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India eye rare Kiwi conquest
Dhoni still uncertain
Vettori open to bold decisions
Ryder on brink of a milestone
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It’s time to move on: Ganguly
Fisi braces for H factors
Hamilton stripped of Australian GP podium
Argentina humiliated
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India eye rare Kiwi conquest
Wellington, April 2
As much as India are keen to score their first series triumph here since 1967-68, the Kiwis, whose pride has been pricked at home, are equally determined to save the series and win back the support of the disenchanted local fans. If Indian go on to complete their first Test series triumph on Kiwi soil in 41 years, it would be their third away from home in four years. They had beaten West Indies 1-0 in July 2006 and England 1-0 in August 2007. The Kiwis are confident that they can turn the tables on India. Having shown rare character in the second Test at Napier, when they forced India to follow-on, they believe that they carry the momentum into this crucial game. The Kiwis are emboldened by their record at the Basin Reserve track, where they have trounced India in four successive Tests. Though they had huffed and puffed to barely snare four Indian wicket in the second innings at Napier, they believe that they have the ammunition to bowl out the formidable Indian batting twice in this match. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was surprised that there was barely any grass on the wicket. "I am surprised that there is no grass. It would have given me a glimpse of what the wicket was like in 2002-03. It looks like a good track. But here the wind flows across the field. So there definitely will be a bit of swing for the bowlers. It would also help the spinners to drift the ball," Dhoni said. The Indian captain insisted that India will play to win and not be content by going for a draw.
"What we have done in the Test series so far will not have much importance. Once you have the mindset of playing for a draw, you are not aggressive enough to win a Test match. The priority will be to win. We will approach the game the same way we did in the first and second Test," he explained. —
PTI
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Vettori open to bold decisions
Wellington, April 2 Trailing the seies 0-1, Vettori said the Kiwis wouldn't mind risks like a sporting declaration when it came to squaring the series. "It is not a line of thinking I always think along, but we realise a 1-1 series draw would be a great result for us," Vettori said on the eve of the Test. "So any opportunity that we have to win the Test match, I think we have to take. If that means putting ourselves under pressure with a loss, yeah we'll definitely go down that road," Vettori said. The Kiwi captain said he was anxious to win the toss tomorrow to invite India to bat and bowl them out cheaply in the first innings. "If we could dismiss India relatively cheaply first up, it would be ideal. But a lot will depend on the wicket and the overhead conditions tomorrow. We obviously need to bowl India out pretty early on to give us a chance," said Vettori. The 30-year-old left-arm spinner was disappointed with the surface here and said, "I haven't seen a Basin wicket as brown as this or as dry or as hard as this before. So I will say it doesn't fit the bill. But that isn't to say that it is not a good Test match wicket." "It is difficult to say how it will play. Jeetan (Patel) has played on it and he said it had a bit of bounce, didn't do much and was a pretty good batting wicket as the game went on," Vettori said. "You normally expect the Basin wicket to have a bit in it. It settles down and day two and three are pretty good batting days. Then there is some inconsistent bounce later on. It doesn't really turn here. There were expectations that this might suit us. But we have to wait and see," said Vettori. Asked if he had a say in the preparation of the pitch, the bespectacled spinner said, "We get asked about what we want from a wicket but it's still the groundsman prerogative to produce the wicket he wants to. We always talk about when a team from the subcontinent comes to town we generally want a wicket with a bit of bounce in it. Like I said for this Test we were expecting a traditional Basin Reserve wicket. "I can't say how it will play. We have to wait and see. Either praise it at the end of the Test or be unhappy, so we will wait and see," he added. The Kiwi skipper didn't think too much about India's four successive defeats at the Basin Reserve. "We haven't really thought about it. We just go into every Test match to win. We have gone through a number of situations as to how we are going to implement that win and most importantly how we can take 20 Indian wickets," he said. — PTI
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Ryder on brink of a milestone
Ryder's magnificent 201 in Napier, on the back of his century in Hamilton, has catapulted his world ranking to 30 in just eight Tests. He is now officially New Zealand's No.1 Test batsman. The 24-year-old has faced a tough time getting rid of his drinking habit to come so far. Mark Burgess scored three tons on a trot but was dropped in between, while Andrew Jones notched three hundreds in three successive innings, but not Tests. —
IANS |
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It’s time to move on: Ganguly
Kolkata, April 2 “It’s time to move on. Everybody is a professional. Everybody takes pride in performing,” Ganguly told reporters here Thursday. “Last year we didn’t have a good tournament. This time we have to make up for it,” Ganguly said at a programme organised by team sponsors Nokia India. The Shah Rukh Kahn owned KKR had plunged into a controversy after John Buchanan, coach and team operations manager, mooted the idea of multiple captaincy and made public his views at a joint media conference with Ganguly. Buchanan announced Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge and Ganguly as the four skippers of the team. Miffed at being removed from his coveted position as sole captain, Ganguly hit back with a series of interviews to the national television channels where he made obvious his opposition to Buchanan’s theory. Two days back, the KKR management came out with a media release saying it would go for a single captain but the name would be decided in South Africa. Asked why the team has decided on Bloemfontein as its base in South Africa, Ganguly said: “Basically it’s a quiet place. And it’s not a bustling city like Johannesburg and Capetown”. Ganguly said team fitness trainer Adrian Le Roux, who is from Bloemfontein, also played a role in zeroing in on the city. “He has had a major say in deciding our base camp. He knows the conditions there at the ground and the facilities”. Asked whether coach Buchanan was in sync with the selection of the base in South Africa, the left hander said: “Buchanan is a very important member of the think tank. But more than anything else, it is Le Roux’s view that the team management went by." — IANS |
