New Delhi, September 5
The England series was always going to be a war, a battle of attrition on the field and a war of words off it. But even the most pessimistic of Indian fans - or the most virulent England supporter - wouldn’t have bargained for the number of casualties that the visitors have incurred, through bad practice and bad luck. So much so that every fringe player back home has his bags packed - never knowing who will be the next one headed for the UK.

Sehwag (pic) was supposed to be suffering from some sort of vertigo, with some problem in his ear canal, but the Oval saw him clutching his dodgy right shoulder again.

The nadir for India’s trying series was reached on Monday when Sachin Tendulkar old toe injury flared up enough to put him out of action for four weeks, putting him out not only of the One-day International series currently underway (Badrinath has been named Tendulkar’s replacement), but also the T20 Champions League beginning in India from September 19.

So effectively, the original 17-man squad sent to England for the Test series, and the subsequent sides for the only T20 and then the ODI series have seen replacements galore, a dizzying array of names as the list grows longer by the match.

Right from Day One at Lord’s, where Zaheer Khan bowled 13.3 overs and then limped out, India have been battling the scourge of injuries and replacements, some which could have been avoided. After Zaheer was out, the BCCI did what they do best - hedge.

Initially, Zaheer was supposed to be good to bowl in the second innings, which then became the second Test before R.P. Singh was called up as a replacement. That in itself was a surprise, but that is another story.

Hurt Sachin to miss ODIs

Laid low by a spate of injuries, India suffered a big jolt with Sachin Tendulkar also ruled out of the ODI series as the demoralised Indians go into the second one-dayer against England on Tuesday. Tendulkar’s toe injury aggravated just before the five-match series opener on Saturday.

Then Harbhajan Singh cultivated a stomach strain, but he wasn’t missed, really. Then came the fourth Test at the Oval and Gautam Gambhir did himself grief with an attempted catch. He was deployed in the batting - like the walking wounded sent in to defend a crumbling fortress - but he was out of action well before that.

So we had RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha being flown in as replacements for Zaheer and Harbhajan. Yuvraj Singh was next on the line and his attempt to make a mark as a Test batsman was dented, along with his index finger, at Trent Bridge. In came Virat Kohli.

Gambhir was carried through to the T20 and ODI teams before it was decided that he wasn’t up to it. By this time the T20 and ODIs came, the bullet had to be bitten and Ravindra Jadeja was called up. By this time, Ishant Sharma’s case, as always “not serious” initially, saw him being knocked out, and Varun Aaron was the next to take a flight.

Rohit Sharma has had a lot of injury woes in life and things didn’t get any better, as he faced one ball in the first ODI, had a fractured finger, and was replaced by Manoj Tiwary.

Then there is the case of Virender Sehwag. The opener took it upon himself to stay out of the first two Tests, but by the third, he was absolutely essential, since it was mayhem. He came, played two balls at Edgbaston to get a king pair and then struggled at the Oval.

Sehwag was supposed to be suffering from some sort of vertigo, with some problem in his ear canal, but the Oval saw him clutching his dodgy right shoulder again. Whatever be the case, he wasn’t in any shape to play and lo and behold, in came Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane has possibly been the best bit of news for India in this tour, along with Parthiv Patel, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is by far the worst list of failed fitness tests in the history of India cricket.

While the on-field injuries were there for all to see -Yuvraj, Gambhir and Rohit, the rest were a culmination of poor fitness and no recovery time. Zaheer has never been fit in the true sense, while Sehwag was not in this case, irrespective of what he declared. Harbhajan’s being ‘unfit’ wasn’t such a bad thing while Ishant fell to sheer overwork. This will be a series long remembered. Some of these players may well come back to play good cricket, but many will be tested, fitness-wise, from now till the time that they realise that it is beyond them to recover. The BCCI is still not really reacting. But then, it was never known to react till the chips were really down. 

It shows the belief that this England team has that whatever the Indian team will do it can do better. The depth in its batting makes England a formidable one-day team as was seen in the Test series when the lower-order rescued them in the first two Tests.

If that hadn’t happened then the course of the series could well have changed. That will now be part of the ifs and buts that is such a great part of the game and which the supporters thrive on.

What is surely not part of the ifs and buts of the game is that technology has still not got foolproof and therefore to use it is not only changing the course of the match but also to risk a player’s career. It may well be alright for a Rahul Dravid to get the bad bargain in the DRS because he is an established player with a marvellous career record in both forms of the game and can survive a bad call and get another match to play.

But if it is a young player who gets the wrong end of technology then it could well mean the end of his career what with competition for places being so strong.

By the way the UDRS has gone this season for him it can be called ‘Unfortunate Dravid Removal System’. Yes there is a good case to use technology to minimise errors on the field for that can ease tensions between the teams but the technology has to be foolproof and not 95 or 97 per cent correct in which case you may as well have a human error.

With virtually all the decisions referred to technology going England’s way, it is now understandable why its players, especially its bowlers and the media, was so upset that India were refusing to have it for the series. Unfortunately for the BCCI, not having a good public relations team means that they have blown the chance to now show why they were right in not accepting the DRS.

Parthiv Patel was quite magnificent as he almost got a hundred and his opening salvo with debutant Rahane gave India just the start it needed. Dhoni missed a trick in not sending Raina or coming in himself when Patel got out. It could well have meant a total of 300 rather than the one the team finally ended up with.

London, September 5
England had planned to use a " secret delivery" to flummox Indian batsmen in the ongoing ODI series but the idea was dropped as the team management thought it would be banned for being against the spirit of the game.

James Anderson

According to a report in 'The Daily Telegraph', "England's bowlers have been preparing to unveil a new delivery which the England management claim to be legal, although they expect will be quickly banned."

"The plan was to use it either in the current one-day international series against India or in the return series in India next month, but may now be prevented by the outcry it could cause."

The daily said that England's bowlers even experimented with it during a private net-session at the Riverside ground. The experiment involves "the bowler tossing the ball from his left hand to his right hand just before release."

Although the English team management doesn't consider such a delivery to be illegal, it feels the ball would be banned by the ICC if used.

"International Cricket Council will move quickly to ban this experiment, if they introduce it during the last four internationals of this series or in India.

"And trying this delivery during India's tour of England, so soon after the Ian Bell incident at Trent Bridge, would be another test of diplomatic relations between the two most powerful boards of the cricket world," the newspaper said. — PTI

New York, September 5
Rafa Nadal sent shockwaves through the U.S. Open on Sunday when he collapsed during his post-match news conference because of severe cramping in his leg as the first week of the tournament ended in dramatic fashion.

The scorching conditions have been a key factor in the 18 retirements so far at the final major of the season, and for a brief moment it appeared the defending men's champion would join them in an event that has become a survival of the fittest.

Italy's Flavia Pennetta was so overcome by the humidity that she began dry retching during her match against China's Peng Shuai while Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 champion, bowed out after wilting in the sun.

There was no sign of what was to come from Nadal as the Spanish second seed eased his way past David Nalbandian 7-6, 6-1, 7-5, although the pair played at the hottest part of the day and were soaked in sweat almost as soon as they started.

By his own lofty standards, it was not a great performance but Nadal still overcame an experienced and streetwise opponent and has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows this year.

His title defence remains on track but Nadal will be well aware that improvement is needed. His serve, which provided the foundation for his win last year, remains shaky and he is still struggling to regain his confidence after losing the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic. "I think I have played better every day," Nadal said.

“Today, for moments, I played, in my opinion, at a very, very positive level, very high level."

Ordos, September 5
A relatively young Indian hockey team will have to play out of their skin and avoid silly errors against a formidable South Korea here tomorrow if they desire to keep their unbeaten run intact at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy.

Having started the tournament on a high with a 5-0 pounding of hosts China, India suffered a setback of sorts when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Japan, largely due to a lapse in concentration from the defensive line which led to a last-minute equaliser.

But against the nimble-footed Koreans the Indians cannot afford to relax at any moment as a defeat at this stage of the tournament can jeopardise their chances of a podium finish.

Unlike China and Japan, the Indians are also aware that the Koreans are a much superior opposition side in terms of fitness as well as experience.

India would be eyeing an outright win as a defeat or another draw can make life difficult for the Rajpal Singh-led side ahead of tough fixtures against Guangzhou Asian Games gold-medallist champions Pakistan and runners-up Malaysia.

Under new coach Micheal Nobbs, the Indians have exhibited a new style of hockey in this tournament — a blend of India's aggression and Australia's sharpness — which so far paid dividends for the erstwhile Asian giants.

But India has a chance against the experienced Koreans if they can hold their rivals in the midfield and cut the runs down the flanks.

The Indian defence of Rupinder Pal Singh and V Raghunath have played well so far in this tournament but need more experience to soak pressure. In the earlier matches, India beat hosts China 5-0, but then struggled to a 1-1 draw against Japan and will have to improve their performance. — PTI 

New Delhi, September 5
Promising lifter Purnima Chanu won three sliver medals in 48kg girls category to open India's tally in the 13th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships at Pattaya in Thailand today.

