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Tailor-made pitch to help spinners
Akhtar changes dates, plays safe
Pakistan XI thrash World XI
India-South Africa series |
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Davis Cup
Indian national under ICC scanner
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Tailor-made pitch to help spinners
Kanpur, April 10 The Indians, who suffered a humiliating drubbing in Ahmedabad, need to win the crucial match to level the three-Test series 1-1 and have been provided with a dry and grass-less track to plot South Africa's downfall at the Green Park stadium. But the fitness of Kumble, laid low by a groin injury, is a worrying factor for the hosts and the Indian captain has decided to wait till tomorrow to decide on his participation. "I will take a call tomorrow morning. I am not yet fully fit and I will see how I feel tomorrow," Kumble said. There was, however, some good news for the Indians with pace sensation Ishant Sharma, who missed the first two Tests because of injuries, being declared fit to bolster the fast bowling department. Although the pitch has been designed to help the hosts, there is also a risk that the ploy could boomerang against the Indians as a strip with uneven bounce could be exploited by the South African pacemen who have proved quite a handful for the home team. The Indians are toying with the idea of going into the match with three specialist spinners and a lot will depend on whether Kumble is declared fit or not. Kumble, if declared fit, and Harbhajan Singh have a big role to play while the third spinner's place may go to young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. In case Anil Kumble is not fit, Ramesh Powar, who has been included in the squad as a cover for his captain, is also an option and the stocky spinner's ability with the bat could earn him a place in the playing eleven. Paceman Ishant Sharma is certain to return to the team at the cost of either S Sreesanth or Irfan Pathan, both of whom have been thoroughly disappointing in Ahmedabad where India lost the game in just three days. Both the teams will have another look at the track tomorrow before deciding their composition for the game and a lot of thought will no doubt go in trying to get the combination right. The injury worries plaguing the home team has compounded their problems with many of their frontline bowlers either carrying a niggle or have been ruled out for the crucial game. The batting has badly missed the services of Sachin Tendulkar who has been sidelined because of injury and his absence may be felt again in the match. Much will depend on the two openers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer who need to lay a solid foundation for the experienced middle order batsmen like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. There is plenty of experience and quality in the Indian batting but the question is whether they can click collectively. The track, which appears dry and bereft of any grass, has drawn much attention from both the camps and it will be interesting to see whether the match would go to the fifth day at all. While the home team has been struggling to plug the loopholes, there are not too many problems confronting the Proteas. The batting has looked solid with most of their top order batsmen like Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, A B de Villiers in good form.
—PTI Hours of play: 9.30am to 11.30am, 12.10pm to 2.10pm, 2.30pm to 4.30pm. The police has denied any security threat to the third Test which begins here tomorrow. By Thursday afternoon, only a couple of gun-totting policemen were left back in the stadium to protect the pitch, which is an usual practice these days. Additional director general of police (Crime, Law and Order) Brij Lal and senior superintendent of police Ashok Kumar Singh told reporters that there was no threat to the match. "We are alert but there is nothing serious about this (threat perception)," Ashok Kumar Singh said on Thursday night. He indicated that around 3,500 police personnel and private security guards would be deployed during the match.— IANS
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Akhtar changes dates, plays safe
Karachi, April 10 After being handed a five-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for breach of Code of Conduct, Akhtar had told a television channel that he was approached by bookies to under-perform in matches in South Africa and India. In the television show, Akhtar had mentioned that in 2003, a person came to his room with money but he drove him away as he could not betray his team. ACSU official Alan Peacock met Akhtar last week on this matter but sources privy to the meeting confirmed to PTI that Akhtar played safe by shifting the year of the incidents from 2003 to 1998 and 1999. "He told Peacock that offers were made to him in 1998 and 1999 and he didn't report it because the ICC had not set up its anti-corruption unit by then. The unit was established in 2000 after the match-fixing scandal hit world cricket with the banning of several top players for their involvement in the menace," the source said. "Shoaib said the offers came in 1998 and 1999 when he toured South Africa and India respectively," he added. When Peacock reminded Akhtar that he had talked about an offer in 2003, the pacer said since he was upset with the ban, he might have got his dates and facts wrong. The ICC Code of Conduct states that any player who fails to report any approach to fix matches to his captain, team manager, board or ACSU is liable to be banned for one to five years. — PTI
