S P O R T S

GROUND REALITY
Mirpur, March 14
Even though India comfortably won by 50 runs in their Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that it is "difficult" to defend totals at the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur considering it has a "very fast outfield."

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene (L) plays a shot as MS Dhoni (R) looks on during the Asia Cup ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday. Indian skipper Dhoni has said that bowling second at the stadium is a difficult job. AFP

Pakistan’s flair up against Lankan consistency
Dhaka, March 14 The ever-so-unpredictable Pakistan face their first big test of the tournament when they take on an injury-hit Sri Lankan team, which was outclassed by India in its lung-opener, in an Asia Cup league match here tomorrow.

Pakistan's Younis Khan takes a catch during a training session at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on on the eve of their match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Match Starts: 1.30 p.m. — AFP

Bangladesh will look to restrict India: Nasir
Mirpur, March 14
Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain sounded upbeat ahead of their Asia Cup encounter against India on March 16, saying the hosts would look to restrict their formidable opponents within 265 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here.

Saina Nehwal enters second round of Swiss Open GP New Delhi, March 14 India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her title defence on a positive note, thrashing Japan's Sayaka Sato in straight-games in the first round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at Basel, Switzerland today. Saina Nehwal (pic) beat Sayaka Sato 21-13 21-8.

Sports ministry monitoring Olympics preparations
Patiala, March 14
Getting serious about sports ahead of the London Olympics, the sports ministry has drawn a concrete ‘action plan’ for the preparation of the Games scheduled to be held in London.

India’s role vital role in fighting fixing: Mani
Karachi, March 14
Former ICC president Ehsan Mani believes that India will have to play a "significant" role in fighting corruption in the sport and has urged the cricket boards across the globe to work in tandem with their governments to eradicate the menace.

Marseille, Bayern win Paris, March 14 Marseille squeezed into the Champions League quarter-finals after a stunning conclusion to their last-16 tie with Inter Milan, while Bayern Munich blitzed FC Basel 7-0 to reach the last eight.   Bayern Munich players celebrate after beating Fc Basel 7-0 in Munich on Tuesday. — AFP

GROUND REALITY
Dhoni says it is difficult to defend big totals at Mirpur stadium

Mirpur, March 14
Even though India comfortably won by 50 runs in their Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that it is "difficult" to defend totals at the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur considering it has a "very fast outfield." "It is difficult to bowl second on this ground. The outfield is really fast and the ball is coming onto the bat pretty well. So bowlers will have to be at their best when bowling second. Hopefully, as the tournament progresses, it will slow down a bit," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Dhoni did admit that he was a bit worried when Mahela Jayawardene was sending the Indian bowlers on a leatherhunt. "It was difficult considering that Mahela was batting really well. The wicket had changed a bit and the ball was coming onto the bat nicely. Praveen had an off-day today and Jadeja also went for runs. At that time, I was effectively two bowlers short and had to bring back my part-timers. Credit to Praveen that he came back well in the second spell and was nicely supported by Irfan and Vinay," the skipper said.

Dhoni lauded the 205-run second wicket partnership between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. "We have always depended on our top-order batsmen to give us good starts. Gautam batted really well and Virat also ran well between the wickets. If you look at their partnership, there were many singles and twos in the first 75 runs. They had to stay till the end and they did that. It set up a nice platform for me and Raina to play our shots," the skipper said.

Asked about the confidence gained from beating Sri Lanka,he said, "In Australia also, we had lost just one match against them. But today they missed two of their key players Malinga and Mathews. So it was difficult for them."

Man-of-the-match Virat Kohli said that the most satisfying aspect about the century was the quick adjustment he had to make batting on a sub-continent track having played in Australia recently. "I am very happy that I have been able to adjust quickly on this track." The 23-year-old has now hit his 10th ODI hundred having played only 83 matches. When reminded, he said, "I am hitting the ball well and want to make the most of this good form because there will be a bad patch at some point of time." Kohli has had some good partnerships with Gautam Gambhir in the past and he feels that their understanding of each other's game has helped them forge a successful partnership.

"We know each other's game well. We know that if one is attacking, the other would try to drop anchor. We have had so many successful partnerships that we don't need to tell each other what to do. When the wicket is slow, you have to control your urge to hit boundaries and take singles and twos." Asked about the additional responsibility of vice-captaincy, Kohli said, "I never expected to get vice-captaincy at the age of 23. It's a great honour and I will try to contribute as much as possible." Meanwhile, a disappointed Sri Lankan captain Jayawardene admitted that he played a bad shot to get out at a crucial stage.

