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Steyn-gunned!
‘Worst performance by India in my career’
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Bhajji overtakes Bedi
Indian total 7th worst
Shoaib can’t play in IPL: Modi
Klusener’s knock in vain
Outburst against umpiring
India need to address ‘major concerns’: FIH
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Steyn-gunned!
Ahmedabad, April 3 At the close Jacques Kallis on 60 and AB de Villiers (59) were at the crease. South Africa are now 147 runs ahead in the first innings with six first innings wickets still left. Earlier, South Africa's pace trio, on a pitch that had a smattering of grass and some early-morning moisture, ran amok among the Indian batting line-up which was missing Sachin Tendulkar to dismiss them for just 76 after the hosts had won the toss and decided to bat first. For Indians it was the Steyn factor which did them in with the pacer taking 5 for 23 as the visitors needed just 20 overs to pack up the side. Only Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni got to double figures as a vaunted line-up was ruthlessly exposed on a surface that wasn't comatose and batsman-friendly like most prepared in the subcontinent. There was little hint of the drama to come in the first couple of overs, as India's opening pair resumed where they left off in Chennai. Wasim Jaffer slashed Makhaya Ntini over slip for four and then played a magnificent back-foot drive through the covers. Business as usual, or so it seemed, until Ntini slanted one in at good pace. Jaffer was caught on the crease, and the timid poke was superbly taken by Graeme Smith diving to his left. Virender Sehwag tucked a Dale Steyn delivery off his hips for four, but was then guilty of reaching for a ball that was well outside his off stump. The inside edge did the rest. V. V. S. Laxman shouldered arms to one that darted back to clip the top of the stumps, and Sourav Ganguly was torn between playing or leaving. All that happened was an inside edge on to middle stump, and as Ganguly trudged off, the scoreboard gave evidence of the wreckage of an innings (30 for 4). Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni then tried to rescue India as the two put on a fighting 23 runs for the fifth wicket with Dhoni playing a couple of good looking shots. However, the South African pacemen had smelt blood and they were not going to let go this opportunity to humiliate India as Steyn coming back for his second spell got through the defences of 'The Wall' Rahul Dravid beating him for pace to peg back his stumps. Dravid made just three with India at 53 for five. Dhoni had already been reprieved once by then, fending one just out of reach of Hashim Amla at short leg, but he didn't learn his lesson. A wild shot at Morkel only resulted in an edge through to Mark Boucher, and when Anil Kumble played on two balls later, it was doubtful whether India would even surpass 66 their lowest ever score against the South Africans made at Durban in 1996. A couple of carves through gully from Irfan Pathan helped them avoid that ignominy, but there was no stopping for the rampant Steyn, who wrapped things up with the last three wickets - Harbhajan leg before, RP Singh caught fending off a short ball, and Sreesanth bowled with raw pace. It took South Africa just 109 minutes to embarrass the hosts, with a hint of movement triggering some hesitant, and at times appalling, strokeplay. With this display, hosts have earned the dubious distinction of being the first ever Indian team to be dismissed before the luncheon break. This paltry total was also India's lowest at home against the visitors and their second-worst ever at home after the 75 made against the West Indies at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi in 1987. Their lowest total against South Africa is 66 which was made at Durban in 1996-97. The South African openers found no devils in the pitch which the Indian batsmen had found and for a few near chances, the batsmen well and truly demonstrated their dominance over the Indian attack. India managed to get their first breakthrough