New Delhi, November 21
The Indian cricket tour of Pakistan in January appears to be in trouble, with the government here being apprehensive on account of security of the team and wondering whether it was worth risking the lives of players like Sachin Tendulkar.

An inter-ministry team from India, comprising officials and representatives of intelligence agencies, will shortly leave for Pakistan to assess the security situation in the country before a final decision is taken on the Indian cricket team’s tour of the neighbouring country, according to sources.

The Indian cricket team is slated to play three Tests, 5 ODIs and one T-20 match during their tour of Pakistan in January.

With security situation in Pakistan in a flux, the Indian team want an assurance from the Pakistan Government regarding fool-proof security to the players.

The sources wondered whether it would be prudent for the team to undertake the visit if the current security situation continues in Pakistan.

The final decision on the tour, scheduled from January 6 to February 19, will be taken within two weeks on the basis of the assessment by a high-level team of officials that will be going to Pakistan shortly.

Sources today said the risk of undertaking the tour is high considering the prevailing security situation in Pakistan and "no sensible government" would take it.

To press the argument, the sources said if even a "scratch" comes to Sachin, what would happen to the bilateral relations. "The risk is not worth running," they said.

The sources cited the recent terror attack on a national sporting event in Peshawar to cite the example of the security situation in Pakistan.

Top cricket nations, including Australia, have refused to tour Pakistan in recent times because of the security situation in the strife-torn country which has not hosted a major international tournament since the Asia Cup in June this year.

The high-profile Champions Trophy, which was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September this year, had to be deferred with most teams refusing to tour the country.

The BCCI has already made it clear to the Pakistan Cricket Board that it would tour Pakistan only if it got the clearance from the government which remained apprehensive despite assurance of a fool-proof security arrangement.

BCCI President Shashank Manohar has told his PCB counterpart Ijaz Butt that he had written to his government for the clearance of the tour and the BCCI is expected to get a reply in the next 10 to 12 days.

India is due to tour Pakistan to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game and the itinerary of the tour has been agreed upon by both boards.

The government this month stopped the Indian junior hockey team from touring Pakistan for a test series as it was not satisfied with the security arrangements made by the Pakistani authorities.

The PCB has talked about shifting the series to a neutral venue including England or switching the series with India in case the Indian government does not give clearance for the tour.

The smile on Kevin Pietersen's face is a wee bit forced these days. Back in September it was genuine and there for all to see as the England captain eulogised over another thumping victory against South Africa.

Pietersen's consternation is understandable as top form and good fortune continue to elude his side on their slowly improving but ultimately losing tour of India.

It was difficult not to have some sympathy for Pietersen and his hard working side as they fell to a third successive one-day defeat to India.

When the umpires deemed that heavy smog had made the light unfit India, needing 43 runs in nine overs with five wickets to spare, were favourites to win, but plenty of matches have been lost from such situations in the past.

It was why Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, was extremely keen to accept the umpires offer to leave the field, a move that brought an up until then intriguing match to its conclusion.

Using the Duckworth/Lewis calculation India were 16 runs ahead of England at the time, and Dhoni knew that one good over from Andrew Flintoff could change the entire nature of the game.

When a match ends in such an unsatisfactory way, robbing the crowd and the millions watching on television of a potentially thrilling finale, a scapegoat is normally found. But on this occasion everybody must take responsibility.

The match officials should have been aware of the time the light deteriorates here in Kanpur and reduced the number of overs to 45 a side rather than 49 following the early morning delay for smog. The lunch interval should also have been cut by more than the 15 minutes it was.

The players do not help either, often bringing these situations upon themselves. The over-rate in the match was once again dreadful. Indeed, it took England almost three hours to bowl the 40 overs they sent down.

"It is a very, very bitter pill to swallow but at the end of the day what has happened has happened," said a rueful Pietersen.

"I knew from the moment the decisions were made that we were never going to get this match finished. We tried to get things changed but you can't do anything when decisions are made by the hierarchy.