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Hyderabad, April 10 Winning the toss and electing to bat, World XI could only manage a paltry 130 for 9 from 20 overs. Lou Vincent (26) was the top scorer for World XI. In reply, Pakistan XI reached the target with the loss of only one wicket and more than two overs to spare. Imran Nazir was declared player of the match. Scoreboard ICL World XI Elliott c Razzaq b Nazir 14 Harvey c Naved b Arshad 21 Martyn b Nazir 4 Arnold not out 23 Cairns c H. Farhat b Arshad 17 Atapattu st H. Farhat b Arshad 5 Vincent c H. Farhat b Razzaq 26 Hall lbw Abdul 0 Wath b Hasan 0 Chandana b Naved-ul-Hasan 6 Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-7) 14 Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 130 Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-46, 3-47, 4-68, 5-80, 6-112, 7-112, 8-113, 9-130 Bowling: Razzaq 4-0-29-2, Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-37-0, Shahid Nazir 4-0-12-2, Naved-ul-Hasan 4-0-21-2, Arshad Khan 4-0-24-3 ICL Pakistan XI Imran Nazir c & b Elliott 69 Razzaq not out 55 I. Farhat not out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-4, nb-1) 6 Total (1 wkt, 17.3 overs) 131 Fall of wickets: 1-119 Bowling: JJ van der Wath 3-0-25-0, Kasprowicz 4-0-39-0, Hall 3-0-19-0, Harvey 3-0-20-0, Chandana 3.3-0-19-0, Elliott 1-0-8-1. — TNS
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India-South Africa series The final Test of the three-match series begins today in Kanpur, and what a great opportunity it is for the Proteas to win another series in the sub-continent. Our team should be approaching this Test exactly in the same way they did the previous two Tests. They have played some good aggressive cricket, and just need to keep doing the same. Everyone knows how important this Test is in the context of the series, but then, so is every Test match one plays. So we need to look at it as just another Test match, rather than putting undue pressure on themselves. It's also important from the South African perspective that they don't play for a draw. In the past, there have been some occasions where teams have played for a draw, and the strategy has backfired. So it's essential that we play for a win, and I am sure that's what the Proteas will do. As far as India is concerned, it's a real tough task for them to make a comeback in this series. After the kind of thrashing they received at the hands of the Proteas just few days ago, I really can't see how they are going to fight back in this series. I can't see them recovering enough to level the series in such a short span of time. I feel, South Africans will either win or draw the last Test, and clinch the series. As usual, pitch at the Green Park stadium will be a crucial factor in this game. I think they will prepare a pitch which doesn't offer too much of a bounce. Having said that, they will have to be careful and make sure that there is some bounce in it. Because even spinners need some bounce in the pitch to get wickets, especially an off-spinner like Harbhajan Singh. Last time we played a Test here it was a slow track, with not much assistance for bowlers. The match ended in a draw, and I am sure the hosts can't afford to have a similar kind of track. It's a must win situation for the Indians, and hence they need to produce a result pitch. One way of making a result pitch, especially in the sub-continent, is a kind of under-prepared pitch. As an individual, I hate to see such kind of wicket because it's not good for the game. It also makes handling the pace bowlers very tough, as history will suggest, and I don't think it will be a good idea for the Indians to go in with an under-prepared track. However if you look back, 12 matches have been drawn from the 19 played here. If the pitch is made to suit the host spinners, India might go in with six specialist batsmen and four bowlers, including, of course, two spinners. They can then use Sehwag and Yuvraj as the fifth bowler in conditions that will suit them. After being bowled out for 76 not so long ago, the Indian coach Gary Kirsten's job will be to bring the confidence of the batters back. He will be telling them that it's the same batting line-up that scored 627 runs in the first Test. He would be asking them to forget that 76 all out and focus on the job ahead. Team against team, our batters and bowlers have been in a much better form, and I can't see them losing it from here. — PMG
