The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

One-off T20 match today at 7 pm
Opportunity for Sehwag

Dhoni receives knee treatment
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni received treatment for a minor knee problem and would be available for the Twenty20 match on Saturday.
“Dhoni had a slight knee problem, but he’s fine,” middle-order batsman Robin Uthappa told reporters on the eve of the match.
BCCI sources confirmed that Dhoni would play in the tie and the skipper was later seen batting at the nets.
Virender Sehwag missed the evening practice session held under floodlights. He had stayed back in New Delhi for the birth of his child (a boy) and was expected to check into the team hotel very soon.

Mumbai, October 19
The first-ever Twenty20 international on Indian soil promises plenty of fireworks as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's world champions cross swords with Australia in what promises to be a humdinger at the Brabourne Stadium here tomorrow.

Both teams have a lot to prove in the one-off contest that is expected to draw a full house at the flood-lit Cricket Club of India.

Dhoni and his teammates would be eager to show that their against-the-odds triumph in the inaugural World T20 championship in South Africa, including their semifinal win over 50-over champions Australia, was no flash in the pan.

But the visitors have put the rare defeat to India behind them and played some top-quality cricket to clinch the best-of-seven ODI series before floundering in the last tie at nearby Wankhede Stadium two days ago.

The entire ODI series has been played with a lot of verve and aggression by both sides but the alleged racial abuse that Man-of-the-Series Andrew Symonds was subjected to here and in Vadodara earlier has angered the visitors no end.

Symonds and Matthew Hayden, the scourge of Indian bowlers in the ODI series, would have to be stopped in their tracks if the hosts want to repeat their glorious victory at Durban on September 22.

Symonds was out for a first-ball duck in the final ODI, while Hayden has not played in the last two games because of a hip injury but is expected to be fit for the T20 tie.

"I will be surprised if he (Hayden) does not play," Aussie captain Ricky Ponting said after his team's defeat in the last ODI. The Aussies, thus, will be at full strength.

The home team will be looking up to Virender Sehwag and fit-again Gautam Gambhir to fire in the initial stages along with the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni and Robin Uthappa. But Sehwag, Joginder Sharma and Yusuf Pathan could be rusty not having played serious cricket since the heady motorcade show arranged by BCCI to welcome home the T20 team more than three weeks ago.

Crowd control will also come sharply into focus in the light of what happened earlier this week in Mumbai and on October 8 at Vadodara when Symonds was targeted with 'monkey chants' and rude gestures. The Mumbai police and the cricket board have promised tighter measures to curb racist abuses by spectators directed towards the players.

Police Commissoner D N Jadhav has warned that the International Cricket Council may imposed a ban on Mumbai, scheduled to host the 2011 World Cup final, unless the spectators behave themselves during the T20 contest.

He said more than 100 officers with handy-cams will videotape and monitor the spectators right through the match.

The teams (from): India: M S Dhoni (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Ajit Agarkar, Joginder Sharma, Yusuf Pathan.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (Capt), Adam Gilchrist, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds. — PTI

Kartik replaces injured Chawla

In-form spinner Murali Kartik has taken the place of injured leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for the Twenty20 match. Kartik had captured six wickets in the final one-dayer against the Aussies in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Mahendra Singh Dhoni received treatment for a minor knee problem and would be available for the match.

“Dhoni had a slight knee problem, but he’s fine now,” Robin Uthappa told reporters. Virender Sehwag missed the evening practice session held under floodlights.

He had stayed back in New Delhi for the birth of his child (a boy) and was likely to check into the team hotel soon.

