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Coach Hunt
Twenty20
ICC inspects Sawai Mansingh Stadium
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Jund puts Patiala on top Trouble brews for Punjab
kho kho championship
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India keen to keep momentum going
London, September 4 Dravid described the pitch as a good batting wicket. If conditions remain unaltered (the forecast is a relatively warm day, with unthreatening clouds), spin could play a greater part, with even Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh emerging as options. The slow bowlers certainly found it difficult to grip the ball at Leeds. The white leather ball swings for a limited period. So, it may be sensible to bat first, partly because Ramesh Powar and Chawla could be more incisive after a bit of wear and tear in the pitch. But one of the keys to Indian success is Yuvraj Singh, who fortunately got a month’s rest from not figuring in the Tests. A long innings from him is bound to cause mayhem. He was last seen polishing his slog-sweeps against net bowlers. Tendulkar, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, not to mention Mahendra Dhoni, will also have to stir their tired limbs for a special effort. Ballistic batting from the Indians settled the issues at Bristol and Leeds. Barring Zaheer Khan and Powar, their bowling has been patchy. This needs to change for India to achieve a triple strike. In the past, India’s catching has been comparatively better than their fielding. Both aspects have, however, disintegrated. The drills at present appear to have a less rigorous approach than under Greg Chappell. On Thursday, after losing the 4th ODI when victory was within their grasp, the Indians wore a forlorn look. Yet, they creditably lifted themselves in the 5th encounter on Sunday to raise hopes of a thriller this week. England’s cruise has certainly been blocked. Stuart Broad, hero of Manchester with both bat and ball, was clobbered for 84 runs as well as dismissed cheaply. James Anderson, too, was smacked for 60 runs. And the wicket and environment could be less favourable to them at The Oval. Moreover, Chris Tremlett is unavailable due to an injured right foot. Ravi Bopara’s bowling and fielding are affected, now that he has a dislocated and fractured right thumb; and Dimitri Mascarenhas might replace him. The English are, of course, hoping Andrew Flintoff will recover from his sore left ankle to resume containment of the Indian batsmen. And Ryan Sidebottom will be back, though without match practice for three weeks. It will be interesting to see if Luke Wright, a promising all-rounder, gets a look in or a specialist bowler makes the cut. India’s one-day showing at The Oval is uninspiring. Here, they lost to the West Indies in a group match in an eventually triumphant campaign in the 1983 World Cup and also went down to Australia in the Super Six stage in 1999 event. But tomorrow is another day; and India are not bereft of an even chance to drawing level. Consistency key to series triumph: Dravid
Skipper Rahul Dravid has said improving on its consistency would be the major challenge for India as they aim to turn the tables on England in the remaining two cricket one-dayers and win the NatWest Series. “We have been a bit inconsistent in our one-day performance. I think the challenge for the team is to back up one good performance with another one. We have been a bit up and down in the series,” Dravid said on the eve of sixth one-dayer at The Oval here. Dravid was hoping that the team could wind up the tour of UK on a victorious note.
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Coach Hunt
Mumbai, September 4 “We have been receiving applications from candidates and the deadline is September 15 after which they will be scrutinised, a short resume of each candidate prepared and sent to the members of the special committee formed to select the coach,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI today. “We will then convene a meeting of the committee. All these are subject to us getting applications from the right candidates,” the BCCI official said. “Hopefully the process (of coach selection) will get over before the start of the seven-match ODI series against (World Cup Champions) Australia,” Shah added. The BCCI had issued a media statement on August 27 detailing the requirements for the new India coach, a post that has been lying vacant since the departure of Greg Chappell in the aftermath of the World Cup fiasco. The board’s endeavour to appoint a successor to the former Aussie captain ended in a disaster when South African Ford came to Chennai to meet the members of the BCCI’s coach appointment committee in June. Ford, coach of English county Kent, seemingly accepted the offer, but then did an about turn once he returned to England that left BCCI, which had already announced him as its new coach, totally embarrassed. The board had to fall back on India’s former Test captain Chandu Borde to be the cricket manager as a stop-gap arrangement on the ongoing tour of England. Borde is to be replaced by another former Test batsman Lalchand Rajput for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa later this month. The BCCI wants the new coach to possess Level III coaching credentials, be media and computer savvy, and also have the ability to motivate the players and optimize their performance at all times. The BCCI wants the candidate to have played at least at first class level and have prior experience of coaching an international or national team or should have been a coach at an elite coaching centre of international repute. It also wants the applicant to be capable of building positive relations with the public and the media. The BCCI has listed that the coach needs to work closely with the selection committee and interact periodically with the Review Committee to be set up by it as among its other requirements. The board also wants the aspiring candidate to possess excellent communication skills to deal at different levels like players, team management, selectors and the BCCI. — PTI
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Twenty20
London, September 4 Right-hander Bopara, 22, dislocated and fractured the thumb on his bowling hand in England’s defeat in the fifth one-dayer at Headingley on Saturday. England lead the series 3-2 with two matches left to play. The loss of Essex’s Bopara is a particularly severe blow because of uncertainty over the availability of his fellow all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. Lancashire star Flintoff missed the Headingley clash with a recurrence of the ankle problems that have forced him to have three operations in three years. England are due to leave for South Africa on Sunday ahead of the September 12-25 World Twenty20. ICC okays Perera as Murali’s replacement Dubai: The ICC has approved Dilruwan Perera as a replacement for Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka’s squad for the Twenty20 World Championship to be held in South Africa from September 11 to 24. Perera replaces Muralitharan after medical reports were received indicating that the veteran offie had sustained an injury to his right distal bicep and would not be fit in time to take part in the event.
