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Aussie pitches will suit me: Dhoni
India to take on Victoria today
Spearhead Zaheer’s fitness a worry
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Record 21st ton by Jayawardene
Karun keeps F-1 chase on track
India likely to host AFC Challenge Cup
Salgaocar draw with Mahindra United
Too early to say anything, says Paes
No sponsors for Asian gold medallist
UP win by an innings
HP follow on against Mumbai
Delhi Heroes record 5th win
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Aussie pitches will suit me: Dhoni
With an unconventional batting style, Dhoni is undeterred on his first tour to Australia and waiting for his chance to throw his bat to good effect. "From what I have heard the bounce in the pitches here help those batsmen who like to go for their strokes. I expect to do well on this trip," said Dhoni ahead of the three-day game against Victoria here tomorrow. The four Tests of the current series could be played on slow pitches but Dhoni said even those will be good ones for batting. "Even the slowest and lowest pitches in Australia are better than the ones in India and it's quite a challenge," he said. Dhoni said his team would go all out to win the series and not play defensive cricket, aimed at drawing matches. "Playing cricket is all about winning and our team is no different," Dhoni said. Dhoni, who missed the last Test against Pakistan due to an injury, said he has recovered from his ankle sprain and ready to take the field in the opening game against Victoria tomorrow. Dhoni, who led a young team to win the Twenty20 world title in South Africa, has emerged as a crucial member of the side in quick time. The Jharkhand swashbuckler has so far played in 22 Tests and 96 one-dayers, scoring 1163 and 2838 runs at an average of 38.77 and 43.66, respectively. But Dhoni knows that Australia would be a tough nut to crack for the Indian team and viewed it as a good learning curve for young members of the side, especially the bowlers. "It would be a good learning curve for the fast bowlers and if they could learn to hit the right length, it would serve them well in future."
— PTI
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India to take on Victoria today
Melbourne, December 19 Anil Kumble's men are unlikely to meet strong rivals and the pitch at Junction Oval here is expected to stay low as it was the case back home on turfs in Kolkata, if not Bangalore, against Pakistan. It would mean poor preparation for the tourists who have won just four of the 32 Tests in nearly six decades of visit to the Australian shores and are yet to claim a Test series win here. India are expected to field their likely Test XI, which means that Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Kaarthick, Harbhajan Singh, Pankaj Singh and Irfan Pathan will remain on the bench. It would be interesting to see whether Rahul Dravid comes out to open tomorrow and how fit are a few members of the side after their recent injury travails. All eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan who missed out the final Test against Pakistan in Bangalore because of knee and ankle strain. Vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, though allayed fears on his fitness ahead of the game tomorrow. He too skipped the Bangalore game because of ankle strain and split webbing in his left palm.
— PTI
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Spearhead Zaheer’s fitness a worry
The paceman, who missed the final Test against Pakistan in Bangalore due to the injury, had his right heel heavily bandaged while the Indians had their first practice session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this afternoon. Zaheer has impressed one and all with his performance since his return to international cricket last November and is seen as the central figure in achieving India's long-cherished aim of a maiden Test series victory Down Under. After his stint with Worcestershire, a transformed Zaheer picked up 13 wickets at 30.38 from three Tests against South Africa in the away series and against England grabbed 18 wickets at 20.33 in three matches. So good was Zaheer against England on their own turf that the home batsmen had then conceded that it was almost impossible to pick his line and movement. He picked up eight wickets from two Tests against Bangladesh (21.88), and five against Pakistan from two matches (38.20). The Mumbai bowler has also claimed 40 wickets from 34 one-dayers since last year. However, Zaheer's previous trip to Australia was not a happy one even though he picked up a five-wicket haul in the opening Test in Brisbane. The speedster, who was not fit enough, then played the second Test in Melbourne only to return sorry figures of none for 103. He took no further part in the series. Zaheer's fitness worries could force the team management to get in touch with the Indian board to send in lanky Munaf Patel as replacement for the first Test. Patel, who missed the Bangalore Test against Pakistan due to injury, has been declared fit though the board has advised him to play domestic games before putting his hand up for selection. Munaf is the 17th member of the side and presently a stand-by.
