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Ponting:India hard to beat at home
Australian team arrives |
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Gill meets Kalmadi
Pargat is Secretary Hockey Punjab
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Ponting:India hard to beat at home
Sydney, October 20 "They will be particularly hard to beat in India, they always are. They definitely play a lot better at home than they do when they travel," Ponting told reporters before the Aussies boarded their flight to India yesterday. India crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the group stage itself. Australia, on the other hand, are high on confidence after clinching their second successive Champions Trophy title. But Ponting said injuries to regular vice-captain Michael Clarke and batsman Callum Ferguson has disturbed the balance of the side and selection would be a major headache during the tour. While Ferguson is out for a year with a knee injury, Clarke is battling a back problem but may join the squad in the later in the series. "The selectors and myself are going to have a bit of thinking to do over the next few days as to what we do with the batting line-up," Ponting said. To their relief Shaun Marsh is back in the team after recovering from a hamstring injury that has kept him out since April but it would be quite a task for him to strike form immediately and knock off in-form Tim Paine from the opening slot. "Paine coming in has had a fair bit of success at the top of the order and given himself every opportunity to remain there," Poning said. "You go back six or seven months, then Shaun was one of the up-and-coming batsmen in our Australian team and someone who has got a very good record at the top of the order for us, so we've got some tough decisions to make there. "But whichever way we go there we know we've got very good depth in our batting with someone like Shaun coming back in, so hopefully we get it right on the morning of the first game," he added. Asked about the surprise selection of rookie spinner Jon Holland, who is currently in India playing in the Champions League Twenty20, Ponting said he has seen him for only 20 minutes in the nets. "I've seen 20 minutes of him bowling in the nets leading up to the Boxing Day Test last year, that's as much as I've seen of Jon," Ponting said. India gear up for series
Indian cricket team, which got knocked out in the first stage of the Champions Trophy in South Africa, started its preparations in earnest here today for the upcoming seven-match ODI series against Australia. Barring Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma, the other members of the team had a stint at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex this afternoon. Overseeing the preparation was coach Gary Kirsten, who arrived in Mumbai this afternoon from South Africa. The Australian squad, led by Ricky Ponting, too reached the Indian shores today and is set to have a two-day practice session at the BKC from tomorrow ahead of the first ODI at Vadodara on October 25. Australia, who retained the Champions Trophy, had beaten India 4-2 (one match ending in no result) in the last ODI series played between the two sides in this country two years ago. —
PTI |
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Australian team arrives
Mumbai: The Australian cricket team, fresh from their Champions Trophy triumph, arrived at the Shivaji Chhatrapati International Airport here this afternoon for their high-profile seven-match ODI series against India. The team, led by Ricky
Ponting, was escorted to its hotel in suburban Bandra under tight security provided by the Mumbai police.
Six members of the 15-strong squad are already in the country and taking part in the Champions League Twenty20. The six players who are already in India, are Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee (New South Wales Blues), Peter Siddle, Jon Holland and Cameroon White (Victoria Bushrangers). The visitors are scheduled to have practice sessions at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex tomorrow and on October 22 before leaving for Vadodara on the October 23rd afternoon for the first match of the rubber, a day encounter, at the Reliance Stadium on October 25. The other matches are scheduled at Nagpur (Oct 28), Delhi (Oct 31), Mohali (Nov 2), Hyderabad (Nov 5), Guwahati (Nov 8) and Mumbai (Nov 11). The sixth one in Assam is to be a day/night contest. Australian
Squad: Ricky Ponting (Captain), Michael Hussey (Vice-Captain), Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
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NSW hold edge in all-Oz semifinal
New Delhi, October 20
Barring that morale-sapping four-wicket defeat, Katich and his men have not put a foot wrong in the tournament, firing mostly in unison which remains the secret of their progress so far. Not that there has not been any individual brilliance on display from the outfit which includes the likes of David Warner and Brett Lee. In fact the mere sight of David Warner, with Phillip Hughes is good enough to send shivers down any bowling unit which is aware of the left-hander's hitting prowess. — PTI
