 |
|
|
Dravid’s captaincy hangs by fire
We aim to target Vaughan
PCB refuses to shift Test from Multan
Duleep Trophy matches
from October 20
Sania sets up clash with Venus
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overage hockey players not fielded: manager
Chanda wins, Bakre loses
Srinath maintains lead, Negi held
Manan close to qualifying
Coventry’s triumph provides cheer for Zimbabwe
Asian archery meet in Delhi
PBA charged with nepotism, irregularities
|
|
Dravid’s captaincy hangs by fire
Dambulla, July 27 Dravid can captain as well as critics like, but India can still lose to one team they have rarely got past, in Sri Lanka. In the last nine encounters in the emerald islands, only three have come India’s way. Or, in the last four years, just one with a wafer-thin margin of four runs. The shadow of Sourav Ganguly is not going away in a hurry. The Indian dressing room can feel the absence of one man who has guided their destiny in the last five-and-a-half years. Ganguly, even when he was not playing, used to make himself available in the Indian dressing room and be a part of the strategy and execution of issues in the middle. Be it the Mohali Test of 2003 against New Zealand, one-day games of the VB Series in Perth in 2004 and the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan the same year, Ganguly liked being around even when not playing. Now he is serving out his sentence and will surely be back for the tour to Zimbabwe in August-end. For his good, he will like to be the captain again, but it can be a difficult choice between him and Dravid if India emerge winners in Sri Lanka. The chances though are, India can as well as forget about it. The Lankans have an enviable balance of youth and experience. Three of their players have played over 200 one-day internationals (Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas and
Muttiah Muralitharan) and four (Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara, Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana) over 100 games each. Sanath Jayasuriya, not to forget, is still going strong with 333 matches. They have fast bowling riches overflowing: as many as six adorn their line-up for the opening game against India (Chaminda Vaas, Nuywan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Pervez Mahroof, Lasith Malinga and new man Dilhara Lokuhettige). Murali in the spin department is well complimented by the likes of Arnold, Chandana and Jayasuriya. It is the kind of side which, literally, exudes blinding talent. No wonder, they are ranked number three in one-day charts. India, not that it needs reminding, are languishing at number eight, ahead just of Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Kenya. So if Dravid does badly, it will not mean that he is a bad captain. Just that Sri Lanka appear immensely strong against an Indian cocktail of youth and a few oldies who have been dusted off the shelf. Of the intermittent chances to lead which have come his way, Dravid has a track record of two wins and two losses in five Tests and five wins and six defeats from 12 one-day internationals. Whenever his critics hold up India’s defeat against Pakistan in the last one-day series as a sign of his incompetence, they forget how he could defend a small total of 110 against Australia in Mumbai last season. He even brought on Murali Kartik ahead of his old state team-mate Anil Kumble! Two more instances are in order. He stood up to public opinion and declared in Multan when Sachin Tendulkar was in sight of his double century. He put the team above the individual, though critics were prone to search for non-existent personal reasons. In
Rawalpindi, he showed positive intent by electing to bat on a lively pitch, never mind if a certain Umar Gul was as good as unplayable. Dravid, if one can say, is one of the most selfless Indian cricketer of the modern generation. The likes of Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag too pass muster as cricketers who put the team ahead of self. Such are men on whom the basis of a good team is laid. Ganguly will be the first one to admit that in his success as captain, Dravid has been the shining influence. The hundred of Headingley or the double tons of Oval and Adelaide, or the centuries in Kolkata against Australia in 2001 and more recently against Pakistan are testimony enough. When saddled with the dual role of batting and wicketkeeping in one-dayers, Dravid did not let it weigh him down and in the course of the last three years, proved more than one point. With over 8,000 runs in one-day internationals, that too coming down the order, Dravid is worthy of being rated as one of history’s all-time great one-day batsmen. He responded to questions on his ability like few have. More than getting stuck in the Ganguly versus Dravid debate, what the Indian team needs is to find an astute, long-serving leader who holds his position in the team by virtue of performance. A performing captain is most likely to find willing ears in the dressing room. One suspects the team is in a transitional stage and if a strong direction is not lent, the gains of the last few years will only exist on papers. It is doubly important that the matter is settled by the tour to Zimbabwe. If India prefer to oscillate and drift, the opponents on the prowl such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England will take them to cleaners deep into the season. It will be a scenario quite unfair to new coach Greg Chappell and most certainly the legacy of John Wright and Ganguly. Much before we realise, the 2007 World Cup will be on our head. The time to act is now.
