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India squander early initiative
India-New Zealand series
Multiple captains will confuse players: Arthur
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IOA overlooking Asiad?
JCT ready for Bagan test
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India squander early initiative
Napier, March 26 Playing sans regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who sat out with a back injury, India removed three top order Kiwi batsmen inside 11 overs before a 271-run stand between Taylor (151) and Ryder (137 not out) guided the hosts to a healthy 351 for four at the close of first day’s play. Ryder and James Franklin (26) will return tomorrow to push further New Zealand’s tally and justify Daniel Vettori’s decision to bat first. Taylor and Ryder, who enjoyed their share of luck, batted with gusto and scored at a brisk rate to frustrate India’s stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag, who had no clue how to stop the blooming partnership. While the Kiwi pair batted with aplomb, poor fielding - including three dropped catches and a missed run out chance - compounded India’s misery and they struggled to stem the flow of boundary. Taylor and Ryder’s 271-run stand was New Zealand’s best for all wickets against India and for the fourth wicket against all teams. There were moments when the Indian bowling seemed listless, and ached for another specialist bowler while their fielding was shoddy. Sehwag turned his arm over in desperation for a breakthrough but made no impression on the batsmen and Yuvraj, given an over, was mercilessly hit out of the attack. Taylor, woefully short of runs right through the series, was the more dominant partner, throwing his willow at everything that was flung at him. On the other hand, 1Ryder, who had scored a resilient but classy 102 in the first Test at Seddon Park, batted with the authority and finesse of a seasoned professional. Except for a nick off Harbhajan which gushed past wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, the 24-year-old’s innings was flawless. Ryder was a class act, lending grace to every stroke he made. The hallmark of this burly left-hander has been his ability to play the ball late, the back foot punches through covers off Zaheer and Munaf Patel standing out among the 17 boundaries he hit today. In rare moments of aggression, he hit the cherry clean and hard, once hoisting Sehwag into the stands at mid-wicket. — PTI
Dropped catches hurt us: Sehwag
India’s stand-in captain Virender Sehwag believes New Zealand owes their comeback to his butter-finger teammates who need to improve their standard of fielding in the remainder of the second cricket Test.“The bowlers did well. If we had taken catches, we could have probably taken seven or eight wickets today,” Sehwag said. “If we had taken Taylor's catch (when he had made four) it would have been 25 for four,” added the dejected Indian skipper.
New Zealand were reeling at 23 for three when Ross Taylor (151) and Jesse Ryder (137 batting) cobbled a 271-run stand for the fourth wicket to bail the hosts out. Things could have been worse for the hosts but Yuvraj Singh dropped Taylor at the third slip when the batsman was on four and it proved a costly mistake. Taylor was on 92 when he got another reprieve and this time it was Rahul Dravid who could not latch on to the difficult chance in the lone slip. Incidentally, Yuvraj also dropped James Franklin towards the end after the second new ball had been taken. Sehwag said such things happen but the Indians need to immediately lift their standard of fielding. “This happens in cricket. Some days you catch everything and some days you don’t. But we have to improve our fielding, especially with our catching,” Sehwag said. Sehwag said it was an honour to lead the side after regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni skipped the match due to a back spasm. “Dhoni had spasms in his back. He went for MRI. He seems to be okay now,” said Sehwag.
— PTI
NZ looking for 500-550 total: Taylor
Having laid the perfect foundation for a big score, New Zealand is now looking for a first innings total of 500-550 against India in the second cricket Test, centurion Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor said here today.
Taylor said the team was now looking for another 200-odd runs to put pressure on the Indians who lead the three-match series 1-0. “You don’t often get days of 350 on the first day. It is something for the team to be proud of. But we know that it is only half the job done. We probably need around about 500-550 to be competitive,” Taylor said. The right-hander said the track was good to bat on and he also sounded wary of India's star-studded batting line-up. “We know that it is a good wicket and that the Indian line-up is a very good side. So hopefully we can see off what the new ball has got to offer in the morning and then build on in the second and third sessions,” Taylor added. Taylor was confident that New Zealand could pile up those runs. “We knew it was a pretty good wicket once the new ball lost its shine. We knew if we played straight we could score runs as it is pretty fast-scoring ground,” he said. Personally, it was a bitter-sweet feeling for Taylor who is happy to score the runs when his team needed it most and sad as well after perishing to a reckless shot. “I am fairly happy with the day’s work, bit disappointed too as I had a good partnership going and probably played a reckless shot to get out,” he said.
