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Rs 7.5 cr for Pakistan if they win Cup
Match glut irks players’ union
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Pak veterans win series
Bad day for Indian eves
Shers set up title clash with Steelers
Anand held by Ivanchuk
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Pathan gets WC okay
Ahmedabad, February 25 “There are no alteration in the 15-member World Cup squad. Pathan will go to West Indies for the World Cup,” chief of selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar told reporters after the Baroda speedster took two wickets for the West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy match against the Central Zone here. The Deodhar match was seen as an acid test of sorts for Pathan to prove to the selectors, three of them were present at the venue, that he was a good pick for the Indian team. Asked whether 8.4 overs that the seamer bowled today were enough to assess his fitness, Vengarkar said, “It is very difficult to gauge anybody’s fitness in such a short time. Irfan has not played for the last one month and needs to bowl more. He has not played much cricket”. Pathan, who has not been in the best of shape in the last few months, took two wickets for 48 runs for West Zone. “There is not much time left for the World Cup and Pathan will be bowling in the nets and will also play in the warm up matches (in West Indies) before the world cup begins.” The 22-year-old paceman had suffered a shoulder injury and missed out the entire four-match home series against Sri Lankan earlier this month. The young bowler had last played for India in the fourth ODI against West Indies at Vadodara in January. To prove his fitness Pathan was asked to play today’s Deodhar tie by the BCCI selectors before boarding the flight to the Caribbean with the rest of the Indian team. “We have already got a report from the team physio John Gloster stating that Pathan is 100 per cent fit,” Vengsarkar earlier remarked about the all-rounder who is expected to lend a crucial balance to the team’s composition during the mega event. “Bowling in the nets and bowling in a match are two different things. We wanted to see how he responds to different pressures in a match,” he said about BCCI’s decision to ask Pathan to play a domestic one-day match before the World Cup. Pathan, who opened the bowling against the Central Zone, started off badly with his first spell of five overs costing 30 runs without any wicket. Central Zone left-handed opener Faiz Fazal was particularly severe on Pathan and struck four boundaries in the five overs he bowled in the first spell. The Baroda seamer came back in the 38th over of the match for a second spell and bowled two overs for eight runs without any success. When Pathan came for his third and final spell, Central Zone were reduced to 165 for eight. He took wickets of Abbas Ali and R P Singh in the 48th and 50th overs, respectively. Pathan also took the catch of Central Zone captain Mohammed Kaif at mid-on off spinner Ramesh Powar. After breaking into the international scene during India’s tour to Australia in 2003 where he helped his team achieve a 1-1 draw in the Test series, Pathan was hailed as the successor to Kapil Dev, who had led India to its first and only World Cup victory in 1983. Pathan’s downslide began during India’s tour of West Indies in May 2006 where he picked up just four wickets and contributed 24 with the bat in a 4-1 loss. His bad patch followed him to India’s tour of South Africa later in November that year where he was sent back mid-way owing to poor form. West Zone beat Central Powered by a brilliant 89 run knock by Wasim Jaffer, the West Zone today won the opening tie of the Deodhar Trophy match by three wickets. Set a victory target of 235 runs by the Central Zone, the West cruised past the target with seven overs to spare in the day and night encounter at the Sardar Patel stadium at Motera here. Brief scores: Central: 234 all out in 49.4 overs (Praveen Kumar 51, S Abbas Ali 51, Ramesh Powar 4-25, Irfan Pathan 2-48); West: 237 for 7 in 43 overs (Wasim Jaffer 89, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 43, Shalabh Srivastava 3-53, Murali Kartik 2-45). — PTI
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Accuracy is his forte
Gopal Sharma
He is the quintessential fast bowler, a captain’s dream. He does not have the growl of an Andrew Nel or the swagger of a Jason Gillespie. He is not like Allan Donald, intimidating batsmen with eyeball-to-eyeball contact. Nor does he has the raw spontaneity, aggression or the pace of someone like Wasim Akram. But when it comes to taking wickets, Chaminda Vaas, a gentleman left-arm seamer of Sri Lanka, is no less effective or penetrative with the ball.
