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Captains’ role under scanner The most important thing is for the captains to realise their responsibilities and for that to cascade down to the rest of the team. — Ranjan Madugalle
No going overboard yet
Sreesanth wants to apologise
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Zaheer knocks top-10 doors
Zaheer revived sweet memories of yore: Sidhu
Flintoff likely for ODIs
’62 Asiad hero says enough is enough, quits
Padam Bahadur Mall with Arjuna Awards trophy.
Sania upsets Peer, enters 2nd round
Sandhu returns best card
Barcelona's Thierry Henry stretches during a soccer training session at Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona on Tuesday. — Reuters photo
No refunds if there is
no Beckham
Man-U whip hapless East Bengal 5-0
Iraq heroes fly to Amman after celebrations in Dubai
RCF score fourth win
Chawla, Ojha jolt Zimbabwe XI
Sports
dy director retires
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Captains’ role under scanner
London, August 1 Rahul Dravid and Michael Vaughan will receive official rebuke before the third and final Test at The Oval starting August 9. Speaking after India had completed their seven-wicket victory, Madugalle said while he had spoken to representatives of both teams about their conduct at Trent Bridge, he would officially address Vaughan and Dravid of their responsibility as captains to ensure that their players behave within the substance and spirit of the laws of cricket. The second Test at Trent Bridge was marred by England's ''puerile'' jelly bean prank, for excessive sledging and for Indian pace bowler S Sreesanth's headstrong attempts at intimidatory bowling. ''I'll have a word with the captains then,'' Madugalle said. ''The most important thing is for the captains to realise their responsibilities and for that to cascade down to the rest of the team. People should remember the game for the quality of cricket that is played, that is the bottom line,'' the former Sri Lanka captain was quoted as saying by The Independent. Madugalle had also fined Sreesanth half his match fee for what was seen as an avoidable collision with Vaughan at the wicket in England's first innings. The 24-year-old Kerala pacer later unleashed a ''beamer''at Kevin Pietersen and forced Paul Collingwood to take evasive action from a bouncer delivered from two feet beyond the bowling crease, which Vaughan described as ''something you don't want to see in the game.'' The jelly bean prank, in which India's man-of-the-match Zaheer Khan, reacted angrily to finding sweets placed at the crease when he went out to bat, though, is unlikely to attract further punishment after being dealt with on the field by umpires Simon Taufel and Ian Howell. Vaughan had also issued an apology on behalf of his team on the incident. ''We weren't throwing jelly beans at Zaheer from the slip cordon but I think two were left on the floor by the stumps at the drinks interval,'' he had said after the match. ''I guess one of the players might have left them as a little bit of a prank for the new batsmen and if it offended him in a huge way we apologise for that,'' Vaughan added. ''It has been blown out of proportion because it is a great story.'' Vaughan also denied that his boys' general behaviour for aiming verbal volleys at opponents had gone too far. ''I don't think we stepped over the line. Maybe we said a few things too much in the first innings but it's called gamesmanship, I don't think we've said anything untoward.,'' he said. — UNI
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Nottingham, August 1 While the celebrations were in order, the Indians avoided going overboard. Interestingly, there's a jinx haunting India in an away series that they are all well aware of and are keen to set the record straight this time. In the 2003-2004 series in Australia, India upset the hosts in Adelaide only to lose the next Test in Melbourne. Later, in 2004, India won its first-Test ever in Pakistan only to lose the next game in Lahore. And, more recently, having won its first-ever Test in South Africa in Johannesburg early this year, India duly succumbed in the next Test at Durban before losing the series in Cape Town. "Thanks for reminding me," joked captain Rahul Dravid, to a query on this Indian jinx. "We have to be consistent. We have to back our good performances by some more good performances. We will celebrate this win, but at the same time, we will keep our mind focused on the final Test at the Oval and on what we need to do there. "We will be taking a lot of confidence from this game and we will try our best to win the series. We know England will come back hard at us and we expect a tough game." Echoing similar views was Sachin Tendulkar who said, "This win was special because it was a total team effort. But now the final Test becomes extremely important. We need to keep the momentum going and believe in ourselves." India's stunning win puts England in a grave danger of losing their first home series since 2001. At the moment, the hosts are sitting proudly on an unbeaten home Test series record stretching back six years to their 