— PTI
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ICC inspects Sawai Mansingh Stadium
Jaipur, September 4 The stadium hosted one Test (India vs Pakistan) in 1986, but thereafter it has hosted only ODI matches that included the Champions Trophy ties last year. Few years back, president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi had said he would apply for a renewed Test status for the ground. Since then, much work has been done on and off the ground to make sure that facilities in this tourist destination are up to mark, and the stadium gets the coveted status. Hurst, who had been here as match referee in an India-Sri Lanka tie, inspected the stadium and was reportedly happy with the facilities. Though he refused to talk in details about his observation, but it was learnt that he made few suggestions to Bimal Soni, deputy president of the RCA. “I will submit my report to the ICC and the final decision will be taken by them,” said Hurst. Member of the BCCI Pitches Committee, Taposh Chatterjee and pitch curator Abdul Saeed were present during the inspection.
— PTI TNS adds from Dharamsala: Allan Hurst will inspect the Dharamsala Cricket Stadium, this week, which is aiming to become an international venue for holding ODI matches. He will be arriving here tomorrow morning and will stay for a couple of days to have a look at the cricket stadium, the hotels, airport and other infrastructural facilities available in the hill town. He is expected to submit his report to the ICC within 15 days of his visit. “We hope that Dharamsala will become a venue for holding ODIs in the year 2008”, said Anurag Thakur president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).
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Kuznetsova stems teenage tide
New York, September 4 The 22-year-old Russian, who was an upset US Open winner in 2004, defeated fast-rising 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-3 yesterday. Next up is another 18-year-old in the shape of Agnes Szavay of Hungary, who defeated Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 in another early fourth-round tie. Also through to her second Grand Slam quarterfinal went Israel’s Shahar Peer, who defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova’s conqueror, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. Peer won comfortably 6-4, 6-1 and will play Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze who saw off 16-year-old Austrian prodigy Tamira Paszek 6-1, 7-5. Kuznetsova is the highest-ranking player left in a lopsided lower section of the draw which has seen the early departures of defending champion and second seed Maria Sharapova and seventh seed Nadia Petrova, both Russians. In the men’s draw, top-ranked Roger Federer shook off a strong challenge from Spain’s Feliciano Lopez to reach the quarterfinal and Tommy Haas advanced in a five-set thriller with US sixth seed James Blake. Federer, seeking a 12th Grand Slam title and fourth US Open crown in a row, outlasted the 60th-ranked Spanish left-hander 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 to book a date against US fifth seed Andy Roddick, whom he has beaten in 13 of 14 tries. German 10th seed Haas, forced to pull out of a fourth-round Wimbledon match with Federer due to a torn stomach muscle, saved three match points to oust Blake 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 after three hours 17 minutes. Haas fired 18 aces and 69 winners to dispatch Blake and book a last-eight date with Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who routed South Korean Lee Hyung-Taik 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours. Roddick led 7-6 (8/6), 2-0 when Czech ninth seed Berdych retired after complaining of fatigue. Sania-Bhupathi lose, Paes advances After defeating the 2005 champions to enter into the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles yesterday, Sania’s campaign came to a halt in the mixed doubles event. Sania and Mahesh Bhupathi were outplayed 4-6, 1-6 by the Belarussian pair of Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi. But Leander Paes made sure that the Indian challenge continued in the mixed competition. Paes and his American teammate Meghann Shaughnessy beat local favourites Ashley Harkeroad and Justin Gimelstob 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. They will now be up against the British-American pair of Jamie Murray and Liezel Huber, who defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska and Mariusz Fyrstenberg 6-1, 6-2.
