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Dravid led from the front
To pick Sourav or not, that is the question
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‘The Wall’ unfazed by Sehwag’s form
Cameras installed First woman pilot, her sister welcome Indian cricketers
It will be a sporting wicket, says curator
PCA mistreats its players
BCCI owes PCA Rs 6.5 cr: Bindra
Amit Pagnis shines for Central Zone
Shalini returns best card
Punjab cagers lift title
Rohana surges ahead
Chandigarh, Jalandhar schools in last eight
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A thriller on the cards
Mohali, October 27 The Indians will be required to carry on with the same intensity and urgency in the second match of the seven-match series at the PCA Stadium here tomorrow. With Sachin Tendulkar proving that he was keen to make up for the six months he lost to injury, Rahul Dravid exhibiting that he meant business, Irfan Pathan enjoying himself thoroughly in his new role as all-rounder and spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik bowling magnificently, tomorrow's day and night match promises to be a thriller. Tendulkar looked rusty in the Challenger Trophy. He, however, set the pitch on fire at Nagpur and put to rest all doubts regarding his fitness as well as form. During the course of his innings of 93, he proved why he is arguably the best batsman in the world. It was this authoritative knock, which went a long way in putting the match beyond the Sri Lankans. Tendulkar enthralled his fans with virtually every stroke in the book and some which only he can play. Delicate taps to third man boundary, ferocious drives in the cover region, straight drive, lofted drives, deft on-side glances and his trademark reverse sweep must have warmed the hearts of die-hard cricket fans in India, but these must be giving sleepless nights to Sri Lankans. For India to keep up the momentum, Tendulkar would be required to fire the remaining matches as well. In his first match as regular skipper, Rahul Dravid marshalled his resources remarkably well. His superlative knock which ultimately fetched him the Man of the Match award must have put him in proper frame of mind for the long and gruelling series ahead. Young left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan was a revelation at No. 3 and it was his scintillating 83-run knock which frustrated the rivals no end. But Indians would do well to guard against any complacency against the rivals who are rated No. 2 team in this version of the game. Plan must be firmly in place to keep batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atappatu, Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena under check. As he has done so many times in the past, Jayasuriya has the wherewithal to change the complexion of the game in no time. Irfan Pathan and Co would be required to be at their best to send him back to the pavilion before he gets going. In new ball bowler Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan have a seamer who is rated among the best in the business. Bowling with nagging line and length and getting the ball to move in and out, Vaas has troubled the best in the business. It was Vaas, who scalped the marauding Virender Sehwag who was threatening to cut loose at Nagpur. Sri Lanka's task will become easier, if he gets proper support from the other end. Mutthiah Muralitharan, who did not have a very satisfying first game, would only be too keen to make an impression on the Indian batsmen, who are traditionally good players of spin. But Sri Lankans, who have a string of all-rounders like Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dilhara Lokuhettige in their ranks, are expected to pose a big challenge to Indians even on their home turf. They have humbled the Indians in crucial encounters in the recent past. Rahul Dravid would do well not to let the guard down and play at the same level in the rest of the series. Because, once their rivals get into the groove and play as a unit they can be very dangerous opponents. India (from): Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, M S Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Jai Prakash Yadav, Sri Sreesanth, Gautam Gambir, R P Singh. Sri Lanka (from): Marvan Atapattu (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof, Russel Arnold, Dilhara Fernando, Mutthiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Nuwan Zoysa. |
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Dravid led from the front
Chandigarh, October 27 While everybody spoke of Sachin Tendulkar returning with a bang to international cricket after a six-month hiatus, and the belligerent knock of Irfan Pathan, who scored his best-ever knock in international cricket, the unbeaten 85 by Dravid in only 64 deliveries spoke of the new resolve of the new Indian skipper. Rahul Dravid’s penchant of leading from the front augers well for Indian cricket. At Nagpur his body language while on the ground spoke it all. His bowling changes were imaginative and his field placings were attacking. And to top it all one must give him a lot of credit for recalling newcomer S. Sreesanth to the attack (when he could have very well called back either Pathan or Agarkar) after the Kerala rookie had taken a battering in his early overs. Team India which of late has taken a lot of battering both on and off the ground for reason known to all needs