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Team India raring to emulate Kapil’s Devils
Current team better prepared than ’83 side: Gavaskar
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Oram ready to amputate finger!
1975 World Cup
RIMT-IMCT win inter-college tourney
Concept of PHL flawed, say former Olympians
Lions feast on Sultans
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Team India raring to emulate Kapil’s Devils
Mumbai, February 28 The game’s followers are anxious to see Rahul Dravid’s team emulate Kapil’s Devils of 1983 by returning home with cricket’s biggest catch. Twenty-four years ago, a team that was hardly expected to cause a ripple in cricket’s showpiece event turned the game upside down with its sterling show. The crowning piece of that brilliant display was the toppling of two-time world champions, the all-conquering West Indies, from their pedestal in a memorable final at Lord’s. That team did not have the burden of expectations as the cricket fans in the country then were yet to be bewitched by the shortened form of the game. The players themselves did not believe they had the wherewithal to conquer the world and were thus able to perform without the added pressure of a billion expectations. The triumphant run of that team, despite a few hiccups on the way, has since transformed the lukewarm interest of the fans in the one-day game into something akin to religious following. It is this extreme pressure that Dravid’s team will have to surmount as well as the tough opposition on the field in the West Indies to make its tryst with eternal glory. Anything less than a title triumph will be considered a failure, perhaps unfairly, by the vast majority of the fanatic followers of the game in the country. Four years ago the Indian cricketers, many of whom are part of the present squad, had a bitter experience of what a poor run could lead to in the form of a violent backlash from fans back home. The house of Mohammad Kaif, who is not part of the current team, was even stoned by irate fans after the Sourav Ganguly-led squad huffed and puffed to beat minnows Netherlands in the opening league match and then lost timidly to Australia. Coming as it did after the team’s disastrous outing in New Zealand a few months earlier, the fans’ anger knew no bounds. Sachin Tendulkar, who was later named the Player of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, even had to utter a public statement that the squad would try its level best to return home with the Cup to assuage the hurt feelings back home. There was a dramatic turnaround in its performance thereafter and the team went all the way to the final before bowing to the superior allround skills of Ricky Ponting-led Australia. The fans then were quite satisfied with the vastly improved performance of the team even though it lost in the final, but the hype surrounding the current team is such that many followers expect an Indian summer in the Caribbean. Coach Greg Chappell and captain Dravid have built a squad that seems well-rounded in batting and bowling, with a fair number of players keen and available to perform multiple tasks, somewhat similar to the utility members of Kapil Dev’s 1983 team. India, pooled in Group B with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda, start their Cup campaign with a tie against Bangladesh at Port-of-Spain on March 17 after playing warm-up games against The Netherlands (March 6) and West Indies (March 9). “I think we are in as good a position as we could hope to be. We have a good, balanced squad, good experience combined with youth. We have good variety in bowling and batting that would give us a wide range of options no matter what the conditions or the opposition”, Chappell said at the pre-departure media conference yesterday. “We go with confidence and with plenty of hope. We have got cover for all the key players and the key positions. We have got flexibility in bowling and batting. “We have got a squad we can expect to do well with. We have done all the preparations. But really now it’s going to be about performance on the day in each game and that’s where the pressure is going to be.” “The pressure will be on and that’s where our experience and flexibility are going to be very positive for us,” the former Australian skipper said. Quite a few in the current team may not be around when the World Cup returns to the sub-continent in 2011, and the West Indian sojourn offers them the best chance to add the game’s crowning jewel to their list of trophies. — PTI
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Current team better prepared than ’83 side: Gavaskar
Mumbai, February 28 Gavaskar was speaking to reporters after flagging off the 18-foot long ‘CEAT Cricket Ratings Billion Man Bat’, which will be taken to various cities of the country to collect signatures from cricket fans and then be presented to the Rahul Dravid-led Indian team. The former India captain said in terms of sheer experience and match fitness, this team is better prepared than we were. “I am sure that they have it in them to win the World Cup and get it back here, where it actually belongs given the following and passion the game enjoys in India,” Gavaskar added. Gavaskar said with four openers in the squad, India enjoys a big advantage as it gives the team the flexibility and more options. On the fitness of the pace bowlers, Gavaskar said this was the reason that five pacers have been selected in the team. “Also in the West Indies, the rain is unpredictable and in overcast conditions, the swing bowlers will come into more use than the other bowlers.” Gavaskar felt that the recent losses suffered by Australia has eroded the aura of invincibility which they had been having for the past few years. “Now teams have the belief and confidence that they can beat Australia,” he said. Gavaskar also requested all Indians to pray every night from tonight onwards for the team to do well and come back with the World Cup. — UNI
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COUNTDOWN
Andrew
Flintoff is the only genuine all-rounder playing at the moment. Abdul Razzak did the job for Pakistan for a long time. But, of late, he had not been doing as well as he used to. Now an injury at the eleventh hour has ruled him out of the World Cup. Jacques Kallis of South Africa donned the mantle of being the leading all-rounder for quite some time. Though he still bowls regularly, Kallis now seems to be settling more as a premier batsman in the side.
