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SA ready for turning track: Arthur
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Focus on 22-yard strip
Harbhajan Singh looks at the pitch during a training session ahead of the third and final Test at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Wednesday. — AFP
Betting should be legalised: Bindra
Davis Cup tie
vs Japan
Rs 3.24 cr as prize money at stake
Grand Slam within grasp: Woods
No threat to Test, says govt
SA players have net practice
ICC confirms quizzing Younis, Gul, Kaneria
TP’s knock in vain
Dhillon India’s shooting coach
Sharapova wins
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SA ready for turning track: Arthur
Kanpur, April 9 Arthur said his team expected such a track after wrapping up the second Test in Ahmedabad within three days and were not unduly worried at the prospect of facing a three-pronged spin attack from the hosts. "We expected such a wicket for this match after what happened in Ahmedabad. The wicket will go through the top very early but we are prepared for it. We are quiet confident of doing well in this match also," Arthur told reporters here. Although there was some grass on the Green Park track, it was shaven off this morning and it was expected that the pitch will break quickly. The Indians, trailing the three-match series 1-0, have no option but to win the last match to level the series. "We are prepared for all the eventualities. We expect India to go in with three spinners in such conditions. We also have the option of two spinners but we have not taken a decision on the team composition yet. I expect the track to deteriorate quickly," he said. The South African coach said his team has been presented with an opportunity to win a series against India at their own backyard and all the players were geared up for the crucial game. "We had a long chat on how it can be achieved. Our feet are back on the ground after the splendid victory in Ahmedabad. This is the final challenge and we hope to end it in glory. The team has been awesome through the summer and it will be great to finish with a series win," Arthur said. "We have preparing for such conditions here. We got three days off and we practiced hard today. So lets see how it goes." Asked whether the poor form of skipper Anil Kumble had been a big help for the South Africans, Arthur said, "He is a fierce competitor and he will come back hard at us. He would not like to lose at home and there will be some pressure on him. But he is an unbelievable cricketer and he will bounce back." Arthur said his team had a game plan to counter every Indian bowler and they not thinking of Kumble alone. "We have a game plan for all the bowlers and not Kumble alone. He is no doubt one of the top bowlers in the world, one of the legends in the game. We will give him the respect he deserves," he said. On whether the toss will play a big role, he said, "It will be a huge toss to win. Sometimes it is sad when the toss becomes so crucial. We will be happy if it lands in our favour." Arthur also made it clear pace sensation Dale Steyn would be fit to take the field for the match. "Dale has a little niggle but it is not serious. He will play. There are no injury issues in the team. All the other players are in good shape." South African paceman Morne Morkel said he was looking forward to the match and said he was getting quite used to the sub-continental conditions. "I am looking forward to the match. It is a great opportunity to win a series in India. I will go into the match with a positive mindset," he said. Morkel reckoned that the pitch will provide some assistance to the pace bowlers on the first two days or so. "I think there will be something in it for the pacers also. We have to get the basics right," he added. — PTI
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Kanpur, April 9 The South Africans are convinced that the pitch will "deteriorate quickly" and has been tailor-made to suit the hosts though the curator maintains it will be a sporting track. The grass was slightly pruned and a heavy roller used in the morning. The grass generally binds the surface together and helps the pitch to hold up for the period of the Test match. But the scorching sun could break the track earlier than expected in the absence of any grass. It is not clear whether the Indian team management had made any specific request for a spinning track but going by the experience in Ahmedabad, where India were humiliated in just three days, the curator may have had second thoughts about leaving any grass. "We have not received any instructions. We have used the heavy roller on the grass," curator Shiv Kumar said. "Batting in the first innings should not be a problem. The bowlers will start getting some assistance at a later stage," he said. If the track indeed provides assistance to spin bowlers, the toss will play a big role as no team would like to bat last when conditions will be even more difficult. South African coach Micky Arthur said winning the toss will be a big advantage. The Indians have four specialist spinners in their jumbo 16-member squad but there is still a question mark on captain Anil Kumble's fitness. Kumble will undergo a fitness test tomorrow along with paceman Ishant Sharma before a decision is taken on their participation in the crucial Test. If Kumble cannot pass the fitness test, India will depend on Harbhajan Singh, young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar to provide the spin punch. Both teams, who arrived here last evening, had a strenuous work out at the Green Park to get acclimatised to the conditions. While the Proteas practiced in the morning, the Indians trooped in the afternoon and had a rigorous workout under the watchful eyes of coach Gary Kirsten. The Green Park has a history of providing drawn matches with as many as 12 of the 19 matches played at the venue failing to provide a result. — PTI
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Betting should be legalised: Bindra
