The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Lefties get it right for India
Yuvraj slams 169 on Test recall; Ganguly scores unbeaten ton
Sutram Suresh

Bangalore Agony
Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar reacts as he walks out of the field during the first day of the third and final Test cricket match against India in Bangalore on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Bangalore, December 8
Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly slammed centuries as India staged a remarkable recovery to put themselves in the driver’s seat in the third and final Test against Pakistan here today.

The 25-year-old Yuvraj (169) unleashed an array of breathtaking shots to notch up his third Test century and performed the salvage job with Ganguly (125 not out) to steer India to a comfortable 365 for five at close on the opening day.

Dinesh Karthik (3) was giving Ganguly company at stumps on an eventful day which saw the highest ever opening day total recorded in India.

Electing to bat, the Indians were tottering at 61 for four before the two left-handers came to the rescue of the team with a scintillating 300-run partnership for the fifth wicket which has put the hosts on course for a mammoth first-innings total.

Yuvraj, who sat out of the first two games and was drafted into the playing eleven only because of an injury to Sachin Tendulkar, proved a point to the selectors with his career-best knock which contained 28 boundaries and a mighty six.

While the Punjab southpaw set the M Chinnaswamy Stadium ablaze with his blistering strokeplay, Ganguly also played a big part in the recovery job by cracking his second consecutive century in the series.

The batting heroics of Yuvraj and Ganguly have now given the home team the platform to further tighten the noose on their hapless opponents who again were handicapped by the absence of speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who left the field because of a back spasm.

Akhtar bowled just 10 overs during the day and it did put a lot of workload on the three other specialist bowlers.

HC relief for Yuvi
Mumbai, December 8
Yuvraj Singh can negotiate a fresh contract with a new talent management agency and his current agency, Percept, cannot stop him from doing so, observed the Bombay High Court.
Currently, Yuvraj is bound by a contract with Percept Talent Management Agency. This contract will expire on December 11.
However, he has already started negotiations with another agency. Percept had moved the High Court, saying that the existing contract had a “first refusal clause”, which means he could not have a fresh agreement with a new agency unless Percept had a chance to offer him better terms.
But Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, in an order late last evening, held that such a clause amounted to restraint on trade, which is not permissible under the Indian Contract Act.
Yuvraj’s lawyer assured the High Court that he would sign the new contract until December 11. — PTI

With the track easing out after the lunch break, the two Indian batsmen virtually plundered runs at will and created a record of the highest first-day total at the Chinaswamy Stadium, eclipsing the previous best of 339 for three against Sri Lanka.

But the day began on a disastrous note for the hosts as debutant paceman Yasir Arafat (3/98) broke through the top order to leave them gasping at 65 for four at the lunch break.

Arafat accounted for Wasim Jaffer (17), Rahul Dravid (19) and VVS Laxman (5), while Mohammed Sami scalped Gautam Gambhir (5) who came into the team after Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out because of a finger injury.

The complexion of the game changed dramatically after the lunch break as the Indians, looking to record their first Test series win on home soil against Pakistan in 28 years, went about consolidating their position.

Sami finally broke the marathon fifth-wicket partnership by getting rid of Yuvraj, who top-edged his shot and was caught by Faisal Iqbal towards the fag end of the day.

The 300-run partnership between surpassed the previous highest of 177 for the fifth wicket on Indian soil against Pakistan held by Polly Umrigar and Chandu Borde back in 1960-61 and then eclipsed the previous best of 200 runs for the fifth wicket between the two teams, scripted by Ravi Shastri and Sandeep Patil at Faisalabad in 1984-85.

Playing Test cricket after 16 months, Yuvraj played a perfect sheet anchor role when his team needed him to deliver.

Yuvraj’s flowing off-drives and pulls fetched him his third Test century, all coming against Pakistan. If Pakistan have found this venue lucky for them, then India tackled that issue with a batsman who has scored all his centuries against Pakistan so far.

