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Dravid is captain for Lanka, SA series
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Pak proposes hockey tie for quake victims
Sania retires hurt
Senior citizens to run in Delhi Half Marathon
IOA writes to PM on transfers
Medal winners honoured
SAI coaches to meet minister
Junior fencing meet from Nov 14
Balewadi eves record win
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Vidyut does it for Seniors
Mohali, October 13 A major share of credit for India Seniors’ victory goes to left-handed Vidyut. Showing dogged persistence and application, Vidyut saved the day for his team. The Tamil Nadu batsman notched up a priceless 87 before being castled by seamer S Sreesanth. But by that time the lanky batsman was dismissed, only five runs more remained to be scored for victory. India B, led by Dinesh Mongia, did not disgrace themselves in defeat. They fought valiantly till the end and made the rivals work hard for the victory. Put in to bat by Seniors, their batting floundered in the face of disciplined bowling performance by rival bowlers. Zaheer Khan, dropped in the previous match on account of his lacklustre performance when he was carted all over the park by India A tailenders, bowled an inspired spell and did the early damage. Running in nicely, the left-arm seamer bowled a much better line today. His twin strikes early in the innings, evicting yesterday’s hero Robin Utthappa and S Sriram, put the rivals on the backfoot. Harbhajan Singh then struck twice, sending back skipper Dinesh Mongia and Yusuf Pathan to put India A in a spot of bother. Murali Kartik then bowled a mesmerising spell. He kept the batsmen on the tenterhooks with his nagging line and length. The Railways left-arm spinner claimed a five-wicket haul as India B were restricted to a meagre 177. This score did not look good enough to test the strong batting line-up of India Seniors. Sachin Tendulkar and Vidyut started run chase confidently. Tendulkar, who disappointed in the previous two outings, looked in a better nick this time and appeared to be settling down nicely. But a googly from young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla bamboozled the maestro completely as he was clean bowled. Tendulkar made run-a-ball 22 and struck four fours. Immediately thereafter, Chawla struck again to dismiss in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh after the batsman had scored five runs. Continuing to bowl in the same vein, the UP leg-spinner then sent back dangerman Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Seniors were left struggling. S Sreesanth, who bowled impressively throughout the tournament and was the best seamer on view, then struck vital blows to jolt Seniors further. But Vidyut looked solid at one end and continued to bat well. He hit some fluent drives and pierced the off-side field with precision. When nearing the three-figure mark, Vidyut was found clueless to a Sreesanth delivery and his leg stump was uprooted. But when he was dismissed, Seniors were within sniffing distance of victory. Vidyut’s 87-run knock was studded with 15 well-struck boundaries. Though their team lost the key contest, Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla looked promising and kept India Seniors’ famed batting line-up on their toes virtually throughout the innings. Kartik’s five-wicket haul was the second best bowling performance in the Challenger Series.
Scoreboard India B
Utthappa c Kaif b Zaheer 9
Dhawan c Dhoni b Zaheer 26
Sriram c Rao b Zaheer 8
Mongia c Yadav b Harbhajan 7
Y. Pathan c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 20
Patel lbw b Kartik 39 Shukla not out 26 Sunny b Kartik 5 Chawla st Dhoni b Kartik 5 Bhandari st Dhoni b Kartik 4 Sreesanth st Dhoni b Kartik 5 Extras
(lb-4, w-16, nb-3) 23 Total (all out, 42.5 overs) 177 Fall of wickets:
1-13, 2-29, 3-43, 4-70, 5-91, 6-141, 7-150, 8-157, 9-164. Bowling:
Zaheer 8-1-42-3, I. Pathan 9-0-37-0, Harbhajan 8-2-24-2, Yadav 6-0-28-0, Kartik 9.5-0-29-5, Rao 1-0-5-0, Vidyut 1-0-8-0. India Seniors Vidyut b Sreesanth 87 Tendulkar b Chawla 22 Yuvraj c Shukla b Chawla 5 Rao c Patel b Sreesanth 18 Dhoni st Patel b Chawla 6 Yadav c Utthappa b Mongia 10 I. Pathan not out 11 Parab b Sreesanth 4 Kartik not out 4 Extras
(lb-6, w-5, nb-3) 14 Total (7 wkts, 39 overs) 181 Fall of wickets:
1-46, 2-67, 3-113, 4-122, 5-143, 6-173, 7-177. Bowling: Bhandari 3-0-17-0, Sreesanth 9-2-32-3, Chawla 10-1-49-3, Y. Pathan 10-0-44-0, Mongia 7-1-33-1. |
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Dravid is captain for Lanka, SA series
Chandigarh, October 13 The Sri Lankans are scheduled to play seven one-day matches, beginning with the match at Nagpur on October 25. The South Africans will come to India after the end of the series against Sri Lanka and are scheduled to play five one-day matches. The Sri Lankans will return in December to play three Tests against the hosts. The announcement of the captain was made by BCCI Secretary S.K.Nair, who said the decision of the selectors was unanimous. The series against South Africa is scheduled to be played from November 16 to 28. Mr Nair also clarified that the decision of the selectors had nothing to do with the injury to Sourav Ganguly. “It has nothing to do with Ganguly. He will be considered as a player depending on the (fitness) report which will be submitted by physio John Gloster on October 17,” he said after the meeting. Asked