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Short and sweet
One-way traffic
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Shastri not to seek extension of contract
Day 3 washed out at Leeds
Negi finishes joint first
Bhutia stars in Bagan victory
Dhindsa POA chief again
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Short and sweet
Dhaka, May 27 After an intimidating performance by the batsmen on the first two days, the bowlers dismissed the hosts twice in the space of three sessions to see India clinch the two-match series 1-0. Resuming at 85 for 5 in reply to India’s first-innings total of 610 for 3 declared, Bangladesh’s capitulation was complete as they were all out first for 118 and then 253 in the second essay with an hour to go for third day’s close at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. After Bangladesh’s first innings came to an end with 20 minutes to go for lunch to give the visitors a lead of 492 runs, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on. And the bowlers responded to his call brilliantly. Debutant Ramesh Powar claimed 3-33, while ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble took 2-72 for a match haul of 5-104. Zaheer Khan, who had 7-88 for the match, and Sachin Tendulkar took two wickets each. Mohammad Ashraful (67) and Rajin Saleh (42) put on 81 runs for the fourth wicket and later Mashrafe Mortaza (70) wielded the willow effectively once again but they never even remotely threatened the mammoth Indian target. The margin was India’s biggest in Tests, bettering the innings-and-219-run win against Mark Taylor’s Australia at Kolkata in 1997-98. The triumph, following the 2-0 ODI series win, helped India not only maintain their unbeaten run against Bangladesh but also erase the bitter memories of a first-round exit from the World Cup in the West Indies after an upset loss to Habibul Bashar’s men. It also denied Dav Whatmore, who is considered a top contender for the post of India’s coach, a positive note in his farewell match. Bangladesh never quite recovered from the early setbacks, though vice-captain Ashraful set the stadium ablaze with the raw firepower from the blade. The diminutive right-hander plundered his runs from only 41 balls and in 45 minutes, but that only prolonged the proceedings. Ashraful, who struck 12 boundaries and two sixes, also raced to his 50 off only 26 balls, taking only two balls more than Jacques Kallis’ world record quickest half-century compiled against Zimbabwe at Cape Town in 2004-05. Zaheer was adjudged the man of the match, while Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man of the series for his back-to-back hundreds. Scoreboard India (1st innings) 610-3 dec Bangladesh (1st innings) Omar c Karthik b Zaheer 0 Nafees b Zaheer 2 Bashar c Dhoni b RP Singh 4 Saleh c Jaffer b Kumble 20 Ashraful lbw Zaheer 0 Hasan lbw Zaheer 30 Sharif lbw Kumble 13 Mashud c Dhoni b Kumble 25 Mortaza c Kumble b Ishant 2 Rafique b Zaheer 12 Rasel not out 2 Extras (lb-2 nb-6) 8 Total (all out, 37.2 overs) 118 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-7, 4-7, 5-40, 6-58, 7-85, 8-93, 9-110. Bowling: Zaheer 10-1-34-5, RP Singh 9-2-28-1, Kumble 9.2-3-32-3, Ishant 7-1-19-1, Powar 2-1-3-0. Bangladesh (2nd innings) Omar c Dhoni b Zaheer 0 Nafees c Dhoni b RP Singh 4 Bashar c Dravid b Zaheer 5 Saleh c Ganguly b Powar 42 Ashraful c Tendulkar b Kumble 67 Hasan c Dravid b Powar 15 Mashud c Tendulkar b Powar 8 Mortaza c Dhoni b Tendulkar 70 Sharif c&b Kumble 17 Rafique lbw Tendulkar 11 Rasel not out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-3, nb-9) 13 Total (all out, 57.3 overs) 253 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-10, 3-0, 4-91, 5-135, 6-150, 7-154, 8-208, 9-223. Bowling: Zaheer 8-1-54-2, RP Singh 6-1-28-1, Ishant 6-1-30-0, Kumble 15-1-72-2, Powar 16-4-33-3, Tendulkar 6.3-1-35-2. Man of the match: Zaheer Khan Man of the series: Sachin Tendulkar. — PTI Bashar quits as ODI captain
Struggling Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar has relinquished the captaincy for one-day internationals but wants to remain in the squad.
Bashar announced his decision to step down today after his team lost the Test series 0-1 to India following a 0-2 one-day series defeat by the visitors. The 34-year-old batsman said his continued captaincy of the Test squad depended on the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which might soon decide on his future in the Test squad.
Bashar led Bangladesh to 29 victories in 69 ODIs, but came under fire after making only 105 runs in the World Cup.