This puts the spotlight firmly on “Freddie” Flintoff as a key performer for England in the World Cup. That Flintoff was good with the ball and a hard-hitting batsman was recognised rather early in his playing days. The 6’4’’ Flintoff made his Test debut in 1998. He took considerable time to find his feet at the international stage. Initially, his fitness and excessive weight concerns threatened to derail a promising career and he lost his place in the side in 2001. But a gritty Flintoff worked hard on his fitness and soon was back in the squad. It was in 2004 that Flintoff started to fulfil his potential. After a string of good performances he was adjudged Wisden Cricketer of the Year. This spurred him to do better. The Ashes series in 2005 proved to be Flintoff’s finest hour. Here he came into his own and finally did justice to his prodigious talent. In the second Ashes Test at Edgbaston, the powerful Lancashire cricketer put the famed Aussie attack to the sword and broke Ian Botham’s record of six sixes in an Ashes Test. He also pitched in with the ball taking seven wickets. In the final Test at Trent Bridge, he took five wickets, securing a draw and the historic Ashes for England. England burst into instant celebrations and Flintoff was adjudged Man of the Series. In the 2006 series against India, skipper Michael Vaughan pulled out due to injury, while vice-captain Marcus Trescothick was also not available due to personal reasons. The task of leading the side on a testing tour of the sub-continent fell on Flintoff. The all-rounder marshalled his resources well and proved an inspirational leader. He was a great success in the drawn series. In the Champions Trophy in October last in India, Flintoff did not bowl because of an injury, but played as a specialist batsman. The 2007 Ashes series in Australia proved disastrous for England as they lost all the five Tests. England, however, warmed up for the World Cup in style claiming the Commonwealth Bank one-day tri-series beating Australia. Paul Collingwood claimed three successive Man of the Match awards. Flintoff was not found wanting and his contribution in the last mach was impressive. Now with Kevin Pietersen, their star batsman having been ruled out on account of injury, Vaughan’s knees not in the best of shape and premier seam bowler Steve Harmison not going through the best of times formwise, the onus will be on Flintoff to give England’s campaign the thrust they need in the quest for the elusive World Cup trophy.
— TNS
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Oram ready to amputate finger!
Christchurch, February 28 “If it means cutting the finger off, if that’s the worse case scenario, if that’s the last resort, I’ll do that, there’s no way I’m missing this,” Oram told New Zealand Press Association. Oram injured the left hand finger during the recently concluded Chappell-Haddlee series against Australia and his World Cup participation, at least in the initial stages looks very doubtful. “I don’t really know how the finger is. The plan is get to the West Indies, whip it off and assess the inflammation. We’ve got a couple of techniques in terms of taping and a couple of guards which are a lot thinner so they can fit into a batting glove,” Oram said outlining his plans to cop with the injury during the big event. “I’m confident it’ll be fine. The beauty of the batting glove is when the other three fingers and your thumb start bending the other one has got no option,” he added. Oram said he has consulted doctors on the issue and has been assured that the injury would not come in the way of his participation but if it does he is willing to take the extreme step. “I’ve talked to a few of the docs and they don’t feel it will affect me if I get a ball coming at me straight on. The problem could be another high ball coming down. It was a sting, like when you rip a nail up,” he
said. — UNI
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1975 World Cup
I
had
the privilege of bowling the first ball of the World Cup to John Jameson of England at Lord’s. If I remember right, I had three slips, a gully, a point, a conventional Test match field setting.
