New Delhi, October 22
Despite being thrashed by India in the second Test at Mohali, Australia's chances of a comeback in the four-Test series remain much brighter with its vice-captain Michael Clarke reckoning that the whole team just needs to click to counter the home team's attack.

Clarke further added that the current Australian team will not repeat the performance of the 2005 Ashes series in which the world champions were trailing 0-1 after the first Test and ultimately lost the coveted series.

''Things just seemed to continue to roll on in that Ashes series and we couldn't pull anything back,'' Clarke said.

''I don't think that's like that here. We've still seen some very good individual performances so far, we just need the whole team to click,'' he affirmed.

It was, however, clearly visible throughout the second Test how the Australians were out-batted and out-bowled. Now, when the players return from a three-day off they will work on ways to counter India's reverse-swing, spin and the aggressive attitude, which the host are progressing by-day.

There is also a requirement to build more pressure against batsmen who have been ready to fire in the crease.

The Mohali result has showed that they have not beaten India in their past four Tests, starting with the loss in Perth in the aftermath of the Sydney affair.

A defeat of such a massive margin hasn't had happened for the Australians since 2005, but Clarke seems no worries for the team's number one ranking being in danger.

''The reality is it's not the first Test I've lost for Australia and it certainly won't be the last,'' he said. ''We'll enjoy the time off, get back in and prepare for third Test - let's hope it's 1-1 after that.''

Clarke is, however, planning to rest with his girlfriend Lara Bingle before she heads to London for her modelling assignments.

''With my experience in India, (I can say) it's a place you can be brought down so quickly,'' he said.

''It can also go the other way. With one good innings, it can turn around so quickly. We've still got a lot of experience, we know the conditions.''

The right-handed batsman had a slow opening in the series with two failures in Bangalore followed by his last-over dismissal to Amit Mishra in the first innings in Mohali.

However, he was pleased with the breakthrough of 69 runs before he confirmed the loss and was the last man out.

''When I look at my own performance I've been disappointed I haven't been as successful as I would have liked,'' he said.

''I've put time into preparation and gone to nets during the days when we've batted to get a lot of practice.''

Though, Clarke is aware of India's fine record in Delhi, but is not making any calls for changes in Australia's slow-bowling make-up.

''My bowling had been okay in the first two Tests, but I will need to create some more incisions to help the team in the third game.''

''I know the wicket coming up in Delhi has suited India and I see that as a great challenge,'' the 27-year-old said.

''I know we're going to have to face some good spinners and some good reverse-swing bowlers.''

As a whole, Clarke cleared that Australia's approach would not change. They will go on with same manner to fight the Indians.

''I remember after the first Test when we had a draw and we were getting on the bus and Punter said to Peter Siddle: 'Mate, you won't see too many results like that in this team.' And it's true. In the Australian team we win, we want to win every game we play,'' Clarkey added. — UNI

Shaun Marsh has been drafted in the Australian Test squad currently touring India as a replacement for opener Phil Jacques who was forced to return home to seek specialist advice for a back problem. The 25-year-old Marsh is yet to get his maiden Test cap but the Western Australia player had an exceptional Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament in which he emerged the highest run-getter and averages 47 in eight ODIs that he has played.

“Shaun has been selected having opened the batting for Australia in the one-day international arena and shown great potential,” Cricket Australia (CA) chief selector Andrew Hilditch said in a statement today. “As a replacement batsman on the tour, should the opportunity arise, we are confident that Shaun could fill any role in the batting order,” the statement added.

Marsh’s inclusion is aimed with the future of the Australian team in mind as the young left-hander has done exceedingly in the limited opportunities that he has got. Jacques could niether play in any of the tour match in India and his injury did not allow him to take part in the two Tests.

Currently, Australia is trailing the four-Test Border-Gavaskar series 0-1 with the third Test slated to begin here at Feroz Shah Kotla from October 29. — UNI

Sydney, October 22
One of Australia's leading coaches Neil D'Costa believes that pace spearhead Brett Lee is under immense pressure following his marriage break-up and said it was unfair to paint him as the bad guy after his reported spat with Ricky Ponting for underbowling him in the second Test against India.

Neil D'Costa, the personal coach of Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke and a long-time supporter of Lee, argued that even Mike Hussey, who has never taken a Test wicket, was given a chance to bowl instead of Lee as the Australians struggled to dismiss India during its second innings.

The Australians were handed a humiliating 320-run defeat by India at Mohali yesterday.

D'Costa believes Lee, who was given a month off to sort out personal issues after his much publicised and painful marriage break-up with Liz Kemp, was likely to snap at some point on the gruelling tour of India.

He further questioned that whether ''the right steps were taken'' to ensure Lee was in the right mental and emotional state for the tour.