if the decision to appoint Dravid as captain meant the selectors desired a change, Mr Nair said: “Obviously, when it is a different name, it means a change”. Dravid, who led India in the tri-series in Sri Lanka when Ganguly was undergoing a four-match ban imposed by the International Cricket Council for slow over rate in the series against Pakistan, will now get an extended term to prove that he has it in him to lead India right up to the World Cup in 2007. This move of the selectors probably brings down the curtain on the one-day international career of Ganguly, who missed the Challenger series due to a tennis elbow sustained during the tour of Zimbabwe last month and was advised not to play cricket for at least 10 days. Ganguly is scheduled to return to competitive cricket (provided he is cleared by the doctors) with the Duleep Trophy match beginning on October 20. But Ganguly still has hope. A good showing in the Duleep Trophy matches might still find him back in the team (and the hot seat) in the Test series. There has been a school of thought in Indian cricket that Team India should have different captains for one-day and Test cricket. If Dravid can prove his worth as captain in the 12 one-day matches in which he will lead India on the trot, then Ganguly might find it difficult to come back to lead the one-day squad. But the option to lead
India in Test cricket may be given over to Ganguly so that he can gracefully say goodbye to one-day cricket in which his performance of late has been much below par. Another factor, though unsaid, which might be working against Ganguly returning to the team could be the spat he had with coach Greg Chappell in the tour of Zimbabwe. Though the two did make up at the much-publicised meeting in Mumbai late last month, the powers that be are probably still of the view that Chappell deserves a free hand to build Team india for the World Cup. And in Chappell’s scheme of things Ganguly has no place. The Indian team, which will be selected tomorrow, will attend a three-day camp in Bangalore from October 19 to 21 before the series against Sri Lanka. |
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World XI look to turn the tables
Sydney, October 13 After their humiliating 3-0 whitewash in the one-day matches, World XI cricketers have a lot to prove to their opposition and fans alike and the Test provides them an opportunity to do so. With an array of glittering names in their side, like West Indies’ Brian Lara, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, World XI appear to be favourites on paper but the Aussies are quite capable of turning the tables on any fancied opponent. The star-studded World X1 were expected to rock the Aussies in the one-dayers but eventually cut a sorry figure, going down by huge margins to the hosts, who have sprung back from the Ashes loss with a vengeance. The world’s top cricketers failed to apply themselves in the shorter version of the game and also looked unable to gel as a team, the number of run outs being a pointer to the lack of understanding among players from diverse countries. But they have vowed to fight back in the Test with performances worthy of their staggering reputation. Helping their cause would be the newcomers to the Test side — the likes of captain Graeme Smith, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul- Haq, who is a replacement for the originally named Sachin Tendulkar and England quick Steve Harmison. World X1 have dropped Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar from the team after his rather indifferent performance in the one-day series. Australia would be bolstered by the inclusion of spin king Shane Warne and that too on a spin-friendly track at the majestic Sydney Cricket Ground. Giving Warne, the world’s highest wicket taker, company in the spin department would be Stuart McGill. And giving Warne competition will be his Sri Lankan rival Muralitharan, who last played a Test in Australia in 1995 when he was no-balled for throwing by umpire Darrel Hair. Murali has, however, put that nightmare firmly behind him and is relishing the prospect of renewing the rivalry with Warne. Skipper Smith also got going right away after taking the reins of the battered team and although he did not promise miracles, he was confident of a better show from his players. “I am not going to try to build a team,” he said, “It’s about getting the roles right, getting the intensity right and when guys have got a bat or ball in hand they’re at the right level they need to be,” said the 24-year-old South African. As for the players themselves, they are determined to make amends for their flop show and prove what they are capable of. Dravid’s reputation as the dependable middle-order bat took quite some beating and the other Indian in the Test squad — Sehwag — has also been left with some introspection to do after the debacle in the one-day series which was played in the indoor Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. Teams (from): World XI:
Graeme Smith (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (vice-capt), Inzamam-ul Haq, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Steve Harmison, Shoaib Akhtar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff and Daniel Vettori. Australia:
Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich, Glenn McGrath, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, Stuart McGill and Brett Lee.
