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Rohit, Kohli prop up Board President’s XI
Board President XI’s Rohit Sharma reacts after his century against Australia on day one of the four-day match at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. —
PTI |
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India A vs NZ A
Kumble slams media speculation on seniors
Players gear up for golf c’ship
Jesse Grewal (L), named coach for the Eisenhower Cup, explains a point to Gagan Verma (C) and Saurabh Bahuguna at a special camp for the Indian team for the world amateur golf championship at the Chandigarh Golf Range, Chandigarh, on Thursday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari
Punjab enter semis
Messi rescues Barcelona
I-League
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Rohit, Kohli prop up Board President’s XI
Hyderabad, October 2 Losing three quick wickets in the morning session put the local favourites in a spot of bother but Rohit forged a 61-run stand with his skipper Yuvraj Singh (29) to stem the rot before plundering another 146 with Kohli to wrest the opening day honour. Rohit’s effervescent 105 off 144 balls was studded with 12 boundaries and four sixes. Kohli’s identical 105 was the product of his 146-ball stay in the middle, during which he hit 14 boundaries and a six before falling to Brett Lee following a dubious leg before decision. Parthiv Patel (49 batting) also made hay and was one run away from his half-century while Irfan Pathan was batting at 17 when stumps were drawn. The visitors were sans all-rounder Shane Watson who had been laid low by viral fever. Onus was on Aakash Chopra (25) and Wasim Jaffer (19) to vindicate Yuvraj’s decision to bat first on a strip that promises a run-feast and they did not start badly either. Occasional discomforts notwithstanding, they went on to put together 41 runs before Stuart Clarke removed Jaffer. Mitchell Johnson then trapped Chopra too and 10 runs later, S. Badrinath (2) fell to Peter Siddle, leaving the side reeling at 59 for three. Yuvraj (29) and Rohit did the bail-out act with aplomb and with two strokeplayers in the middle, the sparse crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium was treated to some delectable shots right out of the top drawer. Yuvraj drove with elegance and timed his shots to perfection but eventually fell to an ugly dismissal which once again exposed his utter discomfort against rising deliveries. Johnson banged one short and Yuvraj decided to pull it before abandoning the plan altogether. It was too late by then and the ball ricocheted off his blade and lobbed behind for Michael Hussey to take the dolly. Rohit, meanwhile, had other plans. He treated off-spinner Jason Krejza with utter disdain and chose Clarke for special treatment. After negotiating Clarke’s first three balls of the 38th over with utmost caution, Rohit followed up back-to-back fours with a soaring six to fetch his fifty off just 68 balls. Rohit’s ton also came in spectacular fashion. Back-to-back sixes took him to 98 and after a pause, a straight driven four off Michael Clarke fetched his century off just 137 balls. A mistimed pull off Johnson eventually brought his dismissal but by then, Rohit had made a statement with the bat. Kohli too joined the party and was particularly harsh on Krejza, suggesting what future has in store for the rookie offie in the forthcoming Test series. An airborne Ricky Ponting almost caught Kohli at midwicket when the batsman was on 77 but Kohli had the fortune of brave and brought up his century with a gorgeous cover drive off Lee. Scoreboard
Indian Board President’s XI (1st innings) A Chopra lbw Johnson 25 Jaffer c Johnson b Clark 19 Badrinath lbw Siddle 2 Yuvraj c Hussey b Johnson 29 Rohit Sharma c Krejza b Johnson 105 Kohli lbw Lee 105 Parthiv not out 49 I. Pathan not out 17 Extras (b-4, lb-8, nb-8) 20 Total
(6 wkts, 89 overs) 371 Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-49, 3-59, 4-120, 5-266, 6-328 Bowling: Lee 12-3-30-1, S Clark 15-3-58-1, M Johnson 20-4-62-3, Siddle 11-2-41-1, Krejza 20-1-123-0, M Clarke 11-0-45-0.