to reinvent itself if it has to do well not only now but also in the 2007 World Cup. And at the moment the Rahul Dravid-Greg Chappell combine seems to be its best bet, given the level of commitment in both these key figures of the team. Both are visionaries, good performers themselves who can lead by example and, more important, have an eye on the future. That the mandarins who run Indian cricket knew the key role which new cricket coach Greg Chappell would play in the scheme of things is apparent from the fact that Greg’s tenure runs right till the next World Cup, giving him enough time to formulate and plan what is right for Indian cricket. His recent visit to the Railways dressing room when Railways beat Rest of India to win the Irani Trophy and his words of encouragement to players speaks highly of his motivation factor. It is apparent that for too long Rahul Dravid has silently worked under the shadow of Sourav Ganguly, the man he deposed in the hot seat of Indian cricket. Even when he was named skipper for the tour of Sri Lanka in August, Rahul knew that it was a matter of time before Ganguly reclaimed the skipper’s slot. And under Sourav the team looked jaded and off colour in the tri-series in Zimbabwe where the only real opposition were the New Zealanders. In Zimbabwe, the players played by rote never looking like a cohesive unit even when they played a below-par team like Zimbabwe. Dravid now has an extended run of 12 one-day matches to prove that he has it in him to lead India right till the next World Cup given his commitment to the cause of Indian cricket. And going by his Nagpur performance he has it in him to take India out of the rut the team had fallen into. But with 11 more matches to go against Sri Lanka and then against South Africa there is a lot of hard work yet to be done by the skipper, the team as well as the coach. Ever since he hit the international scene, the Karnataka batsman has molded his game to suit team India. When people said he was too puritan in his approach to make a place in the slam-bang game he took to wicketkeeping so that the team could play an extra batsman. And even though he was not trained for the job of keeping he did a fairly competent job and continued to do so till India found wicketkeepers who could also bat. |
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To pick Sourav or not, that is the question
Chandigarh, October 27 Sourav Ganguly has proved his fitness, and form, in no uncertain terms by not only scoring a century in the Duleep Trophy match against North Zone at Rajkot recently but also by bowling and claiming wickets. That he took his team to victory is only incidental. In fact, when the team for the first two games of the on-going series against Sri Lanka was selected at the conclusion of the Challenger Series earlier this month, it was said Ganguly was not considered for the first two games since he had missed the Challenger Series after being named captain of the India Senior squad due to an injury he had sustained during the tour of Zimbabwe last month. He was directed by the board to prove his fitness before being considered for national selection. Now that he has done so what do the selectors do? There are two aspects of team selection. One is that a player is included in the list of 15 and then gets the nod to play in the 11 if somebody or the other is indisposed. The other are the automatic choices for inclusion in the 11. In the case of a player like Ganguly, if he is included in the list of 15, he has to, per force, be included in the playing eleven. But in this case whom does he replace with the top order coming good at Nagpur? The only player who could make way for Ganguly to walk into the playing 11 would be J.P. Yadav. But if that were to be happen would it not be a terrible injustice with the Railway all-rounder? But before a player of the seniority of Ganguly is recalled for national duty the selectors must decide whether he fits in the scheme of things. It is of no use inducting Ganguly now into the team because of certain compulsions and then dropping him after a couple of matches and bringing in some other player. The selectors need to be focussed and must pick the right players, not only for the job on hand but also with an eye on the future. Another player who has still to cool his heels in the wings is Mohammad Kaif, otherwise an automatic choice for the one-day squad. Kaif, who was injured in the course of the Challenger series was told to rest for at least three weeks before returning to competitive cricket. Therefore, Kaif has one more week of compulsory rest before returning to the cricket field. Also, as per the board's latest ruling he has to turn up in a domestic match (as did Sachin Tendulkar during the Challenger Series and Ganguly during the Duleep Trophy) before being considered for national selection. |
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‘The Wall’ unfazed by Sehwag’s form
