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Gambhir’s career-best not good enough
Symonds does it again!
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Davis Cuppers revolt against Paes
BCCI rejects Pak offer of ODI series
India colts storm into semis
SA close in on win against B’desh
Olympic Qualifiers
Rathore ‘concentrating on Olympics’
Anand Pawar wins Austrian open
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Gambhir’s career-best not good enough
Sydney, February 24 Chasing 318, India were bowled out in the final over for 299; but not before Gautam Gambhir had distinguished himself with 113 off 119 balls — his second hundred of the series and his career-best — and Robin Uthappa had conjured 51 off 46 deliveries, studded by a thundering six. Australia have already qualified for the best-of-three finals starting on Sunday. If in their last outing on Tuesday in the league stage, India beat Sri Lanka, they, too, will progress. They could also sneak in, if Australia defeat the Sri Lankans in the concluding match of the preliminary stage on Friday. India’s southern neighbours, though, have to triumph both times. A 133-ball 124 from Ricky Ponting, who was previously averaging around 10 in the series, lifted the Australians to a commanding total of 317 for seven. On a wicket that negated Ishant Sharma’s pace and bounce, the Australian captain drove gracefully on both sides of the wicket and punished shorter balls, including pulling Irfan Pathan for six to midwicket. Before holing out to long-off in the slog overs, he added 110 runs for the 2nd with in 18 overs with Mathew Hayden and realised 102 runs in less than 16 overs with Andrew Symonds (whose average was in the region of eight prior to this match) for the 4th wicket. Both Hayden (54) and Symonds (60 in 49 balls), thus, also returned among the runs. India after being plundered for 92 runs in the first 10 overs, applied the brakes through their spinners. But India’s first wicket nightmare persisted. Sachin Tendulkar, a conspicuous failure in the competition, was trapped leg before wicket by a pincer-like 153 k release from Brett Lee, who celebrated a comeback at his home ground after being rested for two games with a second five wicket haul against India in the championship. Two scalps for Stuart Clarke and one for Nathan Bracken contributed catches to Adam Gilchrist, who finished with six dismissals, including a lightning stumping of Gambhir off Brad Hogg. But despite slumping to 51 for four, India persevered. Gambhir cover drove and cut exquisitely. Yet a hook off Lee was most memorable, not to mention a half pull half drive to long on for six. He and Mahendra Dhoni resuscitated the innings with a 98 run partnership for the 5th wicket. After Gambhir departed with the score on 216, Uthappa, combining cheeky scoops to fine leg with tennis-like smashes, continued the challenge in the company of Pathan (22 off 21 balls) and Harbhajan Singh (20 off 11 balls). Eighteen runs erupted off the 46th over, leaving the Indians 34 to obtain off 18 balls, with three wickets in hand. But just as Lee had terminated the threat from Dhoni, he extinguished the fireworks when summoned to bowl the 48th over. “Bhajji” was beaten by a slower ball, before Uthappa slammed the next delivery down long-on’s throat. India, unable to bat first on a dry, flat pitch, were further handicapped by the unavailability of Munaf Patel. Sreesanth provided too much width. Yet, swinging one in to Gilchrist, he was fortunate to witness Dhoni pulling off an amazing catch, changing direction, but perhaps also thanks to the ample webbing in his gloves. Hayden gave vent to his penchant for the leg-side. He thumped Ishant Sharma to long on and followed this with a pull to midwicket for six in the same over. He was, however, run out by a smart piece of fielding at short extra cover from Rohit Sharma. India conceded only 15 runs in the second power play. But entering in the 32nd over, Symonds savaged pacers and spinners alike. He was particularly severe on Harbhajan and Pathan. Eventually, he played too early to a well disguised slower off-break from Ishant. Comical run outs occurred in the last two balls of the Australian venture, as Mike Hussey drove both back to Harbhajan, with the non-strikers well out of their creases. Scoreboard India: Man of the match: Ricky Ponting (Australia).
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Symonds does it again!
Sydney, February 24 Symonds, who scored 59 to propel Australia to a challenging 317 at SCG, fired up in final overs and smashed a five fours and two sixes to raise his half century from 44 balls. While Symonds' innings was blazing, Ishant Sharma foxed him with a slower delivery and the Australian was clean bowled. But Symonds did not leave the ground before exchanging some heated words with the Indian paceman. Symonds first reacted to his dismissal after which Ishant Sharma retaliated by showing Symonds his way back to the pavilion, which led to the two umpires calling over the Indian team and asking them to show restraint. Umpire Daryl Harper was seen having a word with Dhoni and his men.
— PTI
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Dhoni prefers to be tight-lipped
Sydney, February 24 Symonds (59) had fired up in final overs, smashing sixes, was foxed by Sharma's slower delivery and was clean bowled. But Symonds did not leave the ground before exchanging some heated words with the Indian paceman following which the umpires asked the visiting team's player to show restraint. Umpire Daryl Harper was seen having a word with Dhoni and his men but the Indian captain said there was no issue about it still. "So far nothing has happened. We haven't been called by the match-referee. So I think there is no issue to it," said Dhoni after India lost by 18 runs. But Australian skipper Ricky Ponting claimed that Sharma started it and Symonds behaved in retaliation. "These are minor issues and happen on the field all the time. But Symonds said so in response and he did not provoke it," Ponting said. "Maybe, there is something in the Sydney water," he added, relating it to the racial slur charge against Harbhajan which came about at the same venue during the preceding Test series and nearly caused the tour to be abandoned by the Indian Cricket Board. There was another official intervention when the Australian team management complaint that the gloves Dhoni was wearing, with the one he caught Adam Gilchrist down the legside, had a bigger cusp, probably to help him get a bigger span to catch a chance. Ponting said Dhoni had done it throughout the series. "He seemed to change the gloves when he is standing back from when he is standing up to the wicket. He has done it. So I didn't think it was any different," he said. Dhoni, however, chose to evade the issue about changing his gloves in the middle of Australian innings after an official intervention. "I didn't want to raise a controversy. I was asked to change the gloves and I did it," he said. Ponting also expressed surprise at the kind of noisy support which the Indian team managed in the middle. "Yes, it was surprising. For a moment, I wasn't sure if I was in Sydney or in Mumbai. They were making a lot of noise when the Indians were doing well. Our supporters, in contrast, wasn't as loud," said Ponting jokingly.
— PTI
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Davis Cuppers revolt against Paes
New Delhi, February 24 In a letter, which has the potential to split the team further, the Davis Cuppers - Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj, Rohan Bopanna and Karan Rastogi - have said that they do not want to play under Paes in future because they have lost confidence in his leadership. Anil Khanna, secretary-general of AITA, said he has received a letter from the players and they will take a decision on the matter. "Yes, AITA has received such a letter. It reached us two-three days back. We have a selection committee as well as an executive committee and it will take a decision after due consideration in the best interests of Indian tennis," Khanna told PTI. "We will take a decision before India's next Davis Cup tie in April," he added. It is for the first time that a non-playing captain has faced an open revolt from the players. According to sources in the AITA, the Davis Cuppers have complained of lack of support from the captain. Players were also unhappy with Paes's habit of blaming the teammates in public. The home Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan early this month had played its part in souring the relations between the players and the captain when Paes had questioned Amritraj's professionalism. On the first day of the tie, Paes decided to field Somdev Varman ahead of an "unfit" Amritraj. However, the US-based Indian contradicted the captain, saying he was fit to play the singles match. In the do-or-die fifth reverse singles, Paes had no choice but to rely on Amritraj, who pulled off an impressive win to help India advance to the next round.
— PTI
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BCCI rejects Pak offer of ODI series
Karachi, February 24 BCCI President Sharad Pawar personally called up his Pakistani counterpart Nasim Ashraf to convey that the series was not possible because of a tight schedule of the Indian team. "The Indian Board has said that their players have been on tour for the last three months and start a home series against South Africa from March 26 and are already very fatigued. The players want a rest period of one or two weeks before they play South Africa," a PCB official said. The Indian Board has, however, promised to play the three matches before the ICC Champions Trophy in September-October in Pakistan. The PCB official said the India's postponement of the proposed tour was a setback but confirmed an invitation was also with the Sri Lankans for a five-match ODI series. "Hopefully the Sri Lankans will respond positively. They also have a tight schedule in the coming weeks but we are trying to arrange some international matches for our players and we also have other commitments to look at," said the PCB official. Pakistan are desperate to organise some international matches for its team with cloud hanging over Australia's scheduled tour in March-April and had proposed to Indians the in Lahore in mid March. As it is Australia have already reduced their tour from 44 days to around 29 days and are yet to confirm the revised tour as they wait to send a security delegation to Pakistan early next month to inspect the venues and security arrangements as their players continue to have concerns about playing in Pakistan at this time. If Australia don't tour Pakistan for the short Test series it would leave Pakistan without a Test series against any country until December when India are scheduled to play three Tests and five one-day internationals against their arch-rivals.
— PTI
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VRV, Goel, Kaul join Mohali
Chandigarh, February 24 M P Pandove, hony secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, said today that along with V R V Singh, Uday Kaul and Karan Goel, key members of the Punjab Ranji Trophy team, have also joined the Mohali team. With Brett Lee and S Sreesanth, the other fast bowlers already in the team, the joining of VRV Singh will make the Mohali pace attack among the most formidable attacks in the eight-team competition. V R V Singh bowling in tandem with world’s fastest bowler Lee would surely be an enriching experience for the 23-year-old bowler. Besides, bowling along with tearaway Lee and Sreesanth will also be motivation enough for him to give off his best for the team. Ever since he returned from injury at the start of the Ranji Trophy this season, V R V Singh has been in irresistible form. Earlier this week, he bowled North Zone to title victory in the Duleep Trophy final with a 10-wicket haul in Mumbai. In the Ranji Trophy this season, V R V Singh had a couple of impressive outings. He bagged 15 wickets in four Ranji Trophy games. VRV Singh was earlier included in the Indian Test squad in Australia before the current one-day matches when an injured Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the last two Tests in the four-Test series. Though, V R V Singh failed to break into the playing eleven, his selection proved that the Punjab fast bowler was in the reckoning for selection to play the game at the highest level. Young Uday Kaul has distinguished himself as a competent wicketkeeper batsman. With a couple of impressive knocks under his belt this season, Kaul is among the most promising prospects to emerge from the state. The 21-year-old Karan Goel was the leading scorer in the inaugural domestic Twenty20 Championship last season playing a major role with his hard-hitting prowess with the bat and part-time off-spin.
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Kuala Lumpur, February 24 The Indians, seeded second behind defending champions Pakistan, sent England in to bat and rolled them over for 146 in 46 overs and then chased the paltry target for loss of only three wickets in 39.1 overs at the Kinrara Oval. Opener Taruwar Kohli scored a patient half century to help carve out an Indian win after left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah took 3 for 29 and seamer Siddarth Kaul and left-arm slow bowler Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets each to make it a low-scoring affair. India will next play the winner of match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, who play their quarter-final match tomorrow. Kohli and other opener Sreevats Goswami (26 off 60 balls) tackled English pace attack with their cautious approach and put on 65 runs in 20 overs. After Goswami was out in the next over, Tanmay Srivastava (22) combined with Kohli and the runs continued to come at a steady pace. Off-spinner Tom Westley, however, tried to destabilise the Indian line-up by picking quick wickets of Srivastava and captain Virat Kohli (8) the space of 10 runs But with Taruwar Kohli firmly guarding one end, S Tiwary helped (17 not out) India romp home. Taruwar Kohli, who hails from Jalandhar, became the tournament's leading scorer with 207 runs in four matches.
