Sachin back at nets

Mumbai, May 10
Sachin Tendulkar, currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme following a shoulder surgery, today had his first net session with a cricket ball in the presence of the Indian team support staff who expressed satisfaction with his recovery.

Tendulkar batted at the nets for 25 minutes with a cricket ball at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground of Mumbai Cricket Association in the presence of biomechanist Ian Fraser and trainer Gregory King.

The master batsman, who underwent a shoulder surgery in London in March this year and opted out of the ODI series in West Indies, first batted for five minutes and then after a break continued for another 20 minutes with the ball thrown at him.

This was Tendulkar’s second successive day of practice session after he started light workout yesterday with tennis balls at the same ground under the watchful eyes of coach Greg Chappell and physio John Gloster.

“Sachin underwent his first batting session yesterday since his shoulder operation in late march. Both Sachin and John Gloster were very happy with the outcome of his first outing, bat in hand,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, said in a press release today.

“The return to batting is a graded process to allow for adaptation to the new loads involved and his tolerance to all new demands placed on him physically to this point have been satisfactory,” Shah said.

“The review process for Sachin is an ongoing one and the decision regarding his availability will be taken soon once John Gloster, Sachin, the surgeon and other affiliated parties are confident of his recovery,” he said.

Meanwhile, pacer Lakshmipati Balaji, who is out of action with a back problem, was also present at the practice session today and did some running and knee jumps.

Fitness assessment on May 20

Sachin Tendulkar will have his fitness assessed on May 20 and former India team physiotherapist Andrew Leipus will assist him in the final stage of his recovery, the BCCI said today.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said since physio John Gloster would be leaving with the one-day squad for the West Indies on Friday, Tendulkar’s fitness would be monitored by Leipus.

“In the absence of Gloster and the other support staff, Leipus will monitor Tendulkar’s fitness,” Shah said. Tendulkar is racing against time to be fit for the four Tests in the Caribbean.

India are to play five one-dayers and four Tests on the tour of West Indies from May 18 to July 4.

The first Test starts in Antigua on June 2.

Shah also said the team for the Tests would be picked on May 24 when the national selectors would also choose the India A team for ‘Top End Series’ in Australia in June-July. — PTI

Burn out?
India to play highest number of ODIs in six years

New Delhi, May 10
The BCCI may not like its cricketers to talk about too much of cricket and the resultant players’ burnout, but India will be playing the highest number of one dayers till 2012, according to the new ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP).

According to the new FTP, India will play 74 Test matches and 173-208 one dayers from 2006-7 to 2011-12.

Of this, India plays seven Test matches and 24-32 ODIs in 2006-7, followed by 15 Tests and 35-43 ODIs, 18 Test and 28 ODIs, eight Tests and 24-29 ODIs, 12 Tests and 32-39 ODIs and 14 Tests and 30-37 ODIs in the subsequent years till 2011-12.

As expected, India will be playing the highest number of ODIs, which can cross the 200-mark and the number excludes Twenty20 matches and the Afro-Asia series, while England plays the highest number of Tests.

Till 2011-12, England will play 75-76 Tests and 139-157 ODIs, Australia 73 Tests and 151-178 ODIs, New Zealand 50 Tests and 125-144 ODIs, Pakistan 53-54 Tests and 117-143 ODIs, South Africa 63 Tests and 112-127 ODIs, Sri Lanka 51 Tests and 136-171 ODIs, the West Indies 67 Tests and 123-141 ODIs, Zimbabwe 39 Tests and 97-111 ODIs and Bangladesh 41 Tests and 105-132 ODIs.

ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed drafting of the new FTP was an incredibly complex process involving two years of analysis and 10 drafts.

“But now that process has been completed and approved by our members it provides them with certainty of scheduling right through until 2012,” he was quoted as saying in an ICC release.

The new FTP retains reciprocal tours for full members but expands the touring cycle from five years, under the previous FTP, to six.

Spreading the calendar over six years allows the members to tailor the schedule to suit their own, specific, needs while preserving time in the calendar to accommodate icon series such as the Ashes and India-Pakistan on a four-year cycle, the release added.

The FTP was put together on the basis of guidelines supported by the ICC Cricket Committee, players at the captains’ meeting and by player representatives, including FICA.