''Situations like this are happening in all sports in this country, so I am not throwing stones at cricket,'' D'Costa was quoted as saying by 'The Australian'.

''And I'm not saying Brett should not be there. But I wonder whether the right personal support mechanisms have been in place.

''It is unfair to say that the way he is playing or the way the team has been playing has caused Brett's reaction,'' he added.

The 31-year-old Lee and Kemp separated in August after just two years of marriage. He subsequently pulled out of the Australian team training camp in Brisbane and the three-match, one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin later that month before rejoining the squad for the tour of India.

''I would assume Brett is enduring an unbelievably difficult time and as anyone who has been in this situation will tell you, irrational and out of character behaviour may follow.

''Before we attack Brett, let's ask him if he is OK. I know it is easy to say after the event, but this was always going to happen,'' D'Costa conceded.

D'Costa, who runs the D'Costa Cricket Academy for juniors, was adamant that Lee's outburst was out of character.

''Answer me this: has Brett Lee ever been involved in anything like this before? Obviously not,'' D'Costa said adding ''So there is something troubling him.

''Brett is the model professional sportsman. He has always been a great ambassador for the game, his country and young people.

''I would like to think that Ricky and Cricket Australia have or will ask Brett the sort of questions about his mental state and wellbeing that need to be asked. And if they haven't they need to.

''The fact that he is a professional sportsman does not change his human emotion. Maybe it's time we helped Brett, as he may need it,'' he noted.

As Clarke's coach and mentor, D'Costa said the pressures on high-profile cricketers in Australia is understandable.

''I have seen things that have happened with Michael over the years,'' he said.

''It's tough out there. I work with a lot of young players and, let me tell you, they are under immense pressure.

''They are asked to perform, give up personal time to strangers, travel non-stop, be nice all the time, be polite when abused and not let personal problems affect the 'brand'.

He added that some of the players do get paid well but ''all the money in the world won't help when you are under intense pressure, especially when it involves personal issues outside of the sport.'' — UNI

New Delhi, October 22
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has once again accused International Cricket Council (ICC) match referees of being biased against Asian players after pacer Zaheer Khan was found guilty for breaching the code of conduct.

After the second Test at Mohali yesterday, Zaheer Khan was fined 80 per cent of his match fee by match referee Chris Broad after he was found guilty of a level two charge.

The left-arm pacer, who rattled the Australians on the last day of the second Test by claiming three wickets in just four deliveries, appeared to have said something to opener Matthew Hayden after the batsman was dismissed just before the tea on the fourth day.

''If he swore at him, if he abused him, he obviously deserves to get punished,'' Gavaskar told CNN-IBN today.

''But let's not mince words here. Every time, it is always an Indian or a sub-continent player who gets hauled up, never the Australians.

''There were a lot of incidents in the match. If you remember Virender Sehwag batting in the second innings was given not out where everybody appealed and Ricky Ponting came from extra cover towards the umpire and kept on asking again?

''Now if that had been an Indian, the match referee would have taken him to task and could have even fined him. This is where I think the ICC needs to actually get its act together,'' Gavaskar said. — UNI

Sydney, October 22
The Australian media took a dig at captain Ricky Ponting for the poor leadership in his team's humiliating 320-run loss against India in the second Test at Mohali as the 'Sydney Morning Herald' summed up the defeat in a three-word headline - 'Outplayed, Outbowled and Outcaptained'.

Another leading Australian newspaper, The Age, slammed Ponting's fading leadership and described the visitor's tale at Mohali as 'Australian Cricketer's and the Wearing of the Saggy Green'.

Renowned cricket author and columnist Peter Roebuck in his column in The Sydney Morning Herald wrote, ''Australian cricketers are highly regarded in these parts for never throwing in the towel. Everyone knew they could be beaten but not broken. No one expected them to be brushed away like dust off a table, not on this pitch, not Australians.''

Roebuck further went on to write, ''No one expected the visitors to cave in or to depart with their tails hanging between their legs.

''The Australians were humbled. Now comes the time to be humble. Ricky Ponting's team was outbatted, outbowled, outfielded, out-thought, outrun, outcaptained and outclassed,'' he added.

Although Ponting asserted that his team ''can not be written off'', the well known columnists and commentators do not expect a huge turnaround in the remaining two Tests.

''There was not one area of this match where Australia was India's equal... When Australia attempted to save the match, a combination of high-class bowling and illogical batting saw the tourists meekly surrender,'' Glenn Mitchell wrote on Australian Broadcasting Corporation Grandstand Online.

Stunned by the team's loss, the Australian media circled around Ponting, with 'The Daily Telegraph' even running a poll to send all-rounder Andrew Symonds to rescue the team in India.