A wicketless post-lunch session certainly brought cheers in the Indian camp, while Pakistan even used a fifth bowler in the form of their own skipper Younis Khan to dislodge the well-set pair in the absence of their strike bowler Akhtar, who was taken to hospital after he complained of back pain.

Earlier, Sami struck in the fourth over of the innings removing opener Gambhir for his first wicket of the series through a lovely catch held by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal diving to his left.

Arafat then dealt two severe blows taking the scalps of Dravid and Jaffer in successive overs.

Both Jaffer and Dravid played some glorious shots to entertain the crowd with six hits to the fence and showing signs of playing a long innings before disaster struck the hosts in the form of Arafat.

Dravid, struggling to find form offered a thick edge to Misbah at first slip as he went for a cut, and his poor run of scores on his home ground continued.

In his very next over, Arafat, who has the experience of playing for Kent County, removed the In-form Jaffer who shouldered arms to a full-length delivery and was caught plumb in front.

Scoreboard

India (1st innings)

Jaffer lbw Arafat 17

Gambhir c Akmal b Sami 5

Dravid c Misbah b Arafat 19

Ganguly not out 125

Laxman b Arafat 5

Yuvraj c Iqbal b Sami 169

Karthik not out 3

Extras (b-9, lb-7, nb-6) 22

Total (5 wkts, 90 overs) 365

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-44, 3-51, 4-61, 5-361.

Bowling: Akhtar 10-3-23-0, Sami 23-4-103-2, Arafat 22-2-98-3, Kaneria 23-5-75-0, Younis 2-0-14-0, Butt 5-1-10-0, Hameed 5-0-26-0. — PTI

