 |
|
|
Ganguly, Gambhir to open
Chance to regain winning touch
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Twenty20 to go domestic
Millions may miss cricket action
Anand suffers setback
Rohit attains GM norm
Bagan ground Air-India
Jalandhar, Delhi teams in final
|
|
|
Ganguly, Gambhir to open
Nagpur, January 20
The series will provide the beleaguered Indian team another opportunity to sort out their problems, which has persisted for much too long, particularly in the batting department. The selectors have cracked the whip by dropping out-of-form players like Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan and recalling Sourav Ganguly into the one-day fold after a long gap but it remains to be seen whether these changes would have the desired results. Ganguly, who has returned to the one-day squad after a gap of 15 months, will get back to his favourite place at the top and open the innings along with another left-hander Gautam Gambhir. The performance of the former captain would be crucial to India’s fortunes against the Caribbeans who seem to enjoy a psychological advantage over Rahul Dravid’s men in recent times with an impressive record of six wins against two losses. A convincing series win is the need of the hour for the Indians who have plunged from one low to another in the ODIs after having started a fine run of 17 wins against five defeats last season at the VCA Stadium here. The string of victories included a superb eight-match winning streak that started against Pakistan in the beginning of 2006 and ended against England in April. The Indian team then lost the plot and shockingly succumbed to the West Indies 1-4 in the Caribbean. The poor show continued in the ICC Champions Trophy at home where India’s only win came against England. However, the comprehensive 0-4 loss in the five-match series in South Africa resulted in the selectors making six changes for the first two ties of the current series against the West Indies. The team is looking forward to the current series and later against Sri Lanka as part of the preparation for the World Cup. The failure of the openers in recent tournaments has been a worrying factor for the team. The omission of Sehwag means that India will go into the match with a new opening combination of Ganguly and Gambhir while Sachin Tendulkar would shore up the middle order. Dravid said the decision had been taken keeping in mind that the middle-order will be crucial for India’s chances at the World Cup in the Caribbean and Sachin Tendulkar’s experience would come in handy in this regard. “The team needs to cover all eventualities and we think the middle-order will be key at the World Cup,” Dravid said. The Indians have shortlisted 12 players for the match leaving out Rudra Pratap Singh, Robin Uthappa and Joginder Sharma. The selection of second wicket keeper Dinesh Kaarthick in a home series, after his impressive display in the Cape Town Test against South Africa, is another interesting development as the think-tank is impressed with his batting. India might play two spinners in Harbhajan Singh, who has mostly been confined to the bench of late, and off-spinner Ramesh Powar to exploit the slow track. Santakumaran Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan have shown their worth with the new ball in South Africa and are likely to find a place in the playing XI. The team’s most experienced medium pacer Ajit Agarkar might have to warm the reserves bench. Flamboyant opener Chris Gayle and captain Brian Lara would be the thorn for India in the West Indies’ ranks. Lara has made it clear that they would like to keep their winning momentum intact and extend their dominance over the hosts. “It’s important for us that we have a psychological advantage and continue with it. There are four one-day games. We are looking to stay dominant over India,” Lara said. Lara also sounded wary of a backlash from India following their recent downslide, especially against the Windies who are without some key members like Ramnaresh Sarwan and Corey Collymore. India have a 50:50 winning record at Nagpur while the visitors, who made it to the ICC Champions Trophy final, have won their only earlier match at this venue. — PTI
|
|
|
Millions may miss cricket action
New Delhi, January 20 With both sides refusing a climb-down from their positions, the matter now rests with the government, which may intervene “in public interest”. Another place the dispute may go to is the courts, where most of the telecast matters have gone in case of a stalemate. Nimbus has already threatened that it may take recourse to legal option “if coerced to” share the rights. The private broadcaster, which bagged the four-year BCCI telecast rights last year for a whopping $612 million, has refused to share the telecast with Prasar
Bharati, including on its DTH, because of “rigid conditions” put up by the public broadcaster. “We refuse to accept the conditions put up by Prasar Bharati and if these are not sorted out, we will not share the feed with them,” Nimbus chief Harish Thawani said. At the heart of the matter is Prasar Bharati’s insistence that it wants ‘live feed’ of the telecast, which it will carry on its Doordarshan and DTH network. However, Nimbus has said Prasar Bharati should encrypt feed on its satellite channels and that it should be available in only those homes, which are connected through the terrestrial network. And in case encryption was not possible at such short notice, as the series begins tomorrow, Thawani said Nimbus was still ready to provide the feed, “but it should be telecast after a 15-minute gap to the telecast on the sports channel of Nimbus.