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Challengers not a Test team anymore: Mallya
Mumbai, April 2 "Last year, our team was called a Test team but with players such as (Kevin) Pietersen, (Robin) Uthappa and (Jesse) Ryder in the squad now, no one calls it a Test team anymore," Mallya told reporters here. Mallya's team was criticised by experts last year for lacking the firepower required for Twenty20 cricket as it ended up seventh in the eight-team contest. Pietersen is to lead the team till he is available to do so after which star South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis would take over the mantle. The liquor baron said that his team had five home-grown players and their familiarity with conditions in South Africa, where the second edition of IPL is to be held from April 18, will stand his team in good stead for the battles ahead. "We have five South African players in our team, apart from former South Africa coach Ray Jennings. They are well aware of the conditions in that country and this advantage should work in our favour," he said. The quintet of South African players - Dale Steyn, Jaques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Roelof Van der Merwe and Dillion du Preez are among the RCB's 10 foreign recruits. Mallya hoped that shifting the venue of IPL to South Africa will not hamper the viewership. "About 95 per cent viewership of IPL is TV audience. It is unlikely to suffer as the BCCI has adjusted the timings of the matches as per the convenience of Indian audience. "IPL going overseas is a lot better than missing it altogether," he said. — PTI
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Malaysian GP
Sepang (Malaysia), April 2 As if the temperature and humidity were not bad enough, German engineer Hermann Tilke added 15 turns to the 5.543 km track, which served as the blueprint for subsequent layouts in Bahrain, Shanghai, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi. Still, Sepang has a special place in Fisichella's heart, considering the last of his Grand Prix triumphs came here in 2006 and the Italian said he is ready for the toil. "Sepang is a very interesting track, for me one of the best circuits of the year," said the veteran driver. "It's modern but it has a bit of character and I won here in 2006 so I have good memories. It's a nice circuit actually, with many different types of corners," he said. For someone who knows the layout like the back of his hand, Fisichella has no illusion about the track. "There are a couple of slow corners. Turns Five and Six are high speed, fifth gear corners and Turn 11 is one of the most difficult braking points of the season. "When you brake, your front wheels are on the right hand side of the track so the front is locking but just at the end of the braking you've got oversteer. It's difficult to get right," he said. "Everyone says this is the toughest race of the season so it seems like a cliche, but it really is hard, both physically and mentally. It's hot and humid and the circuit is quite twisty, so physically it takes a lot out of you. We sweat so much that at the end of the race I normally lose around three kilos of weight," said Fisichella. Chief race engineer Dominic Harlow also seemed wary of the corners. "With such tricky combinations of corners, braking stability is key, although with understeer predominating in the long slower corners, getting a good balance can be difficult," he said. And if heavens open up, as it did on so many occasions in the past, an evening race in Sepang may see even thunderstorms, he warned. "As clouds build over the circuit during the day, the cooling conditions of the late afternoon trigger heavy downpours. For the qualifying and race sessions this could really mix things up," he said. — PTI
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Hamilton stripped of Australian GP podium
Sepang, Malaysia, April 2 The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) also warned that the 24-year-old Briton and his McLaren team, who were excluded from the race classification, could face further sanctions. The stewards said in a statement after meeting at the Malaysian Grand Prix that they considered Hamilton, Formula One's youngest champion, and McLaren had provided "deliberately misleading" evidence to stewards at a hearing that promoted the Briton to third place. They accused both of acting in a manner "prejudicial to the conduct of the event" and in breach of article 151c of the international sporting code. — Reuters
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La Paz, April 2 Bolivia's goals came from a Joaquin Botero hat-trick and Marcelo Martins, Alex Da Rosa and Didi Torrico while Argentina found the net through Luis Gonzalez at La Paz's high-altitude Hernando Siles's stadium. Maradona said of the Argentina fans at the post-match press conference: "I suffered with them. Every Bolivian goal was a dagger in my heart." Argentinian keeper Juan Pablo Carrizo, who had a memorable night for the wrong reasons, was first beaten in the 12th minute by striker Marcelo Martins, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine. However, the Argentinians, twice world champions, were level in the 25th minute when Porto's Luis Gonzalez hit a shot from 30-metres without much conviction but an unexpected bounce meant it went past Bolivia keeper Carlos Arias and into the net. Bolivia went further ahead in the 34th minute through hat-trick hero Botero of Mexican club Correcaminos, Mexico. An inspired and motivated Bolivia went 3-1 ahead just before the break through Da Rosa and then Botero got further goals in the 50th and 66th minutes. Torrico scored the sixth and final goal with three minutes to go. Angel Di Maria was sent off in the 63rd minute to make a terrible night even worse. Argentina's national press panned the team. The La Nacion newspaper had the headline: "Argentina's worst defeat," adding the last time Argentina lost by a five-goal margin was a 5-0 loss to Colombia in 1993. "A historic humiliation," said sports newspaper Ole on its website, adding: "This is our worst defeat in the qualifiers. What now.?" "Argentina suffered a historic beating," said newspaper Clarin. "Bolivia were way superior and won 6-1 in La Paz." — AFP
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Wellington, April 2
Mumbai, April 2
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's participation in the third and final cricket Test against New Zealand remains uncertain. Dhoni said the back injury that kept him out of the second Test in Napier has improved a lot even though he was not willing to commit whether he would play tomorrow.
New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has been a thorn in Indian flesh. The 24-year-old has scored centuries in the first two Tests and another one in the third cricket Test starting here Friday will make him the first Black Cap to knock three successive Test centuries.