— Reuters
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One-way traffic
Seeing the manner in which the Bangladeshi batsmen batted in both innings, one wonders if the Bangladesh Cricket Board had informed them that they were going to be given fees only for three days of the Test rather than all five days. To see batsman after batsman coming out and trying to play outrageous shots was eye-popping, for one would have thought that a team that had been kept on the field for almost two days chasing leather and fielding in the heat would want to return the compliment, and at least look to keep the Indians on the field for two days, even if it was spread over two innings. What this inept display clearly shows is that Bangladesh have made absolutely “zero” progress in Test cricket, and with the possibility that a better team than theirs will have the odd bad day, they may win that odd one-day game. In India’s case, that bad day unfortunately came in the 2007 World Cup, but India showed in no uncertain terms who was the boss in the one-dayers as well as the Tests here, and that too in the tigers’ den. This is not meant to take any credit away from the Indian bowlers, who did what was asked of them, but they would be the first to admit that they, too, were relieved that they hadn’t been put out to field for longer by the Bangladeshi batsmen. Zaheer bowled splendidly, and it was good to see him get the ball to swing back into the right-handers, while his natural away-going delivery caused problems to both right- as well as left-handers. RP Singh also showed that he can bowl with heart, and his line was most impressive. Ishant Sharma, who may well have been lucky to displace VRV Singh, has still some way to go, but with proper guidance and lots of hard work, he can get his pace up by at least five kmph, if not more. Anil Kumble was relentless as ever, and though he copped some stick, he was still at the batsmen, and Powar, too, did nothing wrong in his opportunities. Mohammad Ashraful is Bangladesh’s most talented batsman, but one who thinks that Test cricket is more like a net practice session. He played some tremendous attacking shots, and the six he hooked was as good as any one has seen. Mashrafe Mortaza, too, had a blast, knowing that with the regular batsmen having got out to cavalier shots, nobody would point a finger at him if he got out trying the same. He got another exciting 70, and should be promoted up the order the next time Bangladesh play a one-day…….oops, a Test match. Yes, the Bangla batsmen batted as if they were playing a one-day game and had only a few overs in which to score the runs. Pity they didn’t look at the target that Dravid had generously and defiantly set them on the last day of the previous Test. — PMG
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Dubai, May 27 Sonn, 57, was admitted to the Durbanville clinic in Cape Town on Monday after developing complications from a colon surgery. A former president of the South African Cricket Board, Sonn took over as the ICC president from Ehsan Mani of Pakistan in June, 2006. He was the first African to become the head of the sport’s world governing body. Sonn was the sixth person to head the ICC, following Colin Cowdrey (1989-93), Sir Clyde Walcott (1993-97), Jagmohan Dalmiya (1997-2000), Malcolm Gray (2000-03) and Ehsan Mani (2003-06). Prior to his appointment as the ICC president, he had a two-year stint as the organisation’s vice-president. His tenure, which was originally to end in 2008, was extended till 2009 after the Executive Board had a split vote between BCCI chief Sharad Pawar and ECB head David Morgan last year. “Sonn was never afraid to speak his mind but his great skill, especially in meetings where discord was possible, was to do so in such a way that he got everyone together and pulling in the same direction,” ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said in a statement issued by the ICC. Sonn’s predecessor Mani said: “As a cricket administrator and a man, he was a giant. “In all circles in which he moved, he commanded a huge amount of respect and that was never more obvious than when he was in an ICC board meeting.” Sonn had an appointment for his colon operation seven months ago. Throughout the World Cup in the Caribbean, he was aware of the surgery scheduled after the tournament. The surgery went ahead with Sonn facing the prospect of further treatment but following that surgery his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died today. Sonn is survived by wife Sandra and three children - a daughter and two sons - as well as his mother, six brothers (two of them elder and four younger) and a sister. The process for choosing a new president of the ICC was that under the organisation’s Articles, the ICC board would appoint an acting president until an election could be held, the ICC said. — PTI Pawar, Dalmiya express shock
Mumbai: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar has expressed shock at the death of ICC president Percy Sonn. “Sonn’s untimely death has a come as a great shock to all of us in India. On behalf of the BCCI and on my personal behalf, I extend my condolences to his family,” Pawar said in a statement issued by the BCCI. Kolkata:
Former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya described Sonn’s demise as a “rude shock”. “It is a loss not only to the world of cricket, but also for me since Sonn was a dear friend and a worthy colleague,” Dalmiya, the only Indian cricket administrator to have held the post of ICC president, said in a statement here. “I knew he was unwell. But I thought the true fighter that he was, he would come out of the crisis,” said Dalmiya, also a former BCCI president. “I pray to the Almighty to give courage to his family to bear the irreparable loss,” he said.
