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Captain Cook steers England
Kapil worried about Zaheer’s longevity
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Humbled Hockey
Asian Champions Trophy
Sujjan seeks maiden win
Boxing contingent leaves
BCCI accused of copyright violation
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Southampton, September 7
The skipper is not in England's Twenty20 team and there were suggestions that he could leave himself out when the match was truncated. But he made nonsense of those opinions as he and Essex clubmate Ravi Bopara (24) milked the Indian bowling attack, missing some of its bigger names, after Cook and Kieswetter had got England off to a rapid start. Cook, not considered a one-day player until he was made captain at the start of the season, got to his seventh one-day international 50 in 37 balls, controlled the run chase and even unveiled a reverse sweep. With eight overs left the run rate was down to a run a ball and with wickets in hand England cruised home. Kieswetter got the England reply off to a flyer making 46 from 25 balls with three sixes, including two successive sixes from the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin. Kieswetter has attracted some criticism for making good starts and not finishing the job off and was guilty of that again as he was trapped leg before in the seventh over.
India's total was built on 54 from Ajinka Rahane - in just his second one-day international - and a whirlwind 40 from Suresh Raina, made from 19 balls. With the match shortened Raina was in Twenty20 mode as he hit three fours and three sixes and accelerated the Indian run rate towards the end of the innings before he was well caught by Ben Stokes in the final over. Tim Bresnan took two of his three wickets in that last over but the pick of the England bowlers was Graeme Swann who finished with 3-33 from five overs and gave his captain some control when India looked like getting away in the middle overs. Rahul Dravid chipped in with 32 and opener Parthiv Patel made 28 of the first 30 runs before he was caught behind off James Anderson. The third international in the five-match series takes place at the Oval in London on Friday. — AFP
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Kapil worried about Zaheer’s longevity
"If a fast bowler starts getting injured at the wrong side of age, the recovery is very difficult. He would have to do something extraordinary to come back, otherwise he would play a few matches and get injured again," said Kapil who took 434 Test wickets from 131 Tests with his fast-medium swing bowling. Zaheer has served India for 79 Tests and taken 273 wickets yet he hardly is able to go through a Test series without an injury, the latest instance being the one during the first Test at Lord's in July. There are many who also see Sachin Tendulkar nearing the end of his one-day career — he is sitting out of the ongoing one-day series because of a toe injury — due to his advancing age and preference for Test cricket. Kapil, though, believes Tendulkar's case is different to Zaheer. "With a batsman, it's different. Sachin can make a comeback. He has already done everything, there's nothing left. The one century (remaining) would come anyway.” Kapil's concern also extended to Gautam Gambhir whom he regards as a brilliant batsman. "Gambhir's an exceptional batsman. But such kind of injury could have a defining effect on his career. Head injuries such as this can affect the balance and coordination (of limbs)," Kapil said. India's disastrous campaign in the Test series in England has brought the role of coach Duncan Fletcher into question. Kapil, in reply, poses a question of his own. "Tell me one thing, if Gary Kirsten was really that great with the Indian team, the team ought not to have done so badly within a few months of his departure. He would have left the basics in place. So if Kirsten didn't play any role in India's rise, so Fletcher should also not be blamed for India's debacle." —PTI
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Cyclists allege harassment
Patiala, September 7 In another example that speaks volumes about the lackadaisical attitude of the NIS authorities, top Indian cyclists attending training camp ahead of the Asian Cycling Championship, scheduled at Bangkok from September 10, could manage only six days of training at the NIS velodrome. Alleging harassment of their campers, Indian team chief national coach Ruma Chattopadhyay said that the campers reported in Patiala on August 24, and despite her repeated reminders to NIS, she was not allowed to train or use their premises. “Their officials told us that till we get an official permission from the Sports Authority of India (SAI), New Delhi, we would not be allowed. I contacted the cycling federation officials who arranged for local accommodation,” she said. NIS Executive Director L.S. Ranawat however told The Tribune that since they had no official word from SAI pertaining to the camp, they denied permission till SAI sent an official letter on September 2. “There is a system in place and once we cleared the formalities I allowed the cyclists to train,” he stated. “Later we got permission to train at Punjabi University for a few days and our federation arranged for our stay at Gurudwara Dukhniwaran Sahib. However we had to carry our cycles to the university through heavy traffic and later return to relax before the evening session,” said the cyclists. “You cannot win medals with such shabby treatment in your own country and especially at the hands of your own fraternity.”
