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Sachin’s No. 39 bolsters India
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. — AP/PTI
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‘I prefer not to count my tons’
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Bhajji’s appeal: Manohar appointed lawyer
Wadekar seeks Bharat Ratna for Tendulkar
Pak win, but fail to impress
Celeb$ clinch IPL bids
On-song Tsonga stuns Nadal
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga exults after beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal of the Australian Open on Thursday. — Reuters photo Sharapova, Ivanovic enter final
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic (L) and Russia’s Maria Sharapova celebrate after winning their semifinals at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. — Reuters
photo
Anand held, Negi in second spot
Women’s
Golf
All-Punjab Games
Sutil makes hay while sun shines
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Sachin’s No. 39 bolsters India
Adelaide, January 24 A chanceless, undefeated 124 from India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar — his 39th Test century and ninth against Australia — in a crisis powered India to 309 for five at stumps on the opening day of the deciding fourth Test. Anil Kumble’s good fortune with the toss had ensured that he and spin partner Harbhajan Singh — who got the nod in place of Wasim Jaffer — would, if the Indians can bat well enough in this five-day encounter, have a crack at the Aussies on an uncertain fourth-innings wicket. But the Australian bowlers, spearheaded by the relentless Brett Lee (two for 62), had, for now, slightly swung the pendulum their way. The first hour tomorrow could be critical, since the second new ball is only an over old. Virender Sehwag provided the appetiser with a responsible 90-ball 63, which reflected minimal footwork but maximum effect, with drives in front and square off the wicket. Ultimately, a half-cut, half-drive off a seaming delivery ended in the hands of first slip. The piece de resistance, though, emanated exclusively from Tendulkar, albeit VVS Laxman (51) extended crucial company in a vital partnership of 126 for the fifth wicket. This capital of South Australia is where Sir Donald Bradman, almost unanimously revered as the greatest batsman of all time, retired and spent the greater part of his life. The Victor Richardson Drive (dedicated to a distinguished contemporary of Bradman and grandfather of Ian and Greg Chappell) leads to a new, canopied stand named after the same Chappell brothers. An expanded and more multi-faceted Bradman stand on the southern side, including a plush press box, has added stature to an already august setting, which, at the northern end retains its grassy bank, with an ancient, landmark cathedral behind it. Overnight rain did not deter an almost capacity attendance. Kumble, chasing a series equaliser, had made candid his aggressive intent by replacing a batsman with a bowler, which endowed the Indians with five specialists with the leather. Unfortunately, the bold strategy converted Irfan Pathan into a bit of a sacrificial lamb; and he was beaten by an away swinger from Mitchell Johnson. Indeed, this slingy, left-arm fast-medium exponent maintained his dominance over Rahul Dravid in this series by slanting one away from the Indian run machine to have him caught at second slip, leaving India at 82 for two. Although entering a little before lunch, Tendulkar didn’t get off the mark until after it, taking 18 balls to do so, with a peach of an on-drive off Lee. Despite losing Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly in a space of 34 runs — the latter a victim of a debatable lbw decision by umpire Asad Rauf — he advanced imperiously to 55 by tea, his half-century coming off 77 balls and being studded with a slog sweep for six off Brad Hogg. With Laxman complementing him with suitable soundness, the Ferrari owner went into overdrive — cruising through his second 50 in a mere 56 balls. He smote Hogg for a straight six and lofted him for four to long on off the next ball. Another six (his third) to the sightscreen — this time at the expense of Michael Clarke’s left-arm spin — signalled the 100-run stand for the fifth wicket. A ball later, he caressed the same bowler through extra cover to complete an emotional as well as triumphant hundred. He looked at the skies in apparent thanksgiving, raised his bat and helmet in the air to acknowledge the thunderous applause. Laxman, as usual, whipped the ball away off his ribs to the onside and cut and drove in cultured fashion to the off. But Adam Gilchrist dropped a sitter off Lee when the Hyderabadi was 37, before making amends as this batsman gloved a short-pitched delivery, which failed to rise. Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave anxious moments to the Indian dressing room, edging to Matthew Hayden at first slip and escaping. He most uncharacteristically endured 54 balls for a meagre six runs. Tendulkar had, meanwhile, closed shutters, but couldn’t resist a trademark upper cut off Lee for four. An uncontrolled square cut and a missed drive were the only blemishes in an otherwise majestic 172-ball occupation of the crease. Scoreboard India
(1st innings) Sehwag c Hayden b Lee 63 Pathan c Gilchrist b Johnson 9 Dravid c Ponting b Johnson 18 Tendulkar not out 124 Ganguly lbw Hogg 7 Laxman c Gilchrist b Lee 51 Dhoni not out 6 Extras
(b-8, nb-7, w-1, lb-15) 31 Total (5 wickets, 86 overs) 309 Fall of wickets:
1-34, 2-82, 3-122, 4-156, 5-282. Bowling: Lee 22-3-62-2, Johnson 25-4-72-2, Stuart Clark 16-4-48-0, Hogg 18-2-78-1, Michael Clarke 5-0-26-0.
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‘I prefer not to count my tons’
Sachin’s Test 100s 148* Sydney, 1992 114 Perth, 1992 116 Melbourne, 1999 241* Sydney, 2004 154* Sydney, 2008 124* Adelaide, 2008
Adelaide, January 24 After smashing an unbeaten 124 against Australia on the first day of the fourth Test, Tendulkar told journalists that the innings was a “special one”. He had never scored a hundred at Adelaide before. Reminded about narrowly missing centuries last year, the master batsman said: “It’s not like easing the pain (of last year). When I am getting it (centuries), I prefer not to count them.
“Then it’s just not about scoring centuries. There’s a lot more to cricket than just this. I want to focus on the task at hand and if I end up scoring a hundred, fantastic,” he said. “It also happens to be Sir Don Bradman’s home ground, so I think it was a tribute to him,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press. Bradman, who died in February 2001, had in an interview once remarked that the Indian reminded him of how he himself batted The Adelaide crowd gave Tendulkar a standing ovation when he came out to bat and at the end of the day and Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg, whom he punished severely during the day’s play, made no secret of his admiration for the batting genius. “It’s just fantastic to be in the same park as against someone of his calibre. He deserves a standing ovation when he comes out. He’s a fantastic player to watch,” Hogg said. “It’s a great privilege to be part of (the welcome that Tendulkar gets). He is one of the greatest the world has ever seen,” he added. Tendulkar said he was relieved that he finally came up with a big knock on a ground where he has not done too well in the past. “It hasn’t been a great ground for me. I scored a 65 here in 1999-2000 series and since then it hasn’t been a good venue for me. I was determined to make this count,” he said. Tendulkar has now scored a century at all Test venues he has played in Australia except Brisbane, with Sydney (3) being his favourite. He rated this innings high on two counts — he gauged it early that he was in good nick and that he shifted gears according to the ebb and flow of the game. “When I drove Brett Lee down the ground I hit it exactly the way I wanted to do it. Then, when I hit a couple of drives off Mitchell Johnson at the other end.”
— PTI
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Wadekar seeks Bharat Ratna for Tendulkar
New Delhi, January 24 “If anyone has to be given Bharat Ratna it is Sachin Tendulkar since it is he who deserves it the most,” said Wadekar who joined former cricketers in showering encomiums on the 35-year-old batting maestro shortly after he fired another ton in the fourth Test against Australia in Adelaide. The suggestion came with just a day left for the announcement of the National Awards. Wadekar’s suggestions came four days after visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in New Delhi that he would recommend Tendulkar for knighhtood for his accomplishments on the cricket field. Tendulkar is a recipient of Arjuna Award given for accomplished sportsmen (1994) and Padma Shri in 1999. He was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country’s highest sporting honour, in 1998. He was also chosen as the Wisden cricketer of the year in 1997 while ‘Time’ magazine named him in November 2006 as one of the Asian heroes.
— PTI
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Pak win, but fail to impress
Hyderabad, January 24 Chasing 239 for victory, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi came to Pakistan’s rescue with a powerful 43 not out from 27 balls after Zimbabwe had reduced the hosts to 178 for five in the 38th over.
Afridi, who struck four boundaries and two sixes, and Mohammad Yousuf (38 not out) added 61 from 52 balls in an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership to guide Pakistan home with 22 balls to spare at the Niaz Stadium. Several dropped catches also contributed towards Zimbabwe’s second defeat in the five-match series.
Afridi was let off on 32 and 36, Yousuf on 29 and Jamshed was dropped on six and 72 on a flat batting pitch. Zimbabwe removed opener Salman Butt early on when he was caught behind by Tatenda Taibu for 17 off Elton
Chigumbura. Jamshed produced some explosive shots as he and Younis Khan (35) put on a free-flowing 95 from 80 balls. The left-hander, who scored a half-century on his debut one-day outing in Karachi on Monday, continued his hot streak as he smashed 14 fours in his 64-ball knock. When Jamshed and Younis were both run out within a space of four balls in the 21st over, Zimbabwe raised hopes of an upset victory.