|
||
|
Chance to regain winning touch
Having said that, the noises emanating from the Indian camp are not encouraging to those aspiring to be in the squad for the World Cup. Sure these matches have to be won but the bigger picture should always be the World Cup and unless these games are used to give the men in form the chance to show their skills and temperament, how is one to know how good they are. Even as Virendra Sehwag and Irfan Pathan have been dropped they are being told that they will be in the squad for the World Cup. So what good is served by dropping them excepting for loss of match fees? What it says is that even if others who are the replacements do well they will not be selected. That is the wrong message. There’s also talk that none of the probables will be given a go as the purpose is to win the series. What all this smacks of is a club mentality where admission to new members is restricted. Yes, proven performances can go through lean periods too and when that happens, the best option is to give them a break but that does not mean that they have an automatic re-entry especially when their replacements have come good. They too will have to fight to reclaim their places in the side. Look at what Ganguly has done. He has fought back and that is the only way to get another India cap. The form displayed by Robin Uthappa in domestic cricket has been outstanding and hopefully he will repeat it in the one-dayers. His confidence was not helped by his omission from the team in spite of beginning so well, and while other team favourites retained their places, Uthappa sweated it out in domestic cricket and has won his place back with a bagful of runs. So also Joginder Sharma who was last picked after hardly a season in domestic cricket and so was not ready for international cricket. Now with a couple more years experience in domestic tournaments, he may well be the finisher that the team is looking for in the final overs of its batting. His medium paces may not find much help in Indian pitches but if he can vary his pace and restrict the economy rate to about five runs an over, he would be a useful player for India. The West Indies may not be the force they were a decade ago or so back, but under Lara they have started to show glimpses of the potential they have. The batting is well looked after with Gayle, Samuels, Chanderpaul and the Prince of Trinidad and Tokyo but it is the bowling that has been a let down for the West Indies and the main reason for their slide from the top of the cricketing table.
|
||
|
Chennai, January 20 A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the Technical Committee of the board held here under the chairmanship of Sunil Gavaskar, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told reporters after the meeting. “Twenty20 is going to be introduced either in the last week of this March or first week of April. It will be played under the ICC rules and regulations,” he said. The one-day Ranji Trophy format would be adopted for Twenty20 and two teams each from the five zones would play a round-robin league at the national level. The top two teams would qualify for the final, he said. As far as possible, the matches would be day and night fixtures with two matches a day. He said corporates would be roped in from next year for sponsorship. But the state associations would still be involved in the tournament. On other deliberations, Shah said the committee discussed the Ranji Trophy points system and the suggestion on neutral venues for semifinal and finals. The question of awarding a point to the team, which concedes the first innings lead in drawn matches, also came up for discussion. But a final decision on these would be taken only after ascertaining the views of coaches and captains of the state teams during a seminar to be held later this year, he said. Shah said inter-zone tournaments like Deodhar and Duleep Trophy would be played in neutral venues/best grounds, instead of the present system of playing matches at home or away on rotational basis. As regards the suggestion for holding Ranji semifinals and finals at neutral venues, he said it was also felt that the teams should not be robbed of the home advantage. The committee discussed the SG ball and decided to continue with it though it felt the ball had to be improved, he said. On wickets in the domestic circuit, he said the board had recognised the need for good wickets. “We will ensure that wickets are not doctored. The Pitches Committee will inspect the venues before Ranji matches.” India is the last of the major Test playing nations to introduce Twenty20 cricket, which has become popular in countries like the South Africa, Australia and England. The first Twenty20 world championship is to be held in South Africa in September this year. — PTI
|
||
|
Inzamam steals Ntini’s thunder