	Pakistan fell one bowler short Zaheer Abbas Once again, Pakistan were caught one bowler short when it would have really mattered. In all, Shoaib Akhtar managed to bowl only 10 overs and to make matters worse for his captain, had to go to hospital with less than half of the first day’s play completed in Bangalore and that put immense pressure on the three other specialist bowlers. Yet, nothing can take away credit from the way Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly batted. It was a supremely confident display from Yuvraj and I am astonished at India’s bench strength. The fact that they could have kept a batsman in this sort of form on the bench and only gave him a chance because Sachin Tendulkar could not play sprung a clear surprise. The 300 runs these two left-handers put on have made India’s position immensely strong. The home team does not have a very good record at this venue and in fact, I hear they last won a Test here 12 years ago. The last time these two teams played here, Pakistan walked away winners by a comfortable margin. This time, however, it could be a very different story. Yuvraj’s assault — particularly surprising given the situation with India down at 61 for four —has helped push Pakistan on to the back foot already. Such has been the pace of run-gathering that India have scored runs in excess of four per over through the day, and much of the credit goes to Yuvraj, who showed exquisite timing right through his innings of 169. Ganguly, too, gave notice of his determination to put on a big score. The Eden Gardens century must have come as a huge relief to the Prince of Kolkata and the way he resumed today showed that the hunger for big runs is well and truly back with this graceful left-hander. It was a partnership to appreciate, not only for the quality of strokeplay, but also the conditions under which it began, and thereafter flourished. Pakistan must count themselves fortunate that India are five wickets down. There was no devil in the wicket on Saturday and the first four wickets that fell were more because of their own mistakes than anything else. Gambhir pushed too hard at the ball, Dravid surprised me by playing a cut shot when the ball was so close to the body while Jaffer played no stroke at all. There was talk of this pitch being “up and down”, and that quite frankly left me quite puzzled. The first day’s play in Bangalore proves what I have been saying all along. We, both Indians and Pakistanis, keep talking listlessly about the pitch, when what should be debated is the quality of play. The fact is that every team has to play to its strength and that for the Indians essentially means batting strength.. The problem has more to do with the Pakistani bowling. Akhtar does bowl his heart out. But then you cannot have a player who bowls at 140 kmph for a few overs and is then rushed to hospital. Increasingly, Akhtar has started resembling a Bollywood hero who hits a few villains and then retreats back to his den for a break. But seriously, the fortunes of a team cannot depend on one man! — Newswatch Asia
	With a little help This man can conquer the world Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 8 He has won Asia. He has the desire to win the world also. However, what is coming in the way of fulfilling his dream is lack of top-class coaching that he requires to be world’s number one. The man, who is eager to win the world, is Navpreet Singh from Doraha ( Ludhiana). Only a few months ago, he won a gold medal in shot put at the Asian Athletics Championship in Amman, Jordan. His heaved the iron ball to a distance of 19.70 m. In Jordan, he had pushed Sultan Mubarak and Khalid Mohammad, who were earlier ahead of him in Asia, to the second and third places, respectively. His best throw so far has been 19.93 m which was just a little over one metre short of a shot putter who won a bronze medal in the last Olympics. At present, Bahadur Singh, a veteran international shot putter, is coaching him. Navpreet Singh says he has already qualified for the Beijing Olympics. Before the Olympics, he wanted to spend some time in the US with one of the best shot put coaches to improve his performance. But to stay in the US for some months and to engage the coach, he needs Rs 15 lakh. “I am looking for sponsors to finance my visit to the US. My parents and close relations have given me some money but I need Rs 15 lakh more,” he adds. “As all coaches, who have seen my performance in the field, have the view that I have the potential to be world’s number one, I want to make at least one try at that level,” said Navpreet while talking to The Tribune. As time is short, I intend to fly to the US next week, he adds. Six feet and two inches tall, Navpreet belongs to a farmers’ family. On sports basis, he has got a job as assistant sub-inspector( ASI) in the Punjab Police. But the salary he is getting is not enough even to meet his daily diet requirement, what to talk of scientific coaching. Unfortunately, there is no policy of the state government to send its best athletes abroad. The state government has been spending lakhs of rupees to get politicians and its bureaucrats treated abroad but has no money for its sportspersons who want to be world-class athletes.