— AFP, PTI
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Federation Cup
Ludhiana, September 4 Though Guru Nanak Stadium is JCT’s home turf, the stands remained empty throughout the match. Only the VIP enclosure was occupied with employees and workers of JCT Mills, Phagwara, politicians and and office- bearers of various sports associations. The organisers said they could not be held responsible for the low turnout as each ticket was priced at Rs 20 per day. Inder Singh, former international soccer player, an Arjuna awardee and general secretary of the Punjab Football Association, said the exact situation could be gauged after the second match. He said the first match began at 4 p.m. and due to the hot weather, people preferred to keep away. Sports observers and some well-known sportspersons attributed the low turnout to lack of advertisements about the cup. They said the game had pulled crowds during the National Games in 2001, with the stadium bursting at the seams. One reason for the same was the fact that the sponsor for the event had joined in two or three days ago. ‘‘If they had advertised the event a fortnight ago, people would have thronged here. Posters should have been pasted in all villages of the district, inviting youngsters to the matches. The event should have appeared on local TV channels also,’’ said a senior sportsperson, preferring anonymity. But for most sports lovers, the turnout does not matter. ‘‘All that matters is the game and the spirit,’’ said an organiser.
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JCT outplay Vasco in opener
Ludhiana, September 4 JCT looked comfortably in charge early on and went ahead in the 4th minute through their new recruit Eduardo Escobar of Brazil. Eduardo and Sunil Chetri weaved a good move and as the former was marching ahead, the defender wrongly tackled him at top of striking box, resulting in a free-kick. Edu’s sizzler found the target as Vasco custodian Juze Siddhi’s attempt to stop the ball went in vain. Just one minute before the half time, Vasco defence was punctured again. Eduardo gave an angular pass to Marcos Pereira whose powerful grounder landed into the goal (2-0). After changing ends, Vasco started the proceeding vigoursly. In the 68th minute, Mathew Odje seized the ball from JCT defenders and stormed into their citadel. As JCT goalkeeper Karanjit Singh ran out to thwart the marching Mathew, he fell down which facilitated the latter to lob the ball into the post and reduce the margin 1-2. Six minutes later, Baljit Singh of JCT managed to dodge past horde of players, advanced into the danger area and rolled the ball into the net where goalkeeper Juze Siddhi’s frantic scramble to stop it and Vasco’s Robert Fernandes was credited with an own goal which sealed their fate 3-1. East Bengal win In the second match, two goals scored by Edmilson Marques in the second session helped Kingfisher East Bengal to romp home victorious 3-1 against Mohammedan Sporting Club. After exchanging some good moves by both sides, East Bengal surged ahead in the 20th minute through a header by Ashim Biswas. A few seconds before the half time, Mohd Sporting scored the equaliser. In the second half, Marques of East Bengal struck twice help his side win 3-1. Wednesday’s fixtures: Army XI vs Sporting Club de Goa (4 pm); Mahindra United vs HAL, Bangalore (7 pm).
