The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sachin doubtful starter
India could field injured Dhoni; Gambhir put on standby
Sutram Suresh

PACEMAN’S BURDEN: Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar carries stand-in captain Younis Khan during a practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday
ahead of the third Test.
— Reuters photo

Bangalore, December 7
India’s quest for a historic Test series win against Pakistan on home soil suffered a blow with Sachin Tendulkar being rendered a doubtful starter as the teams go into the third and final Test here tomorrow grappling with injuries to key players.

Tendulkar has aggravated a knee injury and the team management will wait till tomorrow morning to decide whether to field the master batsman in the game which Pakistan needs to win to level the series 1-1.

It has been 28 long years since India won a Test series against Pakistan at home and the 1-0 lead has provided Anil Kumble and his men the platform to push for the cause.

Apart from Tendulkar’s knee pain, the Indians have more problems. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is still recovering from a finger injury, while most of their frontline pace bowlers like Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth are also on the casualty list.

The visitors, who reportedly had to deal with the leadership crisis on the eve of the match, have also been hit by a spate of injuries which will again see skipper Shoaib Malik sitting on the sidelines.

But despite the injury concerns, Indian captain Anil Kumble put up a bold face and said that there would be no let-up in the intensity among his players.

The Indian camp was keen to rest Dhoni, still recovering from a finger injury, but Kumble indicated that the latter could be drafted into the playing eleven after Tendulkar aggravated his knee problem.

“It’s not that Dhoni cannot play. He has been playing on strapping. We have a long season ahead and there is no break. We wanted to rest him but because of Sachin’s injury, we will have to rethink. It depends on Sachin’s fitness,” Kumble said.

“Gautam Gambhir is coming as back-up for Sachin,” he added.

The 37-year-old captain admitted that India would go into the third Test with “an inexperienced pace attack” but said it would give youngsters a chance to excel.

“Yes, it’s an inexperienced pace attack. But it’s a nice opportunity for them to excel,” he said.

“Irfan Pathan has had success in Tests, while the other two boys have played Test cricket. It’s a chance for them to seal their place,” he said referring to VRV Singh and Ishant Sharma.

In case, Tendulkar is not fit enough to play, the in-form Yuvraj Singh, who has not featured in any of the two Tests so far, may get a chance to prove his worth in the longer version of the game.

The injuries to Zaheer and Munaf Patel means that India would go into the game with a new pace attack with Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma and VRV Singh vying for the two slots.

Pakistan’s potent pace attack will have an advantage if the curator’s prediction turns true. A fully-fit Shoaib Akhtar is the one to watch out for.

But Pakistan’s stand-in captain Younis Khan indicated that his team might not go with a four-way pace attack.

“Conditions are good for fast bowlers but if it is a dry track there is no point in bringing in four fast bowlers.

“There’s no point in putting pressure on Akhtar as no one person can win a Test,” Younis said.

As curator Narayan Raju said that it would be a batsman-friendly pitch which will also assist spinners later on, the team management can think about relying on their spinner in the absence of a specialist fast bowler.

Sunil Gavaskar had authored a 2-0 triumph in six-Test series against Asif Iqbal’s team in 1979-80.

Pakistan can look back to history for inspiration as they have a good record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They had saved a series defeat here in 2005 when they were in a similar situation.

Pakistan had handed India a crushing defeat in the third Test here in their last tour to draw the series after going down in the first and then drawing the next.

With Younis regaining his form, the visitors could be difficult to handle by the Indians and a close and tense battle could be on cards on the ground which has produced quite a few thrillers in the recent past.

India will need to up their game if they hope to pull off another victory.

Teams (from): India: Anil Kumble (Capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Ishant Sharma, VRV Singh and Murali Kartik.

Pakistan: Younis Khan (capt), Abdur Rehman, Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and Yasir Hameed. — PTI

Guru Gary arrives, Kumble plays host

Bangalore, December 7
Playing the perfect host, Indian captain Anil Kumble invited coach-designate Gary Kirsten and members of Team India as well as the Pakistan side to his home for dinner tonight.

On the eve of the third Test, Kumble got a chance to celebrate his elevation as India’s Test captain in his home town.

Earlier, Kirsten arrived here this evening for his first interaction with the players since taking up the high-profile job, which he described as a “real challenge”. After spending 45 minutes in the hotel, he drove to Kumble’s house.

The former South African opener, who accepted a two-year contract offered by the BCCI earlier this week, said he had played a lot of cricket in India but now that he was a part of the set-up, he wanted to understand Indian culture better.

“I’ve just come here to meet the players and really just to observe what they do,” he told reporters at the airport.

The 40-year-old Kirsten said it was a real challenge but also a great honour for him to be Team India’s coach. — PTI

Captaincy is chasing me: Younis

Bangalore, December 7
Speculation of a leadership crisis in the Pakistan camp was put to rest with Younis Khan on Friday making it clear that he would lead the team in the third Test against India and that there was no “confusion” on this issue.

Younis, who was said to be reluctant to lead the team, however, admitted that he had never enjoyed captaincy which had been chasing him time and again.

“I always run away from captaincy because I want to enjoy my cricket. It affects my batting, but it comes to me every time. The more I run away from it, the more it chases me,” Younis told reporters on the eve of the match.

“I accepted vice-captaincy for this tour only on request and I want to do my best. Now there is more pressure on the Pakistan captain issue. But I’m leading the side and there is no confusion and no differences in the team,” he said.

Pakistan media manager Ehsan Malik also dismissed media reports that Younis was reluctant to lead the side.

“Since the time I arrived here I’ve been taking your calls since 6.30 in the morning till close to midnight. And I have responded to all your calls all the time. Last night, so many people called me and I told everybody that this is just a baseless rumour. But the media has reported otherwise,” he said.

“My humble request to all of you with utmost humility is please believe my words,” Malik added.

Asked whether Pakistan were the favourites as Sachin Tendulkar might not play in the Test, Younis said Pakistan would look to level the series.

“It’s not the question of who is favourite and who’s not. We want to win this Test and we don’t want to lose out on a draw. We want to square the series.” — PTI

Bangalore jinx may haunt India
Zaheer Abbas

Zaheer Abbas The Bangalore Test promises to be one the most open contests in an India-Pakistan series in a very long time. After the Kotla Test, India certainly held the upper hand and that continued into the third day of the second Test at Kolkata. Thereafter, however, Pakistan have managed to fight their way back into the series.

In fact, the two teams are grappling with the same issues, call them problems if you like. Both Pakistan and India have very strong batting line-ups, but unfortunately not the bowling to back that up. I think the Kolkata Test was a perfect illustration of that, but more of that later.

Having salvaged the last Test through an honourable draw, and given the recent history of Tests between Pakistan and India at Bangalore, I would have expected Pakistan to at least hold an edge. Twice in the last two series, these teams have reached this venue with India winning the previous Test, both times at Kolkata. Both times, the hosts have gone on to lose.

However, much as I would love to see Pakistan win here and square the series, I also have my doubts. The reason, as I mentioned briefly earlier, is the lack of bowling options available to their captain, Younis Khan.

With Umar Gul returning home and Mohammad Asif I hear put of action for at least another two months, Shoaib Akhtar has been the only one carrying the attack to the Indians.

Unless the disappointing Mohammad Sami, Sohail Tanvir and Danish Kaneria gear up, I fear this is the situation that will carry on and prevail even in Bangalore as well. The batting is finally beginning to look good with Salman Butt, Younis and Mohammad Yousuf adding to the runs. Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal have also contributed to the score, so on that count at least, Pakistan have few worries. What will still be bothering them is the prospect of bowling India out twice.

One more factor favours Pakistan. India are suddenly without their two main seam bowlers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel. Irfan Pathan has not played Test cricket for some time now while the other two are absolutely new. I also hear that Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni may not be playing.

These are encouraging signs for Pakistan — may be India’s Bangalore jinx is still at work here — but then Younis’ team have to put together that sort of a spectacular performance to win this important game.

Finally, a word on the Pakistan captain. I am glad he has agreed to lead once again despite having issues with the management.

The last time these two teams played here, Younis got a big hundred, 250-plus if I remember rightly, so he will go into this match in a comfortable frame of mind. He also has had that fighting century in the Kolkata second innings and seems to especially love the Indian bowling.

All these are good preliminary signs for Pakistan. They now have to make things work on the field if they are to avoid losing a Test series in India for the first time in about 28 years. — Newswatch Asia

Vengsarkar to meet Pawar next week

Mumbai, December 7
Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar would be able to watch the third Test between India and Pakistan at Bangalore on all five days following the rescheduling of his meeting with BCCI chief Sharad Pawar to next week.

