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England ruin Lara party
Gavaskar writes
Lloyd retires as match referee
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Harbhajan needs to study Warne, Murali
Tiwary — A tale of conquering adversity
Negi slips to 9th
Azlan
Shah Cup
NFL
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England ruin Lara party
It was meant to be a last rendition of Lara’s theme. But it was much too short and it ended in tragedy. A capacity crowd at Barbados’ first world facility - the new Kensington Oval - had mushroomed to bid farewell to Brian Charles Lara, master batsman for 17 long years. There were tears in their eyes as they left the ground in fading light. The music throbbed, the conch shells blew in a true reflection of a West Indian atmosphere. To the delight of the spectators, Lara promoted himself to number three in the batting order. The England team greeted him with a guard of honour. The high, unfurling back lift together with that whiplash descent of the willow was immediately in evidence. Gliding the ball with strong but supple wrists, the maestro was on his way. Soon a trademark square drive rebounded from the blade, piercing the packed off-side field to the fence. An excited murmur spread through the ground. “We are in for a treat”, was the consensus. But it terminated in a most cruel fashion. Marlon Samuels stroked the ball to mid-on and called Lara for a run, only to send him back. It was too late. Kevin Pietersen swooping on the leather, flicked it back underarm to shatter the non-striker’s stumps. A stunned silence, an utter helplessness enveloped the attendance. Then everyone exploded into a standing ovation as Lara raised his bat for the last time and made an emotional exit as a batsman from an international match. Though the Jamaican right-hander compensated with a crisp 50, Lara fans were in no mood to forgive him. The Trinidadian had tormented England more than any other side, piling two record-breaking individual scores in tests of 375 and 400 not out on them. The first time he achieved this, he lowered another eminent left-hander, Sir Garfield Sobers’ 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958, which had stood for 36 years. The Barbadian all-rounder, arguably the greatest the game has known, ran on to the field to embrace Lara on that day in Antigua. Now, he enigmatically looked on from the VIP enclosure as the most recent legend in West Indian cricket soaked in the generous appreciation of cricket lovers. On another sunny, eastern Caribbean day, with the ball coming on to the bat, batsmen on both sides, relieved of the pressures of the World Cup, opened their shoulders with a refreshing freedom. Indeed, for the first time in the tournament, both teams reached the 300 mark. A first wicket partnership of 131 between Chris Gayle and Devon Smith, with both recording splendid half-centuries, set the trend. The latter effort was only cut short by a spectacular catch at backward point by Paul Collingwood. Vaughan finally fulfilled his potential with a fluent 79 before he was run out, as was the promising Ravi Bopara, deservingly elevated to first drop. The two produced a run-a-ball 90 runs for the second wicket, but were both beaten by Dwayne Bravo’s unerring arm from point. Indeed, at 189 for six, people were resigned to a characteristic English collapse.
It was thrilling entertainment, which is what Lara was all about. Though he would dearly have liked the outcome to be different, he could at least derive satisfaction from the patrons having got their money’s worth. It was, also, some satisfaction for the sphinx-like Duncan Fletcher, whose last match this was as England’s coach. Scoreboard West Indies Gayle c Broad b Flintoff 79 Smith c Collingwood b Flintoff 61 Lara run out 18 Samuels c Collingwood b Vaughan 51 Sarwan c Nixon b Plunkett 3 Chanderpaul c Plunkett b Collingwood 34 Bravo c Dalrymple b Vaughan 13 Ramdin not out 10 Taylor c Dalrymple b Vaughan 12 Powell run out 0 Collymore run out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-14, nb-3) 18 Total (all out; 49.5 overs) 300 Fall of wickets: 1-131, 2-168, 3-173, 4-181, 5-258, 6-276, 7-277, 8-296, 9-298. Bowling: Anderson 6-0-39-0, Plunkett 7-0-71-1, Broad 6-1-32-0, Flintoff 9.5-0-59-2, Dalrymple 3-0-19-0, Collingwood 8-0-40-1, Vaughan 10-0-39-3. England Strauss c Smith b Collymore 7 Vaughan run out 79 Bopara run out 26 Pietersen b Taylor 100 Collingwood b Bravo 6 Flintoff c Powell b Sarwan 15 Dalrymple run out 1 Nixon b Bravo 38 Plunkett c Bravo b Taylor 2 Broad not out 5 Anderson not out 0 Extras (b-6, w-5, lb-11) 22 Total (9 wkts, 49.5 overs) 301 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-101, 3-154, 4-162, 5-185, 6-189, 7-269, 8-271, 9-298. Bowling: Collymore 10-0-61-1, Powell 10-0-58-0, Taylor 10-1-65-2, Gayle 5-0-32-0, Bravo 9.4-0-45-2, Sarwan 5-1-21-1.
