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Aussies can pack a punch
Ricky Ponting
IOA forms Hockey
India
Home advantage for England
Kevin Pietersen |
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Federer, Del Potro in last four
Police Water Sports begin
India warm up in style, brush aside Pak Rohit Sharma plays a shot against Pakistan in their warm up match at the Oval on Wednesday. — AP/PTI
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Aussies can pack a punch
Chandigarh, June 3 Thrice back-to-back ODI world champions and the Champions Trophy winners find themselves caught in a dilemma as they get ready for the biennial event in England later this week. The focus of the Ricky Ponting-led squad will be divided between the T20 event and the Ashes series, a symbol of supremacy between England and Australia. The World T20 final is slated for June 21 and the Australians are scheduled to launch their Ashes campaign three days later. For Australian team, struggling with injuries to some of key performers and ordinary form of others, it will be hard to focus on the two major events in quick succession. Return of Brett Lee, however, should be comforting for Ricky Ponting. Though Lee played five matches for Kings XI Punjab, he is yet to be in top physical shape, said chief selector Andrew Hilditch. Hilditch observed that the fast bowler will need a couple of games more before he is in a position to go full throttle. All rounder Shane Watson, who skipped the IPL -2, has just recovered from groin strain, while lanky seamer Stuart Clark is still struggling to be fit and has failed to find a berth. Australians will, however, be boosted by the return of Andrew Symonds who staged an impressive comeback during the ODI series against Pakistan in Dubai last month. Symonds had jeopardised his career on account of “lack of commitment” and was shown the door. Ever since he was adjudged the Man of the Series for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL two years back, the burly Queensland all rounder Shane Watson has only gone up in stature. His exploits with bat as well as ball will be crucial to his team’s success. Having just recovered from injury and scored a brisk fifty in the first warm-up game against Bangladesh, he could be a vital cog in Ponting’s plans. Struggling to get back the batting touch that once made him the best contemporary batsman in the world, Ponting will need to show character to keep Australia going. All eyes will be on the 34-year Tasmanian as to how well he marshalls his resources and whether he is able to come out with the Aussie reputation enhanced or not. A lot will depend on what Lee does. If he is able to get into his groove early, it will be a big plus for the skipper as he along with fast-improving Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken could be handful for any rival bating line-up. Forced absence of Lee and Clark due to injury proved a blessing in disguise for Johnson, who has blossomed into a fine new ball bowler. Capable of generating good speed and bowling with deft variations, left-handed Johnson is sure to a key weapon for Ponting. Having scored a Test century against South Africa at Cape Town, Johnson would be expected to contribute with the bat as well. Though not very successful in this format of the game (Australia lost both their previous games to South Africa and then were outplayed by Pakistan in Dubai), Australia have the firepower to upset any team. Lee, Hussey siblings, vice-captain Michael Clarke, Watson, James Hopes besides the skipper Ponting himself are all proven customers. If they gel together as a unit, the Aussies easily can get back to their domineering best! Grey areas:
l
Though on the path to recovery, it is a bit early to expect Lee to go all out
l Ponting is not batting the way he is capable of
l Though Nathan Hauritz is improving, the offie, the lone regular spinner in the squad, could be the weak link in bowling
l The overall record in T20 does not inspire much confidence Strong points:
l All rounders like Symonds, Watson and Hopes provide a lot of flexibility to the squad
l Ability of the team to bat deep down te batting order
l Emergence of Johnson as an all rounder
l Non-participation in the IPL means that the Aussies will be fresh. |
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IOA forms Hockey
India
New Delhi, June 3 Mrs Vidya Stokes, who was the president of the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF), will be the senior vice-president while Mohd Aslam Khan has been appointed as the secretary general. Mr Narender Batra, who had been associated with the disaffiliated Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), headed by KPS Gill, will be the new treasurer. Kalmadi said the Government of India, Ministry of Sports and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have been appraised about the formation of Hockey India. The IOA chief said the Ad Hoc Committee, which had been formed to administer the game under the aegis of the IOA after the IHF was dissolved, “is no more”, though the selection committee, headed by Ajit Pal Singh, will remain the same. Mr Kalmadi also promised that proper elections to Hockey India will be held within six months to make it a truly representative body with many Olympians making up the team. He informed that Hockey India had been recognised by the FIH on whose behest the new hockey body had been formed so that India could hold the World Cup Hockey Championship in New Delhi in March 2010 without any hitch. Kalmadi said following the “concern” expressed by the FIH at the existence of two hockey federations in India (for men and women), an Annual General Body (AGM) of the IOA was held on October 10, 2008 during the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune where a nine-member committee was formed under the chairmanship of IOA joint secretary Harish Sharma to look into the matter. He said the nine-member committee was “given all powers which exist with the General Body of the IOA to take decision on the hockey issues”. The nine-member committee