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Ganguly fails to find place in team Focus shifting to youngsters
Dravid showers praise on Pathan |
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BCCI to decide venues today
PCA not informed about observer
Pak recall Shoaib, Mushtaq Ahmed
Imran appalled at negative mindset
PCB rules out foreign curator
Dippenaar ruled out of India tour
Windies batsmen make merry
Flintoff looks to captaincy
Ricky, Dhawan hit tons
Wiratchant takes lead
Harikrishna draws, in sight of title
Wiratchant takes lead
Eagle soars for Montgomerie
Williams may rope in Narain
Punjab cops steal the show
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Ganguly fails to find place in team Chandigarh, October 28 Chairman of selectors Kiran More, who attended the media briefing along with Mr S.K. Nair, Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said although Ganguly had proved his fitness, he did not find favour with the selectors who wanted to field an unchanged squad. In any case very rarely have selection committees tinkered with a winning combination. And with all players of the current team doing so well it would be foolhardy to bring back Ganguly at this stage since a player of his seniority per force would have to be fitted into the playing eleven. The omission of the 33-year-old Ganguly, the country’s most successful captain, means that the left-hander would have to continue playing domestic matches to keep himself in the reckoning. Ganguly, already selected to play in East Zone’s next Duleep Trophy tie, would be still hoping that he might get the nod from the “five wise men” for the last two games against Sri Lanka or maybe get a call to play in the five-game series against South Africa which follows the ongoing series. But as of now it seems that Ganguly’s one-day international career has come to an end. More said he had very high regard of Ganguly as a cricketer but unfortunately he did not fit into the scheme of things. “We have selected the best possible team and Ganguly did not fit into the scheme of things”, he said. With the selectors as well as coach Greg Chappell, who attended the selection committee meeting along with captain Rahul Dravid and physio John Gloster, eyeing the 2007 World Cup and reposing faith in youngsters, Ganguly’s comeback bid could prove to be quite difficult, particularly with the team having won the first two matches against Sri Lanka convincingly. Though More said the doors had not been closed on anyone and anybody could make a comeback, he underlined the fact that Team India now had set its sights on the World Cup and would like to prepare a team in which frequent changes were not made. “We had a very good discussion. The (current) team has performed outstandingly and the youngsters are performing well,” More said, adding that “we should have good players before the World Cup”. Asked about John Gloster’s presence in the meeting, More said he gave feedback about the fitness of the players. About Mohammed Kaif, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra, he said they were currently undergoing rehabilitation programme and added that Kaif’s fitness would be reviewed after the Pune match. Mr Nair, who announced the team, said the decision on Ganguly was “unanimous”. He disclosed that the next meeting of the selection committee would be held at the conclusion of the fifth one-day match at Ahmedabad. The squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Jai Prakash Yadav, S Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir and Rudra Pratap Singh. |
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Focus shifting to youngsters Chandigarh, October 28 Credit for this obviously must go not only to the cricket coach Greg Chappell but also the captain who led literally from the front a team which has a number of youngsters who should serve Indian cricket for a long, long time. And if this level of intensity continues, and there is no reason why it should not, then Chappell can start drawing up his blueprint for the 2007 World Cup with the core of the team already in place. While Rahul admits that he has a very young team at the disposal and barring him and Sachin Tendulkar there is nobody who can be called a senior player in the squad the future of Indian cricket most certainly lies in the hands of the players who did so wonderfully well, both at Nagpur and then at Mohali under different conditions. If the 152-run victory at the VCA Stadium at Nagpur on Tuesday was fashioned by the Indian batsmen, today's eight-wicket win at the PCA Stadium at Mohali came mainly by the efforts of the bowlers, principally Irfan Pathan, who won the man of the match award, and Ajit Agarkar who together bowled 14 overs on the trot in the beginning of the Sri Lanka innings. The visiting team, currently standing at the number two position in the ICC one-day rankings, seemed traumatised, still to recover from the whipping they had received at Nagpur. Otherwise, there can be no reason for their abject surrender today, as they lost half the side with 65 runs on the board in just 15 overs of play. And it must be said that the visitors lost most of their wickets due to bad cricket and not due to some devil in the strip which was proved later by the Indian batsmen as they went on a scoring spree with Sachin showing his class yet again with a 69-ball 70. In fact, it is difficult to imagine that this super star has had a six-month lay-off due to injury and was returning to competitive international cricket cricket after just three Challenger Series ties. His 93 at Nagpur and then today's 70 only proves that Sachin still has the intense hunger for runs. The pitch at the PCA Stadium, played true although Pathan, in the post-match conference, said that the wicket was a bit slow. But the Indian bowlers, backed by some fine ground fielding, did not give the visitors any leeway. The urge to excel in every department was apparent as everybody give his best. In any case, the youngsters are yet to get fully used to the adulation of the huge fan following since they are playing before capacity crowd probably for the first time in their lives given the poor following domestic cricket has in the country. And, like at Nagpur, Rahul Dravid did allow the youngsters full play to showcase their talent. If it was Sreesanth at Nagpur today it was the turn of J.P. Yadav who not only sent down his full quota of 10 overs but also sent him in at the fall of Virender Sehwag's wicket so that he could bat for some time under match conditions.
