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Will Dhoni do a Sehwag?
Indians in for a grind
Sourav extends olive
branch to Chappell
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Durand Cup
Paes-Damm bow out
Preeti loses opening bout
Punjab trounce Chandigarh
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Will Dhoni do a Sehwag?
With batsmen under the weather and bowlers still trying to find their feet, the task is going to be a tough one for the visitors, especially considering their dismal record of winning only three of the 16 ODIs in this country. The shocking loss in the tour-opening warm-up match against a second string South African side would have hardly done any good to their sagging morale while a question mark hangs over the availability of key player Virender Sehwag. Captain Rahul Dravid alone — and not even Sachin Tendulkar — has a record to match his stature on bouncy South African pitches and his 431 from nine innings with six half centuries at 53.88 is a testimony to this. In comparison, Tendulkar has 429 runs from 16 matches at 26.81. The result at the Wanderers would set the tone for the series and if the record of no win and two losses at this venue is any indication, India are in for a harrowing time. Sehwag’s finger injury leaves the Indians precariously placed ahead of the first game and forced the team management to utilise every single batting talent of the squad. In case of Sehwag’s unavailability, Wasim Jaffer is a ready-made solution and if the think tank wants to go for experiments then fielding wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick in place of Suresh Raina will be a safe option. Much hope is being pinned on Mahendra Singh Dhoni striking early form and transforming himself in a similar manner as Sehwag did on the 2002 tour to England. More confusion lies in the bowling ranks. Harbhajan Singh has done little wrong in recent times to warm the bench but such is the stature of Anil Kumble that he commands a place in the eleven as long as he is part of the squad. Two spinners though is not the advice which Wanderers curator Chris Scott has for the visitors.
— PTI
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Indians in for a grind
India make another attempt to beat South Africa on their soil, and in spite of their recent form, they have a very good chance to do so. They have not won a one-day series as well as Test series in South Africa ever since the Proteas were readmitted into the international fold, and so this promises to be a tough tour indeed.
The warm-up match against the Rest of South Africa has shown what the Indians can expect, and it is quite clear that on this tour, especially in the Test matches, if the Indian batsmen want to drive, then they will have to hire a car, for none of the quicker bowlers from the South African team is going to pitch the ball up. That the South Africans have done their homework can be seen by the way they bowled to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hardly giving him a ball in his front foot area, but pinning him to the back foot all the time. The Indian top order was disappointing, but these are early days, and maybe all the pitches will not be as bouncy as the one at Benoni. The problem with modern-day tours is that there is only one warm-up match, which means that nobody really gets the opportunity to settle down and get a feel of the pitch. The team management would naturally like those batsmen likely to play in the internationals to play in the warm-up, but that means those in the reserves know that they do not fit in the scheme of things and so are more likely to lose focus and that too so early in the tour. The bowling certainties get rested since the team management does not want to expose them to the opposition, unless of course the bowlers are making a comeback to the team or are out of form and so need an outing. Rahul Dravid showed that he will be the rock of the side as he has been for a number of years now, and it once again brings to focus the number he should be batting at and it should be three and not later. What he brings to the crease is solidity and plenty of experience to deal with any situation, and it is always good for the side to have him steady the innings if an early wicket falls. India have been trying a lot of players at number three and nobody seems to have made the spot his own, and on these pitches there won’t be a queue to bat at that number either. With Zaheer back in the side, there is a bit of experience at the top of the bowling order too, for there is the danger that the youngsters seeing the ball bounce and carry to the keeper’s shoulders rather than ankles, may get a bit carried away and bowl the wrong length. Zaheer can show them the right length, but whether he will find a place in the XI remains to be seen. Anil Kumble will also bring lots of competitiveness to the attack, as also variety, so the bowling looks in good hands. What they need is of course some solid totals to defend, and that’s where the batsmen have to come good. If they consistently put up totals of 250-plus, then there is every reason to hope that India will emerge victorious. The South Africans, according to some in their media, have an ageing team, but that’s only a negative way of looking at it, and the coach and skipper would quickly point out that it is experience that is vital in the international arena. That the Rest of South Africa team in the warm-up game consisted of many who have been in and out of the national side, showed that South Africa do not lose faith in their players with the odd failure, but keep them in mind. The Indians’ recent performances do not raise much expectation, and thus, with the pressure reduced, history has shown that's when they play at their best.