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Grand finale on cards
Ponting’s team are quite obviously out to prove that their losses in the tri-Series at home and in the Chappell-Hadlee trophy were just a few bad days that any team can have, and the manner in which they have gone about showing that they are still the kings has been truly awesome. They have won all their games in a canter, hardly breaking into a sweat and made teams feel that they belong to another league altogether. So dominant has their top order been that the lower middle-order batsmen like Hussey and Watson have hardly had a long stint out in the middle. Hayden and Ponting in particular have batted in a sublime manner, making the lack of big runs from Adam Gilchrist seem no problem at all. It is not just the runs that they are scoring, but it’s the frenetic pace at which they are scoring them that is sending shivers down the spines of opposition bowlers. New Zealand were smarter than the Sri Lankans by making an injury excuse to shield Shane Bond and Jacob Oram from the Australian batsmen in their Super 8 encounter. Don’t forget, this is Stephen Fleming’s third World Cup as skipper of his team, and so he knows how confidence is such an important part of a bowler’s armoury, especially in one-day cricket, where the odds are stacked against the bowler. He had also seen the flak that the Sri Lankan skipper received for resting two of his main bowlers, Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan, for the game against Australia. So Fleming took the injury excuse to do exactly what the inexperienced Jayawardene had done. Not that Jayawardene is going to lose any sleep over the criticism, for the decision was taken in the best interests of the side. Both New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be happy that they are not meeting the Aussies till the final, for as in any sport, there is always a chance that a team can have a bad day. The Kiwis had the worse of their game against the Aussies, while the Lankans were slightly better, but all that will go out of the window when the teams square up in the semifinals. The Kiwis will need to counter the threat from Murali, as the Lankans will have to be at their best against Bond’s opening spell. Both teams have a pretty sound line-up and the only area that the Kiwis hold the edge is in the fielding, but not by much. The other semifinal between Australia and South Africa is a repeat of the 1999 one, where the Proteas made a mess of the game and ended up tying it and allowed the Aussies to go through to the final because they had won their Super 6 encounter earlier. The South Africans will invariably want to forget that and instead remember their magnificent chase of the record target of 434 that the Aussies had set them and which they got to win the one-day series last year. That is one reason the South Africans are not falling for the ‘chokers’ dig that the Aussies are having at them. It will be a psychological battle alright and the one that’s stronger will come through on top. Just imagine the confidence level of the Proteas if they beat the Aussies in the semifinals. What the Super 8 stage of the World Cup showed was that the best four teams are in the semifinals. Now only three matches remain to decide who lays their hands on the World Cup. The experts will no doubt be putting their money on Australia to complete a hat-trick of World Cup wins. But they would do well to cast their minds back to 1983, when the champion team of that era, the West Indies, were similarly poised to do the ‘trick’. India, the dark horses, stopped them. Who will be the dark horses this time, or will there be a dark horse at all?
