 |
|
|
BCCI to keep off The Wall
Fletcher flays Botham, Boycott
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ponting, Symonds, sign up for IPL
Defeats will help Pak: Malik
WC qualifier against Lebanon
‘I’m as much a Swede as Indian’
Cricket, hockey heroes felicitated
Nehru hockey Surjit hockey
Divij, Ashwin win
Siddons B’desh coach
Sehwag bereaved
J&K 224 for 4 against HP Paes-Damm bow out
|
|
New Delhi, October 30 Dravid's unceremonious ouster from the Indian team for the first two one-dayers against Pakistan has drawn sharp criticism from many former players with Sandeep Patil even seeking Pawar's intervention. "I don't think the BCCI should comment on this issue. It is the prerogative of the selection committee to choose the team and we don’t interfere in these matters", BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said. "Even Dravid has not said anything. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has said Dravid will make a comeback and I believe that's true", Shukla said. Patel and another Mumbai-based former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar have been particularly criticial of Vengsarkar for dropping Dravid from the team, saying a player of his status should be treated with more respect. In his column, Patil said the natinoal selectors had played a "planned game" and the latest development was perhaps linked with why Dravid relinquished the captaincy without giving any reasons after a successful England tour. "I had earlier supported the idea that Sharad Pawar, as BCCI president, should not interfere in selection matters. I would revise my decision now and recall how once NKP Salve, as then BCCI president, had intervened and influenced the selectors to include Sunil Gavaskar after he had been dropped," Patil said in his write-up.
— PTI
|
|
Dravid’s omission
Kolkata, October 30 Talking to the reporters at a press meet in the city here, Jadeja said, “Jimmy paaji thik kaha tha (Jimmy Amarnath was correct in making his statement),” reminding Mohinder Amarnath's calling the national selectors a ‘bunch of jokers’. However, when reminded about the quote, he said, “ Maine to nahin bola (I am not saying it).” “When Rahul Dravid was dropped for the Australia ODI series, I was shocked. Now he being rested for the first two ODIs in Pakistan series is ridiculous. If he is dropped for lack of form, you have picked Virender Sehwag for exactly the same reason - lack of form. So where is the justification," Jadeja asked. “Sehwag is an exceptional cricketer undoubtedly. But you cannot pick him based on his past laurels. He is in no sort of form,” he added. When told that the selectors had reasoned they were looking at the future, Jadeja asked, “Who is a junior in the present side with the rare exception of Pravin Kumar. The selectors have not chosen Suresh Raina or Dinesh Kaarthik even after their performance.” "One year ago Sourav Ganguly was no good for the Indian side and now he is the one for the future. Now Dravid is no good, again a few weeks later he will be the only one,” he added. “There is no standard selection procedure. Dravid was being groomed for one year as captain and now M S Dhoni is being groomed. “Again we are talking about a new captain. Whats the point? Give Dhoni a chance in both versions of the game,” he said. Talking about the composition of the Indian team, he said, “It should have a mix of the old and new. The experienced and the new should be blended together. Experience does have a role to play, Ganguly showed it.” On whether India should have a new coach, he said, “As far as I am concerned, India has three coaches doing a good job. V Prasad and Robin Singh are excellent coaches. Lalchand Rajput is also doing an excellent job. What do you need - result or a big name. It's for you to decide.” Talking about the India-Pakistan series, he said, “It will be very competitive. Both teams would be extra aggressive. They would want to give more than they can. So none of the matches would go down to the wire.” He said the series would be 3-2 going in either team's favour. On Sreeshanth's aggressive show on the field, he said, “We are making too much out of it. It is his way of playing the game.” He lauded the Indian Premier League
(IPL) as one of the best things happening to Indian cricket. “If run properly it will give the junior cricketers something to look forward to.” Indian Cricket League (ICL), he said, had taken a backseat dealing with most of the second choice cricketers.
