Mumbai, November 13
Just a couple of days away from completing 20 years in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar today said his first India cap in a Test series against Pakistan in 1989 was the most cherished moment in his illustrious career.

“20 years is a long time and I have many special moments and it would be difficult to count them. But the first one (Test), the first day walking out in the playing XI in Pakistan probably was the greatest moment,” Tendulkar, who made his international debut in a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989, said.

“It was a long journey and what I did after that was a reflection of my contribution to the game in the country. Playing for the country was my childhood dream and I have fulfilled my dream. I am fortunate to have played for my country for so many years,” he added.

Asked what changes have occurred in the game in the 20 years of his career, Tendulkar picked the advent of Twenty20, television assistance for umpiring decisions and batting innovations as the major changes that have taken place.

“From 1989, the game has changed a lot from the introduction of third umpire and Hot Spot system to the introduction of Twenty20 and so many things”, he said.

“The most significant is that lot of innovative shots which were earlier occasionally used but left are being played by the batsmen now,” Tendulkar said. “There is a lot more risk taking by the players now. Because of this, the total in the one-dayers have increased. Nowadays, 275 on a good pitch is not a great score.”

“The same is the case in Test also. There are a lot more results now than in the past. Earlier, people used to get bored of Test cricket because there were few results but nowadays there has been more results and that has made it more entertaining,” said the 36-year-old champion batsman.

Asked how much his game has changed in the 20 years, Tendulkar said, “I have changed a lot. I am trying to improve myself every game. It is a never ending process as everyday is a fresh challenge. So it is hard job to be on your toes everytime.”

“A combination of factors made me remain focussed on the game. My parents, brothers, sisters and wife supported me all through. My mother does not know cricket but will pray for my success and for the country. I discussed cricket with my elder brother a lot. The other brother and the sister also supported me. With my wife, I talk about cricket to her also and that is the main reason why I was able to last such a long time,” he said.

“Above all, the affection and support from the cricket fans of the country was immense. You need people to share your success and I have more than a billion people. That is more than enough for me,” Tendulkar said.

Since his debut Test against Pakistan in 1989, Tendulkar has played 159 Tests, scoring 12,773 runs with 42 centuries at an average of 54.58. From the 436 ODI matches he played since December 19, 1989 against Pakistan in Gujranwala, he had amassed 17,178 runs at an average of 44.50 with 45 hundreds. — PTI 

Mohali, November 13
In the end, it was not the timing of their shots but the time they had to spend in the middle that played on the Hyderabad batsmen’s mind more. Though, they finally managed to salvage a draw on the seaming PCA strip on the last day of their ongoing Ranji Trophy Super League “A” tie against hosts Punjab, at one stage they had their eyes firmly set on the 336 run target.

Punjab had declared on their overnight score of 307 for 9 with an overall lead of 335. The visitors scored briskly at more than three runs an over in the first session on Friday. Suman and Abhinav did well to negotiate an impressive Punjab pace attack and accumulated 71 runs for the first wicket before Abhinav was caught behind, which ensured his march back to the hut. Second innings century maker Vishwas Bhalla provided the breakthrough.

Suman also failed to capitalise on the good start and followed soon with the team’s score reading 76 for 2. From a position of strength at 100 for 2 at lunch, with captain VVS Laxman and Rayudu stroking the ball nicely, Hyderabad had Punjab in a spot of bother.

In the second session too they scored 99 runs in less than thirty overs. Laxman got out against the run of play after scoring 55 runs with a superb direct throw from Taruvar in the covers. Laxman was looking to sneak a non existent single and was found wanting. Within 12 more runs two more wickets fell and suddenly the visitors slumped to 185 for 5 with still more than thirty overs to be bowled.

Just after tea, as the light started fading away, Punjab skipper Kakkar brought spinners from both ends in the form of of Rahul Sharma and himself. Kakkar struck with his third delivery and they still needed three more to earn the full points.

