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India’s Tour of England
Sehwag set to join Indian team, Gautam Gambhir declared fit
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Tendulkar’s intervention led to Bell’s reinstatement: Report
India played like Bangladesh: Boycott
Parliamentary panel takes BCCI to task
New-look Indian boxing team heads for Asian Championship
Pragyan Ojha to
represent Surrey
Woods signs up for Australian Open
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India’s Tour of England
New Delhi, August 2 Dhoni has won everything there is to win - the T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup, and No. 1 slot on the Test list. It can’t be that he doesn’t know anything about captaincy. But that ‘all-win’ Dhoni doesn’t seem to have reached England. India lost the second Test for two reasons - their inability to play the bouncy stuff and sheer bad decisions on the field, combined with ragged bowling. Spot the fielder Dhoni was quite accurate after the match about counting the number of overs bowled by the Indians and the number of Test played by them over the past few months. He didn’t mention the IPL. That being the sacred cow, is not to be touched. What he did forget to mention, however, is the number of runs that went through third-man, at Lord’s, in the first innings at Trent Bridge and more pugnaciously for India, in the second. Third-man seems to be alien land for Dhoni. Maybe because he, be it while keeping or batting, has it in his blind side. He has to be blind not to see the amount of runs that India conceded in that region, a quarter of the huge England total, if not more. He also has to be cussed to the degree of irresponsibility not to concede that he needed a fielder there. Keeping a man at backward-point fielder is basically trying to set a field for bad bowling. This fielder comes into play only when the bowler bowls short and wide and is square-cut. Any shot to either side of the fielder will find the fence, as it happened through the England innings. Runs through third-man come off a few glides and a lot of edges. So basically Dhoni’s message to his bowlers was, “Bowl badly, and I will give you a fielder. Bowl well and get the edge, and it will be a boundary”. India conceded runs by the gallons through this region, but no, the skipper and coach didn’t think this was a gap worth plugging. Third-man fielders aren’t fashionable nowadays. But we aren’t discussing bling or the latest I-Pad here. This was a must for India, to reduce the run flow and consequently possibly make England bat with lot less freedom. Then we have the bat-pad. Kevin Pietersen began the rot for India with that double-century at Lord’s. Right from the start, he would go on the front-foot, step outside off-stump and play the medium-pacers through mid-on and mid-wicket. From Ball One. Many of these attempted shots found the inside edge of the bat, then pad, and flew to the bat-pad position. So a forward short-leg, or a short mid-wicket? No, not till late into the second innings of the second Test, by which time India’s goose was cooked. Floundering fitness Test One saw Zaheer Khan hit the brakes after 13.3 overs, not to be seen thereafter apart from very ginger post-match jogging. Test Two saw Harbhajan Singh develop some lower abdomen muscle issues which prevented him from bowling and in all probability keep him away from the third Test. No coincidence, since these two look unfittest of the unfit on-field. Harbhajan, at 31, can’t run half as fast as either Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar, mostly can’t bend. Proof that there is no real fitness regime. Cricket is pretty forgiving that way. But while the reason being touted is dodgy stomach muscles, it is understood that it could well be the right knee, which takes the load after he lands on his delivery stride. But BCCI won’t tell. Zaheer is never beyond bowling fit. The rest aren’t exactly cracking the sound barrier either. They show the turning power of the Titanic and agility akin to a London double-decker with two flat tyres. The fielding in the deep was a parody. But they were tired, as Dhoni says, from bowling for so long. That can be a reason. Poor fielding positions and even poorer advice about the top opposition batsmen play from Fletcher, a man who spent years with them, are not excusable. |
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Sehwag set to join Indian team, Gautam Gambhir declared fit
London, August 2 Sehwag will join his teammates on Wednesday and is expected to play the two-day game against Northamptonshire to check his fitness ahead of the third Test beginning at Birmingham on August 10. The Indian team, trailing the four-match series 0-2 and battling with injuries to key players, got a boost with Gambhir being declared fit for the game. Gambhir sat out of the second Test because of an elbow injury. "Gambhir has recovered from the injury. He is sure for the next Test," Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. The Indians are hopeful that pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who was also ruled out of the second Test because of a hamstring strain, will be fit for the third. Zaheer has started light practice sessions and will have to prove his fitness in the two-day game against Northamptonshire as it is unlikely that the Indians will risk selecting him without assessing his fitness. Sehwag's arrival will serve as a big morale-booster for the embattled team which has not really lived upto its reputation as the number one Test side. The 32-year-old opener, who missed the series in the West Indies and the first two Tests in England because of a shoulder surgery that had ruled him out for at least two months, is expected to bolster India's batting. India crashed to a humiliating 319-run defeat with a day to spare in the second Test at Trent Bridge on Tuesday to give England a 