"When you are chasing a total like 304, the guys who get starts have to finish off. It was a bad shot from me. We chased really well as there was nothing wrong with the wicket. We needed to finish off the chase which we didn't do. We made too many mistakes on the field which we can't afford in a tournament where one defeat can change the course," Jayawardene said.

Jaywardene praised Gambhir and Kohli for their double hundred partnership which set the game up nice for India. "Initially, they set it up nicely with Gautam and Virat. I thought we gave away 15-20 runs more, it is difficult to bowl to Dhoni and Raina, our fielding could have been better too."

Mahela feels that bowling of Suranga Lakmal and Seekkuge Prasanna was something positive for the Lankans. "We can take many positives out of this game. The new guys did well. Suranga bowled well. I have enjoyed batting up the order. I am more relaxed, I can play my shots. It is easy to bat with Dilshan and it later flows with Sanga. But as I said, I played a pretty bad shot and mist take responsibility for it." — PTI

Pakistan’s flair up against Lankan consistency

Dhaka, March 14
The ever-so-unpredictable Pakistan face their first big test of the tournament when they take on an injury-hit Sri Lankan team, which was outclassed by India in its lung-opener, in an Asia Cup league match here tomorrow. Pakistan started their campaign on a winning note by beating Bangladesh even though it was a close shave for them given the home team's fighting performance in a steep chase.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, failed in the chasing job against India. Faced with a mammoth 304, the islanders fell short by 50 runs despite the fact that they have a batting order that runs deep and was expected to click in the familiar sub-continental environs.

But for the sheer unpredictability of Pakistan, both the teams seem quite a match for each other on paper. Even Pakistan has a long batting order to boast off and they have the destructive Shahid Afridi, who can snatch a game but, like his team, is not consistent enough.

He can be the game-changer one day but can also be a complete letdown the next. But Pakistan can bank on his leg-break bowling which comes in handy almost always. Their openers notched up good scores against Bangladesh but the experienced middle-order comprising the likes of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq failed to fire.

The bowling too was unimpressive against a side which is considered a minnow at the international level. Pace spearhead Umar Gul was expensive and would have to get his act together quickly as his form is crucial to the team's chances. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, also have major bowling issues to deal with. Their bowling attack, sans Lasith Malinga, came a cropper on a placid track and allowed the Indians to plunder runs in the lung-opener.

Malinga is expected to be back for tomorrow's match after being ironically left out yesterday due to his tendency to concede runs against India. On the batting front too, there are concerns as the chase went haywire after skipper Mahela Jayawardene's dismissal. The explosive Tillakaratne Dilshan would hold the key to a big score and the four-time champions would hope he fires after a rather disappointing start to the tournament.

For a batting order that runs till number nine, the effort against India was not good enough. "Three-hundred, I thought, was gettable on this wicket," Jayawardene said after the defeat last night. We batted really well but we made quite a few mistakes [too], and that has probably cost us the game." What also hurt Sri Lanka was the absence of their two attacking all-rounders - Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera - both of whom are out injured. — PTI

Bangladesh will look to restrict India: Nasir

Mirpur, March 14
Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain sounded upbeat ahead of their Asia Cup encounter against India on March 16, saying the hosts would look to restrict their formidable opponents within 265 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here.

"We are confident about the next game against India and we are looking forward to do something good. It would be good game if we can restrict India within 260 to 265 runs on this wicket and I'm confident that's possible for us," said Nasir.

Bangladesh suffered a heartbreaking 21-run defeat to Pakistan in the tournament opener despite Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal's batting heroics.

On the chances of senior India batsman Sachin Tendulkar scoring his elusive 100th international hundred against Bangladesh, Nasir came up with an interesting reply: "A good ball is a good ball for everyone irrespective of whether Tendulkar is playing it or not." Tendulkar got out cheaply in India's first match against Sri Lanka yesterday.

Nasir, who was involved in an 89-run sixth wicket partnership with Shakib and whose dismissal at a crucial juncture in the match against Pakistan put paid to Bangladesh's hopes of registering an upset win, admitted that he played a rather casual shot.