— PTI |
|
We aim to target Vaughan
As we head out to our next tour game venue, it feels great that the talk has stopped and we have once again proved that we are the side to beat. This first Test took a long time coming — we were in England for six weeks before it started — but the cricket was really worth the wait. We took a couple of sessions to snap back into Test cricket mode, but once Glenn got the ball in his hand, we were back at our best. I have not seen him bowl better than he did in the post-tea session on that first day, and it was that session that changed the course of the game.
Our bowlers were bowling it a little short in the post-lunch session of the first day, and I told them to adjust their length so that they could maximise on seam movement. Once tea was over everything looked transformed and the England batsmen seemed mesmerised by Glenn’s remarkable accuracy. At the end of the day, England’s lack of experience against us cost them dear. It was a difficult wicket to bat on, and many of England’s young players looked out of depth facing Glenn and Shane in adverse conditions. It was a crucial factor and it proved my theory once again — experience always scores over youth. The only batsman who stood out for England was Kevin Pietersen, who made a fine debut even though the conditions were far from ideal. Unfortunately for the hosts, he did not get enough support from the lower order to challenge us in the fourth innings. I am pretty satisfied with the way the team is shaping up right now. Perhaps the form of our top order is the only thing I would like to change. Even so, it was a difficult wicket to face the new ball on, and luckily we had solid middle-order performances with Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich contributing handsomely. As far as the bowling is concerned, I could not have asked for a better performance. Our aim is to target Michael Vaughan and keep him under pressure right through the Ashes. We have a few plans for him and it was nice to see them work at Lord’s. I will always remember my first Ashes game as captain for the way in which Glenn and Shane bowled. Shane has bowled some of the finest leg spin I have seen in the second innings. It was proof of his greatness that he is not letting his family problems affect his cricket. I was always confident that Shane would leave all that stuff behind when he got on to the field, because he has the ability to concentrate on his cricket irrespective of the troubles he is facing outside the field. I can already tell that he is going to be lethal right through this
series. — Gameplan |
|
PCB refuses to shift Test from Multan
Lahore, July 27 Admitting that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had insisted on shifting the Test from Multan, PCB Director Cricket Operations Saleem Altaf said, “The suggestion came that the Test be shifted from Multan to Rawalpindi, but we have rejected this proposition since Multan has a beautiful Test stadium and it is one of our best cricket
venues.” The ECB had objected to Multan from the security point of view, citing the distance between the hotel and the stadium, which necessitated travelling through crowded areas. The ECB had earlier ruled out playing two back-to-back one-dayers in Karachi. ECB Chairman David Morgan recently met his Pakistani counterpart Shaharyar Khan in London and the security issue featured high on their agenda.