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New Delhi, October 20 “I met Kalmadi today and had a long discussion on all the matters. I will be talking to (CGF Chief) Mr Mike Fennell on telephone and will have a meeting with him, (CGF CEO Mike) Hooper and Kalmadi in London on October 28," Gill said after the meeting. "I am confident that all issues will be resolved and everyone will work in unison to ensure a very good Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year," the minister added. The OC and the CGF seemed to have reached a deadlock over mainly two issues -- the necessity of a Technical Review Panel and Hooper's stay in Delhi. Fennell, soon after the CGF general assembly earlier this month, made it clear that the organisers needed to pull up their socks and fast-track their preparations if the capital is to deliver on its commitment of putting on the best Commonwealth Games ever. Fennell said the CGF had decided to set up a Technical Review Panel to monitor the progress, a suggestion that did not go down well with the OC with Kalmadi outrightly rejecting the idea. Hooper's presence remains another bone of contention with Kalmadi describing the CGF top official as an "impediment" to the capital's preparation and seeking his removal. "I will ask Mr Fennell to depute someone who can work with us. That is all. We need someone who guides and encourages us and not confront us at all meetings," Kalmadi had earlier said in a statement. The OC, meanwhile, has bluntly told Hooper not to come to the OC headquarters and work from home till, they hope, the CGF withdraws him. The CGF, however, has thrown its weight behind Hooper with Fennell saying that the official has the full support of the Executive Board. — PTI
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Pargat is Secretary Hockey Punjab
Chandigarh, October 20 Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was unanimously elected president of the unified Hockey Punjab some weeks ago, has not only named remaining office-bearers of the new association but also named some important panels, including coaching, selection and umpiring committees. It may be pertinent to mention here that all four bodies controlling hockey in Punjab had merged to form a unified Hockey Punjab. This was done to comply with the directions of the International Hockey Federation to Hockey India to bring all hockey bodies under one umbrella with a single controlling authority of the game in the country. And Punjab has been one of first few states to follow the directive in toto. Till now, the control of men hockey in the State remained vested solely with the Punjab Police.
Besides naming Pargat Singh as secretary, Sukhbir Badal has chosen the Director-General of Punjab Police Paramdeep Singh Gill and Bikramjit Singh Majithia as senior vice-presidents. Hardeep Dhillon, now an Inspector-General of Police with the Punjab vigilance and himself a good hockey player, is named one of six vice-presidents. Others are Nirmal Amarjit Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh, Anupma Vasisth, Thakur Ude Singh of Namdhari Jatha, and N.R. Nayyar. Sukhbir Singh Badal has tried to involve as many as Olympians and international players in the new body as possible. The most important of the panels, the coaching panel, will have besides Sukhvir Singh Grewal, Olympians and international players like Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Ripudaman Singh, Gundeep Kumar and Jugraj Singh. Olympian Surinder Singh Shokar will head the Selection Committee for men. Other members of the panel will be Olympian Mukhbain Singh, Baldev Singh and Col Harcharan Singh (retd). Colonel Balbir Singh Kular (retd) will head the women’s’ selection panel. Olympians Varinder Singh, Balbir Singh Randhawa, Sukhjit Kaur and Baljeet Kaur will be other members of the committee. International Rajbir Kaur Rai, Daljit Singh, Nitin Kohli and Dr Harmanpreet Kaur have been named joint secretaries while S.S. Kohli will be the treasurer. SS Saini of Ropar Hawks and Olympian Rupa Saini and Harpreet Singh have been made members of the executive committee.
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Hampered by injuries to key players, the Australian cricket team took off for India to play a seven-match ODI series with skipper Ricky Ponting conceding that despite their Champions Trophy
debacle. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would be hard to beat in home conditions.
Taking the first step towards brokering peace between the 2010 Organising Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation, Sports Minister MS Gill today met OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi to discuss the vexed issues that have hit the capital's preparation for the event. Kalmadi came to Gill's residence this morning where the Sports Minister took stock of the progress of preparations and discussed the contentious issues that have the OC and the CGF at loggerheads.
