S P O R T S

’83 WC inspired me to take up cricket: Tendulkar
Mumbai, February 14
Had India not won the 1983 cricket Cup World, the game may have missed Sachin Tendulkar, the batting maestro has revealed. Tendulkar said he was inspired by the feat of Kapil Dev and his team and decided to take up the game seriously. “I was inspired to take up playing the game with the season (hard) ball after the 1983 World Cup victory. Had it not happened things could have been different for me,” said the champion batsman last evening at the MIG Cricket Clubs felicitation function for five members of the 1983 World Cup-winning side.

Calypso farce: Test II saw only 10 deliveries
North Sound (Antigua), February 14
West Indies cricket was plunged into fresh controversy yesterday when the second Test against England was abandoned after just 10 balls because of a dangerous outfield.

Rajashtan Royals rope in Quiney
Name Tanvir, Akmal’s replacements
Mumbai, February 14
Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals today included explosive Australian batsman Rob Quiney in their squad for the second season and also named two other Australians as replacements for Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal.

Power tussle grounds hockey nationals
New Delhi, February 14
The Indian hockey team might have started its redemption journey, but the national game still continues to reel under administrative goof ups with the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee forced to postpone the senior national championship due to an ongoing legal tussle with the dissolved IHF.

Harpreet Kaur fastest in 800m
Kila Raipur, February 14
The penultimate day of the 74th Kila Raipur Sports Festival was dominated by the unconventional sports. In boys’ hockey Kila Raipur academy and Malwa academy Ludhiana have reached the final in the Under 17 category.

’83 WC inspired me to take up cricket: Tendulkar

Mumbai, February 14
Had India not won the 1983 cricket Cup World, the game may have missed Sachin Tendulkar, the batting maestro has revealed. Tendulkar said he was inspired by the feat of Kapil Dev and his team and decided to take up the game seriously.

From Left: Former cricketers Balwinder Sandhu, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sandeep Patil at the MIG Cricket Club in Mumbai on Friday evening, during the honouring of the Mumbai heroes of the 1983 World Cup with honorary membership of the club. — PTI

“I was inspired to take up playing the game with the season (hard) ball after the 1983 World Cup victory. Had it not happened things could have been different for me,” said the champion batsman last evening at the MIG Cricket Clubs felicitation function for five members of the 1983 World Cup-winning side.

“I have fond memories of that victory. I was just 10 years old when they won the World Cup and I did not even know at that time there were 11 players in the team. It was truly an incredible experience. I also celebrated the victory till late in the night that day (June 25) after getting permission from my parents,” he said.

“That generation of cricketers was instrumental in inspiring youngsters to take up cricket,” Tendulkar, who was the chief guest at the ceremony, said. Tendulkar also fondly remembered the many afternoons he spent at the MIG ground in its infancy and pointed out that his son Arjun was following his footsteps now.

“I have spent many afternoons at this ground. There was just a shed in those days (acting as dressing room). I congratulate the club members for the top facilities it has now. My son Arjun now comes here to practice,” Tendulkar revealed.

Tendulkar’s parental house is situated just a stone’s throw away from the club. He moved to his uncle’s place in Shivaji Park, the cricket hub of Mumbai, to hone his cricket skills as a student of Shardashram school.

One of the team members who was honoured at the function, former captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, had a dig at current day players for switching their loyalty from one club to another at the drop of a hat.

“I have seen players switching clubs to join those which they feel have good relationship with the Mumbai Cricket Association. They are weak hearted. I want players with strong heart to play for Mumbai. I congratulate MIG Club for winning the Kanga League A Divison title even after losing several of its players,” he said.

Vengsarkar also recalled Tendulkar's entry into first class cricket as a tender 14-year-old who was stopped from attending Mumbai's Ranji Trophy practice for the first four days because of school exams before adding that the latter is the best-ever cricketer he had seen representing India.

"People thought he was too young to be included in the team but I as captain put my foot down. But when Sachin was absent for the first four days of Mumbai teams practice session, our coach Vasu Paranjpe was unhappy. He confronted Sachin when he made his appearance," he said.

"Sachin told him he was prevented from coming to the nets by his mother because of drawing exams. He’s grown in stature from those days and he's the best cricketer I have seen representing the country," the former selection panel chief added.

