S P O R T S

India hold on to salvage draw
Bangalore, October 13
India overcame some anxious moments early in the innings but their famed batsmen survived long enough on a tricky fifth day track to ensure that the first cricket Test against Australia ended in a draw here today.
Ganguly (L) and Laxman return to the dressing room after play was suspended due to bad light. India, set a victory target of 299 runs in 83 overs on the last day, were 177 for four when bad light forced the umpires to call off play. — AFP

Full credit to Indian batsmen, says Ponting
Bangalore, October 13
The way India clawed their way back into the first cricket Test match and forced a draw has impressed the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who says the visitors now need to plan and execute their strategies in a better way in the remaining matches of the series.

‘Aussies were very defensive’
Bangalore, October 13
Architect of India's morale-boosting draw in the first Test, Zaheer Khan could not help taking a dig at Ricky Ponting and his men, dubbing them the most defensive Australian side he has come across.
Zaheer Khan was in full cry in Bangalore Test. He took a five-wicket haul and then scored crucial unbeaten 57, bagging the Man of the Match award. The Indian pace spearhead could not help taking a dig at Ricky Ponting and his men, dubbing them the most defensive Australian side he has come across.

Sarabjeet shines in Chandigarh Lions’ win
Hyderabad, October 13
An unbeaten knock of 41 by Sarabjeet Singh ensured a thrilling win for Chandigarh Lions over Mumbai Champs in the ICL T20 match today at the LB Stadium here.

Commonwealth Youth Games
Indians in gold rush
Pune, October 13
India stamped their authority today on the second day of the third edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games grabbing three of the four gold medals on offer at the Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports city, Balewadi here today.

Kaypee keen to work with Haryana youngsters
Chandigarh, October 13
“They are a young and talented bunch of cricketers, who need proper motivation and guidance so that they turn into a formidable force in domestic cricket,” Amarjeet Kaypee, former Haryana skipper, said today.

Legal remedy if denied affiliation: Rathee
Chandigarh, October 13
Encouraged with the recent decision of Panchkula court in which it restrained Chautala faction from acting as office-bearers of the Haryana Olympic Associaition (HOA), the state government-backed Rathee faction is all set to put forward its affiliation papers to Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Jalandhar win overall trophy
Bathinda, October 13
Jalandhar shone once again to emerge the overall champions, bagging 36 points, at the Punjab State Games for Women, which concluded here today. Meanwhile, Amritsar with 22 points clinched the second position while Patiala got the third place with 10 points.

India hold on to salvage draw

Bangalore, October 13
India overcame some anxious moments early in the innings but their famed batsmen survived long enough on a tricky fifth day track to ensure that the first cricket Test against Australia ended in a draw here today.

Set an improbable victory target of 299, the Indians were in doldrums at 24 for two at one stage but recovered to reach 177 for four before play was called off with 10 overs still remaining to be bowled.

After four days of ding-dong battle, the weather played spoil sport to some extent on the final day though the match seemed headed for a draw as the Australians still had a difficult task of wrapping up six wickets in the last 25 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

The last session turned out to be a little farcical as bad light forced two interruptions which robbed the visitors of valuable time to push for victory.

Sachin Tendulkar (49) played a big part to keep the opposition at bay on a dual-paced Chinnaswamy track which made batting difficult but not impossible.

Tendulkar, who seemed to be in good touch, held the innings together with his gritty knock after the early loss of Virender Sehwag (6) and Rahul Dravid (5) but a momentary loss of concentration meant that he would have to wait for another day to break Brian Lara's record of the highest Test aggregate.

The champion batsman, who needed 64 runs to break Lara's record Test aggregate of 11,953, fell short by just 15 runs much to the disappointment of the crowd who cheered every stroke he played.

Laxman was at the crease on 42 and Ganguly was on 26 when the curtains came down on the match which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.

The two teams will now travel to Mohali for the second Test beginning from Friday.

The Australians, resuming at the overnight score of 193 for five, added a few quick runs before declaring the second innings at 228 for six, setting India a daunting target of 299 for victory.

But with the flamboyant Sehwag perishing early, the hosts never really went for the target and were quite content in playing out the overs.

There was a brief moment before the tea break when Tendulkar and Laxman unleashed a few attacking shots but the belligerence did not last long with debutant Cameron White scalping the well-set Tendulkar.

It gave White his first Test wicket and the bowler was so overwhelmed that he broke into tears with teammates celebrating the prized wicket.