“Vengsarkar is expected to meet Pawar next week, and it’s likely to be on December 14,” sources close to Vengsarkar said today.

This development has paved the way for the former India skipper to watch the entire proceedings of the Test at Bangalore starting tomorrow.

Vengsarkar attended the last selection committee meeting on Wednesday in Bangalore which picked the team for the final Test and the 24 probables for the tour of Australia after making up his mind to do so very late on the eve of the sitting.

He had come back from Kolkata in the middle of the second Test after his demands for the scrapping of the seven-point guidelines issued to the selectors, that included a ban on them from writing columns and talking to the media, were not accepted by the board.

Vengsarkar, who had to stop his regular newspaper columns following the board’s diktat, also dashed off a letter to the BCCI stating his position not to attend the meeting unless his demands were met, but the board did not budge from its stand.

Hectic parleys on the phone with Pawar on the eve of the selection meeting, after the board chief’s softening of the stand on the issue, enabled Vengsarkar to make up his mind to proceed to Bangalore and chair the meeting.

“I have decided to attend the meeting in the interest of Indian cricket and following the softening of its stand by the board,” Vengsarkar, who had demanded compensation from the BCCI for stopping his columns, had said.

The indications of a breakthrough in the standoff between Vengsarkar and the board came earlier on that day when the board, in a dramatic turnaround, said it would examine his “legitimate” demands for compensation for not writing columns.

In an apparent bid to work out a truce, Pawar said he wanted Vengsarkar to continue in the post.

In an unscheduled press conference, Pawar had announced a meeting of the BCCI’s Working Committee has been convened on December 16 in Mumbai to look into the chief selector’s “legitimate” demands for compensation.

“We don’t have paid selectors, like some other countries have. But selectors need to travel a lot and watch number of matches. And Vengsarkar said he would incur a loss of Rs 40 lakh, which is not a small amount. So we have to decide how to compensate the loss,” Pawar had said.

Next week’s meeting between the former cricketer and the Union Minister, originally scheduled for this weekend, is to take place before the BCCI’s Finance Committee meeting on December 14, and Special General Meeting and Working Committee meeting, both on December 16, as per current indications.

The Vengsarkar issue is expected to dominate the discussions at these meetings of the country’s apex cricket body. — PTI

Lara’s Champs lose again
Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

Paul Nixon of Delhi Jets plays a shot during the ICL Twenty20 match against Mumbai Champs at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula on Friday. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Panchkula, December 7
Before the start of the match after losing the toss, Brian Lara had said that he would like to forget the results of the first two games (which they lost), start afresh and endeavour for positive results in the remaining three matches.

This proved a mere wishful thinking as Mumbai Champs could not halt their losing sequence, this time going down to Delhi Jets by 24 runs in the ICL Twenty20 tournament at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here this evening.

Electing to bat first, Delhi Jets posted 163, thanks to a late assault on the bowlers by Paul Nixon, who notched up a blazing 39 not out. This was the highest team total of the tournament so far. Chasing this total, Mumbai Champs were never in the hunt and fell short of the target by 24 runs.

With this defeat, third in as many matches, Mumbai Champs are as good as out of the contention for a berth in the semifinals. Though they have still to play two matches, against Chandigarh Lions and Kolkata Tigers, Lara-led Champs are left only with only a statistical chance for gaining a semis berth.

If Mumbai Champs were to keep their campaign alive and kicking, Lara had to come good today after a totally lacklustre show in the earlier matches. The legendary batsman made his intentions clear that he meant business as he promoted himself up the batting order, opening the innings with Dheeraj Jadhav.

But that was all he could do. After negotiating the first over from left-handed seamer Salabh Srivastava, he was stumped by wicketkeeper Paul Nixon in the second over of the innings off seamer Sudhindra.

There was jubilation in the Delhi Jets camp and silence elsewhere as the legendary batsman started his trudge back to the pavilion. Lara scored 3, his scores in earlier matches being 0 and 4.

After the fall of Lara, in the midst of a dream spell, Sudhindra trapped Astle and then sent back Vikram Solanki to reduce the rivals to 29 for three.

The Champs’ dismal show continued and wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. JP Yadav claimed two crucial wickets, while left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza took one. Opener Jadhav, who scored 42, helped the side put up a face-saving total.

Fast bowler Mervyn Dillon raised some excitement towards the fag end of the innings, slamming a couple of lusty sixes and a four to remain unbeaten on 11-ball 19 as the side reached 139 for nine. TP Sudhindra and off-spinner Abhishek Sharma claimed three wickets each.