when Sreesanth had Graeme Smith caught in front of the wicket for 34 with South Africa having already overtaken the hosts' first innings total of 76 being 78 for one. Hashim Amla, who had got a century in Chennai along with Neil McKenzie who also had a good match in the southern city, grinded out the Indian attack with sensible play taking the score to over 100 when Harbhajan Singh struck in his second over. Neil McKenzie was beaten by the Harbhajan's 'doosra' from with the edge going to Rahul Dravid at first slip who made no mistake. McKenzie made 42. — UNI Scoreboard India (1st innings) Jaffer c Smith b Ntini 9 Sehwag b Steyn 6 Dravid b Steyn 3 Laxman b Ntini 3 Ganguly b Ntini 0 Dhoni c Boucher b Morkel 14 Pathan not out 21 Kumble b Morkel 0 Harbhajan lbw Steyn 1 R. P. Singh c Smith b Steyn 0 Sreesanth b Steyn 0 Extras (b-4, lb-11, w-2, nb-2) 19 Total (all out, 20 overs) 76 Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-24, 3-30, 4-30, 5-53, 6-55, 7-55, 8-56, 9-76. Bowling: Steyn 8-2-23-5, Ntini 6-1-18-3, Morkel 6-1-20-2. South Africa (1st innings) Smith lbw Sreesanth 34 McKenzie c Dravid b Harbhajan 42 Amla c Jaffer b Harbhajan 16 Kallis not out 60 Prince lbw Harbhajan 2 De Villiers not out 59 Extras: (b-1, lb-7, w-2) 10 Total (4 wkts, 64 overs) 223 Fall of wickets: 1-78 , 2-100, 3-101, 4-117. Bowling: Sreesanth 15-3-53-1, R. P. Singh 13-1-49-0, Pathan 8-1-37-0, Harbhajan 16-3-49-3, Kumble 12-0-27-0. — IANS
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‘Worst performance by India in my career’
Ahmedabad, April 3 "This is definitely the worst performance by an Indian team in my international career so far," he told newspersons after the end of the first day's play at the Sardar Patel stadium here today. India were bundled out for a paltry 76 and then South Africa piled on 223 runs losing four wickets to take control of the match. Harbhajan Singh, however, has not lost hope, saying that we have to forget what has happened and would try to restrict South Africa by bowling out them by lunch time to get back into the game. The off-spinner was honest enough not to blame the wicket too much, saying that the batsmen, including himself need to take the blame for today's dismal performance. "We played casual shots and did not apply ourselves like we needed to do. We cannot blame the wicket, it was a green top, but we should have applied ourselves better.” "Hopefully in the second innings, we will be able to show better application and try to save the match," he added. He pointed out that when India travel to other countries, the wickets are prepared to suit the home teams and India should also do the same. "Though we have some exciting young bowlers, our strength is spin and we have won in India through spin. Therefore, we need to prepare wickets accordingly," he said. Harbhajan to a query about Dale Steyn's statement that India did not have a game plan in place, said, "If that is what he thinks then I cannot do anything. We will show him our plans in the second innings," he added. India had no plan, says Steyn
Fast bowler Dale Steyn, who with his five for 23, helped knock over India for a paltry 76 claimed that the Indian team did not have a game plan in place to tackle the South African pace battery. Speaking to mediapersons after the day's play, the young South African pace bowler termed the wicket as a good one and the greenest he has seen in the subcontinent. He, however, said “this was not a wicket on which you bowl short and the Indians were expecting short-pitched bowling from us and playing on the back foot. We bowled a full length and reaped the rewards.” When asked about the Indian captain Anil Kumble and curator Dhiraj Parsana having an argument about the pitch, Steyn said, “If the Indian team thought that the wicket was seamer friendly then why did they bat first on winning the toss?” He said that this was a clear case of the home team's batsmen not knowing what to do on this wicket. “We knew after we got the first wicket that the wickets would keep tumbling because the Indian batsmen just did not seem to have any answers on how to play on this wicket,” he said.