— UNI |
|
|
Duleep Trophy matches
from October 20
New Delhi, July 27 While the North Zone Ranji Trophy one-day tournament will be held here from February 10 to 18, Central Zone will host the Deodhar Trophy from February 25 to March 9. Though the draw and dates of the Duleep Trophy tournament have been finalised, the venues will be decided later. Six
teams — including Zimbabwe A — have been clubbed into two groups of
three each. Group-I comprises Central, South and West, while North,
East and Zimbabwe ‘A’ comprise Group II. Fixtures: October
20 to 23: West vs South, North vs East October 27 to 30: South vs
Central, North vs Zimbabwe ‘A’ November 4 to 7: Central vs West,
East vs Zimbabwe ‘A’; November 12 to 16: Final. In the North Zone
Ranji Trophy one-dayers, six teams — Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir and Services — will figure in a round-robin
league in this tournament. Fixtures (all matches to be played
in Delhi): February 10: Punjab vs Haryana, Himachal vs Services,
Delhi vs Jammu and Kashmir; February 12: Delhi vs Punjab, Services vs
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal vs Haryana; February 14: Punjab vs Jammu and
Kashmir, Delhi vs Himachal, Haryana vs Services; February 16: Delhi vs
Haryana, Himachal vs Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab vs Services; February 18:
Haryana vs Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal vs Punjab, Delhi vs Services;
Deodhar Trophy (venue-Central Zone): February 25: Central vs West, East
vs South; February 28: Central vs North, East vs West; March 3: Central
vs South, North vs West; March 6: Central vs East, North vs South; March
9: East vs North, South vs West. — UNI |
|
|
Sania sets up clash with Venus
New Delhi, July 27 Sania, who had lost her final qualifying match against Shahar Peer of Israel, entered the main draw as a lucky loser after Chanda Rubin pulled out of the tournament citing an ankle injury. In the see-saw first-round match yesterday, Sania beat the Greek 7-6(7/4), 2-6, 6-3, according to information received here today. Sania now faces Venus Williams in the second round. It was yet another brilliant show by Sania against the Greek, who is 58th in the latest WTA rankings. Pitted against Daniilidou, who had stunned French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne at Wimbledon last month, it was a daunting task for Sania, who reached her career-best ranking of 64 earlier this week. But the 18-year-old Hyderabadi girl was aggressive from the beginning and though she lost the plot in the second set, Sania raised her game in the decider and wrapped up the match. Against the big-serving Daniilidou, Sania impressed with her returns and broke the Greek at crucial points to unsettle her. With both players eager to grab early initiative, the oscillating first set was dragged to the tie-breaker and Sania kept her cool to win the set. The Indian, however, looked off-colour in the second set as Daniilidou staged a comeback to draw parity. Sania took control of the proceedings in the third set and managed to rein in unforced errors while the higher-ranked Greek crumbled under pressure and conceded the game and the match. Though the Indian has not played Venus, Sania met the other Williams sister, Serena, in the Australian Open and put up a decent show before going down.
— UNI |
|
Overage hockey players not fielded: manager
Bhubaneshwar, July 27 The charges levelled by senior vice-president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) Narinder Batra are “baseless, motivated and detrimental to the interest of Indian hockey”, Pratap Satpathy, who accompanied the team as the manager, said in a statement here. Satpathy, who is also the joint secretary of the IHF, asserted that not a single player who represented the country in the tournament was above the age of 21 years. The age of the players were verified by the FIH from the passports of the players, he said, adding that all players had obtained their passports much before their selection in the Indian squad. Their dates of birth had been recorded in the passport on the basis of their high school certificates and other documents and the check-and-control method adopted by the External Affairs Ministry were beyond doubt, Satpathy said.
— PTI |
|
Chanda wins, Bakre loses
Pardubice, July 27 It was a disappointing outing for
Bakre, who had been undefeated so far in the tournament before Belaroussi
Sergei Azarov clinched the well-fought fifth-round match. Meanwhile, Chanda, who lost his third-round game against compatriot Satyapragyan, came back in style and defeated his French opponent Anthony Wrig to clinch one full point. The Grandmaster from Kolkata has 3.5
points in his kitty with three wins and a draw. It turned out to be fruitful outings for International Masters Saptarshi Roychowdhury, S Kidambi and Rahul Shetty, who also won their fifth-round games. The trio of Devaki Prasad, S Satyapragyan and Eesha
Karavade, however, lost their games while the remaining Indian players from India split points. On the top board, Shalimov Valery of Ukraine thrashed compatriot Vovk Yuri in a superbly played game which lasted just 29 moves. Playing with white, Valeri played d4 move to which Vovk did not have any satisfying answer and he succumbed. Valery is now on five points and has emerged as the sole leader of the championship with four more rounds to go.