— PTI
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Record 21st ton by Jayawardene
Galle, December 19 Jayawardene batted throughout the second day in difficult batting conditions to finish with a marathon eight-hour 149 from 351 deliveries, surpassing Aravinda de Silva's 20 hundreds. It was his second consecutive century of the series after scoring 195 in Colombo. Jayawardene added 149 with Tillakaratne Dilshan, a record fifth-wicket stand for Sri Lanka in Galle, and a further 97 with Chaminda Vaas, who finished the day on 46. England's bowlers toiled without reward throughout the morning before a double-strike just before tea lifted their spirits in a game they must win to level the series. The Jayawardene-Dilshan stand was broken by a run out as Dilshan called for a quick single in an effort to help Jayawardene reach his century minutes before the break. Alastair Cook hit the stumps with an underarm flick running in from gully and Dilshan was adjudged run out for 84 by the television umpire Asoka de Silva. England's morale was immediately boosted further with the quick fall of wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, who nicked an outswinger from medium-pacer Ravi Bopara. England's fast bowlers all bowled well, maintaining a more consistent line and length than during the first morning but were let down by their fielders. Dilshan, on seven, slashed a chance to Cook in the gully that was dropped in the second over of the day and wicketkeeper Matthew Prior missed a difficult low chance off Jayawardene late in the session when the Sri Lanka captain had made 66. In the afternoon, Dilshan was dropped again by Prior on 54, the wicketkeeper diving in front of first slip. Dilshan's good fortune continued with a reprieve on 64 when he apparently gloved a delivery from Matthew Hoggard down the leg-side. Pace bowler Steve Harmison was England's most successful bowler, claiming three for 72 from 29 overs. Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test by 88 runs. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings) Vandort lbw Sidebottom 18 Tharanga lbw Harmison 16 Sangakkara c Panesar b Harmison 46 M. Jayawardene not out 149 Silva c Bell b Harmison 1 Dilshan run out 84 P. Jayawardene c Prior b Bopara 0 Vaas not out 46 Extras (b-1, lb-14, w-7, nb-2) 24 Total (6 wkts, 129 overs) 384 Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-44, 3-132, 4-138, 5-287, 6-287 Bowling: Sidebottom 30-9-75-1, Hoggard 27-4-97-0, Harmison 29-4-72-3, Panesar 24-3-58-0, Bopara 10-1-39-1, Collingwood 6-1-17-0, Pietersen 3-0-11-0.
— Reuters
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Karun keeps F-1 chase on track
New Delhi, December 19 His ultimate dream is to break into the exclusive, elite group of Formula-1 drivers two years hence, of which he was very confident. "So far, the plan has gone quite well. I am happy that 2007 went on expected lines", said the young racing pro in a crowded media interaction here today. "My aim is to drive in the F-I team when India hosts the event in 2010", he declared. The former JK Tyre National Racing Champion envisages a bright dawn in 2008 as he has not only been signed up by the UK-based I-Sport International team to compete in the GP2 series, but he will also be competing in the GP2 Asia series, which will be making its debut, as a precursor to the main championship--the European event. I-Sport secured both the driver's as well as the Team's Championship in the 2007 GP2 series to make this possible for Karun. "We outperformed other teams though it was a very difficult to battle with other drivers", he explained. As an icing on the cake, Karun has also been appointed to the "Red Bull Junior Team" programme, which will strengthen his links with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, for whom he had his debut F-I test in November. "The opportunity I got to test drive for Formula I was a dream come true", he stated. "They (Red Bull) were pleased with what I did in the F-1 car in Barcelona at my first test and I look forward to being a test driver for them again", Karun added. And to Karun's thrill, Bruno Senna, nephew of the legendary world champion, the late Ayrton Senna, will be his team-mate for the 2008 season. (The dashing Ayrton Senna had died in a F-I race mishap a few years ago when the Argentinian was a cult figure). The year ahead will be an all too new experience for Karun as there will be "new cars, new design, new chassis, new engine". And the drives were also getting more and more stiffer with "less electronics in the car, which will prepare us well for F-1". Karun said if his team could finish in the top five "then we could push for F-1 in 2009". The GP2 Asia series will start in Dubai at the end of January with 10 races, including F-I support races in Malaysia and Bahrain. He said the Asia series will be run on older 2005-2007 specification cars while the European series will see a new car powered by a 650 bhp Renault engine capable of speeds of 330 kmh. "The aim is to have podium finishes and win races", he elaborated. With Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ibrahim blazing the racing tracks across the world, Vijaya Mallaya acquiring Force India F-I team and Delhi preparing to host a Formula-I event in 2010, India is quickly getting into the fast track mode. "This is the best period for Indian motor sports", Karun averred.