2-0 lead in the series. They also lost the first Test at Lord's by 196 runs. Now India will have to win at least one of the remaining two Tests to prevent England from snatching away their number one Test ranking. Sehwag, who has scored 7,694 runs in 87 Tests at an average of 53.43 with 22 three-figure knocks including two triple centuries, would get just one warm-up game to acclimatise to the conditions. In the absence of Sehwag and at times Gautam Gambhir, India tried three different opening combinations. The pair of Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund opened the innings in the three-match Test series in the West Indies that India won 1-0. Vijay, however, failed to make a mark in the Caribbean, scoring just 72 runs in three Tests. However, Mukund, who had made his debut in that series, impressed with 147 runs. As a result, he opened with Gambhir in the first Test against England at Lord's, but after the Delhi opener was declared unfit to play in the second Test, Mukund faced the new ball in Rahul Dravid's company. But so far nothing has clicked with England's bowlers having completely dominated their batsmen. Apart from Dravid and VVS Laxman, most of the Indian batsmen have struggled to find their form. — PTI
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Tendulkar’s intervention led to Bell’s reinstatement: Report
London, August 2 According to 'The Daily Mail', Dhoni refused to entertain England skipper Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower's request for reinstating Bell, who was run out after leaving his crease claiming to be under the impression that tea break had been taken on the third day of the match which England won by 319 runs yesterday. "Sachin Tendulkar has emerged as the key figure behind India's dramatic change of heart that led to them recalling Ian Bell after controversially running him out," the newspaper reported. "Dhoni was asked three times on the field whether he was appealing and each time he said yes. Then when Flower and Strauss went to see Dhoni and Fletcher they said their captain insisted the decision would stand. Tendulkar was the voice in the dressing room that got Bell reinstated," the daily quoted a source as saying. The newspaper said Tendulkar successfully managed to avert a major controversy. "It is no surprise that one of the greatest players to ever grace the game would be such an influential figure in such a big decision and would be aware of the implications of the run-out standing. "The atmosphere between the teams would have been tense for the rest of the summer while the sometimes fraught relationship between the two countries' boards would have been further stretched," the report said. Describing Tendulkar as the "most influential person in Indian cricket", the newspaper said, "Once Tendulkar had spoken Dhoni listened and a decision that — according to the letter of the law — was perfectly fair was swiftly overturned." — PTI
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India played like Bangladesh: Boycott
Nottingham, August 2 Boycott, in his column for Daily Telegraph, wrote India are unlikely to improve in the next Test and their opposite number looks a much more determined unit. "I don't see how India can recover and beat England. It doesn't matter who they bring in. The Indian batsmen don't like the short ball and the Indian seamers do not have the pace and intensity of England's bowlers so come to Edgbaston all you England supporters and see Strauss's team win again," he wrote. "There were times at Trent Bridge when India looked like Bangladesh in disguise. Their ground fielding was atrocious, their bowling was wayward and lacking thought. "The field placings were non-existent and their batting apart from Dravid in the first innings and Tendulkar in the second was hopeless." Boycott was all praise for the Trent Bridge wicket which provided assistance to both batsmen and the bowlers. India could not bat well but England's 544 in their second innings is a testimony to the surface offering enough for the batsmen. "Overall it was a fantastic cricket match. It was a great advert for the game and a superb victory by England. "Cricket should be played on more pitches like this. They give the bowlers an opportunity to get into the game rather than flat surfaces where batsmen plunder mountains of runs. "There were some great individual performances. But don't forget for two days it was nip and tuck who was going to win the game. With India having a lead of 67 on the third morning, if Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell had got out cheaply, Dhoni's team may well have won." Boycott said England won because they played with the right attitude. "But the difference between these two teams is England want it more. They are determined to be number one in the world and nothing is going to stop them. "With India, you get the impression they have turned up and are going through the motions. That is not good enough against this England team." Warne attacks MSD London: Australian spin legend Shane Warne has launched a severe attack on India's young batsmen and felt Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy was being affected by his below par wicket-keeping as the visitors slumped to a massive 319-run defeat against England in the second Test. Warne said to derail India an opposition just need to dismiss their three most experienced batsmen as the rest of the willow-wielders in the side lack fighting spirit. "As far as the batting is concerned, it is three down, all down. If you get Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman out, the rest all follow suit because they can't handle the intensity of the situation," Warne wrote in the 'Daily Telegraph'. Warne was particularly critical of Suresh Raina and finds the left-hander a misfit for the challenging five-day format. — Agencies
