Melbourne, December 23
In a defiant captain's swansong, Ricky Ponting hit a fighting century in a losing cause as Australia bowed out of the World Cup earlier this year and then spoke of his hopes for a "Tendulkar-like" re-birth.

Nine months later, the gritty Tasmanian is still gazing at the horizon, waiting for a new dawn that has stubbornly refused to break. In Australia's four-Test series against India starting December 26, Ponting will face off once again with the man he desperately wants to emulate.

Former captains alike and the most prolific run-scorers of all time in Tests and one-dayers, Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar are still two of the brightest stars in cricket's firmament.

They head into the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground both desperate for a century but for very different reasons. Tendulkar, afforded God-like status in a nation of a billion people, needs one more to complete his 100th international century, a near-mythical landmark that many doubt will ever be eclipsed.

Ponting, who stepped down from the captaincy in March and turned 37 on Monday, needs a first Test ton in nearly two years merely to save his career.

Each have had their chances, with Tendulkar especially tantalising as he reached 94 in the third Test against the West Indies in Mumbai last month before nicking an edge to the slips.

The 38-year-old also threatened with a 76 in the first West Indies Test following a 91 in the fourth Test against England at the Oval in August.

He arrives in Australia still near the peak of his powers, having amassed 651 runs in eight Tests for an average of 46.50 this year. Ponting, conversely, is a shadow of his former dominant self. Two half-centuries in his last four Tests have lifted his average to a paltry 24.84 for the past year.

Ponting's recent dismissals, flailing across the crease with the ball invariably cannoning into his pads, have been seen as an indication of a man no longer the master of his technique, let alone the match of the world's best bowlers.

With debate raging about his place in the team, his captain Michael Clarke has backed him to follow Tendulkar into his own Indian summer - as soon as that elusive third digit again appears next to his name on the scoreboard.

"Once he makes that score, he'll go on like Sachin and the next few years of his career could be his best," Clarke said before Australia's tour of South Africa last month. "Ricky's a huge help to a lot of the young guys in our group, passing on experience and knowledge. I still do a lot of work with him on my batting," he said.

Ponting and Tendulkar will undoubtedly loom large in cricket long after they bow out of the game but their careers may be viewed quite differently. Tendulkar's legend was born when the curly-haired 16-year-old defiantly batted on with a blood-stained shirt after being struck in the mouth by a Waqar Younis delivery during his 1989 debut in Pakistan.

His aura only grew from there as he racked up century after century with an effortless grace that Don Bradman remarked was similar to his own. Ponting hammered 96 on debut as a 20-year-old against Sri Lanka, and his fiercely competitive nature and front-foot aggression has propelled him to 39 Test centuries and 42 Test wins as captain, the most ever.

Moulded in a succession of ruthless teams bound by a culture of winning, the belligerent Tasmanian remains a figure of respect rather than adulation in Australia. The public is unlikely ever to forgive or forget his crime of captaining the team to a third Ashes series loss earlier this year, and a protracted departure will not help. — Reuters 

Patiala, December 23
Though the six dope-tainted women athletes have escaped with one-year bans, it would be a very tall order for them to make it to the London Olympics. They would not only have to qualify at almost the last possible cut-off date, by clocking among the top 16 times in the world, but also ensure that the world athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), does not contest their escaping with lighter sentences.

The Indian athletics fraternity is happy following the one-year ban for the six top athletes, Ashwini Akkunji, Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Mary Tina Thomas, Priyanka Panwar and Juana Murmu, which leaves these athletes with a minute chance to qualify for the Olympics, subject to a final nod by IAAF. The London dream still looks distant, given the fact that the IAAF’s clearance is still awaited.

The findings of the NADA Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel pertaining to these athletes almost corroborate the findings of the Justice Mukul Mudgal panel that gave a benefit of doubt to the athletes, establishing that they took food supplements provided by their coach and more or less were unaware of its ingredients.

The panel is headed by Dinesh Dayal, with Dr. N.K Khadiya and Ashok Kumar (Sportsperson) as members. Reacting to the NADA decision, Mudgal said that his report was based on concrete findings and said that there was no effort on part of any one to bail out these athletes as all evidences were taken into account during the course of his own report. “The NADA verdict gives these athletes some hope,” he told The Tribune over phone.