Earlier Delhi Jets, after an equally uninspiring batting by most of the batsmen, got a huge thrust from Nixon’s assault and sensible batting by Dale Benkenstein. Nixon clobbered four huge sixes and two fours to finish unbeaten on 39 off just 14 balls. He was well supported by a 25-ball 38 by Benkenstein.

After 17 overs Delhi Jets had laboured to reach 107. It was an unbroken 27-ball 64-run stand for the sixth wicket which suddenly transformed the innings.

Sudhindra, who made early inroads in the Champs’ batting getting the first three wickets was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Brief scores: Delhi Jets: 163 for 5 (Paul Nixon 39 n.o., Dale Benkenstein 38 n.o., Abbas Ai 25; Avinash Yadav 2-38, Nathan Astle 2-33)

Mumbai Champs: 139 for 9 (Dheeraj Jadhav 42, Subhojit 21; Abhishek Sharma 3-34, TP Sudhindra 3-35).

Ralf Schumacher may not drive for Force India

London, December 7
Ralf Schumacher may have driven a Formula One car for the last time after a disappointing test with Force India in Spain.

“I don’t think I will be driving for Force India,” the German told www.autosport.com. “I want to achieve something and I don’t think I can do that with Force India.

Schumacher was quoted as saying in Sport Bild newspaper: “It’s possible that today was my last drive in a Formula One car.”

Schumacher, younger brother of retired seven-time world champion Michael, was the slowest by a considerable margin of the 20 drivers on track in Thursday’s test at the Jerez circuit.

Austrian Christian Klien was seventh fastest and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella ninth for Force India in testing on Wednesday. A team source said the 32-year-old German suffered a hydraulics failure in the morning, spun twice and never looked comfortable in the car. — Reuters

Dynamos face Sultans in PHL opener
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 7
Chandigarh Dynamos will take on Hyderabad Sultans in the opening match of the 4th Premier Hockey League starting at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in the City Beautiful on December 20.

The PHL will have 26 matches this year, and players from the India under-19 and under-21 teams will be distributed among the seven teams. The other teams in the fray are defending champions Orissa Steelers, Bangalore Hi-Fliers, Chennai Veerans, Maratha Warriors and Sher-e-Jallandhar.

For the first time, the PHL will have a league-cum-knockout format. All matches will be shown live on ESPN-Star Sports, as per the schedule released here today.

The league carries a total prize money of Rs 76 lakh. The champions will get Rs 40 lakh, while the runners-up will receive Rs 20 lakh. The losing semifinalists will be richer by Rs 5 lakh each.

Schedule

Dec 20 Chandigarh Dynamos v Hyderabad Sultans 6 pm

Dec 21 Chennai Veerans v Maratha Warriors 3:30 pm

Orissa Steelers v Bangalore Hi-Fliers 6 pm

Dec 22 Sher-e-Jallandhar v Hyderabad Sultans 1 pm Orissa Steelers v Chandigarh Dynamos 3:30 pm

Dec 23 Bangalore Hi-Fliers v Maratha Warriors 12 noon Chennai Veerans v Sher-e-Jallandhar 2:30 pm

Dec 24 Orissa Steelers v Hyderabad Sultans 6 pm

Dec 25 Chandigarh Dynamos v Bangalore Hi-Fliers 3:30 pm

Maratha Warriors v Sher-e-Jallandhar 6 pm

Dec 26 Orissa Steelers v Chennai Veerans 3:30 pm

Dec 27 Hyderabad Sultans v Bangalore Hi-Fliers 6 pm

Dec 28 Chandigarh Dynamos v Sher-e-Jallandhar 6 pm

Dec 29 Bangalore Hi-Fliers v Chennai Veerans 3:30 pm Orissa Steelers v Maratha Warriors 6 pm

Dec 30 Sher-e-Jallandhar v Bangalore Hi-Fliers 1:30 pm Chandigarh Dynamos v Maratha Warriors 4 pm

Dec 31 Chandigarh Dynamos v Chennai Veerans 4:30 pm

Jan 1 Chennai Veerans v Hyderabad Sultans 3 pm

Jan 2 Hyderabad Sultans v Maratha Warriors 6 pm

Jan 3 Orissa Steelers v Sher-e-Jallandhar 6 pm

Jan 5 1st Semifinal 3.30 pm

2nd Semifinal 6 pm

Jan 7 1st Final 6 pm

Jan 9 2nd Final 6 pm

Jan 11 Third Final (if required) 6 pm

Sipaeya’s dream run ends

New Delhi, December 7
Sunil Kumar Sipaeya’s dream run at the SAIL Open Challenger series tournament came to a halt when he was outplayed in straight sets by Czech Tomas Cakl in the semifinals bringing an end to the Indian campaign in the $50,000 event here today.