— PTI |
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Pak proposes hockey tie for quake victims
New Delhi, October 13 On the suggested dates for the charity match, both the Indian and Pakistani teams would be preparing for the Champions Trophy, to be held in Chennai in December. The IHF official, however, said it should not be a problem for the Indian team to fly to Pakistan for a day to play the match and return the same day. The Pakistan Olympic Association has donated Pakistani Rs 1 million to the President’s Relief Fund for earthquake relief.
— IANS |
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Sania retires hurt
Bangkok, October 13 The Indian climbed up to her career-best 31st rank in the latest WTA singles list after she had reached the semifinals of a WTA event in Tokyo last week where she lost to third seeded Tatiana Golovin of France 2-6, 4-6. The Bangkok tour was Sania’s last assignment before her scheduled break of around a month. The 18-year-old had defeated Slovakia’s Henrieta Nagyova 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 in the first round on Tuesday.
— PTI |
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Senior citizens to run in Delhi Half Marathon
New Delhi, October 13 “It is important to understand that senior citizens are also made to feel that they are very much a part of the whole spirit of the marathon,” trust head Tina Ambani said here. “As we have done with the Mumbai Marathon, in Delhi also, we are organising the Senior Citizens Run, which will be an integral part of the half marathon,” she said. She said film personalities like Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Jaya Bachchan and Neetu Kapoor and sportspersons like P.T. Usha and Milkha Singh would take part in the run to cheer the elderly. “The idea is not just about competition, but to make the elderly a part of the whole spirit of the marathon,” she said, adding that the senior citizens’ run was to celebrate age. Looking forward to a good response from senior citizens of Delhi, she said there had been about 2,500 applicants for the run so far. The run would start at 8 am from Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium, cover 4.3 km, passing through Bhism Pitahmah Marg and Lodhi Road, and return by the same route to end at the stadium. — PTI
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IOA writes to PM on transfers
Patiala, October 13 In his letter addressed to the Prime Minister, a copy of which is with this reporter, Mr Kalmadi said the decision to transfer the coaches had been taken in haste and unilaterally, without consulting senior officials of the SAI and the
IOA. The letter forms part of the documents given to the Chandigarh bench of the CAT by the Punjab unit of the SAI Coaches Welfare Association, which has filed a petition through its secretary-general Ranjit Singh against the transfers. Mr Kalmadi said, “The time chosen (July) is not right. Neither the children of the transferred coaches can be accommodated in good schools nor the huge amount of donations given by the parents be refunded.” The IOA President lamented that the exercise to transfer the coaches had affected the working of sports bodies all over the country at a juncture when there were plans to get the maximum number of medals in the 2010 games. Mr Kalmadi said the plea taken by the authorities that the Finance Ministry had asked to disband District Coaching Centres (DCC) was not applicable since the Staff Inspection Unit
(SIU) report had not been implemented by the SAI till yet. The IOA chief said sports was a state subject and the SAI’s plea that coaches should be brought under SAI schemes to ensure accountability did not hold much water. Mr Kalmadi ended the letter by saying that “I strongly feel that the decision taken by the SAI in shifting more than 700 coaches is not only unilateral but has been done without going into the repercussions it will have on the structure of sports in the country.” |
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Medal winners honoured