But if MP Arjun was the chief protagonist with the ball in the first innings for Hyderrabad, Arjun Yadav did it with the bat in the second. He played a sensible waiting game for his valuable 57 to ensure there were no more hiccups. Fast bolwer Absolom gave him company for a difficult 69 minutes. Hyderabad were 254 for the loss of 7 wickets at the end of play.

“We had a plan in mind that if we start well we will look for the win. We did that for the most part of the day, however after I and Rayudu got out, Punjab managed to put brakes on the scoring rate. Yadav played a matured knock to see us through,” said Hyderabad skipper VVV S Laxman after the close of play.

Punjab earned 3 points on the basis of the first innings lead, while Hyderabad had to be content with the solitary one. Punjab will take on Tamil Nadu at Amritsar on Tuesday.

Brief Scores:

Punjab (Ist innings) 221 all out, Hyderabad (Ist innings) 193

Punjab (2nd Innings) 307 for 9 dec.

Hyderabad 254 for 7.

Other Scores

Haryana: 225 & 57/3, Jammu and Kashmir: 179, Match drawn; Railways 419, H. Pradesh 145/4, Match drawn; Baroda 307 & 458/8, Bengal 293, Match drawn; Delhi 154 & 277, Karnataka 260 & 149/6, Match drawn; Assam 177/5 v Goa, Match drawn;

Gujarat 343 & 165/4, Tamil Nadu 419/8d, Match drawn; Jharkhand 292 & 155/9, Vidarbha 248, Match drawn; M. Pradesh 172/1 v Kerala, Match drawn, Mumbai 307/4d v Orissa 243/8,

Match drawn; U. Pradesh 395 & 148/9d, Saurashtra 267 & 155/5, Match drawn; Rajasthan 102 & 206 v Tripura 179 & 130/9, Tripura won by 1 wkt.

Chandigarh, November 13
Chandigarh’s mercurial forward Rajpal Singh has been elevated as skipper of Indian hockey team for the Champions Challenge I tournament to be played in Salta, Argentina, from December 6 to 13.

He replaces Sandeep Singh who led India to 6-0 win over Canada in the seven-Test series. Besides the recall of Deepak Thakur, the selectors have virtually retained the same squad that had won the seven Test series against Canada last month.

Other than Deepak Thakur, new faces in the squad are Ajitesh Roy (a stand by for Canadian tour) and Vikas Sharma. Amir Khan, SV Sunil, Dharambir Singh and Birender Lakra Sr have failed to retain their places in the enlarged experimental squad.

After the training of the team was taken over by Spaniard Jose Brasa, India has been experimenting with different sets of combination of players by packing in its squads varying number of deep defenders, midfielders and forwards.

If three deep defenders, six midfielders and 11 forwards comprised the squad for the Canadian tour, Brasa and his men are now taking seven deep defenders, six midfielders and seven forwards to Argentina.

Brasa is experimenting with “complete hockey” where any player can be asked to perform any duty on the playfield, be it a defender or a midfielder or even a forward.

Challenging India for a berth in the 2010 Champions Trophy will be seven other national teams, including Pakistan, New Zealand, Belgium, China, hosts Argentina, Canada, and South Africa. Only winners of the tournament will be elevated to the elite Champions Trophy group.

Belgium, China and New Zealand are the other teams in India’s pool while the remaining four teams are in pool B. The team: Adrian D’Souza and PR Sreejesh (goalkeepers), Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Bharat, Ajitesh Roy, D Mahadik and V Raghunath (deep defenders), T Khandekar, A Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Roshan Minz, D Mujtaba and Vikas Sharma (midfielders), Rajpal Singh (Captain), Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sarwanjit Singh, Mandeep Antil and Prabhjot Singh.

On December 06, India will play New Zealand, China on December 8 and Belgium on December 10. The classification matches and medal round matches will be played on December 12 and 13 December, respectively. 