The memories are vivid but at that moment, let me admit, I never gave such importance to the fact that it was the first ball of an event that would change the course of the game in times to come. It has been a long time. Lord’s, June 7, 1975. We did not do well and honestly I doubt if anyone from that team would like to remember India’s first match in the World Cup. For that matter, there was little to remember from that inaugural World Cup. There was no hype preceding our departure. In 1974, we had suffered a poor tour of England and in any case we were raw as far as one-day cricket was concerned. It had just about begun to attract attention among the purists but India was completely new in this field. When we landed in London, the first thing that struck us was that it was just like any other tour for us. There was no perceptible change in the cricket atmosphere. It was World Cup but there was not much great excitement around. The matches were to be played on a 60-overs-a-side basis. We were smashed around by the English but let me confess that we had little time to adapt. With the exception of Bishan Singh Bedi and Farouk Engineer, only a few of us had a clue about the English conditions. And then the English cricketers, along with the Australians, had been regularly playing one day cricket. So it was quite comfortable for them. Our first match in the World Cup was dominated by Dennis Amiss. He was a compact opener and slammed a big hundred before I got him. He was my lone victim in that match. Keith Fletcher and Chris Old made some handsome contributions and England set us a target of 335. Among the bowlers, our captain, S Venkataraghavan, bowled the best. Our response was forgettable. Sunil Gavaskar got stuck in the middle. I don’t know what happened to him that day. He returned unbeaten on 36. Our next match was against East Africa. It was a poor opposition and we won by 10 wickets. Three wickets came my way, Abid Ali got two but the most outstanding stuff came from Bedi. His analysis read 12-8-6-1. Our World Cup ended at Old Trafford when we lost to New Zealand by four wickets. It was our third match in seven days. Thanks to Abid Ali, we could present New Zealand a competitive target of 231. Abid hit a rapidfire 70 but we failed to defend the total against some some superb batting by Glenn Turner, who hit a century and a single-handedly dashed our hopes. Our inexperience in limited overs cricket was quite evident as New Zealand achieved the task with seven balls to spare. The team left for India soon after the match against New Zealand but some of us stayed back. I had a contract to play in the Huddersfield League and it gave me the opportunity to see some of the matches on television. In one of the finest matches I have seen the West Indies overcame Pakistan amidst incredible tension. That match at Edgbaston was a cliffhanger with Deryck Murray pulling off a sensational win for the West Indies. I think this match motivated the West Indies to look at themselves as possible champions. The West Indians toyed with New Zealand in the semifinals while Australia edged out a determined England in a low-scoring contest. There was lot of talk about Gary Gilmour, the left-arm medium-pacer from Australia. I remember his destructive spell (12-6-14-6). It was top quality seam bowling as he exploited the conditions very well. I remember the final for Clive Lloyd’s knock. He just eased into his role of smashing the bowlers and there was some great entertainment at Lord’s. It was an ideal setting as two of the best one-day teams were locked in a fierce contest. It was thrilling no doubt and will be remembered mainly for Lloyd’s rich strokeplay as he hit a century that then some exceptionally brilliant fielding saw West Indies tame Australia. The margin was 17 runs and the finale befitting the occasion as the inaugural World Cup was over in a mere fortnight.
— UNI
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RIMT-IMCT win inter-college tourney
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 28 After winning the toss, the RIMT-IMCT team elected to bat and scored 173 runs in the allotted 25 overs. The main scorers were Shyamji (36), Sandeep Saini (20) and Sartaj (15). Gagan Sandhu took four wickets for 24 runs and Rampal two wickets for 38 runs. In reply, the RIMT-IET team lost wickets at regular intervals. They were able to score 143 runs for eight wickets in the allotted overs. Anuj scored 33, Gagan 22 and Rohit 16. Himanshu took three wickets for 20 runs, Shyamji took two wickets for 29 runs and Sukhi took two wickets for 20 runs. Shyamji was declared man of the match. Sukhwinder Sharma was declared man of the series while Gagan was declared the best batsman. Hukam Chand Bansal, chairman, RIMT Group, and B.S. Bhatia, the director of the institute, gave away the prizes. Harjit Singh, sports officer, RIMT-IMCT, said the team would now gear up for the inter-zonal tournament to be played at Rayyat Institute, Ropar, from March 2.