"Guwahati - the venue for the sixth one-dayer - is even further north so it will probably be getting dark even earlier up there. The officials will have to change things up there.

"We are getting closer to beating India. If the game had gone its full distance we would have taken it close. We put India under a lot of pressure. The aggression was there when we were bowling.

"The bowlers were fantastic today but what we learnt from today is that when a batsman gets in he needs to score a hundred. It will make us very competitive. Yuvraj Singh showed how important they are in the opening two games."

The venture ultimately ended in defeat but the match was not without encouragement for England.

The tactic of promoting Ravi Bopara to opener ahead of Matthew Prior worked, as did decision to play Graeme Swann, whose final over spoilt otherwise good figures.

Bopara has rarely opened for Essex let alone England but after a few worrying moments in the first over of the match he looked composed and confident.

He played numerous flowing strokes in his 60 although, like the rest of England's batsmen, he struggled to manoeuvre the ball around against India's spinners.

Until England's batsmen can conquer this shortcoming they will struggle to consistently win limited-over matches on the subcontinent.

James Anderson, playing in his 100th one-day match, was poor but the remainder of England's bowling was extremely good. Flintoff led the fight, bowling with skill and hostility. He was well supported by Stuart Broad.

The pair bowled with a slightly confrontational attitude, staring at the Indian batsmen, exchanging the odd word and bowling with fire. The tactic worked, unsettling India's batsmen for the first time in the series.

Swann was excellent too. Virender Sehwag went after him to begin with, but the off spinner persevered, showing the benefit of playing a specialist spinner.

Gary Kirsten, the Indian coach, said that his side were happy to bat second because they were aware of what might happen later in the day, and batting would give them greater control of the situation.

There may be an element of bravado in his comment, but an area where India outfoxed England was in the batting powerplay.

England left theirs too late. Flintoff had gone and they scored just 21 runs in it. India took their's when the compulsory ball change was made at the end of the 34th over, and it worked.

Dhoni, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan added 38 runs in India's powerplay, 17 more than England. It was probably the difference between the teams. — By arrangement with The Independent

London, November 21
India's Duckworth/Lewis win in the Kanpur one-dayer against England was dubbed 'farcical' by an angry British media, which lambasted umpires Russell Tiffin and Amiesh Sahiba for their "lack of common sense" in conducting the game.

India won by 16 runs in the 49-overs-a-side match that started late and ended early under fading light, much to the frustration of English team which is now 0-3 down in the seven-match series.

English skipper Kevin Pietersen minced no words in saying that his side had been robbed of a win by the way officials conducted the match and his views were seconded by an equally furious media here.

"The International Cricket Council is always changing its playing regulations, but one rule that it claims umpires can apply at any time is common sense, something utterly lacking in Kanpur," wrote 'The Daily Telegraph'.

"You could understand their (England players') anger at seeing their best chance of winning a game in this one-day series disappear at the click of a light meter," it said.

Putting the blame squarely on Tiffin - the senior of the two officials - the newspaper said the match could have done with a shorter lunch break, as suggested by Pietersen and England coach Peter Moores.

The daily said deducting just one over a side after a 45-minute delay was also a logic-defying decision.

"He (Tiffin) should have shortened the lunch interval, which umpires can do, following the one-day farce at Edgbaston last year, when play was called off just one over short of constituting a game," the newspaper said.

"Their biggest mistake was made at the start, when Tiffin announced that the match would be 49-overs a side. Fitting that many in after losing 45 minutes at the start was always overly optimistic and, given a 10-minute tweak at lunch, 45 overs-a-side would have been about perfect."

'The Guardian' was also scathing in its criticism of how the game went about and said, "The match was delayed by 45 minutes for morning mist, but nonsensically the overs were reduced only by one over per side to 49.

"By 4.30pm, the light was predictably fading, and even though England's spinners were bowling, umpires Russell Tiffin and Amiesh Saheba offered India bad light and victory by the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis calculations.