2001 defeat by Australia, a sequence that includes 11 successive series. It has put the pressure firmly on England to deliver at the Oval, scene of their Ashes triumph just two years ago, if they are not to surrender that unbeaten home record but captain Michael Vaughan is confident his side can deliver. "I have confidence because I feel we've got 20 wickets in our attack to put them under pressure and that's what you need to win a Test match," he said. "The Oval has been a pretty good hunting ground for us, it's usually a good wicket and if you bowl well you get wickets and if you bat well you get runs. "The key is to put enough runs on the board to give our bowlers a chance to bowl them out and that's what we've got to try and work on over the next week to give ourselves the best chance, but I'm pretty confident we can go there and put on a good performance," Vaughan said. On their part, the Indians will be looking to stay focused and maintain their fine all round performance to go back on a high. A look at the stats since the new millennium suggests that India has won 16 Test matches away and 14 at home. Except for New Zealand, they have won matches in every Test-playing country. And their tally of 16 wins abroad is better than England (14), South Africa (13), Pakistan (13) and Sri Lanka (10) in the new millennium is next only to world champions Australia (26). — PTI
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Sreesanth wants to apologise
Nottingham, August 1 "To be honest, I'm embarrassed by what I did and I think I will have to change," Sreesanth said. "I want to say sorry for that (the Vaughan incident) but no one should question my commitment," said Sreesanth, who was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for the incident. "I am thankful to Rahul bhai (Dravid) for showing faith in me. He was upset with a few things, but after the game he came and told me when we were celebrating in the dressing room, 'Sree, after all this, after all the explanations I had to give for you, I still love you and want you to do well,'" Sreesanth told ESPN. The Kerala bowler said he did a few unwanted things during the second Test out of sheer frustration and wanted to make amends for that. "Frankly, that was the worst part, may be that's the reason I did a few silly things like coming around the wicket to batsmen when I should have continued bowling the basic stuff. "I was really feeling sad that I haven't contributed. I was trying too many things and last two nights of the Test match slept clutching my India cap thinking it will get me luck," said the 24-year old, who has received a lot of flak in the British media for barging into Vaughan.
— PTI
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Zaheer knocks top-10 doors
Dubai, August 1 If Zaheer continues the good work at final Test of the series starting August 9 at Oval, he would surpass his previous highest ranking of 11th and break into top-10 charts. Another victory for India means they not only win the series 2-0 but elevate themselves two places up from its current fifth position in the team rankings. A draw would still mean a series win for India and that would elevate Dravid's men to fourth and within striking distance of Sri Lanka. The Nottingham win has also boosted the rankings of other Indian players as former captain Sourav Ganguly has surged up eight places to be 30th.
— PTI
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Zaheer revived sweet memories of yore: Sidhu
Amritsar, August 1 Commenting on Indian’s seven-wicket victory, the second in England this decade, former Indian cricketer Navjot Sidhu here today said that India rose like a phoenix. “The victory is significant considering that it comes against England, that too outside the sub-continent. With this, the Indian team has come out of a situation where the team was dead and buried. Besides, the only thing consistent with Indian team has been its inconsistency,” he said. But now the prospects look bright and if the team could sustain this form, the credibility that the team had lost in these months would be regained, he said. “We had almost lost the first Test match. I had said that it was a second-rated India team, which gave third-rated performance. This Test match has, however, changed that opinion for the better,” he said. The way the openers contributed during this test was commendable and it was good to see fast bowlers doing the trick for India instead of spinners. Zaheer Khan revived pleasant memories of Kapil Dev when fast bowling attack of India used to steer India to victory on foreign lands. “In the past, the Indian openers have failed to give the team the expected head starts and the five big-wigs of the team have also not been playing up to their potential, considering their immense talent. The bowling has been reasonable,” he said. Replying to a question on whether Ganguly’s episode with former coach Greg Chappel had ultimately helped him regain his form, Sidhu said the bitter criticism that Ganguly faced came as a “wake-up call” for him. |
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Flintoff likely for ODIs