Port Elizabeth, January 20 South Africa, who made 124 in first innings, were 25 for one in their second innings at tea after the tourists had been dismissed for 265 in their first innings. Pakistan resumed on 135 for six but Ntini, who went into the match with 295 victims and took four wickets on Friday, reached his milestone in the eighth over of the day when he found the inside edge of Mohammad Sami’s bat.Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher took the catch and Ntini celebrated by lifting his playing shirt to reveal a shirt which said “Mdingi Express 300”. Ntini, from the Eastern Cape village of Mdingi, became the third South African to achieve the feat after the retired Allan Donald and team-mate Shaun Pollock. Pakistan slipped to 191 for nine after fast bowler Jacques Kallis had Shoaib Akhtar caught by Boucher for four and medium pacer Pollock had Danish Kaneria caught by Herschelle Gibbs in the gully for one. But South Africa’s progress was held up by Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who hit 13 fours in his innings and shared a 10th-wicket partnership of 74 with number 11 Mohammad Asif, who scored seven. South Africa squandered a difficult chance to dismiss Inzamam for 35 with the total on 195 for nine. Inzamam edged a pull shot off Kallis and Boucher leapt high but failed to hold the catch. The hosts then stumbled to 18 for one in the fifth over before tea when Graeme Smith, who scored 10, edged a delivery from fast bowler Asif to first slip where Inzamam took a diving catch. South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) 124 Hafeez c Amla b Ntini 13 Extras: (pen-5, b-4, lb-11, nb-1, w-5) 26 South Africa (2nd innings) Smith c Inzamam b Asif 10 Extras: (nb-3) 3
|
||
|
Melbourne, January 20 Hingis’ 6-2, 6-1 victory over Japan’s Aiko Nakamura came on a day when Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko raced to quick victories and rain limited play to the two show courts, where the roofs were closed. No. 5 James Blake had a 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 win over fellow American Robby Ginepri, saving a total of five set points in the first two sets and breaking serve six times in the match. He will meet 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who ousted Lleyton Hewitt, the last Australian left in the tournament, 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Nadal, who has played all three of his matches with the roof closed, jokingly took credit for easing Melbourne’s long drought. “I come with the rain,” the second-seeded Spaniard said after beating No. 31 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal next faces 15th-seeded Andy Murray of Britain, who ousted Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets. Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian struggled again, rallying for the second time from two sets down — and triple match point — to oust France’s Sebastien Grosjean 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-1. Davydenko needed only two hours to beat Fabrice Santoro. Sixth-seeded Hingis and fourth-seeded Clijsters have had a friendly rivalry going to see who can get off court fastest in the women’s draw. Clijsters won for the third straight time, by two minutes, in finishing off Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 in exactly an hour. Top seed Maria Sharapova ignored the sauna-like conditions in her 6-3, 6-1 third-round victory over 30th-seeded Tathiana Garbin. — AP
|
|
Abu Dhabi, January 20 Kapur now aggregates 12-under 204 with just a stroke shy off the leader. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington leads the field after carding an identical round. Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Peter Hanson share the tied second spot with Kapur. It was his second successive bogey-free round after carding a neat six-under 66 yesterday. Kapur is the only Indian left in the fray after biggies like Asian Tour champion Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa fell by the wayside yesterday. Digvijay moves up
Karachi: Digvijay Singh played one of his best rounds on the Asian Tour, carding a bogey-free six-under 66 that lifted him from an overnight 19th to tied fifth after the third round of the Karachi Open golf championship here on Saturday. Three birdies on either side of the turn underlined the potential of this Indian professional, who won a title in his first year as a professional on the domestic circuit but has failed to strike form on the Asian Tour. Digvijay led the challenge for the Indians, three of whom were in the top 10 in what is the year’s opening event on the Asian Tour. Digvijay was seven shots behind leader Airil Rizman Zahari of Malaysia, who himself is looking for his maiden title on the Tour. India’s Rahil Gangjee (69), the 2004 Volkswagen Masters China winner, and defending champion Chris Rodgers (68) were sharing the seventh place at nine-under 207, and another Indian, Ashok Kumar (71), was ninth at eight-under 208. Chopra tied 24th
Thousand Palms (USA): Daniel Chopra overcame a double-bogey start to finish the third round at one-under par for a three-round total of 207 to lie tied 24th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Playing in windy conditions at the Bermuda Dunes, Chopra had a double bogey on the first hole, but a birdie on the fifth and three others on the 13th, 15th and 18th ensured he was under par for the day despite dropping another shot on the 11th. The field is led by Englishman Justin Rose, who shot a 66 at the PGA West Palmer Course. He is now at 18-under 198 and two ahead of Scott Verplank (68).