— UNI
|
||
|
Fletcher flays Botham, Boycott
London, October 30 Fletcher, who has already ruffled many a feather with his claim that Flintoff's drinking binges let him down, trained guns on both Botham and Boycott, who often made his life difficult when the Zimbabwean had the England team reins in his hand. In Fletcher's 'Behind the Shades', which is being serialised by "Daily Mail", the rotund cricketer-turned-coach recalled how he had approached Botham before his first tour as England coach, to South Africa in 1999-2000 and how the relationship worsened. "'Get rid of all the guys like Atherton, Caddick and Tufnell,' he told me. 'Why?' I asked. 'Because they're too old, rather go with youth,' he replied. ''Who then?' I asked. 'Graeme Hick and Robin Smith.' 'But hold on they are the same age,' I replied in exasperation. 'But they are different,' he said. Unbelievable," Fletcher wrote. And it was unfortunate that Botham's view swayed everyone, including chairman of selectors David Graveney, Fletcher rued. "My relationship with Botham deteriorated over time, so much so that when I finished with England he did not even have the decency to come and shake my hand." He also claimed that his wards had scant respect for Botham. "He thinks the players listen to him but they do not. Often you would go into the dressing room and hear the players in exasperation saying things like: 'Have you heard what Botham is saying about the wicket?'" Fletcher also recalled an incident during the World Cup when senior players, including Kevin Pietersen, skipped a boating session because Botham too was invited. Fletcher had more or less similar views on Boycott and he felt the former opener had a personal agenda against him. "I always felt there was something personal in his criticisms. He went strangely quiet when we were doing well and could not bring himself to praise me for any successes and this became especially obvious after the Ashes win of 2005." He also admitted giving Boycott a sound thrashing over phone on one occasion. "Boycott was always asking England players to dinner. I would hear it time and time again in the dressing room 'Boycott has asked me to dinner again and I don't want to go.' But what he would do is pester them and pester is the right word until eventually they joined him. And as the individual was off to dinner, you could always hear the rest shouting 'good luck' sarcastically."
— PTI
|
||
|
Ponting, Symonds, sign up for IPL
Mumbai, October 30 Ponting, his deputy Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Jason Gillespie and Cameron White are the Australians who have joined the IPL, a media release said here today. Pakistani Afridi and South African Loots Bosman have also been roped in for the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 championship which has already contracted 29 players from New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies. So far, 44 players have signed up for the tournament which will feature 56 league games plus two semifinals and a final after it kicks off in mid-April next year. Among those who had signed up earlier are retired Australian greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGarth, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, South African captain Graeme Smith and his compatriot Shaun Pollock, current New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and Pakistan’s Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar. IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi expressed satisfaction at the signing up of the cream of Australia and added that their induction would add a new dimension to the League. "I am sure that the cricket loving public of India would cherish the opportunity to see the world champions turn out for their local teams. The induction of the prodigious Aussie talent will add a whole new dimension to the cricket that is played in the League," he said.
— PTI
|
||
|
Dubai, October 30 The Sultan of Swing said, ''Indians are favourites in India as it is very difficult to get them out on those wickets. Shoaib Akhtar's return to the Pakistan side may have an impact if he can get his rhythm and swing.'' Akram, gives fifty-fifty chance to both the teams in the one-day series, but tilts the balance immensely in favour of India in the longer version of the game. ''In the one-day series, both the teams will be evenly balanced. But in the Test series the Indians could be far ahead of Pakistan.'' The 41-year-old Akram, considered by many as the best left-arm bowler ever to play the game, felt that the absence of Inzamam-ul Haq will be an important factor in this series. ''The vacuum created by Inzamam will be felt greatly during the Indian series. The middle order will feel the pressure of his absence, especially on those flat wickets,'' he said. The left-arm speedster also said it would be interesting to see two young rival team captains who will go all out to prove themselves during the India-Pakistan series. ''Both (Shoaib) Malik and (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni have proved to be quick learners of the game. There will be a lot of pressure on Malik in India. Apart from playing good cricket, he will also have to handle Indian media, and that could put extra pressure on him,'' he was quoted as saying by the 'Gulf News'. About Irfan Pathan, Akram said, ''Pathan is now bowling well. In fact, every second ball that he bowled against Australia was a leg break. But that was on Indian wickets, on Australian wickets he might suffer. He needs to concentrate more on his swing and improve it.'' Dismissing the rebel cricket series in India, Akram said, ''Rebel league will not do well because most of the retired players are to play in it.'' Akram revealed that he 'hated' his bowling partner Waqar Younis during their playing days. ''We hated each other so much that we were not even on talking terms, both on and off the field, but the fact is that Pakistan benefited from our rivalry,'' remarked Akram. Age seemed to have mellowed down Akram who admitted that they were good friends now. Akram went on take 916 wickets from Test and one-day matches while Younis had 789 wickets from both forms of the game.
— UNI
|
||
|
Lahore, October 30 ''We are disappointed to have lost out on a chance to win the the series but the guys tried hard and we will learn from our mistakes for the Indian tour,'' Malik told Reuters. ''If anything it is good we lost because now we can learn and be better prepared for the Indian tour which is always a pressure one for us.'' Pakistan leave for India on November 1 to play five one-day internationals and three Tests. Their first one-dayer will take place in Guwahati on November 5. Pakistan were defeated in their five-match one-day series to South Africa yesterday 3-2 after losing the final game by 14-runs. South Africa also won the Test series 1-0. Malik insisted his team did not cave-in under pressure and said no one was to blame for the defeat. ''We batted irresponsibly in the final match after a solid start,'' he said. ''I don't want to blame anyone because everyone tried their best. ''One result does not mean we are chokers,'' he added. Malik said the return of rebellious strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar was a big boost for the team. ''He is always an asset for the team and top bowler if he is 100 per cent fit,'' Malik said. ''It is good he bowled so well after playing after such a long time. It is good sign for the Indian series.'' Akhtar returned to international cricket on Monday and took 4-43 after serving a 13 matches ban from his cricket board.
— Reuters
|
||
|
WC qualifier against Lebanon
Margao, October 30 India, who needed a 3-0 margin victory to qualify for the next round, took the lead in the 29th minute but failed to take advantage of the scoring chances in the second half at Nehru Stadium. Substitute Mohammed
Ghaddar, who was instrumental in Lebanon's big win at home against India, was again their saviour when he scored both goals in the 80th minute and 86th minute. Bhaichung Bhutia managed to level the score 2-2 when he scored in the injury time through a header of a corner kick taken by Steven Dias. Thus, Lebanon with an aggregate of 6-3 made it to the next round. Both teams started cautiously as play was confined to the midfield for the major part of the first-half. India made the first move in the 23rd minute through Bhaichung Bhutia who set Sunil Chetri into the box. Chetri got the better of a defender and shot straight into the hands of keeper
Mehanna. Minutes later, Lebanon made a counter move through Hamdan Husseini who send a through pass to El Ali Mohammad, that caught the entire Indian defence napping. Mohammad, who had only to beat keeper Subrato Paul, drove the ball wide off the mark. India, who threatened the rival defence from the right, took the lead in the 29th minute. Steven Dias send a long lob into the box for unmarked Sunil Chetri whose header hit the post before entering the net. India continued to hold edge in the second half and had a chance to increase the lead but N. Pradeep wasted the opportunity when he drove the ball straight into the hands of keeper Mehanna from close off a pass by Steven Dias. India, who needed two more goals to score to win by 3-0 margin, suffered a jolt midway in the second half when keeper Subrato Paul brought down El Ali Mohammad inside the box when he was about to score thereby earning a red card and a penalty. Defender Samir Naik had to make way for Sandip
Nandy. The resultant penalty kick was taken by substitute Mohammad Ghaddar who beat Nandy to his left to draw level 1-1 in the 80th
minute. Ghaddar Mohammad then put his team up in the 86th minute when he dodged past a couple of Indian defenders before drawing keeper Nandy out to place the ball into the net. India managed to draw level in the dying minute through Bhutia who headed in off a corner kick taken by Steven Dias. Indian coach Bob Houghton said, "Overall, we played well. The first-half went according to our plan and in the second half, we missed a good chance through Pradeep to increase the lead but the penalty through goalkeeper Subrato Paul and the red card completely changed our fortunes." The coach said, “We could not do much with ten men” and he blamed the Asian Football Federation for the wrong knock-out format. "It has put 23 Asian teams out - almost half of the Asian teams," he added.
— PTI
|
||
|
‘I’m as much a Swede as Indian’
Port St. Lucie (US), October 30 Chopra's breakthrough victory made him the 12th first time winner on the PGA Tour and the Stockholm-born golfer admitted it was a huge occasion for him. "It is something I've dreamt about for a long time," said a Chopra admitted he tossed and turned in his bed in "I was wound up pretty tight last night but amazingly this morning I felt much more relaxed. I let it all kind of sink in and put things into perspective," he said. "All night, I was playing those holes over and over in my mind and never once did I play them the way I played them today," he said. His sterling show at the par-73 Tesoro Club Chopra earned him $ 810,000 and his career earning is about to touch the five-million mark. Born to a Swedish mother and an Indian father, raised by grandparents after he moved to India at the age of seven and married to an Australian - Chopra is at ease with his cross-cultural life and admitted his split loyalty. "I'm equally proud of both," he said. "I consider myself half and half. I feel maybe more Swedish when I'm in Sweden and more Indian when I'm in India. "I love both cultures and I grew up in India, so maybe my thinking might be a little bit more Indian. But I'm very proud of the fact that I have two great nationalities that follow me and are behind me and support me," said Chopra, who has two Nationwide Tour titles and as many Challenge Tour wins under his belt. After honing his basics at the Delhi Golf Club, Chopra won the 1988 All-India Junior Golf Championship at the age 14 and repeated the feat in 1990 and 1991.
— PTI
|
||
|
Cricket, hockey heroes felicitated
New Delhi, October 30 It turned out to be a red letter day for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his bravehearts as they first got an audience with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and were then felicitated by President Pratibha Patil at the majestic Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Indian hockey team, which won the Asia Cup recently, also had their moment of glory with the President felicitating them along with the cricketers at a simple ceremony which lasted about half an hour. It was a moment to cherish for the cricket team, which beat arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling Twenty20 World Cup final, as the players interacted with the Prime Minister and his wife Gursharan Kaur for close to 15 minutes. The Prime Minister personally congratulated each member of the team and presented them with mementos for their remarkable achievement. The President also hosted a high tea at the Banquet Hall for the two teams, who were dressed in formal navy blue blazers. While the hockey team was seated almost an hour before the function began, the cricketers came just a few minutes before the President's arrival after their interaction with the Prime Minister. However, Virender Sehwag was not present at the function. Dhoni greeted his hockey counterpart Prabodh Tirkey and the duo together posed for shutterbugs much to the delight of the spectators. Dhoni also presented to Patil a bat signed by all the players of the World Champion team after exchanging pleasantries and introducing the members of his team to the first lady. After the cricketers, the President personally interacted with the hockey players and captain Prabodh Tirkey presented her a replica of the Asia Cup as she posed with the team. "It is heartening to know that it has been a successful year for Indian sports. I congratulate the victorious teams for their hard work. As a sports loving nation, we should see that achievements of sportspersons do not go unappreciated," Patil said in a brief speech before coming down from the dais to meet the players. "You deserve all the compliments for that. Not only me, the entire nation is proud of your achievements. I have called you to appreciate your triumph so that the younger generation can derive inspiration from you," she added. The President did not forget to appreciate the football team's feat of winning the Nehru Cup although Baichung Bhutia's men had to miss the ceremony because of their World Cup qualifier against Lebanon in Goa today. Patil also made a special mention of chess ace Viswanathan Anand's World Championship triumph, which she had already acknowledged after his return to India earlier this month. "In the light of recent victories, we can be sure that India remains committed to encouraging sports," she said. The President then joined the two teams for high tea and interacted with the players. "It is really very overwhelming to be at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. We also met the Prime Minister in the morning," said Venkatesh Prasad, bowling coach of the cricket team. Yuvraj Singh was also very excited at meeting the first lady and the Prime Minister. "She appreciated our triumph and said good words while Prime Minister fondly recalled his childhood days spent in Punjab." An excited S. Sreesanth said, "This is one of a kind experience for me. The President said 'well done'. This is something I never expected." Hockey player Prabodh Tirkey said, "It is a grand occasion for us and we are happy to be here."