— PTI Scoreboard |
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India-New Zealand series
If there is a lesson on how to help a player overcome his difficulties this is it and hopefully it will be follwed in the sub-continent where we are very quick to send players out to pasture the moment they don’t conform to our idea of how a cricketer should be. Now that New Zealand have finished the day strongly don’t be surprised to find the Indian players being criticised for taking it lightly by staying on in Auckland and not coming to Napier for the Test earlier than they did. The fact is just like a good player forgets the previous ball, so also teams don’t have to remember the previous game and can bring on the intensity once they get on the field. It is better to have the guys fresh than stale from too much practicing. Ryder has shown a liking for the Indian bowling and he has also displayed a terrific temperament for in both the Tests he has come in to bat when New Zealand have been in trouble. He has an uncomplicated method and that is the key for players can get a bit too caught up in technique and playing correctly when all that matters is how many runs a player scores be it off the middle of the bat or the edgers or be it stylishly or in an ugly hurried manner. Ross Taylor made the most of some strange field placing by the Indians to get a century too and his partnership with Ryder took New Zealand to safer shores. With Tendulkar nursing an injured finger the slips cordon had a new member Yuvraj Singh and though he is an outstanding fielder in the outfield he will take sometime getting used to staying still in the close-in positions. Travelling by train in the old days with the likes of the late Polly Umrigar, Bapu Nadkarni and other stalwarts was an education because of the cricketing talk that took place and it is there that one learnt that if the ball is not turning then the slip fielder for a spinner should be standing with his leg in line with the outside line of the batting crease for both right and left-handers. Dravid was standing a bit wider for Ryder when an edge flew between him and Karthick and Yuvraj was standing in a third and half slip position where he coudnt get to a sharp catch from Taylor. Both proved costly and unless India use the second new ball well they could be chasing leather even on the second day. — PMG
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Multiple captains will confuse players: Arthur
Durban, March 26 “It has to be one leader always,” Arthur said. “I favour the one-captain situation because everybody in the team is clear about who is in charge at all times,” said the Proteas coach who felt if a team had multiple captains it could leave players confused and disoriented, especially during a match. “If you have more than one guy as leader, you don’t know whom to turn to,” he told ‘cricinfo’. Former World Cup winning Australian coach Buchanan raised quite a storm when he announced his decision to experiment with four captains for Kolkata Knight Riders this season in the IPL which he claims could change the approach to leadership in cricket. Arthur, however, said communication between the coach and players is mandatory for this experiment to succeed. The 40-year-old also expressed his desire to speak to Buchanan to know about the concept. “I really don’t know what he is aiming at. But I know from experience that communication within a team is fundamental to its success, and that could be a problem when you actually implement this idea on the ground. The players need to know clearly who is in charge,” Arthur said. Former South Africa coach Ray Jennings, who was replaced by Arthur, thought Buchanan's idea to be interesting and might just work. “He is a very experienced coach and he obviously has his own game plans,” said Jennings, who is the coach of Bangalore Royal Challengers. “I respect him for that. It is an interesting idea and it is an idea that can work.” — PTI
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Hyderabad, March 26 Second-seed Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also reached the quarter-finals after drubbing Xiaolong Liu and Jinhua Tang of China 21-10, 21-15 in the match lasting 21 minutes. However, it was end of the road for other women's singles shuttlers as they failed to reach the next round. PC Thulasi played her heart out but could not get past sixth-seed Yu Hirayama of Japan, while compatriot Sampada Sahastrabuddhe also met her end at the hands of Beiwen Zhang of Singapore. Qualifier Ashwini Ponnappa also hit dead end after losing 16-21, 16-21 against Julia Pei Xian Wong. Thulasi lost 11-21, 18-21 to Hirayama in a 31-minute battle and Sampada was sent packing 18-21, 17-21 by Zhang in 26 minutes. Saina used the court well and played better from the nets as her opponent just couldn't gauge the length of the court and kept sending the shuttle out for a walk. Saina grabbed the opportunity to make points from the unforced errors of her opponent and pocketed the first set 21-8. — PTI
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IOA overlooking Asiad?
Patiala, March 26 The Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held from October 3 to 14 next year while the Guangzhou Asiad will be held from November 12 to 27 next year. Sources point out that while the government has dished out whopping Rs 678 crore just for the training of Indian squads for the New Delhi sporting extravaganza, not even a single penny has been released for the Guangzhou Games. Earlier, the government used to give the money more than two years in advance so that the IOA in collaboration with SAI could hold training camps for the Indian teams. Significantly, 17 disciplines will be held in the Commonwealth Games while a total of 42 disciplines will be held in the Asian Games. There is not a problem for events, which are common to both the Commonwealth and the Asian Games but disciplines which are not included in the Commonwealth Games are suffering the most. In the last edition of the Asian Games held at Doha, the Indians ended up winning 54 medals, including 10 gold medals. Cue sports (Billiards and Snooker), chess and kabaddi accounted for 4 gold medals. All these four disciplines are not a part of the Commonwealth Games but Indians will be taking part in these events in the Asian Games. Football, rowing, judo, equestrian volleyball, golf, canoeing and kayaking and basketball also figure in Asiad and the government and the NSF’s have yet to get foreign coaches appointed for these games. Moreover, exposure trips in these disciplines have also been put on the back burner. All these disciplines will not figure in the Commonwealth Games.
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JCT ready for Bagan test
Chandigarh, March 26 Bagan are still hoping to fire a title salvo as they are six points behind league leaders Churchill but with two games
in hand. Bagan have 36 points from 18 games. JCT on the other hand are still fighting for their survival in top flight football, something the Phagwara outfit are not used to. Their win against Sporting in the last home game will add some fuel to their campaign, and they will have a chance of going upto eighth place with a win here. JCT have 21 points from 19 games and are placed 10th. The match begins at 3.30pm local time. |
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Napier, March 26
Jesee Ryder sure is having the series of his life. His second succesive ton following his big hitting in the one-day series means that he has fully justified the confidence reposed in him by New Zealand selectors.
