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Sidelined players will
get a chance: Aslam
Minister Gill: Action against IHF appropriate
Mumbai Indians coast to 7-wkt win |
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Delhi Daredevils look for another home win
Remarks
on Sreesanth
Srinath appointed match referee
Gagan jumps into lead at Jaypee Open
Speed’s exit will erode ICC credibility: Mani
Jr Davis Cup
Monika wins silver, 2 bronze
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Sidelined players will
get a chance: Aslam
New Delhi, April 29 Khan, a former player and national selector who had resigned owing to differences with the IHF administration on selection process, said he had his own plans to get Indian hockey back on track and will seek to bring transparency and professionalism in the selection process. "Earlier, there used to be a bunch of 50-60 players and teams were selected as if they are playing musical chair. There have been instances when a player was selected for an international event despite he not having played even in domestic hockey. This will not happen now and we will select the team after several rounds of trials," he told PTI-Bhasha in an interview today. He also said players like Gagan Ajit Singh, Len Aiyappa, and Arjun Halappa, who were sidelined during Gill's term, would be taken into consideration during team selection. "For the first time in history, former players are involved in Indian hockey administration. We will try to bring back its old glory. Our first priority will be to make the administration accountable and to bring transparency in team selection process," Khan said. The selection panel, led by Khan, also includes former Olympians Zafar Iqbal, Ashok Kumar, Ajit Pal Singh and Dhanraj Pillay. It was formed after the Indian Olympic Association suspended the IHF and appointed an ad-hoc committee in its place. The "unanimous" decision to suspend IHF was taken following the sting operation which caught secretary K. Jothikumaran purportedly accepting bribe to select a player in the national team. About his plans to uplift the morale of players, Khan replied their morale would automatically be high after the the end of the Gill regime. "Now they will not have any insecurities. Otherwise, they never knew who is going to be the next target of Gill Saab, who ruined the career of several talented players," said the former Olympian. He said he wants the Indian team to be a united and powerful force as shown in Bollywood flick 'Chak de India'. "We have to make a Team India as you have seen in Bollywood blockbuster 'Chak de India'. There are players from several part of the country. We have to unite them to make a powerful force," he said. "We don't have any competition with cricket. We will try to popularise hockey through better performance at international level. It's also necessary to host international tournaments," he said . He also indicated that Indian hockey team will now play less international events overseas. "It is not necessary to play each and every tournament. It hurts when we lose. We will now select tournaments and prepare for that accordingly," said Khan.
— PTI |
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Minister Gill: Action against IHF appropriate
New Delhi, April 29 Reacting to the Indian Olympic Association Executive Committee's decision yesterday to dissolve the IHF and appoint a special committee, headed by former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan, to oversee the affairs of hockey in the country, the sports minister said "the decision regarding the Indian Hockey Federation, taken on 28th evening by the Executive Committee of the IOA, was necessary". Elaborating further, Dr Gill said, "It was a unanimous decision, and in my judgement, appropriate, in the given situation". He said he had carefully noted the composition of the new selection committee and hoped that "they work in unison, and for the best interest of hockey and youth of India". He said it was necessary to have a "compact, well chosen and efficient new administration for the IHF" to put hockey on a pedestal once again. "I am confident, the IOA will address this," he added. And the sports minister, on his part, has taken a very commendable step for the development and promotion of hockey, as his ministry has given approval for the laying of 12 new Astroturfs, at a cost of Rs 42 crore, with the purpose of having 30 astro turfs across the country by 2009. The new Astroturfs will be laid at Singpura (Baramulla), tribal pockets like Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh), Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) and Kokrajhar (Assam). At eight other places, works on laying Astroturfs are at various stages of completion. Besides this, works relating to replacement of old Astroturfs at NIS, Patiala and Kolkata, are underway. The proposal for setting up of another four Astroturfs are also in the pipeline. Dr Gill had been having a series of meetings with the top brass of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and reviewed the facilities presently available for sports promotion. The minister has directed the SAI to increase the number of Astroturfs, and other sports infrastructure as he is very keen to get Indian hockey back into the elite category. At his initiative, hockey has been put in the "priority" category from the general category where it has been languishing. And now, the decision to have more Astroturfs will give a great push for the revival of hockey in the country.