— PTI |
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All eyes on Ganguly
Chennai, October 2 The otherwise low-profile encounter has assumed significance with Ganguly, out of cricket for over a month, given a place in India A squad to gain some match practice before the first Test against Australia on October 9. India A, already on a high after their thumping 129-run win in the first match against the same opponents yesterday, would also be strengthened by the presence of left-arm pacer R.P. Singh and leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who was in the India A team before his call-up in the national squad. The hosts had put up a good team effort in their first match and they will have the edge over the largely inexperienced New Zealand team for a clean sweep in the second match starting tomorrow. But the continuing inconsistency of the batsmen, particularly the poor run by the openers from the preceding tri-series, is still a cause of worry and Ganguly could provide the fillip here with his vast experience. Given the failure of opener Shikar Dhawan in both the innings of the first match, Ganguly might be considered for the slot or could be in his usual position at number six. India A coach Dav Whatmore had said after the end of the first match that there would be changes in the team. The batting line up looks strong with captain Suresh Raina hitting form with a sparkling 146 in the second innings of the first match which laid the platform for India’s win. M. Vijay, who scored 45 and a half-century in the match, and middle order mainstay Yusuf Pathan and wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha have given a decent performance so far. In the bowling department, paceman Ashok Dinda had been impressive, generating good pace to claim seven wickets, including five for 60 in the second essay. With R.P. Singh likely to replace Sudeep Tyagi, who ended up with a match tally of just two wickets, the bowling attack will be potent. Mishra, who took three vital wickets yesterday for a match tally of five, received support from co-spinner Mohnish Parmar as the bowlers defended modest first innings total of 240 for a 18-run lead and then bowled out the Kiwis for 225. The visitors’ batting has revolved around all-rounder Aaron Redmond, captain Peter Fulton and James Marshall, but none of them could post big scores and perished against the Indian attack just when they were required to stay at the crease. The Kiwis have to resist the tendency to lose quick wickets. The hot and humid weather conditions have added to their woes. New Zealand bowlers did a fair job in containing India A in the first innings in the first match thanks largely to a career best six-wicket haul by off-spinning all-rounder Nathan McCullum and medium pacer Brent Arnel. New ball bowlers Michael Mason and Trent Boult have not been very effective and the team might go for a change and bring in Lain O’Brain or left-arm fast bowler Bradely Scott. — PTI
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Kumble slams media speculation on seniors
Bangalore, October 2 Kumble bluntly told the media to be a bit more respectful to the senior cricketers and made it clear that Sourav Ganguly's inclusion in the 15-member squad was not part of any compromise formula. "You need to be a bit more respectful. When people discuss cricketers, they need to be handled respectfully," an angry Kumble told reporters here. "If that's done (if scrutiny is done in a respectable fashion), we don't mind scrutiny. But, when it's done in a rubbish manner and the way it's been quoted, then it hurts," he said. Kumble also slammed the media for speculating over Ganguly's inclusion for the first two Tests against Australia. "He was part of the last Test match as well. He is part of this series also. No difference. I don't see any change. Media reports say a lot of things. I can't really divulge what happened in the selection committee meeting," he added. He defended the selection of the seniors and said their failure in Sri Lanka did not warrant their exclusion for such an important series against Australia. "In terms of senior players' performance, they performed exceptionally well. It's just one bad series that we had in Sri Lanka, and if you go by the (overall) record that you have, I don't think these players have performed badly.” "The reason that you had these (good) results in Australia ... is thanks to the batsmen getting those runs. It's never been a problem," he said. Best chance to beat Oz
With the narrow series loss Down Under early this year still fresh in mind, Kumble said his side is all geared up to keep the record straight against the visiting Australians in the four-match Test series beginning here on October 9. "We have a very good chance (to win the series). Probably this is our best chance to go out there and win the series. We have come pretty close to that in the last couple of series that we played against them. This is a great opportunity for us," Kumble said after the team's practice session. "I think we have the quality to win, whether the pitch favours us or not. We have done exceptionally well against Australia, considering that we played on different surfaces every time," he added.
— PTI |
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Players gear up for golf c’ship
Chandigarh, October 2 The threesome from Delhi comprising Gagan Verma, Saurabh Bahuguna and Rashid Khan, are in top shape and hope to do much better than India's previous performance in the world championship to be played at two courses in Australia from October 16 to 19. Jesse was demonstrating the “chin going down and then going around” while executing a drive before India’s top-ranked amateur Gagan Verma. “Take it down and then around, not up and down”, Jesse repeated as Gagan executed a perfect drive. Twentynine-year-old Saurabh Bahuguna, the no 2 in the amateur order of merit, is keen on fine-tuning his swing. “I want to end up swinging better in the four days we are here”, he said. Rashid Khan at 17 is the baby of the team. He had taken time off from the coaching camp for the Eid celebrations. Both Gagan and Saurabh admit that Rashid is the best thing to have happened to Indian amateur golf. Experienced Gagan Verma, who leads the challenge, is hopeful of India performing much better than its best of 25th place in the tournament in which 80 countries will be participating. He was all praise for the facilites available at the Chandigarh Golf Range. “It is the perfect place to practice the shots. And with Jesse as our coach, we are surely going to come back with a much better performance”, said Gagan. Thirtysix-year-old Gagan said they would face tough competition from Canada, New Zealand, USA, South Africa and Australia. "The world's best amateur player comes from New Zealand", he added. “The greens in Australia are fast and it is windy”, said Gagan. And with all three coming from Delhi the team exhibits a good team spirit. Working as asst manager (Sports) with the Indian Oil Corporation, Gagan considers Rashid the number one putter of the country.
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Punjab enter semis
Jalandhar, October 2 With this win, Punjab has advanced into the semifinals. Assam, Mizoram and Goa will complete the last-four line up. In another hard fought but inconsequential encounter, Meghalaya edged out Delhi. Both the teams had already lost the battle for a berth in the semis and the match was reduced to mere academic formalities. This, however, did not deter the two teams from dishing out high quality soccer to the delight of the crowd. The Punjab-Mizoram match, a see-saw affair, however, belonged to a different genre altogether with the hosts being seriously challenged by the never-say-die team from the north east. The two teams had a lot at stake as the hosts had to record an outright win to avoid elimination from the championship. But Punjab rose to the occasion and maintained the trend they had been maintaining throughout the tournament on the home grounds. The semifinals would be played on Saturday. Punjab take on the formidable Goa while Assam play Mizoram at 3.30 PM on October 4. |
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Belgrade, October 2
Liverpool continued to torment PSV Eindhoven with a 3-1 triumph over the Dutch side they eliminated in the 2006-07 quarterfinals after also beating them in the group stage. The English club remain joint top of Group D with two wins from two games after Atletico Madrid, back in the Champions League for the first time since 1997, beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 to maintain their own perfect start. Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta kept up their dream debut with a 3-1 home win over Panathinaikos. Anorthosis have four points from two matches in Group B, the same as Inter Milan who gave coach Jose Mourinho little to cheer with a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen at the San Siro. — Reuters
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Vasco hold JCT
Margao, October 2 JCT, who had more of the ball and better share of exchanges in both halves, should blame themselves for their poor finishing. JCT increased their points tally to four points from a win and draw while Vasco opened their account with a drawn match from an equal number of outings. JCT went into attack right from the start in the first half but their attackers especially Edu Advardo, who was off colour today, faltered at crucial junctures. JCT came with a first move as early as the sixth minute, initiated by Jaspreet Singh, who floated a ball to Edu but he failed to grab the chance. Then in the 14th minute, Balwant Singh attempted a good shot which was well saved by goalkeeper Laxmikant Kuttimani. JCT had another couple of chances to move ahead in the 28th and 38th minute but on both occasion, Edu failed to avail the chances. In the 28th minute, Edu, after collecting a pass from Baljit Sahani, had only to beat the rival goalkeeper but missed the sitter. Then in the 38th minute, Sahani made a pass to Edu who did have a clear look at the goal. He took a hasty shot which went wide. Not even a single good move was seen from Vasco in the first session though the side had been strengthened with three Uzbekistan recruits. — UNI
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Hyderabad, October 2
Chandigarh, October 2
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