Another 1983 team member and former India coach Sandeep Patil wished that Tendulkar's dream of being part of a World Cup winning squad be fulfilled in 2011.

“Sachin dreams of one thing, to be part of the World Cup winning team. I, being part of the 1983 World Cup winning team, wish that his dream is fulfilled," the one-time flamboyant batsman said. — PTI 

Calypso farce: Test II saw only 10 deliveries

North Sound (Antigua), February 14
West Indies cricket was plunged into fresh controversy yesterday when the second Test against England was abandoned after just 10 balls because of a dangerous outfield.

Pitcher imperfect: England's Graeme Swann poses after the bowler’s run-up were dug up at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday. — Reuters

Only 45 minutes of action was possible at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground (SVRCG) before play was called off with England at 7-0 in their first innings. International Cricket Council (ICC) referee Alan Hurst later revealed that a new match will start tomorrow at the long-established Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) in St John's.

The second Test will be recorded as an abandoned match with the tomorrow's game to be considered as the third Test of what is now a five-match series. The ARG hosted 21 Tests between 1981 and 2006 before the Sir Vivian Richards Ground replaced it two years ago ahead of the World Cup.

West Indies bowlers constantly struggled to keep their feet on the soft SVRCG outfield which had been smothered in layers of sand after heavy rain. West Indies captain Chris Gayle said the team was shocked by the developments.

"I'd like to apologise to the fans - it's very embarrassing," said Gayle. "We are 1-0 up in the series. We put England into bat, we tried to pick up some wickets and wanted to keep the momentum going but it was disappointing. With better facilities we hope this will not happen again."

England captain Andrew Strauss, who was on six when play was abandoned, believes the Antigua Recreation Ground would be safer. "It's not in a great state but in terms of injuries it is fit to play on," said Strauss.

"We don't know what state the wicket is in. It might not have been covered all night but I think it's fit for bowlers to bowl on and batsmen to play on. It's not right that Test cricket matches have to be abandoned like this, lessons definitely need to be learned. The game of cricket doesn't need this." England opener Alistair Cook admitted the situation was a farce.

"It's a bit of a shambles," said Cook. "Fidel Edwards was bowling and couldn't get his feet down.

"When we turned up a few days ago to practice, some of the lads were falling over as they played football. Today, the bowlers were coming in, the areas where they were running got deeper and deeper. We kind of knew what was going to happen. I know that Hugh Morris (ECB managing director) sent a letter to the ICC to say that we weren't happy with the pitch."

Hurst said the decision to switch the venue had been made because there wasn't the time to bring the Sir Vivian Richards ground up to the required standard.

"We may have been able to improve it, but we could not guarantee that some further occurrence might happen on the surface as it is," said Hurst.

In the 2007 World Cup, the game between the West Indies and Australia was played over two days because of rain with groundstaff mopping up the outfield by treading down on small squares of sponge. In 1998, the first Test against England in Kingston was called off after less than an hour's play after both captains agreed that the pitch was unfit for play. West Indies lead this series 1-0 after they bowled out England for their third-lowest total in Tests of 51 in the second innings at Kingston.

The Antigua Recreation Ground was where Brian Lara made his record-breaking innings of 375 and 400 not out while Gayle smashed 317 there against South Africa in 2005. The other two Tests in what is now a five-match series will take place in Barbados from February 26 to March 2, and in Trinidad from March 2 to 6. — AFP 

Rajashtan Royals rope in Quiney
Name Tanvir, Akmal’s replacements

Mumbai, February 14
Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals today included explosive Australian batsman Rob Quiney in their squad for the second season and also named two other Australians as replacements for Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal.

Victorian Quiney was yesterday named in Australia's 12-man Twenty20 squad to take on New Zealand tomorrow. Quiney's Victorian team-mate fast bowler Shane Harwood and Queensland all-rounder Lee Carseldine will replace Tanvir and Akmal, Rajasthan Royals Director of Coaching Darren Berry said.

“It feels good to have specialists like Quiney, Harwood and Carseldine in our squad this year. Surely we will miss Sohail and Akmal, but having these players in the team is a boon to the squad. Their presence will definitely add more spice and excitement to the matches in which they will be playing,” Berry said.