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Mumbai Indians coast to 7-wkt win
Kolkata, April 29 After restricting Knight Riders to a modest 137 for 8, the visitors overcame early jolts to coast to a comprehensive victory with eight balls to spare to bag their first two points after losing four matches at a stretch. Dwayne Bravo (64 not out; 52 balls, 8x4, 1x6) and Robin Uthappa (37 not out, 37 balls, 5x4) took the game away from the Knight Riders with a 113-run unfinished fourth wicket stand as the Mumbai Indians reached 138 for 3 in 18.4 overs to hand the hosts their second defeat in four matches. West Indian Bravo went all guns blazing, while Uthappa played an uncharacteristic second fiddle at the other end, as the Knight Riders bowlers could do nothing to unsettle the duo on a sporting pitch, which was a far cry from the two-paced dry track that had been widely criticised nine days back. With their regular captain Sachin Tendulkar still out of action owing to a groin injury, and stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh banned from the IPL for slapping Kings XI Punjab player S. Sreesanth, the Mumbai side played their hearts out to dazzle the 80,000-strong crowd at the Eden with an all-round show. Set an asking rate of 6.9 per over, the visitors got off to a disastrous start, as Ajit Agarkar got rid of opener Ajinkya Rahane (4) in the third over. Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (18) looked dangerous, picking up three boundaries, but failed to build on the start. Lanky Ishant Sharma uprooted Jayasuriya's stumps with an express delivery, before Ashok Dinda tasted success in his first over by sending back Manish Pandey (0) as Mumbai were reduced to 25 for 3. But Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Bravo prevented any more reverses as they took the game away from the Kolkata Knight riders with a rollicking fourth wicket partnership that fetched 113-runs. Earlier, Mumbai Indians veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock stole the limelight, wrecking the top and middle order of the Kolkata Knight Riders, to restrict the hosts to a modest 137 for 8. The crafty Jayasuriya displayed variation in bowling and stuck to a tight line to finish 4-1-14-3, a dream figure in the Twenty20 format of the game, as the Mumbai Indians were set an asking rate of 6.9 by the Knight Riders before a crowd of 80,000 at the Eden Gardens here. Pollock (2/27), standing in as captain in place of the injured Sachin Tendulkar, did the early damage removing openers Sourav Ganguly (4) and Brendon McCullum (2) in the first over on a pitch that looked sporting in sharp contrast to the two-paced dry wicket that had been universally condemned nine days back. Laxmi Ratan Shukla (40 not out; 4x4, 2x6) emerged the top scorer, with a late assault which somewhat retrieved the situation for the Knight Riders, after they elected to bat first. Skipper Ganguly's run drought continued as he departed in the third ball of the match, edging an away going delivery to Jayasuriya after having tentatively pulled Pollock to the fence in the previous delivery. — PTI Scoreboard Kolkata Knight Riders McCullum lbw Pollock 1 Ganguly c Jayasuriya b Pollock 4 Ponting run out 19 DB Das c Uthappa b Bravo 29 Hussey c Nehra b Jayasuriya 17 Mohammad Hafeez c Shah b Jayasuriya 2 LR Shukla not out 40 Agarkar c Nehra b Jayasuriya 2 M Kartik c Jayasuriya b Fernando 10 Ishant not out 0 Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-7) 13 Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 137 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-6, 3-40, 4-74, 5-77, 6-77, 7-90, 8-131 Bowling: Pollock 4-0-27-2, Nehra 1-0-9-0, Fernando 4-0-41-1, Kulkarni 3-0-15-0, Bravo 4-0-25-1, Jayasuriya 4-1-14-3 Mumbai Indians Rahane c Hussey b Agarkar 4 Jayasuriya b Ishant 18 M Pandey b Dinda 0 Uthappa not out 37 Bravo not out 64 Extras (lb-5, w-9, nb-1) 15 Total (3 wkts, 18.4 overs) 138 Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-25, 3-25 Bowling: Agarkar 4-0-23-1, Ishant 3.4-0-33-1, Dinda 4-0-12-1, Kartik 3-0-24-0, Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-16-0, Ganguly 2-0-14-0, LR Shukla 1-0-11-0. Player of the match: Jayasuriya (Mumbai Indians)
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I hope BCCI is lenient, says Engineer