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Parliamentary panel takes BCCI to task
New Delhi, August 2 The Parliamentary panel, headed by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, accused the Income Tax Department (ITD) of being "very lenient" on the BCCI to enable it to "enrich its coffers at the expense of the exchequer". The report of the committee, which was tabled in Parliament today, noted that the gentleman’s game, cricket, was getting "sullied and embroiled in transgressions of law off the field". The committee noted that BCCI was granted income tax concession to the tune of Rs 225.28 crore for the assessment years 2004-05 to 2006-07, on the basis of the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) circular of 1984, which clarified that promotion of sports was covered by the definition of a "charitable activity", though the registration granted to the BCCI for being involved in charitable activity had since been withdrawn on December 28, 2009. "But the Income Tax Department has not been able to complete scrutiny assessment for some years," the report stated. The committee felt that ITD had been very lenient in taxing the BCCI and demanded that the matter should be thoroughly probed and an Action Taken Report be furnished to the committee within one month. "It is a matter of surprise that when the crass commercialisation of cricket was visible to the entire world, the ITD chose to ignore it. When they finally woke up from their slumber and decided to withdraw the tax exemption, it was on a mere ‘technical’ ground of promoting other sports," the report said. The committee also collected information regarding investments made by IPL franchisees like Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, which were routed from outside India through entities located in countries such as Mauritius, Bahamas and British Virgin Island, without seeking the approval of the RBI, FIPB or other agencies concerned.
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New-look Indian boxing team heads for Asian Championship
New Delhi, August 2 The team will be headed today for the event, starting on Wednesday in Incheon, Korea. The country had finished a creditable third in the event in 2009, with Suranjoy Singh becoming the first Indian in 15 years to strike gold at the tournament. Besides, India won a couple of silver medals — through Jai Bhagwan and Thokchom Nanao Singh — and four bronze medals. Vijender was among the bronze medallists but arguably the biggest star in the team after his Olympic and World Championship bronze medals. This time, neither Suranjoy nor Vijender are part of the team as both of them are preserving themselves for the World Championships in September, also the first qualifying event for the London Olympics next year. The team's Cuban coach B I Fernandes predicts a five-medal this time given that the team is a mix of youth and experience. "We should get at least five medals this time. If we are lucky then we might get gold also. It is a big tournament where some of the best boxers in the world are competing," said Fernandes. "This tournament, for some countries, is an exposure trip ahead of World Championships. So, we might see some very tough boxers in action. But then our boys are also very good and even though this team features some very raw guys, medals can still be expected of them," added the team's Indian coach Ramanand. — PTI
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Pragyan Ojha to
represent Surrey
New Delhi, August 2 Incidentally, the BCCI which normally doesn't like players going to England have given consent to left-arm spinner's application since there isn't much first-class cricket in India till November. Ojha is planning to leave in a week's time and might make his debut for Surrey against Northamptonshire. "With not much cricket around for me at the moment, I thought it would be best if I could utilise the time by playing some county cricket in England," Ojha said. — PTI |
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Woods signs up for Australian Open
The 14-times major winner will return to competition for the first time since May at this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in the United States after missing the last two majors because of leg injuries. Golf Australia Chief Executive Stephen Pitt told a news conference at the Lakes Golf Club that Woods had signed up for the Nov. 10-13 tournament in Sydney. Woods joins Presidents Cup captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples in the field, which also features defending champion and 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy as well as American top 20 players Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. "There is no doubt whatsoever, it will be one of the best fields ever assembled for an Australian Open Championship and there are still major player announcements to be made over the coming weeks," Pitt said. Couples will lead the United States against the rest of the world barring Europe in the Nov. 17-20 Presidents Cup and has previously said that, if fit, Woods would be part of his 12-man team for the contest at the Royal Melbourne club. Woods, who won his last title at the 2009 Australia Masters, has slipped to 28th in the world rankings as he rebuilds his life both on and off the course after injury and his confession to a string of extra-marital affairs. The 35-year-old American remains, however, among the biggest draw cards for golf fans. "With Tiger in town the eyes of the world will again be on Australia's global events city," said New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell, whose government has helped fund Woods's participation. "We caught the Shark and now we have snared the Tiger to give him the chance to join the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson on the Open's honour roll." — Reuters
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