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Skipper pins hopes on veterans
Dravid denies insisting on imported coach
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Botham honoured with knighthood
Chandigarh to host ODI after 14 years
Sudirman Cup
Distorted Indian map on hockey website
Wimbledon wildcard for Tsonga
Shields gagged
Korfball
Pak coach Shoaib, Younis back in Pak squad
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Skipper pins hopes on veterans
Bangalore, June 16 “The key is to get some of our batsmen firing. If our experienced batsmen we can put runs on the board then it gives our bowlers time and a chance to get 20 wickets. And in our bowlers remaining fit,” Dravid said on the concluding day of the team’s training camp at the National Cricket Academy here. “We have got experience in batting, Sachin (Tendulkar), myself, Sourav (Ganguly), (VVS) Laxman. There are a lot of senior batsmen. If younger guys have doubts they have support to fall back on,” he said. The last time Indian won a series in England was in 1986 when Kapil Dev’s side beat the hosts 2-0 in a three-Test rubber. The 34-year-old middle order batsman believed that the squad had the wherewithal to succeed in England. “Obviously England play well at home and the only team they have lost recently is Australia. But we have got the players to do well in England in the later part of the English summer,” he said. “We have got the experience in batting, boys who have gone and done well in England which is very important. “We have got a good and young pace bowling attack which hopefully should fire. We also have an experienced spinner in Anil (Kumble).” India visit England for three Tests and seven ODIs between July 7 and September 8. The series is preceded by a visit to Ireland, where they play three one-dayers against South Africa and another against the hosts (June 23-July 1) and Scotland, for a one-off ODI against Pakistan (July 3). Dravid took confidence from the team’s good performance on the Test arena in the recent series. “Our Test performance has not been that bad with a series win in the West Indies after a long time and our first Test win in South Africa,” he said. “We have played good Test cricket for the last 15-16 months. I still think we can get better though.” Dravid also saw a big role for Venkatsai Laxman who did not get a chance to be in the playing eleven in Bangladesh as the team chose to go in with a five-bowler attack. “It’s never easy to drop anyone, senior or junior, and Laxman especially has been such a proven performer and such a good player. We expect big things from him in England. I am sure he will be given the opportunities”, he said. Elaborating further he said that whether the team fields five bowlers or only four depended on the particular game and conditions and in Bangladesh five bowlers were picked because of the hot conditions. “Whatever combinations we pick are specific to that particular game and to that particular country. The reason why we played five bowlers was because of the conditions. It was hot out there and not easy to the bowlers,” he said. He felt that the conditions in England could lead the team to include an extra batsman. “The conditions might be different in England. You have to play to your strength,” Dravid said. “I have always said from the start of my captaincy that in an ideal scenario I would love to be able to play five bowlers. But that requires a bowling all-rounder. “If that situation is not there you have to compromise - drop a batsman or a bowler depending on the conditions.” Admitting that the bowling attack lacked experience, Dravid said that it was also a talented one with a lot of youngsters for whom the tour would be a big learning curve. “Zaheer (Khan) probably is the only one with a lot of experience. But it’s not much we can do as injuries can happen,” he said. “From the available fast bowlers in the country probably the best ones have been selected. It’s going to be a big learning curve for these young bowlers and there’s no better place to learn than England. “It’s going to be a long tour and there are two practice games. There are going to be one-day games (prior to the England visit) and in the middle of the tour there’s another practice game. “There are enough practice games to get an opportunity and to learn to bowl in conditions that may help our bowlers who are seam and swing bowlers. “I hope come the first Test match we have a good set of fast bowlers who are ready and firing. That’s going to be very critical for us,” the Indian captain said. Dravid said everything boiled down to performance. “It’s now about execution. We can have all the players with all the skills but now it’s about us going there and executing these skills. If we play good cricket on the tour, we stand a good chance,” the Bangalore stalwart said. Dravid insisted that the team, which made a shocking first round exit in the World Cup, has since moved on and the debacle was well behind it. “We have moved on from the World Cup. There are a lot of challenges to look forward to. England is a great place to tour and play cricket,” Dravid said. “There’s a buzz around the ground and there’s something about playing there that seems to excite the Indian teams who have always tended to do well there. “There have been some memorable performances of Indian players in England over the years. Boys are really keen and looking forward to it as they see it as an important tour. We have got to look ahead now.” On the prospects of the team in the three-match ODI series against South Africa in Ireland which precedes the visit to England, Dravid said South Africa away from home can be beaten. “Obviously South Africa is a good one-day side. They are the no 2 side and have had some very good results. At home they seem to play really well. This (Ireland) is a neutral venue and I do believe we have the team that can do really well. Obviously we have to play to our potential and got to play some good cricket,” he said. India were humiliated 4-0 in the ODI series by the Proteas at home on their last visit to South Africa.