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Humbled Hockey Tuesday was supposed to be a day of good news for India, with the hockey team defeating the powerful South Koreans in the Asian Champions Trophy tournament in Ordos, China. Such victories have become rare, and while the team and supporters geared up to celebrate, another piece of news put hockey right back where it has been for a long time - in the dumps of despair. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) chose that very day to announce that the Champions Trophy hockey tournament, one of the big events on the FIH calendar, has been taken from India (Delhi was the host city) and the tournament will now be played on the same dates, December 3-11, at a different venue. Not only that, India would also not be allowed to participate in the tournament and had been relegated to feature in the Champions Challenge in South Africa. This is the same Indian hockey team that once was the toast of the sport. Not an event of any scale went without the side making a mark. But those days are long past. While the team struggles to make headway, its progress is in no way helped by the ugly and ungainly struggle for supremacy between those who are supposedly the guardians and promoters of the sport in India. It has now been 13 long years since India has had any real impact on the hockey world, with the Asian Games victory in 1998 in Bangkok. Coincidentally, it was the same South Koreans whom they had beaten in a tense tie-breaker to claim gold. Since then, it has been downhill all the way. They finished 5th in the Qatar Asian Games and since they failed to make the top four there, they also missed out on qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, which saw hockey being played, for the first time ever in Olympic history, without Indian participation. This is the side which was unbeatable in the early years of the Olympics, but it is only fair that we delve on only relatively recent successes. The 1975 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, where the Ajit Pal Singh-led India should have scripted a revival in the sport, seemed to be going in the right direction with the Moscow Olympics gold in 1980. But post that, successes were few and far between till 1998. The Azlan Shah Trophy, India’s last bastion of some semblance of success, also slipped out of their hands recently and as things stand, with the FIH even threatening to pull the Olympic qualifiers out of India, it won’t be much surprise if the London Olympics also don’t see the Tri-colour in the hockey ranks. Hockey is supposed to be a people’s game in India. While all sports have lost ground to cricket, a high-level hockey tournament will bring people flocking, as was evident in the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. But the way things are going in terms of cohesive application off the field and results on it, the future doesn’t look too bright. One can only hope that some sanity is brought to affairs soon. Otherwise, India will be left marvelling at the past and ruing the present and future.
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Asian Champions Trophy
Ordos, September 7 The scorers for India were Ravi Pal (9th) and Danish Mujtaba (52nd). For Malaysia, the goals were struck by Tajuddin Jalil (24th) and Muhammad Amin Rahim (32nd). India needed a win to be assured of a place in the final. A win against Malaysia would have given the Indians 10 points and a spot in the final depending on the Korea-Pakistan match to be played later today. India play Pakistan on Friday in what will be a virtual semifinal for both the teams. Pakistan and Korea are on six points each. With the draw, Malaysia is out of the reckoning for a place in the final as they are on four points. India are now on eight points with this draw. India were in attack mode right at the start as Gurwinder Singh Chandi made his customary run into the Malaysian circle but the first few appeals for penalty corners were not given by the umpire. A similar attack between Chandi, Mujtaba and Sunil also resulted in a melee but the penalty corner did not come India's way. India, however, got the goal in the ninth minute when Sunil shot into the circle and it went off the Malaysian goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin's pads. Ravi Pal picked up the high rebound and whacked it into goal. — PTI
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Singapore, September 7 The Chandigarh golfer had secured his Asian tour card with a top five finish at the Avantha Masters in February and is now looking to grab his breakthrough win at the revamped Orchid Country Club here. "This course suits my eye and I like it. The weather's here like in India, so that helps. I've been playing well but I think the Avantha Masters was the one big week for me. We've got a few tournaments in a roll and it's time to start playing well," said Sujjan, who is currently 10th on the Asian Tour Money List with USD 108,318 to his name. "Having secured my card at Avantha with a tied fifth place, the pressure's (of getting a card) is off and I can go out and play now. The courses on the Tour are great, the players are great. "I'm looking forward to some good golf for the next six to eight weeks," added Sujjan. — PTI
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Boxing contingent leaves
Patiala, September 7 Giving information in this regard, Col. P.K. Muralidharan Raja, Secretary-General of the Indian Boxing Federation, said, “This would provide great opportunity to our young athletes to rub shoulders with world’s leading competitors in their age group”. The male pugilists who are taking part in these Games are Rahul Poonia (light flyweight 49kg - Haryana), Balakrishna Vankala (flyweight 52kg - Andhra Pradesh), Surender Singh (middleweight 75kg - Haryana) and Sumit Sangwan (light heavyweight 81 kg -Delhi). G Manoharan and Lalit Prasad are the coaches. Sangwan, a silver medallist at the 2010 Asian Boxing Championships, will lead the Indian charge at the Games. He has also featured on the senior tour at the 34th National Games where he claimed top honours. Poonia, who recently won a gold medal at the Cuba Youth Olympics, is looking to build on his international experience.
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BCCI accused of copyright violation
Mumbai, September 7 Yash Raj Films which has been battling the BCCI for the past several months for royalties has gone and filed a complaint with the Marine Drive police station. The complaint filed by Novex Communications, the authorized distributor for YRF has named the International Cricket Committee and the Mumbai Cricket Association as well, according to the police. The organizers of IPL have been accused of playing the numbers from several hit films including Band, Baaja Baarat and Chak De India at the World Cup matches, the FIR stated.
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Southampton, September 7
Southampton, September 7
After Saturday's no result in Durham, Cook made 80 not out as England overhauled India's total of 187-8 made in their 23 overs, with five balls to spare, after the match was shortened because of rain.
Bell came in and immediately hit two fours off the back foot to help England race past the 100 mark in the tenth over and break the back of their target before he holed out at extra cover for 25.
Southampton, September 7
New Delhi: