The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Batsmen have a ball
Jaffer scores 202; Ganguly, Laxman hit tons
Sirshendu Pant

Kolkata, December 1
Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman cracked fluent tons to propel India to their highest-ever total on home soil against Pakistan.

The hosts piled up a mammoth first innings score on the second day of the second Test here today.

Local hero Ganguly (102) shook off his Eden Gardens jinx to get to his first three-figure score on the ground while also partnering stylish batsman Laxman (112 not out) to a 163-run fifth-wicket stand before skipper Anil Kumble declared the Indian innings at 616 for 5, an hour into the post-tea session.

India’s previous highest total was 539 for 9 at Chennai in 1960-61. Mahendra Singh Dhoni also contributed to India’s total, being 50 not out.

In reply, Pakistan were 50 for one in 16 overs when stumps were drawn early with bad light stopping the play.

Opener Yaseer Hameed was foxed by Anil Kumble’s flipper as early as in the eighth over to demoralise the visiting side in chase of the huge score.

Pakistan is struggling in Tests after one-day series defeat against India. Salman Butt was batting 26 and Younis Khan was on 3 at close.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 352 for 3, Indian batsmen continued to pile on the misery on the tourists, with Wasim Jaffer (202) completing a well-deserved double century in the morning.

Stand-in skipper Younis Khan was at his wit’s end to check the marauding Indian willowers on the dry track, as the visitors’ partially fit pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar could manage to bowl only in short spells.

Ganguly was particularly severe on pacer Sohail Tanvir, and hit the youngster for four delightful boundaries in the 100th over of the innings after India crossed the 400 mark in the previous over.

Ganguly, however, departed a short while after posting his hundred, when he tried to hoist Salman Butt over mid-wicket but failed to time the shot properly to finish in the hands of Sohail Tanvir.

Ganguly’s innings included 14 boundaries during a 246-minute stint, during which he faced 156 balls.

It was a memorable day for both Ganguly and his countless admirers here as the prince of Kolkata reached his 14th Test hundred by pushing Kaneria to mid off for a single 85 minutes into the post-lunch session.

The entire Eden Gardens erupted in celebration as Ganguly raised his willow and almost jumped in joy.

The elegant Laxman also seemed in blazing form as he executed several sweetly timed strokes during his aggressive knock studded with 15 hits to the fence.

Laxman took a single to get to his hundred in the post-tea session with a single from a short arm pull to deep midwicket off leg spinner Danish Kaneria.

The Hyderabadi’s 11th hundred in 85 Tests came off 158 balls after a 233-minute stay in the middle.

The Indians had much to cheer for in the morning, with Jaffer cantering to his double hundred in style in speedster Shoaib Akhtar’s opening over.

Scoreboard

India (1st innings)

Jaffer c Akmal b Tanvir 202

Karthik c Younis b Tanvir 1

Dravid c Akmal b Kaneria 50

Tendulkar b Kaneria 82

Ganguly c Tanvir b Butt 102

Laxman not out 112

Dhoni not out 50

Extras (b-8, lb-5, w-1, nb-3) 17

Total (5 wkts dec, 152.5 overs) 616

FoW: 1-2, 2-138, 3-313, 4-375, 5-538.

Bowling: Akhtar 24-2-84-0, Tanvir 39-6-166-2, Sami 29-2-99-0, Kaneria 50-7-194-2, Hameed 4-0-24-0, Butt 6.5-0-36-1.

Pakistan (1st innings)

Butt not out 26

Hameed lbw Kumble 21

Younis not out 3

Total (1 wkt, 16 overs) 50

FoW: 1-38.

Bowling: Zaheer 1.2-0-2-0, Munaf 3-0-22-0, Harbhajan 6.4-2-14-0, Kumble 5-1-12-1. — PTI

Spineless show by Pak
Zaheer Abbas

Zaheer Abbas Throughout the day’s play, as India were batting at Kolkata, it looked as though the Pakistan team were on the field with little or no purpose.

The second day was almost totally India’s and it was pretty clear that Pakistan came to the field with no plan of action whatsoever and were only waiting for their opponents to declare.

Other than the occasional ball from Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, they did not even try to test the Indian batsmen. It was extremely defensive cricket and it was apparent that Pakistan had given up any thoughts of going for the kill.

Forget any fighting spirit, it looked as if Pakistan had resigned themselves to their fate — not at all bothered about taking wickets — and were there just because they had to be there, to make up the numbers in this Test. I cannot put it in any kinder words.

In this connection, I must make mention of the fact that Pakistan’s chairman of selectors Sahaluddin has been here in India and associating mainly with members of the Pakistani Press.

He has been making comments to the Press that we have no other players back home who could have been here in India and that this is the best available side.

The point is if this is indeed the best available side — and I am not prepared to accept that at face value — and being so thoroughly outplayed by the Indians, then what is this man doing here in India?

Is it only to host dinners for his friends while Pakistan have lost the ODI series, the Kotla Test and now are in deep trouble at Kolkata?

The domestic season back home has started and matches are on. Simply making comments to the Press that there is no other talent to choose from is not enough.

He should have been in Pakistan now, watching domestic matches and looking for youngsters to groom for the future.

Instead, he has been trying to save his skin by camping in India and by pleasing Pakistani journalists.

The Pakistan Cricket Board pays its selection committee. So why is he not
doing his job?

As far as the match itself is concerned, India played to a plan and executed it very well. I would like to congratulate Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman for their achievements as both scored their first Test centuries against Pakistan.

In fact all of the Indian batsmen have played quite beautifully. This is also
a reversal of history.

In the old days, we used to play like this against India. Now the tide seems to have turned and history is, in a sense, repeating itself with the roles being reversed.

It also once again raises questions about the effectiveness of overseas coaches, who have now been in Pakistan for the last eight years.

Look at the performances that we used to get 10-12 years ago, and look at those we are getting now. Where do we stand, and how have we benefited from the overseas presence is still not clear to me.

If Pakistan are to make a match of this, and let me say it outright here, that I have grave doubts about this, they will have to bat extraordinarily well.

The wicket is starting to deteriorate and will deteriorate even further over the next couple of days.

It will be quite a different track from what it has been so far and I have a feeling that this Indian total is a bit too much for the Pakistan batsmen. Even their first target of 417 runs to avoid the follow-on looks to be a difficult one.

It is time for Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf to stand up and be counted. Pakistan’s only chance is if at least one of their batsmen gets to a double hundred and one more must score a century.

They are already a wicket down and it now becomes imperative that each one of the recognised batsmen must make their presence at the wicket count.

From now on, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh will be the key bowlers as spin will play an increasingly important role in this match.

Unfortunately, Danish Kaneria was a big disappointment. He is a key bowler for Pakistan, but what sort of a key bowler plays like this?

He should have taken advantage of the wear and tear on the wicket but there seemed to be no apparent signs of that.

Like I said, Pakistan are up against it. They will have to find a new reserve of will-power unlike what they have shown so far to redeem themselves. I am not too sanguine about that. — Newswatch Asia

Kirsten to say yes by tomorrow

Durban/Kolkata, December 1
Gary Kirsten is set to take over as India’s cricket coach, with the BCCI virtually finalising his name and the former South African cricketer indicating he would accept the job by Monday. Only an official announcement remains to be made.

“The appointment of Kirsten is more or less confirmed,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told reporters after the board’s executive committee’s meeting at the Eden Gardens here.

“Some nitty-gritty is yet to be finalised. It will take another eight days to make a formal announcement,” said a cautious Shah, apparently in the backdrop of the episode involving Graham Ford, who backed out from taking up the job at the eleventh hour.

It is expected that the announcement is likely to be made around the time when the third Test between India and Pakistan takes place in the second week of this month at Bangalore.

The board meeting was chaired by president Sharad Pawar and attended by Niranjan Shah, vice-president Rajiv Shukla, treasurer N Srinivasan and CEO Ratnakar Shetty, among others.

Vice-president Rajiv Shukla later said that as Kirsten has informed the board that he would not be fully available till the Australia tour. Lalchand Rajput would be assistant coach for that tour.

Kirsten told PTI in Durban that his job in India was very much a “reality” and the deal would be “signed and sealed” by Monday.

“I will be moving in and out for the time being and then join the team in mid-January after the second Test against Australia.” he added. — PTI

Gurgaon Stadium
ICL bowls over Haryana
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 1
The Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) Twenty-20 tournament is surely getting bigger as it goes.

If yesterday it was about the show of political strength which Zee Entertainment head Subhash Chandra drew, today it was about sending out some signals to the rival Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) which Chandra said, “Gave the ICL free publicity. We did not have to spend much on marketing, thanks to the BCCI.”

Backing him further was none other than Haryana sports minister Kiran Choudhry, who hailed the ICL tournament as spectacular and called it a shot in Haryana’s arms.

The minister even invited Chandra’s proposal for allowing the ICL to use the Gurgaon cricket stadium for hosting its matches.

Yesterday, the Essel Group chairman had requested Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda to give the Gurgaon stadium on a 10-year lease to ICL.

Hooda, who attended the ICL Twenty-20 inaugural event, was, however, non committal.

But today, Chandra managed to glean support from Choudhry, who was visibly miffed at a certain observation Chandra made about the Gurgaon stadium.

Sitting in the VVIP block, Chandra mentioned that he had earlier spoken to Ranbir Mahindra, former BCCI chief and current president, Haryana Cricket Association, about the use of Gurgaon cricket stadium both by the ICL and BCCI.

“But that did not quite work out,” he said, as Kiran Choudhry, seated right next, listened.

She was quick to react and said the game needed to be promoted. “Please send a formal proposal to us and we will ensure you get all possible help. Cricket stadiums have been built to promote cricket and nothing should come between the game and its lovers,” Haryana sports minister said, while Chandra prided in the successful launch of ICL.

Taking on the BCCI, he said, “It is for them to see. They had said the matches will not start. But here we are, with the matches and the cheering crowds,” Chandra told The Tribune that ICL Twenty-20 was being keenly watched by cricket managers both at national and international levels.

About slowness of the pitch that hasn’t yielded many runs in the matches played till now, Chandra said the players needed to be sympathised with.

“Let us not be uncharitable to them. They are still young. We need to wait till they become heroes. The ICL is trying,” said Zee Entertainment head, who was also busy counting his sponsors.

“Even on the weekend and a holiday tomorrow, we have flown in two more sponsors. That speaks for people’s faith in our venture,” he stated.

Heroes romp home in contest sans heroics
Inzamam adjudged Man of the Match
Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

Inzamam-ul-Haq of Hyderabad Heroes plays a shot during the ICL Twenty20 match against Mumbai Champs at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula on Saturday.

Brian Lara was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Azhar Mahmood.
Brian Lara was dismissed for
a first-ball duck by Azhar
Mahmood. — Tribune photos
by Manoj Mahajan

Panchkula, December 1
The fare dished out in the evening match on the second day of the ICL Twenty20 tournament was
of the type not normally associated with a
Twenty20 game.

It turned out to be a contest lacking in excitement as Hyderabad Heroes trounced Mumbai Champs at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here today.

Chasing a victory target of 122 runs set by Hyderabad Heroes, Mumbai Champs failed to pose any threat despite the modest target and the side was skittled out for a paltry 88 runs, handing Hyderabad Heroes a comfortable 33-run victory.

It turned out to be a contest bereft of excitement and entertainment right from the beginning. Despite the presence of some quality players like Abdul Razzaq, Chris Harris, Azhar Mahmood and Ambati Rayudu, Hyderabad Heroes could not produce the batting that was expected from them.

It was lefty to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq to play a responsible innings and give his team a face-saving total. Inzamam brought all his experience into play, notching up a 28-ball 42 not out, the highest score from both sides, as his team had something to show on the board.

