgrading the infrastructure. Mr Bindra noted that the creation of the Channel would enable the Board to have a "valuable brand which can be leveraged for multiple streams of business and revenues; unlock the potential of realizing subscription revenues, in addition to sponsorship and airtime revenues". Mr Bindra hoped that the BCCI Channell would also play a significant role in boosting the growth of other sports in the country by "generating visibility of sportspersons". The
feasilibility report has also taken into account certain roadblocks like acquiring international cricket rights, and consent of other boards in bidding for rights. Mr Bindra said the channel would be launched with the assumption that India will host 10 Tests (50 days) and 15 ODIs and play abroad four Tests and 7 ODIs besides other international cricket matches not featuring India. The commentators will be outsourced on contract, while the channel will produce and telecast events by using in-house talent and through outsourcing of experts. The bottom line, however, is does the BCCI have the time and patience to run the game and get into the nitty-gritty of organising telecasts of cricket and other sports? Mr Bindra did not have a clear answer.
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Vincent’s double ton puts Kiwis on top
Wellington, April 13 Vincent's 224 was the seventh highest Test innings by a New Zealander and provided the backbone of New Zealand's 522 for nine declared. It gave New Zealand a 311-run first innings lead, and when the umpires called time to end day three, Sri Lanka were 10 for one in their second innings. Vincent was at the crease for 522 minutes, facing 347 balls and hitting 24 fours and four sixes before being run out by Sanath Jayasuriya while attempting a second run. By then the damage had been done and the hard work of left-armer Chaminda Vaas, who had New Zealand at six for 294, had been undone. Vaas was the most successful Sri Lankan bowler, finishing with six for 108, but his sterling effort took second place to Vincent's patient knock that left Sri Lanka with an uphill battle to save the Test and the series. New Zealand resumed the day on 253 for four on a chilly morning under grey skies. Stephen Fleming got off to a flyer when he pulled the fourth ball of the day from Farveez Maharoof over mid-wicket for six, losing the ball down a drain and forcing it to be replaced. But on 88 he skied a hook shot off Vaas and was well caught at deep square leg by Shantha Kalavithigoda, ending a 211-minute, 176-ball innings including 11 fours and a six. Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings): 211 New Zealand (1st innings): Cumming lbw Vaas 47 Marshall lbw Vaas 28 Marshall c Jayawardene b Vaas 6 Vincent run out 224 Astle c Kalavitigoda b Vaas 0 Fleming c Kalavitigoda b Vaas 88 McCullum c and b Vaas 0 Franklin lbw Malinga 15 Mills c Jayawardene
b Malinga 31
Wiseman not out 32 Martin not out 4 Extras: (b-11, 1b-23, w-1, nb-12) 47 Total:
( 9 wkts decl, 146 overs) 522 FoW: 1-61, 2-70, 3-153, 4-153, 5-294, 6-294, 7-342, 8-440, 9-499. Bowling:
Vaas 40-12-108-6, Malinga 34-2-124-2, Maharoof 28-11-96-0, Jayawardene 6-2-14-0, Chandana 28-4-97-0, Jayasuriya 9-2-34-0, Dilshan 1-0-15-0. Sri Lanka (2nd innings): Jayasuriya c Vincent b Martin 2 Atapattu batting 5 Maharoof batting 1 Extras:
(lb-2) 2 Total: (1 wkt in 7 overs) 10 FoW:
1-6 Bowling: Martin 3-2-2-1, Mills 1-0-3-0, Vincent 1-0-2-0, Astle 1-1-0-0, Wiseman 1-0-1-0.
— AFP |
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South Africa win second Test
Port-of-Spain, April 13 Scoreboard WI (1st innings): 347 SA (1st innings):
398 WI (2nd innings): Hinds lbw b Boje 22 Gayle c de Villiers b Ntini 1 Sarwan not out 107 Lara b Boje 4 Chanderpaul lbw b Ntini 1 Pagon b Ntini 2 Bravo c Boucher b Ntini 33 Browne lbw b Ntini 2 Powell c Kallis b Nel 1 Collins b Ntini 0 Reon King b Ntini 0 Extras:
21 Total: (all out in 89.5 overs) 194 FoW: 1-14, 2-79, 3-85, 4-86, 5-92, 6-180, 7-188, 8-189, 9-190. Bowling:
Nel 21-6-42-1, Ntini 19.5-7-37-7, Zondeki 11-4-24-0, Boje 20-6-37-2, Kallis 11-3-29-0, Smith 7-1-9-0. SA (2nd innings): AB de Villiers b Powell 62 Smith c Gayle b Bravo 41 Rudolph not out 7 Kallis not out 19 Extras:
17 Total: (for 2 wkts in 44.5 overs) 146 FoW: 1-117, 2-119. Bowling: Collins 4-0-27-0, Powell 10-2-27-1, Gayle 11-3-16-0, King 11.5-1-28-0, Bravo 6-2-27-1, Hinds 2-0-14-0.
— AP |
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4th Chess Oscar for Anand
New Delhi, April 13 For Anand, 35, the only non-Russian to achieve the feat, this is the second double as he had earlier also successively claimed the honour in 1997 and 1998. Anand, who has 5205 points, will be presented with the bronze statuette of ‘The Fascinated Wanderer’ by the ‘64’ magazine. The Indian ace was in the top ten list of each of the 445 chess experts, including 74 Grandmasters, from 75 countries and in 279 lists he was on the first place for the 10 year of the award.
