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The battle resumes tomorrow
Waugh tells Aussies to relax
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Now, world kabaddi league
Viswanathan Anand
India lose to Malaysia, settle for fourth place
Dhaka Warriors beat Champs
Pak team arrives for kabaddi meet
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The battle resumes tomorrow
New Delhi, October 27 Harbhajan Singh, who kept away from strenuous bowling stints at the nets at the Kotla ground here yesterday and today, however, participated in batting and fielding sessions, though it gave credence to the reports that he had “picked up” the toe injury on his landing feet either on the last day of the first Test in Bangalore or during the second Test in Mohali. But Indian coach Gary Kirsten, who addressed the media after the team practised under the heat for close to three hours after noon today, said the ace off-spinner apparently suffered the injury “during the last match”, though he hastened to add that “I am not sure”. But the good news was that captain Anil Kumble was on the road to recovery and was very much part of the full “net” session today. “If Kumble is fit, he will be the captain of the team”, Kirsten emphasised. The Ferozeshah Kotla ground has been lucky for the Indian team as the hosts haven’t lost a Test match here since 1987. They have won seven Tests on the trot, after suffering their last defeat here against the West Indies. But Kirsten insisted that it would be suicidal for the team to live on past glory. “Consistency is what we are looking for, though the team have lots of experience on this wicket”. The Kotla wicket has always aided the batsmen and bowlers in equal measure, with the hosts’ spinners always striking it rich. No wonder, Anil Kumble is keen to play in the third Test, as the Kotla ground has been a happy hunting ground for him. It was here that he resurrected his career with a match-winning spell in the Irani Trophy match against Delhi a few years ago, when another spinner, Maninder Singh was also looking to stage a come back. And a few years down the line, Kumble spun the ball magically to take all ten wickets in a Test match. And Harbhajan Singh also got his career back on the rail against Pakistan last November here, after going through a lean patch. Thus India have much look forward to, after their Diwali celebrations on Tuesday, in their keen desire to give the knockout punch to Australia, to make the fourth Test at Kanpur inconsequential. Australia are certainly concerned about their defeat by a huge margin in the second Test at Mohali, and they would spare no effort to make a match of it. They feel that with India one win up and two more Tests to go, the pressure is on the hosts. The Australians have been turning to past heroes like former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi and their own ex-skipper Steve Waugh to enable them cobble together a winning combination. Steve said he wanted the seniors to come good and lead from the front. “They need to get a couple of things right”, said Waugh, after taking a good, deep look at the practice session of the visitors today. But Indian coach Gary Kirsten was not “really concerned about what the Australians are going to do” as the visitors have been startled by the blows inflicted by speedsters Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. “I was impressed when I say him (Ishant) in Australia. He’s extremely fit physically and very strong mentally”, noted the Indian coach. Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke said the visitors, led by Ricky Ponting, would settle for nothing short of a win here to keep the interest alive in the series, though he conceded that Indian held the advantage. Clarke, who score 23 and 69 at Mohali, said Australia indeed had a difficult task, but not insurmountable. “We are not concerned about India’s record here, but any match against India is always tough”, he added. Though spin is not the strong point of this Australian team, they would still pin hopes on off-spinner Jason Krejza, leg-spinner Cameroon White and part-time spinner Simon Katish if their pace battery comprising Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Peter Siddle and Dough Bollinger fail to come good. Fast bowling coach Troy Cooley has been straining to help the speedsters get into their groove, which included Stuart Clark, who had been nursing an elbow injury.
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New Delhi, October 27 Waugh, who was here to attend the two-day MCC World Cricket Committee meeting that concluded yesterday, attended the entire net session, interacting mostly with Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden. “I just came to have a look at their practice session,” Waugh later said. Asked what did he suggest to Ponting and his men who trail the four-match series 0-1, Waugh said he told them to relax and not think much about the result. “I didn’t give any tips as such. I told them to relax and enjoy. Sometimes you tend to think too much about the outcome. They need to relax,” said the former captain. On whether he had any special piece of advice for out-of-form Hayden, Waugh said, “Not really. He is a quality player and a world class batsman, he knows his game well. It’s all about spending some time in the middle and runs will come automatically.” “Australia is definitely under pressure to make a comeback in the series and judging by their practice session this morning, all of them looked intense,” said Waugh, summing up his observation of the Aussies. Waugh also seemed highly impressed by India’s performance in the series so far but believes it might prove to maintain the same standard. “India was outstanding in Mohali, no doubt about that. They have set a very high standard and I think the pressure is now on them to maintain that. In a way, the pressure is now off Australia’s shoulder. “The big question is whether Australia can now bounce back? They have certainly got the character and I hope they have the confidence as well. Ponting, Hayden, Clarke, Hussey -- a lot would rest on the shoulders of the senior players,” Waugh added. Making a comparison between the Indian team he played against and the one at present, Waugh said pacers have given the side that extra edge. “I think Indian bowling has come off age and now they are quite capable of taking 20 wickets. Earlier, it was all about India’s spin bowling but now Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma are doing well. They are good at reverse swing and India always had quality spinners,” he said. — PTI