New Delhi, April 29 Engineer, who adjudicated the hearing against Harbhajan that handed him a minimum of 11-match ban and a hefty fine that will see him lose close to Rs 3 crore, said he was hoping for a lighter sentence from the BCCI. "I am sure that BCCI will realise that Harbhajan's punishment has been pretty harsh and I hope for Harbhajan that they are lenient on him. But I can't really comment what the BCCI has to do," Engineer told NDTV. The former wicketkeeper said although Sreesanth, who was let off with a warning, was "no angel", Harbhajan's actions could not be condoned no matter what the provocation. "I don't think Sreesanth is an angel. He is a lovely guy and he has been warned to take it easy... not to go beyond the mark.” “Harbhajan made a big mistake there, a mistake that has never been made before. You just cannot strike another person," he said. Engineer said the video evidence against Harbhajan was so strong that the IPL board had to take action against the temperamental bowler. "The footage was extremely incriminating. In cricket, there is no body contact like football or boxing. It's something that happened in the heat of the moment and he will be regretful about this throughout the rest of his life," he said. — PTI
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’ Bhajji, Sree sledged S.Africans’
New Delhi, April 29 According to him, Harbhajan had apologised to South African batsman Ashwell Prince for abusing him in the third and final Test in Kanpur, while Sreesanth sledged A.B. de Villiers. "There was an incident in Kanpur. There was a hearing by the match referee (Roshan Mahanama) during which Harbhajan apologised to Prince," Arthur told Cricinfo. "It was settled and we were happy with the apology. I am not 100 per cent sure what was said. But Ashwell felt very strongly about it at that time and that's why we took it up," the coach said. Arthur said Sreesanth was no saint either during the three-Test series. "Perhaps our players lost a lot of respect for him on the tour. But considering the general spirit in which the series was played, we didn't feel strongly enough to complain," he said.
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Delhi Daredevils look for another home win
New Delhi, April 29 Delhi Daredevils were riding on high horse after their two successive nine-wicket victories over Rajasthan Royals in their lung opener at home and against Deccan Chargers in their first away match in Hyderabad. Captain Sehwag's unbeaten 94 was the guiding force of Daredevils victory in Hyderabad, though they failed to carry on that form against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali, and suffered their first defeat. The Daredevils will have the twin advantage of playing at home and having lost just one match compared to Royal Challengers Bangalore's two defeats in four matches. The visitors, led by former India captain Rahul Dravid, have not yet been able to jell as a winning combination, after suffering a humiliating defeat in the IPL opener at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders at home ground Chinnaswamy Stadium. The 140-run rout, with Kiwi Brendon McCullum posting an unbeaten 158 - the highest knock thus far in T20 cricket - completely rattled Dravid and his men. The defeat inflicted by Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals, yet again on Royal Challengers’ home venue, and the loss to Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs, were the other shattering blows suffered by the Vijaya Mallya-owned team. But the five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in their first away match has kept the Royal Challengers floating. Dravid himself is yet to post a big total, and even openers Wasim Jaffer and Ross Taylor, have not been able to hoist match-winning totals, barring their 89-run second wicket stand against the Chennai team. Royal Challengers, on paper, are well-balanced with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, South African speedster Dale Steyn, Dravid, Shivnarain Chanderpaul, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar in their line-up. But they are yet to come up with a sure shot winning formula, and it is unlikely that anything will work against Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. Though Sehwag was out after hitting three successive boundaries against Rajasthan Royals in the opening match here on April 19, Gautam Gambhir (58 n.o.) and Shikhar Dhawan (52 n.o.) ensured that they did not fritter away the advantage gained from the tight bowling of McGrath, Maharoof, Vettori and Rajath Bhatia.
With Mohd Asif strengthening the bowling department, Delhi have the resources to give Royal Challengers a tough time. The Daredevils will definitely use their home advantage to post another big win to keep themselves close on the heels of front-runners Chennai Super Kings.