London, August 1 Chief selector David Graveney said Flintoff, making a speedy recovery after his third ankle surgery, was targeting the upcoming ODI series. “He’s started to bowl in nets. It’s great that he’s back playing after another lengthy rehab,” he said “As far as I’m aware - and I’m sure Freddie will confirm together with the medical advice from Lancashire - he’s still on target for the
ODIs,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
— PTI
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’62 Asiad hero says enough is enough, quits
Dehra Dun, August 1 "Enough is enough. May be my resignation shakes the sports administration and my colleagues in other sports start getting emoluments at par with out counterparts in Uttar Pradesh. After all for how long I could survive on this paltry amount which is spent in commuting a 20 km distance from my house in Clement Town locality to coaching centre," a visibly upset Mall told The Tribune. Apparently embarrassed over the development, Uttarakhand sports minister Rajinder Singh Bhandari said the state sports authorities would try to persuade Mall to withdraw his resignation as the step taken by this great sportsman amounted to big loss to sports in the state. In recognition of his exploits in the ring, a road in Asiad Games village in Delhi has been named after him. Mall was awarded Arjuna Award for winning India's first boxing gold medal in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games and silver medal in pre-Olympics held in Tokyo. He quit boxing after the sports mandarins did not consider him worthy of representing the country in Rome Olympics. He represented the country for a decade before qualifying as a coach from NIS Patiala. He worked as a coach with Sports Authority of India (SAI) and coached the Indian team from 1988-90. After completion of assignment with SAI, the state sports department under control of Uttar Pradesh government appointed him as the boxing coach at Dehra Dun in 1998. All his requests to increase emoluments went unheeded by successive governments after formation of Uttarakhand. At present, apart from several state level budding boxers aspiring to make it to the top under his guidance, his trainees included junior international Kulwant Singh Barthwal and national level women boxers Reena Kanwar and Pooja Yadav. His unexpected decision has shocked the sports fraternity in the state.
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Sania upsets Peer, enters 2nd round
San Diego (California), August 1 Coming straight from a breakthrough week in which she reached her first WTA Tour Tier II final in Stanford knocking off three top 25 players in succession, followed by a jump in the world rankings to her career-best 31st position, the 20-year-old Hyderabadi lass overpowered Peer 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the second round of the $1,340,000 hardcourt event. Looking tired after her run at Stanford, Sania pressed the action in the third set in an attempt to end the contest quickly. “I didn’t want to stay out there for much longer,” Mirza told after the match. “It was a long match and I needed to keep it shorter. She’s my friend and doubles partner so that makes it especially hard, but I did what I needed to get through,” she added. The 31st ranked Indian will now take on Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the next round. The Indo-Israeli duo of Sania and Peer will be eyeing for their third consecutive doubles title here, as they take on German-Czech pair of Angelika Bachmann and Hana Sromova in the opening round. Bhupathi-Henman in quarters
Washington DC: Mahesh Bhuapthi and his British partner Tim Henman advanced to the quarterfinals of the $600,000 Legg Mason Classic with a straight-set win in the first round in Washington. The Indo-British pair got the better of the Korean-American pair of Hyung-Taik Lee and Michael Russell 6-2, 7-5 to enter the last eight stage of the hardcourt tournament. Meanwhile, the second seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm resisted a spirited fightback from Somdev Varman and John Isner, elbowing out the wild carded Indo-US pair in match tie breaker to enter the doubles pre-quarterfinals here. In the singles, qualifier Varman crashed out after losing to American Paul Goldstein 4-6, 2-6 in a first round match. Bopanna loses in singles
New Delhi: Rohan Bopanna suffered a shocking first-round defeat against Swiss qualifier Michel Kratochvil in the singles event of the $125,000 ATP Challenger Series in Segovia, Spain. Bopanna lost 3-6, 3-6 in the hardcourt event yesterday. The Indian would now look forward to repeat his last two week’s successes in the doubles event, playing alongside Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan. The duo went on to win doubles titles at Manchester and Nottingham in the last two weeks. The third seed Indo-Pak pair have advanced to the quarterfinals here. Among the other Indians in the fray, Mustafa Ghouse and his German partner, Frank Moser, survived a scare from wildcards Guillermo Alcaide and Oscar Burrieza to enter the quarterfinals. Ghouse and Moser beat the Spaniards 2-6, 7-5, 10-6.