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India likely to host AFC Challenge Cup
New Delhi, December 19 An AFC delegation will visit the country to inspect the venues in the last week of next month before giving the final approval. “An AFC Committee will inspect the venues in January last week and they (AFC) will take a final decision after that,” Colaco told UNI today. He refused to disclose whether India was the only bidder to host the tournament and which are the potential Indian cities to host the March 1-16 tournament. If India wins the right to host the tournament to be played among AFC's 20 lower-ranked countries from March 1 to 16, it will be a huge boost to the game in the country after the success of Nehru Cup in August. The winner of the tournament (and winner of next edition in 2010) will directly qualify for 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar without playing the qualifying round. The tournament was first allotted to Chinese Taipei but AFC later offered it to Thailand after the former failed to meet AFC requirements. Thailand has also apparently turned down the offer at the last minute and India has now officially bid to host the tournament at the two-day AFC Executive Committee meeting which concluded in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. AIFF president Priyaranjan Dasmunsi attended the meeting. He and AIFF general secretary Alberto Colaco met AFC officials to make the formal bid for hosting the AFC Challenge Cup.
— UNI
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Salgaocar draw with Mahindra United
Margao, December 19 With this drawn match, Mahindra increased their points tally to seven points and Salgaocar remained on three points from six outings each. The first half saw both teams trying to find out their bearings, with the play restricted to the midfield. Though Salgaocar team was more with the ball, their forwards Felix and Bonaface Ambani failed to combine well. Salgaocar came near scoring in the 10th minute of the first half, but Biju Kumar's header missed the target off a free kick pass from Nicholas Rodrigues. The jeepmen too had couple of chances to move ahead first, in the 22nd minute when Stevan Dias floated a pass to Andrew, whose header landed straight into the hands of the rival goalkeeper Milagrio Madeira. Three minutes before the breather, Andrew's unleashed a rasping long range shot which sailed over the bar and at half time, the score board remained blank. After a barren first half, Mahindra attacked vigorously and came up with splendid opportunities in the 54th and 66th minute but Salgaocar goalkeeper Milagrio gave a superb display beneath the bar and stood between a goal and a defeat. In the 54th minute, Salgaocar goalkeeper beautifully saved Surojit Bose's header off a free kick pass from Stevan Dias.
— PTI
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Too early to say anything, says Paes
Mumbai, December 19 Paes was speaking to the media after unveiling the Lenova designed Olympic torch along with ace long jumper Anju Bobby George here
today. Paes, who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games in 1996, further said that he is looking forward to playing with Mahesh but requested everybody to give both of them freedom to concentrate on their priorities at the moment. “The Games are still eight months away and at the moment I am concentrating on the Australian Open and the Davis Cup matches which are to follow. Mahesh has just had a back surgery and he is also on his way back. We will definitely try and play together at the Olympics, but at the moment give us freedom to prepare the way we want to,” Paes said.