“We are hopeful that this judgment would help us try our luck and qualify for the London Olympics and we will start rigorous training soon,” claimed Mandeep, who would be the first along with Juana to complete her ban period, on June 23.

Meanwhile, responding to a query from The Tribune last week, the IAAF had made it clear that they would not buy the theory of the Indian authorities, including NADA, in trying to bail out their top athletes and would challenge any decision that helps these athletes escape with a lighter sentence, indicating more proceedings before the athletes get a final clearance.

“If the NADA-appointed Anti-Disciplinary Panel gives them any benefit of doubt, the IAAF would surely call for the entire case file at the earliest and challenge the sentence in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland,” IAAF had said. IAAF sources confirmed that they might challenge them as per rules in the NADA Appeals Panel after the verdict.

Melbourne, December 23
As the fans world over eagerly await Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international ton, punters Down Under have placed the bets on the star cricketer getting to the elusive mark in the series-opener against Australia, starting here on December 26.

The cricketer reaching the milestone figure at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), has evoked a bid of 9/4 as per the sportsbet.com.au, an online bookmaker, the Australian media reported today.

Tendulkar is one century shy of creating the record and if he misses an opportunity to get to the historic figure at the MCG the next on the favourites list is the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) with odds staked at 3/1 followed by the Perth, the venue of third Test (5/1) and the Adelaide (7/1).

The 38-year-old scored an unbeaten 92 against Chairman's XI at Canberra last week and looked in good touch during his stay at the crease. "He is in good form with a 90-odd against the Chairman's XI already under his belt since arriving in Australia and he's a very good chance to achieve the phenomenal milestone during the Boxing Day Test," said sportsbet.com.au's Ben Hawes.

"And if not, he can take some respite in the fact that the next game is at the SCG where he has pummelled Australia on several occasions," he added. — PTI 

Chandigarh, December 23
J.S. Sandhu, who died last week at the age of 85, was the longest-serving presidents of one of the oldest hockey clubs of North India, Rock Rovers. It was through Sandhu and the former Secretary of Chandigarh Hockey Association, the late Surinder Vohra that a Grade I All-India hockey tournament, named after hockey player Gurmit Singh, has been among the top events on the hockey calendar of the country.

Sandhu, a hockey player in his school and college days, retired as Superintending Engineer from the Punjab Irrigation Department in 1984. His engineering skills apart, he remained associated with various social organisations, including Freemasons. He had his early education in Shimla and Patiala, went to Government Mahendra College (Patiala), Sikh National College (Lahore), Government College (Ludhiana) and did his engineering from Punjab Engineering College.

A low profile man, Sandhu was one of the founder members of Rock Rovers Hockey Club in 1971 and remained its president till his death. In between, he also headed Chandigarh Hockey Association before voluntarily paving way for the present incumbent, Chandersekhar, to succeed him.

Though he could not attend the last two editions of All-India Gurmit Memorial hockey tournament due to ill health, he would seldom skip any hockey event in the city and its periphery. Other than hockey, his ran the Freemasons Polyclinic as well as looking after weaker sections of society, funding scores of poor students for their school, college and university studies.

Those who had known him maintain that Sandhu was an introvert, willing to help, and continued to serve society even after retiring from service. As an engineer he spent most of his time in Ferozepore Irrigation Circle. 

Mumbai, December 23
Mumbai grabbed a handsome 204-run first innings lead over Punjab and then put the visitors under pressure by reducing them to 203 for four on day three of their four-day concluding Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at the Wankhede Stadium here today.

Resuming at their overnight 308 for 5 in reply to Punjab's paltry first innings score of 226, Mumbai were all out for 430 after batting for 110 minutes this morning and then pressed on for a victory. Punjab, 56 for 2, were rallied by a century stand between captain Uday Kaul (63 not out) and their leading scorer of the season Mayank Siddhana (57), but it was broken in the last half hour to close when the latter departed.

Mumbai grabbed another wicket by dismissing Amitoz Singh cheaply and at stumps Kaul, who has batted for 218 minutes and faced 176 balls, had new batsman Bipul Sharma (1) for company.