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Dravid
showers praise on Pathan Mohali, October 28 Dravid said it was due to the early strikes dealt by Pathan that India were able to bring Lankans under pressure adding that the rest of the bowlers complimented him very well. “Overall it was a fantastic win,” a satisfied Dravid said. Dravid warned his team-mates to guard against any complacency and said the Sri Lankans were a dangerous opponents and capable of bouncing back. “We had two good days. But we still have a long way to go. Sri Lanka are a tough side and they would try to stage an early comeback. We can not afford to get carried away,” Dravid said. About his decision to bat first, the skipper said though he did not play in the Challenger Series, he was told that batting first was a better option here due to the dew that envelops the ground in the evening, making bowling tough. Commenting upon the superb batting performance of Sachin Tendulkar, which went a long way in ensuring that the team achieved victory without any hiccups, the Karnataka batsman said Sachin was always a delight to watch. He also made special mention of allrounder JP Yadav for bowling a tidy spell in the middle of the innings which further slowed down the Sri Lankan run rate. About his promotion in the batting order, Dravid said the idea was to give exposure to the newcomers at this level of the game. Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody blamed the batsmen for the defeat. “The batsmen let the team down. I am not taking anything away from India but our batsmen and bowlers failed to perform,” a candid Moody said. The former Australian
allrounder, however, stressed that a lot of cricket was left to be played in the series and hoped that the Sri Lankans would do better next time. “Five more matches are still to be played in the series. We have to back our capabilities and play well,” he said. Moody also mentioned Pathan for bowling a fine spell which put his team on the back foot. |
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BCCI to decide venues today
Mumbai, October 28 The meeting, to be chaired by BCCI vice-president Kamal Morarka, would be
held in Delhi, BCCI’s Executive Secretary-in-charge, Ratnakar Shetty, said
here yesterday. The three Tests against Sri Lanka would be played between
December 2 and 22 while England are set to visit India in February 2006,
after the home team’s return from the Asia Cup in Pakistan, for a
series of three Tests in March followed by the seven-match ODI rubber in
April. The dates of the Test series against Sri Lanka, who are
currently playing in the seven-match one-day international series
against India, have already been declared as December 2-6, 10-14 and
18-22 and only the venues have to be finalised as per the Board’s
rotation formula. Shetty said the formula would be worked out by the
Board’s secretary S K Nair who is the convener of the Fixtures
Committee meeting. In the last Test series in India — against
Pakistan — the matches were held at Mohali, Kolkata and Bangalore
which should effectively rule these centres out for the Tests against
Lanka. Kanpur and Kolkata had played host to the series against South Africa, that preceded the one against Pakistan and earlier to that against Australia the centres hosting the matches were Bangalore, Chennai, Nagpur and Mumbai. Delhi did not host a Test in the last season, and have not done so since early 2002, because of renovation work at the Feroz Shah Kotla and at present seems to have a bright chance to conduct one of the Tests against Lanka. The Gujarat Cricket Association, which was originally slated to host a Test against Pakistan last season, could not do so after the neighbours expressed their reluctance to play a Test there before agreeing to play an extra ODI at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. With a new stadium having come up at Hyderabad, which is to host one ODI against the visiting South African team next month at this new venue, this centre too stands a good chance to organise a five-day fixture against the Lankans after a gap of 17 years. The
last Test in Hyderabad, at the Lal Bahadur Stadium, was against New
Zealand in 1988. Recently sources in the Vidarbha Cricket Association
told PTI that Nagpur has already been sounded out as one of the centres
to host a Test against England.
