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Pietersen hopes pacers will fire
Dhoni hints at batting reshuffle
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No change in strategy: KP
Sri Lanka invited
Saina loses first match in Super Series Masters final
Federation Cup
Dempo to play Al Sharjah for ACL berth
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Pietersen hopes pacers will fire
Mohali, December 18 Nevertheless, yet to taste a win during the tour — be it in ODIs or Tests — the visitors will go all out to upset India’s applecart in the second Test, which begins at the PCA Stadium here today. Even if they lost the Chennai Test, England will take heart from the domination they enjoyed for a major part of the match before they wilted first from the assault from Virender Sehwag’s blade and then the brilliance of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh. England will have to find early solutions to a couple of nagging problems plaguing the team. First and the foremost is the lack of penetration in their bowling attack. So much reliance on Andrew Flintoff at the crucial junctures in Chennai proves that skipper Kevin Pietersen did not have much faith in James Anderson or Steve Harmison. The latter, particularly, was totally off-colour and the skipper would be expecting him as well as Anderson to lift their game and support Flintoff if they have to contain the marauding India batting line-up. To compound England’s woes, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar looked innocuous and failed to cause any discomfiture to the India batsmen, particularly in the second innings. As the Indian batting unfolded its might chasing a seemingly improbable total, Panesar looked clueless. In the 27 overs bowled, he conceded 105 runs without taking any wicket. With scores of 4 and 1, Pietersen would be keen on a decent contribution with the bat to give solidity to the batting. Silver-lining for England, however, should be the batting form of opener Andrew Strauss who came up with century in each innings. England will expect Strauss to carry his form into the Mohali Test. A superb century by Paul Collingwood in the second innings should also bolster the morale of Pietersen. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India have no such teething problems to contend with. In fact, the Indian juggernaut has been on a high for the past couple of months and England will be required to lift their game by a couple of notches if they harbour any hopes of upstaging India. The broad smile that Dhoni displays is largely due to the fact that each and every member of the squad is contributing for the success of the team. The hosts boast of a solid pair of in-form openers capable of demoralising any bowling attack. More often than not flamboyant Gautam Gambhir and destructive Virender Sehwag have delivered, rendering the task of the middle order batsmen easier. With most of the batsmen chipping in and putting runs o the board, the failure of Rahul Dravid has not been felt much. But the time seems to be running out fast for the former skipper. With pressure mounting on him to come good, Dravid would be desperate to come up with a decent score. If he does not, the clamour for his ouster is going to get shriller. In the earlier Test series against Sri Lanka and Australia Dravid has looked a pale shadow of his former self. India have been served admirably by the pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. The hard and bouncy Mohali wicket, which has the reputation of helping seam bowlers early on, would be tempting enough for both to have a go at the rival batsmen. With the weather prediction good for the next five days, an engrossing contest looks very much on the cards after the spin of the coin on the morrow. Teams (From): India: M S Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tenduklar, S Badrinath, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma and Murali Vijay. England: Kevin Pietersen (capt), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Amjad Khan, Monty Panesar, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann. Hours of play: 9.30 to 11.30 am, 12.10 to 2.10 pm, 2.30 to 4.30 pm. |
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Dhoni hints at batting reshuffle
Dhoni said that batting order reshuffle was being contemplated, but nothing had been finalised as yet. “Dravid could be shifted to batting No 5 and VVS (Laxman) to No 3. But in that case if VVS gets a good ball and is out early than it could put early pressure on the team. In that case, the plan can backfire,” said Dhoni. “We are thinking about it but nothing is confirmed as of now. A final decision will be taken tomorrow,” Dhoni added. “It is a matter of getting over the initial phase and reaching the score of 25-30. He has not been able to do that. If he does it, he would surely go on to make it count,” Dhoni replied to the persistent queries about the continuing lean patch of Dravid. “Dravid is too good a player. He is bound to come good,” he observed. Quizzed about the come-from-behind victory in the first Test in Chennai, the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman said: “We were behind England during the first three days, but came back strongly after that. We took responsibility and raised our game. Viru was simply fantastic, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh batted exceptionally well to seal the victory for us.” Hailing the Sehwag blitzkrieg, which left the rivals dazed, Dhoni replied: “It was a perfect start that Sehwag gave us. But for his brave efforts we would have ended up saving the game.” Asked whether Sehwag was the most destructive contemporary batsman, Dhoni nodded in agreement. “We back Sehwag to play his shots. He can get out early in a few innings. But we know how dangerous he can be for the opposition, having