— PMG
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Sourav extends olive
branch to Chappell
New Delhi, November 18 Here to attend the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit today, the Kolkata southpaw, perhaps the most controversial figure in contemporary cricket, spoke his heart out on a plethora of issues, including the spat with Chappell. Admitting he was angry to read about Chappell’s leaked e-mail in which the Aussie had described Ganguly as a disruptive influence on the team, the former captain said, “Of course I was angry, especially after it came from someone whom you knew for quite some time.” Dropping clear indications that he was ready to bury the hatchet, Ganguly sought to play down the issue and said, “Anyway, you say lot of things out of anger, which may not be right from the heart. I know him for a long time and when I was the captain my opinion was sought while picking the new coach (after John Wright) and I’ve supported him. “Some times friends do fight among themselves but then they sit back and feel they should not have done that,” he explained. Asked if he was ready for a forgive-and-forget act, Ganguly nodded in the affirmative and refused to call it a complete end to his relationship with Chappell.
— UNI
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Jeev, Jyoti tied 6th
Hong Kong, November 18 Jeev is well placed for a finish that could help him seal the UBS Asian Tour Order of Merit this week. He carded a one-under 69 that kept him pegged in tied sixth spot with fellow Indian Jyoti Randhawa (69) after three rounds. Gaurav Ghei (69) was tied 46th and Rahil Gangjee (71) was 55th. Daniel Chopra with one bogey on the starting hole carded a three-under 67 and moved to tied 27th, up from overnight 43rd. Jeev and Randhawa are six shots behind leader Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara, who has had at least a share of the lead since the first day. Kapur moves up
Miyazaki (Japan): Shiv Kapur moved up the leaderboard braving high wind and tough scoring conditions in the third round of the 200 million yen Dunlop Phoenix Golf tournament at the par-70 Phoenix Country Club on the Japan Tour. Kapur, helped by a birdie on the very last hole, shot a three-over 73 to move up from 18th to tied 15th spot, as he totalled three-over 213 for three days. He had even par rounds on first two
days. — PTI
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Tennis, archery added to 2010 C’wealth Games
New Delhi, November 18 India had also asked billiards to be included as one of the disciplines, but the Commonwealth Games Federation gave its seal of approval only to tennis and archery, a top sports administrator said. “The Executive Board of the CWG Federation at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur has approved tennis and archery,” Vijay Kumar Malhotra said. Malhotra, president of the Archery Association of India, said the inclusion of the sport would provide a fillip to archers like Jayanta Talukdar. The original 15 disciplines are athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, shooting, squash, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
— PTI
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Air-India, JCT sail into quarters
New Delhi, November 18 The Mumbai team trailed 0-1 at the breather but made a remarkable comeback after resumption and stamped their superiority to register their second successive win in the Group A pre-quarterfinal league. For the winners, Vijith Setty (46th, 72nd minutes), Binoy Kuruvilla (55th), Bashir Abbas (58th) and Paresh Shivalkar (92nd) scored while Bulu Jigdong scored both the goals for Assam Rifles. Earlier, JCT, Phagwara, struck thrice in the second half to blank Border Security Force (BSF) in the other pre-quarterfinal match in Group B. — UNI
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Paes-Damm bow out
New Delhi, November 18 The sixth-seeded Indo-Czech pair had a nerve-wracking battle in which they gave their best shot before bowing out 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) in three-hour 17 minutes. After winning the first set through tie-breaker, Paes and Damm lost the second one in an identical fashion. In the third set, they did their best to make a comeback, but the decider also went into tie-breaker where the Swedish-Belarussian duo edged past their rivals. In the final, Bjorkman and Mirnyi will meet third seeds Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada, who beat Australian Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
— PTI
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Preeti loses opening bout
New Delhi, November 18 Preeti, the only Indian in action today, lost 9-24 to Karolina after making a slow start. The Indian made a slow start and allowed Karolina to race away with the momentum, which ultimately cost her the bout. The Indian managed to land only one punch in the opening round before recovering to some extent in the second round. However, the Haryana-girl found it hard to erase the first round deficit and despite a spirited try, the Indian proved no match for the European star. Meanwhile, in an exciting contest Ri Kwang Suk of North Korea beat Lydia Walczak of Canada 23-22 in the 54 kg category.
— UNI
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Punjab trounce Chandigarh
Chandigarh, November 18 In a one-sided encounter, Punjab displaying complete domination, took the lead in the fifth minute through Dilshad Ahmed. Thereafter, Avinash Singh scored the second goal in the 30th minute to make it 2-0. Shortly before the interval, Dalbir Singh slotted home the third to further consolidate Punjab’s lead. The fourth goal for Punjab came just four minutes into the second session when Charanjit Singh managed to beat the rival defence to place the ball in the net. Thereafter Dalbir Singh and Azam Ali scored in quick succession (72nd, 78th) making the contest hopelessly one-sided (6-0). Towards the end, striker Dalbir provided the icing on the cake with his third goal in the 81st minute which boosted Punjab’s tally to 7-0.
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Johannesburg, November 18