— UNI
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No sponsors for Asian gold medallist
Ludhiana, December 19 He will be flying on his personal expense and will work on daily wages to pay for his stay and his training there. It is two months after the six feet two inch shot putter from Doraha won gold at the Asian Athletic Championship held at Amman, Jordan. Lack of proper training and infrastructure in the country to match up to world standard has forced the player to seek training in the USA. With no sponsor to help him in the pursuit of his dream, he has just managed to arrange money for reaching USA. After that, he would have to work to arrange his expenses. Virtually on the verge of breaking down to tears while talking to The Tribune, Navpreet Singh, an ASI with the Punjab Police said, "I am disappointed at being an Indian, no one can understand that how much I long to win a gold medal for my country. Winning a medal is not magic. Medals are won by persistent labour, hard work, determination and intense training which cost huge money.” Navpreet, who wants to take his game to the next level, is keen to practice in the USA under the watchful eye of renowned shot put coach Nicolair. But he was feeling neglected as neither the state government nor the Centre had shown any interest in sending him abroad for further training. The state government did not recognise his achievement and Navpreet Singh was left out when Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal honoured sportsmen of Punjab and Chandigarh who won gold medals in Asian championships. Navpreet said, “I tried my best to find a sponsor but despite all my efforts I could not find one. I will return the entire amount to my sponsors if I don't win a medal in the Beijing Olympics." He had trained under Bahadur Singh, a veteran international shot put player at NIS, Patiala.
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Dynamos take on Sultans in opener
Chandigarh, December 19 Hosts Dynamos, clueless till last evening about their deep defence line, could heave a sigh of relief only this afternoon when two deep defenders from abroad - Huib Zwerver (the Netherlands) and Zeeshan Ashraf (Pakistan) were named to join local hero and country’s top drag flicker Sandeep Singh to man the deep
defence. Ghazanfar Ali, also from Pakistan, would bolster the mid field, and add strength to lifeline of the Dynamos. On paper, the hosts enjoy an edge over the Sultans, who will be led by Sardar Singh. With the inclusion of in-form Prabhjot Singh and other international players, including skipper Rajpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, S.S. Gill and Deepak Thakur, Chandigarh Dynamos look all fired up for their challenge. Admitting to a slight superiority of his opponents, Sardar Singh has some surprises in his armoury to tackle the strong Dynamos. The Sultans would not only adopt attacking strategies but would go all out in the opener to give the hockey crazy spectators an exciting encounter. “Yes, they (the Dynamos) are an experienced lot but we would check them with attack,” revealed the Sultans’ skipper. Dynamos skipper Rajpal Singh, however, is both caution and careful about his teams’ game plan. “In a tight format, no team can afford to lose a game and drop valuable points.” Teams: Chandigarh Dynamos: Rajpal Singh, Baljit Singh (GK), Swinder Singh (GK), Sandeep Singh, S.S. Gill, Gaurav Tokhi, Jaswinder Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Irshaad Ali, Deepak Thakur, Inderjit Chadha, Prabhjot Singh, Ravi Pal, Sher Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Huib Zwerver (Dutch), Ghazanfar Ali and Zeeshan Ashraf. Hyderabad Sultans: Sardar Singh, Dinesh Ekka, Samir Baxla, Jasbir Singh, Diwakar Ram, Johnson Ekka, Anand Tirkey, Nitin Kumar, Didar Singh, Pramod Kumar, Bikas Toppo, Pawal Lakra, Veer Singh, Kulbhushan, KM Chengappa, Oscar Ter Weeme (Dutch), Kamaran Ahmed and Adnan
Maqsood.
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Know The Skippers
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UP win by an innings
Kolkata, December 19 Left arm spinner Praveen Gupta (5/11) and young pacer Sudeep Tyagi (4/29) ran through the Bengal second innings, which folded for a paltry 193 in a little over four hours at the Eden Gardens. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh amassed 494 in their first innings. The visitors picked up six points from the match to bolster their tally to 14 after five games and extricate themselves from any fears of relegation. Bengal, who remained on eight points from five ties, continue to precariously hover in the demotion zone. Needing 346 runs to avert an ignominy of an innings loss, Bengal openers Anushtup Majumdar and Arindam Das gave the hosts a sound start putting on 100 runs in their partnership. Tyagi bowled his heart out, keeping to a nagging line a shade outside the off stump which rattled the Bengal willowers.
