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Netherlands in neverland
No rift with Sehwag: Dhoni
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Roger Federer will face Robin Soderling in the men’s final of the French Open. — AFP
Australians didn’t take last T20 WC seriously
India unwitting aids Pak
Drona selection panel formed
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Netherlands in neverland
London, June 5 Earlier, Luke Wright hit a blazing 71 and shared a 102-run opening partnership with Ravi Bopara (46) to help England post a decent 162 for five. Put in to bat, England openers laid a strong foundation for a big score but hosts lost quick wickets to lose plot in the end. Once Bopara was dismissed in the 12th over, England struggled to forge partnerships as batsmen got out in hurry. While the hosts raised first 100 runs in 11 overs, they could manage just 62 runs in the subsequent overs. Ryan ten Doeschate, who dismissed both Bopara and Wright, was the most successful bowlers for the Netherlands, giving away 35 runs in his four overs. Bopara provided an apt start to the second edition of the T20 World Cup by hitting the first ball of the slam-bang event for a boundary off Dirk Nannes.
— PTI
Scoreboard Netherlands |
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No rift with Sehwag: Dhoni
India's coach Gary Kirsten felt on Friday his was "a brilliant side and if they played to their full potential, they'll be hard to beat." Immediately preceding this the Indian players made an angry appearance before media. Speaking over the heads of assembled journalists, captain Mahendra Dhoni, with the entire squad with him, addressed “the people of India and Indian cricket fans worldwide”. He claimed his unit was “as good as it has been with each individual supporting each other on and off the field”. He described a report of a spat between him and Virender Sehwag as “false and irresponsible behaviour”. Even if the cited despatch was baseless, Dhoni was responsible for adding fuel to the fire with a terse response about Sehwag’s fitness. It was unjustified to take it out on all media for the alleged mistake of a few. The fact is fitness is an issue. Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, both critical to the campaign, did not feature in either warm-up game. About the former’s availability, Dhoni’s last stated: “To be honest I don’t know. He could be (fit) for the second game.” Regarding Khan, he remarked: “We have seen improvement. He has started bowling, but I don’t know at what intensity.” He added: “Hopefully he’ll be fit for the game on June 10. Even if he is fit for the June 6 game against Bangladesh, we don’t want to risk him for the first game.” The statements are self-explanatory. Indeed, it’s strange that the skipper should say he doesn’t know “at what intensity” Khan is bowling. Is he not watching? Is Khan able to operate flat out or not? This is naturally all-important, for he should only be considered for selection if he can bowl at peak pace. As it is, it would be a risk to throw him into the deep end without match practice. Judging by Dhoni’s comments, one can only surmise that for the Bangladesh encounter at least, Rohit Sharma will open with Gautam Gambhir; and Ravindra Jadeja will probably get a slot in the middle order. Assuming that Irfan Pathan is pencilled in because of his batting potential, either R P Singh or Praveen Kumar, perhaps not both, will play. A team meeting to finalise the XI was to take place either on Friday evening or Saturday morning. For the record, India have recent happy memories of Nottingham, where they won a test in 2007 to win a series in England for only the third time in 75 years. In normal circumstances at this centre, there can be movement in the air, but not much of the pitch.
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Federer fights through to final
The Swiss, playing in his 20th consecutive grand slam semi-final, was one set from defeat when he turned on the style to set up a final with Swede Robin Soderling, who beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-3,7-5,5-7,4-6,6-4.
Huber, Bryan win mixed doubles
Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan of the United States beat Vania King of the United States and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7 to win the French Open mixed doubles championship. The title is Bryan’s second consecutive in mixed doubles at the French Open and his sixth Grand Slam mixed doubles title overall, each with a different partner.
“It’s gotten better and better each time. This was a way for me to feel good, you know, to leave here with a win, leave here with a trophy, big title and a Grand Slam,” Bryan said. For Huber, it’s her first mixed doubles Grand Slam title. She has won four women’s doubles major championships. “I’m so grateful for playing with Bob,” she said. “I truly think we wouldn’t have won this title without him.”