— PMG
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Lloyd retires as match referee
At a special ceremony during the lunch interval of the West Indies versus England Super Eight game, the former West Indian skipper was honoured by ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed in recognition of his great contribution to the game as referee. Speaking at the presentation, Lloyd said, “This is a wonderful gesture by the ICC and I feel proud to have served them for such a long while. We all come to the end eventually and this is my time but it was a pleasure to have been involved with them.” As a player Lloyd was the first West Indian to reach the 100-Test milestone and as a hard-hitting batsman he scored 7,515 Test runs at an average of 46.67 with top score of 247 not out. He is one of the most successful captains in West Indies cricket history, having led his country in 74 Test matches with just 12 defeats coming during his tenure. He was at the helm for one remarkable run of 26 Tests without defeat and 11 successive wins. Under his captaincy, the Caribbean side won both 1975 and 1979 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Lloyd became ICC match referees in 1992 and for one and half decade he officiated in 53 Test matches and 133 ODIs, including 17 games during the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996 and 2003. Lauding his services, ICC President Percy Sonn said, “Clive was one of the best loved and most respected players during the height of West Indies cricket in the 1970s and 80s.” “We were very lucky to have him as one of our referees,” he added. — UNI
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Harbhajan needs to study Warne, Murali
Q: Did the BCCI give specific instructions to the selectors to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as has been alleged in the newspapers? A: The BCCI secretary had sent me a letter with regards to the directions of the working committee to select a young team under the experienced captain. Apart from this, there were no specific instructions. In fact, the BCCI president Sharad Pawar had asked me to select the best possible team. Q:
You have said that the two seniors have been rested for the Bangla tour because of the number of ODIs India would be playing in the season. Would this apply to other seniors too, including Dravid? A:
Considering the fact that this season is crammed up with so many international fixtures, it will be humanly impossible to play all the matches. Hence we will have to rest some of the players and rotate them to get the best out of them all the time. Q:
What does the future hold for Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar who have been dropped from both ODIs and Tests for Bangladesh? A:
They are all fine cricketers and have proved themselves at the highest level. The only thing they will have to prove consistently is their form and I am positive they will be back where they belong. Q:
Harbhajan Singh’s performance in the last few years, have been dismal overseas. Your comments. A:
Harbhajan has been around for a long time and could be considered as a senior pro. He knows what is best for him but I guess he will have to go for the wickets especially in the ODIs in the middle overs like Shane Warne or Muttiah
Muralitharan does. I feel it is the job of spinners to get the wickets and not focus on containing the batsmen. Harbhajan is bowling too flat to be effective. He needs to change his trajectory. Q:
Do you think Irfan Pathan can be back to what he was before his form dipped? What is the best way out for him? A:
Irfan had done exceedingly well till the India-England game in the Champions Trophy. I really do not know what went wrong after that. His bowling just fell apart. He has not only lost his pace but also the movement that got him a lot of wickets initially. He will have to get the experts’ advice, work hard and get his rhythm back. Q:
Are you disappointed at Ajit Agarkar not able to fulfil the potential that he showed when he burst on the scene? A:
Ajit is an enigma. He has loads of talent but I feel he has under-utilised it so far. By now he should have established himself as an frontline all-rounder but the fact is, he hasn’t. After playing so much international cricket, I am sure he knows the answer. Q:
How difficult or easy is it going to be against Bangladesh who have shown that they have the ability to do well at least in one-dayers by not only beating India but also South Africa in the World Cup? A:
Well, Bangladesh’s performance in the World Cup was beyond anybody’s imagination. They are around in the international circuit for as long as ten years but I guess at present they are playing their best cricket. Surely, they have the home advantage and I am sure they will try to exploit it at the earliest opportunity. Q:
Don’t you think we need a regular opener for the tours of England where the ball would be moving a lot and on the bouncy and pacy Australian pitches? Would Dinesh Karthik, picked to do the job in Tests in Bangladesh, be able to do this job? A:
Dinesh is a talented batsman-wicket keeper. I have been watching him since his under-19 days. He is not only a gritty customer but also very courageous. His innings at Cape Town (on India’s tour of South Africa) was testimony of all these qualities. Besides Dinesh, there is Robin Uthppa, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Akash Chopra. Youngsters like Cheteshwar Pujara, Tanmay Srivatsav and Ajinkya Rahane could form the India A team and they are players for the future. Q:
How important would be the role of the bowling and fielding coaches. Would you like to have a spinner to be added to the support staff and help Venkatesh Prasad later when India plays at home? A:
Both fielding coach Robin Singh and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad are part of NCA for some time now and have done remarkably well as coaches on various junior tours. Both could play an important role along with Ravi Shastri. I feel a spinner like the former Australian leggie Terry Jenner could be of great help at the National cricket Academy. He had done wonders with Shane Warne and the BCCI will do well to invite him for a couple of weeks to Bangalore to guide leg spinners like Chawla and Mishra. Q:
What’s your opinion on Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath? Do they have the potential to come up to the highest level? A:
Of course, yes. They are very talented and have performed creditably in domestic cricket. They have done extremely well on India A Team’s tour of Australia last year. Q:
Is lack of spinners a matter of concern still or do you feel Rajesh Pawar and Ramesh Powar could be groomed to play regularly in Tests? A:
Besides Rajesh Pawar and Ramesh Powar, there is UP’s Piyush Chawla, Haryana’s Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha of Hyderabad and Murali Kartik. Q:
What’s your reading on the coming tour of England? The hosts have been whitewashed in Australia and dumped out of World Cup. Is it going to be a tough series for India? A:
England in England will be a tough proposition. They are a very good side at home. Their World Cup performance was quite good and they have some young promising players in their line up. Q:
Do you think it would be a good idea to play a domestic inter zonal Twenty20 event on the lines of Deodhar Trophy in Chennai or Bangalore before the September World Cup in South Africa? A:
That would be of great help to assess the players for the Twenty20 World Cup in September. Q:
You have said before that there’s not enough talent coming through from domestic cricket. Do you still hold the view after witnessing matches in the just-concluded season? A:
There is a lot of talent in India but there is little exceptional talent which could be inducted in the Indian team straightaway. However, there are some players who are ready to do the battle at the highest level. They just need the platform to showcase their talent.