— PTI
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Dravid denies insisting on imported coach
Bangalore, June 16 Dravid said he wanted a person with the requisite qualities to be given the job, irrespective of whether he was an Indian or a foreigner. “Ravi (Shastri) has been pretty Indian from what I know of him. I don’t think there have been any specifications (whether an Indian or foreigner should get the job),” he told reporters here today. Dravid was referring to Shastri’s one-off stint as cricket manager for the Bangladesh tour following the exit of Australian Greg Chappell from the scene post-World Cup. “I have always spoken about what qualities and requirements are needed for the high-profile job. If you find the right person, it makes no difference to me whether he’s an Indian or a foreigner,” he said. “As long as you get the person with the right qualities who can do the job for you, it does not matter to me who he is,” he added. Reports, however, claimed that Dravid had suggested the name of Kent coach Graham Ford, who, despite being selected for the job ahead of John Emburey, declined the offer much to BCCI’s embarrassment. Incidentally, Dravid had also suggested the name of another former Kent coach, John Wright, for the coach’s job and the former Kiwi captain had a successful five-year stint with the side. Meanwhile, former captain Sourav Ganguly today said the absence of a coach during the forthcoming tour of the United Kingdom will not have an adverse effect on the team’s performance as skipper Rahul Dravid knew what it took to win matches. “Rahul has played enough cricket to know what’s required to win cricket matches. He has played more than 400 games for India. It’s quite a lot. I am sure he, Sachin (Tendulkar) being the vice-captain (for the Test series), they know what’s required for the team to win,” Ganguly said. — PTI
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Durham, June 16 After the first day and three hours of day two were lost to rain, West Indies captain Daren Ganga was out to the first ball of the match when his forward push to left-arm swinger Sidebottom was caught at short leg by Alastair Cook. It was the perfect start for England, who are seeking to win the series 3-0 after victories at Headingley and Old Trafford. Scoreboard
West Indies (1st innings) Ganga c Cook b Sidebottom 0 Gayle lbw b Hoggard 28 Smith b Sidebottom 4 Morton c Sidebottom
Chanderpaul not out 44 Bravo not out 43 Extras (lb-6, nb-1) 7 Total (4 wkts; 40.4 overs) 132 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-32, 3-34, 4-55. Bowling: Sidebottom 11-5-34-2, Hoggard 15-4-35-1, Harmison 10.4-0-46-1, Panesar 2-0-6-0, Collingwood 2-0-5-0.