Purnima won a silver each in snatch by lifting 52kg, clean and jerk (67kg) and total lift (119kg) on the first day of the Championships.

Chiang Meng Chun of Chinese Taipei ran away with three gold medals with efforts of 64kg in snatch, 85kg in clean and jerk and 149kg in total lift.

India are being represented by 11 lifters, including five girls, in the Asian Youth Championships.

The competition will be followed by Asian Junior Championships in which 15 Indians, including seven women, will be taking part. — PTI

Daegu, September 5
There were tears and glory, a solitary world record and athletics firsts. There was even a Daegu curse. But for most, the story of the 13th world athletics championships will be disqualifications.

Drama, of one kind or another, was ever-present against a back drop of velvet mountains draped in mist. Central to it all, good or bad, was the king showman of the sport — the world's fastest man Usain Bolt.

Athletics' controversial no-second-chances rule on false starts deprived South Korean fans at the stadium, and millions watching worldwide, the chance to watch the Jamaican compete in the blue riband 100 metres final.

Anxiety caused him to burst from the blocks a split second early and that was it. The sport's biggest draw card left the track and his compatriot and training partner Yohan Blake took his title in an anti-climactic race.

Bolt redeemed himself by retaining the 200 metres title — and then anchoring the 4x100m team to a world record 37.04 seconds in that final — and all he wanted to do was look ahead.

"Now I have to come to the Olympics in London, do my extreme best and blow people's minds," he said.—Reuters

BRIEFLY

BCB axe captain Shakib
Dhaka: Bangladesh have sacked captain Shakib Al Hasan and his deputy Tamim Iqbal following the team's dismal tour of Zimbabwe, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Monday. Zimbabwe, returning to test cricket after a six-year exile for political reasons, beat Bangladesh by 130 runs in a one-off match. The home side also won the one-day international series 3-2, Bangladesh's first limited-overs series defeat by Zimbabwe in six years. "Shakib and Tamim and have been removed from their posts as they failed to lead the team to success in Zimbabwe," BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said. — Reuters

ITF: Indians make progress
Chennai: Indians had a field day in the opening round of the Servo ITF junior tennis tournament here on Monday while three foreign entries also progressed. Jeong In Kyo of Korea easily beat India’s Bhruhad Manka 6-1, 6-3, while Samuel Sutton of Great Britan ran out a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 winner against Garry Tokas and Canada’s Anjana Suresh overcame Parveen Sathiyaraj 6-0, 6-1. — IANS

Big field for squash tourney
Chennai: The third Indian Junior Open Squash Championship, commencing at the Indian Squash Academy here Tuesday, has attracted 295 players from seven countries. The five-day tournament offers a purse of $10,000 and the field includes players from Hong Kong (17), Malaysia (4), Sri Lanka (16), Jordan (4), Nepal (4) and the US (1) besides hosts India. This tournament is an Asian Squash Federation (ASF) Junior Super Series Silver event and part of the World Squash Federation (WSF) Junior circuit. — IANS

Shahdara Club enter semis
New Delhi: Shahdara Club hit back to beat Simla Youngs 3-1 to enter the semi-final from Group Y in the Delhi Soccer Association Senior Division League at the Thyagaraj Nagar Sports Complex here today. Simla Youngs took the lead through inside-left Manoj Chaudhary in the fifth minute and held on the lead till first half. But on resumption, Shahdara went on an all out attack and slotted in three goals through Vikram Singh, Baljit Singh and Harvinder Singh. — TNS

Golf: Watson clings to lead
Massachusetts: Bubba Watson regained his composure after dropping three shots on the back nine holes to grab a one stroke lead after the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sunday. The American made a birdie at the penultimate hole for a round of one-under-par 70 after losing his advantage with three bogeys between the 11th and 15th holes. He finished the day on 11-under-par. — Reuters

Chowrasia continues to lead
Kuala Lumpur: He might have missed the cut at the Omega European Masters last week but SSP Chowrasia continued to lead the race to become the Asian Tour's Order of Merit champion. Chowrasia, winner of the season-opening Avantha Masters on home soil, has accumulated USD 410,077 thus far but his lead was trimmed by second-placed Siddikur of Bangladesh, who earned USD 33,526 for his tied 18th place finish at Crans Montana. — PTI

Galle pitch rated poor
Dubai: The pitch of the Galle Test between Sri Lanka and Australia has been rated as poor by the match referee Chris Broad, the ICC announced today. In accordance with the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, which came into effect in 2006 and applies to all Tests, One-dayers and T20Is, Broad submitted a report to the International Cricket Council expressing his concerns over the quality of the pitch. Galle hosted the first Test between the two sides from August 31 to September 3. — PTI