— PTI
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SA close in on win against B’desh
Dhaka, February 24 The prolific all-rounder took all his wickets in a single spell of fascinating fast bowling to help South Africa bowl out the hosts for 182 and restrict their second innings lead to 204. South African batsmen, who made 170 in their first essay, made amends by reaching 178-4 at close and now need just 27 runs to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series. Ashwell Prince was batting on 24 with three fours alongside A.B. de Villiers on eight when play was called off due to bad light with eight overs remaining in the day. Skipper Graeme Smith, who scored his 20th Test fifty off 80 balls, laid the platform for the chase, putting on crucial partnerships with opener Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla. Scoreboard South Africa (2nd innings):
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Olympic Qualifiers
Bangalore, February 24 Speaking before the departure, coach Joaquim Carvalho said he had high expectations from his boys and the tournament could mark a ‘turnaround for the Indian hockey team’. “We need to win this tournament very badly,” he said. The players would reach Mumbai tonight and take an early morning flight to Santiago tomorrow. “It was basically a self analysis made by the players themselves at the four-day camp held at SAI (Southern Centre) here. It had more to do with video analysis and we also had a couple of practice sessions,” he said. Joaquim said he was grateful to the supporting staff, who worked very hard. The players were also very keen to win the tournament. The field includes, apart from hosts Chile, Britain, Mexico, Austria and Russia. The winner would take last qualifying spot for the Beijing olympics. India would face Russia in their first game. Left half Prabodh Tirkey is retained as captain of the team, which has Bharat Chetri replacing injured Adrian D’Souza as the number one keeper. Drag flicker Bharat Ram has come in for Jaswinder Singh, while strikers Bharat Chhikara and Ajitesh Rai have been selected in place of S V Sunil and Bharat Minz. The squad: Goal Keepers: Bharat Chetri, Baljit Singh; Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, William Xalco, V Raghunath, Diwakar Ram; Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh, Bimal Lakra, Sardara Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey (Capt), Vikram Kanth; Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Bharat Chikkara and Ajitesh Rai. Coach: Joaquim Carvalho.
— UNI
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Rathore ‘concentrating on Olympics’
Jaipur, February 24 Rathore, a double trap shooter who is here to participate in the Asian Clay Shooting Championship said "I have been practicing at Tuglakabagh in New Delhi under coach Josh lakatos from the USA and I am satisfied with my pracitce. Indian shooters have good chance there". He said Ahmed Al Makhtum of Kuwait, Hub Bin Yuan of China, Ellar of the USA and Denialo of Italy would give him good fight in Olympics to be held in Beijing in August this year. ''The standard of the Asian clay shooting is not good because main shooters of Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are not coming while China and Korean team did not take part'', said ace shooter.
— UNI
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Anand Pawar wins Austrian open
Bangalore, February 24 According to information received here, the TATA Padukone Badminton Academy trainee became the second Indian after the late Syed Modi in 1984, to lift the Austrian Open men’s singles title. It was a fine win for Anand, ranked 124 in the world as he tamed Vladislav, ranked 60th at present and a former top 15 player. Coming through the qualifying rounds, Anand was promoted to the main tournament. He had a remarkable run, beating players ranked much above him. Anand, enroute to the title, did not lose a single set. Incidentally, this was his first major international tournament title. Anand is the son of former internationals Uday and Sujatha Pawar. The women’s singles title was lifted by Xi Zang of China who beat Anu Nieminen of Finland 19-21, 21-13, 21-9. Anand’s win is bound to push his international ranking up and he is likely to figure in the top 100. The Indian star would now take part in the $ 80,000 prize money German Open tournament at Mulheim next week, where he had been promoted to the main draw.
— UNI
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Sydney, February 24