"Appoint an umpire called Tiffin to a match involving India and England and it is to be expected that he comes over all 'old colonial' and stops for tea at 4.30," the newspaper fumed. — PTI

Chennai, November 21
Hordes of enthusiastic fans and a quote-hungry media jostling for a byte greeted world champion Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on his arrival in wee hours today.

Anand, on his first visit to his home city after becoming the undisputed world chess champion, was received by a large crowd including schoolchildren and Tamil Nadu State Chess Association officials.

As soon as Anand came out -along with wife Aruna - after midnight, there was pushing among the enthusiastic crowd jostling to have a glimpse of world champion.

Anand was visibly tired but looked a relieved person when he was received by his mother Sushila Viswanathan at the Anna International Airport.

He was surprised by the large crowd which turned up to receive him. "The reception and the enthusiasm of the fans is fantastic. I hope none of you gets killed in the melee," Anand quipped before being whisked away for home in a siren-fitted car.

The waiting media personnel could not get anything more than that from the world champion, who is the lone Grandmaster to win the world chess titles in all three formats of the game.

After winning the 128-player knockout format at Tehran in 2000, Anand won the tournament format in Mexico in 2007 before winning the traditional match-play format in Bonn last month. — PTI

Chandigarh, November 21
After a long stint of away matches, JCT FC are back on home turf but the challenge in front of them is an uphill one as they get ready to take on the might of Kingfisher East Bengal at Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana tomorrow.

JCT will be keen to turn it around after a run of some poor games away from home. Their campaign had started in an extremely positive manner as they had defeated Dempo 2-1 and drew against Vasco, both away games.

At home they blanked Mohemmaden Sporting 2-0, but it all came crashing down as Mahindra United beat them in their last home game before tomorrow’s match.

They next drew to Chirag United and Churchill Brothers; lost to Air-India 1-0 and then were thumped by Mohun Bagan 2-0, rounding off a hapless time on the road.

They are currently languishing on eighth position with nine points and are a far cry from the team that had made an extremely promising start to the season.

Their dependence on Brazilian Edu has also been highlighted as they have failed
to find the back of the net with consistency and their goal difference has run into
the negative.

East Bengal on the other hand have managed to turn it around in time and are coming into the match at the back of their biggest win this season; 3-1 against Sporting Club de Goa.

The strikers are hitting form at the right time and Sunil Chetri, Syed Rahim Nabi and Yakubu Yusif have all hit three goals each to feature prominently in the list of the highest goal-scorers.

They have won three out of the eight games they have played this season, drawn three and lost just two matches. They are currently placed fourth with 12 points.

Brisbane, November 21
Australia stormed back into the first Test against New Zealand riding on tearaway pace bowler Mitchell Johnson's four-wicket haul that bowled out the visitors for 156 in the first innings.

But the Test was tantalisingly poised at the end of the second day's play.

After taking a crucial first innings lead of 58 runs, Australia's joy was short-lived as Kiwi pacemen Chris Martin (3-52) and Ian O'Brien (2-23) scythed through their top order to reduce the Aussies to 131 for six in the second innings at close of second day's play.

Simon Katich continued his fine form as he was batting on 67 with Brad Haddin (6) at the other end when the stumps were drawn.

The hosts have an overall lead of 189 runs as the match is tantalisingly poised.

The Gabba pitch again turned out to be a bowler's delight and batsmen's graveyard as 26 wickets fell in two days.

After dismissing Australia for 214 in the first innings, New Zealand batsmen failed to compliment the bowlers and were blown away by a pumped up Aussie pace attack.

Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and and Shane Watson took two wickets each while Johnson bowled a fiery line to wreck the lower order.

Johnson, who was Australia's best bowler in their lacklustre campaign in India, missed a hat-trick but finished with career-best 4/30.

Johnson collected three wickets in six balls that also included New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (2).

New Zealand started their first innings on a disappointing note as they were reduced to 44/2. But Ross Taylor (40), Daniel Flynn (39 not out) and Jesse Ryder (30) tried to steady the innings before the collapse.