— Reuters
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Botham honoured with knighthood
London, June 16 The 51-year-old former player received the honour in Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honours list officially released today. Botham, nicknamed “Beefy”, has played 102 Tests for England in a career that lasted from 1974 to 1993 and took 383 wickets, which remains an English record, and scored 5,200 runs. He has also helped increase the survival rate of leukaemia patients through 11 long-distance walks, including one over the Alps with elephants. “I’m delighted that I’ve been honoured, not only for myself but for the people that have helped me get there,” Botham said. “There’ll be a very good party. It will be a very proud moment for me to go to Buckingham Palace again,” he said. The cricketer-turned-commentator after retiring from cricket in 1993, focused on charity fund raising with ambitious walks up and down Britain. Botham was banned in 1986 after being caught smoking cannabis in New Zealand but was recalled the following summer to pass Dennis Lillee’s then world record of 355 Test wickets. He later received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Sport Personality of the Year Awards in 2004 and was appointed an OBE in 1992. — PTI
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US Open
Oakmont, June 16 Asia’s No. 1, Jeev Milkha Singh, who has never missed a cut in his four Major appearances, three of them in US Open, shot a second successive five-over 75. With a total of 10-over 150, he was tied 51st right on the cut line, as 63 players made the cut in an edition that has been dubbed as the toughest ever US Open in history. Jeev was 10 shots off the lead held by Argentine Angel Cabrera, who added a one-over 71 to his one-under 69 on first day. Cabrera was followed by big-hitting Bubba Watson (71) at one-over 141, as no players remain under-par after two rounds. Jeev had a much improved day on Friday, when he found eight of the 14 fairways, up from five in 14 on first day. But he dropped in terms of finding greens in regulation from 11 out of 18 to nine out of 18. He needed 32 putts as against 34 on first day. World No. 1 Tiger Woods dropped two bogeys in the last four holes on 15th and 18th and dropped to five-over for 36 holes and was tied 13th. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy (71-75) tied 19th at 146. “This is a tough course and I love playing at such courses. This is what Majors are all about,” said Jeev, who has earlier made the cut at US Open in 2002 at Bethpage and in 2006 at Winged Foot. He also made the cut at the Augusta Masters this year and finished tied 37th. “I enjoyed myself at Bethpage and again last year and now that the first stage (cut made) is done, I hope to enjoy myself and improve my position.” Among those tied with Jeev are the Masters champion, Zach Johnson (74) and former US Open champion, Michael Campbell (77). The biggest name missing the cut was two-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson (74-77) and joining him on the sidelines were twice US Open champion, Retief Goosen (76-77), Spaniard Sergio Garcia (79-75), Dubai Classic winner Henrik Stenson (79-76), European No. 1 Padraig Harrington (73-80), Asia’s highest world ranked player Korea’s K.J. Choi, South African World Cup winner, Trevor Immelman and eight-times European No. 1 Scotsman Colin Montgomerie. Jeev started on the first and got his first birdie on the fourth. But that joy was shortlived as he found himself at the wrong end of the barrel with back-to-back double bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes. When he added further bogeys on the ninth, 11th and then again on 16th, he was six over for the day and 11-over for the tournament. The cut at that stage looked at 10-over or 11-over as players were dropping shot after shot. A birdie on the 17th brought him to 10-over and with a fine par he ended the second round at the same score and as the day unfolded he found work for the weekend. Excruciating pin positions and lightning fast greens took a toll on overnight leader Nick Dougherty whose double bogey on 15th proved costly as he finished with a 77 and his five-over 145 meant he plays with Woods in third round. Aaron Baddeley (70), Stephen Ames (69), Justin Rose (71) and Niclas Fasth (71) were all tied third at two-over 142 and Paul Casey (66) was tied seventh at three-over 143. Oakmont continued to torment the players, as the hard and sloping greens extracted a severe cost for slightest of errors. So harsh has the course been in, that 156 players over two rounds have managed just four sub-par rounds. Casey was the pick, as he carded a four-under 66, that could have been even better but for the 18 th hole bogey.Casey is tied seventh. Cabrera birdied the final hole to take the halfway lead as Europeans held sway at the US Open. Bubba Watson in second is the only American in top six places. Cabrera’s birdie at the final hole not only gave him a one-stroke lead over Watson, but also eliminated 19 players out of the tournament who had hoped to make the cut under rule of being 10 shots off the lead. Among those knocked out by that birdie were World No. 2 Mickelson and Luke Donald, who were among those on 11-over par. — PTI
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Chandigarh to host ODI after 14 years
Chandigarh, June 16 The stadium had hosted last international tie on January 21, 1993, played between India and England. At a meeting of the Programme and Fixture Committee at Mumbai today, the match has been allotted to Haryana Cricket Association (HCA), which has decided to hold the match in Chandigarh. Talking on phone, former BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra said, “We were committed to hold an international match in the city”. HCA’s unit’s Chandigarh Cricket Association general secretary Surinder Singh Baijee said that no stone would be left unturned to make this much awaited match successful. Expressing happiness over the development, I.S. Sandhu, additional deputy commissioner and director sports said, “We are ready to hold the big event here. Besides prevailing facilities, all other requirements will be met as per the demands of the organisers”. Earlier, the board allotted the first match between India and Pakistan series starting on November 6 this year to the association but today it staggered the schedule and allotted the October 8 India-Australia match.