Jamshed was beaten by a return throw from bowler Ray Price, while a direct throw from Vusi Sibanda from square leg sent Younis back to the pavilion. Pakistan also lost skipper Shoaib Malik (4) when he was stumped off Price, who bowled an excellent spell to concede 21 runs in his 10 overs.
Misbah-ul-Haq struggled for his 20 before he was caught in the deep by Brendan Taylor off Hamilton Masakadza to leave Pakistan requiring 61 from 75 balls. Earlier, left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir produced his best bowling figures of 4-34 to restrict Zimbabwe despite half-centuries from Masakadza (87) and Taibu (81). Following the match, Pakistan made two changes for the third one dayer in Multan. Uncapped players — opener Khalid Latif and fast bowler Sohail Khan — were brought into the squad in place of fast bowler Samiullah Niazi and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed. Brief scores: Zimbabwe: 238 for 8 in 50 overs (Hamilton Masakadza 87, Tatenda Taibu 81; Sohail Tanvir 4-34, Iftikhar Anjum 2-43). Pakistan: 239 for 5 in 46.2 overs (Nasir Jamshed 74, Shahid Afridi 43 not out, Mohd Yousuf 38 not out; Ray Price 1-21).
— Reuters
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Celeb$ clinch IPL bids
— Shah Rukh Khan
Mumbai, January 24 The Indian Premier League (IPL), set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take on industrialist Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League, signed multi-million-dollar deals which will enable owners of cricket teams to share the spotlight with the stars of India’s favourite sport. When the bids were opened today, the IPL and the BCCI were richer by a whopping $723.50 million. Other team owners include Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, who joined hands to own the Kolkata team for $75.09 million, while Preity Zinta got the Mohali team for $76 million. The Deccan Chronicle Group will own the Hyderabad team, purchased for $107.01 million. India Cements bagged the Chennai team for $91 million; the GMR group, which is constructing the Delhi airport, got the Capital’s team for $84 million. Emerging Media, having Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan as one of the investors, won the bid for the Jaipur team for $67 million. Incidentally, the Mohali team is owned jointly by Preity, her fiance Ness Wadia of the Bombay Dyeing group, Karan Paul and Dabur’s Mohit Burman. PTI adds: After a prolonged suspense, BCCI vice-president and chairman of the IPL governing council Lalit Modi disclosed the names of the winning bidders. The bids of the ICICI, Sahara and Futures Group were disqualified, Modi said. He also dismissed suggestions that there was a conflict of interests in India Cements, which has BCCI treasurer N. Srinivasan as a shareholder, becoming a team owner. Modi admitted that some of the contracted international players would skip the Twenty20 tournament which begins on April 18 owing to national commitments but said the pool was big enough. “I hope Sourav Ganguly leads my team,” Shah Rukh said. Dwelling on the venture, the actor said, “It’s not about money. The idea is to nurture youngsters and give them another platform for playing cricket.” In all, 59 matches would be played over 44 days with ICC umpires officiating the games, which would be broadcast live on SET Max, Modi said. “We already have 80 contracted players and their auction would start soon,” Modi said.
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On-song Tsonga stuns Nadal
Melbourne, January 24 The world number 38, playing just his fifth Grand Slam tournament, simply blew the Spaniard off court in just under two hours to reach Sunday’s final against top seed Roger Federer or third seed Novak Djokovic. “It is just amazing, unbelievable, nothing could stop me today,” Tsonga said in a courtside interview. “I tried to hit everything and everything went in, so what can I say?” Tsonga knocked out seeds Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny on his way to the last four and he came out with all guns blazing, peppering Nadal with a barrage of booming serves and groundstrokes to take the opening set in 32 minutes. Nadal was rattled but the second set went with serve until the Spaniard cracked again in the eighth game, Tsonga mixing up his shots cleverly to frustrate the three-times French Open champion. Nadal had not dropped a set in the tournament but he was powerless to contain Tsonga who broke serve twice more in the third set before serving out to clinch victory on his first match point. Tsonga, 22, will be the third Frenchman to play in the Australian Open final after Jean Borotra in 1928 and Arnaud Clement in 2001. Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis was the last unseeded player to reach the men’s final at Melbourne Park, in 2006. Federer plays Djokovic in the second semifinal tomorrow. Yuki Bhambri in
junior semis
Yuki Bhambri continued his impressive run in the junior singles event of the Australian Open, entering the semifinals after defeating Britain’s third seed Daniel Evans. The Delhi boy overcame stiff resistance from Evans to win 7-6, 4-6 6-3 in the quarterfinal. The eighth-seeded Indian will clash with fifth seed local challenger Bernard Tomic for a place in the final. Bhupathi-Knowles crash out
Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahamas’ Mark Knowles of were knocked out of the Australian Open after they suffered a 6-4, 6-4 loss in the men’s doubles semifinals today. A day after upsetting top seeds and world number one Bryan brothers, Bhupathi and Knowles failed to capitalise on their chances and were sent packing by Israeli eighth-seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in an hour and 32