Mohali, October 27 Quizzed about the performance of explosive opener Virender Sehwag, who has failed to fire for quite some time now, Dravid said Sehwag was aware of the situation. He had looked good on a couple of occasions in the past, though he failed to convert his starts into big scores. "I am not concerned much. He is the batsman who has done well in the past. He looked good and scored 70-odd runs in the Super Series match against Australia. He looks a match away from a big score," Dravid stated. About the continuation of Irfan Pathan at No. 3, Dravid said there should be no experimentation for the sake of experimentation. Different situations demanded different response. "It all depends on the prevailing conditions. We may do something different in the next game. The sole idea behind all this is to ensure victory for the team," Dravid said. Commenting on the dew factor that comes into play in the day and night matches, Dravid stated dew would be a factor, but the players having played under similar conditions in the past know how to deal with it "Tendulkar is one of our top-order batsman. He is very senior and we all look up to him. To get the desired results, we need seniors and he fits into the scheme of things very well," he said adding that he was only 32 and by the time he hangs his boots he should add up a lot more runs to his kitty. Referring to his superb unbeaten knock of 85 runs in the first match at Nagpur, he said he went in to bat when a good platform was already there. "I knew that we should have more run on the board to make it tough for Sri Lankans. I am happy that some of the shots I played came off really well." Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu was candid enough to admit that the Indians outplayed Sri Lankans at Nagpur and there was nothing wrong with the strategy. "At the start of the series, we thought it would be a close contest. But we were outplayed in all three departments of the game. We are confident of putting up a better show tomorrow," he said. Atapattu hinted that they may try different opening combination and Kumara Sangakkara may be sent in as an opener in place of Sanath Jayasuriya. He, however, ruled out using Jayasuriya as bowler in view of his troublesome shoulder. Dwelling on the performance of Sri Lankans abroad, Atapattu said he was aware that Sri Lanka's recent record abroad was not very impressive. "But there are so many teams which faced similar problem. We are aware of it and try to better our record abroad. Besides, we have not played tough teams abroad consistently," he observed. The skipper refused to name the playing combination saying that the decision would be taken tomorrow. Team coach Tom Moody said India took advantage of batting first. “They took a couple of risks which paid off . There were a couple of close calls which did not favour Sri Lanka,” he said. Moody concurred with Atapattu saying that in view of the different conditions in Mohali they may try out some new things. |
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Cameras installed Mohali, October 27 These steps are part of ICC directions to curb wrongdoing during cricket matches. These steps were initiated after revelations of match fixing stirred the cricket world four days back. Virk would screen catering staff and other support staff expected to go in players’ rooms. Sources said players would not use mobile phones during the course of the match tomorrow.
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First woman pilot, her sister welcome Indian cricketers Mohali, October 27 The two sisters wished the team best of luck and also the coach Greg Chappell for the second match of the India-Sri Lanka series to be played here tomorrow. Probably the most touching scene was when the biggest superstar of them all, Sachin Tendulkar, bent down to hear what a wheel chair bound Beant Kaur had to say to him. She wished him all the luck and handed over a bouquet which the Mumbai batsman accepted and thanked them as he strolled off for the practice session. Minutes
later Mr Parminder Singh, General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh
Congress Committee, who had accompanied the two women, introduced them
to Chandigarh lad Yuvraj Singh. At this Beant Kaur remarked “ So he is
Yograj’s kaka (son) “. It be may mentioned that Yograj Singh, a
former Test cricketer and father of Yuvraj Singh lived in Sector 11
Chandigarh for more than 30 years while the two sisters lived in the
adjoining Sector 2, during the same period in the 1970’s , 1980’s
and 1990’s. Yuvraj spoke to them in Punjabi and said he had also wanted to meet them all along. Beant Kaur later told the press that her favourite cricketer was Yuvraj and that she had seen his father Yograj as a teenager. The duo also had a brief chat with Rahul Dravid. The two women told him that it was their dream to meet him in person. Dravid, the scourge of bowlers all over the world, was at his humble best when he bent down as two patted his shoulder and wished him luck. The
straight talking Australian, Greg Chappell, now the coach of the Indian
team, smiled and thanked them. The two women had message for the youth:
“ Play some game but do not do drugs”.
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It will be a sporting wicket, says curator Mohali, October 27 He said different rolling techniques had been adopted in preparation of the wicket this time. “We have not watered it for the past two days. With a little tinge of the green on the top, it should ensure an even contest between bat and ball,” he said. He said soil content of four or five inches of top crust had been relaid, hoping that it would have better bounce. The wicket had the reputation of assisting fast bowlers early on, but it had changed character over the years, becoming a bit slow, resulting in run feasts in recent games.