Vaas is easily the most successful seamer Sri Lanka has ever produced. Coming in to bowl with gentle demeanor with concentration writ large on his face, the 33-year-old seam bowler has an inswinging delivery, which has undone so many batsmen. Having added a well disguised reverse swing to his repertoire, Vaas is always at the batsmen’s throat. With accuracy being his forte, Vaas is the most potent weapon along with Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka has. With Vaas operating from the one end, the batsman needs to be at his best to survive. Vaas, who made his ODI debut in India in 1993-94, has come a long way. Along with peerless Wasim Akram, Vaas shares the honours of having two hat-tricks to his credit on ODIs. This includes a hat-trick with the first three balls of the match against Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup. The penetrative Vaas has to his credit the best ODI figures by a fast bowler, eight wickets for 19 runs, against Zimbabwe. His duels with world-class batsmen are numerous. More often than not, it is Vaas who has emerged triumphant. Ever since he made his debut for Sri Lanka nearly 14 years back, Vaas has been an integral part of Sri Lanka team. Whenever the team needs a breakthrough, the captain invariable turns either to Muralitharan or Vaas. Vaas has the uncanny knack of striking at the right moment and has rarely let his skipper down. Along with legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Muralitharan, Vaas has played a major role in making Sri Lanka a dangerous side, particularly in ODIs. Incidentally, the emergence of Sri Lanka as a strong team in international arena coincided with emergence of Vaas as a match-winning performer par excellence. Of late, Vaas has started taking his batting seriously and has come to be known as someone having the ability to use long handle at the fag end of an innings. He has to his credit, some useful knocks, adding depth to Sri Lankan batting. Vaas was rested along with Muralitharan for the ODI series in India ahead of the World Cup next month. The best of the players have struggled with the form at some point of time in their career. But like a champion bowler, Vaas has never had to battle any form blues. With 370 wickets in his kitty from 270 ODI games, a rare milestone of completing 400 wickets beacons Vaas. There cannot be a better stage for him to perform than the World Cup. Surely, Vaas is not the one to let an opportunity slip.
— TNS
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Rs 7.5 cr for Pakistan if they win Cup
Karachi, February 25 “If they win the final, they will get Rs 5 million each. For reaching the final they get Rs 2.5 million each and Rs 1.2 million for the semifinals,” PCB Chairman Naseem Ashraf said. The announcement meant that the team could earn Rs 7.5 crore if it becomes world champions for the second time. Ashraf made the announcement at a function at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium yesterday, which was attended, among others, by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf asked the team to put the disappointments of the South African tour behind it and said the players had the talent to defeat any side at the World Cup. “What is needed is determination and the right approach to go into the field with a positive mind to beat the opponents and if our players have that thought in their mind, they can defeat their respective opponents no matter how strong or top ranked they are,” Musharraf said. Musharraf also reposed full confidence in the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq and said he was confident of the team doing well under him. “If we analyse the performance of our team during the past three years it shows an upward trend, barring the performance in South Africa, and we must not get disappointed with the results produced in the last tour (South Africa) and start afresh,” Musharraf said. He also reminded the players that great teams did not lose hope even in adversity. “If the team goes into the arena with lost hope it cannot perform up to a high level and if it has the will and determination it can fight back no matter what circumstances it goes through,” he said. The function was also held to launch a long overdue pension scheme for former Test players who will now get Rs 25,000 per month from the board. Bonuses for Bangladeshi
team
Dhaka: Bangladeshi players will get $2,000 each for winning a first-round match in the World Cup, the cricket board announced on Sunday. The team will play three group matches in the opening round, against former world champions India and Sri Lanka, and first-timers Bermuda. The top two sides will advance to the Super Eight round. Bangladeshi cricketers will also receive $3,000 each if they qualify for the Super Eight stage, the board said in a statement. The bonuses are aimed at spurring the Bangladesh cricket team in their third World Cup, it added. Bangladesh have never gone beyond the preliminary round since making their Cup debut in 1999 in England. They have won just two of their 11 games.