	‘Ease up’, Ponting appeals to fans Mumbai, October 19 Australia captain Ricky Ponting Friday indirectly asked local fans to "ease up" when his team plays India in the Twenty20 International here. He was referring to the allegations of racism and gestures by some fans. Australia's in-form all-rounder Andrew Symonds seems to have been the target, with his own column, in an Australian newspaper, adding fuel to the fire. "It's been on for the last one-and-a-half weeks for no fault of his. It's still talked about day after day," Ponting said on the eve of the lone Twenty20 game of the tour before the team flies back home. "He's trying to get out of the newspapers as quickly as possible. He will be happy when it's all done with," he said. Even at the seventh and final one-day international at the Wankhede Stadium here Wednesday, Symonds was in the news as a few fans made some gestures, possibly towards him. "I've been reading a lot of things in the papers on the need for the people of Mumbai to ease up on some of the stuff," said Ponting. "All we can do is to play and put on our best show and hopefully the fans will enjoy it," he added. — IANS
	Revenge not on agenda: Ponting Mumbai, October 19 Australian captain Ricky Ponting today said his team was not looking at tomorrow's one-off Twenty20 cricket match as a chance for revenge against India for their loss in the World Championships in South Africa. "There's nothing about trying to get even. We are looking forward to playing against the Indian team which won this format of the World Championship a few weeks ago. This match has been talked about even more than the (seven-match) ODI series," Ponting said on the eve of the Twenty20 International at the Brabourne Stadium here. "We were pretty disappointed about losing the last ODI from a winning position. We lost to the Indians in the T20 World Championship. But you win some and lose some. What's important is enjoying the game. It's an enjoyable format," said the Tasmanian batsman. Australia were knocked out by the Mahendra Dhoni-led side in the semi finals of the T20 event at Durban and went on to clinch the inaugural world crown in the shortest format of the international game. Ponting also said some of the Australian cricketers were down with sore throats, including left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg, who was a key member of the ODI squad that defeated the hosts 4-2 in the series that ended on October 17. "We will have to take a call on Brad Hogg later this evening. He has a sore throat," said the Aussie skipper who expected in-form opener Matthew Hayden to return to action after missing the last two ODIs because of a hip injury. Ponting said the wicket looked good and the ground beautiful, but he had noticed the track here offered some spin when they played in the ICC Champions Trophy and won it by beating West Indies in the final in October-November, 2006. "During the Champions Trophy we saw the wickets do spin a bit. We won that through our fast bowlers and have the bowlers who can adjust well to the conditions," he said. Ponting, however, did not think that winning the Champions Trophy at this venue 11 months ago would have provided the Aussies with more inspiration as playing against the World Twenty20 champions in itself was enough of an inspiration to do well. "Playing the World Champions in this format is enough of an inspiration. I hope it will be an interesting game tomorrow, an exciting game and we want to put up a good show and execute our skills well," he said. Ponting said the T20 format did give some time for the batsmen to settle down once then are at the crease, but not much. — PTI
	Cricket Australia pats BCCI London, October 19 Pleased with the way BCCI reacted to the issue of racial abuse of Andrew Symonds, Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive James Sutherland has said there was no question of boycotting the future tours of India. Symonds and his teammates, along with the Australian media, claimed the all-rounder had been subjected to racial abuse during the last three matches of the just-concluded ODI series and they were critical of the BCCI for its reluctance to acknowledge the incident. BCCI President Sharad Pawar later issued a joint statement along with his CA counterpart Creagh O'Connor and Sutherland seemed satisfied with that. "I don't think it has got to that stage or even gets to that stage (of boycotting)," Sutherland was quoted as saying by 'The Sporting Life' here. "There is an ICC anti-racism policy in place. The ICC and the BCCI, the host of these matches, will no doubt deal with these issues going forward. "It is really pleasing to see overnight the announcements by the Indian board president to condemn