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PCA mistreats its players
Chandigarh, October 27 Wat otherwise can explain the shabby treatment meted out today to dashing Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh by the PCA mandarins when they sought passes for their friends and family for tomorrow's day-night one-day match between India and Sri Lanka. While the two were refused passes on the pretext that they ‘‘should have informed earlier’’, when, after repeated pleas by the two star players, the PCA official relented, they were made to wait for almost an hour before passes were handed out to them. The two then left cribbing. Yuvraj and Harbhajan came to meet Mr I.S. Bindra, the President of the PCA, at around 5.45 p.m. at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, immediately after their practice session. Sources present inside the office at that time told The Tribune that when the players requested Mr Bindra for some passes for their family members, they were told that he had no passes and that they should contact Mr Bahl. Mr Bahl is the person in charge for distributing passes to the high and mighty. At Mr Bahl’s office, the players came across scores of other people, many of them also waiting for passes. They too were made to wait by Mr Bahl before they were given the passes. However, the number of passes that they got were much less than what they had sought. Incidentally, while PCA officials have been claiming that they don’t have passes, even for players, when it comes to top police officers and bureaucrats, the passes are somehow always available. PCA bosses were witnessed dispatching envelopes containing passes for the DGP, Punjab, and some bureaucrats this evening. When this was pointed out by Harbhajan to Mr Bahl, he was told that he was simply following the directions of the PCA bosses. |
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BCCI owes PCA Rs 6.5 cr: Bindra
Chandigarh, October 27 Disclosing this, here today, PCA President Inderjit Singh Bindra said the BCCI had to reimburse Rs 2 crore to the PCA for raising infrastructure at its stadium at Mohali. ‘‘The accounts were submitted to the BCCI well in time. The PCA has not only upgraded its facilities but has also set up a state of the art gymnasium at the stadium,’’ he said. The PCA President pointed out that in the recent general body meeting of the BCCI at Kolkata, BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahindra had announced to give the organising associations a part of the profit earned from selling of the TV rights. According to Mr Bindra, the profit of Rs 4.73 crore was the share of the PCA for organising the India-Pakistan Test match in March.
— TNS |
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Amit Pagnis shines for Central Zone
Surat, October 27 Put into bat, Central lost their captain Sanjay Bangar (11) when the team's score read just 30, but Pagnis along with Jyoti Yadav, took the team to a comfortable total. Zimbabwe shot out for 94
MUMBAI: Zimbabwe’s poor form continued even in first class cricket when they were bundled out for 94 by North Zone here
on Thursday. |
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Shalini returns best card
Chandigarh, October 27 The best card saw Shalini jumping to the second slot with a score aggregate of 229 after the third round, just four strokes behind the leader. Chandigarh girl Parnita Garewal also moved to the third slot with a score of 235 on the penultimate day of the championship. The scores (after the
third round): Championship trophy : Vaishavi Sinha 225, Shalini Malik 229, Parnita Garewal 235. Silver Salver (0-12 handicap): Nett — Preetinder Kaur 214, Shewta Galande 216, Saania Sharma 217. Challenge Bowl (13-24 handicap): Gross — Sonali Chibber 269, Pallavi Jain 270, Rabia Gill 275; Nett — Pallavi Jain 210, Rabia Gill 221, Sonali Chibber 224. Junior Shield : Gross — Vaishavi Sinha 225, Sharmila Nicollet 238, Bhavna Shetty 240; Nett — Preetinder Kaur 214, Sheweta Galande 216, Rabia Gill 221. Sub junior Shield: Gross — Laverry Kumar 263, Rabia Gill 275, Shreya Ghai 288; Nett — Rabia Gill 221, Ekam J Singh 227. |
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Punjab cagers lift title
Sangrur, October 27 Punjab’s Meenakshi was declared best gymnast. Rohika of Punjab was second and Sridevi of Andhra Pradesh was placed third. In swimming, Karnataka were first, Delhi secured second place and Punjab were placed third. |
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Rohana surges ahead
New Delhi, October 27 The Lankan scored seven birdies and an eagle to take a one-stroke lead, with Australia’s Craig Warren carding 65 to be in the second position. Hendrick Buhrmann and Digvijay Singh shared the third position at six-under. Gaurav Ghei and Rahul Ganapathy were among the four players to be tied fifth, three strokes behind the leader. |
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Chandigarh, Jalandhar schools in last eight
New Delhi, October 27 In their last Super League matches, the Chandigarh school defeated Har Prasad Das Jain High School, Arrah, Bihar, 17-0 and the Jalandhar school drew with the Bangladesh Institute of Sports 1-1. The Bangladeshi team also entered the last eight. In other matches, Birsa Munda Vidyapith, Rourkela, Orissa, defeated Raja Dumbra Singh School, Imphal, 5-1 and Guru Harkrishan Public School, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi, edged past Guru Gobind Singh College, Lucknow 5-3.
— OSR |
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