Dangerman Virender Sehwag (6) and first innings half centurion Rahul Dravid (five) fell cheaply in India's run chase and it seemed at that time that the hosts may struggle to save the match.

Sehwag was the first to go immediately after getting a reprieve from Brad Haddin off Brett Lee in the fifth over of the Indian innings when a diving Aussie wicketkeeper could not hold on to a thick edge.

Stuart Clark's very first ball in the next over got the breakthrough for the Aussies as Matthew Hayden took a low catch at first slip when Sehwag tried to steer the ball away.

Dravid followed three overs later as Ponting, at short midwicket, took a spectacular catch by throwing himself in the air to his right as the Bangalore batsman tried to flick the ball. 

Full credit to Indian batsmen, says Ponting

Bangalore, October 13
The way India clawed their way back into the first cricket Test match and forced a draw has impressed the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who says the visitors now need to plan and execute their strategies in a better way in the remaining matches of the series.

India, who were on the backfoot early in the match, fought well through their tail-enders in the first innings and then the seniors responded well in the second innnings to carve out a draw.

"Full credit to Indian batsmen. They batted well. We have to think more about plans and their better execution. But I am happy with the start. The surface had enough for the bastmen and the bowlers", Ponting said after the match.

"There is still room for improvement but I am pretty pleased with the start of the series," Ponting said.

Indian captain Anil Kumble was also happy with the result but felt India could have done better.

"It is a little disappointing. We had our chance yesterday. But overall it is fantastic. It was vital toss and had we won toss things could have been different. The way we played was a fantastic effort," Kumble said.

Indian spinners were not that succesful in the match but Kumble blamed it on the pitch and promised a better performance in the future matches.

"This wicket has changed. It does not have much for spinners. The fast bowlers really bowled well. Spinners will come up in the next matches," he said.

In a lighter vein, Kumble said Harbhajan Singh, who scored a gritty fifty to help India save the blushes in the first innings "deserved a promotion" in the batting order. — PTI 

‘Aussies were very defensive’

Bangalore, October 13
Architect of India's morale-boosting draw in the first Test, Zaheer Khan could not help taking a dig at Ricky Ponting and his men, dubbing them the most defensive Australian side he has come across.

Zaheer's five-wicket haul in the first innings halted Australia in their strides and the left-arm seamer then chipped in with a crucial unbeaten 57-run knock which, along with Harbhajan Singh's equally gritty 54, saved India blushes.

The obvious choice for the Man of the Match award, Zaheer felt Australia's defensive mindset allowed India snatch a draw, which should stand them in good stead when they move to Mohali for the second Test.

"They were very defensive. I mean I have never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which is a good thing for us," Zaheer said.

The seamer was referring to Australia's snail-pace progress in their second essay yesterday when the run-rate was hovering just over two before Shane Watson and Brad Haddin stepped on gas.

Stroke-makers like Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden were uncharacteristically subdued. Watson later attributed it to the tight line and length, apart from reverse swing, maintained by the Indian pacers besides the sharp turn which Harbhajan was routinely getting.

Zaheer was naturally happy after the hosts showed some grit and saved the match, which he felt was no mean achievement.

"It cannot get better than this and I'm extremely happy with the way things have gone in this match," he said.

"Looking at the wicket, we were in trouble the moment we lost the toss. But in the end, we did very well. To get a draw on wicket like this would boost our morale going into the second Test," Zaheer said.

Zaheer and Ishant Sharma did most of the damage in the first innings, sharing nine wickets between them and the left-arm seamer seemed highly impressed by his new ball colleague.

"Well, bowling in tandem with Ishant is a pleasure. He has pace, is tall and gets that bounce off wicket. He was pretty impressive," Zaheer gushed.

Another teammate who came in for rich praise from Zaheer was Harbhajan.

Zaheer said Harbhajan kept him keyed up and never ran short of suggestions. "Bhajji was advising me all the time," Zaheer said. "He was making sure I was on the front foot and stuff like that. On odd occasions, he would crack a joke that was important too (to calm the nerves)," he added. — PTI

Sarabjeet shines in Chandigarh Lions’ win

Hyderabad, October 13
An unbeaten knock of 41 by Sarabjeet Singh ensured a thrilling win for Chandigarh Lions over Mumbai Champs in the ICL T20 match today at the LB Stadium here.

Singh came as a saviour for the Lions who were struggling after losing six wickets while chasing a victory target of 136 set by the Champs. His 41 not out off just 22 balls included three sixes, the last being the winning knock which ended the match in style.

Tail-ender Andrew Hall scored 17 crucial runs, when it mattered the most, giving the much needed support to Singh. The match took several curious turns with brilliant bowling spells by Champs skipper Nathan Astle along with Michael Kasprowicz even as Singh single-handedly kept the scoreboard ticking.

Lions opener Mathew Elliot gave a good start despite losing his partners at frequent intervals. While Astle claimed four wickets, Kasprowicz scalped three.

Earlier, the Mumbai team was restricted to 135 for six in the stipulated 20 overs courtesy to impressive bowling by Dinesh Mongia, Andrew Hall and Daryl Tuffey. The top order of Champs, including Astle and Umar, collapsed like a pack of cards and it was Kiran Powar who brought a semblance of respectability to the total. 

Commonwealth Youth Games
Indians in gold rush

Kaypee keen to work with Haryana youngsters
Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 13
“They are a young and talented bunch of cricketers, who need proper motivation and guidance so that they turn into a formidable force in domestic cricket,” Amarjeet Kaypee, former Haryana skipper, said today.

Kaypee, who has been appointed coach of Haryana Ranji Trophy squad in place of Ashwani Kumar, felt there that there was no dearth of talent in the state, which has produced greater cricketers like Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma. The talented youngsters needed proper attention and training as they lacked neither in skill nor temperament, Kaypee added.

“It will be a pleasure working with the boys. I will try to pass on and share with them my rich domestic experience spanning two decades and mould them into better competitors,” the record holder for the maximum centuries (27) scored in domestic cricket, remarked.

Kaypee, a right-handed batsman, who holds the record for the maximum runs scored in the Ranji Trophy, will join the Haryana Ranji Tophy probables at a preparatory camp at Lahli in Rohtak tomorrow.

During the 15-day camp, the Ranji probables will undergo various drills designed to improve their fitness level as well their all round skills as they conclude their camp before Diwali. Haryana start their Ranji Trophy campaign just thereafter from November 3, Kaypee said.

After making his Ranji Trophy debut for Punjab in 1980-81, the right-handed batsman Kaypee shifted to Haryana in 1986-87 and helped the state to its only Ranji title triumph in 1990-91. Kaypee was instrumental in the historic win and scored 940 runs during the successful campaign.

Last year, Kaypee was honoured by the Board of Control for Cricket in India with CEAT Lifetime Achievement award. Haryana begin their Ranji campaign with a home game against Himachal Pradesh from November 13. 

Legal remedy if denied affiliation: Rathee
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 13
Encouraged with the recent decision of Panchkula court in which it restrained Chautala faction from acting as office-bearers of the Haryana Olympic Associaition (HOA), the state government-backed Rathee faction is all set to put forward its affiliation papers to Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Following the interim orders by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Panchkula, Abhey Singh Chautala and MS Malik were restricted from participating in the election to the governing body of IOA held at Pune on October 10 as the president and general secretary of the HOA.

“The vote of HOA went blank in the election. This is enough to prove the false claims of the Chautala faction as the real representatives of the state Olympic body. Now we are going to claim the affiliation of the IOA and the process has already been started”, claimed the newly elected president of HOA PV Rathee while addressing mediapersons at Haryana Niwas, Sector 3 here today.

Rathee also cleared that Abhey participated in the IOA election as his capacity of president of the Indian Boxing Federation.

IOA had recognised Chautala group as its representatives in the state.

Asked what if the IOA does not give affiliation to his group, Rathee held that they would not hesitate to seek legal remedy in that case.

“Certainly, we will go for legal remedies, if the affiliation would be denied to us by the IOA”, asserted Rathee.

However, he was hopeful that their teams would also be allowed to participate in national games by IOA.

Rathee also said state games would be held in November at Sonepat.

Jalandhar win overall trophy
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 13
Jalandhar shone once again to emerge the overall champions, bagging 36 points, at the Punjab State Games for Women, which concluded here today. Meanwhile, Amritsar with 22 points clinched the second position while Patiala got the third place with 10 points.

In hockey, Amritsar defeated Kapurthala to win the gold. The match was so close that both the teams were not able to score any field goal. Later, Amritsar’s Kirandeep converted a penalty corner in the 28th minute to give her team the win.

Meanwhile, keeping in view the performance of Bathinda shooter Avneet Kaur at the Beijing Olympics who also won a gold at the Commonwealth Games, Bathinda MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan issued a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of a shooting range in the district.