— AP
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Australians didn’t take last T20 WC seriously
A fighter always thinks he’s got one more round. That’s the nature of a fighter; and I am no different. But my one more round now involves what I believe is going to be the future of cricket. And so, I’ve retired from international cricket, but I haven’t retired. I came to play the T20 World Cup in South Africa and was the leading run scorer, because I really enjoyed the format of the game. I took it very seriously, believing in my heart that this is going to play a big part for the next generation of cricket. It’s very interesting that you said that you took the last World Twenty20 very seriously. There was a feeling in cricket circles that Australia didn’t take it that seriously in general. I totally agree with that. I don’t think we had our eye on that trophy at all. And what can I say, like, this is a thing about a team; I think in our mindsets as a nation, Twenty20 was a bit of fun. In a lot of ways, thank God! India actually winning the tournament has just globalised the game. And where are we going to stand in a traditional nation like England when it receives the Twenty20 World Cup? I think this is a big key, these few weeks for the game to move forward globally, because no one likes to change in England. Like Australia, they are traditionalists. But you have to get on with the game; and the Twenty20 showcase in England will help that. It will create euphoria around the game, which will stimulate it. What do you think of prospects in the World Twenty20 this time, assuming that everybody on this occasion takes it really seriously? Very good, our (Australia’s) prospects are good, no doubt about that. You don’t get to be test number one and one-day number one side in the world without great talent, skills, tenacity; you know all the characteristics that define great champions. So, you know it’s obvious we are going to be up there. But on the day as you know, you can lose if you’re not on the money. So that’s what it’s going to be all about. Someone like (Brad) Hodge missing out for Australia is a disappointment, because he’s such a good Twenty20 cricketer, powerful, he’s got an unbelievable record. How he misses out I don’t know! What do you think of England as a Twenty20 side? I think they’ll really miss (Andrew) Freddie Flintoff. I think (Kevin) Pietersen is just all over the game; he’s strong, he can hit a ball out of the ground. You need power, that’s what you need. And not just one, you need six powerful players. I think England have also a very good chance. It’s been interesting to see the stars in the IPL now that this tournament went abroad. It’s still your old hands, you know, like your Gilchrists, your Dravids. We’ve had Suresh Raina, who has adjusted beautifully and that’s great, because that’s a good sign for Indian cricket. But it’s still the same blokes going around, they understand the conditions when they are a bit trickier; and they work through it and they work it out.
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The Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom confirmed the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi was “not consulted” on the charity match. It distanced itself from the decision by saying: “It’s a BCCI matter; BCCI is an autonomous body.” It may be recalled, officials within Pakistan’s dodgy establishment initially accused India of being behind the Lahore incident. They, thereafter, conceded there may have been complicity between the attackers and Lahore police. Besides, the Pakistani government has been in denial in respect of 26/11, now facilitated the discharge from detention of the alleged mastermind behind it, not to mention Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani’s attempt on Tuesday to accuse Indian forces of occupying Kashmir and committing human rights violations. The Pakistani government has a dubious record of misusing aid. There is also no certainty that money channelled through cash-starved and disreputable bodies, like the Pakistan Cricket Board, will actually be deposited with intended beneficiaries. The ICC is, in fact, yet to think through how the money raised from the India-Pakistan match will be distributed or who will be responsible for this. According to the ICC, the money will contribute to the education of youngsters in families whose members were killed or injured in the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Murgatroyd cited that Shashank Manohar, President of BCCI, had approved the initiative. In its original press release it quoted Manohar as saying: “Cricket has a special power to bring people together. It is in keeping with the spirit of cricket that the BCCI will be supporting this cause.” However, Manohar clarified to this correspondent that this was “a unanimous decision” of the ICC Board (of which BCCI is a member). He emphasised: “It’s an ICC event, the money will come from ICC’s coffers; BCCI is not involved in this.” — Ashis Ray
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Drona selection panel formed
New Delhi, June 5 Dronacharya Award selection panel: G.S.Randhawa (athletics, chairman), Moraad Ali Khan (shooting), B Kumari (squash), K Malleswari (weightlifting), K Singh (swimming), S Verma (wrestling), S.M.Arif (badminton), G.S.Sandhu (boxing), H M Innocent (hockey), M S Sunder Rao (volleyball), Air Marshal D Keelor (Special Olympics), Capt. U.K.Thapa (Services Sports Control Board), S Chatterjee (director-general, SAI), I Srinivas (joint secretary, Ministry of Sports) and C.Chinnappa (Sports Ministry). The panel to select the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyanchand awards will have 12 sportspersons and three Government nominees. The seletion panel comprises of I Puri, K.M.Beenamol (athletics), J Singh (hockey), V Devarajan (boxing), N Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting), M Amarnath (cricket), B Choudhary (swimming), R M Singh (kabaddi), N Naeemuddin (football), M Lal (shooting) and A Khanna (All India Tennis Association) and M Sinha (All India Police Sports Control Board).
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Netherlands sensationally beat England by four wickets in the opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 at Lord's tonight. Needing seven off the last over Ryan ten Doeschate and Edgar Schiferli ran for their lives and with two needed off the last delivery, Stuart Broad missed a run-out from his follow through and the resulting overthrow set off wild scenes of celebrations.
It would be unfortunate if rain reduced India’s opening gambit in the World Twenty20 against Bangladesh on Saturday to a “no-result”; and the defending champions thereby failed to derive full points from this fixture.
Paris, June 5
It would be unfortunate if rain reduced India’s opening gambit in the World Twenty20 against Bangladesh on Saturday to a “no-result”; and the defending champions thereby failed to derive full points from this fixture. Such a threat loomed large as the weather forecast for Nottingham, about 130 miles from here and the venue for the match, was rather discouraging.
Paris, June 5
Tell me, the fact that you’ve played so well in the IPL, does it make you feel you may have retired too early from international cricket?
The India cricket team by virtue of their World Twenty20 warm-up game here on Wednesday unwittingly extended aid to Pakistan at a time of this country’s continued non-co-operation on the terrorist outrage carried out by its nationals in Mumbai on 26 November last. A senior officer of the Indian Foreign Service stated: “This was not ideal.”
There have been 15 global cricket events (nine World Cups, five Champions Trophies and one World Twenty20) and England are the only major nation never to have won.
— Paul Collingwood