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India need to lift themselves
Pathan’s confidence down, says Chappell
Indian umpires not up to mark: ICC official
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Bradman, Garner are the best
Akhtar injured
France’s Aravane Rezai hits a backhand to Japan’s Ai Sugiyama during the qualification rounds of the French Open in Paris on Wednesday. Rezai won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. — AFP
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Asia abuzz with World Cup fever
Argentina, England win World Cup warm-ups
Eves back to winning ways
Punjab win
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India need to lift themselves
Antigua, May 31 While India had arrived with some optimism, can they now recover from the one-day shock? In any case, staring them on the face was the fact that their predecessors have won a solitary series — in 1971 — and have only one other notable Test performance — when they successfully chased over 400 in the fourth innings at Port of Spain in 1976 — in the West Indies in 53 years and eight visits to this region. Obviously, the Indians need to swiftly lift themselves mentally, physically and technically to erase the bitter past. Excessive cricket in high temperatures has palpably exhausted key players. The role of Dr Rudi Webster, a sports psychologist from Grenada, hired until Friday, is to help the visitors concentrate. He has been holding one-to-one as well as group sessions with the squad. The duality of bounce but little pace in the pitches has disturbed the Indians’ rhythm. The bowlers have been required to hit the deck a wee bit fuller than they would back home. They failed to adapt in the one-dayers. But Dravid is now bolstered by the arrival of the experienced VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble. He not only enjoys a rapport with them, but can rely on their tactical inputs. Indeed, Dravid’s opposite number, Brian Lara can be expected to persevere with his mind games. He has called for faster wickets for the Tests — as compared to the one-dayers — suggesting pacemen Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor are his trump cards. But the first three meetings — at Antigua, St Lucia and St Kitts — are at venues not known to generate speed. Only Sabina Park at Kingston, where the final match is scheduled, has a history of lively pitches, with a 5-0 win-loss record in favour of the West Indies. Pre-tour perceptions have been sliced to smithereens; and the West Indies have established a pronounced psychological advantage following their facile one-day win. They are also a more cohesive and settled unit after resolution of compensation and sponsorship disputes. And with Lara, rather than Shivnarine Chanderpaul, at the helm, they are better marshalled both on and off the field. However, their recent test record indicates they struggle to bat durably and to take 20 wickets in tests. Yet, they held Pakistan — who beat India recently — to a draw last year. As at Karachi, unless they rediscover the excellence of 2003-04, seam movement could be the Indians’ undoing even on slow wickets. If the pitches turn, this will naturally benefit Kumble, who at 35 is still India’s more penetrative bowler. But another worryingly wayward exhibition from Irfan Pathan in the game against Antigua and Barbuda puts India in a quandary. Indeed, none of the bowlers, other than immaculate Karnataka wrist spinner, made an impression on Tuesday. Besides, Mahendra Dhoni and Pathan’s failure with the willow in the over-limit outings questions the advisability of playing five specialist bowlers. As Colin Croft, the erstwhile West Indian paceman, who broke as many ribs as the formidable Malcolm Marshall, aptly put it: “Test cricket is for men, not boys. If you can’t take the heat, don’t enter the kitchen.” If the Indians pass this test of fire with distinction, the matter of losing a limited overs contest will become history. Indian bowlers toil in practice game
PTI adds: Indian bowlers put up an unimpressive display as Antigua and Barbuda XI captain Sylvester Joseph cracked a splendid century on the first day of the two-day practice game at the Police Recreation Ground here yesterday. Joseph batted for four and a quarter hours in smashing an unbeaten 128 from 179 balls, smashing 15 fours and two sixes to power Antigua to 300 in 72-odd overs. The visitors were 33 for one at close. Wasim Jaffer was batting on 25 while V. V. S. Laxman was yet to open his account. Electing to bat, Antigua had little trouble in handling a lacklustre Indian attack. In a game in which “batters could bat and bowlers could bowl”, India’s new ball bowlers Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth hardly posed any problems to the locals. Opener Daniel Thomas (30) combined with number three Josepsh to take Antigua XI to 74 for one by lunch break. Munaf Patel reaped the lone success when he had the other opener Michael Challenger caught behind for 18. Joseph, who was not out 44 at tea, opened his shoulders after the break and reached his century even as wickets kept falling from the other end. The right hander, who was captain of West Indies one-day team in Sri Lanka a couple of seasons ago and also played in all four Tests, took on all comers from the Indian team and generally had the measure. It was in the final session when the hosts were using the long handle that India picked up six wickets, with Sreesanth claiming 3 for 46. Patel had a hand in two dismissals while VRV Singh, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan and Ramesh Powar all had a wicket each. India ended their miserable day when Virender Sehwag cut a short delivery from Adam Sanford fiercely and was caught at cover point for six. Brief scores: Antigua and Barbuda XI: 300 in 72.2 overs (D Thomas 30, S Joseph 128 no, G Skepple 35; Sreesanth 3-46, M Patel 2-39). India: 33 for one in 10 overs (W Jaffer not out 25, V V S Laxman not out 0).