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Now, world kabaddi league
Chandigarh, October 27 The modalities, including the worldwide coverage of all matches, are in the final stages of approval, says SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. He revealed that he himself would be the franchisee of one of the teams from India. The decision to start the World Premier
League (WPL) in kabaddi has been taken in view of the worldwide popularity of the Punjabi sport. It will be Punjab- style kabaddi that will be played in all five continents. Like each IPL T20 team, each participating club or team will be free to sign, engage or employ any kabaddi player from any part of the world subject to approval by the management committee of the proposed
league. Each club will have its own trainers, including coaches, physical conditioners, psychologists and managers, besides an event manager to look after training, management and organisational aspects of the league. “When I take a team, I would like to concentrate on its training and management so as to turn it into the number one team. I am sure others would like to do the
same. If WWF can do well and similar experiments in cricket, hockey, football , ice hockey, baseball and basketball have been successful in North America, we are confident that our league will be a roaring success as many TV channels have evinced interest in buying live coverage rights on a country and continental basis,” added Badal. The headquarters of the WPL would be in India with offices in Canada, the US, the UK and Germany. Suggestions for including one or two teams from Pakistan were also under active consideration of the ad hoc committee that had representatives from all participating countries. The WPL might subsequently consider teams from Australasia (Australia-New Zealand-Fiji-Malaysia) and Africa for inclusion. “We already have held three meetings,” said Sukhbir, maintaining that the response, including that of the sponsors, had been overwhelming. “While the preliminary league matches will be played in the qualifying zones, located in each of the three participating continents, the final will be played in Punjab during the winter when a large number of NRIs visit
India. Depending upon the organisers, the matches could be played even under floodlights. Each participating team will have its own emblem, flag, uniform and
mascot. The managing committee of the WPL will decide how many players a team can hire, engage or
employ. We hope to finalise all the details in the next few meetings,” he said. |
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Kramnik strikes back as Anand loses
Bonn, October 27 Anand who was ruling the match by a 6-3 margin coming in to the 10th game, simply slipped it away as for the first time Kramnik proved much superior player in the match. For the record,
it was a Nimzo Indian defence yet again that turned out to be the Waterloo for the
Indian ace. Anand, needing just one more draw to win this match, for once, was on the receiving end, as the whole world had expected a defeat for Kramnik. However, the Russian showed his most prolific instinct when he was down the most. Having won three games, Anand was up 6-3 before the start of the 10th game and this probably is only a temporary deterrent in the quest of the Indian. Needing just a draw to win the World championship again, Anand plays with white against Kramnik in the 11th game. The 10th game finally gave what the chess world was looking up to: a keenly contested match. It was a clear indication that Kramnik had warmed up much too late for this probably the most important clash of his life.
— PTI |
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India lose to Malaysia, settle for fourth place
Pune, October 27 Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and Aditya Prakash did their bit, winning their respective singles matches but it was not enough. Mixed doubles pair of Gurusaidutt and Prajakta Sawant was the first to disappoint as the duo received a 8-21, 17-21 thrashing from Kok Siang Teo and Kah Mun Vivian Hoo in a 20-minute match. However, Saina spanked Siew Fong Florah Ng 21-9, 21-6 in the women’s single, while Aditya Prakash 21-12, 20-22, 26-24 staved off the challenge of Iskandar Zulkarnain Bin Zainuddin in a 55-minute gruelling battle to take the lead 2-1. But Sai Praneeth B and Pranav Chopra squandered the chance as they failed to put up a fight against Hee Chun Mak and Kok Siang Teo and went down 21-14, 21-13 in just 22 minutes in the men’s doubles category. Though Sikki Reddy and Thulasi PC gave a scare to Kah Mun Vivian Hoo and Sannatasah Binti
Saniru, the duo could not defy the inevitable and lost 14-21 21-13 9-21 to the Malaysian duo in 37-minutes.
— PTI |
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Dhaka Warriors beat Champs
Gurgaon, October 27 The Mumbai side opened with a new combination of stand-in-skipper Dheeraj Jadhav & Subhojit Paul, who came out with a positive intent, taking the score to 23 for no loss at the end of the third over. The Dhaka Warriors came back strongly with Tapash Baisya packing back the opposition skipper Jadhav, cheaply for 10 the 4th over. The 5th over mark had both the openers back in the Mumbai Champs dugout & the scorecard reading 38/2. Brief Scores: Mumbai Champs: 151 (Khirid 51, Umer 28, Mosharraf 2 for 20, Kapali 1 for 19). Dhaka Warriors: 155 ( Nafees 57, Kapali 48; Khanolkar 1 for 16, van der Wath 1 for 20).
— Agencies |
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Pak team arrives for kabaddi meet
Amritsar, October 27 Addressing media persons Dalmegh Singh, secretary SGPC said besides Pakistan two other nations were likely to participate in the competition. He said the teams from other states including Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states would also participate in the competition and the winner of the competition would be given Rs 3 lakh as prize while the runner up would receive Rs 2 lakh. |
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New Delhi, October 27
Gurgaon, October 27
Aussie Hackett hangs up his goggles