S P O R T S

India’s Tour of Australia: 2nd Test — day 2
Just two much for India
Sydney, January 4
Michael Clarke hit a brilliant unbeaten 251 and Ricky Ponting his first hundred in two years as Australia took control of the second test against India on Wednesday

Michael Clarke drives the ball on day two of the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. — AFP

Wicket has nothing to offer: Ashwin
Sydney, January 4
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin today defended his bowling after Australia plundered runs to take complete command of the second cricket Test, saying the SGC track had nothing to offer to the slow bowlers.

Mike Hussey hits a drive in Sydney on Wednesday. — AFP

IOA reconstitutes Ethics Committee and Court of Arbitration
New Delhi, January 4
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today reconstituted its Ethics Commission and Court of Arbitration by inducting five new members.

If I didn’t feel hunger, I won’t be playing: Ponting
Sydney, January 4
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who silenced his critics by scoring a sparkling 134 against India, today said he hung in there because he had a "hunger" to do well at the international level despite being under enormous pressure. "If I didn't feel the hunger, I wouldn't be playing the game. There has been more pressure on me in recent times than at any stage of my career. I have had to work harder. I am a proud person and I want to finish off my career the way I wanted. I love a contest too much to give it away," Ponting told reporters after the second day's play.

Ricky Ponting raises his bat after completing his century in Sydney on Wednesday. — Reuters

India’s Tour of Australia: 2nd Test — day 2
Just two much for India

n   Clarke scores unbeaten 251
n Ponting also scores ton (134)
n Australia lead by 291 runs
n Mike Hussey not out on 55

Sydney, January 4
Michael Clarke hit a brilliant unbeaten 251 and Ricky Ponting his first hundred in two years as Australia took control of the second test against India on Wednesday, finishing the second day on an imposing 482 for four.

Clarke batted through the day for his first test double century and the highest score by an Australian at the Sydney Cricket Ground, while Michael Hussey pitched in with 55 not out to give Australia a lead of 291 over India's first innings of 191.

Ponting had departed just before tea for 134 to end the fourth-wicket partnership with Clarke at 288, a record for Australia in tests against India and a potentially match-winning effort from a pair who came together with the score on 37-3.

Needing victory to level the four-match series after a 122-run defeat in the opener in Melbourne last week, India's bowlers had been hoping for some early wickets but instead laboured all day in the heat. "It's fantastic to have a score like I do but if you don't win the test match it means nothing," Clarke told reporters.

It was the first long period of dominance for the bat in a series where bowlers have had the upper hand and India's attack looked like journeymen until the new ball arrived. Ishant Sharma finally broke up the partnership when he got some bounce into his deliveries and Ponting caught the ball high on the bat to give Sachin Tendulkar an easy catch in the gully.

By that time, Clarke had already reached his 150 and continued to hit the bowlers all over the ground to pass his previous best test score of 168 shortly before tea. Sharma could have dismissed him caught and bowled on 182 but just failed to keep hold of the ball and Clarke reached his double century a couple of overs later. — Reuters 

Wicket has nothing to offer: Ashwin

Sydney, January 4
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin today defended his bowling after Australia plundered runs to take complete command of the second cricket Test, saying the SGC track had nothing to offer to the slow bowlers.

"As a spinner what is there on offer from that wicket? Nothing! It's not like I expect anything of a wicket in Australia on the second day. Not that I expect anything even back in India. It's the second day, you are not going to get much. We got bowled out inside the first day," he said after the second day's play that saw Australia take a mammoth 291-run first innings lead.

"It's always going to be catch up. Not just for the bowlers. As I said, you can't fault the efforts of the bowlers. They ran in hard. Ishant was clocking 140 in the final spell. That's all you can expect from the bowlers as of now," insisted Ashwin, who gave away more than 100 runs without taking a wicket.

Most Indian bowlers, including Ashwin, bowled with defensive field today but the off-spinner defended the move. "What else do you do with 191 in the pocket? You'll have to save every run possible. Supposing you get two or three wickets later on, and someone is having a good spell, we have those runs to play with later. That has got to be the only idea. It's common sense. Nothing else," he explained.