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Concept of PHL flawed, say former Olympians
Chandigarh, February 28
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Lions feast on Sultans
Chandigarh, February 28 The comprehensive win earned defending champions Bangalore Lions three points, enabling them to finish with 20 points while Sultans ended at the bottom of the points table with just six points. In an electrifying match, Sandeep Michael opened the account for the winners when he converted their first penalty corner in the 5th minute. Sultans drew parity in the 13th minute through Saranjit Singh, when he converted a penalty corner. Tariq Aziz of Pakistan extended lead for Sultans scoring a field goal in the 15th minute. However, Lions came back in the game through Hari Prasad, who netted a field goal in the 26th minute. Locked at 2-2 at half time, both the teams tried hard to get the lead when play resumed. Sultans squandered the chance of converting a penalty corner in 32nd minute. Similarly, two penalty corners (47th and 52 minutes) were wasted by Lions. In 53rd minute, the referee awarded Lions a penalty stroke, which was successfully converted by Len Aiappa (3-2). Sandeep Michael sealed the victory in the 63rd minute by converting a penalty corner. Len Aiappa’s hit was saved by goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan but Sandeep latched on the rebound and sent it home. Sandeep was declared Lion of the match for his performance. In a match played yesterday, Prabhjot Singh saved the day for Chandigarh Dynamos when he executed a scintillating goal in the 61st minute which enabled them to beat Sher-e-Jallandhar 3-2.
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COUNTDOWN
Says Tarlochan Bawa (1948 Olympian):
“Firstly, I fail to understand the idea of the league. As far as I know, it was designed to make the game popular but I am sorry to say that it has failed on this front. Moreover, inviting foreign players is just a marketing gimmick as they hardly contribute in raising the standard of the game. The IHF should focus on national level tournaments and shortlist young players from universities, Army or Railways etc. to unearth new talent. There is no use of organising such a long running tournament with former or shunted out hockey players.” 
Gurbaksh Singh (1968):
“Without doubt starting the PHL was the right step to promote the game but now I feel that it is not going in the right direction. The purpose was to throw up new players as well as to popularise the game. But we are seeing old faces which have no future in the national squad. They were just included under the influence of marketing forces. May be starting one more tournament on the same pattern for the top 16 university teams (under-21) might prove more fruitful. The IHF should start some new events on regular basis in which they should invite the top hockey teams of the world to give budding players the much-needed exposure and experience.” 
Harmeek Singh (1972):
“At the moment PHL is in its infancy. The concept is appreciable as it provides the chance to our budding players to watch world class players like Jemie Dwyer in action. The level of umpiring in the league should be raised as it can be very useful in mending the faults of budding players at this level. Hockey has changed a lot with the passage of time so our players have to adapt themselves according to the new requirements of the game.
Pargat Singh (1988, 92, 96):
“Playing with foreign players is beneficial only for the up and coming players so the basic purpose is definitely being defeated if they have no chance to play. The need of the hour is to run the league in an organised way. In the teams here, out of 100 players over 20 players are from foreign countries. Among Indians, majority of them have already been discarded. So it is not helping in raising the standard of our national team. 
Balwinder Shammi (1992):
“Though PHL has been successfully promoting the game by drawing a large viewership, yet it needs many amendments. Spent forces should not be given any chance in it. In my viewpoint, age limit should be there. The IHF should select around 100 players from colleges and combined universities teams and groom them for big events.” 
Mohammad Riaz (1996):
“Actually the game needs huge media coverage. At the moment the league is a welcome step as it serves the purpose by drawing crowds as well as media coverage. Giving chance to senior players, who have earned name for themselves, is a just a part of this plan to pull in the crowds. Including young players in the teams is a good idea but the organiser also need sponsorship and wherewithal for which they have to rope in former renowned players.”