racism in cricket," he said. The top CA official was upset that after Vadodara and Nagpur, Symonds was subjected to monkey chants in Mumbai as well but he patted the BCCI for taking action against the offenders. "Whilst the incident in the last game in Mumbai was disappointing, it is pleasing to see the officials at the ground are taking the response to evict those people from the ground and take the appropriate action," the official said. BCCI has already entrusted Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty to look after crowd behaviour in tomorrow's Twenty20 match against Australia and police personnel would be deployed tomorrow to prevent a repeat of the episode. Sutherland revealed speaking to Symonds on the matter and he also had a word of praise for the all-rounder. "I spoke to him a few days ago since the previous incident and Andrew is remarkable in the way that he is dealing with this matter," Sutherland said. "His view on it is that it is a matter that he really wants to move on from. It is not something that he is necessarily comfortable with but he sees that there is no cause for reaction because that only further inflames it." — PTI
	Raikkonen shines in first practice Sao Paulo, October 19 Championship contender Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two today in a wet first free practice for Sunday’s title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix. The Finn, seven points behind McLaren’s 22-year-old championship leader Lewis Hamilton and three adrift of Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso, lapped the slippery Interlagos circuit in one minute, 19.580 seconds. Brazilian Felipe Massa, last year’s winner in his home city but bound to do his best to help team-mate Raikkonen this time, was second on the timesheets, 0.482 slower than the Finn. Both Ferrari drivers stayed off the track for most of the session, venturing out only in the final 15 minutes to set the best times. Raikkonen needs to win Sunday’s race and hope that his McLaren rivals slip up if he is to have a realistic chance of lifting a Formula One crown that has eluded him before. Hamilton, who had not seen the Sao Paulo circuit until yesterday afternoon, was fifth fastest, while Alonso failed to set a time. With a steady drizzle falling, the Spaniard ventured out but did not complete a timed lap in the misty conditions. BMW Sauber drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica also remained off the timesheets along with Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella. Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen was third fastest, ahead of Germany’s Nico Rosberg for Williams. — Reuters
	Military World Games Sailors win Ist gold for India Hyderabad, October 19 The men’s sailing team won India’s first gold at the 4th Military World Games today. India’s medal tally now stands at eight (one gold, one silver and six bronze). The duo of R Mahesh and Giridharilal Yadav finished first with 10.9 points after a total of eight races, ahead of France (19 points) and Spain (25 points) at the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, Colaba, Mumbai. Narjit Singh also assured at least a silver in boxing after storming into the final (54 kg). He defeated Korea Republic's Jang Kwan Sik 18-11 in the semifinal, even as all his four compatriots lost their semifinal bouts. HK Belwal (51 kg) was outplayed by Linzhi Gao of China 7-15. Satya Raju (64 kg) was no match for Ramashkevich Yauheni of Belarus, losing 5-21, D Bhagyarajan (69 kg) bit the dust against H Rawshan of Uzbekistan and Mohinder Thapa (81 kg) lost 2-18 to Alex Dymakavets. The four losers, though, added four bronze for India. In volleyball, India lost to China 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 18-25 in the men’s super league. With the loss, India are out of contention for gold or silver. They have to beat Qatar tomorrow to win a bronze. Shooters missed the podium in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event. Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang, CK Choudhary and S Hambir shot 1,730 in best-of-three aggregates to come fifth. Meanwhile, unheralded Chinese swimmer Yang Li set a world record in women’s 50m backstroke. Yang’s 28.09s effort bettered US swimmer Leila Vaziri’s mark of 28.16 seconds set at Melbourne in March this year. The record, though, would be subject to confirmation by FINA, the world governing body for swimming, games organisers said here today. — UNI
