Sydney, January 3
India's famed batting line-up came a cropper yet again against a disciplined Australian pace attack as they allowed the home side to wrest the early initiative on an engrossing opening day of the second Test on Tuesday.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat after winning the toss but his decision boomeranged as the visitors were dismissed for 191 in 59.3 overs on a seaming and bouncy pitch at the SCG, which is hosting its centenary Test.

But for Dhoni (57 not out) and Sachin Tendulkar (41), the Indian total would have been much lower as their other colleagues struggled against an inexperienced but disciplined opposition pace bowling attack.

Zaheer Khan though threatened to bring India back into the match with three quick scalps early in Australia's reply. The home side, who are leading the four-match Test series 1-0, were 37/3 at one stage before the experienced hands of Ricky Ponting (44 batting) and Michael Clarke (47 batting) steered them to 116/3 at close. The hosts trail by 75 runs with seven wickets in hand.

Pacers took centrestage on a day when all 13 wickets fell to them. James Pattinson (4/44), Ben Hilfenhaus (3/51) and Peter Siddle (3/55) were the irresistible force for the Australians while the magic of Zaheer fetched him 3/25 in his first spell of six overs for the visitors.

The veteran Indian left-arm pacer sent opener David Warner (8) packing off the last ball of his first over itself after the left-hander edged on to slips. VVS Laxman at second slip had the chance slip out of his hands but Sachin Tendulkar at first slip took the catch on rebound at first slip.

Zaheer took another wicket off the very first ball of his second over when Shaun Marsh edged another one to VVS Laxman who made no mistake this time.

Zaheer Khan could not get his hat-trick but before his first spell was out, he made one straighten on left-handed opener Ed Cowan and the emphatic appeal for a leg-before was promptly upheld by umpire Ian Gould.

Ponting and Clarke then showed great skills on sparring against short-pitched deliveries and playing attacking strokes now and then. Their running between the wickets was exceptional too.

Both Ponting and Clarke played several attacking strokes and by close had tilted the scales in favour of the hosts.

Ponting has so far batted for 108 minutes and hit five fours from 62 balls while Clarke has faced 59 balls and lasted 77 minutes, hitting seven fours. The two have so far put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket.

Earlier in India's innings, opener Gautam Gambhir lasted only three deliveries before his attempt to push towards mid-wicket off a James Pattinson delivery bounced more than expected and took an edge to Clarke in the second slip. — PTI

Scoreboard

India 1st innings:

Gambhir c Clarke b Pattinson 0

Sehwag c Haddin b Pattinson 30

Dravid c Cowan b Siddle 5 Tendulkar b Pattinson 41

Laxman c Marsh b Pattinson 2

Kohli c Haddin b Siddle 23

Dhoni not out 57

Ashwin c Clarke b Hilfenhaus 20

Zaheer c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0

Ishant c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0

Yadav c Haddin b Siddle 0

Extras: (b-3, lb-6, w-2, nb-2) 13

Total: (All out, 59.3 ovrs) 191

Fall of wickets: 1/0 2/30 3/55 4/59 5/96 6/124 7/178 8/178 9/186.

Bowling: Pattinson 14-3-43-4, Hilfenhaus 22-9-51-3, Siddle 13.3-3- 55-3, Hussey 2-0-8-0, Lyon 8-0-25-0.

Australia 1st innings:

Warner c Tendulkar b Zaheer 8

Cowan lbw b Zaheer 16

Marsh c Laxman b Zaheer 0

Ponting batting 44

Clarke batting 47

Extras (lb-1) 1

Total (3 wkts; 26 overs) 116

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-37.

Bowling: Zaheer 9-2-26-3, Yadav 8-1-42-0, Ishant 6-0-30-0, Ashwin 2-0-11-0, Virender Sehwag 1-0-6-0.

Sydney, January 3
Australia's young fast bowling sensation James Pattinson, who picked up four for 43, feels that the Indian batsmen have been intimidated by the aggression of the Australian quicks.