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Pathan’s confidence down, says Chappell
Antigua, May 31 “He is struggling because he is down in confidence at the moment. He is probably trying a little bit too hard which is easy to do when things are not going well. We are hoping he can turn it around quickly,” Chappell said after the lynchpin of Indian attack went for 70 runs in his 11 overs against a sub-par Antigua XI on the opening day of the two-day practice match. “Maybe he is trying to bowl a little bit quicker. It is confidence thing getting the ball in the right areas. You really don’t have a big margin for error. “If you get it too full or too short, these players will hit it.” Pathan’s dismal form on this tour could probably lead to Chappell to rethink on his five-bowler theory. “I still feel five bowlers is the way to go. But you want horses for courses and different conditions require different things,” the coach said. Chappell didn’t want his team to repeat the mistakes, which they did in the one-day series and ended up 4-1 losers. “In the one-day series, I don’t think we adjusted to the conditions, batting or bowling. In bowling, we were just not consistent enough with the length. We varied too much.” “The West Indian bowlers bowled better than we did because they were more consistent with their line and length,” Chappell said. “Once you do so on slow wickets, it reduces the options the batting team have. We let them get too many runs and we didn’t make too many runs ourselves.” The West Indian batsmen didn’t allow the Indian bowlers to bowl a consistent line and length by dashing down the track time and again. Chappell didn’t think his batsmen were to follow the same method if they were to succeed. “There’s more ways than one to skin the cat. We don’t all have to play the same way. Not two batmen are the same. “When you try to play somebody else’s way, it’s then when you can get into trouble.” Chappell felt it was important that all of his main players contributed and built partnerships in the Test matches. “Batsmen need to spend time in the middle and get runs as quickly as possible. For a four-match series, you want everyone contributing along the way.” The spectre of too much cricket has raised its head again on this tour with the Indian players distinctly looking jaded and tired. “You look tired when you are not winning. When we start winning, we wouldn’t look so tired.”
— PTI
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Indian umpires not up to mark: ICC official
New Delhi, May 31 Dave Richardson, former South African cricketer and ICC General Manager of Cricket Operations, said if no Indian featured in the ICC Elite Umpires Panel it was not due to any flaw in the appointment process. “We do it (appointment) as professionally as we can. Who ever do well is going to move forward. And if you are not up to the mark and there are other international umpires who are better, then you will be left out,” Richardson said. “It is a challenge for the BCCI to see that Indian umpires make it to the Elite Panel.” Richardson, here for the launch of LG ICC Players Rankings website, said the proposal to trial referring appeals to the third umpire had mixed response. “I should say the reaction has been pretty mixed. It is split 50-50 among the players, umpires, officials and even the media,” he said. BCCI scraps umpires’ panel
Mumbai: The BCCI Umpire’s Sub-committee today scrapped the entire domestic elite umpires panel and it would be re-constituted after re-examination of the matter by a three-member committee. Board Vice-President Lalit Modi told reporters here after a meeting that a three-member committee comprising of former captain S Venktaraghavan, S K Bansal and V K Ramaswami has been formed to look into the constitution of a new umpires panel. Modi said the Board will send six names, three each to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for selection in their elite panel of umpires. Eight names have already been shortlisted, out of which six would be forwarded to ICC and ACC, after examining each of them. Modi also said that 40 match referees would be selected for domestic matches and they would be provided live feed so that if matches are not telecast, they will be able to analyse the proceedings and decisions taken by the third umpire. He said the remuneration of the scorers and statisticians would be increased from present Rs 400 to Rs 600 and Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 respectively.