Brief scores: Australia: 214 & 131/6 (S Katich 67 not out, Chris Martin 3-52 and Ian O'Brien 2-23); New Zealand: 156. — IANS

New Delhi, November 21
The BCCI has written a complaint against former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd over his remarks that two leagues in India — ICL and IPL - should learn to co-exist.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said it would first check with Lloyd to understand the context and veracity of the remarks that were reported in an Indian daily.

Lorgat confirmed that he received an e-mail from the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan on the issue and said the ICC would approach the issue in a ''fair and appropriate'' manner although, he added that there was no time-frame involved in the process.

When asked about the ICL during his visit to Mumbai last week, Lloyd was quoted as saying ''there's nothing like having a discussion to break the ice'', and also suggested that the West Indies needed leagues like the ICL and the IPL to revive the game in the country.

However, the BCCI wrote to the ICC yesterday seeking action against Lloyd and compared the situation to the stepping down of Sunil Gavaskar as ICC cricket committee chairman earlier this year.

Gavaskar was asked by the ICC to choose between his ICC role and that of a media commentator. Lorgat said he didn't believe the comparison was valid. ''We need to first establish if the merits of the case are the same,'' Lorgat told Cricinfo.

''Personally, I don't believe so. We need to just ensure he does not make comments that are not appropriate. And if it is different case we need to establish exactly what the facts are without which it is very difficult to make comments,'' Lorgat said.

The BCCI has adopted a clear stand against the ICL and has banned players associated with it from all forms of official cricket. — UNI

Kurukshetra, November 21
The 8th All India BSNL Table Tennis Meet 2008-09 concluded at Kurukshetra University campus here today.

Three veteran table tennis players — Sharad Khot (MTNL-Mumbai), Anil Kumar Kapoor (Rajasthan) and Dilip Mukarjee (Assam), who will be retiring before the next tournament - were honoured by the chief guest on behalf of all the participants and technical delegates at a cultural function here.

On the closing ceremony today, R K Aggarwal, Director (Planning & NS) BSNL Board, New Delhi, was the chief guest, who gave away prizes to the winners by him.

A cultural programme was arranged on the occasion. As many as 22 teams from all over the country participated in the tournament. The results:

Team event (women):

1: West Bengal (Ria Das gupta, Arpita Banerjee, Rita Chattopadhyay).

2: Uttaranchal ( Swathi Sharma, Bhawana Harbola, Geetanjali Verma).

3: Punjab (Shika Ghai, Shali Dhawan, Mandakini)

Team event (men):

1: MP ( Y.S.Chouhan, Neelesh Vaid, Samar Ghoury, Yasar Pasha, Anup Marma).

2: WB (Sourav Pradhan, Arijit Ghatak, Debashish Mutt, Subratha Mitra, Jugal
Kishore Beg).

3: AP (N.N. Kishore, Vishal, K.Kishore, K.Durga Prasad, V.Durga Prasad).

Indivudual events:

Veteran singles:

1: A.K.Ingle - MP

2: A.S.Awadhani - MTNL - M

3: Ashutosh Kumat - MTNL - D

Mixed doubles:

1: Punkaj P Chutia & Sanjuktha Gogai — ASM. 2: Janakraj & Shika Ghai - Pun. 3: M.Rajesh Kumar & S.Jhansi Rani — TN

Women’s doubles:

1: Swathi Sharma & Bhavna Harbola - UTTL, 2: Ria Das Gupta & Arpita Banarjee - WB, 3: Shika Ghai & Mandakini — Pun

Men’s doubles:

1: Neelesh Vaid & Samar Ghoury - MP, 2: Sourav Pradhan & Arijit Ghatak - WB, 3: Janakraj & Manish Bharadwaj — Pun

Women’s singles:

1: Ria Das Gupta — WB, 2: Varsha B Solanki — Guj, 3: Swathi Sharma - UTTL

Men’s singles:

1: Sourav Pradhan - WB, 2: Amitava Sarma Koushik —Asm, 3: Punkaj P Chutia - Asm