New Delhi, October 13 India won 38 medals — included eight gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze — in the Junior and Sub-Junior Asian Championship at Tashkent, nine medals, all by women, in the Senior Asian Championship and 13 medals in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship at Melbourne (Australia) last week. The Commonwealth haul comprised six gold, six silver and one bronze medal. At a function organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to honour the squad here today, WFI Secretary-General Balbir Singh Bhatia said India’s medal count could have gone up by 39 had the hosts followed the normal practice of awarding medals to squat, snatch and lift, was followed. Instead, the CWC organising committee opted to award just one medal for the overall total in each weight category. Yet, the Indian men and women performed creditably with Pujari Sailaja, who won the gold (75 kg class), getting the ‘best woman weightlifter’ award. India also wrested the women’s championship trophy by collecting 190 points, eight points more than second-placed Australia. The Indian men took the runners-up position with a tally of 151 points, behind Australia’s 202 points. B Prameela Valli entered the record books when she set an Asian youth record in the Sub-Junior Asian Championship at Tashkent and added two silver and one bronze medals in the Junior Asian Championship at the same venue five days later. She lifted the gold in the 63 kg class in the Commonwealth Championship in Australia. Balbir Singh said this was the first time in the history of Indian weightlifting that a 16-year-old girl had won seven medals within a two-month span. SAI Director-General Rattan P Wattal, former hockey Olympian and executive director (Team Wing) Dr M P Ganesh and secretary-general Dr BK Sinha, hailing Prameela’s achievement, promised that the SAI would spare no effort in providing the best diet, medi- care, equipment and other facilities to the lifters in preparation for forthcoming events like the Commonwealth Games at Melbourne in March next year, and the Asian Games at Doha in December, 2006. Ganesh told the lifters to keep off prohibited drugs and follow the straight and narrow path by working hard, and abiding by the advice of coaches and sports scientists for achieving success at the top level. He said true success would come only if the Indian lifters started winning medals at the Olympics and World Championships. He said the lifters would have to put in 20 times more effort than what they were putting in now to achieve excellence in the biggest arena. The medal winners at the Commonwealth Championship were: Gold: 56 kg (men): B Veerabhadran; women: 58 kg: Prasmita Mangraj); 63 kg: B Pramela Valli; 69 kg: Nansita Devi; 75 kg: Pujari Sailaja; plus 75kg: Geeta Rani. Silver (women): 53kg: Sonia Chanu; 63 kg: Indu Rani. Men: 62 kg: K Anbukathi Ravan; 69 kg: CRP Sudhir Kumar; 77 kg: Sateesha Rai; 85 kg: G Sandeep. Bronze: 62 kg: V
Biju. |
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SAI coaches to meet minister
Patiala, October 13 In a letter addressed to the Union Sports Minister, the president of the All-India SAI Coaches Welfare Association, Mr Ananta Kumar Ghosh, has claimed that SAI coaches all over the country were in distress and sitting idle as they had little work to do at their new places of posting. Mr Ghosh, in his letter to the minister, has alleged that some Regional Directors (RD) of the department have taken “inhuman steps against the recently transferred coaches who have joined their new places of posting.” He has also claimed that salaries of transferred coaches had not been released so far and even their earned and medical leave had been cancelled. Mr Ghosh stated that the SAI DG, at the time of transfers, had assured a deputation led by him that the cases of coaches whose children’s higher education suffered would be considered sympathetically. However, he claimed that till now no demand had been considered by the authorities and this despite the fact that more than three months had elapsed ever since the transfers were effected. |
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Junior fencing meet from Nov 14 Chandigarh, October 13 Other tournaments planned by the FFI during this session are the seventh Sub-Junior and Cadet National Fencing Championship in Calicut from December 22 to 25 and the Senior National Fencing Championship in Hyderabad from February 9 to 12 next. Khanna said to give more exposure to youngsters in the international arena, the first Commonwealth Youth Fencing Championship would be organised at Chennai from January 24 to 29 next. Khanna and Arun Vij were elected President and Secretary General, respectively, of the FFI at its annual general meeting last month.
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Balewadi eves record win
New Delhi, October 13 |
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Ranawat for training course in Australia
Patiala, October 13
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