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Will it be England finally?
No brawl happened in West Indies pub: Nehra
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Best I’ve ever played: Hussey
BCCI mulls over code of conduct for ‘party animals’
India beat Egypt, reach Azlan Shah final
AFI says no to Bangalore run
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Will it be England finally?
But it would hardly be a stroll in the park for Michael Clarke’s men as England have played some outstanding cricket in the championship and just like Australia, they have been unbeaten since the Super Eights stage. England, who were hardly seen as title contenders before the start of the tournament, have been a revelation with an array of attacking batsmen and bowling all-rounders. They bat deep and have bowled with purpose and discipline right through the competition. Their fielding has been good as well. But Paul Collingwood’s men cannot match the Australians in talent and versetality despite having the tenacity and confidence to take on their arch-rivals. However, the fast and bouncy Kensington Oval wicket will pose a challenge to the English batsman, who haven't faced the kind of pace which Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait generate, in this competition yet. The tearaway Australian quicks have consistently bowled at over 145 kph and have extracted disconcerting bounce from the bone-hard surface. But this being their first major championship final in six years, England would be as keen as Australia to take the title back home. But to achieve that, they would have to play their best cricket yet. “The boys have been responding well every time. The batsmen on top of the order have been giving great starts. Sometimes we need to finish the pieces of jigsaw,” said Collingwood. “We have very good players. We have selected players on potential and they have done fantastically well. We are confident they can deliver,” he added. Clarke, meanwhile, also has his eyes firmly set on the elusive Cup. “We have worked hard over the last 12 months to win the one cup that we haven’t. The boys are keen that we achieve what we had set out for. So we will come and play our best cricket,” said Clarke. But the Australian captain admitted that England would be a hard team to beat and the one man they would have to watch out for is Kevin Pietersen, who is in excellent form. The hard-hitting batsman, who recently became a father, has scores of 72 not out, 53 and 42 not out in the last three innings. Clarke said the key to Australia’s success would be to get rid of Pietersen at the start of the innings. “Kevin is a wonderful player in each form of the game. He has been hitting the ball well here. To get him out early would be good for us,” averred Clarke. Pietersen has dominated the bowlers, even stepping out and hitting the fast bowlers over the top with impunity. It will be interesting to watch how the Aussies tame his aggression. “As this event has shown they are very competitive. They have great talent and have plenty of match-winners. It will not be easy to beat them,” said Clarke about the challenge awaiting his team. Considering the form that Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron White and Michael Hussey are in, Clarke has little to worry on the batting front. But the skipper would be slightly concerned about his own form as he is yet to strike big in the event. England have a decent pace attack with Stuart Broad being the in-form strike bowler. The two teams have ended the sub-continental supremacy in the event and given the history between the two rivals, the contest promises to be an exciting one but Australia go in as favourites as their team has the depth to deal with England’s tenacity.
— PTI |
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No brawl happened in West Indies pub: Nehra
“There would be many fans who would tell that something happened but as far as my knowledge goes, no untoward incident happened with us. We went to have our dinner there and were watching the West Indies and Australia match. Rest of the things that I am listening now, I have no knowledge of anything,” he added. After India were knocked out of the World Cup, media reports emerged that players, including Nehra, were involved in an ugly brawl with cricket fans in a pub in the West Indies. India team manager in the West Indies, Ranjib Biswal has also denied the reports but admitted that an argument did take place. “That incident never took place. It was just a verbal talk and there is nothing substantial to that. There was an argument because the boys, who went there (to the pub) for dinner, were harassed by some Indian fans. There is nothing much about it,” Biswal said. Meanwhile, Nehra threw his weight behind captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is under fire for the debacle in the Twenty20 World Cup. Indians didn’t win a single Super Eight match and Dhoni’s tactical blunders have been blamed for the losses but Nehra backed his skipper. “Under his (Dhoni) captaincy India became the number one Test side and number two in ODIs and have been doing so well in the last 18 months. Just by one or two Twenty20 matches, one can’t undo the last 18 months’ hard work.
