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16 more players join camp in
Mainline fast bowlers in fine fettle, says Lillee
Lee keen to play in Ashes
England refuse
to play Test
in Karachi
Muralitharan to miss Lara challenge
Former cricketer Baloo Gupte dead
A Grand Slam title is special: Bhupathi |
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India needs long-term sports policy: Pargat
Halappa, Lakra recalled
Railways toy with Karnataka
Narain does not want to
disappoint Jordan fans
Western Air Command are overall champs
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16 more players join camp in second phase
Bangalore, July 5 The only absentee was Hyderabad batsman V.V.S. Laxman, who was now slated to join the rest of the players on July 7, NCA sources said. The camp, which kicked off today, would run till July 12 — a day after which the final phase of the camp focusing on cricket skills would begin. India’s top 15 fast bowlers concluded a week-long camp yesterday. They were today joined by Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Y. Venugopala Rao, Neeraj Patel, Dheeraj Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Murali Kartik, Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani. Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia and Harbhajan Singh would join the camp on July 13, while Irfan Pathan, playing for Middlesex in the English county, was expected here on July 10. The camps, supervised by coach Greg Chappell, trainer Gregory King and physio John Gloster, were aimed at preparing the cricketers for the rigours of international cricket ahead of a hectic season. Former physio Andrew Leipus had joined the camp as a consultant. Meanwhile, Dhoni said he was ready to don the role of an opener. “I am ready for it, if given a chance”, the 23-year-old strokeplayer from Jharkhand said. “But it is up to the team management and the captain to decide”, he said. “If they want me to open, I can open; if they want me to bat at number three, I will do so; if they want to bat at number seven, that is also good for me”. “Whatever the opportunity, I just like to perform at that level,” said Dhoni. Asked if he would take advice from former stumper Syed Kirmani on wicketkeeping matters, he said he would love to. He was keen on improving his wicketkeeping skills while keeping wickets for spinners. “We have some quality spinners; keeping wickets for them is tough, particularly on bouncy wickets,” said the Ranchi lad, who had been praised by Chappell during his presentation to the BCCI on Indian cricket as one having a future potential, given his aggressive batting style. Dhoni said he was also closely watching Australia’s Adam Gilchrist behind the stumps to learn a few more things. As a batsman, Gilchrist was quite aggressive, and Dhoni did not think anybody in the cricket world could copy him. On what he needed to do to break into the Test side, Dhoni, who had played in nine one-day internationals, said it was just that he had to perform well consistently in the shorter version of the game. In response to a question, Dhoni said changes in ICC rules governing one-day internationals would thrust an “extra responsibility” on captains, who needed to also lay a lot of stress on strategy. He said India were keen on winning the coming triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka, also involving the West Indies, to begin the season on a positive note. Meanwhile, Gambhir said it took a different level of mental toughness and concentration to play international cricket, and he was working on things that would help him convert decent starts into big knocks. The 23-year-old from Delhi, who had played eight Tests and five one-day internationals, told reporters here that one needed to take mental toughness, determination and concentration to a different level to succeed at the top level. “I am working on converting decent starts into big ones”, said Gambhir. It was more of a mental thing, he admitted. Playing international cricket was a different ball game, not like first-class or domestic cricket. One needed to be mentally more tough, more focused and determined, and concentration needed to be at a peak, he said. |
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Mainline fast bowlers in fine fettle, says Lillee
Chennai, July 5 Lillee, who returned here from the Bangalore camp after interacting with coach Greg Chappell and players, at the former’s request, said T.A. Sekar chief coach of the MRF Pace Foundation, and he had analysed video footage of all 15 bowlers. The adjustments to be carried by each of them on their bowling had been given to Chappell, said Lillee. “Remember they all have come out of off-season. So they are just trying to bowl a line and length. It is good I had the chance to see them just before they start a new season.” The ‘pace guru’ felt that the players were doing the right things. “I must say that they are doing the things they should be doing. Somewhere someone had few a things and I had corrected. On the whole, it was a good opportunity and timing”. “After all, all of them had been with me at different times earlier on. I only needed to make slight adjustments,” he said after analysing the video footage sent by Chappell. Sekhar said other schedules had not been finalised. There would be frequent sessions of analysing the bowlers progress, he said, adding that Lillee would leave for home this weekend and be back before August-end. “I think the bowlers are happy being monitored by Lillee before the start of the new season.” On more youngsters taking to fast bowling, Lillee felt that they understood the rigours of bowling better. It was also good to see their interest in being fast bowlers. “Let me compare the time that I first came here in 1987. I had difficulty in getting youngsters in the 14-17 age group. This was mainly because India did not have role models. Kapil Dev was there, but he was not among the top. Kapil became a great bowler and one of the greatest ever from India, but he was not in the same league as Brett Lee or Jeff Thompson.” “The boys I see now are better prepared to bowl fast. Out of the blue they can come up one day and bowl genuinely fast.” Lillee also said the bowlers were good this time around. “We have roped in much younger boys this time, well prepared by their coaches. I must say some Sikh boys and a few others are really good and look to be long-term future prospects.” On Twenty 20 cricket and the new ICC experimental rules, he said any experiment was welcome, if such rules were used in the right way. “As for Twenty 20, Australia may go in for a separate team. Each is a specialised game. Soon you will find Twenty 20 becoming popular, as it is a more aggressive game.” “Gradually there will be different types of bowlers and batters for Twenty 20. These days batting has become more aggressive and even Test matches produce such scenes,” he said.