minutes. — Agencies
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Sharapova, Ivanovic enter final
Melbourne, January 24 The Serbian fourth seed looked dead and buried after going down 6-0 in the first set of her semifinal with Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova, but turned the tables in emphatic fashion to win the next two 6-3, 6-4. Facing her across the net on Saturday will be fifth seed Sharapova, who fired an ominous warning as she crushed another Serb, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-1, who almost withdrew citing injury. Ivanovic looked like wilting in humid conditions with the roof of the Rod Laver Arena closed due to rain, taking 46 minutes to win her first game and reviving memories of her choking in last year’s French Open final. But the 20-year-old recovered after allowing Hantuchova to rattle off eight straight games, cheered on by an ecstatic Melbourne Park crowd. “She’s a tough player and I knew I had to go for my shots early in the rally and it was frustrating because I couldn’t make any, she was playing really well,” she said, applauding the crowd for helping her regroup. “I tried to stay calm as much as I could but obviously it wasn’t easy.” Sharapova, into her second successive Australian Open decider, against Jankovic reproduced the stunning form that blew world number one Justine Henin off court in the quarterfinals. “I’m really happy I got through and I’m back in the final,” said the Russian, who is on a mission to make amends for last year’s humiliating loss to Serena Williams in the final. “I had the experience going into last year’s final and it didn’t turn out too good,” she added. “I’m just glad that I’ve been able to play such good tennis and I hope I can continue that for another match.” While Sharapova was impressive, she benefited from the early-season injuries that have hindered Jankovic. The Serbian was clearly in pain and needed treatment during the match for a lower back problem. At one point, she was ready to call it quits. “I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd.” The Russian held Jankovic to love as she served in the first game, flexing her muscles early as she blasted an ace past her Serbian opponent. Jankovic, with only a popgun serve to match Sharapova’s cannon, relied on her groundstrokes to try to run the Russian around but mistakes proved costly.
— AFP
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Anand held, Negi in second spot
Wijk Aan Zee, January 24 Parimarjan was a class act, coasting to an easy victory against Rujigrok. The win helped the 14-year-old to take his personal tally to 6.5 points out of a possible 10 and he is now just half a point adrift of tournament leader Fabiano Caruana from Italy who went down to Li Shilong of China.
— PTI
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Women’s
Golf
New Delhi, January 24 The foreign players will include two Chinese Taipei teenaged players 17-year-old Lin Tzu-Chi and 15-year-old Hsieh Yu-Ling, who had played “top class golf” at the Nick Faldo Series Asia events and emerged first and second overall in the Grand finals at Mission Hills, China, in December last. The Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) vice-president and chairperson of the organising committee Kavita Singh said the top five players of the women's Indian Open will receive an invitation to play in the Indian Ladies Masters (European Tour Event), scheduled to be held from December 3 to 6.
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All-Punjab Games
Chandigarh, January 24 Most of the 17 sub-committees set up to handle the Games’ conduct have not submitted bills and other accounts regarding expenditure. On certain bills, the audit authorities have raised objections and the state government had been told to file its reply. A decision was taken at the meeting to issue notices to the committees asking them to clear the accounts at the earliest and submit the bills.
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Sutil makes hay while sun shines
Valencia, January 24 The German driver made up for Day One’s limited running, with the scheduled work on dampers and set-up going ahead without any major mechanical problems. The German completed 98 laps of the Spanish track, with his best lap — a 1 min 13.4 — closer to the pace than Day One’s Force India time. Sutil would pave way for Giancarlo Fisichella to bring Force India’s second test of the season to a close.
— PTI
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He came. The crowd bestowed on him a standing ovation on what is almost certainly his farewell Test in Australia. He responded with a peerless innings, an unqualified conquest.
Prominent industrialists, movie stars and other celebrities today became proud owners of Twenty20 cricket teams.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take on industrialist Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League, signed multi-million-dollar deals which will enable owners of cricket teams to share the spotlight with the stars of India’s favourite sport.
Melbourne, January 24
Melbourne, January 24
The Mumbai team, which got the highest bid of $111.9 million (about Rs 436 crore), was purchased by Mukesh Ambani. The Bangalore team, purchased by Vijay Mallya, came a close second with a bid of $111.6 million (about Rs 435 crore).