"I was a set batsman, so my dismissal was the turning point in the match. I shouldn't have got out at that stage of the match but I think I played a bit causally. It would have been better if I was tight in my approach at that stage," the 20-year-old all-rounder told reporters.

Nasir said the hosts should learn the art of finishing games off if they want to win matches.

"I think we should improve in this area and we are trying to do that. We went close on several occasions and then lost. We will try not to repeat it," he said. — PTI

Saina Nehwal enters second round of Swiss Open GP

New Delhi, March 14
India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her title defence on a positive note, thrashing Japan's Sayaka Sato in straight-games in the first round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at Basel, Switzerland today.

National champion Sourabh Verma and top shuttlers, Ajay Jayaram and P Kashyap, also reached the second round after notching up contrasting wins in the opening round yesterday.

The world number four Saina beat Sayaka 21-13, 21-8 in a 33-minute women's singles match.

Sourabh showed his mettle when he notched up a 22-20, 20-22, 21-19 victory over Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong, while Jayaram thrashed local shuttler Lukas Nussbaumer 21-9, 21-12 and Kashyap saw off Russia's Stanislav Pukhov 21-9, 21-10 in just 22 minutes late last night.

However, RMV Gurusaidutt and Arvind Bhat failed to cross the first hurdle. Gurusaidutt lost 11-21 24-26 to fourth seed Chinese Jin Chen, while experienced Arvind suffered a 21-10, 16-21, 14-21 defeat to Dmytro Zavadsky of Ukraine.

India's top mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju, seeded eighth, also became first round casualty after losing to Japanese duo of Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo 13-21, 15-21 in a 25-minute match. — PTI

Sports ministry monitoring Olympics preparations
Aman Sood
Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 14
Getting serious about sports ahead of the London Olympics, the sports ministry has drawn a concrete ‘action plan’ for the preparation of the Games scheduled to be held in London. According to Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken, till date 29 individual sportspersons in 5 disciplines and Indian Men’s Hockey team have qualified for participation at the London Games.

The ministry has identified 16 sporting disciplines for systematic and scientific training and their funding is being done by the ministry.

According to officials in the ministry an ‘Operation Excellence for London Olympics 2012’ (OPEX 2012) project has been launched by the ministry with a view to prepare athletes and teams for London Olympics.

Under OPEX 2012, core probables have been identified and are being provided comprehensive and intensive training, both within the country and abroad. The sports ministry, keeping in view the performance of Indian teams and individual players in various international tournaments, have chosen 16 disciplines namely, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, rowing, swimming, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting.

The funding for these disciplines, is being provided from the scheme “Assistance to National Sports Federations” and National Sports Development Fund.

Meanwhile, two High Level Committees at the national level, Steering Committee headed by the Secretary (Sports) and Apex Committee headed by the Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports have been formed to review the preparation for various disciplines for the Games.

Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha, Ajay Maken on Tuesday said the ministry is closely monitoring the preparations and is continuously interacting with concerned federations, SAI and experts from the respective fields.

“Till February 29, 2012, approximately an amount of Rs. 123.73 crore was spent on preparation of athletes for London Olympics, 2012”, he added.

India’s role vital role in fighting fixing: Mani

Karachi, March 14
Former ICC president Ehsan Mani believes that India will have to play a "significant" role in fighting corruption in the sport and has urged the cricket boards across the globe to work in tandem with their governments to eradicate the menace.

Mani said while ICC's role was limited on this issue, India can play a major role by making betting legal in the country.

"They (ICC) don't have the authority to set up the sting operations in any country so the responsibility (should be) laid on the individual boards to follow up. The problem is the illegal bookies in the subcontinent -- most of them are from India and some are in Pakistan. They work in a grey area where there is no control and monitoring," he said.

"These problems will never finish until the Indian government finds a way to regulate illegal book-making.

"I have seen the ECB showing concern, asking players to come and tell them what they know after Westfield's sentencing. I think it's the member boards who have to step up to engage the law enforcement agencies to work with them to clean up cricket," Mani was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.

Mani's statement came close on the heels of a sting operation carried out by a British newspaper on a Delhi-based bookie, who claimed Indian bookmakers are fixing the results of England county games and international matches and they are using a Bollywood actress as a honey trap to recruit players. — PTI

Marseille, Bayern win