— PTI |
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Lee keen to play in Ashes
London, July 5 The 28-year-old last appeared for the world’s leading side 15 months ago, but a persistent ankle injury has held the fastest of Australia’s pace bowlers back. However, he said he hoped that good performances in the upcoming and seemingly never-ending three-match one-day series against England would bolster his claims. “I have not played a Test since Steve Waugh’s last game for Australia, 15 months ago,” he said. “It has been a long time and being injured and getting the ankle fixed up once and for all has set me back a little bit. Lee, though, was mostly in contrite mood over his bowling a beamer at England opener Marcus Trescothick in Saturday’s tied triangular series final at Lord’s for which he received a formal warning from umpire David Shepherd. It is the third time this year that Lee has been pulled up for bowling such a ball.
— AFP |
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England refuse to play Test in Karachi
Islamabad, July 5 England are scheduled play three Tests and five one-day internationals during their tour of Pakistan, starting on October 22. The England team will consider a Pakistan proposal to play two consecutive limited-overs matches in Karachi instead of the Test. “We have suggested back-to-back one-day internationals instead of playing a Test match in Karachi,” director of cricket operations Saleem Altaf said
in Lahore. — AP
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Muralitharan to miss Lara challenge
Colombo, July 5 The West Indies were in Sri Lanka to play two Tests and a triangular one-day series, also featuring India, without key batsmen Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle, after a contracts row with their cricket board. “Bowling to Brian is always a big challenge,” said Muralitharan, aged 33, who was set to play his first Test after an 11-month layoff due to a shoulder injury. Lara was the lone batsman to tame Muralitharan in his own backyard when the West Indies toured Sri Lanka in 2001, aggregating an astonishing 688 runs in three Tests with three centuries.
— AFP |
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Former cricketer Baloo Gupte dead
Mumbai, July 5 The younger Gupte played in the shadow of his more illustrious brother Subhash who is considered as the greatest exponent of orthodox leg spin bowling produced by the country. Anil Kumble and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar belong to the small pack of unorthodox leg break exponents. Gupte, who was born in Mumbai on August 30, 1934, is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. He played three Tests for India between 1960-61 and 1964-65. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in 1953-54. Gupte claimed 255 wickets in 58 Ranji Trophy matches and represented Mumbai throughout, barring a two-season stint for Bengal between 1957 and 1959 and another one in the succeeding season from Railways. In all he averaged 23.47 per wicket and captured 16 five wickets and two 10-wicket hauls in the national cricket championship. He also played for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 1961-62 and 1965-66, bagging 38 wickets at 17.50 each with best innings figures of 9 for 55. Gupte played in four Irani Cup ties and captured 19 wickets at 23.21 per wicket, including innings and match hauls of 8 for 48 and 11 for 74, respectively.
