Kolkata, May 1
Fitness and fielding would be the major areas of emphasis as the Indian cricket team gear up for the coming tour to Bangladesh at a five-day conditioning camp here from tomorrow.

The camp, to be held in two sessions daily, is the first assignment for skipper Rahul Dravid’s boys after their World Cup debacle that triggered nationwide protests, a plethora of controversies and stringent measures announced by the Board in terms of players’ contracts and other benefits.

The team’s poor show at the World Cup also led to coach Greg Chappell putting in his papers, and sporting circles would keenly watch how stop-gap cricket manager Ravi Shastri - known as a supporter of the Aussie’s line of thinking - brings changes in strategy and team philosophy.

Chappell’s tenure was characterised by a series of experiments and a stress on inducting young blood, that also saw widespread criticism as the team’s fortunes went on a downward curve after the initial successes.

But what is certain is there would be no military-style training alongside Army cadets as was done during Chappell’s tenure.

However, in a continuation of the Chappell era, fitness and fielding would be priority areas with the morning sessions devoted wholly to these two key aspects every day.

“There will be general fitness sessions and not rigorous ones, with a tour round the corner,” team’s administrative manager Surendra Bhave told newspersons here today after seeing the practice facilities at Eden Gardens and the adjacent indoor gymnasium along with Dravid, Shastri, and other support staff.

Apart from gym routines, there would be swimming and jacuzzi sessions for the players, with the nets scheduled for the afternoons.

A series against Bangladesh, described as minnows of the cricketing world till the start of the World Cup, would have been held as a sure-win situation for the Indian team at any other time; but not now.

The defeat to the neighbouring nation had started India’s downfall in the World Cup, and Bangladesh’s victory over South Africa later on at the super eight stage has given a new lustre and respect to the Habibul Bashar-led side, prompting the Indians to tread carefully ahead of the series.

In the aftermath of the World Cup, the BCCI had given a directive to the selectors to a send a young team under an experienced captain to Bangladesh.

The selectors responded by dropping senior pros Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly from the ODI and dumping Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar from both the one day and Test squads.

Twenty one-year-old Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary is the lone new face in the 15-member ODI squad, while leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, off-spinner Ramesh Powar, opener Gautam Gambhir and paceman RP Singh have been recalled. — PTI

Colombo, May 1
They were not good enough with the bat or the ball and now it turns out that the Men in Blue are not good looking enough either to feature in a “Sexiest Men in Cricket” poll.

Neither did Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s long locks, nor Rahul Dravid’s charming looks impressed the fans, who, instead, chose Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga for his blond-streaked hair and tattooed arms, in a contest conducted by a Barbados magazine.

“With his eye-catching, blond-streaked curly hairdo, eyebrow ring and tattooed biceps, the unique 23-year-old strikes ‘Easy’ as the type who would be up for anything... and anywhere,” was how the magazine described the flamboyant pacer, a local daily said today.

With a disarming smile, charming New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is almost a regular in such lists and this was no different as the bespectacled spinner made it ahead of the awe-inspiring pacer Shane Bond.

English slam-banger Kevin Pietersen and West Indian Chris Gayle may have touched a low with batting during the mega-event but scored high on the glamour quotient.

The duo, along with newest Australian pacer Shaun Tait, completed the list.

Meanwhile, the blue-eyed boy of English cricket Andrew Flintoff, last seen drowning his sorrows at a pub following his team’s World Cup exit in the Super Eight stage, may have fallen from grace after making headlines for binge drinking but continues to be popular for his good looks.

Retired West Indian skipper Brain Lara and South African pacer Makhaya Ntini also got honourable mentions. — PTI

London, May 1
A fatwa angle emerged in the mysterious murder of Bob Woolmer with the disclosure that the Pakistan coach was unhappy with the time spent by the players on prayers.

Woolmer was upset that several members of the Pakistani team were followers of ‘Tabliqhy Jamaat’, a Muslim revivalist movement, Pakistan’s media manager Pervez Mir indicated last night on BBC’s Panorama programme, which focused on the coach’s murder in a Jamaican hotel six weeks ago.

According to Mir, Woolmer felt players were focusing more on religion than their game. He went on to claim that Woolmer could have even invited a fatwa had he gone public with his feelings.