	Superstars first to enter semis Gopal Sharma Tribune News Service Panchkula, December 8 Continuing their winning run, Chennai Superstars got the better of Chandigarh Lions to emerge as the first team to storm into the semifinals of the ICL Twenty20 tournament at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here today. In an engrossing contest, Chandigarh Lions, batting first, notched up 146 before being all out in 20 overs. Overcoming minor hiccups towards the fag end of the innings, the Superstars overhauled the target for the loss of six wickets with just one ball to spare. Former Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey was the architect of the victory, slamming a superb 48 before he fell to an ambitious stroke when his side was well on course. SV Saravanan held his nerve in the last over as the side scraped to a four-wicket victory. Chasing the 147-run target, the Chennai boys got a brisk start as opener V Devendran despatched Daryl Tuffey to the fence thrice in the bowler’s first over. But the seamer had the last laugh, clean-bowling the batsman in the same over. Chris Read added a run-a-ball 18, while Russel Arnold made a useful 17. The arrival of former India ODI player Hemang Badani lit up the proceedings. The left-handed Tamil Nadu player looked like a batsman in hurry. He sent Dinesh Mongia’s left-arm deliveries soaring over the fence twice and unleashed a fluent four as the over produced 17 runs. But the bravado proved short-lived as he fell to Chris Cairns in the next over. The dismissal of Ian Harvey and R Satish immediately afterwards meant the Lions were again back in business. Experienced Aussie Stuart Law kept his cool. It boiled down to Chennai needing nine runs in the last over with V Saravanan facing seamer Ishan Malhotra. The batsman ran a couple off the first delivery and hit a lusty six over mid-wicket off the next ball, levelling the score. With one needed off four deliveries, Ishan bowled two dot balls. Sarvanan ran a single off the fifth delivery to signal victory, the team’s third in a row. The Lions’ innings was steadied by TP Singh and Manish Sharma after the early dismissals of Imran Farhat and Hamish Marshall. TP Singh batted judiciously for his 43-ball 47, while Manish was more enterprising, clobbering a 26-ball 36, including three fours and as many sixes. The innings was given a late boost by Chetan Sharma, who notched up a blazing 27. With six points from three matches, Superstars are through to the semis. The Lions have four points from as many outings and have one match left against Mumbai Champs tomorrow. McMillan toys with Jets’ attack Craig McMillan proved why he is among the most dangerous contemporary batsmen today. Displaying his awesome batting talent, he notched up a hurricane fifty for Kolkata Tigers, dashing Delhi Jets’ hopes of gaining a direct entry into the semifinals of the ICL Twenty20 tournament here this evening. Chasing a victory target of 150, a rampaging McMillan carted Jets bowlers to all parts of the park to script a 31-ball 58 as the Tigers finished at 150 for 6 in 18.5 overs, registering a four-wicket victory. Opener Deep Dasgupta stabilised the innings with 32, while Lance Klusener added a run-a-ball 27. McMillan, who quit international cricket this October at 31, hit five fours and four sixes as he entertained an impressive gathering braving the chilling cold. Jets’ innings was built around a a scintillating 61 by opener Monish Mishra. Skipper Marvan Atapattu scored a 23-ball 36. Kolkata Tigers, Chandigarh Lions and Delhi Jets are now equal at four points each. Brief scores: Delhi Jets: 149 for 7 (Monish Mishra 61, Atapattu 36; Klusener 3-16, McMillan 1-16). Kolkata Tigers: 150 for 6 in 18.5 overs (McMillan 58 n.o., Deep Dasgupta 32, Klusener 27; S Srivastava 2-19, D Benkenstein 2-29, Ali Murtaza 1-7). Scoreboard Chandigarh Lions Farhat run out 2 Marshall c Arnold b DT Kumaran 2 TP Singh st Read b T Kumaran 47 Manish c Harvey b DT Kumaran 36 Cairns c Arnold b T Kumaran 3 Hall lbw b Saravanan 1 Chetan b Harvey 27 Mongia run out 5 Malhotra b Shabbir 8 Tuffey not out 1 Sarabjit run out 4 Extras (lb-2, w-7, nb-1) 10 Total (all out, 20 overs) 146 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-16, 3-86, 4-92, 5-97, 6-101, 7-128, 8-141, 9-141. Bowling: Harvey 4- 0-22-1; Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-20-1; DT Kumaran 4-0-32-2; T Kumaran 4-0-31-2; R Sathish 1-0-8-0; SV Saravanan 3-0-31-1 Chennai Superstars Harvey c Tuffey b Cairns 48 Devendran b Tuffey 12 Read b Cairns 18 Arnold c Manish Sharma b Mongia 17 Badani c Farhat b Cairns 17 Law not out 13 Sathish run out 1 Saravanan not out 11 Extras (lb-5, w-5) 10 Total (6 wickets, 19.5 overs) 147 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-51, 3-85, 4-119, 5-127, 6-130. Bowling: Hall 4-0-19-0; Tuffey 4-0-40-1; Ishan Malhotra 2.5-0-30-0; Mongia 4-0-27-1; Cairns 4-0-17-3; TP Singh 1-0-9-0.
	Ranji Trophy VRV to bolster Punjab attack Ashok Sethi Amritsar, December 8 On the eve of the crucial tie against fancied Baroda, Punjab today sent an SOS to the BCCI to allow VRV Singh to join the team to strengthen its bowling attack. Sources in the Punjab team confirmed that the BCCI had permitted VRV to play for the home side and he had been especially flown to reach here for the match beginning tomorrow. In a do-and-die situation, Punjab will have to win this tie to remain in the reckoning for the last- eight group. Meanwhile, members of the Baroda team, including Conner Williams and all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, practised at the Gandhi Ground today. Of the four Ranji matches Punjab have played this season, they have got the first-innings lead in two, conceded lead in one match and lost the fourth against Bengal. Baroda have won two matches outrightly, while in the third they took the first-innings lead.