After Hyderabad Heroes put up this meagre score on the board, it was expected that Mumbai Champs, having big stars like Brian Lara, Nathan Astle, Vikram Solanki, Johan Van der Wath and Robin Morris in their ranks, would not be facing much of a problem in overhauling the target.

But the script never progressed this way. Seamers Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood combined well to reduce their rivals to 18 for three in the first six overs. The batsmen back in pavilion included skipper Brian Lara, out first ball to Mahmood.

After such an uninspiring start, Mumbai Champs were then in the crawl mode. Leave apart lusty fours and sixes, even singles were hard to come by.

After fine spells from Razzaq and Mahmood, Sahabuddin (4-0-10-1) and Alfred Absolem choked the flow of runs in the middle overs as the next nine overs produced just 34 runs as Mumbai Champs were 52 for five after 15 overs.

Further embarrassment was in store for the team as Harris dealt twin blows, clean-bowling Van der Wath and then having Nathan Astle caught by Inzamam at widish mid-off in the same over. Astle, the best batsman from the side, contributed a 27-ball 31.

No. 8 batsman Ranjit Khirid clubbed two sixes in his 12-ball 19 before being run out as the last wicket fell to signal curtains for Mumbai Champs. Inzamam was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad Heroes

Anirudh c Paul b R Patel 21

Mahmood c Morris b Van der Wath 2

Boje st Paul b Khirid 13

Rayudu st Paul b Yadav 14

Inzamam not out 42

Razzaq st Paul b Yadav 2

Harris b Yadav 13

Sahabuddin not out 8

Extras (b-5, lb-1) 6

Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 121

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-31, 3-41, 4-55, 5-73, 6-99.

Bowling: Van der Wath 4-0-28-1, R Patel 4-0-23-1, Khirid 4-0-16-1, Avinash Yadav 4-0-22-3, Dillon 4-0-26-0.

Mumbai Champs

Solanki c Mahmood b Razzaq 5

Morris c Khaleel b Mahmood 12

Astle c Inzamam b Harris 31

Lara lbw Mahmood 0

Khanolkar b Sahabuddin 4

Paul c Sahabuddin b Boje 14

Van der Wath b Harris 0

Khirid run out 19

Dillon st Khaleel b Reddy 0

R Patel run out 0

Yadav not out 0

Extras (lb-2, nb-1) 3

Total (all out, 18.5 overs) 88

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-18, 3-18, 4-27, 5-52, 6-61, 7-70 , 8-72, 9-72.

Bowling: Razzaq 3.5-0-13-1, Azhar Mahmood 3-0-13-2, Sahabuddin 4-0-10-1, Reddy 4-0-24-1, Absolem 2-0-9-0, Boje 1-0-6-1, Chris Harris 1-0-11-2.

Superstars tame Tigers
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Chennai Superstars’ Russel Arnold plays a shot as captain Stuart Law looks on during their Twenty20 match against Kolkata Tigers at the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium in Panchkula on Saturday. — Tribune photo by
Manoj Mahajan

Panchkula, December 1
Chennai Superstars started their campaign with a six-run win over Kolkata Tigers in another low-scoring match of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament at the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Sector 3, here today.

Before a thin crowd compared to yesterday’s packed house, some domestic Indian players — Vasanth Saravanan and R Sathish (Chennai Superstars) and Subhomay Das, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Eklak Ahmed (Kolkata Tigers) made their presence felt with a good show.

A timely charge by Saravanan and Sathish in the penultimate over, which fetched 21 valuable runs, guided the Superstars to a respectable total of 140 for 5.

Saravanan remained unbeaten on 22 off 16 balls, while Sathish chipped in with an unbeaten 23 off 15 deliveries.

Earlier, the team got off to a poor start as openers Hemant Kumar (5) and Harvey (3) returned to the pavilion when the scoreboard read just 13 runs. Pacer Eklak Ahmed struck in successive overs to give early jolts to the Chennai team.

The Superstars recovered with a 76-run partnership between skipper Stuart Law (33 off 38 balls) of Australia and Sri Lankan all-rounder Russel Arnold (38 off 32 balls).