— PTI
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Tiwary — A tale of conquering adversity
Kolkata, April 22 The second among three sons of a class IV employee of the Eastern Railway, the 21-year-old Howrah resident is known for his tremendous guts, sincerity and strong nerves - qualities which have propelled him to the highest level of the game in only two domestic seasons in the senior circuit. For the family of five, life in the single-room that also doubled up as the kitchen and with a tinned roof to beat the elements was a daily struggle. But Tiwary never lost sight of his goal. “From my childhood, since the time I took to the game, I wanted to play for India. That was my only dream,” Tiwary told PTI after his inclusion in the Indian team for next months’ ODI series against Bangladesh. And he had the tenacity to realise the dream. “He was always the first to report for practice and the last to leave the ground. Whenever he was given any cricketing lessons, he would perfect it in quick time. Whatever pressing be his other commitments, cricket was his world,” says Tiwary’s personal coach Manabendra Ghosh, who has been grooming the youngster for the last 10 years. For Tiwary, now living in a rented two-room modest flat, the India call-up is an opportunity to make life smoother for his family. “My parents have made a lot of sacrifices. It is now pay back time. Given a chance, I want to do well and establish myself in the team. And then, I will be able to take care of my family,” says the aggressive batsman and useful leg break bowler, who idolises Sourav Ganguly. — PTI
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Malmo (Sweden), April 22 With this loss, Parimarjan slipped to the ninth place from the lead position which he held just two rounds earlier. Negi opted for the Sicilian defense and Pontus decided to avoid complex opening theory by playing a solid line. He handled the early middle game with masterly strategic play and slowly got a stranglehold on black’s position. Negi tried to seek counterplay by playing sharply to change the pace of the game. Carlsson, who will be awarded the grandmaster title shortly, was in terrific form and countered Negi’s attempts with tactical precision. Negi’s desire to sharpen the position at any cost proved to be his undoing, as he lost a pawn and found himself in a losing position by move 22. He did his best to get back into the game but Carlsson gave him no chances and scored an emphatic win in 37 moves. — PTI
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Punjab players back at helm
Parwinder Blaggan Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 22 In the 18-member team announced for the forthcoming Azlan Shah hockey tournament being held at Ipoh, Malaysia, from May 5 to 15, eight players belong to Punjab. The players are: Baljit Singh, Harpal Singh, Gurbaz Singh, Sardara Singh, Didar Singh, Sarwanjit Singh Prabhjot Singh and Rajpal Singh. It was during Champions Trophy in 2003 that the national squad saw nine players from the state. While the seven players have been in the national squad earlier, 19-year-old Sarwanjit Singh is making his debut. The player had recently joined the Punjab and Sind Bank (P&SB) team after being associated with the academy for nearly one and half year. Talking to The Tribune, former Olympian and P&SB captain Baljit Saini said, “We all are very happy that Sarwan has been selected in the national squad. After my retirement nearly a year ago, he is the first one from P&SB to make it to the national squad.” Elated over the selection of the players from Punjab, former Olympian Ramandeep Singh said it is a good sign that Punjab has once gain made a comeback on the national platform. “With the inclusion of the new players the gap left by the senior players has been filled. I wish they perform well so as to help the country achieve its previous stature in international arena,” he said. Meanwhile, the selected players believe that their selection was due to their performances in the domestic tournaments. Says Rajpal Singh, “We did well in the domestic tournaments and the selectors took notice of the same. We all would do out best to bring out our best during the tournament,” he said. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Baljit Singh credits his performance in PHL for the selection. “I did well in the PHL. The league had helped players like me to show their worth,” he said. Meanwhile, for Prabhjot the patience has finally paid off. The player who was called for the camp after the same had already got underway was earlier dropped from the team during the Champions Trophy in 2005. It’s a matter of pride for the Indian Oil Corporation as well as five players: Baljit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Rajpal Singh, Didar Singh and Sardara Singh play for them in the domestic league. IOC has also won four major national tournaments, including Gurmeet Memorial Hockey Tournament, Nehru Cup, Bangalore League, Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Cup apart from being the runners-up in Surjit hockey tournament, Maharaja Ranjit Singh tournament and Murgappa Cup.