Recalling an incident, Mir said, “A CD was being played which was a Tabliqhy CD and Bob, who was sitting behind me, said ‘why don’t you tell them to stop? If they want to listen to that they could on their iPods or personal devices’, and he thought that he shouldn’t be subjected to all that and I agreed with Bob.” Mir said Woolmer had his apprehensions about the players’ dwindling focus on cricket.

“He wasn’t particularly pleased when players were going out to say their prayers in the middle of the game and a substitute was coming in and then again... and this continued He was totally against it,” he said.

Mir had no doubt that “there would have been a fatwa against him (Woolmer) as well”, had the coach made his observations public. — PTI

Karachi, May 1
The BCCI will get the support of its Pakistani counterpart if the Indian cricket board decides to bring in a no-confidence motion against the top brass of the International Cricket Council (ICC), according to media reports here.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Duleep Mendis had said that a no-confidence motion remained an option, especially after the World Cup final fiasco.

“That is something we will have to discuss and then perhaps take it up at the chief executive’s meeting,” Mendis said.

It spells serious trouble for the governing body, and its chief executive Malcolm Speed at next month’s ICC executive board meeting, which now threatens to turn into an ICC vs Asian bloc battle.

Reacting to BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah’s recent interview to an Australian daily in which he did not rule out bringing in a no-confidence motion against the “more and more bureaucratic” ICC top brass, “well-placed sources” told The News that the PCB would throw its weight behind the BCCI at the meeting.

The relations between the game’s governing body and the BCCI, its richest member board, have never been easy and Shah told The Age that there would be quite a few things to be “sorted out” at the next ICC chief Executives meeting.

“The ICC has so many staff members. It is unnecessarily employing so many people and that costs the other members. The ICC should move away from the bureaucracy and become more simplified,” Shah said.

PCB’s relations with ICC have also been soured by last year’s Oval fiasco, in which Pakistan forfeited a Test match to England, and sources said the Pakistani board would like to see an Asian or African replace Malcom Speed as the ICC Chief Executive.

PCB media director Ahsan Malik, however, said that the board officials have not discussed the issue yet. — PTI

Ludhiana, May 1
With the Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Sports Department at loggerheads over the payment of power bills of the Guru Nanak Stadium premises here, the sportspersons have been at the receiving end.

The electricity board has cut the power connection of the stadium in February this year due to the non-payment of the bills amounting to Rs 3,35,475 from 2002 to 2006.

The stadium houses top-class synthetic track, floodlit football ground, three floodlit basketball courts, including an indoor court. There is also one badminton hall, which is being maintained by the MC.

Due to apathy of the authorities, over 20 basketball players, who have been staying at the Baba Lodhiana Basketball Academy, set up in the stadium, are forced to go without power and water in the scorching summer.

Without power, it becomes impossible to store water in the tanks resulting in dry taps on the premises. The scarcity of water and the unavailability of electricity virtually make the life hell for these sportspersons. Many players who come here daily for training do not get even water to quench their thirst.

“We have to fetch drinking water from the railway station or from nearby houses,” said international cager Jagdeep, who was part of the Indian team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne.

Echoing the plight, other budding cagers, including Gulbir Rana, Shamshed Arfeen and Yadwinder Singh said: We used to get training three times a day for three hours each in every session. But the unavailability of power has reduced it to two sessions in the scorching heat during daylight. The authorities should think seriously of our plight.

According to the sports officials, the payment of the bill was being made by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, which has been in occupation of a portion of the stadium to run its offices since 1989. Till 2002, the MC had made the payment but after that they refused to pay on the plea that the stadium belongs to the Sports Department and all things are being regulated by them.

On the issue, Ludhiana’s district sports officer Gian Inder Singh said, “The electricity meter is in the name of the MC and they were making the payments since 1989 so it is difficult to understand why they were refusing to pay now. We all are suffering and keen to settle the issue but how can we make payment and which head when the meter is in their (MC) name.”

Vikas Partap, Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, said, “The stadium is property of the sports department. As all activities of the stadium have been regulated by it so why should we bear the electricity cost of the whole stadium? However, we are ready to pay for the portion, we are using.”

Interestingly, MC has paid no rent to the sports department in lieu of using the premises as its office.

Chandigarh, May 1
The stage is set for an intense battle for supremacy as local favourites JCT lock horns with defending champions Mahindra United, Mumbai, in the 16th round of the 11th National Football League at Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Stadium tomorrow.

With the NFL entering a decisive phase, every point gained or lost can prove crucial as both Mahindra United and JCT have a lot at stake.