Though the wicket held no devils for the batsmen, Mumbai would be fancying their chances tomorrow for an outright win and five points to go with it, having dismissed the main batsmen barring the left-handed Kaul.

Kshemal Waingankar bagged 2 for 55 in three spells, including the wicket of Amitoz Singh after he was brought on late for a new spell by Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer, while the other wickets were shared equally by first innings hero and debutant Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr) and Ramesh Powar. — PTI 

Melbourne, December 23
Beleaguered Australian batsman Michael Hussey has vowed to give a tough time to Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who happens to be his captain in IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, during the Test series starting here on December 26.

"He's a great guy to have around. He's very calm, relaxed and takes pressure off the players. He has enjoyed great success but we would give him a very tough time in Australia," said Hussey about his Indian captain who is looking to be the first ever to claim a Test series in Australia in 64 years.

Dhoni already has created a record of sorts in Australia when he became the leader of the first Indian team to beat Australia and claim the triangular one-day series in 2008.

Husey also hoped that the iconic Sachin Tendulkar wouldn't be able to score his 100th international hundred in Australia -- though unlike others he doesn't believe the Indian is under pressure because of it.

"I hope he doesn't get it against Australia. He's been a number one player for so long, it's a credit to his character, but I hope he doesn't get his 100th hundred in Australia. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Chess: India crush Vietnam
Mardin: Grandmaster Koneru Humpy maintained her all-win record as Indian girls blanked Vietnam 4-0 to maintain the sole second position after the end of the fifth round of the World Women Tam Chess Championship here. With four rounds still to go, China continued to lead the table with 10 match points and the Indians are just one point behind. For the fourth time in five games, Humpy showed what it takes. Riding high on confidence, the Indian mainstay won an emphatic game with black pieces against Nguyen Pham Le Thao to pave the way for another team victory. — PTI

Paes to partner Tipsaveric
Chennai: Veteran Indian tennis star Leander Paes will partner Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic in the doubles competition of the Aircel Chennai Open, starting January 2. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had won the 2011 edition but they parted ways yet again and have preferred to play with younger partners. It means that home fans will see India's top three doubles players in action in the 17th edition of the event with Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna teaming up for the season. World number nine Tipsarevic is the highest ranked player in the singles draw and was a semi-finalist in this year's event won by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. — PTI

Four picked for dope tests
Panaji: The National Anti-Doping Agency conducted random dope tests on four footballers after Dempo Sports Club's 11th round I-League encounter against Sporting Clube de Goa here. Sameer Naik, Clifton Gonsalves (both Dempo), Keita Boubacar and Rowan Pereira (both Sporting) were all asked to submit their urine samples immediately after the match at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda yesterday, according to Sporting Clube de Goa manager Angelo Albuquerque. The tests are being conducted across the country as per the guidelines of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and a player could face a ban of two years if he fails the dope test for the first time. — PTI

Williams sisters for Aus Open
Melbourne: Injury and illness may have affected their game but the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, will play in the Australian Open tennis next month. Confirming this, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said both are coming to Melbourne. Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, played in only four tournaments this year. She has decided to have an extra two weeks' preparation for Melbourne (January 16-29) and give Auckland (January 2-9) a miss. Serena, who missed the last Australian Open, has also had a bad run this year. She was hit with a heel injury and then pulmonary embolism, missing 12 months in total, not returning until June. — IANS

Saina confident for 2012
Hyderabad: Her narrow losses in various tournaments notwithstanding, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says she had a reasonably good year considering the injuries that plagued her. "Last year (2010) was fantastic, I am very happy with those victories. This year, it was kind of tough for me because, I came back from ankle injury. But still, I managed to play four finals and I reached the semifinals of Japan Open," Saina said. "I think the performance this year has been fantastic. It is just that I could not win those tournaments and I lost in the finals. So, people think that this is disappointing. But I played really well," she said. — PTI

Need to work harder: Misbah
Lahore: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-haq has said the team needs to work harder to defeat England in the upcoming tour in the UAE. Pakistan will play three Tests, three Twenty20s and four One-Day Internationals against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from January 17 onwards. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier indicated that it would send its own curators to the UAE to supervise the preparation of pitches for the upcoming series against England. Misbah described his team's performance in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka series as more than satisfactory, The News reports. — ANI