	South Africa agree to continue Pak tour Karachi, October 19 The South African cricket team today agreed to continue its ongoing tour of Pakistan after being assured of top-level security arrangements following last night’s bomb blasts here. “The team will play the remaining one-day matches as per schedule but we will assess the situation on a day-to-day basis during the rest of the tour,” said South African team manager Logan Naidoo. He said it was natural that players were deeply affected by the incident and their sympathies were with the affected families. The Graeme Smith-led team is scheduled to play one-day matches at Lahore (tomorrow), Faisalabad (October 23), Multan (October 26) and Karachi (October 29). However, doubts remain over the team playing the final one-dayer in Karachi. Earlier, the South African team management had expressed reservations about its security after a suicide bomber blew himself up during Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming procession. Pakistan Cricket Board director (cricket operations) Zakir Khan told a press conference that “we met to assure them they were in safe hands”. Zakir, however, conceded that the South Africans suggested shifting the last game to Lahore from Karachi and the matter would be discussed tomorrow in Islamabad. — PTI
	Sins that dashed Warne’s captaincy hopes ‘He would always let you down’ Sydney, October 19 The ''repeated allegations of inappropriate behaviour'' that surrounded Australian bowling legend Shane Warne, was the reason behind not giving him the opportunity to captain Australian cricket team, the reveals officially sanctioned history of Cricket Australia. The book named ''Inside Story: Unlocking Australian Cricket's Archives'', by Gideon Haigh and David Frith, is a 280,000-word account of how all the big issues have unfolded behind closed doors, of Cricket Australia (CA), for more than a century. There had always been top-level misgivings about Warne's behaviour, writes Haigh, who has had unprecedented access to minute books and other official documents as reported by ''The Daily Telegraph''. They came to a head in August 2000 when Warne was replaced as vice-captain by Steve Waugh, with Adam Gilchrist inheriting the job. The minutes of the board meeting listed seven crisply-expressed reasons for the rejection of Warne's appointment for the top post. The points included that even though ''he was given opportunities, he showed he can't take them, ''his history of inappropriate behaviour and reckless conduct.'' However, his ability to maintain public confidence was one reason ''that suggested Warne had not disqualified himself altogether.'' But, he never did get the Australian captaincy on a permanent basis. One of the incident referred in the points was when the ''Daily Mirror'', ran a lurid story of Warne propositioning a nurse in a nightclub and then harassing her with explicit phone messages. CA's then chief executive Malcolm Speed had told Warne of the board's bafflement at the "repeated allegations of inappropriate behaviour" that surrounded him. By this time, the book says, Warne had serious detractors at board level, including articulate Queensland lawyer Damien Mullins, who has since left the organisation. Mullins said, "You can have different views as to his personal behaviour or about its dimensions or its implications. But my view about his qualifications for assuming high office has been consistent all the way through.'' ''To put it in simple terms, I knew if he was put in a position of authority, sooner or later he would always let you down," he added. Warne's incapacity for accepting responsibility became proverbial, the book says. Speed let him off after stump microphones overheard him calling Zimbabwe's Stuart Carlisle a ''f...ing arsey c...'' in a CUB Series match in Sydney on January 28, 2001, but tiredly reported, ''As usual Shane has difficulty accepting that it is his fault - the stump microphones should not have been turned on.'' Later that year, on the recommendation of chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns, Warne was permitted to briefly resume the captaincy in Gilchrist's absence. But Mullins was implacably opposed and requested that his disagreement be minuted. ACB chairman Denis Rogers and WA delegate Bob Paulsen also disagreed with the appointment. Another former chairman, Victorian Bob Merriman, is described as a Warne apologist, ''who felt a mixture of delight and dismay about his fellow Victorian.'' Merriman said, ''I've always felt there should be a limit on any sentence. That's why I supported him. I've had a lot of issues with Shane but I've always had a lot of good times with him. ''We gave him another go. I thought he deserved it. Then, of course, he went and got in more trouble. Just to show he's nothing if not consistent.'' The book says Warne was a law unto himself and there were signs that his truculence was contagious in the Australian team. — UNI