— PTI, UNI
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Bradman, Garner are the best
New Delhi, May 31 The finding comes after the new LG ICC Players Rankings website, which was launched today, allows fans to compare the batsmen and bowlers across all eras based on the highest ever rating points they had achieved in the course of their career. Sir Donald Bradman stands tall in ‘Best Ever Ratings for Test Batsmen’ category with a rating of 961 points that he had set to have achieved during Australia's home series against India in 1948. Both the batsmen’s and bowlers’ list in this category stand true to the maxim ‘old is gold’, dominated as they are by the players of yesteryears. It is an irony since the records for most aggregate runs, wickets taken and centuries scored all belong to the modern cricketers. Among the contemporaries, Australian captain Ricky Ponting is eighth with a best ever rating of 937, followed by Matthew Hayden at ninth (935), Brian Lara (23rd, 911), Jacques Kallis (31st) and Michael Vaughan (41st). Sunil Gavaskar is the best Indian batsman, placed at 20 with 916 points he had achieved during the England series of 1974. Sachin Tendulkar is 28th (898) and Rahul Dravid 34th (892). The story is much the same in the Test bowlers’ list. West Indies’ mean machine Joel Garner with 940 points tops the list in which Sid Barnes of England is second with 932 points. The most peculiar result of the complex mathematical calculations however is that George Lohman (931), a late 19th century cricketer, is placed at number three. The South Africa-born medium fast bowler, as Cricinfo describes him, played for
England took 112 wickets in 18 matches at a miserly 10.75 before he died at the age
of 36 after contracting tuberculosis. But those were the times when Test cricket was in its nascent stage and at times was played on matting wickets. The ratings should be a big boost for Sri Lankan fans, though, as it places Muttiah Muralitharan (915) at sixth and his Australian rival Shane Warne at 16th (905). The metronomic Glenn McGrath (914) is at seventh and his South African counterpart Shaun Pollock (909) at 12th. Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup winning all-rounder, is the best Indian bowler, placed at 35th with 877 points. Anil Kumble (859) is 43rd followed by Maninder Singh (50th, 851), Vinoo Mankad (70th, 811), Subash Gupte (77th, 806), Bishan Singh Bedi (81st, 804) and Dilip Doshi (87th, 794). Besides the ratings, the new website also comes up with interesting facts like Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the only second Indian ever to have been ranked number one after Sachin Tendulkar in the rankings’ history. In retrospect, Sunil Gavaskar was the first Indian to have topped the Test batsmen’s rankings, in 1978, and Kapil Dev the first Indian bowler to have done so in 1989. Kapil also happened to have the best batting and bowling combined performance at the time of India’s World Cup triumph in 1983.
— PTI
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Akhtar injured
Karachi, May 31 PCB Director Board Operations Abbas Zaidi told PTI from Lahore that the decision had been taken as precautionary measure so that the pacer does not aggravate the injury. “He has been stopped from doing hard training on the recommendation of the PCB medical commission who examined Shoaib Akhtar’s ankle and concluded that he had swelling in the ankle,” Zaidi said. “Shoaib’s ankle injury would be reviewed next week. But in the meantime, he will continue to train with the Pakistan cricket team but would be restricted to only gymnasium and pool sessions,” he said. The 30-year-old, who has 165 Test and 199 ODI wickets, has been out of international cricket since the last cricket Test against India at Karachi in February. He underwent knee surgery in Australia but suffered an ankle twist last week in a training session.