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New Delhi, April 22 Bindra returned a score of 697.7 (594+103.7) in his first assignment after undergoing rehabilitation for chronic backache. The problem had reared up during the World Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, last year when he became the country’s first world champion in the sport. Another Indian in the fray, P.T. Raghunath missed the bronze by a narrow margin of 0.3 points and finished fourth with a score of 696.6. Raghunath shot 595 in the qualification round to be a point ahead of Bindra but in the finals, he fired 101.6, which forced him out of the medal bracket. Among other Indians, Gagan Narang finished fifth with a score of 695.2 (593+102.2), Sanjeev Rajput was further behind at 15th firing 587 while junior world champion Navnath Fartarde shot 586 to end 16th in a field of 27 shooters. There was a shoot-off for the silver medal in the event between Niccolo Campriani of Italy and Rajmond Debevec of Slovakia who finished with an identical score of 696.9 (595+101.9) after the finals, with the former winning 10 to 9. In the women’s section, Tejaswini Sawant won her second gold in the competition by winning the 10m air rifle event. Tejaswini carded 498.7, which included 397 in the qualifications and 101.7 in the finals. The Maharashtra girl’s first gold medal had come in the 50m rifle prone event yesterday. Meena Kumari won the bronze with a score of 497.8 (395+102.8) just 0.2 points behind silver medallist Katerina Kurkova while Anjali Bhagwat was fourth with a score of 497 (395+102). Suma Shirur finished seventh with a score of 492.6 (393+99.6) while Avneet Kaur Sidhu, who faced problems in the target system during her match, could manage a score of 390 to finish 13th in a field of 20 shooters. In the men’s 50m free pistol event, Vivek Singh won silver with a score of 658 (560+98), Samaresh Jung was eighth with a score of 640.3 (543+97.3), Deepak Kumar a place behind with a score of 541 while Amanpreet Singh ended 13th with a score of 530. — PTI
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Dempo beat EB
Margao, April 22 Both the teams were levelled at 2-2 at half time. Dempo scored through Robert Silva (2nd, 72nd), Ranty Martins (18th, 86th) and John Dias (84th), while Edmilson Marques (32nd, 46th) and Ashim Biswas (44th) were the goal-getters for East Bengal. With this win, Dempo are three full points ahead of Mahindra United and lead the table with 29 points from 15 matches. East Bengal remained on third place with 22 points from 15 matches. — PTI
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It was meant to be a last rendition of Lara’s theme. But it was much too short and it ended in tragedy. A capacity crowd at Barbados’ first world facility - the new Kensington Oval - had mushroomed to bid farewell to Brian Charles Lara, master batsman for 17 long years.
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Pietersen, though, realised 80 runs for the seventh wicket with Paul Nixon. The Durban-born batsman carved out a second hundred in the championship - completing this with a huge six to midwicket off Jerome Taylor. But making room to hit another off the next ball, he was bowled leg stump. The never-say-die Nixon, though, took England to the brink of victory and Stuart Broad, with a hoisted cover drive, clinched it with a wicket and a ball to spare.
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Bridgetown, April 22
There