— PTI
|
||
|
Nehru hockey
New Delhi, October 30 In the other semifinal, Harjinder Singh scored a brace to help Government High School, Harnam Dass Pura, Jalandhar, outplay Malwa Khalsa School, Ludhiana, 3-0. The Jalandhar school will take on Birsa Munda in the final tomorrow. Birsa Munda spoiled the Punjab party with a determined display of aggressive hockey and though they failed to score in the regular period, they had enough ammunition to stroke out Springdale, Amritsar, in the tie-breaker. It was a fast paced semifinal with both teams making some incisive moves but could not translate their chances into goal. Most of the time, the ball moved from one side to another but the forwards of both sides turned out to be poor marksmen. Birsa Munda had more share of the ball in the second half but again could not take advantage of the situation as they muffed chances. In the tie-breaker, Springdale started promisingly converting their first two strokes while Birsa Munda muffed their second and third strokes. However, after that the Amritsar school wasted their next three strokes, their rivals converted their remaining two to emerge winners. For Birsa Munda, James Munda, Arbin Barla and Joseph Toppo were on target while Amonmirus Tirkey and Bipin Kerketta failed with their strokes. For the losers, Mandeep Singh and Rupinder Singh scored while Harmeet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Ramandeep Singh muffed their chances. Earlier in an all-Punjab semifinal, Jalandhar school outplayed their neighbouring city rival Malwa Khalsa, Ludhiana, 3-0 after leading 1-0 at halftime. Satbir Singh put Jalandhar ahead in the 23rd minute and in the second session, Harjinder Singh scored in the 48th and 60th minutes to seal the match for his side.
— UNI
|
||
|
Surjit hockey
Jalandhar, October 30 In other matches, Indian Airlines beat Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, 8-1 and Punjab Police beat Sports Authority of India, Delhi, 5-1. In the Pool D match between BP and Namdharis, both teams displayed a good game. In the 8th minute of the game, BP was able to take the lead from a field goal scored by Pundalic from top of the striking circle. In the very next minute, Jarnail Singh of BP scored with a reverse flick from In the 37th minute in the second half, Namdharis were able to reduce the margin when Gurcharan Singh converted a penalty corner. In the 53rd minute, BP consolidated with penalty corner conversion by Gurpreet Singh. The first match of the day was played between pool ‘C’ teams — SAI, New Delhi, and Punjab Police. Since last year’s runners-up Indian Oil from the same pool has won all matches to reserve a berth in the semifinals, both the teams faced disqualification despite a 5-1 win for the Punjab Police. SAI’s Ajay Gupta scored the first and the only goal for the team in the 9th minute. Punjab Police’s skipper Jugraj Singh managed a penalty corner for the team in the 16th minute. Gabbar Singh sounded the board in the 20th minute to change the score to 2-1 till half-time. Gaganajit Singh hit the goal twice in the 41st and 50th minutes taking the lead to 4-1. The team captain hit a penalty corner once again in the 63rd minute to register a 5-1 victory. In a pool ‘B’ match, Indian Airlines played its first match of the tournament against RCF, Kapurthala, ousting it from the tournament with a thumping 8-1 score. Airlines player Sandeep Michael hit goals in the 16th and 22nd minute. Sandeep Singh raised the score further to 3-0 by converting a penalty corner in the 27th minute. Michael struck again in the next minute. RCF player Deepak Kumar hit the only goal for the team in the 34th minute. Airlines men hit back again in the 45th, 53rd, 57th and 60th minute to raise the tally to 8-1.
|
||
|
New Delhi, October 30 Sixth-seed Ashutosh Singh, who looked impressive in home ITF events, lost 4-6, 6-7 (2) to unseeded Korean Hyun-Soo Lim here yesterday. Fourth seed Divij Sharan pipped American George Barth 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the second round while Ashwin Vijayragavan got past Bo-Sung Kim of Korea 6-4, 6-2 in his first round clash. Yannick Nelord also secured a second round berth as his Pakistani opponent Shahzad Khan retired when scores were level 1-1 in the first set.
— PTI
|
|
Dhaka, October 30 Siddons, 43, is due to arrive in Dhaka soon to sign his contract with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the governing body said in a statement. “I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted an offer from the BCB to coach the Bangladesh team,” Siddons was quoted as saying in the BCB statement. Siddons, an assistant coach with the Australian team, replaces compatriot Dav Whatmore, who stepped down after the Indian tour of Bangladesh in May. His appointment was confirmed after fellow contender John Dyson, also of Australia, accepted an offer to coach the West Indies. Siddons scored 11,587 first-class runs at an average of 44.91 for Victoria and South Australia between 1984 and 2000, but never made it to the Australian Test squad, although he played a solitary one-day international in
1988.— AFP
|
|
|
New Delhi, October 30 He was 70. Sehwag and his brothers were at his bedside when the end came. The Delhi opener, who staged a comeback in the national team for the first two Many of Sehwag's Ranji Trophy teammates and his close friends attended the cremation. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary S.P. Bansal and sports secretary Sunil Dev condoled the death.
— PTI
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video (