Left-hander Quiney has been a consistent performer at the top of the order in Twenty20 cricket in Australia this year and made 91 in 57 balls for Victoria against New South Wales in the KFC Big Bash final recently. Right-arm pacer Harwood, nicknamed 'Stickers', has been in the Australian domestic circuit and his match-winning 4-33 against South Australia took Victoria into the Pura Cup finals. Carseldine, a useful batsman and left-arm medium pacer, was the player of the Twenty20 Series in Australia. — PTI 

Power tussle grounds hockey nationals

New Delhi, February 14
The Indian hockey team might have started its redemption journey, but the national game still continues to reel under administrative goof ups with the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee forced to postpone the senior national championship due to an ongoing legal tussle with the dissolved IHF.

The ad-hoc body’s decision last month to conduct the national championship in Pune from March 2-15 after a hiatus of five years had come as a breath of fresh air as the event would have served as the selection criteria for the men’s hockey competition at the next National Games.

But now it seems the legal battle has cast its shadow over the event with the ad-hoc panel uncertain about rescheduling the tournament. The decision to postpone the tournament was taken after the Delhi High Court fixed March 2 as the next date of hearing in the case between the ad-hoc body and dissolved Indian Hockey Federation. The national championship was also scheduled to start from that date.

The court had also asked the ad-hoc committee to submit its plans for holding the elections. “Yes, we have postponed the Nationals as the date for the next hearing is on March 2. Moreover, we also took the decision keeping in mind the short time left in our hand to prepare for the event,” convenor of the ad-hoc committee Aslam told PTI.

“We haven’t decided the next date for the event because we will first see how the next hearing goes and then come to a decision on the Nationals,” Aslam added.

Aslam also raised serious concerns over the dissolved Indian Hockey Federation’s willingness to hold elections on their own and said if it does so, it will risk India’s chances of playing in international events as the International Hockey Federation does not recognise the KPS Gill-backed IHF.

“The FIH does not recognise the IHF. In these circumstances if they hold elections, there can be many fall outs, including the world body restricting India from participating in major international events like the Junior World Cup, Azlan Shah tournament etc.,” he said. — PTI

Harpreet Kaur fastest in 800m
Tribune News Service

Kila Raipur, February 14
The penultimate day of the 74th Kila Raipur Sports Festival was dominated by the unconventional sports. In boys’ hockey Kila Raipur academy and Malwa academy Ludhiana have reached the final in the Under 17 category.

However, in the Under 19 category Sangrur Academy outplayed Jarkhar by 3-2 to set a title clash with the Surjit academy in the finals. In dog race Thunder and Boxer won their respective races.

In the trolley loading and unloading with sack event teams of Chawa and Raikot won their respective semifinals have qualified for the finals clash.

Results for the day: Athletics: Athletics 800m women’s final - Harpreet Kaur 2.38.85, Mandeep Kaur 2.39.9, Rajveer Kaur 2.46.0. 200m women’s final - Mandeep Kaur 25.71, Deepti, Harpreet Kaur. 400m Men’s finals - Satnam Singh 50.69, Jaskaran Singh 51.55, Suni Singh 51.86. 100m Men’s finals - Shamsher Singh 10.82, Amandeep Singh 10.93, Baldev Singh 11.06. 1500m Men’s finals - Satnam Singh 4:13:5, Jaskaran Singh 4:15:18, Lakhbir Singh 4:16:76.

One mile Cycle race (Men’s) — Suresh Bishnoi 2:55:94, Sandeep Kadiaan 3:00:04, Kuldeep Singh 3:17:09.

Long jump (Men’s) - Shamsher Singh 7.10, Ankit Sharma 7.04.

Two mile Cycle race (Men’s) - Kamalpreet, Suresh Bishnoi, Sandeep Kadiaan.

Basketball - (Women’s): Ludhiana bt Hoshiarpur 64:47; Hoshiarpur bt Gurdaspur 32:15. (Men’s): Ludhiana bt Kapurthala 57:37, Mansa bt Gurdaspur 50:41, Ludhiana beat Mansa 53:37, Gurdaspur beat Kapurthala 52:51.