— Agencies
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Sandhu returns best card
Chandigarh, August 1 However, Anirban Lahiri of Bangalore continued to lead returning a par score of 72 for a two-round three-under score of 141 in the fifth leg of the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour. Ajeetesh had a one-under score of 143. Manav Das of Ambala, who shot a two-under 70 today, was placed fourth at 144. Mithun Pereira fired an impressive round of 69 to occupy the fifth place at 145, while Lt-Col S. K. Lakra was placed sixth at 146 after he shot a card of 73 today. Lahiri, who started from the 10th hole, bogeyed the 11th. But he birdied the 18th to make the turn at level par. On his return leg Lahiri birdied the fourth, but ended his round with a bogey on the ninth. “I missed too many birdie opportunities. I wasn’t focused on my game”, said Lahiri. Sandhu, a 10th starter, sank a birdie on the very first hole, when he rolled in a 15 ft left to right putt. He bogeyed the 18th when he three-putted from 15 ft to make the turn at level par. On the back nine, Sandhu set the greens ablaze sinking birdies on the fifth, sixth and eight to end the day at 69. Oil India’s Manav Das started badly with a bogey on the 10th (his first hole). He birdied the 14th and 18th interspersed with bogeys on the 16th and 17th to make the turn at one over. On the back nine, struck a bright patch firing birdies on the first, second, and third to end the day at two-under 70.
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Barcelona players critical of Asia tour
Madrid, August 1 "It would be better to stay here and prepare really well for next season. It's a long way and it isn't easy for the players," Zambrotta told a news conference on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Thuram said: "It isn't good for the team's preparation but that's the way football is these days and all the world's big clubs do them (tours)." Some of Barca's players, including Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho, blamed last August's two-week pre-season tour to the USA and Mexico as one of the reasons for their poor showing in the last campaign. They said the punishing schedule of promotional events, travelling and friendly matches disrupted their training so they were not at peak fitness for when the season kicked off. Barca finished second in the Primera Liga and failed to win any major trophies last season. This time round the Catalan club's bosses claim they have learned their lesson and have planned a shorter tour with fewer commitments. They set out for Beijing on Thursday and return to Spain on August 11, after having played three friendlies in nine days. On August 5, they face Beijing Guoan in the Chinese capital and two days later play Yokohama Marinos in Japan. On Aug. 10, they take on the Mission Hills Invitation XI in Hong Kong. — Reuters
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No refunds if there is
no Beckham
Toronto, August 1 Beckham, nursing a sore left ankle, missed his third Galaxy match in a row on Tuesday in a Superliga affair at league rival FC Dallas. His Galaxy debut came as a 78th-minute substitute in a match against Chelsea 10 days ago. Since then, the 32-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder has sat out two home Superliga matches against Mexican clubs and been unable to train with his new teammates. A statement issued yesterday by Toronto’s first-year expansion team basically said “Buyer Beware” when it comes to ticket purchases to see Sunday’s match, Beckham’s only planned appearance in the city this season. “Ticket buyers should be aware that the standard policy for sports and entertainment events as it pertains to scheduled appearances remains in effect,” the statement said. “Consistent with all sporting events, we are not in a position to guarantee that any player will appear in a match. Those decisions are determined by the coaching staff with advice from their advisers.
— AFP
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Man-U whip hapless East Bengal 5-0
Manchester, August 1 The draw was not kind on the Indian side and so was Manchester United today. The hosts pumped in three goals in the 20-minute first half and two more on the other side of the lemon break to complete a rout. David starred in Manchester's win with a treble (17th , 28th, 38th minutes), while Nicholas (11th) and Rovy (20th) too joined the party. It was a pathetic mismatch between two sides with a gulf of difference separating them. The East Bengal under-15 squad had just one go at the Manchester United goal in the entire duration of the match and Subhas' feeble, ballooning shot from outside the penalty box was too innocuous to test the Manchester
custodian. Manchester captain Ryan struck a lethal combination with David and orchestrated moves that had the East Bengal defence in all sort of troubles. Nicholas' early attempt might have been off-target but was an inkling of things to come. The youngster opened the floodgates in the 11th minute with a right footer that, deflected by a defender, slightly changed its original trajectory before finding the top corner of the net (1-0).