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Sudirman Cup
New Delhi, June 16 Despite some of their key players missing the tournament, India did a commendable job by topping Group B which squared them up against Group A toppers France to qualify for Division 2 of the World Team Badminton Championship. But India’s bid to get a place in the higher group for the first time since the inception of the tournament came unstuck as they lost all the three matches. The mixed doubles pair of V. Diju and Aparna Balan won the first game against world No. 21 combination of Stoyanov Svetoslav and Elodie Eymard but finally went down 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in the close encounter that lasted around 45 minutes. Saina Nehwal, ranked 39, was up against world No. 6 Pi Hongyan in the women’s singles event. The Indian lost 16-21, 21-15, 9-21. In men’s singles, Anup Sridhar rekindled some hope when he took the first game against Erwin Kehlhoffner but lost the match 21-11, 11-21, 17-21 as India’s challenge ended.
— PTI
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Distorted Indian map on hockey website
New Delhi, June 16 The map featured on the website shows India without the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Moreover, this area is shown as part of Pakistan. The organisers did not respond to e-mails seeking their reactions. India is to take part in the hockey tournament to be held in Boom, Belgium, from June 23 to July 1. Argentina, England, New Zealand, Japan and hosts Belgium are the other countries taking part in the event. The map also has some other glaring distortions: portions of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh being shown differently than in the original sketches. Besides, it also features a flawed outline of neighbouring Sri Lanka, with its southern portions shown as a straight line. Factually too, the website has some wrong informations. Even as India is currently eighth in the world hockey ranking and Argentina is seventh, the portal puts both the countries’ rankings in the reverse order. India take on New Zealand in the lung opener of the event on June 23. — PTI
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London, June 16 The 22-year-old Tsonga, ranked 121 in the world, stunned Hewitt 7-6, 7-6 before going down to Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the Queen’s Club grasscourt tournament earlier this week. Tsonga joins British players Jamie Baker, Richard Bloomfield, Alex Bogdanovic, Joshua Goodall and Jonathan Marray as well as Cilic and Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker as wildcard entries. In the women’s draw, Britain’s Elena Baltacha, Naomi Cavaday, Anne Keothavong, Katie O’Brien, Melanie South have also been handed a pass into the main draw as have Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine, Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. — AFP
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Shields gagged
Kingston, June 16 The order to this effect was passed by police commissioner Lucius Thomas to prevent further speculation on the work of the coroner. The Jamaica Observer quoted a source who claimed that Shields was summoned to the commissioner’s office yesterday and ordered to “keep his mouth shut.” Henceforth, police’s director of communications Karl Angell would communicate with the press.
— PTI
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Korfball
Chandigarh, June 16 The championship was organised by the Chandigarh Korfball Association. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief guest. In this neck-and-neck affair, Himachal Pradesh showed great resilience against the defending champions. Both teams were tied at 9-9 with only 11 minutes from the close. However, Haryana managed to pip their rivals by the narrowest of margins. For Haryana, Dev (4), Anju (4) and Aditya (3) were chiefly responsible for carving out the win. Monika (2), Anuj (1) and Raunaq (1) were the other scorers. Seema and Sushil scored five and four points, respectively, as Himachal Pradesh reduced the margin. Earlier, Uttaranchal got the better of hosts Chandigarh 15-12 in the match for third and fourth positions. Shailja was the highest scorer for Uttaranchal with six points. Mandeep and Dilbag scored four and three points, respectively, for the hosts. Hooda distributed the prizes and assured to examine the Korfball Federation of India’s proposal to set up a korfball academy in Haryana. Among those present were Panjab University vice-chancellor Prof R.C. Sobti, Shivalik Public School principal-cum-director D.S. Bedi, Major D.P. Singh and Prof R.S. Duggal. The results: Final: Haryana (Dev 4, Aditya 3, Anju 4, Monika 2, Anuj 1, Raunaq 1) b Himachal Pradesh (Seema 5, Sushil 4, Babita 2, Ravi 2, Kavita) 15-14. For third and fourth places: Uttaranchal (Shailja 6, Manoj 3, Surbhi 2, Rahul 2, Shalini 2) b Chandigarh (Mandeep 4, Dilbag 3, Santoshi 2, Pooja 2. Kavita 1) 15-12.
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