The otherwise supportive Australian media was highly critical of Ponting and Company. The pressure is building on Ricky Ponting ahead of the third Test in Delhi which starts on October 29 and Ponting will be hoping to play his cards right to ensure a favourable result for Australia.

The local media also pointed out that the Australian team has become spineless after the retirements of cricketing greats Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath who are being missed in the series against India.

''England's cricket teams have false dawns, Australia's false Waterloos. Mostly, they are in and against India. This one, though, has a disturbingly Napoleonic feel about it,'' Greg Baum wrote in his column in 'The Age'.

While Roebuck wrote that since the retirement of McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist, especially, the Australians ''have been living on borrowed time.'' ''It is not possible to replace great cricketers with good cricketers and retain the same standard,'' he added.

The Australian team will now head to Delhi for the third Test and would look to settle scores. But the home team's exceptional track record at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where it has not lost a single Test in last 21 years, might be something that the Australian team would avoid to take notice of. — UNI

Ahmedabad, October 22
Hosts Ahmedabad Rockets defeated the Royal Bengal Tigers at the Sardar Patel stadium by 10 wickets and with 8 overs to spare here tonight. The man of the match was Bhima Rao for his brilliant effort in the field with 4 wickets and a brilliant run out.

Earlier in the evening Craig McMillan, won the toss and elected to bat on a track expected to play on the slower side. Bhima Rao picked up four wickets in 3 overs. The Tigers folded their innings at a low 131 all out in their allotted 20 overs.

The Rockets chase opened with Campbell and Goodwin with the later spanking15 runs off the first Nechim over the get the Ahmedabad side off the tracks in style. The Rockets finally got to the target in style with a big Campbell six to win by 10 wickets with 8 overs to spare.

Brief Scores:
Royal Bengal Tigers: 131 (McMillan 21, Klusener 20, Rao 4/15)

Ahmedabad Rockets: (Goodwin 61* Campbell 66*). — Agencies

Bonn, October 22
India’s Viswanathan Anand destroyed Vladimir Kramnik with a third win in four games and ended the Russian’s hopes in the World Chess Championship.

Anand, a defending champion, may well have shut the door on Kramnik as he took a three-point lead on Tuesday in the 12-game match with just six games having been played. Anand won the sixth game on the 41st move in a match that he dominated from middle game onwards. Anand has now won the third, fifth and sixth games with the rest having been drawn. He leads the match 4.5-1.5 as the first player to reach 6.5 point will be adjudged the world champion. Wednesday is a day of rest and the seventh game will resume on Thursday with Kramnik having white and Anand black. Anand has won last two games with black. — IANS

Chandigarh, October 22
Displaying his deft touch Yashpal of Punjab Police lifted the first gold in the judo competition on the second day of the 57th All-India Police ‘Wrestling Cluster' Championship at Karan Stadium at Madhuban (Karnal) today.

Yashpal overcame the challenge of Samunder from BSF in the final of the 100 kg weight category. Bronze was won by Narender of CISF and Jitender of ITBP.

Boxing results: 54-57 kg : E. Sahatoma Singh (Assam Rifles) bt Mohd. Habib (Punjab Police) 17-10 pts; Vinod Kumar (CRPF) bt Rajesh Dogra (J-K Police) RSC,

57-60 kg : Giti Ram (Assam Rifles) bt Upender Singh (Rajasthan Police) RSC; Sarafraj Ali (WB Police) bt K. Nitranjan (AP) 15-14 pts; Amandeep (Punjab Police) bt Mong Dang (Nagaland KO; Arvind Thapa (HP) bt Naveen (Sikkim 9-3 pts,

60-64 kg : S.B. Tamang (Asswam Rifles) bt Pawan Kumar (Punjab ); R. Youva Raajan (Tamil ) bt Surook V. Biggle (Goa) walkover; Kamal (Sikkim ) bt Youvraj Kamble (Maha) 4-3 pts; Amit Kumar (BSF) bt Mohd Tarique (West Bengal) 9-2 pts

64-69 kg : Ranjit (Punjab ) bt Sd. Habib Mustafa (RPF) 16-3 pts; Sanjay Singh (CISF) bt Gurbaksh Singh (SSB) 11-5 pts; Sandesh H. Shivali (Maha ) bt Uma Shanker (ITBP) 13-0 pts; Eymain Ali (BSF) bt Abhimanyu Bohora (Orissa) knockout,

69-75 kg: Surinder Kumar (Haryana) bt Surinder Kumar (Punjab) RSC; Harish Tokas (CRPF) bt Saranjit Singh (J-K) RSC; Surinder Singh (SSB) bt Yogender Singh (Rajasthan) RSC; Sultan Tabrej Alam (West Bengal) bt Padman Kumhapatra (Orissa) knockout.