Those guidelines suggest the volume of cricket for each team should not exceed 15 Test matches and 30 ODIs in a 12-month period. — UNI

It was advice wrapped in warning: BCCI

Mumbai, May 10
After getting flak for trying to gag the players, the BCCI today tied itself in knots saying that there was no gag but the players are merely barred from talking about other players, selection and board policies.

A day after warning vice-captain Virender Sehwag for speaking about deposed captain Sourav Ganguly and player burnout, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah indignantly asked, “how can you call it a media gag on players”.

“It is only a policy decision by the board that the players other than the captain, cannot talk about other players, selection and board policies,” he argued.

Shah’s description of what he told Sehwag varied from a warning to an advice. What exactly was it, he was asked. “It is a warning. Advice is part of the warning,” was his unusual reply. Shah, however, was clear that no further action was warranted against Sehwag. “The matter is closed,” he said.

Sehwag had called Shah yesterday to seek permission to take his wife to the West Indies, which was granted. At the same time he was administered a verbal warning-cum-advice.

The board secretary had just one more piece of advice for the vice-captain — he should concentrate on cricket now. Shah said players were free to discuss any problem with the board officials.

“If he (Sehwag) had some problem he and the other players need only to sit across the table with us and sort it out. Why go to the media? Why drag Rahul Dravid’s name and say they had a discussion with board President Sharad Pawar? These are internal matters,” Shah said.

“Does he go to the media when he wants an increase in TA/DA or players’ fees,” he asked.

In reference to the player burnout issue raised by Sehwag, the board secretary said the BCCI was approached by all the cricket boards to play matches in order to boost their revenue.

‘Playing against India at home or here means big money for the other cricket boards. That’s the naked truth and we need to help them. Also we have to abide by the future tours programme of the ICC. We never exceed the limit set,” he said. — PTI

Dhoni wants to be Gilchrist

Ranchi, May 10
Indian cricket’s newest star, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has the looks of a rock star but does not want to be one — all he wants to be is Adam Gilchrist.

The dashing wicketkeeper-batsman, who has taken the cricket world by a storm in just 42 One-day matches in which he averages nearly 53 with the highest of 183 not out and a tremendous strike rate of 103, has his priorities clear as he outlined in an interview to PTI here today.

“I will always want to be a cricketer. Being a rock star has never interested me,” he said when asked if he would have taken to rock music had he not been a cricketer.

For the countless admirers of his mane, Dhoni had good news.

“I have no plans of shortening it (hair),” he said in an assertion that will gladden Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who advised the Indian star during the recent Lahore one-dayer to keep his hair long.

Did he fancy himself to be the next Gilchrist, Australia’s match-winning wicketkeeper-batsman, and would he like to play a similar role in the Indian cricket team? “I would love to play the role of Gilchrist forever. He is someone I look up to. He has been playing for more than 10 years and me just for 16 months. Reaching his position will take a lot of hard work,” the 24-year-old replied.

Dhoni keeps wickets and bats brilliantly, but if it was possible he would bowl as well.

“Initially I was regarded as a wicketkeeper who could slog. It was only later on that I recognised that I was not that bad in batting as well that I started concentrating on my batting.

“In fact, I like bowling as well and do bowl at the nets,” he said.

It has been a dream run since he made his debut for India 16 months ago and he would like that run to continue indefinitely. — PTI

Windies’ tour would be tough, says Pathan
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 10
India’s bowling spearhead, pacer Irfan Pathan, feels that the upcoming series against the West Indies would be tough and challenging. He said he has been preparing himself for the series, as the wickets in the Caribbean islands would be an entirely new experience for him.

“We (the young players) are going there for the first time. The wickets will be new to me. It’s going to be a pretty new experience,” Pathan, who was in Delhi today for a fleeting visit, said. The all-rounder, who has had a very fruitful series against England, said, “I hope to do well in the West Indies, Insha Allah.”

“Though every cricket series is important, and provides a different kind of challenge, the tour to the West Indies would be particularly testing as I have never played cricket on such kind of wickets as are available in the West Indies,” Pathan explained. But he promised to rise up to the challenge and do well there.

The strike bowler, who has also earned a reputation as a formidable all-rounder, said he was first and foremost a bowler who gets vital breakthroughs to the team.

“I started as a bowler but I used to love batting even when I was a junior cricketer. I will be more than happy to consider myself as a 100 per cent bowler who provides the breakthroughs, and who can also bat well,” he replied when asked whether he enjoyed his new-found status as a dependable all-rounder.