Chandigarh, April 9 “If you can’ t stop it, better regulate and legalise it,” said Bindra after the first meeting of organising committee of Indian Premier League’s Mohali team at Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium here today. “Illegal betting on cricket matches in the country involves thousands of crores of rupees. With the regulating of betting and making it legal, the government as well as the cricket board can earn huge revenues, which could be used for the further development of the game,” said Bindra, who was instrumental in making the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) the richest board with his administrative skills. “Everyone knows that this illegal activity is going on. So it is my personal view, and I am clear about it, that betting should be legalised and rules should be put in place to regulate it,” he said, citing the examples of England and Australia, where betting is legal. When asked whether the issue has been mooted during any of the meetings of the BCCI, the former BCCI president said: “The issue has not come up so far in the Board’s meeting. It is the media which can play a vital role to educate the people on the issue and force the government to ponder over it.” However, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal, who is also chairman of organising committee of the Mohali team preferred to reserve his comments on the issue. |
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vs Japan Bopanna skips practice Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 9 But the absence of Rohan Bopanna from today's practice session put a question mark on his fitness, and the likely singles combination of the hosts for the tie. Harsh Mankad, who was drafted in as the fifth member of the team two days ago, after his title win in Chandigarh, is expected to shoulder the singles burden along with Prakash Amritraj, if Bopanna is unfit, with the captain having the option of making changes in the reverse singles, if it came to that. But Leander said in a media interaciton in the evening that "Bopanna was only rested" and he will finalise the combination only before the draw tomorrow, after finding out the fitness of all the players. He said he was prepared to step in for the singles, if the situation so warranted. Both Leander and Mahesh said the Japanese would not be pushovers and they would have to win the doubles rubber to ensure the hosts won the tie. The Japanese hope to cash in on the uncertainty about the hosts' singles players and non-playing captain Eiji Takeuchi said he would make full use of the "confusion" in the Indian camp. He said the visitors were ready for the challenge as they had been preparing well to acclimatise to the weather conditions in Delhi. "Back home we played in indoor courts with heaters on for ten days. The temperatures were increased to high degrees so that the players don't find it hard to adjust to to the heat of Delhi,'' he added. Takeuchi said his top-ranked player Kei Nishikori will be the man to be watched as he is no greenhorn on grass, though not as experienced as Suzuki on the green surface.
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Rs 3.24 cr as prize money at stake
New Delhi, April 9 The winners of the tournament will get richer by Rs 1.25 crore while runners-up stand to gain Rs 75 lakh and the third placed team will get Rs 50 lakh. The competition will have seven matches and will feature three teams - ICL India, ICL Pakistan and ICL World. Every win at the league stage will account for a handsome Rs 10 lakh, resulting in total prize money of Rs 60 lakh at the league stage only whereas incentive for individual performance will be an impressive Rs 2 lakh for Man of the Match. Squads: World XI: Chris Cairns (capt), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Upul Chandana, Matthew Elliot, Andrew Hall, Chris Harris, Ian Harvey, Michael Kasprowicz, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Daryl Tuffey, Johan van der Wath, Lou Vincent (wk) Pakistan XI: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Arshad Khan, Hasan Raza, Humayun Farhat (wk), Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Naved-ul-Hasan, Naved Latif, Riaz Afridi, Shabbir Ahmed, Shahid Nazir, Taufeeq Umar India XI: R Sathish, Abbas Ali, Love Ablish, Abu Nechim, Stuart Binny, Rohan Gavaskar, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Ibrahim Khaleel (wk), Thiru Kumaran, Ali Murtaza, Raviraj Patil, S Saravanan, TP Singh, TP Sudhindhra, Jamaluddin Syed Mohammed, G Vignesh. — UNI
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Grand Slam within grasp: Woods
Augusta (Georgia), April 9 Looking relaxed and confident as he strode into his annual Masters pre-tournament press conference, the 32-year-old American had no hestitation in replying to the inevitable question of whether he can do what no other man has done before and win all four majors in a calendar year. "I've done it before - I've won all four in a row," he said referring to his consecutive wins in the US and British Opens and the USPGA in 2000 followed by the Masters in 2001. "I think I'm the only guy who has done that - modern configuration. "Majority of my career, I think this is my 12th or 13th season out here and nine of those years I've won five or more tournaments, so just got to win the right four. That's what it boils down to." All the signs are at green for Woods coming into this year's Masters. He is in the most commanding form of his career having won seven out of the last nine tournaments he has played in worldwide, some by big margins. He has accumulated a wealth of experience over Augusta National, where his four wins are second only to the six of Jack Nicklaus. — AFP
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No threat to Test, says govt
Kanpur, April 9 ''There is no such threat or intelligence input...neither have we received any such warning letter from Delhi police, but still the state government has made elaborate security arrangements at the stadium for the players and other officials,'' Additional Director General of Police (ADG) (Crime, Law and Order) Brij Lal told newspersons here. Even cellphones, water bottles and entry of solid articles has been restricted inside the stadium, he informed. Security has been heightened at the Landmark hotel, where both the teams would stay, the ADG maintained.