— PTI |
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Digvijay fires 69, emerges leader
Gurgaon, April 13 Digvijay’s two day tally stands at seven-under 137 with overnight leader Gaurav Ghei tied for the second position alongwith Jaipur pro Vishal Singh at 138. Pre-tournament favourite Jeev Milkha Singh hit 73 to tied at 36th position at two-over 146 while Order of Merit leader Mukesh Kumar’s par round of 72 placed him tied-26th with a two day tally of one-over 145. The other star performers of the day were Vishal Singh and C Muniyappa, both firing sizzling rounds of five-under 67. Vishal commenced his round from the tenth tee and recorded birdies on the 12th, 14th, 17th and 18th on his outward journey and on the sixth after making the turn. He putted like a dream on his outward journey with seven single putts but made as many two-putts on his return journey. Muniyappa, had birdies on the 12th, 14th, second and eighth, a bogey on the fifth and ended with a flourish with a chip in for eagle on the ninth. Ajeetesh Sandhu fired a round of 68 to lead the amateurs with a two day tally of 141. One stroke behind at 142 was Vikrant Chopra who returned a card of 70.
— UNI |
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Bhupathi, Paes enter second round in doubles
New Delhi, April 13 Bhupathi pairing Gonzalez, instead of his regular partner Todd Woodbridge, defeated Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia and Marat Safin of Russia 6-3, 6-3 to enter the second round. The duo would next play eighth-seeded Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Todd Perry of Australia, who got a bye into the second round. The other Indian in the fray, Leander Paes, playing with Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia, also got a first round bye. The fifth seeded duo would take on Argentine pair of Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez in the second round. Etlis-Rodriguez beat Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils of France 7-5, 7-5 in their opening encounter.
— PTI |
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CGF concedes India’s demand
New Delhi, April 13 India's argument was that by making it mandatory to hold the 15 disciplines decided by the CGF, which includes games like rugby, least popular in the country, it would be forced to sacrifice disciplines popular in the country, and incur needless expenditure. India will now have the option of including disciplines like cricket, archery or tennis in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) senior vice-president Tarlochan Singh, who is also the vice-president of the Archery Association of India, said Canada moved an amendment to knock off the
ceiling and increase the number of CGF disciplines from the present 15. But a final ratification of the decision will be done during the CGF Executive Board meeting slated to be held in Delhi in September this year. The Indian delegation of the CGF meeting, led by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, included secretary-general Randhir Singh and Archery Association of India president Tarlochan Singh. Mr Tarlochan Singh said the sizeable Indian diaspora in Australia have promised their help and support to the Indian contingent for the Melbourne Games in March 2005. During the closing ceremony at Melbourne, India has been allotted 20 minutes to make a cultural programme presentation of their preparation for the 2010 Games in New Delhi. India will also be handed over the Commonwealth Games flag during the closing ceremony of the Melbourne Games. Tarlochan Singh, who is also the chairman of the National Minorities Commission, said a sizeable number of Punjabi and Sikh population, including the local Gurudwara, has extended their unstinted support to the Indian officials to make India's outing a great success. They feel that a good show by India would boost their own standing in their adopted country, Australia. |
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BSF lift Beighton Cup
Kolkata, April 13 The BSF men, considered the underdogs, staged a sudden turnaround after conceding a goal in the 40th minute through Dhanujay Mahadik and struck twice in nine minutes to win the match and lift their sixth Beighton Cup title. Man of the match Harpinder Singh drew level for the BSF side through a field goal in the 44th minute before in-form Marianus Lakra struck the winner from a long corner in the 53rd minute. The Army men made desperate attempts at the rival goal in the dying minutes, but failed to get past the defensive wall, to end up as runners-up for the second consecutive year. — PTI
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12 take part in vintage car rally
Kasauli, April 13 Being a non-competitive event, it had 12 participants, including the founder president of the Vintage and Classic Car Club Chandigarh, Brig
J.S. Phoolka (retd), driving the oldest car, a 1933-model Ford Tourer, bought by the Nawab of Bareilly. The event also had a 1936-model green-and-black Austen, driven by Chandigarh-based
B.S. Dhariwal and Surinder Dhariwal, a 1938-model CTeron, a 1940-model Sunbeam, driven by Captain Vohra, a 1938-model green Chevrolet, a 1965-model Morris, a 1967-model VM, a 1952-model Hillman and a 1966-model Mercedes. While making a fervent appeal to the government to allow them to retain the old registration numbers of these vehicles, Brigadier Phoolka emphasised the need to ensure that these heritage vehicles were not smuggled out of the country. Illustrating his point, he said Swan, a Rolls Royce which could run on water, had been smuggled out of the country by being shipped to the UK and reassembled there. He added that the unique vehicle, which belonged to the Raja of Nabha, had been sold for Rs 3 crore in London. Ms Neelam Anand, who had come from Sagar in Madhya Pradesh to participate in the rally, was overwhelmed by the old vehicles. She said the hills had never appeared so beautiful. The slow pace of these old vehicles gave the motorists an opportunity to enjoy the
surroundings. Capt P.S. Chimni, director of the resort, welcomed the participants and thanked them for promoting tourism in Kasauli. After taking a round of the town, the participants halted for lunch and later drove back to Chandigarh. |
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Aussie club to play in Dharamsala
Shimla, April 13 Former Australian fast bowler Jeremy Lawson, who is in India these days will bring his club members to Dharamsala to play the one day match. The team will reach here today. The Ranji team from Himachal Pradesh has Sandeep Sharma (capt), Sangram Singh, Vishal Bhatia, Vikramjeet Malik, M. Bisla, Paras Dogra, Mohinder Sharma, Ajay Manu, Ankit Aggerwal, Varun Mishra, Ankur Bassi.
— UNI |
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Wellington, April 13