comprised of Harish Sharma, who is also the secretary-general of the Basketball Federation of India, Lalit Bhanot (athletics), Avinash Kholi (winter sports), M Chouhan (table tennis), Vidya Stokes and Amrit Bose (both women’s hockey), Aslam Khan (IOA vice-president), Rajeev Mehta and Rakesh Mehta. The committee held five meetings and took the decisions to: disaffiliate the IHF and the IWHF; that the IOA will constitute a single body of Hockey India; IOA to grant provisional affiliation to Hockey India; and conduct of elections to Hockey India within six months. The IOA had the FIH sanction for the constitution of the nine-member committee as in a letter dated May 5, FIH president Leandre Negre said the principle of “one sport-one body” had to be followed. He appreciated the formation of the committee with the “power and authority derived from the IOA General Assembly to sort out the complications arising from two different hockey federations, which are independently managing men and women sections of hockey in India, which is contrary to the provisions of the FIH constitution and the Olympic Charter”. The FIH had asked the IOA to form a unified hockey body “within 15 days”, which has now been complied with by the IOA. Kalmadi said though there was an Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC) created by the men’s and women’s hockey federations, which have been disaffiliated, “it was neither affiliated nor recognised by the IOA or the Government”.
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Home advantage for England
England not only conceived of cricket, but invented Twenty20. But despite being the most experienced in this format, the Englishmen have displayed a lack of natural ability for it.
Vagaries of the English weather and wickets have perhaps restrained uninhibited tendencies. But England might benefit from home advantage if the climate is consistent with June, as opposed to it turning out to be unusually warm and sunny. Paul Collingwood did not get a single game for Delhi Daredevils during his two week stint at the recent Indian Premier league; but was appointed captain for the World Twenty20, since test skipper Andrew Strauss didn’t get the nod as a player. Collingwood will, however, be without his major all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, recovering from knee surgery. Consequently, his tactics may bank on restricting opposition by taking wickets. Medium pacer James Anderson, who is presently bowling with a pleasant rhythm, could be the answer in this respect. Left-arm Ryan Sidebottom, if back to his best, may also trouble batsmen unaccustomed to swing, while a more experienced Stuart Broad will doubtless attempt to erase the nightmare of being hit for six sixes by Yuvraj Singh in the last tournament. And visitors should not underestimate off-spinner Graeme Swann. The England squad has to a certain extent recognised players who have been successful in domestic Twenty20, among them Luke Wright, Graham Napier and Eoin Morgan. But the power of Kevin Pietersen with the bat will be important to their fortunes, as will the contributions of Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah. Dimitri Mascarenhas, lower down the order, used to be capable of clearing the field, but has encountered lesser success lately. With Pakistan and Holland in their group initially, they are effectively seeded to advance to the Super Eight, where, of course, they could come across India, Australia and South Africa |
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Federer, Del Potro in last four
Paris, June 3 Federer made sure the dream stayed alive when he overwhelmed Frenchman Monfils to advance to his 20th successive grand slam semi-final. “I was very nervous before this match, yesterday and today,” said the 27-year-old, who now stands just two matches away from equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slam titles. “But I have a lot of experience. I know that when I step on the court, I will play well. Or very well.” He will take on Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinal. Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro strolled into the French Open semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Spanish 16th seed Tommy Robredo. Del Potro will play his first grand slam semifinal against world number two Roger Federer of Switzerland, whom he never beat in five previous meetings. He was barely bothered by Robredo, relying on his big serve and punishing forehand to unsettle the only Spaniard left in the draw following four-times champion Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round exit. A new name will also be engraved on the women’s trophy after a courageous Svetlana Kuznetsova exacted sweet revenge on Serena Williams to reach the last four. Williams had been the last former champion left standing at Roland Garros and Kuznetsova, who rolled her ankle in the second set, handed the American second seed a 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 defeat. The Russian will face Samantha Stosur after the Australian expelled Romanian Sorana Cirstea with a 6-1, 6-3 victory to reach her first major semifinal. — Reuters
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Police Water Sports begin
Srinagar, June 3 Declaring the 8th All-India Police Water Sports Championship open at Dal Lake here on Tuesday with release of pigeons and multi colour balloons, Kapur said that the State had great potential for promoting adventure tourism due to vast potential of water bodies like, waterfalls, lakes and rivers. Among others present on the occasion were Financial Commissioner Home, Sameul Verghese, Transport Commissioner, MK Mohanty, Director General CID, Ashok Bhan, Director SKIMS, Abdul Hamid Zargar, Director Tourism, Farooq Ahmad Shah and other senior officers. Eighteen teams representing different states of the country are participating in the championship in which contest for three disciplines - Kayaking, Canoeing and Rowing will be organized. About 350 players will participate in these events which will last for seven days.