— PTI |
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PCA not informed about observer Chandigarh, October 28 Mr Sharma was not permitted entry to the stadium as the PCA maintained that the BCCI had not intimated it about the appointment of the observer. Mr M.P. Pandove, Secretary of the PCA and a member of the Programme and Fixtures Committee of the Board, said it was the job of the committee to appoint observers. However, this committee had never met to appoint observers for the one-dayers. Therefore, Mr Sharma had no locus standi to attend the match as observer of the Board. Moreover, any person appointed Board observer must have attended at least three meetings of the Board, but Mr Sharma had not done so. Therefore, Mr Sharma did not qualify to be appointed observer, Mr Pandove explained. When asked who would pay his hotel bills and other expenses, it was explained that it was the Board which paid the expenses of the observer.
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Pak recall Shoaib, Mushtaq Ahmed
Islamabad, October 28 Mushtaq has not played a Test for two years after being replaced in the team by Kaneria. Mushtaq has taken 185 wickets in 52 Tests and 161 wickets in 144 one-day matches. “All the selected players have shown convincing form to be picked for the first Test,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director Abbas Zaidi said. Shoaib has not played for Pakistan since January, when he was recalled from Australia with a hamstring injury. He had pulled out of the tour of India in March on fitness grounds and had been overlooked by selectors for the trip to the West Indies in May. Allrounder Abdul Razzaq was ruled out of the first Test due to an elbow injury. Squad:
Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Asim Kamal, Hasan Raza, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Mushtaq Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shabbir Ahmed, Arshad Khan.
— Reuters |
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Imran appalled at negative mindset
London, October 28 “Inzamam has said England start as favourites and Shaharyar has said England are formidable. They are going to destroy the Pakistani team by saying this,” Imran told Daily Telegraph from Islamabad. “I can understand newspapers and television commentators making England favourites, but I do not understand the captain and the chairman of the board making these statements. Whenever I stepped on the field, I never admitted defeat before the match began. Otherwise you get into a negative mindset,” Imran said. Stating that Pakistan would have to cope with Steve Harmison and Andrew
Flintoff, Imran said, “They are tall and get a lot of bounce. They also reverse swing it.”
— PTI |
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PCB rules out foreign curator
Islamabad, October 28 “Our groundsmen have enough capabilities to prepare wickets,” Shaharyar said. “Our curators have learnt how to make good sporting wickets, so I do not think we need pitch doctors from abroad,” Shaharyar said. The board had arranged a three-day practice game between Pakistan and Rest of Pakistan in Lahore to get players tuned up for the series against England. The wicket had proved a paradise for batsmen. Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan scored centuries while bowlers — especially paceman Shoaib Akhtar — struggled on a placid track.
— AP |
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Dippenaar ruled out of India tour
Durban, October 28 The right-handed batsman would be out for four weeks, which ruled him out of the five one-day internationals South Africa would play in India next month. Uncapped Andrew Puttick would replace Dippenaar in the second one-day international against New Zealand in Cape Town today. “We do not want to risk injured players and hence, we have roped in Puttick as a stop-gap arrangement before we decide on the player for the third one-day international against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth on Sunday,” said selection convener Haroon Lorgat. Utility player A.B. de Villiers would sit out for today’s match with a calf strain, sustained during training on
Wednesday. — Reuters |
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Windies batsmen make merry
Brisbane, October 28 The 24-year-old Grenada left-hander hit 115 with 21 boundaries in 226 minutes as the West Indies got away to an opening stand of 130. The other opener, Chris Gayle, chipped in with 58 as the tourists went to stumps on the second day at 252 for three off 66.2 overs in reply to Queensland’s first innings’ score of 323. The tourists moved to within 71 runs of the Queensland total in an encouraging showing ahead of the opening Test against Australia at the Gabba here. Smith came into the four-day tour opener vying with allrounder Wavell Hinds to be Gayle’s opening partner, but nailed down the spot with his entertaining ton. Hinds broke a little finger while fielding yesterday and Smith’s commanding 197-ball knock ensured a start in at least the first two Tests in the three-match series. Smith’s only blemish was a low edge off leg-spinner Ryan Le Loux, that was dropped at slip by Martin Love, when he was 43. Smith holed out to spinner Chris Simpson late in the day. Smith and Gayle combined for a quickfire century stand before wicketkeeper Chris Hartley dismissed Gayle (58) with a neat leg-side catch off leg-spinner Le Loux. Hartley also produced some sharp glovework to end an entertaining cameo by vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (37 off 32 balls) with a leg-side stumping. Brian Lara failed to appear at the crease because of a sore little finger on his right hand, that was injured when he dropped a catch in the slips yesterday.