The Indian batting collapsed yet again and were bundled out for 191 runs in their first innings in the second Test against Australia. Pattinson took four wickets while the experienced duo of Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus shared three each on the opening day of the 100th Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"I think they (India) are probably intimidated about the way we are bowling, the areas we are bowling, we are not giving them any loose balls," Pattinson told reporters.

"For them they have probably got it in their mind 'where are we going to score', because they are not getting any loose balls at the moment. Intimidation comes with us bowling really well," he said referring to their nagging off-stump line to the struggling Indian batters.

Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who have an impressive record at the SCG, could not show much resistance against the Australian pace trio. Both fell to Pattinson with Tendulkar (41) playing on and Laxman edging a full delivery to Shaun Marsh at second slip.

Pattinson revealed how they have been able to contain Laxman so far in the series.

"He (Laxman) has had great success against Australia in the past and that is something we have looked at, but if you bowl good balls it doesn't matter how good they are. On your day you can get them out, and I think early on they are coming pretty hard at us, looks like they want to score.

"That is even better from a bowlers' point of view to have them trying to score early on, try to drive you through the covers to a ball that probably wasn't quite there today. So it is great for us to see them wanting to do that, and if we can keep doing the right thing we will keep going with success," he said.

The 21-year-old said playing against the famed Indian batting line-up is bringing out the best in them.

"The bubble around our bowling attack is amazing for the fact we are playing against such high-class opposition. We are just up for the challenge even more. If you come out on the day and don't bowl so well they can put you right on the back foot, therefore the day travels away from you a little bit."

On polishing off the Indian tail with short-pitch stuff, Pattinson said: "If you bowl a good enough short ball I think most tail-enders are pretty suspect. To be honest, I don't like the short ball at my head. But it is just a credit to our bowlers, we are bowling really well. If you pitch the ball up or short, you have still got to bowl in the right areas, you have got to bowl nice and straight. It is something the bowlers have done really well over the last month or two that we have been playing." — IANS

Sydney, January 3
India cricket coach Duncan Fletcher today conceded that struggling opener Gautam Gambhir will have to be a "lot more positive" in his approach to come out of his lean patch in the ongoing Test series against Australia but defended the team's batsmen despite their continuing poor run.

After successive batting failures led to a 122-run loss in the opening Test in Melbourne, India again found themselves tied in knots after collapsing to 191 in the first innings of the second Test today. The openers are expected to blunt the rival attack to ensure that the middle-order gets a sound platform to build on but in India's case both Gambhir and Virender Sehwag appear to be playing too many shots rather than log a few overs against the bowlers' name.

"You need to be very, very careful as you could end up leaving deliveries you can hit. Somebody like Sehwag, if he clicks, can intimidate opposition and give us the base to work on," Fletcher said after the opening day's play.

"As for Gautam, we are working on him to be very positive. It's more mental, he's been very tentative, pushing at deliveries. He's an attacking batter and needs to be a lot more positive in his approach.

"As for today's ball, it would've been difficult to leave a delivery pitching on leg and going across you. A lot of left-handers could've been out to it," Fletcher said. Gambhir departed for a naught in the very first over and set the tone of India's collapse which saw the tourists fold up after tea.

The only point that the Zimbabwe-born coach was willing to concede was that Rahul Dravid has lost a bit of form and that his batters need to string together bigger partnerships. "It's crucial when we've a partnership going, we take advantage of it. Whenever it's happening, we are losing wickets.," he said. — PTI 

Indore, January 3
Young Kaustubh Pawar displayed maturity beyond his years as his unbeaten century saw Mumbai surpass Madhya Pradesh's score with ease, in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, here today. At stumps, Mumbai were comfortably placed at 346 for seven, with a sizeable lead of 154 runs. Pawar, who came in at No 3 on the first day, showed enormous patience as he anchored the innings remaining undefeated on 160.