While the Mumbai outfit are eyeing their second NFL title in a row, JCT have their best chance to finish in the top-three bracket after their maiden title win in the inaugural edition in 1996.

JCT’s best showing since 1996 has been the fourth position in 2002-03.

Currently placed second with 27 points from seven victories and six draws, Mahindra United under the watchful eyes of coach Derrick Perreira have lost only two matches so far. Surprisingly, one of the defeats was at the hands of bottom-placed HAL SC, Bangalore on April 18. Earlier, the defending champions lost to Sporting Clube de Goa at Mumbai on January 22.

Mahindra United launched their campaign on a promising note with a 2-1 victory over Dempo SC at Mumbai on January 8. This was followed by victories against Mohun Bagan (4-1), Air-India (1-0), HAL (1-0), JCT (3-2), Dempo (1-0), and Sporting Clube (3-1). The defending champions split points through draws against Churchill Bros (1-1 and 0-0), East Bengal (2-2), Mohun Bagan (1-1), and Air-India (0-0).

The Mumbai outfit is relying on new Ghanian recruit Andrews Pomeyie Mensah upfront, who is assisted by compatriot Yusif Yakubu, formerly of Churchill Brothers. Although Yakubu was the NFL’s highest scorer in 2001-02 and 2002-03, the spotlight this season is on Andrews Mensah, formerly of Great Olympians Club.

With eight goals to his credit, Mensah is the top scorer for Mahindra United in the current edition. It was Mensah’s goal which enabled the Mumbai outfit to split points with Churchill Brothers and later with East Bengal. Mensah was also among the scorers when Mahindras beat JCT 3-2 at Mumbai on March 24.

Mahindra United boast of an impressive line-up that includes international Sandip Nandy under the bar, Manipuri defender Surkumar Singh, who was adjudged AIFF’s player of the year in 2006, key stopper back Mahesh Gawli, James Singh, Mohammed Rafi, NP Pradeep, Sushant Mathew, K. Ajayan, Steven Dias, international S. Venkatesh, Rauf Khan, and Manjit Singh, formerly of Mohun Bagan.

Winners of the IFA Shield, Mahindra United finished third in the Federation Cup, beating Mohun Bagan 1-0 through a goal by Manjit Singh last December.

JCT, who are placed fifth with 22 points from six victories and four draws, will be relying on Nigerian striker Edeh Chidi and Sunil Chhetri upfront.

With 10 goals to his credit, Chhetri is in contention for the top scorer’s award and it remains to be seen whether the diminutive striker eventually pips others in the race. Chidi, with eight goals, is also close behind.

In Karanjit Singh, the mill men have a dependable goalie with stopper back Anwar lending solidity to the defence. JCT’s attack to be spearheaded by Chidi, Chhetri, and Rennedy Singh, will receive support from the laborious Baldeep Singh, who has turned out to be an asset for his team.

Going by recent performances, the two teams are evenly matched although JCT will be keen to emulate HAL and throw the contest wide open.

The kick-off is at 4.30 pm.

Chandigarh, May 1
Pinegrove School, Subathu, and Welham Boys School, Dehra Dun, won their respective matches on the second day of the Major Jagpal Memorial Basketball Tournament being held at the Subathu school.

Welham boys crushed Vivek High School, Chandigarh, 64-10 while Pinegrove registered a 37-23 win against YPS, Patiala.

In another match APS, Dagshai, subdued their counterparts PPS Nabha by a comfortable margin of 33-13. Sangram scored 16 points while Sachin scored 14 points for APS. Yaspreet scored seven points for PPS, Nabha team.

In the girls’ pool APS, Dagshai, won a close mach against YPS, Patiala, 9-8. Another fast moving and exciting match was played in which Welham girls outplayed their rivals YPS, Mohali, by a slender margin of 30-28. Harkiran and Agam scored 10 and seven points, respectively, for Welham and Sugandha scored seven points for YPS, Mohali.

New Delhi, May 1
Fresh from training in South Africa, top national athletes will vie for honours in season-opener India Grand Prix at NIS, Patiala, tomorrow.

The meet assumes significant, as the athletes will also get the chance to cross the qualification marks for the forthcoming Asian and World Athletics Championships.

Seema Antil and Krishna Poonia are expected to have a fierce tussle for top honours in the women’s discus throw. — UNI