— PTI
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VRV, Gagandeep wreck Orissa
Mohali, December 19 Bowling a fiery spell of pace bowling, they sent Orissa crashing to 76 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the PCA Stadium here today. Starting from the overnight score of 207 for eight, Punjab were bowled out 225, conceding a 98-run lead to the visitors. The threat of relegation looming, Punjab’s experienced pace attack hit back hard. After Gagandeep Singh made the early inroads in the rival batting line-up, VRV Singh took charge. It really was an inspired burst from the lanky seamer. The rival batsmen looked ill at ease as VRV Singh sliced through the rival batting, taking five wickets, as Orissa were bundled out for paltry 76 runs in 34 overs in their second innings, resulting in a victory target of 175 runs for Punjab. Skipper and the former India opener S.S. Das was the only batsman who keep the rival bowling attack at bay. With a well made 45, he was the highest scorer from the side. Opener B.S. Pati with 15 runs was the only other batsman to reach double figures. So complete was the bowlers’ domination that as many as six batsmen failed to get off the mark. Punjab batsmen, after losing Karan Goel early, steadied the innings. Sunny Sohal scored 44 before he fell to former India seamer Debasis
Mohanty. Scoreboard Orissa (1st innings): 323 Punjab (1st innings): 225 Orissa (2nd innings): BS Pati c U Kaul b Gagandeep 15 SS Das b Gagandeep 45 N Behera c U Kaul b Gagandeep 1 RR Parida lbw VRV Singh 0 RR Das lbw VRV Singh 0 SV Sehgal b VRV Singh 0 P Jayachandra b VRV Singh 0 H Das c Dharmani b VRV Singh 4 DS Mohanty lbw Kakkar 6 B Mohanty lbw Kakkar 0 Preetamjit Das not out 0 Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-3): 5 Total (all out; 34.4 overs): 76 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-26 , 3-27, 4-27, 5-27, 6-28, 7-33, 8-74 , 9-74, 10-76 Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 14.4-5-25-3, S Kaul 7-1-18-0, VRV Singh 10-1-25-5, A Kakkar 3-1-6-2 Punjab (2nd innings): S Sohal c B Mohanty b D Mohanty 44 K Goel c Sehgal b P Das 6 R Inder not out 47 P Dharmani not out 8 Extras (lb-4, nb-8) 12 Total (2 wkts, 38 overs) 117 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-84 Bowling: DS Mohanty 9-3-13-1, Preetamjit Das 10-1-37-1, B Mohanty 11-1-37-0, SV Sehgal 5-0-20-0, P Jayachandra 1-0-2-0, N Behera 2-0-4-0.
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HP follow on against Mumbai
Dharamsala, December 19 Himachal Pradesh ended the first inning at 214. Pacer Murtuza Hussain claimed six
wickets. Earlier, Mumbai had scored 370 in their 1st inning. Batting second, the host team lost five wickets at a score of 236. Paras Dogra was batting on 50 and Ajay Manu at 42. Mumbai spinner Romesh Powar claimed two wickets while Test discard Ajit Agarkar went without wicket. Brief
scores: Mumbai (1st innings): 370 all out. Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 214 all out. Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings): 236 for 5 (Paras Dogra batting 50, Ajay Manu batting 42, Romesh Powar 2/62, Iqbal Abdulla 2/32).
— PTI
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Delhi Heroes record 5th win
New Delhi, December 19 After a barren first half, Gyan put Heroes ahead while former international Harwinder Singh consolidated the lead at the fag end of the match. In Group I, former champions Shastri Club rallied to hold Bangadarshan 1-1. Rual Thapliyal struck for Bangadarshan while Hari drew parity for
Shastri.
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New Delhi, December 19
Melbourne, December 19
Melbourne, December 19
Age: 22 years