For the Tigers, the successful bowlers were Eklak Ahmed (2-14) and Craig McMillan (2-30).

Tigers, too, did not get a good start as openers Darren Maddy (8) and Lance Klusener (0) fell cheaply to Pakistani pacer Shabbir Ahmed in the third over.

Fighting knocks by S Das (35 off 34 balls) and Jhunjhunwala (30 off 21 balls) went in vain as the Tigers lost by six runs.

Shabbir Ahmed was declared the Man of the Match.

Scoreboard

Chennai Superstars

Harvey c Dasgupta b Eklak 3

Hemanth c Maddy b Eklak 5

Law c Hayward b McMillan 33

Arnold c Jhunjhunwala

b Maddy 38

Badani c Klusener b McMillan 3

Sathish not out 23

Saravanan not out 22

Extras (lb-6, w-7) 13

Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 140

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-13, 3-89, 4-91, 5-96.

Bowling: Hayward 4-0-21-0, Eklak Ahmid 2-0-14-2, Diwakar 2-0-11-0, Klusener 2-0-15-0, Chandana 2-0-15-0, McMillan 4-0-30-2, Maddy 3-0-14-1, Shibsagar Singh 1-0-14-0.

Kolkata Tigers

Klusener c Syed b Shabbir 0

Maddy c Read b Shabbir 8

Das c Hemanth b Kumaran 35

McMillan c Law b Harvey 25

Jhunjhunwala c Saravanan

b Kumaran 30

Chandana b Harvey 1

Dasgupta not out 14

Shibsagar Singh c Badani b Sathish 2

Diwakar not out 12

Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-3) 7

Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 134

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-10, 3-51, 4-85, 5-99, 6-106 , 7-111.

Bowling: Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-22-2, Harvey 4-0-30-2, Kumaran 4-0-23-2, Sathish 3-0-18-1, Syed Mohammed 4- 0-27-0, Arnold 1-0-10-0.

Hoggard, Panesar bowl out Lanka for 188

Kandy, December 1
Matthew Hoggard and Monty Panesar shared seven wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 188 on first day of the first Test against England today.

Panesar finished with three for 46 from 14 overs and Hoggard returned figures of four for 29 from 14 overs.

Kumar Sangakkara rescued the hosts from an embarrassingly low score with
a fine 92.

He fell short of a century only because of a spectacular diving catch from Paul Collingwood at backward point. — Reuters

Punjab struggle without Yuvraj

Siliguri, December 1
Bengal restricted Punjab to 210 for 7 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Kanchenjunga Stadium here today.

Opting to bat first, Punjab began well with openers Ravneet Ricky (23) and Karan Goel (56) putting on 78 runs.

Skipper Pankaj Dharmani made a valuable 42, even as other batsmen could not offer much resistance.

Punjab were weakened by the absence of Yuvraj Singh, who did not take the field and left for Kolkata in the afternoon due to stomach ailment.

Brief scores: Punjab (1st innings): 210 for 7 (Karan Goel 56, Pankaj Dharmani 42; Ashok Dinda 2-36, Ranadeb Bose 2-45, Sourav Sarkar 2-68).

HP 228 for 5

Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh scored 228 for 5 after being put in to bat on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match against Virender Sehwag-led Delhi here on Saturday.

Himachal skipper Sandeep Sharma (9) was trapped lbw by Ishant Sharma in the ninth over when the team score was 32. Mohnish Gupta (49) and Mukesh Sharma (40) put on 71 runs for the second wicket.

Brief scores: HP (1st innings): 228 for 5 (Mohnish Gupta 49, Mukesh Sharma 40, Paras Dogra 32 n.o., Manvinder Bisla 39 n.o.; Chetanya Nanda 3-57).

Rana hits ton

Jammu: An unbeaten century by Haryana wicketkeeper Sachin Rana helped his side reach 247 for four against hosts Jammu and Kashmir at close of play on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match.

Brief scores: Haryana (1st innings): 247 for 4 (Sachin Rana 108 n.o., Sumeet Sharma 50; Vijay Sharma 3-50). — PTI