Pathan said it did not really matter to him that he was No 3 in world ranking among all-rounders. “I never ever think of ranking. I don’t believe in ranking. I want to play the game the way I want without bothering about ranking,” he said.

He said he enjoyed his cricket as long as he played it, and had no complaint about the itinerary chalked out by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “We play for India. And we should have no complaint playing for the country, to the schedule drawn up by the BCCI,” he elaborated.

Pathan said players prepare instinctively when they know that there is a demanding series ahead.

“I am ready for the demand of the team,” he asserted, though he admitted “when you play cricket for long, you tend to forget the basics”. He said players get endorsements and become saleable commodities only when we play good cricket. He did not subscribe to the view that the players were mercenaries who only played for themselves.

Pathan said it was a good feeling to realise that the bowlers were doing well both in one-dayers and Test matches. He refused to be drawn into any controversy, particularly about the comparative merits of the captaincy of Rahul Dravid under Greg Chappell’s guidance and his predecessor Saurav Ganguly’s.

“I don’t want to get into any kind of controversy. You can ask me about my cricket,” he snapped, and then vanished behind a sliding screen, not to resurface.

Lankans face daunting task

London, May 10
Springtime in England is greeted with relief and delight by all apart from visiting opening batsmen. Green pitches and extravagant movement in the air and off the seam make batting in the top-order a hazardous business in the early part of the English season.

Sri Lanka’s probable first wicket pair of Michael Vandoort and Upal Tharanga will feel particular trepidation tomorrow in the first of the three Tests.

Vandoort failed to score a run in either innings during the 10-wicket loss to England A in the penultimate match before the first Test while Tharanga managed 20 in the second innings after also recording a first innings duck.

England have packed their attack with pace bowlers for the first of the summer’s two Lord’s Tests and the weather forecast of sunshine and showers will ensure they get maximum assistance from the pitch.

Sri Lankan morale will have been further dented by remarks from chairman of selectors Asthana de Mel at the weekend.

De Mel said his predecessor Lalith Kaluperuma had forced Sanath Jayasuriya into retirement and added the prolific left-hander should play in the final two Tests if Vandoort and Tharanga failed at Lord’s.

In the absence of Jayasuriya and the injured captain Marvan Attapatu, they are now a side in transition and fully aware that they will face a pace barrage at Lord’s.

Steve Harmison and Simon Jones are both injured, as is the first choice backup James Anderson.

In their absence Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett and Jon Lewis are in the England 13 with acting captain Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard.

England have plenty of options with Monty Panesar replacing injured left-armer Ashley Giles if England decide to field a spinner. If they opt to play an extra batsman Ian Bell, who has lost the number three spot to Alastair Cook, will play.

Lewis, who at 30 is both older and slower than Mahmood and Plunkett, owes his selection to the nine wickets he took for England A and his late movement could win him a test debut. — Reuters

Sasikiran opens account with a draw

Sarajevo, May 10
Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran opened his account with a hard fought draw with Norwegian super talent Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Bosnia 2006 International Grandmasters Chess Tournament.

Having lost the first two rounds of the event itself it was imperative for Sasikiran to halt his losses and the Indian achieved it despite some tightrope walking against Carlsen who continued to look for his first victory in the event.

The third day did not have a single decisive game in the six-player all-GM double round-robin tournament as overnight leaders Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania and Vladimir Malakhov of Russia played it safe against Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany and Borki Predojevic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively.

There in the standing list as everyone added a half point to the previous day tally.

Nisipeanu, Malakhov and Predojevic remained in joint lead on two points out of a possible three while Carlsen remained on their toes with 1.5 points in his kitty.

Naiditsch stands fifth on one point while Sasikiran remained on the bottom of the tables on a half point. Seven more rounds remain in the category-18 event. — PTI

Nadal’s dream run on clay continues

Rome, May 10
Rafael Nadal cleared a major obstacle in his pursuit of Guillermo Vilas’ Open era record 53-match winning streak on clay.

Nadal beat 2004 champion and mentor Carlos Moya 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Rome Masters yesterday for his 48th successive win on dirt. He’ll match Vilas if he retains the Rome title, and tie Bjorn Borg’s record of 16 titles as a teenager.

Nadal acknowledged Moya presented “the worst first round” opponent possible. “When you practice every day with one person, you know exactly (his style). And he is one of the best players in the world on clay,” said Nadal. — AP