— PTI |
Going into the final over of the innings, the Aussies needed 18 runs to win. But Hussey turned the match on its head with unalloyed pyrotechnics, putting the issue across Pakistan with one ball to spare. “That is probably the best I have ever played. I earlier considered the Ashes Test in Adelaide where I hit the last ball for a six as my best ever cricket innings. But this was the semis and a very crucial match for us. It is the best innings I have ever played,” he said. Hussey said he wasn’t confident that Australia could achieve the target and still can’t believe that his team has actually made the finals, where it will take on England tomorrow. “Even I had plenty of doubts on whether we could score the runs. I can’t believe it myself.” Looking back at the incredible knock, Hussey said he took time to get his eye in before he started hitting the ball all over the park. “Initially, I take a few balls to get in. That is what I was trying to do, to get the strike. By the end of the innings I was trying to hit every ball. It happened to go my way. I am very, very happy,” said the beaming middle-order batsman. Asked about his thoughts going into the last over, Hussey said he just wanted to hit every ball out of the stadium. “I just wanted to try and hit every ball for a shot. If he had bowled yorkers and they were perfect, there wasn’t much you can do about it. But he (Saeed Ajmal) missed his length just by little bit. “I told myself, God please hit the last ball with the middle of the bat. I didn’t know what it felt like till I did it. I was delighted to see the elation on my teammates faces when they ran in. I am so excited to be in the final.” — PTI
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BCCI mulls over code of conduct for ‘party animals’
Speaking to the TNS, BCCI’s treasurer MP Pandove not only expressed concerns over the notoriety, earned by these parties but even it’s repercussions on the team’s performance. “Ever since the IPL season, we get one or two news reports daily criticising such parties. We are going to take this issue in the upcoming meeting and most likely a proper code of conduct would be set for the players for such late night parties,” he said. According to Pandove, most of the board members feel the need of this code to ensure that Glamorous quotient does not take over cricket IPL in years to come. The code will have clear-cut guidelines on how a player is expected to carry himself during the off-the-field
functions. Expressing his views against late night parties being arranged after matches Pandove feels that this ‘unwinding’ can at times have disastrous effects on player’s performance. “Personally I am against the late night parties these are bound to have bad effects on player’s fitness and performance. We have to draw a line somewhere. A cricketer can not and should not be made to be partying like the professional models all night as their work requisites are quite different,” he says. On being questioned
on his take of criticism of IPL on various grounds including behaviour of certain players at parties, Pandove asserted that IPL was one of the best things that had happened for cricket and it would be unfair to reject
or criticize it for the reasons other than cricket. |
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India beat Egypt, reach Azlan Shah final
Ipoh (Malaysia), May 15 India will take on Korea in the summit clash tomorrow. India had earlier made six appearances in the final of the tournament and ended on the victorious side on four occasions in 1985, 1991, 1995 and 2009. They had lost to Argentina in the 2008 title clash by a golden goal. Contrary to the result, India were made to struggle in the first half by the Egyptians and were denied the lead till the 34th minute when Mahadik flicked from their sixth penalty corner. Though the Indian forwards attacked relentlessly from the start, initially they found the Egyptian defence like a wall, especially goalkeeper Mabrouk Mohamed. Indian forwardline comprising Shivendra Singh, Rajpal, Mandeep Antil and Tushar were ably supported up by Gurbaj Singh, Arjun Halappa, Vikas Pillay and Ravi Pal Singh in the midfield but Mahadik's goal was what they could manage in the first half.
— PTI |
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AFI says no to Bangalore run
New Delhi, May 15
He said at the AFI annual general meeting held in Maneswar (Haryana) on February 12 and 13, it was unanimously decided that the AFI would streamline road running in the country as concern had been expressed about India’s best distance runners being affected by road running, especially in the year of the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Bhanot said it was surprising that Procam, whose representative was present at the Maneswar meeting, should go ahead and attempt to organise the event despite not having AFI’s permission to conduct it. He said the AFI’s annual calendar had been drawn up carefully against the backdrop of the preparations of the athletes for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.
— TNS |
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