	Jeev makes shaky start Vilamoura, October 19 Shiv Kapur seems to have got his elusive form back as the Delhi golfer fired a bogey-free opening round of five-under 67 to be tied 18th during the Portugal Masters at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Club. Compatriot Jeev Milkha Singh turned in a card of two-under 70 to join the huddle at the 61st slot. Twentytwo-year-old German rookie Martin Kaymer set a scorching pace with a scintillating round of 11-under 61 to set a course record, besides equalling the lowest round of the European Tour season. He has a three-shot lead over Argentine Daniel Vancsik and Swede Martin Erlandsson. — PTI
	Simarjeet extends lead Donald Banerjee Chandigarh, October 19 Simarjeet Singh made the most of a day when none of the top amateurs could muster a par card by leapfrogging into a five-stroke lead with a two-over-par 74 on the penultimate day of the LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club here today. He had a three-round score of 219. Five strokes behind the leader was the Chandigarh duo of Harjinder Singh Kang and Abhijit Singh Chadha, who were tied second at 224 after shooting cards of 74 and 75, respectively. One stroke behind the duo was Karan Vasudeva, who fired a three-over par 75 to occupy the fourth place at 225. Oil India’s Manav Das shot the day’s best card of 73 to share the fifth place with Deepankar Kaushal at 226. Kaushal had a card of eight-over par 80. Simarjeet bogeyed the fifth and seventh to make the turn at two over. He dropped a shot again on the 15th, but made amends with a birdie on the 17th for a two-over card. Abhijit sank birdies on the fourth and ninth holes, but he bogeyed the seventh to make the turn at one over. Then followed a bad back nine with Abhijit dropping shots on the 12th and 15th and double-bogeying the 13th. A birdie on the 17th, where he sank a 45-footer right to left uphill putt, saw him end the day at 74. Scores after 54 holes: Simarjeet Singh 72+73+74=219, Abhijit Singh Chadha 75+75+74=224, Harjinder Singh Kang 75+74+75=224, Karan Vasudeva 76+74+75=225, Manav Das 79+74+73=226, Dipankar Kaushal 74+72+80=226.
	Uday Kaul takes Punjab to 347 Ravi Dhaliwal Patiala, October 19 Propelled by Uday Kaul’s unbeaten 81, Punjab were all out for 347 against Delhi on day two of a league match of the North Zone inter-state cricket tournament (U-22) for the CK Nayudu Trophy here today. Resuming at their overnight score of 189 for 4, Punjab progressed thanks to Kaul and Mayank Sadhana. However, when both batsman seemed to be on course for a bigger partnership, Sadhana mistimed a pull off a Vikas Tokas delivery and was well taken at deep mid-wicket by Sohib Parsad. After Sadhana’s exit, Amritsar’s left-handed batsman Munish Bhatia joined Kaul in the middle. Kaul played with maturity beyond his age. Some of his shots, particularly square of the wicket, were a treat to watch. Bhatia, after slowly trying to get into his rhythm, was rather unfortunate to fall victim to a delivery bowled by off-spinner Narinder Singh which kept excruciatingly low. The ball trapped Bhatia leg before as the batsman failed to bring his bat down in time. It was mainly due to Kaul’s efforts that the hosts ended up on 347. His sibling Sidharth Kaul consumed opening batsman Rajat Gupta for 21 as Delhi ended the day at 33 for 1. Brief scores: Punjab (1st innings) 347 all out (Kaul 81 n.o., Sadhana 61; Narinder Singh 4-59, Vikas Tokas 2-93, Gaurav Chabbra 2-20); Delhi (1st innings) 33 for 1 (Rajat Gupta 21; Sidharth Kaul 1-15).
	Games mark fun day at institute Tribune News Service Kharar, October 19 A coaching centre observed Fun Day for its students wherein a number of indoor and outdoor games were held. In outdoor activities, volleyball, cricket and basketball matches were played. In cricket match, BCom I emerged the winner. Darshan Singh was declared the man of the match with unbeaten score of 55. In basketball, there was a close match between Classes XI and XII. The match ended in a draw with 19 baskets each. Sandeep Singh of XI was declared the man of the match. Indoor games like antakshari, one-minute eating, balloons filling etc attracted audience. Ankur Chawla, branch head, ICFAI, Mohali, Jatinder Gupta, president, Bharat Vikas Parishad, principal of Tagore Niketan School and Luvpreet from Standard Chartered Bank were among the guests. About 40 students participated in the event. Harkirat Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur, Avneet Kaur and Shagundeep Kaur were the judges. Navneet Singh Badwal, head of Vision Institute, presided over the function. Special prizes for academic achievements were given to Navneet Singh, Shalabh and Sagar of XI, Shifali and Neha of XII, Supreet and Sanjay of BCom I, Jaspreet and Harkirat Kaur of BCom II.