Kabaddi: (Men’s): 62 Kg - Final : Bathan bt Dhoorkot. (Women’s) Final: Ludhiana bt Bhatinda 22:8.

Hockey: U 17 (boys) - Kila Raipur academy bt Jallandhar academy 1-0, Malwa School Academy Ludhiana bt Amritsar 4-2. Kila Raipur draw Malwa Academy 0-0. U 19 - Surjeet Academy draw Sangroor Academy 0-0, Sangroor Academy beat Jarkhad 3-2. Women: Sports wing Bharatnagar Ludhiana bt U.P. Eleven 4-0, (Men’s) - Haryana bt Amritsar 4-0.

Tomorrow’s Schedule: Athletics: Men and Women, Kabaddi : Girls, veteran, One village open, Horse race, Bullock Cart race; Semifinals and Finals, Veterans sprint race - 100 mtr, Cycle races, Hockey finals : Under 17, Under 19, Inter club and girls, Basket Ball finals, Tractor Trolley Loading-Unloading, Tractor Race Final.

BRIEFLY

Allen Stanford, the man behind the T20 Stanford Super Series, is in trouble as his financial services company is under investigation by three separate US regulators

Bopanna-Niemenin in semis of SAP Open
New Delhi: Rohan Bopanna pulled of one of the biggest wins of his career when he, along with Jarrko Niemenin, upset top seeds and multiple Grand Slam winners Bob and Mike Bryan in the men’s doubles quarterfinals of the $600,000 SAP Open in California, United States. The unseeded Indo-Finnish pair shocked the Australian Open winners 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 to reach the semifinals of the hard court event. Bopanna and Niemenin saved 12 breakpoints in the match and dropped their serve just once to eke out the memorable win. — PTI

Uninspired Mahindra, JCT split points
Mumbai: In a game reminiscent of two struggling outfits, hosts Mahindra United and Punjab’s JCT played a goalless draw to split points in the 15th round I-League match at the Cooperage ground, here on Saturday. The play for a large part of the match was dull and proceeded at a yawning pace with the teams hardly showing any teeth for aggression. It was only after Mahindra United’s Edeh Chidi, who was omitted from the starting line-up, replaced a limping K Ajayan in the 34th minute that few opportunities were created. — PTI

PCB serves notice to Mohammad Wasim
Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has slapped a show cause notice on former Test batsman Mohammad Wasim, asking an explaination for criticizing the board on a television show. In the show cause notice, sent by head of domestic cricket operations Sultan Rana, the board said Wasim has brought disrepute to the game and tarnished the image of the board while appearing on the private sports channel, Geo Super and asked him to respond within next three days. Wasim is the current captain of Khan Research Laboratories team. — PTI

India’s batsmen on the move in ICC rankings
Dubai: India is on the roll and its batsmen Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have moved up several places in the ICC Player Rankings for ODIs. Yuvraj has moved to third place in the ODI ranking. In the Lanka series Yuvraj scored 284 runs at an average of 56.80. As a result, Yuvraj has gained four places and now sits in third place, just behind Australia's Mike Hussey, second, and India captain MS Dhoni at the top. Gambhir gained eight places and moved up to 12th while Sehwag's recent good form brought him to 15th. — UNI

Sania faces Zvonareva for second WTA title
Pattaya: Sania Mirza will have to beat world number five and top seed Russian Vera Zvonareva to claim the second WTA singles title of her career as the two players set up the summit clash in the USD 220,00 Pattaya Open here on Saturday. Sania edged past world number 51 Magdalena Rybarikova in the first semifinal 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 while Zvonareva beat Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 6-4 in the other last-four clash. The unseeded Indian faced a tough challenge from her eighth seeded Slovakian opponent but eventually came out triumphant in a two-hour long contest. — PTI

Milan still hopeful of Beckham deal
MILAN: AC Milan still hope to sign David Beckham from LA Galaxy permanently and view the Major League Soccer’s deadline for a deal as a “tactic”, chief executive Adriano Galliani said on Saturday. The England midfielder, on loan to Milan until March 9, has said he wants to stay at the Serie A club but the MLS imposed a Friday deadline which passed without agreement. Galaxy said they now expect him to return next month. “In the meantime Beckham is here at Milan, we’ll see what happens in a month or so,” Galliani told Sky television. — Reuters