scored so many runs in international cricket. We believe in the talent every individual has got and that makes us a real team.” Regarding the sterling partnership between Tendulkar and Yuvraj which was equally crucial in India’s victory and asked whether the wicket had eased out at that stage, the flamboyant skipper retorted: “When a partnership develops, batsmen start accumulating runs, the wicket stars looking flat. But when a wicket falls, new batsman suddenly finds the ball taking off abruptly and doing all such things.” Dhoni declined to read too much into the team ranking, saying, “Rankings do not bother us. If we do well ranking is bound to go up.” If the Indian team win the Mohali Test, India will vault to No 2 in the Test rankings. Asked whether he found captaincy easy as he has a perfect record as Test skipper, Dhoni replied: “Nothing comes easy at the international level. It is really tough to play and do well over a period of time. But when the team is doing well, it becomes easier to lead the side.” Dwelling on the team as a cohesive unit, “We always have the self-belief. We believe we can do things. If people question our ability, we want to prove them wrong,” he said. Dhoni said the wicket looked fractionally harder than it was during the India- Australia Test in October. “It can be on the slower side.” |
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No change in strategy: KP
“It was a difficult outing, but the boys fared really well and we got into a good position to even win the match. Though India emerged the winners, it turned out to be a historic Test,” the dashing batsman said. “To come so close (to win) as we did in Chennai was really fantastic,” he quipped. Pietersen said the team was not thinking too much about the Chennai Test, but was focused on the battle set to resume tomorrow. “There are guys who who are raring to go. It’s just about forging the right combination and try to win,” he said. The former South Africa player mentioned that the mighty Australian team struggled here on the sub-continental wickets in India during the tour just two months back. Asked whether in-form Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were the biggest hurdle for his bowlers to get over, he India, in fact, had a very strong batting line-up. “Getting past such a formidable line-up was really tough.” Declining to divulge any strategy or the team combination Pietersen said, “We have not decided the side, sorry. A final decision would be taken before the start of the game tomorrow,” he said. Having come so close to victory in the first Test, Pietersen stated emphatically that there was no need to change the strategy. “We were in very good position in Chennai and I don’t think there is any need to change the strategy.” Showing full faith in Monty Panesar’s bowling, the skipper said, “He had an extended session yesterday. Today also he had a useful session at the nets. He has had a fantastic career so far. Probably, it was a game in which he missed out and failed to do well.” Pietersen conceded that Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma caused problems to them in Chennai on account of reverse swing and felt England too needed to get it going if they are to win the Test and level the series. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get much of it in Chennai, we would try to get some reverse swing here and win the Test,” he
said. |
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Karachi, December 18 “We would naturally have preferred India to fulfil its commitment to tour Pakistan. But we can't do anything when governments are involved. So we are now trying to arrange an alternate series and hope Sri Lanka say yes," he said. Pakistan has invited Sri Lanka to play three Tests, three One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game. The PCB official said the Board was disappointed with India's decision but admitted they were expecting it in the aftermath of last month's Mumbai terror attacks. “If this series had gone ahead it would only have helped improve the conditions. In the past also cricket have been played in similar situations and they have only helped clear the air,” Altaf said. He felt that India's decision to cancel the tour will hit Pakistan cricket in many ways. “First it was a big series for our team and it would helped us generate much needed revenues. If India had come it would have boosted cricket in the country.” — PTI
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Saina loses first match in Super Series Masters final
Kuala Lumpur, December 18 World number 10 Saina went down 18-21 14-21 to world number two Rasmussen in a match that lasted for just 27 minutes. The Hyderabadi will take on fourth seed French Pi Hongyan in her next match before locking horns with sixth seed Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia. Saina was lagging behind right from the start in the first game but she fought her way back to grab a two point lead at 7-5. Rasmussen, however, drew level soon and they were neck-to-neck till 13-13 before the Danish ace showed her class and pocketed five straight points to take 18-13 lead. Saina tried her best but the game slipped through her fingers. The second set was even worse as Saina couldn't match Rasmussen's smashes and kept on conceding points, and in a flash the reigning All England Champion extended her lead from 11-8 to 13-9 and then to 19-10 before sealing the match 21-14. “I am really disappointed. I just couldn't control the game. I made a lot of mistakes and didn't play well at all,” Saina told PTI after the match. “I was leading 7-5 at one point but just blew it away, I am really disappointed with my own performance today,” she said. “Both my next opponents are good rally players and I have to play really well and beat them to enter the next round,” she added.