— AFP |
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Flintoff looks to captaincy
London, October 28 Vaughan believed that the allrounder’s workload would be overwhelming if he was also made the captain. Flintoff insisted that he would be ready for the challenge if an opportunity to lead his country did arise. “I think everyone in the side has got aspirations of captaining the country,” Flintoff said. “At the moment, Vaughan is doing an unbelievable job and I am enjoying playing under him. “Maybe a few years down the line, there is a chance, then it is obviously something you have to be interested in. “I have known Vaughan for a few years and he will have my best interests at heart, so it is not something that is going to bother or upset me,” Flintoff said.
— AFP |
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Ricky, Dhawan hit tons Mumbai, October 28 At stumps on the second day of the four-day contest, Zimbabwe XI — who were shot out for a paltry 94 in the first innings — showed better application in their second essay to be 50 for one in 21 overs. They need another 214 runs to make North Zone bat again. Earlier, North openers Ricky and Dhawan resumed at 62 without loss and put on a double century stand. Dhawan made 117 in 283 minutes and hit 18 fours before he was sent back by off-spinner Prosper Utseya who ended up with three
wickets. Manvinder Bisla was dismissed cheaply — the first of seven victims claimed by leg spinner Graeme
Cremer. Then Ricky, who made 106, also fell to the Zimbabwe leggie to trigger a procession of batsmen to the pavilion. The middle order collapsed against the double spin attack of Cremer and
Utseya, barring Yashpal Singh who remained unbeaten on 51, with three fours and a six. Yashpal also put on 72 runs for the last wicket with his captain Amit Bhandari who made 22 before spooning a skier to Cremer off the leggie’s own
bowling.— PTI
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Wiratchant takes lead
New Delhi, October 28 Kahlon, the Chandigarh pro, was in superb form as he hit a eight-under 64 on a day when 27 Indians made the cut. Kahlon struck birdies on the second, sixth and ninth holes, while his back nine proved even better, firing birdies on the 11th and 17th, an eagle on the 14th and doing an encore on the last hole. Rosales carded six-under 67 with a birdie spree over the last six holes for his five-under 67. Arjun Atwal, shrugging off a back strain, played a bogey-free round and his smooth play included birdies on the first, third, ninth and 11th holes. Another Indian star, 2000 champion Jyoti Randhawa, hit a two-under 70 that included five birdies and three bogeys for a two-day total of 139. The Indians who made the cut included Harmeet Kahlon (135), Digvijay Singh (136), Arjun Atwal (138), Jaiveer Virk (139), C Muniyappa (139), Shamim Khan, Shiv Kapur, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei and Yusuf Ali (all on 139), Ashok Kumar, Naman Dawar and Mukesh Kumar (all on 140), Amandeep Johl, Muhammad Salim, Gurbaaz Mann and Rahul Ganapathy (all on 142), Rahil Gangjee, Vinod Kumar and Uttam Singh Mundy (on 143), Jumman, Vijay Kumar, Simarjeet Singh, Jasjeet Singh, SSP Chowrasia Shankar Das and Rafiq Ali (all on 144). Players who missed the cut included 2003 winner Mike Cunning, former winner Firoz Ali, Gaganjeet Bhullar and two-time title winner Ali Sher. |
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Harikrishna draws, in sight of title
Hoogeveen, October 28 With the draw, Harikrishna, competing in the crown section, took his tally to three points out of a possible four. There was no change in the overnight standings as women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova earned a creditable draw with top seed and local star Ivan Sokolov for the second time in the tournament. Sokolov and Sutovsky had two points each, with two rounds to go in the category-16 double-round-robin meet. Harikrishna’s game against Sutovsky was a bloody fight from the beginning. The former, having the cushion of a full-point lead and white pieces, was in for a surprise when just before the start of the game, Sutovsky asked him to check the wavering of his hands. “It is irritating,” said Sutovsky to Harikrishna, who looked perturbed by such audacity just before the game. “This is not done. We had a rest day, we had dinner together yesterday. He had so many chances to tell me that. To choose that moment, very surprising,” Harikrishna said after the game. “This happens to me sometimes during a crucial moment. I am trying to control it. I never do it purposefully,” he said. Disturbed as he was, he did not let it show beyond the first few moves. Regaining his composure in quick time, Harikrishna got an advantageous position amidst wild complexities arising out of a queen pawn game. Sutovsky won Harikrishna’s queen, but had to part with three pieces in the process. “I think I should have played better in the middle game, but I could not find the best plan,” Harikrishna said. Sutovsky was able to neutralise huge material deficit with his active queen and minor pieces. The Israeli eventually found perpetual checks to split the point after 32 moves. Sokolov was surprised for the second time by Stefanova, who was on just one point, thanks to her double draws against the Dutchman. In the open section, Parimarjan Negi suffered a defeat at the hands of Grandmaster Ian Rogers of Australia. Negi remained on four points after the loss in the event, jointly led by Ukrainians Vladimir Baklan and Michail Brodsky, Friso Nijboer of The Netherlands and Eduardas Rozentalis of Lithuania.
