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Chappell to take services of experts
Mushtaq Ali is no more
Obituary
BCCI chief condoles death
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Ganguly hits fifty
Clijsters serves warning to rivals
IHF lifts ban on Gagan Ajit, Kanwalpreet
Sasikiran in need of
big points
India down Holland in
junior hockey
Athletes
bag two gold medals
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Cardiff, June 18 In reply to Australia’s 249 for five, Mohammad Ashraful scored a run-a-ball century, only the second ever scored in one-dayers by a Bangladeshi, but then holed out next ball, in the deep off Jason Gillespie with 23 needed off the last three overs. A couple of fortunate fours made it 13 required off the final 12 balls and tailender Mohammad Rafique then sliced Glenn McGrath, the world’s premier fast bowler, for a four past point. Seven were needed off the final over from Gillespie, only for Aftab Ahmed to launch his first ball for six over long on before the pair scampered a run off the next delivery to spark a pitch invasion. Australia, who surprisingly opted to bat on a pitch offering early seam movement against the lowest-ranked one-day side in the International Cricket Council table, had never looked settled after losing vice-captain Adam Gilchrist off the second ball of the match and skipper Ricky Ponting for a single. Perhaps Ponting had been unsettled by the confusion surrounding the announcement of his team, which initially included allrounder Andrew
Symonds. The team then said he was out injured. Then he was out with flu. Then it transpired, he was facing an investigation for breaching team rules. Australia were struggling to get into gear at 57 for three in the 16th over as the Bangladeshis bowled and fielded as if their lives depended on it. But Damien Martyn (77) and Michael Clarke (54) restored order with a 108-run stand for the third wicket to drag Australia towards respectability. Michael Hussey remained not out on 31 while Simon Katich was unbeaten on 36, the pair sharing an unbroken stand of 66. Their total still looked enough against the lowest-ranked one-day side until Ashraful and Habibul
Bashar, who made 47, put on 130 in 22 overs for the fourth wicket to produce a grandstand finish. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist lbw b Mortaza 0 Hayden b N. Hossain 37 Ponting lbw b Baisya 1
Martyn c Iqbal b Baisya 77 Clarke c Mortaza b Baisya 54 Hussey not out 31
Katich not out 36 Extras (lb-3 nb-8 w-2) 13 Total (5 wickets, 50 overs) 249 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-57, 4-165, 5-183. Bowling: Mortaza 10-2-33-1, Baisya 10-1-69-3, N. Hossain 10- 2-65-1, Rafique 10-0-31-0, Ahmed 10-0-48-0. Bangladesh Omar c Hayden b Kasprowicz 19 Iqbal c Gilchrist b Gillespie 8 Imran c Katich b Hogg
24 Ashraful c Hogg b Gillespie 100 Bashar run out 47 Ahmed not out
21 Rafique not out 9 Extras (b-1, lb-11, nb-4, w-6) 22 Total (5 wickets, 49.2 overs) 250 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-51, 3-72, 4-202, 5-227. Bowling: McGrath 10-1-43-0, Gillespie 9.2-1-41-2, Kasprowicz 10-0-40-1, Hogg 9-0-52-1, Clarke 6-0-38-0, Hussey 5-0-24-0.