— UNI |
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Ahmedabad, April 3 Harbhajan with Prince's wicket moved on to 267 Test wickets overtaking Bedi's record of 266 wickets. Now only India captain Anil Kumble with 607 wickets and pace legend Kapil Dev with 434 wickets are ahead of Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan Singh reached this milestone in his 65th Test at an average of 31.28. He has taken five wickets in an innings 21 times and taken 10 wickets in a match four times with best figures of eight for 84. — UNI
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Indian total 7th worst
Ahmedabad, April 3 No Indian batsman, including Tendulkar's replacement Irfan Pathan who top-scored with an unbeaten 21, looked comfortable against the fiery SA pace attack, which had conceded over 650 runs in the series opener, on a wicket that held hardly any devil despite sporting a tinge of green on it. The battle seemed to have been lost more in the mind by the over-hyped line up which put up one of the worst-ever batting displays in the 76-year history of Indian cricket to return the seventh-worst total. As every keen follower of the game in the country knows, "Summer of 42", when the team folded up for 42 in tough batting conditions with the ball being swung and seamed alarmingly by the English trio of Geoff Arnold, Chris Old and Mike Hendrick at Lord's in June, 1974, is the worst-ever performance by an Indian batting line-up. The six other Indian totals worse than what the team achieved today are: 42 v England at Lord's, June, 1974 58 v Australia, Brisbane, Nov, 1947 58 v England, Manchester, July, 1952 66 v South Africa, Durban, Dec, 1996 67 v Australia, Melbourne, Feb, 1948 75 v West Indies, Delhi, Nov, 1987.
— PTI |
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India-South Africa series The great players in the game are known by their contribution to their team's wins and Dale Steyn is bidding fair to be reckoned as one of the great players in the game with another fine burst of pace and hostility that has given his team a super chance of putting it across India in the second Test. Batsmen are invariably recognised for the hundreds they score and bowlers for the five-wicket hauls that they get and Steyn is well on his way in that respect too. Of course, it is early days yet and a sustained and consistent performance over the years will establish him as one of the game's greats. Fast bowlers are by the very nature of their work more prone to injuries than anybody else and that's what Steyn will have to watch out for over the years. He was assisted in his demolition of India's batting by the vastly under-appreciated Makhaya Ntini who bowled a couple of beauties to get rid off Jaffer and then V. V. S. Laxman. Jaffer was well taken at slip by Graeme Smith off a delivery that left him and Laxman shouldered arms to a ball bowled wide off the crease and lost his bails. The best delivery of the innings was to Dravid. To have a batsman of Dravid's caliber squared-up and then losing his off-stump is no easy task and that ball would have done even the best of batsmen of any era. The absence of Tendulkar was felt at this stage for despite all those who always question his contribution to the team, the dressing room has a sense of comfort and well being when he is there. He was not replaced by a batsman but by Irfan Pathan who batted well enough but had nobody to stay with him to try and take India to a total of respectability. India too had three seam bowlers but they did not have the extra pace that the Proteas bowlers had and though the ball did swing it wasn't enough to trouble them. There will invariably be talk about the ball used but that's like a poor craftsman blaming his tools rather than his own skills. Smith and his batsmen knew that their bowlers had given them a splendid chance to establish a stronghold over the hosts and were in no hurry whatsoever. The opening partnership itself went past India's total and though there was nothing to excite the crowd the application shown by the batsmen was admirable. The applause from the dressing room is more valued always by players and that's what the Proteas batsmen were looking for. Kallis who had an ordinary game at Chennai is looking solid and de Villiers who is more of a limited-overs specialist also has set his tent for a big score. Harbhajan was the one bowler who had to be watched and unless the other bowlers raise the bar the game will slip out of India's hands, if it hasn't already. — PMG
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Shoaib can’t play in IPL: Modi