— UNI |
|
Srinath maintains lead, Negi held
Belfort, July 27 With just two rounds remaining in 10 different World Youth championships being organised simultaneously, Srinath took his tally to eight points out of a possible nine. He was half a point adrift of second seed Sujgirov Sanan of Russia who has 7.5 points in his kitty. In the next round, Srinath will take on Ray Robson, who dealt another blow to the medal hopes of top seed Parimarjan Negi after holding him to a draw. The other Indian in the fray for a medal here is S P Sethuram, who accounted for Gil Popliski to move to seven points. Unlike Srinath, Sahaj Grover lost his sole lead after he was outplayed by Ivan Bukashvin of Russia in the under-10 boys section. Having done exceedingly well thus far in the event, this came a real shock for Sahaj as Bukashvin also joined him in the lead. In the under-14 boys, too, the medal chances of Y Sandeep suffered a huge setback as he was outdone by Maxim Matlakov. Remaining on 6.5 points, Sandeep will need a bit of luck apart from a couple of victories in the next rounds to be in with a chance to be in the elite group. Among other boys, only G Rohit remained in contention for a medal in the under-16 boys despite drawing his ninth round game with Dergey Trofinov. Rohit moved to seven points with the draw. Among the girls, K. Sai Nirupama jumped to sole second spot in the under-10 section defeating Susanna Gaboyan. With Anna Iwanow in command here on eight points, Nirupama is just half a point adrift of the leader. In the under-12 girls, however, Meri Arabidze proved much stronger than Indian hope P Lakshmi Sahiti and coasted to an easy victory while in the under-14 too, it was a similar story with Mary Muzychuk handing I Ramya Krishna a crushing defeat. Women Grandmaster D Harika in the under-16 girls section remained in contention for a medal after winning her 9th round game and taking her tally to 6.5 points. — PTI |
|
Manan close to qualifying
New Delhi, July 27 Manan looked a bit edgy in the beginning, but he shrugged off the inertia to rout his weak opponent 59-49, 68-33, 97-24, 79-4, according to information received here today. The Indian recorded a break of 79 in the fourth frame en route to victory. After two successive defeats, a beleaguered Manan grew in confidence with every frame today and had little difficulty in taming the Vietnamese.
— UNI |
||
|
Coventry’s triumph provides cheer for Zimbabwe
Montreal, July 27 On the same day the New Zealand parliament passed a resolution, calling for the cancellation of a cricket tour in Zimbabwe due to concerns over human rights abuses,
Coventry provided a lift with her upset of American world record holder Natalie Coughlin. Already a heroine at home after scooping three medals at the Athens Olympics, Coventry steered clear of controversy, saying only that one she hoped to be able to train in her own country. “I am very proud to represent Zimbabwe, for everyone back home it gives them a little hope, especially in sport,” said Coventry, who had been living and competing in the USA for Auburn University. “I think it is exciting that we are showing people that you can do it. You may have to go and train somewhere else, but we are still representing our countries. We still go home afterwards and celebrate
with them.” “We are doing it for them, so hopefully, one day we will be able to swim in Zimbabwe without having to go other places.
— Reuters |
|
Asian archery meet in Delhi
Chandigarh, July 27 A national-level ranking archery circuit meet will be held in Gurgaon from August 25 to 28. It will form basis of selection of the Indian archery team for the14th Asian Archery Championship, he added. 16 SAI coaches for HP
Solan, July 27 Sports Minister Ram Lal Thakur said he had taken up the matter with the SAI Secretary, who had assured him of deputing 16 coaches. He said 40 coaches would be appointed on a contractual basis by the Sports Department. |
|
PBA charged with nepotism, irregularities
Jalandhar, July 27 Ravi today said only one player from Jalandhar could secure a place in the Punjab team while four players of Baba
Ludhiana Academy, Ludhiana, which lost in the knockout stage, were selected. They alleged that the selections were made to suit the interests of the selection panel, comprising Dr Subramanium, coach of Baba
Ludhiana Academy, Davinder Singh, coach of the Punjab basketball team, and Balkar Brar and Teja Singh Dhaliwal, joint secretary and general secretary, respectively, of the PBA. Deepinder alleged that he was told at the last moment about his exclusion from the final squad on July 20. It was claimed that Goga of Faridkot secured a place in the team though he had been disqualified in the state championship for being overage. Some players, who did not wish to be quoted, alleged that the authorities concerned were pressurising most of the talented players of the state to join a particular basketball academy. When contacted, Brar said he was not competent to speak on the issue. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video: (