He has faced 322 deliveries hitting 19 fours in the process. Mumbai, who were reduced 60 for five yesterday, owe it to Pawar's determined effort as they cross the first innings score without much fuss. This is 21-year-old's second century in his maiden first-class season. The right-hander is not one of the most elegant players in the Mumbai line-up but more than makes it up with his ability to play long innings. On the day, the two most significant partnerships that Pawar was engaged in were 79 for the sixth wicket with Hiken Shah (41) and 78 for seventh wicket with Dhawal Kulkarni. When Shah was caught by Zafar Ali to become TP Sudhindra's (4/78) third victim,

New Delhi, January 3
The turf war between the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Punjabi University (Patiala), for domination in inter-university sports, with an eye on the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, is creating consternation among sports lovers, particularly those who have been associated with Punjab sports for long, as the tussle has resulted in court cases and police complaints.

Guru Nanak and Punjabi have been dominating the MAKA Trophy for the past many years, but during the past three years, their rivalry has intensified to such an extent that both have been walking the distance to claim the trophy. As a result, the Sports Ministry did not award the trophy to during the National Sports Awards investiture ceremony held in August, 2011.

Former Olympian and Asian Games gold-medallist Gurbachan Singh Randhawa suggested that it was time the vice-chancellors of both universities, along with their directors of sports and the Punjab Director of Sports, sat down to thrash out their differences, instead of taking the matter to courts and police stations, causing loss of face, money and time.

“It is better to deserve and not win, than win without deserving,” observed Randhawa, as he felt that the tussle between the universities was causing huge embarrassment and decline of sports at the university level in Punjab. He said if both the universities, which are not only toppers in Punjab, but also in India, join hands to foster and promote sports, Punjab would be on top of the chart. He said presently, the State was a leader in football at university level and if all the sports universities in the State put their heads together to promote the game, Punjab would be able to produce leading National and international players.

Randhawa, who was the adviser (sports) of Punjabi University from 2002 to 2006, asked the universities to bridge their differences and work out a peaceful formula so that university-level sports could flourish, like the days of yore.

Meanwhile, Guru Nanak have objected to the revised rules for the award of the MAKA Trophy. The Sports Ministry had requested the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) on October 9, 2011, to prepare revised criteria for the award of the Trophy from 2012-13, exclusively for university sports, including Zonal University Games, National (Inter-Zone) University Games, Asian University Games, Commonwealth University Games and the World University Games/Championships.

But in a two-page reply to AIU, the Director of Sports and Head, Guru Nanak Dev University, Prof. (Dr.) Kanwaljeet Singh, pointed out that by limiting the scope of the MAKA Trophy to only university sports, the youth of colleges and universities would be deprived of credit for participation in National and international competitions.

“It is a dream of every youth of the country studying in universities and colleges to participate in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cups and Olympic Games. Hence, it is against the principal of broad-basing of sports in colleges/universities as referred in Para Introduction 1.1 (as per guidelines for MAKA Trophy award, issued by the Government of India),” Dr. Kanwaljeet Singh said in his letter to AIU Deputy Secretary (Sports), Dr. Gurdeep Singh.

The paragraph in question explains that “the Government of India provided financial and other assistance to universities through the AIU for conducting and participating in National and international tournaments, for coaching and training of athletes of university teams with a view to broad-basing and integrating sports and physical fitness in colleges and universities”.

Dr Kanwaljeet Singh said inter-university competitions have become such a farce that the host universities are generally winners, though such universities may not even make the cut at the inter-zonal meets outside their areas of domain. “Moreover, there are no Asian University Games or Commonwealth University Games. In the World University Games, only a few disciplines are allowed to participate,” he pointed out, stressing the need to keep a broader canvas for university sports and MAKA Trophy winners.

He felt that by excluding the points of National and international competitions, the AIU would be taking a “step backward for the promotion of sports” in the country. He said as per the suggestion given in the changes in criteria for the award of the trophy, it will be brought down to the level of the Dr. B.L. Gupta Overall General Championship Trophy, introduced by the AIU in 1980-81, awarded to a university on the basis of achievements in the Inter-University tournaments.

“This means that the MAKA Trophy will lose its sheen, coming down to the level of the Dr. B.L. Gupta Trophy,” noted Dr. Singh.