— PTI
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French Open
Paris, May 31 The 19-year old Indian, who has leaped to 37 in world doubles rankings, combined with Slovakia’s Janette Husarova for a facile 6-1, 6-3 against Spaniard Conchita Martinez and Castalina Castano of Columbia. The Hyderabadi lass lost to former champion Anastasia Myskina in the singles first round yesterday. Sania returned to the courts after a three-week break last week in Istanbul where she reached the doubles final with Australian Alicia Molik. Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belgian partner Xavier Malisse kicked off their French Open men’s doubles campaign in style with a 6-2, 6-2 win against unheralded Gilles Muller of Luxemburg and Christophe Rochus of Belgiam today. Meanwhile, Leander Paes and his partner Martin Damm of the Czech Republic have been seeded seventh in the men’s doubles. The duo will take on Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the opening round. Russian Nikolay Davydenko moved into the third round of the French Open today when his Brazilian opponent Flavio Saratta pulled out of their match in the second set. The sixth seed was leading 6-2, 4-1 when Saretta quit and he will meet either former Roland Garros champion Carlos Moya or compatriot Mikhail Youzhny in the next round. Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt made a winning return to Roland Garros after a two-year break by booking his spot in the second round. The 14th-seed missed last year’s tournament with a rib injury which forced him out for the entire clay court season. But the former world number one showed no sign of injury worries yesterday as he came through 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 against 96th-ranked Czech Jan Hernych after 2hr 50 min. The former Wimbledon and US Open champion next plays 20-year-old French wildcard Mathieu Montcourt for a place in the third round. Andy Roddick, the fifth seed, was knocked out of the French Open today when he retired from his first round match with Spain’s Alberto Martin. The American was trailing 6-4, 7-5, 1-0 when he called it quits. Roddick, who was a second round loser on his last two visits to Roland Garros and has never got beyond the third round in six attempts, was always destined to struggle
having picked up an ankle injury at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf last week. Other results (second round): Dinara Safina (Rus) b Hana Sromova (Czech) 6-0, 6-2; Maria Sharapova (Rus) b Iveta Benesova (Czech) 6-4, 6-1; Roger Federer (Swit) b Alejandro Falla (Col) 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
— Agencies
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Asia abuzz with World Cup fever
Singapore, May 31 The excitement has not escaped staid Singapore, where nightlife venues in the tiny island-state are extending opening hours and ramping up promotions to ensure punters stay around to watch all the goals throughout the night. “We are showing all the games at Penny Black’s and Muddy Murphy’s and we definitely expect quite a crowd,” said Amy Williams, marketing manager for Gaelic Inns, which runs several European-style watering holes here. “We upgraded our TVs to plasmas to get the best possible sound and best possible viewing,” she added. Across the region, similar preparations are under way, with matches in Asia broadcast live in the late evening or early hours of the morning. At the last World Cup, joint hosted by South Korea and Japan, street parties erupted in both countries, with giant TV screens set up in strategic locations. Up to one million Red Devils fans gathered to watch the home team play in the centre of Seoul and pubs and clubs were jammed. Numbers will be down this year, but police still expect large crowds. Seoul city government officials said about 1,00,000 fans are expected to turn out in three big-screen TV locations in Seoul for the three South Korean group games. Numbers could swell if Korea reaches the second round. “Due to late night games, many people will watch at home. But we think the number of people in the streets will surge quickly if South Korea qualifies for the round of 16,” said one official.