— AFP
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Match glut irks players’ union
Melbourne, February 25 The two teams will face each other in four Tests and 17 one-day internationals in a period of eight months starting this June and IPU head Tim May said the boards were trying to earn more money at the expense of long-term interests of the game. “We’re very seriously worried that a few countries are playing too much cricket,” May said. “It’s our ongoing battle with the ICC.” Australia and India will play three one-dayers in Ireland in June on top of seven one-dayers in India in October, four Tests in Australia next summer and another seven one-dayers in the tri-series. “They were already playing each other 18 times and now they’ve thrown in another three,” May said. He said the glut of India-Australia games meant the money-grabbing motives behind ever-growing number of limited-overs matches were devaluing the clashes for players and spectators. The former Australian off-spinner also said the upcoming World Cup was too long and could be halved if not for TV broadcasters wanting to drag it out as long as possible. “It’s getting completely out of control,” May was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald. Since September, Australia have played a one-day series in Malaysia, the Champions Trophy in India, the five-Test Ashes series and tri-nations series in Australia and the Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand. “From the perspective of players and spectators, it’s going to dampen your interest. And it detracts from the commercial value of the product. Vision has been lost about what’s important and what is not,” May said. “We’re concerned about that. Players have a passion for the game and want to maintain that passion every time they play. But it’s becoming harder to play every game as though it’s their last,” he stressed.
— PTI
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Pak veterans win series
Kozhikode, February 25 The hosts piled up 292 for six in 40 overs but Ijaz’s hurricane knock, and a run-a-ball 69 from Mansoor Akhtar, helped Pakistan overhaul the target in 38.3 overs. Put into bat, India went on the attack right from the start with Praveen Amre scoring a brilliant 126 not out (93 balls) that contained five sixes and 12 hits to the fence. Robin Singh (48) came up with a useful contribution, as also Manoj Prabhakar (39), captain Mohammad Azharuddin (28) and Sameer Dighe (25). Pakistan skipper and leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, who was hit for 76 runs in his seven overs, managed to get two wickets. However, Pakistan feasted on the Indian bowling and were helped by some wayward fielding to reach the target. Pakistan had won the inaugural tie at Udaipur by an identical margin on Friday. The third match will be played on February 27.
— PTI
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Bad day for Indian eves
Chennai, February 25 The Kiwi women, too, started badly, before woman-of-the-match Maria Fahey’s pugnacious half-century carried the team through with 2.5 over to spare. New Zealand finished at 202 for nine in 47.1 overs. After a two-day rest, the second round of league matches would commence on February 28. Batting first, India got off to a disastrous start losing Karuna Jain (0), Jaya Sharma (24), skipper Mithali Raj (21) and Anjum Chopra (0) to be reduced to 52 for four in 16.4 overs. Kamini (37, 65 balls) and Hemlata Kala (65, 96 balls) revived the innings with an 86-run stand for the fifth wicket in 22.3 overs before the rest of the innings fell apart. The Kiwis survived early hiccups and were 30 for three at one stage in nine overs, before Maria Fahey (59, 96 balls) and Lousie Milliken (55, 78 balls) added 104 for the fourth wicket in 24.3 overs. Tsukigawa (14) and Mason (10) fell cheaply, but Fahey held the innings together. Her dimissal in the 44th over, hardly altered the outcome as Helen Watson struck four boundaries to overhaul the Indian score.— UNI
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Blanked 0-3 by South Korea
Chennai, February 25 Medio Lee Kye Lim hoisted the lead in the 25th minute before the visitors pumped in two goals in two minutes through strikers Park Hee Young (38th) and Moon Seula (39th) to seal the fate of the Indians. In the away match on February 17, India, playing under sub-zero conditions, were thrashed 0-5 after managing to keep the Koreans at bay for the first 45 minutes. Neither the Korean defence nor their goalkeeper Kim Jung Mi were tested even once right through the 90-minute contest. Lee Kye Lim struck with a superb finish off a rebound following a goalmouth melee. Lee Seaeun’s flag kick was headed by Park Hee Young only to see an Indian defender effecting a goal-line save. Lee again tried to score off the rebound before Lim showed enough opportunism to slot the ball home. Korea’s dominate was complete with Park Hee Young charging in from the right flank to connect a pass from Kwon Hau Nul and Moon Seula made most of a cross from Hee Young to stamp their authority. There was no perceptible change in the script in the second half as the Koreans held sway, but further success eluded them.