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Zaheer delighted with good show Dhaka, May 27 Zaheer said that the good show will boost him up for the upcoming England tour and his endeavour would be to maintain fitness and rhythm. “Yes, I am very happy to get the five-wicket haul. It was very important for me because it has been a long time since I got a five-wicket haul last time. I used to feel about it a lot, so today when I got it, I am delighted,” said Zaheer, who won the man-of-the match award. Asked whether it was his best bowling in Tests considering the conditions, Zaheer said, “Can’t say it’s the best, but we analysed the conditions and tried to bowl in the right areas consistently, which helped a lot. He said though the conditions were very difficult, the wicket was helpful to the bowlers. “The conditions here were very difficult, very hot and humid. But the wicket was two-paced, the odd ball was keeping low at times with the new ball, which helped a lot,” he said. On his long lean patch during which he had come under fire, Zaheer said, “Obviously I did not play for India for the last eight months or so and South Africa was my comeback series. So obviously I was looking forward to it. In between, I had a rough phase where I was getting injured pretty frequently. I think I have done well to get out of it and I am just looking ahead from here.” Queried if he was now better prepared for the England tour, Zaheer said, “As far as cricket is concerned, I always try to give my best efforts and look to focus on the next week or the next month.” “We are playing a few one-dayers before the start of the England tour, so obviously the focus will be on those matches. There is also a camp before that. I will try to keep myself fit and maintain the good rhythm that I am in right now.” Zaheer was impressed with rookie pacer Ishant Sharma. “It’s a very good thing that a lot of fast bowlers are coming up. If you look at Ishant, he is 6.6 [height], which is a very good thing for a fast bowler. He is able to bowl a disciplined line and length.” “If you look at the Indian bowling standard overall, it is going up every year. It is always good to have healthy competition. If we get good bowlers then it will be beneficial for the team as they can put in good performances.” Zaheer also said he benefited a lot from bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad.
— PTI
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Shastri not to seek extension of contract Dhaka, May 27 “I like honeymoons anyway. The more the merrier. The thing is I was very clear right from the outset that I would do this job because it was tough time for India,” the player-turned-commentator said after guiding the team to a 1-0 Test series win against Bangladesh. “I was free, but I had my stand clear with the establishment that I was under a contract with ESPN-Star Sports who are my employers. “Without their support, I don’t think I would be doing this job. I am a professional, I believe in work ethics, I believe in contracts,” he said. Shastri was appointed for the series as a stop-gap arrangement as the Board was yet to a name a successor to Greg Chappell who quit after the World Cup. The former Test player, who turned 45 today, is on the BCCI committee that has been set the task of finding India’s next coach. He refused to draw a comparison between his stint and the tenure of former coach Greg Chappell, saying “I don’t go into the past, I don’t look into the future. I focus on the present.” “The present were these boys given to me by the selection committee. Chappell was past.” Asked how he pepped up the Indian cricketers in the light of their failure in the World Cup, he said, “that’s dressing room stuff. We have discussed a lot, we have gone on-on-one with each individual.” Shastri said bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh had done a fabulous job. “They were dedicated cricketers. This job too they did with dedication and pride. And if I am asked they should stay.” He termed as “nonsense” talks of rift in the Indian dressing room during the World Cup. “I thought that was nonsense. I know now that it is absolute nonsense. I don’t know what happens two months down the line. Right now it’s absolute nonsense,” he said. “They are a great bunch of guys. I didn’t go to the World Cup, I watched from here only. I kept reading a lot. But what I saw was a brilliant bunch.
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Day 3 washed out at Leeds
Leeds, May 27 England had been in control of the match after two days, scoring 570 for seven before bowling West Indies out for 146 and then reducing them to 22 for two when following on. The West Indies first innings lasted just 37 overs with captain and regular No. 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan unable to bat following a shoulder injury sustained while fielding on the first day. Sarwan is almost certainly not going to bat in the second innings too because of a shoulder injury. England’s first innings featured Kevin Pietersen’s 226 —the highest Test score by an England batsman for 17 years. The washout means that the England and Wales Cricket Board will have to refund £450,000 ($893,400) to the spectators who were due to attend the sold-out match.