— AFP
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Argentina, England win World Cup warm-ups
London, May 31 Argentina edged Angola 2-0, getting goals from Maxi Rodriguez and Juan Pablo Sorin, while England beat Hungary 3-1. Steve Gerrard, John Terry and Peter Crouch scored for the English team. Also, the Czechs edged Costa Rica 1-0, Tunisia beat Belarus 3-0, Ivory Coast was held to a 1-1 draw by Chile and Poland lost to Colombia 2-1. In a friendly with two non-qualifiers, Uruguay beat Libya 2-1. Defending World Cup champion Brazil also played, beating Swiss club FC Lucerne 8-0. Ronaldo and Adriano scored two goals each. Rodriguez gave the Argentines the lead in the 28th minute off a pass from Sorin. Argentina made it 2-0 in the 36th when Sorin added another goal. Lionel Messi came on as a substitute in the 63rd and had a chance to score in the 88th but sent his shot wide. Angola had an early chance to score but Argentina goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri saved a powerful shot from Mendonca from the edge of the area. Argentina, a two-time World Cup champion, was drawn into the toughest group at this year’s tournament with the Netherlands, Serbia-Montenegro and Ivory Coast. Angola faces Mexico, Portugal and Iran in Group D. Gerrard and Terry scored for England with headers within four minutes of each other early in the second half. Crouch added the third in the 84th minute. The match also marked the international debut of Theo Walcott, who became England’s youngest-ever international at 17 years, 75 days when he came on in the 65th minute, breaking Wayne Rooney’s record. He nearly scored in the 88th but his shot went wide. Pal Dardai made it 2-1 by scoring for Hungary in the 55th. England plays in Group B at the World Cup in Germany with Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. In Leverkusen, Germany scored two late goals to rally to a 2-2 draw with Japan. After a scoreless first half, Atsushi Yanagisawa scored two goals to give the visitors the lead. Miroslav Klose then headed in from close range in the 76th and Bastian Schweinsteiger salvaged the draw in the 80th with another header from the near post. “It was hard, we are in the middle of preparations and it showed — our legs were tired. This is normal, we still have 10 days, the main thing is we came back,” Germany captain Michael Ballack said.
— AP
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Eves back to winning ways
Turin, May 31 Grandmaster Koneru Humpy came back strongly after a loss in the previous round to defeat Kazakh top player Dana Aketayeva while D. Harika produced a much needed victory over Sofya Zigangirova. However, Swati Ghate failed to make it a clean sweep going down against untitled Gulmira Dauletova. The stage is now set for a nail-biting finale for the gold medal between Russia and Ukraine. Russia with 20.5 points are followed by distant third Georgia with a tally of 19 points. China and Bulgaria share the next spot on 18.5 while India is far behind on 16.5 points and now need a couple of very big victories to come back in the reckoning for now-elusive medal hopes. Men held
Viswanathan Anand’s absence hurt the Indian team badly as they could manage only a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan in the ninth round of the 37th Chess Olympiad. The second seed Indian men came up with another mediocre performance and missed out on a victory over the lower ranked Uzbeks despite Krishnan Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Sandipan Chanda enjoying a better rating than their counterparts. With just four rounds to go, the Indian men are clearly struggling on joint 10th spot with just 22.5 points and badly need some big wins in their kitty. India meet Cuba in the next round and Anand is expected to return to the top board.
— PTI
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Punjab win
Ludhiana, May 31 The second pre-quarterfinal match was played between Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh in which the former emerged winner with convincing margin (73-30). In the boys section, in a pre-quarter-final match, Tamil Nadu beat Kerala 84-82. In another match to decide the quarter finalists, Delhi outclassed Maharashtra 96-71. Other results: boys — UP b Orissa 94-78; TN beat Gujarat 71-46; Raj beat Kerala 103-76; Delhi beat AP 108-86 and MP beat Jammu and Kashmir 44-10. Girls — AP beat Uttranchal 63-40; Delhi beat Uttracnhal 73-53; Karnataka beat Raj 61-27; MP beat Pondicherry 63-22 and Maharashtra beat Jharkhand 56-23.
— OSR
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French Open
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