— PTI |
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A Grand Slam title is special: Bhupathi
Mumbai, July 5 It has, however, not yet been decided whether his successful partnership with Pierce, a top singles player, would continue at the US Open in August, Bhupathi, who has seven other Grand Slam titles and all of them doubles, said. “We will have to wait and see whether that happens,” Bhupathi, who would be celebrating his 31st birthday tomorrow after having clinched his fourth mixed doubles Grand Slam crown and eighth Grand Slam title overall, said. His earlier mixed doubles titles in Grand Slams had come in the 1997 French Open, with Rika Hiraki, in the 1999 US Open, with Ai Sugiyama, and in the 2002 Wimbledon championship, with Elena Likhovtseva. The Chennai-born six-foot tall Bhupathi has won 37 doubles titles on the international circuit, including three out of his four Grand Slam men’s doubles crowns with compatriot Leander Paes before the `Indian Express’ broke their partnership in 2001. Asked about his immediate future plans Bhupathi, who also runs event management company GloboSport that handles India’s top woman player Sania Mirza, said he would be heading to Germany to rejoin the circuit in the Stuttgart Open in combination with American Martin Damm. KOLKATA:
Mahesh Bhupathi, was felicitated by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee here on Tuesday. The Chief Minister presented a bouquet to Bhupathi at the Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat, congratulating him on his achievement. “He has come to the city just after winning the Wimbledon. We congratulate him,” Mr Bhattacharjee said. Bhupathi, accompanied by Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Ashok Bhattacharya and former Davis cupper Jaidip Mukherjea, held a meeting with the Chief Minister on the WTA Sunfest Open to be held in the metropolis in September this year.
— PTI |
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Bedlam amid last-minute lobbying
Singapore, July 5 The annual session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was due to open this evening, 24 hours before voting to decide if London, Paris, New York, Madrid or Moscow would host the Games. With time running out, the lobby at the Raffles City Convention Centre, the venue for the vote, resembled a peak-hour train carriage as representatives of the five cities tried to make last-ditch pleas to IOC delegates. “I did not mean to come down here. It is bedlam,” one Asian IOC delegate, who wanted to avoid the chaos, said in the lobby before retreating to his hotel room. The contest was a close affair, with Paris and London sharing the billing as favourites. New York, Madrid and Moscow were regarded as outsiders, but IOC President Jacques Rogge had insisted that all cities had a chance and the outcome could be decided by just one or two votes. British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Singapore on Sunday and had taken a leading role in London’s bid with a relentless schedule of one-on-one meetings with IOC delegates and a string of high-profile media events. “I just want to tell you why I am so passionate about this bid,” Blair said at a media event today, making what amounted to a final public appeal to IOC delegates to recognise the distinctiveness of the London plans. “The spirit of London 2012 will be the best of the spirit of the Olympic movement. A love of sport, a belief in the ability of sport to bring people together, to educate, to enhance people’s lives,” Blair said. He guaranteed “the complete determination that if we are fortunate enough to host the Olympic Games, we (will) build something that does not just last for the few weeks of the Games, but lasts for a generation to come”. “That is our passion. That is why we want the Games so much. That is why we believe we can deliver something not just for our own country, but for the Olympic movement,” he said. Blair had stolen the march on French President Jacques Chirac and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who were due to arrive in Singapore later today. Former US first lady Hillary Clinton, now a New York Senator, lent her political weight to her city’s bid at a press conference today, flanked by New York mayor Michae Bloomberg and a host of sports greats, including former long jump record holder Bob
Beamon. While the bid teams and politicians worked furiously to present the details of their cases to the IOC delegates, the galaxy of sports stars backing each city’s bids tried their best to influence the vote with their “wow” factor.