— PTI
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Iraq heroes fly to Amman after celebrations in Dubai
Dubai, August 1 The Iraqi team, who defied odds to beat Saudi Arabia in the final, were awarded a cash prize of 20 million riyal ( $ 5.2 million) by UAE vice-president and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. ''It's a big honour to celebrate the team's victory in the UAE,'' Hussein Saeed, chairman of Iraqi Football Federation, said at the reception where more than 5,000 welcomed the team. ''Despite the suffering of our people and the poor preparations, we fought hard in all matches. What kept us going was our resolve to bring joy to our people,'' Iraqi captain Younis Mahmoud was quoted as saying in local media. Iraqi midfielder Haitham Kazim said: ''This could well be the start of a trend with world leaders beginning to think more about restoring peace in Iraq. ''Believe it or not, we had this feeling that even the Saudis were praying for us to win the final. The Saudis are one of the best sides in the continent and they are not easy to beat, but we were determined to win for our people. ''Our victory has sent a message to the whole world to come together and end the pains of Iraqi people. ''I don't know who is Shia, Sunni or Kurdish in our team. All we know is that we are Iraqis. We were born so and we will remain so.'' Echoing the sentiments, his team mate Haider Abdul Raziq said: ''We will go back to Baghdad and no will stop us from conveying our message to the leaders of different political parties and sectors and the time has come to stop killing each other.''
— Reuters
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RCF score fourth win
Chandigarh, August 1 RCF took time to settle down. After initial probings, RCF forged ahead in the 39th minute with Dilbag Singh guiding the ball into the Mahilpur Football Club goal. Kulwinder Singh scored RCF’s second goal in the 48th minute with Mahilpur FC forced to defend their goal with a crowded defence. RCF’s Manmohan Singh (25th minute) and Vijay Kumar (36th) of Mahilpur FC were shown yellow cards by referee Suraj Bhan Handa for committing deliberate and dangerous fouls. Meanwhile, the fourth win has further strengthened RCF chances to lift the top honours. RCF have so far collected 12 points from four victories and one defeat in the seven-team round-Robin competitions.
— UNI
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Chawla, Ojha jolt Zimbabwe XI
New Delhi, August 1 After posting a mammoth 524 for 8 declared - thanks to centuries by Parthiv Patel (126), S. Badrinath (103 not out) and Cheteshwar Pujara (100) - India A yesterday reduced the Zimbabwe side to 67 for 5 to be in the driver’s seat. For the visitors, Pujara and Robin Uthappa (67) provided an opening stand of 110 runs and laid the foundation for a big total. However, captain Mohammed Kaif failed to make any impression and departed after scoring a hard-fought 26.
— PTI
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Sports
dy director retires Patiala, August 1 Rishi, a renowned gymnastic coach and also joint secretary of the Punjab Gymnastic Association, had officiated as a judge at several national and international meets. Rishi was given a warm farewell at the department's head office in Chandigarh. Sports director Pargat Singh and joint director (sports) Chanchal Randhawa.
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Archers to be in action at Lord’s Mane to lead MCA colts Easy win for Roddick
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London, August 1
After surviving on monthly honorarium of Rs.1500 as a coach for a decade here, India's first international boxing gold medallist and Arjuna Awardee Padam Bahadur Mall yesterday bid goodbye to the sport that earned him the distinction of Asia's Best Boxer in Asian Games held at Jakarta in
1962. "Enough is enough. May be my resignation shakes the sports administration and my colleagues in other sports start getting emoluments at par with out counterparts in Uttar Pradesh. After all for how long I could survive on this paltry amount which is spent in commuting a 20 km distance from my house in Clement Town locality to coaching centre," a visibly upset Mall told The Tribune.
Dubai, August 1