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Davis Cup
New Delhi, April 10 India's top-ranked singles player Prakash Amritraj will battle it out against Go Soeda in the second singles on the opening day while Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will team up against Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki in the doubles on Saturday. In the reverse singles on Sunday, Prakash will meet Nishikori while Bopanna will clash against Soeda. Though India have a formidable 17-3 win-loss record against Japan, the hosts were not taking the visitors for granted. Japan's best player Nishikori, who would be making his Davis Cup debut, said he had watched Bopanna play in the US, but had not played against him. India count the soaring heat, grass court and home advantage as props to aid their cause while the Japanese have declared that "we have come here to win", no matter what the disadvantages were. "The first match is the key. If Rohan wins, the tie is in our pocket", said former Davis Cupper Akhtar Ali. "It's nothing new Rohan playing the first match. He was, in fact, 'adamant' that he would get to play the first singles", playing captain Leander Paes said in a lighter vein. He said Rohan playing the opening singles "was a done deal, not that Prakash playing the first singles would have been any different." Now that the draw has turned out to be on expected lines for India, Leander said the onus was "on us to get down and play well to the clinch the tie". Leander's decision to team up with Mahesh Bhupathi has already put psychological pressure on the visitors, who have never beaten the hosts in India in their seven previous meetings. Leander had sat out the tie against Uzbekistan here last month, which had put tremendous pressure on Bopanna as he had to play in both the singles and the doubles, after Somdev Dev Varman was defeated in the opening singles, to create palpable tension. Bopanna's loss in the reverse singles put India in a corner, and the hosts could save the blushes only because of the tremendous fight back by Prakash Amritraj in the second reverse singles, to pull off a 3-2 win. But this time, India have decided not to take any unwanted risk, as the best four players have been fielded for the tie. Though Harsh Mankad has made great improvement in his game after being in an injury-forced limbo for over a year, he would get his chance only if something unavoidable happens. The Japanese have also taken the safe course by nominating their most experienced grass court player Takao Suzuki for the doubles so as to evenly spread out their talent, and afford enough rest to the singles players in between the opening and reverse singles. Though Suzuki did not say whether he was keen to play the singles, considering his track record, he was nevertheless "happy to see the two young players play in the singles." Leander said India opted for the tried and tested as Davis Cup "is all about experience, and we should be able to capitalise on home advantage as well". Leander has always done well against Japan, after he made his debut against them at Chandigarh in 1990. But this time he would be looking forward to exact revenge for India's 2-3 defeat in Osaka in 2004. Japan walloped Philippines 5-0 to setup the clash against India, though the last time they played in Delhi, the visitors had succumbed to a 1-4 loss, and India look forward to play an encore. Rohan said he was free of injury worries and was happy to play the first rubber. "It's advantage for us playing at home", he said. Prakash said he would relish playing on the heat, and it did not matter whether he was doing the 10 am or 1 pm beat. Leander said Delhi was a lucky venue for him as he had recorded many of his memorable Davis Cup wins here. Though the grass court at the R. K. Khanna stadium had proved to be of uneven bounce during the tie against Kazakhastan, due to intermittent rains then, it has now settled down to roll out the dice evenly. "The surface is perfect. Very fair to both the teams", noted Japanese non-playing captain Eiji Takeuchi. He said the visitors were not under any pressure and promised to put up their best tennis over the next three days.
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Indian national under ICC scanner
Karachi, April 10 Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that the ACSU investigator, Alan Peacock, came down to Lahore to talk to Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul who had received expensive gifts from him on their 2007 tour of India. Known as "Annu bhai", the Indian was seen in the company of some of the players during the tour and according to sources, the ACSU was investigating the Indian on suspicion of him being a bookmaker. — PTI
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