The wildcard went down 4-6, 2-6 to the unseeded Cakl, who now takes on fifth seed Russian Michail Elgin in the summit clash tomorrow.

Elgin thrashed eighth seed Ivan Sergeyev of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-1 in the other semifinal this morning.

Sipaeya, who stunned second seed Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in a marathon quarterfinal yesterday, looked out of sorts today and found the going tough against Cakl, who matched him from the back of the court and was way better at the net.— PTI

Shooters bang on target

New Delhi, December 7
Indian shooters fetched three gold, one silver and three bronze on the third day of the Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait today.

Youngster PT Raghunath overshadowed his fancied teammates Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang to win the individual gold and also helped his team emerge victorious in men’s air rifle event.

Despite his impressive performance Raghunath will miss the Beijing Olympics as India has already booked its possible two quotas for the event. Bindra and Narang will represent the country in the the mega event next year.

India’s third yellow metal of the day came in the junior women’s 50m rifle prone event as the team of Lajja Goswami (582), Annu Tomar (581) and Saini Devi (577) reigned supreme. Lajja, aN NCC Cadet from Gujarat won her first international medal by clinching the individual silver with a score of 582/600. — PTI

Powerlifters add four gold

New Delhi, December 7
Indian men won seven medals, including four gold, on the second day to swell the country’s medal haul to 15 in the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand, today.

PC Bidika and Girish bagged gold in the masters 56 kg and 75 kg categories with lifts of 375 kg and 270 kg, respectively, while Prashant Patil (sub-junior 125 kg) and Gaurav Sharma (juniors +125 kg) walked away with the yellow metal by lifting 497.5 kg and 580 kg, respectively.

Dr G Rao lifted 270 kg to pocket a silver in the masters 90 kg category, while Molay Mandal and Nitin Sharma claimed a bronze each in the seniors 100 kg and juniors 82.5 kg. — UNI

Kapur slips to tied 22nd
Donald Banerjee

Chandigarh, December 7
Shiv Kapur, winner of the 2005 Volvo title, played a par-72 game to slip from 11th to tied 22nd spot at the midway stage of the $7,50,000 Volvo Masters of Asia at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok today.

Sharing the 22nd spot was SSP Chowrasia, who shot a one-over-par 73 to fall from tied seventh. Both had a two-under tally of 142 after the second round.

Rahil Gangjee struck form on the return nine striking birdies on the 10th, 16th and 17th holes. But that could not make up for the string of bogeys on the front nine as he carded a two-over-par 74 for a two-day aggregate of par 144 for the tied 33rd spot.

Gaurav Ghei showed a slight improvement after his three-over of yesterday. His one-over today saw him lie tied 49th with a midway tally of four-over 148.

On-fire Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines charged into the joint halfway lead with Australian Scott Hend.

Pagunsan, whose confidence skyrocketed after claiming a breakthrough victory in Indonesia in October, fired a near flawless seven-under-par 65 while Hend enjoyed a welcome return to form with a 67.

The duo lead the Asian Tour finale with a two-day total of nine-under-par 135, with New Zealander Mark Brown and overnight leader Scott Strange of Australia lying in tied third place a stroke behind after a 66 and 71, respectively.

Inter-school volleyball
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, December 7
Sports Authority of India, Bhiwani (Haryana), beat Sports Authority of India, Matuana (Punjab), 25-20, 25-17, 19-31, 25-23 in the final of the inter-school volleyball tournament organised by Kirpal Sagar Academy to commemorate the 75th birth anniversary of its founder chairman, Dr Harbhajan Singh.

The winning team lifted the Dr Harbhajan Singh Memorial Trophy and won a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Govt Senior Secondary School, Nurmahal, beat Govt Senior Secondary School, Daka (Delhi) to bag the third position.

A total of 32 teams from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi participated in the tournament. Sports minister Gulzar Singh Ranike presided over the prize distribution ceremony.