— PTI |
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Vaishavi Sinha wins Punjab Open golf title
Chandigarh, October 28 Although it was a cakewalk for Vaishavi, the battle for the second spot was exciting with a virtual three-way tie between Sharmila Nicollet, Shalini Malik and Shradhanjali. But Shalini clinched the issue with a long birdie putt on the 18th hole.
Sharmila Nicollet played a good game today returning a one-under card of 71. The final scores: Champions Trophy: Vaishavi Sinha 300, Shalini Malik 308, Sharmila Nicollet 309. Silver Salver (0-12 handicap ): Nett – Preetinder Kaur 281, Saania Sharma 288. Challenge Bowl (13-24 handicap) : Gross – Pallavi Jain 1, Sonali Chibber 2. Bronze Plate (25-36 handicap): Best gross (over 54 holes) – Arshia Singh 309, Best nett (over 54 holes) Ekam J. Singh 320. Junior Shield: Nett– Laverry Kumar 1, Rabia Gill 2; Gross – Vaishavi Sinha 1, Sharmila Nicolett 2. |
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Wiratchant
takes lead New Delhi, October 28 Kahlon, the Chandigarh pro, was in superb form as he hit a eight-under 64 on a day when 27 Indians made the cut. Kahlon struck birdies on the second, sixth and ninth holes, while his back nine proved even better, firing birdies on the 11th and 17th, an eagle on the 14th and doing an encore on the last hole. Arjun Atwal, shrugging off a back strain, played a bogey-free round and his smooth play included birdies on the first, third, ninth and 11th holes. Another Indian star, 2000 champion Jyoti Randhawa, hit a two-under 70 that included five birdies and three bogeys for a two-day total of 139. The Indians who made the cut included Harmeet Kahlon (135), Digvijay Singh (136), Arjun Atwal (138), Jaiveer Virk (139), C Muniyappa (139), Shamim Khan, Shiv Kapur, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei and Yusuf Ali (all on 139), Ashok Kumar, Naman Dawar and Mukesh Kumar (all on 140), Amandeep Johl, Muhammad Salim, Gurbaaz Mann and Rahul Ganapathy (all on 142), Rahil
Gangjee, Vinod Kumar and Uttam Singh Mundy (on 143), Jumman, Vijay Kumar, Simarjeet Singh, Jasjeet Singh, SSP Chowrasia Shankar Das and Rafiq Ali (all on 144). Players who missed the cut included 2003 winner Mike Cunning, former winner Firoz Ali, Gaganjeet Bhullar and two-time title winner Ali Sher.
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Eagle soars for Montgomerie
Sotogrande (Spain), October 28 That put him four shots clear of Campbell and a confident birdie-three at the last to the latter’s bogey gave him a five-stroke cushion and a share of the first-round lead. Montgomerie finished with a four-under-par 67 to Campbell’s one-over 72. Sharing the lead with Montgomerie was last year’s winner Ian Poulter of England, with US-based Englishman Luke Donald and Spanish duo of Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal one stroke back on 68.
— AFP |
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Williams may rope in Narain
London, October 28 The possibility of Narain making it to the Williams’ team has strengthened after its chief Frank Williams went on record to say it would run a third car on the Fridays in 2006 even if it meant stretching his already thin financial resources, ‘Autosport-Atlas’ reported. A number of “pay drivers” who might be considered, include Narain, Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos — all of whom raced in F1 this year, it said.
— PTI |
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Punjab cops steal the show
Jalandhar, October 28 In basketball, Punjab defeated BSF 76-52 in the final today. Haryana stood third defeating MP Police 80-76. In the handball final, Punjab downed BSF 40-26, while Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) and Jammu Kashmir police got third and fourth positions, respectively. The kabaddi final saw Punjab overcome BSF 16-11. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Jammu and Kashmir Police got third and fourth places in the event. The volleyball matches were concluded yesterday. Punjab Local Bodies Minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh gave away the prizes at the closing ceremony.
— UNI
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