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Poor infrastructure halting football’s progress: Bhutia
Chandigarh, September 4 Bhutia, who was in the town for a brief halt while on way to Ludhiana for the Federation Cup tournament, seemed quite confident with his team Mohan Bagan, the defending champions of the Federation Cup. “Our next goal is to prepare for the World Cup qualifying ties in October, and I am confident that the Indian team will put up a good show”, he said. But this 31-year-old juggler of football has a word of advice for the authorities to space out the tournaments. “The players need to have adequate time for revitalisation. The tough Indian weather conditions demand that the frequency of matches should be less. Oppressive heat, humidity makes things tougher for the players”, he added. After scripting the Indian team’s historic triumph over Syria to lift the Nehru Cup for the first time, Bhutia is understandably excited. “We would be gaining good ranking after winning this prestigious tournament.” Praising Bhutia, coach Carlos Roberto Perreira said, “With Bhutia, I am sure, like last year, this time too, we would clinch the coveted Federation Cup. We have a precise package of both strikers as well as defenders, which includes three foreign players, two from Nigeria and one from Brazil, we would definitely come out with flying colours”, he said. On being asked, the coach informed that it would be the same 4-4-2 game strategy. “We have not planned any specific strategy against any particular team. We would restrict to our old pattern of game with four strikers, an equal number of midfielders and two half backs. Our approach would be attacking and aggressive.” The coach further expressed that the system in India needs to be revamped for the uplift of the game. “I have been into this game for around 30 years, but it is heartening to note that this game has failed to gain momentum, barring some places in the eastern region particularly in Calcutta. The reason for this is the poor infrastructure and bad ground conditions etc. Our 10 per cent problem would be solved if the government, here, pay heeds to raise the infrastructure in different parts of the country. I have hoard of talent with me, but I don’t find good grounds to get them practice. Isn’t it ridiculous?” he rued.
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Chennai, September 4 The hosts did not allow the Bangladeshis to settle down and chased them to their half all the time - keeping up the pressure so much that the visitors were left gasping for breath. Playing their fourth Pool B match, the Indians went ahead four minutes before the halftime whistle, having miffed at least six scoring chances. Penalty corner expert Raghunath collected a right flank pass from Shivendra Singh and sent it flying into the Bangladesh goal, making it 1-0. India could have made 2-0 before the hooter went off, but missed a penalty corner immediately after the first goal. The performance in the first half led to some tough talking from coach Joaquim Carvalho. After the break, Tushar Kandekar did his bit collecting a pass from the midfield and ramming it home in the 37th minute. The tally read 2-0. Within the next 55 seconds, the scorers were at it again. This time, it was Shivendra collecting a dribble from the centre and making it 3-0 for India. It took India another 11 minutes to go past the Bangladeshi defences again, but it was a bit easy because Kandekar weaving through the visitors unexpectedly made a short pass to Prabhjot Singh who sent the ball into the opponents’ goal, making it 4-0. Eight minutes later, Prabhjot was again in the thick of things, centring a right flank pass and slamming it home. The score: 5-0. Finally, in the 66th minute, Raghunath lived up to his billing and converted a penalty corner. The Bangladeshis were left frustrated, facing their first defeat in the tournament. Indian coach Carvalho expressed complete satisfaction about the progress of his team. He said, “Virtually any team is welcome to challenge us in the semifinal. I can only say that we are prepared for anyone and have managed to work out a strategy for each opponent in the future.” In an earlier match of the Pool A, Hong Kong edged past Singapore 3-2. Singapore went ahead in the 7th minute through Saiful Nizam Bin Mohammad’s conversion of penalty corner. Hong Kong equalised 11 minutes later through a penalty corner, but Singapore overtook again in the 54th minute, the same way through Chan Ka Ho’s effort. But the city state’s joy was short-lived for Hong Kong scored twice in the 60th and 68th minutes.
— IANS
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Jund puts Patiala on top Patiala, September 4 Score: Minor Districts: 209 all out (Pardeep Kumar 61, Makul Chopra 36, Rahul Kumar 28; Ankur Jund 4 for 51, Sarabjit Ladda 3 for 44, Gautam Mandora 1 for 26); Patiala: 1st innings: 93 for 2 (Ravi Inder Singh 40, Binwant Singh 21, P. Dharmani 26 n.o; Rahul Kumar 1 for 22, Ranjit Singh 1 for 23).
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Trouble brews for Punjab
kho kho championship Patiala, September 4 Its secretary Upkar Singh Virk has claimed that the association, headed by Harraj Singh Sidhu, was a legal body affiliated to the Punjab Olympic Association (POA), the Kho Kho Federation of India and the Punjab State Sports Council. He added that the Jalandhar tournament, to be organised at Police DAV Public School, was “illegal and that the tourney was being organised by a body that had lost a court case on August 8 last year.” Virk added that the Punjab Kho Kho Association, headed by former MP Iqbal Singh, and whose secretary is P.P. Singh, had no legal right to conduct the Jalandhar tournament. He said he had already asked all the affiliated units not to take part in the tournament and those units that did so would be liable to disciplinary action under the constitution of the Punjab Kho Kho Association.
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Swimmers bag four gold Chandana retires Crespo out Chopra tied 70th Boxing meet Boxing meet Jalandhar win |
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