	Kapur tied 13th Bangkok, December 8 Riding on a blemish-free third round of three-under 69, Shiv Kapur leapfrogged to tied 13th and stayed in the hunt for a top-five finish in the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia here today. Kapur, the 2005 winner of the tournament, maintained a clean slate as he birdied the fourth, eighth and 15th holes to turn in his best card of the week so far that took his three-day tally to five-under 211. The Delhi golfer was tied 22nd at the half-way mark. SSP Chowrasia, too, came up with an improved round of 71 to total three-under 213 for the tied 20th place. A further shot behind was citymate Rahil Gangjee (70). Meanwhile, after two successive over-par cards, seasoned pro Gaurav Ghei finally managed an even-par effort to aggregate four-over 220 to be tied 43rd. At the top of the table, rising Filipino star Juvic Pagunsan raced to a four-shot lead after a masterful six-under 66 that took his tally to 15-under 201. — PTI
	Force India’s test session ends Chennai, December 8 Force India, the Formula One team co-owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, fielded two young drivers, Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde, for the fourth and final day of testing at Circuit de Jereze, Spain, but still struggled for pace as the F1 circus went into a winter break here. The teams will return to Jerez on January 14 for the first test session of the 2008 season. Van der Garde, the 22-year old Dutchman, clocked a best of 1:22:321 seconds over 81 laps yesterday, while Spaniard Rodriguez, 24, had a 1:22:508 while completing the same number of laps, according to information received here. The Force India team deployed seven drivers over four days of testing, but the list, significantly, did not include the highly-rated 24-year old Germany Adrian Sutil, who is likely to bag one of the two race seats. — IANS
	Powerlifters boost gold haul to 11 New Delhi, December 8 Masala Soni and Koteshwar Rao bagged gold medals as Indian men powerlifters claimed four medals on the penultimate day of the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship at Christchurch, New Zealand, today. In all, India have won 11 gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Soni (67.5 kg) lifted a total of 640 kg to claim the yellow metal in the senior section. Rao (senior 90kg) lifted 447.5 kg to emerge champion. Also adding to the Indian medal tally were Devender (60 kg) and Fazal (82.5 kg), who participated in the senior section. While Devender lifted 440 kg to claim silver, Fazal managed 602.5 kg to take bronze. — PTI
	JCT rout Churchill Anil Datt Ludhiana, December 8 Riding on a dazzling performance by Abdulateef Seriki and Marcos, last year’s runners-up JCT scripted an easy 3-0 win over Durand Cup champions Churchill Brothers in the fourth-round football match of the ONGC I-League at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Seriki, making his maiden appearance in the current league, played his heart out to score a goal and also figured in another one to help JCT earn full points. With this victory, JCT have accumulated 10 points from four matches to top the points table, while Churchill Bros have six points from as many encounters. The match got off to a brisk pace with JCT players looking comfortably in charge early on. They exhibited more control in the midfield and also weaved good moves but the desired result eluded them on a couple of occasions. The first half ended goal-less. At the start of the second session, JCT forced a free kick following handling of the ball by a Churchill defender. Marcos’ powerful grounder pierced through the defence wall of Churchill to put his side into the lead. JCT enhanced the lead in the 56th minute when the corner kick taken by Marcos was headed into the goal by a splendid header by Seriki. They added another goal 12 minutes later when Seriki took control of the ball in the striking zone and rolled the ball towards Chhetri, who sent in a sizzler to make it 3-0. Churchill’s desperate attempts in the dying minutes to reduce the margin were thwarted by JCT defenders. Marcos was adjudged the Man of the Match.
	Prabhjot misses top award Kuala Lumpur, December 8 Australian Jamie Dwyer and Argentine Luciana Aymar were today declared World Hockey Players of the Year in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively. Dwyer won the award for the second time in his career. He was crowned the best hockey player in the world in 2004. He had earlier won it in 2002. Dwyer took over the title from Dutch ace Teun de Nooijer. India’s Prabhjot Singh was among the nominees this year. For Aymar it was her fourth World Hockey Player of the Year award after she won the title in 2001, 2004 and 2005. She took over the title from Dutch Minke Booij, who claimed the award last year. Aymar travelled all the way from her home city Buenos Aires to Kuala Lumpur for the ceremony. The awards were presented by FIH president Els van Breda Vriesman. — UNI