— AFP |
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India needs long-term sports policy: Pargat
Mandi, July 5 “For this we need a sports policy in which each coach must stay on for at least four years,” he said. Referring to the decline of hockey in the country, Pargat Singh said the players should be given training at the sub-junior level on astro-turf. “It is now speed and stamina and technique that determine the best team in the world,” he said. Pargat Singh said the forward line of the Pakistani hockey team employs modern techniques but India's forwards are the weak link. “It needs to be strengthened. India's defence line is okay. We need more penalty corner specialists who can score goals,” he said. Pargat Singh said it takes at least 10 years to prepare a player to compete in top competitions. “Unless we prepare players at the sub-junior level on synthetic tracks we will not be able to keep pace with other hockey-playing countries,” he added. Emphasising on the policy of encouraging budding players, He said if the youth are engaged in sports at an early age it will help in channelising their energy in a positive way. “It would prevent them from taking to social evils and crimes, including drug addiction and other vices. For this we need more sports infrastructure and monetary investment, which at present remain inadequate,” he said. |
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Halappa, Lakra recalled
Patiala, July 5 However, coach Rajinder Singh (Junior) denied that both players had been sacked by the IHF and on the contrary maintained that the players were busy doing duty with the Indian Airlines team in Muscat. The IHF had sacked Halappa, Lakra and Sandeep Michael after the Azlan Shah tourney. While the IHF has now thought it prudent to bring back Halappa and Lakra, there is no word till yet on Michael, who like Halappa and Lakra, plays for Indian Airlines and even the coach failed to say much on the issue. It was alleged that since both Michael and Halappa were from the Karnataka Hockey Association (KHA), IHF President K.P.S. Gill had axed them because he allegedly nursed a grudge against the KHA Secretary S.Krishnaswamy. During the recent IHF elections, Mr Krishnaswamy, was a vocal critic of both Mr K.P.S Gill and Mr Jyothikumaran. Three Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) players — goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, Inderjeet Singh Chadha and Jaswinder Singh — have yet to report at the camp. Rajinder Singh disclosed that all three were busy playing in a league tournament at Bangalore. Meanwhile, the probables left for Chandigarh today to play a practice match at the Sector-42 hockey stadium. Since the astro-turf at the NIS has patches at both ends, it was a risky proposition to have a full-fledged match among the probables. Last week, too, the players had to go to Chandigarh to play a practice match. However, Rajinder Singh denied that the patchwork on the turf was proving to be an impediment during practice. |
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Railways toy with Karnataka
New Delhi, July 5 Railways, assured of a semifinal berth, utilised the match against Karnataka for target practice, and surprisingly, eight of their goals came off penalty corners and one off penalty stroke. Subhadra Pradhan started the goal hunt when she converted the very first penalty corner in the second minute. Then followed a deluge of goals, with a steady drizzle making the underfoot conditions very heavy. The next three goals also came off penalty corners, with Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Mamta Kharb and Pushpa making no mistake. Mamta also scored two more goals while Sanggai Ibemhal Chanu scored three goals, but not in a sequence. Railways led by 10 goals at the interval. Jharkhand dashed Delhi’s semifinal hopes when they scored once in each half to earn full points in Pool B. Both goals were scored by captain Susma Kiran
Minz. Orissa trounced Kerala 5-1 in another Pool A match. The winners led by 4-0 at
half time. |
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Narain does not want to
disappoint Jordan fans
Silverstone, July 5 The rookie Indian driver, who is still struggling to make a mark in the Formula One circuit, is once again at a familiar track, where he tasted his first success in Formula 3. “I have good memories of Silverstone as it was here that I had my first podium when I was racing in Formula 3. Usually I always go well at Silverstone and this is a circuit I know quite well,” he said. Karthikeyan has a special liking for the track, where he says he can really feel the speed of the machine. “I like Silverstone, especially the Becketts complex, where the car goes so fast you can really feel the speed of the car. At that special corner, you go as fast as 220 kmph, so there is a lot of g-force. I hope we will be able to finish the race, particularly there in front of Jordan Grand Prix home crowd,” he said. Following another positive two-car finish in Magny-Cours, Jordan Grand Prix is looking forward to racing at Silverstone, its home race circuit with its factory just across the road.
— PTI |
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Western Air Command are overall champs
Jalandhar, July 5 Corporal Ranjit of Western Air Command was declared the best athlete of the championship. He won four gold medals — one each in 100 metres, 110 metres hurdle, high jump and 4x100 metres relay. Corporal V.K. Singh of Training Command won gold in 50 km walk by covering the distance in 4 hours 50 minutes and 7 seconds while Aircraftsman Tomar of Central Air Command (05:17:11) and Corporal Balaji of South Western Air Command (05:20:51 hours) bagged silver and bronze, respectively. In the 3000 metres steeplechase race, Leading Aircraftsman R.K. Sharma of Training Command won the gold followed by Leading Aircraftsman P.R.Singh of South Western Air Command (Silver) and Corporal Tangar of South Western Air Command (Bronze). |
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