— UNI |
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SA players have net practice
Kanpur, April 9 The team members had arrived from the Landmark Hotel to stadium under tight security. After net practice, South African team coach John Michael Arthur told newspersons that they were expecting a spinner friendly pitch in Kanpur after winning the second test match at Ahmedabad. Arthur said they have two spinners, while their pace bowlers would also help much. Replying to a question of hot weather, he said ''we have played in such weather conditions in Bangladesh and Chennai, so there's nothing to worry.'' He appreciated Indian skipper Anil Kumble, saying ''he is a great player.'' The Indian team would go for net practice later this afternoon. Meanwhile, two umpires for the Test Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Billy Doctrove (Dominica) inspected the ground and pitch along with curator Shiv Kumar.
— UNI |
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ICC confirms quizzing Younis, Gul, Kaneria
Karachi, April 9 The ICC said in a statement that its officer spoke to three players to seek specific information on some issue on April 5 and 6. "The interviews took place in Lahore on 5 and 6th April. The purpose of these interviews was to seek specific information," the statement said. "The ACSU has confirmed that the information provided by the players," it said. Meanwhile according to information, ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit Officer Alan Peacock had come down to Lahore to talk to Shoaib after the pacer claimed in a television interview that he was offered bagful of money several times to fix or under-perform in matches. Shoaib mentioned the incidents taking place in South Africa and India but the Pakistan Cricket Board and other officials said the fast bowler had not reported any such thing to them as required under the ICC Code of Conduct. Any player failing to report an approach can be banned for minimum one year and maximum five years.
— PTI |
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TP’s knock in vain
Chandigarh, April 9 Thanks to a superb 49-ball knock by T. P. Singh, India XI recovered to post 141 runs on the board, losing five wickets in 20 overs. But Damien Martyn notched up an unbeaten 67 as World XI reached the target with nine balls to spare. Scoreboard ICL India XI: Jhunjhunwala lbw b van der Wath 0 Vignesh c Harris b Tuffey 7 Rayudu run out (Harris) 1 TP Singh not out 63 Sathish c Cairns b van der Wath 0 Gavaskar run out (Arnold) 30 Binny not out 37 Extras
(lb 1, w 2): 3 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs): 141 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-9, 3-9, 4-9, 5-70 Bowling: JJ van der Wath 4-1-12-2, D Tuffey 3-0-27-1, U Chandana 4-0-30-0, A Hall 4-0-29-0, C Harris 3-0-19-0, I Harvey 2-0-23-0 ICL World XI: Vincent c Kumaran b Binny 43 Harvey c Murtaza b Vignesh 5 Martyn not out 67 Atapattu not out 25 Extras (w 5): 5 Total (2 wickets; 18.3 overs): 145 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-79 Bowling:
AN Ahmed 3-0-25-0, G Vignesh 3.3-0-28-1, A Murtaza 4-0-25-0, TP Singh 1-0-11-0, T Kumaran 2-0-20-0, S Binny 4-0-32-1, R Sathish 1-0-4-0 |
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Dhillon India’s shooting coach
Chandigarh, April 9 T. S. Dhillon, IG, CRPF, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh range, who was the coach during the Doha Asian Games, has been again appointed the coach of the team. Talking to The Tribune, he said: “The competition this time is quite tough and China is likely to dominate the event.” He said the Indian team had created history during the Doha games by winning three gold medals in shooting. In the Busan Asian Games, India had won only two silver medals. Dhillon, recipient of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award in shooting, is pinning hopes on Abhinav Bindra, P. T. Raghunath, Gagan Narang, Avneet Kaur Sidhu and Anjali Bhagwat in the air rifle event and Manavjit Singh Sidhu, R. V. S. Rathore and Ronjan Sodhi in the shotgun category.
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Kanpur, April 9
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