— PTI |
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No official welcome for boxers
Rohtak, December 18 Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, who had also created a sensation in the Beijing Olympics this year reached Rohtak this morning. They, however, had some consolation when students of the Maharshi Dayanand University accorded them a welcome. Three of the four players who had taken part in the World Cup are from Haryana. Both Akhil and Jitender have been students of the M.D.University. Talking to the media persons in the university campus after their welcome by the students hailing from the Jai Hind Chhatra Morcha, Akhil and Jitender claimed that their win at the World Cup had been a part of their campaign to reach the top in their field and prove that there was no dearth of talent in the country. Demanding the setting up of a national level boxing academy at Rohtak, Akhil stated that there was lot of potential in the region, which could be nurtured for the future. Visibly unhappy and dissatisfied over the ‘cold’ official stance at their arrival, the boxers regretted not being able to win gold and stated that they were perhaps not far from their target. When asked about the infrastructure and facilities for boxing at international level, Akhil replied that all that they wanted was financial and job security. He said if a player was not sure about his future it was unjust to expect a performance. He asked if a player playing at the Ranji level in cricket gets a good job offer, then why not a boxer after excelling at national and international level. About the reported announcement of the state government to offer a DSP level post to Olympian boxers from Haryana, they said they were still to hear anything from the authorities concerned. Besides Akhil and Jitender, Dinesh Kumar has been third boxer from Haryana, who has won a medal at World Cup at Moscow this year. Meanwhile, the Public Relations department late this evening released a press note that the boxers, Akhil and Jitender were welcomed by Capt (retd) Chattar Singh, political secretary of the Chief Minister, at Tilyar Lake here on their arrival today. “This welcome it is stated had been done on the behalf of the Chief Minister and the players were congratulated on their achievement. But on other hand the media had no information about this function and no prior announcement had been made regarding it. |
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Federation Cup
Kolkata, December 18 In an incident that brought back the unfortunate memory of Cristiano Junior collapsing to death during Dempo's 2004 Federation Cup final against Mohun Bagan, Ranty and Churchill defender Kalu rose for a header on a corner kick from Robert Lalthalma in the 73rd minute. The duo collided their heads while airborne and fell on the ground unconscious. An ambulance was called in immediately and they were rushed to the nearby Apollo Hospital and play was halted for about eight minutes. After CT scan, both the players were declared out of danger, said Dempo coach Armando Colaco who burst into tears as his Churchill counterpart Zoran Djordjevic hugged and consoled him. Dempo drew first blood through a penalty conversion in 13th minute. In a tussle inside the box, Ogba was penalised for a hand-ball and Ranty duly converted the spot kick. Dempo settled the issue in the 57th minute and this time it was Clifford Miranda who did the magic with a flying header. Making amends of his 44th minute miss, Clifford connected a Joacquim Abranches cross and sent his header home. Churchill coach Djordjevic contested the penalty decision by referee Shaji Kurian, which however appeared to be clean from TV replay. “For me, it was not a penalty. The referee did a bad job. He was not referee but a Dempo player. Dempo deserved to win. But today they played with one player more. The eleven and the referee. Referee was big help for them,” said the Serbian.
— PTI |
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Dempo to play Al Sharjah for ACL berth
New Delhi, December 18 The winner of Al Sharjah-Dempo match of the East Group at the Sharjah Stadium will directly get a berth in the group stages of the 32-team ACL, an Asian Football Confederation release said after draw for the play-offs was made in Kuala Lumpur today. The play-offs were divided into West and East qualifiers, each zone providing one qualifier for the main competition next year. Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority will face Singapore Armed Forces FC at the Thammasat University Rangsit Stadium in the first match of the East zone competition on February 18 next year.
— PTI |
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Mohali, December 18
Mohali, December 18