— Agencies
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Serena makes slow start in rainy Paris
Paris, May 27 The Australian Open champion, who won the Paris tournament in 2002 but has missed it for the last two years, struggled at first against an opponent ranked a modest 91st in the world. Making clumsy errors, Williams, seeded eighth, dropped serve straight away and found herself 5-2 down after just 28 minutes. The American then survived a set point but Pironkova later earned three more, while leading 5-4, wasting all of them. The 19-year-old Pironkova, who beat Williams’s sister Venus in the first round of last year’s Australian Open, did not give up and broke her opponent again to lead 6-5. The match was then stopped for nearly six hours because of rain. When it resumed, Pironkova won her service game to love to wrap up the set. The 25-year-old Williams then turned on the power, taking the second set 6-1 in 30 minutes with a service winner on set point. The decisive set was also a formality for Williams, who earned two match points with a blistering return winner. Meanwhile, Marat Safin easily advanced to the second round of the French Open, beating Fernando Vicente of Spain 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. — Reuters
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Alonso catches up with Hamilton
Monaco, May 27 The Spaniard’s second victory of the season, and 17th of his career, took him back to the top of the Formula One championship on race wins but level on 38 points with 22-year-old rookie Hamilton. Hamilton, the youngest driver to lead the championship, continued his stellar start to the season with his fifth successive podium finish. The Briton, runner-up for four races in a row, crossed the line four seconds behind the winner. Brazilian Felipe Massa was third for Ferrari, 69.1 seconds adrift of Alonso, to take his tally to 33 points. Renault’s Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth for the champions’ best result so far this year.
— Reuters
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Negi finishes joint first
Kirishi (Russia), May 27 On a nerve-racking final day, overnight joint leader with Negi and world junior champion Zaven Andriasian of Armenia also suffered a defeat at the hands of Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan. The losses of tournament leaders in the final round paved the way for Mamedov and top seed Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia to finish in a four-way tie at the top on seven points each. In the final standings, Nepomniachtchi was declared the winner on the best tiebreak score, while Mamedov, who was the only undefeated player in the tournament finished second. Negi ended up third, while Andriasian had to be satisfied with a fourth-place finish.
— PTI
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Bhutia stars in Bagan victory
Gurgaon, May 27 The star of the day was veteran striker Bhutia, who scored thrice in the first half, while talented teenager PC Lalwmpuia found the net in the traditional season finale between the NFL champions and the Federation Cup champions. Bhutia scored in the eighth, 19th and 39th minutes, while the Mizo player got on the scoresheet in the 38th as Bagan’s big win made up somewhat for a disappointing league campaign. Bagan, who finished a lowly eighth in the NFL, took the match more seriously than their opponents, who had admitted that they had spent most of their time celebrating since securing their second league title in three years. Bagan, who won the Super Cup for the first time, were richer by Rs 10 lakh.
— PTI
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Dhindsa POA chief again
All voters accepted the proposal of re-election of Dhindsa as the POA chief. The voters also authorised Dhindsa to elect his team of office-bearers. Later, Dhindsa appointed K.S. Sidhu secretary-general while R.S. Gill and P.S. Virk senior vice-president and treasurer, respectively. The three vice-presidents chosen by him are Brahm Mahindra, Balbir Singh and S.S. Channi. “The remaining office-bearers will be announced later,” Dhindsa said. Dhindsa has been holding the top position in the association for the past 28 years. He first became the president of the POA in 1979. Earlier, many points regarding the development of sports and state of sportspersons in Punjab were discussed at the general house.
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Haryana’s promising
karateka Ambala, May 27 Utkarsh won two gold medals in the sub-junior category at the All-India invitational Shito-Ryu karate competition held at Mussoorie. He is being trained by Haryana’s chief instructor Hemant Sharma. Hemant said preparations were now on for an international tournament to be held in Nepal. "We are working hard for the international tournament. The training regimen has been fine-tuned and special emphasis is being laid on further improving the techniques," he said. Hemant said Utkarsh had performed well in katha as well as kumite. While katha pertains to various karate technical displays, kumite is about karate fights. "In the national tournament, Utkarsh defeated competitors who were senior to him in age as well as weight," the trainer said. Hemant said Utkarsh was overweight when he had initially started training. "We worked hard to shed the excess weight," he stated. He added that Utkarsh had won a gold medal at the district tournament held in September last year. Thereafter, he had won gold medals at the state tournament held in Gohana. This was followed by two gold medals at the national tournament. Hemant said he was hopeful that besides Utkarsh, other karate players from Ambala would also be able to win medals in the future. "Children are taking interest in the sport. Proper training is necessary to help them win," he said. “Karate helps in the overall development of the child. It not only strengthens the physique, but also sharpens the mind. Young girls and boys must learn karate so that pick up self-defense techniques,” Hemant stated.
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Chandigarh, May 27