|
|
|
Wijk Aan Zee, January 20 Anand, who won the title for a record fifth time last year, played black and lost in 53 moves while most of the boards ended in drawn games in the Group A of the tournament yesterday. The world No. 2 is now fourth with three points. Seregey Karjakin of Ukraine and Levon Aronian of Hungary are also at three points apiece. Teimour Radjabov is leading with five points out of a possible seven and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Kramnik were joint second at one point distance at four. Anand will play Rajdabox in the next game. However, youngster Parimarjan Negi won his game against J van der Wiel. He is now joint third with three points along with M. Krasenkow, M. Bosboom and Hou Yifan. I Nepomniachtchi, with 4.5 points, is leading the event and E Berg with 3.5 points is second. Negi will next play with black against E. Berg. — PTI
|
|
Rohit attains GM norm
New Delhi, January 20 After a scintillating victory over national champion Surya Shekar Ganguly in the first half of the event, Rohit stunned GM Dibyendu Barua and now by getting the better of Iuldachev, Rohit has earned the GM norm, irrespective of the result of his penultimate round. Two other youngsters — International Master Abhijeet Gupta and S Arun Prasad, who are also in the race for the GM norms — also remained in course for the honour by recording easy draws with GM Deepan Chakkravarthy and GM Neelotpal Das, respectively. Meanwhile, at the top of the table, favourite and top seed Alexey Dreev of Russia displayed his class to defeat GM Pravin Thipsay in 76 moves. Dreev, Rohit and Ahmed Adly of Egypt share the lead on seven points each.
|
|
Bagan ground Air-India
Kolkata, January 20 The win gave the much-needed boost to Bagan coach Robson D’Oliviera, who has been much criticised for the outfit’s poor start to the league. Mohun Bagan pressurised Air India constantly and it bore fruit with the Kolkata giants earning a free kick just outside the penalty box in the 55th minute. Vidal’s right footer curved in past a diving goalkeeper Raju
Ekka. The ever-opportunistic Barreto increased the margin six minutes later. Vinay Kuruvilla reduced the margin 82 minutes into the match when he out-jumped the Mohun Bagan defence from a Paras Shivalkar corner to find the net.
— UNI
|
|
|
Jalandhar, Delhi teams in final
Jalandhar, January 20 Government Model School, Jalandhar, beat Lyallpur Khalsa School 5-3 via tie-breaker. The two teams were level 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Jagroop of Model School scored the first goal in the 19th minute through a penalty corner. Ajay Kumar of Lyallpur School equalised in the 28th minute through a penalty corner. Mandeep Singh of the Lyallpur team made it 2-1 in the 33rd minute. Mandeep then equalised for Model School in the 64th minute. Guru Harkrishan Public School defeated Government High School, Chandigarh, 1-0. The match-winner was scored by Satish Kumar in the 37th minute. The final will be telecast live by DD Sports tomorrow at 2 pm.
|
Punjabi varsity win handball titles
Punjab finish last
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
After the disaster in South Africa, Team India have got the chance to prove their worth with two limited overs series. These matches provide the perfect opportunity for the team’s think-tank to find out what is the best combination for the World Cup.