He suggested that if at all changes needed to be effected in the rules for the MAKA Trophy, “then the points for only team championship be awarded, may it be a team or individual sport, such as hockey, kayaking and canoeing, archery, football etc. There shall be no categorisation of the games.”

Dr. Singh quoted the example of hockey as to how the host university always emerged winners and never repeated the feat. Some such winners vanished from the scene, after winning the Inter-University title when they hosted it, failing to even qualify for the zonal tournaments thereafter. 

Chennai, January 3
Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin set up a second round clash with defending champion Stanlislas Wawrinka in the singles event of the Aircel Chennai Open 2012 here today.

Roger-Vasselin, playing in the main draw as a lucky loser thanks to injury-induced withdrawal of Indian hope Somdev Devvarman, easily saw off fellow Frenchman Eric Prodon 6-4 6-3.

In another match, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei defeated Dutch star Thiemo De Bakker, who had entered the main draw through the qualifiers. In a versatile display, Lu won 6-3, 6-3.

In the second round, Lu will meet Yuichi Sugita of Japan, who beat eighth seed Olivier Rochus of Belgium earlier today.

Prodon had started off well against Roger-Vasselin, going 3-0 up in the first set and breaking his compatriot once, but seemed unsettled by a disputed line call in the fourth game.

Leading 40-30 on Vasselin's serve and poised to break him again, Prodon saw his rival draw level through a disputed line call on his side which Prodon insisted had gone out. The chair umpire awarded to point to Roger-Vasselin however, after which Roger-Vasselin clinched the game and went on to win the set.

Prodon did not win another game in the set after the line call. Roger-Vasselin, however, broke him in games five, seven and nine in the first set and game three in the second. Roger-Vasselin played some wonderful shots to various various parts of the court and had Prodon vainly scrambling to return them. Roger-Vasselin also engaged in a lot more net play, which Prodon could not tackle. — PTI 

Patiala, January 3
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) conducted sample testing during the 57th National School Championship 2011-12, organised by the School Games Federation of India in New Delhi from December 28 till today.

NADA Director-General Rahul Bhatnagar said that NADA collected 79 samples in the events of boxing (30), wrestling (31) and weightlifting (20) and these would be sent to National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for analysis.

He said that in addition to sample testing, NADA had carried out awareness programmes on the ill effects of doping among the students who have assembled in Delhi by way of distribution of a dope control handbook (English and Hindi versions) and pamphlets.

“NADA’s technical officials delivered lectures in the boxing and wrestling stadiums on December 30 and 31, which were appreciated by the coaches and support personnel,” he added.

This is the first time that NADA has organised sample testing and awareness programmes at the school-level National competition and in continuation of Kerala State School Athletic Competition held in Ernakulam during the month of November.

NADA has decided to conduct testing as well as educational programmes during similar events in the future. All the 29 samples collected during the Ernakulam School Games have tested negative. 

London, January 3
Chelsea edged past Wolverhampton while Fulham stunned Arsenal in two thrilling matches played in the English Premier League -- with this loss Monday, the Gunners were kicked out from the elite club of top four. Frank Lampard acted as the saviour of the Blues again as his last-minute goal at Molineux presented the team a first victory in as many as five matches in the League, Xinhua reported.

After a poor start which almost gave the opponent an opener, Chelsea rallied to gain absolute command of the match. At the beginning of the second half, Ramires struck the ball into the top corner. However, the persistent Wolves pulled themselves together and levelled the score in the 84th minute.

Three minutes later, Lampard proved his value again by receiving Ashley Cole's brilliant cross and netting in from close range to seal the win 2-1.

"It was an important win based on recent results," said Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas.

In another match, the visiting Gunners dominated the first half with a header from Laurent Koscielny. But the situation changed after Arsenal player Johan Djourou was showed a red card and Fulham were seemingly encouraged.

In the 85th minute, Steve Sidwell headed an equaliser. But this was not the end of the Gunners' nightmare. In the last minute of injury time, Bobby Zambora, receiving a pass from Stephen Kelly, volleyed a sensational finisher to give his side a 2-1 success amid fanatic screams of spectators. — IANS