75-81 kg : Hesre Singh (ITBP) bt M. Sharda Rao (AP) 9-1 PTS; R.V. Nariyana (TN) bt Balwan Singh (J-K) 9-7 pts,

48 kg : Raj Kumar (J-K Police) bt Hop Son (Nagaland); Dalip Singh Negi bt Sachin Singh Garade (Maha Police); Amandeep (Punjab Police) bt Hari Om (Himachal Police); Bishnu B. Chetr (West Bengal Police) bt Tanzing Sherpa (Sikkim Police); Bishwa Jit Mandal (Assam Rifles) bt O. Inao Singh (Manipur); Sarju (Uttarakhand Police) bt Nasir Qureshi (UP Police),

48-51 kg: Rajnish (Haryana Police) bt P. Pradhan (Sikkim Police); Jaibir (CRPF) bt Chouth Mal (Rajasthan Police).

Gurdaspur, October 22
While the Jalandhar team stole the lime light by winning the overall championship trophy in the junior boys category by scoring 314.5 points, Gurdaspur’s girls made the area proud by winning the same title in girls category by scoring 182.8 points in the 48th open state level championship.

The Ludhiana and Kapurthala district teams had to contend themselves with second and third place with scores of 192.6 and 165.2, respectively in the boys section. Similarly, Patiala and Amritsar districts were forced to satisfy themselves with second and third place with the scores of 150.1 and 64.4 points, respectively in the girls category.

Though Ludhiana and Kapurthala teams managed to occupy second and third place in the junior boys category, the points scored by these teams were very few compared to the overall champions Jalandhar.

The championship started Gurdaspur, known for producing international level gymnasts, with much fanfare. About 300 gymnasts from all districts of the state are part of the championship.

Though, Gurdaspur district is known for its achievements in gymnastics for producing some international-level athletes, its gymnasts (boys) could not make a mark in this championship. However, the girl gymnasts managed to hold that kind of honour for the district intact.

A lad from Jalandhar district, Manpreet Bhardwaj, managed to hog the lime light by winning the title of all round champion by scoring 72.6 points. The second and third place in this category were also acquired by Jalandhar lads namely Arun Sharma and Mandeep Kumar, respectively with scores of 63.8 and 59.8 points.

In the opratus championship, the gymnasts from Jalandhar maintained their domination in most of the events in boys section while Gurdaspur managed to hold its command on the floor in the girls section.

The other results are as follows:

Floor (Boys)

Manpreet Bhardwaj of Jalandhar stood first with a score of 12 points; Sunil Chand of Patiala second with a score of 11 points and Arun Sharma of Jalandhar stood third with a score of 10.6 points.

Pommel Horse

Manpreet Bhardwaj of Jalandhar first with a score of 13.4 points, Ashwani Kumar of Jalandhar second with a score of 12 points and Harjinder Singh of Gurdaspur third with a score of 11.4 points.

Roman ring

Mandeep Kumar of Jalandhar stood first with a score of 11.7 points, Manpreet Bhardwaj of Jalandhar stood second with a score of 10.9 points and Guljinder Singh of Gurdaspur stood third with a score of 9.5 points.

Vaulting Tables

Arun Sharma of Jalandhar occupied first position with a score of 12.8 points, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Garg of Jalandhar and Bathinda, respectively shared the second slot with 12.4 points each and Harvinder Singh of Ludhiana was placed third with a score of 12.3 points.

Similarly, Naginder Kaur and Gulwinder Kaur of Gurdaspur district, kept their domination in most of the opratus events.

Jalandhar, October 22
Star-studded Crescent Hockey Club, Sialkot (Pakistan), edged out Namdhari-XI by 4-3 during the silver jubilee edition of the Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey Tournament at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, on Wednesday.

The Sialkot team scored their first penalty corner in the 3rd minute of the game. Adeel Akram made no mistake to put his team int he lead. After trailing by a goal, the Namdhari boys mounted pressure on the Pakistani team’s defence and got the equaliser in the 13th minute of the game through a penalty corner through Gurwinder Singh (1-1).

In the first half, Crescent’s goalkeeper Farhan Asif made brilliant saves to stave off some attempts by Namdhari forwards. At half time the Namdhari lads led 2-1.

After changing over sides, the Crescent’s skipper defender Amir Saleem converted the penalty corner and equalised the score (2-2). The Sialkot boys took the lead in the 40th minute of the game and the scorer was again their skipper Amir Saleem who converted the 4th penalty corner into a goal (3-2).

Namdhari boys again scored an equalizer in the 50th minute but finally in the 65th minute the Sialkot boys got the pivotal goal through Mohhamad Atif off a pass from Abu Baker to seal the matter at 4-3.