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India warm up in style, brush aside Pak If a result of an exhibition encounter for a controversial charitable purpose (India contributing to Pakistan’s welfare, despite the latter’s complete non-co-operation on the 26/11 issue) counts, then India slipped into a perfect frame of mind to defend their World Twenty20 title by beating arch rivals Pakistan by nine wickets in their second and final pre-tournament outing. The unpredictability of the English climate meant there was insufficient light from towards the tail end of the Pakistani innings; with the ground managers caught unawares, commencement of the Indian chase was delayed. Even when this got underway, the twilight factor was quite tricky. But Gautam Gambhir looked more organised than he did in the recent Indian Premier League; and Rohit Sharma typically bided his time before going aerial in the power play. The pair, particularly the right-hander (80 off 53), then threaded gaps in the field to make a challenging task look easy. It’s amazing how attractive an India-Pakistan match is to a wider audience in both countries, even a friendly (this one had a 12-man option) which this warm-up game was. To the connoisseur, though, even an official fixture between the two sides is just another match, unless both teams are of a very high order, which Pakistan at present are not. The ground was almost full and boisterous, despite it being a chilly evening, in sharp contrast to conditions in India’s previous practice outing against New Zealand on Monday. This was an indicator that the weather could fluctuate tangentially in course of the 17-day tournament starting Friday. The fielding effort demanded in Twenty20 is a recipe for injuries. A tired and bruised Indian side after an extensive IPL were under instructions not to dive unnecessarily in the lead-in encounters; at the same time, there was no excuse for Harbhajan Singh, otherwise an excellent fielder, dropping a sitter at short midwicket in the 2nd over. This gave Pakistan’s traction after they lost their 1st wicket in Praveen Kumar’s opening over as medium pacers R P Singh, Irfan Pathan and Kumar proved to be easy picking. But one over from Ishant Sharma, with his extra pace and bounce, changed the complexion. Dot balls created pressure and produced a brilliant run out by Suresh Raina. Then, Sharma’s speed elicited a dolly catch. Soon, Pakistan were 63 for five; and in a bit of bother. They escaped, though, thanks to a sensible 6th wicket stand between skipper Yunus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq before the former was stumped down the leg side attempting a reverse sweep. The ball would otherwise have been called a wide. Brief Scores: Pakistan 158 for 6 (Misbah 37*, Younis 32, Ishant 1-11) India 159 for 1 (Rohit 80, Gambhir 52*)
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Chandigarh, June 3
England not only conceived of cricket, but invented Twenty20. But despite being the most experienced in this format, the Englishmen have displayed a lack of natural ability for it.
Vagaries of the English weather and wickets have perhaps restrained uninhibited tendencies.
Paris, June 3
An elusive French Open crown loomed closer for Roger Federer after the Swiss put on a vintage display to reach the semi-finals with a 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Gael Monfils on Wednesday. With four-times champion and nemesis Rafael Nadal no longer on his horizon at Roland
Garros, expectations have been mounting that this might turn out to be the world number two’s best chance of getting his hands on the Musketeer’s Cup.
Ganguly joins ESS
as expert analyst
Ram Lakhan wins national championship