Mumbai, April 3 The IPL's Governing Council chairman Lalit Modi told mediapersons that Akhtar cannot take part in the high-profile Twenty20 competition till the Pakistan Cricket Board lifts the ban on him. "A big discussion on Akhtar has taken place. The decision of the Governing Council was very simple that Akhtar has been banned for a period of five years, he has appealed... and till the time he is cleared, the Governing Council will not be allowing Akhtar from playing in the IPL," he said. Modi said Akhtar had appealed to the PCB to overturn the ban and it was now up to the concerned board to take a decision on the matter. "So if his appeal is upheld, he will be taken into the IPL," Modi said. ...but Akhtar hopeful Karachi: Shoaib Akhtar's participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) could be delayed by at least a week because of his ongoing tussle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over the five-year ban imposed on him. Akhtar met noted lawyer Abid Minto in Lahore today and said an appeal would be filed tomorrow. Although the board has banned him for five years from playing for Pakistan or in Pakistan, it has permitted him to participate in the IPL. Akhtar said he would have to delay joining the IPL, which begins on April 18, as he wanted to personally be present on all appeal hearings to defend himself. He also wants to attend a special hearing of the Pakistan Senate Standing Committee on Sports. "But I will definitely play in the IPL as it is a big league and I am committed to play for the Kolkata team," he said. The fast bowler said he was confident of being cleared of the PCB ban in his appeal as he had "done nothing so wrong to justify a five-year ban". "I am not an angel and I have made mistakes but not so big that I should be banned for five years," he said. Akhtar did a turnaround on reports that he had accused PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf of taking money from players for allowing them to sign contracts with the IPL. "No, I never said any such thing to anyone. There is no such thing and no one asked me for money to play in the IPL," he said. — PTI
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Klusener’s knock in vain
Chandigarh, April 3 Lance Klusener’s knock of 91 off 57 balls for Kolkata Tigers earned him the Man of the Match award but didn’t help the Tigers’ cause. Lahore Badshahs, who won the toss and elected to bat first, lost Imran Farhat without a score on the board. Imran Nazir top-scored for Badshahs with 42 and Humayun Farhat contributed 39 runs. Badshahs made 182 for 7 from their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Tigers could only manage 175 runs for the loss of four wickets from their allotted quota. Brief scores: Lahore Badshahs: 182 for 7 in 20 overs (Imran Nazir 42, H. Farhat 39, Inzamam 33) Kolkata Tigers: 175 for 4 in 20 overs (Klusener 91) |
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Outburst against umpiring
New Delhi, April 3 Irked by the Indian Hockey Federation's (IHF) poor handling of the affair and their criticism of umpires and the FIH for the men's team's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, the world governing body said non-adherence to the code of conduct might land "persons concerned" in trouble. After the Santiago debacle, IHF president K.P.S. Gill, Carvalho and other support staff started a blame game, holding the FIH and poor umpiring responsible for the Indian team’s defeat. Carvalho had even blamed the tournament director for visiting the team hotel in the middle of night to reprimand player Gurbaj Singh. FIH official Bob Davidzon, also the project director of 'Promoting Indian Hockey,' ridiculed the Indian coach suggesting that he should know the rules of the event and try to be disciplined. "It is in the power of the manager to agree with the tournament director on a time and venue to have the compulsory 'reading out' of sentences to the players involved in an incident and that does not have to take place 'in the middle of the night.'" Davidzon said in a statement. He said Carvalho and his support staff might be punished for lashing out at tournament officials and violating the FIH code of conduct. "The Code of Conduct is very clear that all participants in a tournament must not involve a personal attack on another player, umpire, appointed official or administrator. Non-adherence can lead to sanctions by the FIH for the persons concerned and the utterances by the coaching staff of India upon its return are at the moment under review and sanctions may apply," he warned. Davidzon said the "unjustified criticism" of the umpires by the Indian camp was due to the lack of knowledge about the rules of the game, a trend originating from the top of IHF. "The knowledge of the rules and the tournament briefing for the team and its staff was (as with some other teams) well below par, which leads to unjustified criticism on and appeal to the umpires and possibly 'human' reaction from their side.”
— PTI
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India need to address ‘major concerns’: FIH
New Delhi, April 3 The FIH said in its recent Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, the governing body discussed all important events leading up to 2012, including the 2010 World Cup. "At each Executive Board meeting, we review the status of the upcoming tournaments. One of them was the 2010 World Cup. This time, we even spoke about events in 2012. At the moment, if we find that there are major concerns with a organiser of any of our events, we communicate this to the organiser. This is what happened with the 2010 World Cup in India," FIH Communications Manager Arjen Meijer said.
— PTI
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Ahmedabad, April 3
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India-South Africa series
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