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Umpire Saheba suspended
New Delhi, April 29 Saheba was subjected to disciplinary action for making a statement to a Mumbai newspaper about Sreesanth's conduct during the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali where Harbhajan had slapped the Kerala speedster. In the interview to the newspaper, Saheba said that Sreesanth indulged in sledging right through the match. "The IPL governing council has withdrawn Amish Saheba's appointment for two matches of IPL," a BCCI release said. Apart from being suspended for two matches, Saheba has also been asked to explain to the BCCI his remarks to the newspaper. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India has sought explanation from the umpire Amish Saheba about his statements appearing in Mumbai Mirror regarding the behaviour of Sreesanth in the match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings at Mohali," the release said. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said that Amish Saheba should have informed the match referee about Sreesanth's conduct instead of going to the press. — PTI
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Srinath appointed match referee
Dubai, April 29 The ICC also announced the umpires and match referees for the upcoming Test and ODI series in England and West Indies. Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee during the three-Test series between England and New Zealand which gets under way on May 15 at Lord's, London. Simon Taufel and Steve Bucknor will stand in the first Test. The second Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, to take place between May 23-27, will see Taufel accompany Darrell Hair who is making a comeback to the international level. The third and final Test of the series takes place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, starting on June 5. Hair and Bucknor will be the on-field umpires. The five-match ODI series will get underway at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street. — UNI
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Gagan jumps into lead at Jaypee Open
Greater Noida, April 29 The Delhi-based amateur led by two shots over the duo of Saurabh Bahuguna and Kapil Kumar who shot an identical two-under 70. Rahul Bajaj was sole fourth at 71 while Moin Malak occupied the fifth position at level par 72. H.S. Kang, Samresh Sardar, Suman Puri and Tarun Ghogale were all tied for the sixth spot at 73 while last week's winner Abhishek Jha was tied for the 10th at 74 place along with Arshdeep Tiwana, Simarjeet Singh, Pritam Haridas and Angad Cheema. Gagan Verma began with a flourish making a birdie on the opening hole. But the initiative was immediately nullified on the very next hole when he went over on the par-4 second. However, that was his only mistake for the day as he rectified it by saving a stroke on the par-5 third. After that, he parred his way until the turn to finish at 1-under. On the back nine, the tall amateur then made consecutive birdies in the 11th and 12th before saving one more stroke on the 14th. Although he flirted with birdies on many occasions, he was not able to convert them. — UNI
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KPS’s talents to be used in 2010 Games Ousted Indian Hockey Federation chief K.P.S. Gill's "talents" will be utilised when Delhi hosts the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said here today. A day after suspending the IHF after IOA's Executive Committee meeting, Kalmadi told reporters that Gill's expertise would be used in the 2010 Games. "K.P.S. Gill was a renowned police officer and he has done a lot of work, but we had to take the decision (to suspend
IHF) in the greater interest of Indian hockey.”
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Speed’s exit will erode ICC credibility: Mani
Melbourne, April 29 "I'm very disappointed with the way Malcolm has been treated. He has served the ICC with loyalty and a huge amount of distinction and I would have expected that if there were differences they could have been handled privately," Mani told 'The Daily Telegraph'. "The way the board has handled this has been disgraceful. If they do not pull their act together they will lose credibility," he added. — PTI
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India thrash Pakistan
New Delhi, April 29 Saurabh Singh, who gave a powerful performance yesterday against Singapore, wrapped up the first singles 6-1, 6-1 in only 48 minutes against Samir Iftikhar. World junior number five Yuki Bhambhri defeated Heera Ashiq 6-0, 6-4 in the second singles. In the doubles event, Yuki and Saurabh registered an easy win as they defeated Ashiq and Faizan Khurram and won 6-2, 6-0. — UNI
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New Delhi, April 29 Monika lifted a total weight of 222 kg to finish behind Liu Chunhong of China and Kao Ya-chun of Chinese Taipei respectively. She added a silver and bronze as she was second in snatch and third in clean and jerk. — PTI
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New Delhi, April 29
Bhajji issue
Videos
Shikhar Dhawan proved a perfect foil to Sehwag when they plundered runs against Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad, with a 112-run stand.