The young Tamil Nadu spinner conceded that his side will now have to play a catch-up game. "It's going to be a catch-up game from now on. We will have to dig deep and bat long. One or two persons will have to stand up and try to turn things around from now on," said a visibly frustrated Ashwin.

"But if you need to turn it around, you need players to stand up and make themselves counted. It has to come from within. You can't really sit together. It's all fine when you sit together and give all those speeches. Those speeches are very good to watch on TV. It has to come from within. You have to deliver out there," he added. — PTI 

IOA reconstitutes Ethics Committee and Court of Arbitration
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 4
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today reconstituted its Ethics Commission and Court of Arbitration by inducting five new members.

IOA Acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra said on Wednesday that the reconstitution of these bodies has been done as per the decision taken at the Annual Generalbody Meeting (AGM) at the Olympic Bhawan on December 15. He said the Ethics Commssion will now have five members and Court of Arbitration will consist of 11 members.

Malhotra said a misleading campaign was launched to spread the canard that the IOA was against the Ethics Commission and the Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS). The reconstitution of these committees prove that “we have nothing to hide and we are true to our promise and pledge to have transparent working of the IOA”.

“The reconstitution of these committees with the full approval of the General House of the IOA is a befitting reply to those who want to encroach on the autonomy of the sports federations”, he said.

“IOA fully adheres to the Olympic Charter and follows the guidelines of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and at no stage, we ignored IOC’s views or suggestions regarding the Ethics committee, as has been made out by certain vested interests, who want to destablize the IOA”, Malhotra asserted.

Before the reconstitution, the Ethics Commission had three members and the Court of Arbitration was composed of eight members. All those members have been retained.

Malhotra said all the members of these two bodies were retired judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts. Supreme court Judge (Retd) Arun Kumar and High Court Judge (Retd) S.K. Mahajan will be the two new members of the Ethics Committee. The three new members of the Court of Arbitration are: Supreme court Judge (Retd) H.S. Bedi, High Court Judges (Retd) S.K. Agrawal and Manju Goel.

Following is the reconstituted Ethics Commission: Justice (Retd) Umesh Banerjee, Justice (Retd) Arun Kumar, Justice (Retd) R.L. Khurana, Justice (Retd) MSA Siddiqui, Justice (Retd) S.K. Mahajan.

Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS): Mr A.R. Lakshmanan, Justice (Retd) H.S. Bedi, Justice (Retd) M.R. Culla, Justice (Retd) R.S. Sodhi, Justice (Retd) BA Khan, Justice (Retd) Mrs Usha Mehra, Justice (Retd) J.K. Mehra, Justice (Retd) Lokeshwar Prasad, Justice (Retd) S.N. Sapra, Justice (Retd) S.K. Agarwal, Justice (Retd) Manju Goel.

Malhotra said that the rules and regulations of the Ethics Commission and ICAS will be framed shortly. All the disputes relating to sports federations affiliated to the IOA will be decided by the ICAS, and the IOA office will facilitate co-ordination between these bodies. 

If I didn’t feel hunger, I won’t be playing: Ponting

Sydney, January 4
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who silenced his critics by scoring a sparkling 134 against India, today said he hung in there because he had a "hunger" to do well at the international level despite being under enormous pressure.

"If I didn't feel the hunger, I wouldn't be playing the game. There has been more pressure on me in recent times than at any stage of my career. I have had to work harder. I am a proud person and I want to finish off my career the way I wanted. I love a contest too much to give it away," Ponting told reporters after the second day's play.

"I want to give myself the best chance, taking Australia from number five to top of the tree where we deserve to be," he said. For someone who is 37 now, the key to do well at this age at the highest level is to retain one's self belief. "Keep having the self belief. If you think you can do it, keep doing it. If you think training can't make you a better player, you are wasting your time. I have spoken to a lot of other great players who retired while I was playing. They said they couldn't find themselves to train as hard as they once did." — PTI