— Reuters
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Chappell to take services of experts
Bangalore, June 18 The former Australian captain, who formally took charge on Thursday on a two-year term, said he had plans of expanding his support staff with experts from various fields. “I do not claim to own all the wisdom about cricket. There are people who know more than me in certain areas. I will be wanting to tap into those people from time to time both in India and outside India,” Chappell said in an exclusive interview here today. “I have got a couple of people in mind who have skills that are different from mine and I believe that they can play a very important role in developing a unit that will become a champion team,” he said. Chappell, however, did not divulge the names and the expertise of the people he had in mind. “I do not wish to discuss in details about who the individuals are and what their particular skills are. But from time to time, we will need a range of skills across the board, from cricket skills to mental skills to nutrition.” “Support staff needs to be such that players do not have to worry about anything, but focus on what they need to do to be ready to play cricket,” the 56-year-old Chappell said. Chappell said he was comfortable with the idea of a two-year contract, which was enough to put the team in the right direction. “I am quite comfortable with the two-year period. So I am not concerned about that. If we put things in place, it should be in place in two years, we will see that the team is moving forward and hopefully, there may be a chance to discuss further time,” he said. On how he planned to deal with out-of-form players like Sourav Ganguly, Chappell said “I am not prepared to talk about individual players. Anyone who plays at this level for any length of time is going to go through fluctuation cycles. It is all about focus and being able to focus.” “I will be talking to players about what were the processes, what are the processes they go through when they are successful, what are the processes you are going through now. Generally there is quite a big difference. It is a matter of getting them back on track,” he added. Chappell said he was keen to have a good relationship with the selectors and discuss with them on how the system would work. On whether he was keen to have a vote in selection matters, Chappell said “I am not saying I want to be a selector. What I am saying is I want to have a good relationship with the selectors. I am aware of what is happening. But equally, I need to have a rapport with the players and so, being a selector is not necessarily the best solution. But that will pan out in time.” —
PTI |
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Mushtaq Ali is no more
Born on December 17, 1914, in Indore, Mushtaq Ali made his debut for India at the age of 19 as a left-arm spin bowler in the 1933-34 season in Kolkata against the touring England side. By the time he retired, he had also established himself as an opening batsman, scoring more than 600 runs in the 11 Tests he got to play. In first class cricket, Ali had a phenomenal record, amassing over 13,000 runs, including 30 centuries. He also took 155 wickets with his spin bowling. The much-loved cricketer was still remembered for his superb hundred which he scored at Old Trafford in the 1936 Test. His opening partner in that match, Vijay Merchant, also scored a ton as the duo put on 203 runs in real quick time. Ali, who last played for India in 1951-52, was survived by two sons and two daughters. The nation honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1964 while Wisden recognised his contribution to the game by conferring a special award.
— PTI |
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Dazzling light has gone out
K.R. Wadhwaney
If Mushtaq Ali and D.C. Compton (he was posted at Indore during World War II), said Ray Robinson, were batting together, no one would know who was the striker and who the non-striker.
A
non-conformist and extremely courageous, Mushtaq Ali did not believe in the
grammar of
batsmanship. He was a magician and artist. He believed in originality and individuality when at the crease. He was a virtial law unto himself and the rival skipper, bowler and wicket-keeper were absolutely helpless. Lithe and
lissom, tall and wide shouldered, Mushtaq Ali (6 ft 1 in) did not know what pressure was, no matter who the bowler was. His stance was easy and well poised. His feet were nimble and his eye-sight was so sharp that he could even read the movement of the seam on the ball. He was the organisers’ most sought after player because he could pull crowds to the venue when spectators were the only source of revenue.
Mushtaq Ali scored a century against England in the second innings of the second Test at Manchester in 1936. Said Neville Cardus “Mushtaq played an innings full of the strokes of the genius who had the Indian quickness of eye. He transformed the bat into a conjurer’s wand”. When Mushtaq Ali was in that belligerent mood, he once charged down the pitch as England’s fast bowler,
G.O. Allen came running to bowl a quick delivery. His partner Merchant cautioned him. After Allen completed his over, Mushtaq told Merchant: “Such robust tactics have their own rewarding results as the bowler is put off”. Vijay Merchant merely smiled.
Mushtaq Ali was once dropped from a team for the Calcutta Test against Lindsay Hassett’s Australian Services team in 1945. There were posters all over Calcutta, “No
Mushtaq, no Test”. The flamboyant opening batsman was recalled. Subsequently, Mushtaq Ali faced many ups and downs but he maintained a philosophical attitude throughout his life. Born at Indore on the December 17, 1914, Mushtaq Ali was spotted by C.K. Nayudu who noticed a spark of brilliance in him. “Our grand captain is not well and he is unlikely to live for more than a fortnight or about”, said Mushtaq Ali after visiting Lala Amarnath a few days before his passing away in 2000. Mushtaq Ali was on a short visit to Delhi from Indore and was gracious enough to meet his old friends in Press Enclave.
Mushtaq Ali was 88 when he visited England in 2002 after 56 years. The senior-most Indian player looked fitter than many of his age. He looked bright and observant. “Am I to believe that every one does not have to wear a tie in London anymore?” asked Mushtaq Ali as he disembarked from the Air India flight (AI-111) at Heathrow Airport. The legendary Indian star was perhaps unaware that UK had undergone sea-change and London was now known more for train, tube and tabloid than for clothes and etiquette. Baffled as Mushtaq sa’ab looked, Bishan Singh Bedi had him in laughter with the observation: “Forget the tie, you will even find people without clothes
here”. Mushtaq Ali had confirmed to the Hyderabad Veteran Cricket Association Secretary Manohar Sharma (he also belongs to Indore and is a former Services player) for his being one of the guests in the tournament in April. But subsequently he expressed his inablity to attend the tournament because of his indisposition. The indisposition proved disastrous as he passed away on June 18, 2005 morning. The senior-most Indian star is no more and much of the dazzling light has gone out of Indian cricket. |
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BCCI chief condoles death
Chandigarh, June 18 New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed deep shock and grief over the passing away of Mushtaq Ali. In a message, Manmohan Singh described Mushtaq Ali as one of the finest allrounders who represented the country with great distinction. KOLKATA:
Asian Cricket Council President Jagmohan Dalmiya on Saturday expressed profound grief at the demise of Mushtaq Ali and said his death was an irreparable loss to Indian cricket. “Mushtaq Ali played cricket in style. He was unorthodox but elegant, flamboyant and immensely popular,” Dalmiya said in a condolence message. |
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Ganguly hits fifty
London, June 18 Ganguly, whose services were not utilised in the first innings when Glamorgan declared at 584 for three, struck six boundaries during his half century while John Hughes contributed 54 not out to give their side a lead of 325 runs yesterday. Middlesex captain Ben Hutton declared their innings 149 runs behind on 435 for four, thereby avoiding the follow on by a single run. Hutton’s bold decisions seemed to have paid off as Glamorgan lost three wickets for 66 but Ganguly and Hughes weathered the storm by remaining unbeaten. India’s Irfan Pathan, playing for Middlesex, failed to make much impression in the second innings also. He bowled five overs for 36 without taking a wicket. Meanwhile, Dinesh Mongia scored 36 of 46 balls with the help of six fours as Leicestershire were leading by 34 runs in their second innings, closing the day at 132 for 5 against Worcestershire. Earlier, Worcestershire were 323 all out in reply to Leicestershire’s first innings total of 225.
— PTI |
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Clijsters serves warning to rivals
Eastbourne (England), June 18 The Belgian seventh seed won the second career grass title of her career in her first outing at Devonshire Park, battling through a 42-minute first set against the 54th-ranked Douchevina, and sweeping the second in 16 minutes. The win produced the 24th title of Clijsters’ career and cemented her solid comeback to form after missing much of 2004 with a wrist injury. The 18-year-old Douchevina, playing in her first career final, had beaten Russian compatriot Maria Sharapova for the Wimbledon junior title in 2002. The clash with Clijsters was her first WTA-level final, with nerves and inexperience in the big moments making the difference on the day. Clijsters, 22, and seeded 15th at Wimbledon starting on Monday, added the Eastbourne crown to a grass title she won in 2003 in the Netherlands. The Belgian has collected at least one title each year since her first victory in Luxembourg as a 16-year-old qualifier in late 1999. Douchevina, who put out top seed Amelie Mauremso in the second round, missed a chance to become the 27th qualifier in the history of professional women’s tennis (and third in 2005) to win a Tour singles title. Douchevina, the grass-loving teenager, is one of the 15 Russian women currently ranked in the top 100. She stands 20-12 in a season which also includes an Australian Open fourth-round spot. Gasquet triumphs
Nottingham: Fourth seed Richard Gasquet celebrated his 19th birthday by winning his first ATP Tour title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Max Mirnyi in the final of the Nottingham Open on Saturday. The French teenager, who was treated to a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday To You’ by Mirnyi and the centre court crowd, follows in the footsteps of compatriot and world number 26 Sebastien Grosjean who enjoyed his maiden ATP victory in the event in 2000. Koukalova wins
Den Bosch (Holland): Czech Klara Koukalova recovered from a poor start to beat compatriot Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Ordina Open on Saturday, claiming her first WTA Tour title. Eighth seed Koukalova, 23, who had lost all five of her previous finals, was outplayed at the start with Safarova leading by a set and a break. But she hit back to clinch victory on her ninth match point.
— AFP, Reuters |
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IHF lifts ban on Gagan Ajit, Kanwalpreet
Chandigarh, June 18
Charges of manhandling Vikramjit of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) were levelled against the ace Indian forward and the IHF, after inquiring into the matter, imposed a three-month suspension. Kanwalpreet was banned from playing for two years after the IHF found him guilty of physically assaulting IOC forward and Olympian Deepak Thakur during a match between Punjab Police and IOC in New Delhi on February 25. Both have been invited for the national coaching camp which will start on June 23 at Patiala. Both Punjab Police players, who were informed of the lifting of the ban, told UNI on the telephone from Jalandhar that they welcomed the decision of the IHF. — UNI |
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Champions Trophy venues
Chennai, June 18 |
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Sasikiran in need of
big points
Paks (Hungary), June 18 However, so far, not much is working right for Sasikiran, who has drawn four and lost one game in the category-15 double round-robin tournament between six players. Starting out with an eventful draw with 74-year-old Viktor Korchnoi of Switzerland, Sasikiran lost a dead drawn position on time against top seed Israeli Emil Sutovsky and thereafter, three draws with Hungarian trio of Zoltan ALmasi, Ferenc Berkes and Peter Acs had failed to yield a desirable performance. With five rounds remaining, Korchnoi is on cloud nine with four points in his kitty and is half point clear of nearest rival Almasi. Sutovsky is next in line on 2.5, followed by Sasikiran, while Berkes and Acs are together on the last spot on just 1.5 points each. Korchnoi has been certainly the pick of the players in the event thus far, with three swashbuckling victories and two draws. Not mellowed a wee bit by the age factor, the former Russian is in full swing in the event and has repeatedly shown why he is still feared and respected in competitive chess. Known also for idiosyncrasies, Korchnoi had banged the clock so hard against Sasikiran in the first round game that the live coverage got disrupted. However, since then, three victories on the trot against Acs, Sutovsky and Berkes and a draw in the previous round game with Almasi had ensured that Korchnoi would be amongst the frontrunners for the remaining part of the event. Almasi had been quite consistent in his couple of victories over Acs and Berkes, while in the other drawn games, he was never struggling, which made one believe that he was the only one who could make a match for Korchnoi here. If consistency is the success mantra for Almasi, it is sometimes a problem for Sutovsky who is very often brilliant, but on other
occasions, just a pale shadow of himself. The loss against Korchnoi certainly hurt the Israeli and since then, he had not won a game. Perhaps the rest day would help him reconcile himself for the battle ahead.
— PTI |
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Goosen stays in title hunt
Pinehurst (USA), June 18 American Browne, who shot a 59 in qualifying 10 days ago to book his place at Pinehurst, returned a 71 after letting slip a one-stroke cushion with four holes to play. Nine players finished under par after the opening round but only five were still in red figures after day two. Completing the quintet were South Korea’s K.J. Choi (70) and Australian Mark Hensby (68), who were tied for fourth at one under. Vijay Singh was a further shot back in a four-way share of sixth after a second successive 70, alongside Spaniard Sergio Garcia and New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, who fired matching 69s, and Briton Lee Westwood, after a 72. US Masters champion Tiger Woods was one over after a 71, while Phil Mickelson (77) and Ernie Els (76) just made the halfway cut, which fell at eight-over 148.
— Reuters |
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India down Holland in
junior hockey
New Delhi, June 18 In another match, hosts Spain thrashed Chile 6-1, according to information received here today. Sandeep set up the goal glut for India by scoring an early goal in the fifth minute before Holland equalised through a field goal, taking advantage of a defensive lapse. But
Mahadik’s goal in the 25th minute ensured that India went to half time
with a 2-1 lead. Two quick goals after the break put India in the
driver’s seat against their formidable European rivals. Trailing 1-4, Holland made a last-ditch effort in the dying minutes, putting a lot of pressure on the Indian defence with some incisive moves. The
Indian defence cracked under intense pressure as Holland scored two
goals in the last 10 minutes — both through penalty corners — in the
face of some poor work by William Xalco and Mahadik. But the equaliser
eluded the Dutch as India earned full points for a perfect start to the
tournament.
— PTI |
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Athletes bag two gold medals New Delhi, June 18 Navpreet heaved the 7.26kg iron ball to a distance of 19.60m to win the top place and a cash award of $ 2,500. Chinese thrower Zhang Qi, who has a personal best of 19.40m, did 19.28m to finish second while India’s Ranvijay finished third with a throw of 18.38m. In the men’s long jump event Maha Singh bagged the second gold for India, according to information received here. Song Jian of China led the first two rounds of the competition with 7.44m. Maha Singh fouled the first three attempts before moving to the second position with a jump of 7.57m. In the last two jumps, he came up with 7.89m to clinch the title. In women’s discus throw, Krishna Punia threw 55.04m for the silver while more experienced Harwant Kaur finished third with an attempt of 54.79m. The other Indian athletes who performed well were S Geetha (silver) and Satbir Singh (bronze). — PTI
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Greco-Roman
style included Kabaddi squad Bopanna loses Patiala win Mohali triumph Chandigarh win
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Indore, June 18
Indore, June 18