— UNI
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Shers set up title clash with Steelers
Chandigarh, February 25 With this win, Sher-e Jalandhar have garnered 23 points, just two points behind table toppers Orissa Steelers. The Sultans have only six points only. The Sultans had more ball possession in the first quarter but it was the Shers who attacked more, waiting patiently for the counter-attacks. They depended more on short passes to build up moves methodically unlike their usual long passes and open play. It was the Shers’ Spanish import Santi Freixa who played a major role in fetching the win. In the 19th minute, he put his team ahead with a powerful reverse flick after Baljit Dhillon and Tejbir Singh did the initial spadework. Despite dominating with more exchanges and with their forwards Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir and Santi weaving patterns upfront, the Shers failed to increase the lead in the second quarter and conceded the equaliser in the 46th minute. The Sultans’ Pakistani import Tariq Aziz intercepted Harpal’s pass and put Rajwinder in possession from the midfield and the latter found the net without any fuss (1-1) However, the Sultans’ joy proved short-lived as in the very next minute they let in another goal. Gagan, after he was fed by Baljit, caught Sultans’ custodian Devesh Chauhan on the wrong foot with a weak reverse flick in the 47th minute. Gagan also scored the third goal for his team in the 66th minute after deflecting a fierce backhander from Tejbir. Triple Olympian Baljit Dhillon, who did a commendable job upfront, was adjudged the Lion of the Match. An elated Baljit said, “It was our team’s precise distribution that helped us pounce upon the chances that came in our way. We would give our best shot in the final.” Lions pip Dynamos The last-minute ‘golden goal’ by Sandeep Michael fetched victory for Bangalore Lions against Chandigarh Dynamos in the second encounter. Lions won 2-1. The Dynamos began on an attacking note and hoisted the lead in the third minute. It was a move from the right flank where Prabjot Singh took a stinging shot into the circle and ball rose off Rajpal Singh’s stick and Mandeep Singh near the goal tapped in a waist-high ball (1-0). In the third quarter, Bangalore Lions found the equaliser following their third penalty corner in the 55th minute. Tushar injected the ball accurately and the stage was set-up by Paul Blake and drag-flicker Len Aiyappa found a narrow gap between a prostrate goalkeeper and the right post (1-1). Thereafter, the match saw fierce competition with both the teams trying for the lead. The Dynamos had better share of exchanges and had more attacks but lacked application and failed to finish the moves and the match went into extra-time. In the extra-time too, the Lions had three close chances but it was Dynamos who almost got the silver goal but Lions’ goalie Bharat Chetri made a stunning save off Jarnail Singh’s shot. In the 84th minute, the Lions managed to get the match winner when Rehan Butt dribbled past a couple of defenders and darted into the circle. With goalkeeper blocking the angle, Rehan cleverly hit towards the spot to an unmarked Sandeep Michael who just changed the direction of the ball (2-1). Bharat Chetri (Bangalore Lions) was declared the Lion of the Match.
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Anand held by Ivanchuk
Morelia, February 25 In the other games, Magnus Carlsen took a quick draw with Peter Leko of Hungary, Levon Aronian signed peace with top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and the Russian duel between Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler had the same fate. With only one round remaining in the Morelia leg, the event shifts to Linares in Spain. Carlsen remains in sole lead on four points, while Anand and Aronian remained on his heels half a point behind. Leko, Ivanchuk and Svidler are also in close pursuit on three points, while Topalov and Morozevich share the last spot on two points apiece. Eight rounds remain in the eight-player double-round-robin event. Anand’s game was the longest of the day, lasting 32 moves, and Ivanchuk used too much time on his clock yet again. Levon Aronian played a little longer against an off-form Topalov but the latter played solidly to keep the Armenian at bay.
— PTI
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Kolkata, February 25
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