Jalandhar, November 13
Bharat Petroleum Mumbai clinched the title of 26th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey Tournament by defeating rivals Indian Oil Mumbai 3-2 during the finals held at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium today.

Bharat Petroleum dominated the proceedings right from the word go. The Bharat Petroluem mounted pressure and earned first penalty corner in the very first minute when their drag flicker Gurpreet Singh took the lead 1-0. Indian Oil consolidated their lead within two minutes when Deedar Singh scored from a penalty corner conversion.

Earlier the Bharat Petroleum wasted a penalty corner in the 20th minute. In the 23rd minute Indian Oil wasted the third penalty corner. At half time both teams were leveled at 1-1.

In the second half of the match, both teams made some good attempts but failed to capitalise on the opportunities. In the 46th minute, BPCL earned the third penalty corner but Gurpreet Singh wasted the chance.

In the 48th minute of the play, Deedar Singh converted the fourth penalty corner for Indian Oil. In the 66th minute, the equaliser came from the stick of Bharat Petroleum’s Pundalik Bellary from left flank steering the score to 2-2. The winning goal came from the stick of Gurpreet Singh in the 68th minute for Bharat petroleum from penalty corner conversion.

Deputy Chief Minister Punjab Sukhbir Badal awarded the winners with a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh while the runners up were given Rs 1.50 Lakh.

BRIEFLY

FIH grants extension to HI
NEW DELHI: After missing its Nov 20 deadline, Hockey India on Friday got one last chance to clear its mess before next year’s World Cup with the FIH on Friday granting an extension upto first week of February to complete the election process of the body. The HI has promised to conduct the elections in the first week of February after a series of meetings with International Hockey Federation Vice President Antonio von Ondarza. — PTI

Rafel Nadal reacts during his third round tennis match against compatriot Tommy Robredo on Friday. Nadal won 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. — AFP

Harbhajan back in top-10
DUBAI: Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the lone Indian to make any substantial gains in the ICC one-day rankings, jumping 11 places to joint eighth in the bowling chart even as batting stars like Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir lost ground in the latest list. Harbhajan shares the eighth spot with Shahid Afridi. — PTI

Lanka’s practice match cancelled
MUMBAI: Despite sun smiling for the last two days, Sri Lanka’s three-day practice match against Board President’s XI was on Friday called off without a ball being bowled due to unsuitable ground conditions. The final day’s play, that was scheduled to begin at 0900 hours, was called off after the inspection of the ground by the umpires at 1130 hours. — PTI

Bopanna-Qureshi in semis
NEW DELHI: Shrugging off the disappointment of his singles defeat, Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna, partnering Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, booked a semifinal berth in the doubles event of the ATP Challenger tournament in Aachen, Germany. They beat Dustin Brown and Jiri Krkoska 7-5, 7-7(6) in the quarterfinals of the euro 42,500 event. — PTI

Chowrasia slips to tied 12th
HONG KONG: At tied 12th, SSP Chowrasia (69) remained the highest-placed Indian but it was Jeev Milkha Singh who brought home the best card among his compatriots, a three-under 67, in the second round of the Hong Kong Open golf tournament here on Friday. Chowrasia was six-under 134 overall after picking up two birdies. — PTI

Boxing: Narsi gets AIBA award
NEW DELHI: Indian referee and judge Kishen Narsi has been adjudged this year’s ‘Best Technical Delegate’ by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Narsi, who has been a referee and judge at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992), has also officiated in six Asian Games. — PTI

AFC: India beat Afghanistan
NEW DELHI: Out of contention for a next round berth, India scored a consolation 4-1 win over Afghanistan in their AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers Group C match at Arbil, Iraq. India had lost to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman in their earlier group matches. — PTI

I am happy at Man U: Rooney
LONDON: England striker Wayne Rooney has dismissed talk of a move overseas and said he wants to stay at Manchester United for the rest of his career. “It’s nice to be noticed but I’m really happy at United and, unless they tell me otherwise, I can’t see myself leaving,” he was quoted as saying. — Reuters