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Coach pegs Unmukt over Gambhir
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Zaheer Khan has been of great help: Umesh
No problem with Dhoni: VVS Laxman
BCCI recommends Dravid, Gambhir for Padma awards
La Liga: Reality check for Madrid
Chelsea blank Newcastle
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Quick gun Kohli says he’s no Sachin
This year, he’s been India's most prolific scorer in ODIs, with five centuries — almost inevitably, comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar himself have arisen. In fact, Tendulkar sees a shadow of himself in Kohli but the young batsman says he literally worships the iconic cricketer and matching his feats would be nothing short of “mission impossible” for him. Tendulkar himself considers Kohli a worthy challenger to his incredible record of 100 international centuries. However, Kohli said there is no comparison between him and his idol. “I feel really blessed when people start comparing me with Sachin, but I keep myself focused on my performance, and not on such comparisons. I literally worship him, so, I don't see too much in this comparison,” Kohli said. “No cricketer has been able to score one hundred centuries like Sachin. It will be a big achievement. I don't think at all about this, because it increases pressure on you. I keep myself focused on my performance,” Kohli said on a TV show. About his selection as vice-captain, Kohli said it was a pleasant surprise for him and refuted suggestions that he would eventually replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni as skipper. “No, I don't think so. As captain, he has done a lot for the Indian team. I learnt a lot as a vice-captain,” he said. Kohli was recently replaced by Gautam Gambhir as vice captain for the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. The Delhi batsman disagreed with Sourav Ganguly, who felt that the selectors had taken an emotional decision by rushing Yuvraj Singh into international cricket after illness. Yuvraj, who has recovered from a rare germ cell cancer, has been included in the Indian squad for the Twenty20 World Cup beginning next month in Sri Lanka. “I don't think it is an emotional decision. If he says he is confident and fit, then he should be given the chance. It should be a perfect comeback for him,” Kohli said. “The first match after comeback always makes one nervous. If he performs well in the World Cup, it will be a big boost for the team. For us, the World Cup is an important tournament.” Talking about his aggressive attitude on the field, Kohli said it is part of his nature. “I had this habit from childhood. I never liked being out, whether I was out on zero or a ton. I get angry,” he said. “Occasionally, I shout abuses but, of late, I am trying to control my aggression so that my behaviour doesn't go over the top. I have broken too many bats in my childhood!” Kohli was candid enough to admit that he got distracted after playing in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore. “Yes, there was a bit of distraction. We had just come from the Under-19 World Cup win. We were playing with foreign (star) players, I did not handle it (attention) well,” he admitted. “I was even thrown out of the team but my coach advised me concentrate on the game and I got my focus back.”
— Agencies |
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Coach pegs Unmukt over Gambhir
“Unmukt is certainly more talented than what Gautam was at his age. While Unmukt is a mixture of talent and hard work, Gautam was all sweat. If you see Unmukt's career graph, his biggest plus is grabbing every major opportunity with both hands. Gautam had to struggle and fight a lot more than Unmukt," Bhardwaj said. “I can only thank God that he chose me as guide for Gautam and Unmukt. It's their talent that has made me look good as a coach and not the other way round. I have only groomed and fine-tuned a few mental aspects of the game. It's their dedication that has taken them where they are right now," Bhardwaj said. Asked about what Unmukt's chances are of making it to senior team, Bhardwaj replied, "By early 2013, Unmukt should be in the senior team. Obviously, he would have to perform well but he has the talent and will power to do well," the coach said. According to Bhardwaj, in a sport like cricket, it helps if a cricketer has a solid family background which helped both Gambhir and Unmukt. "Unmukt's mentor was his uncle who is now in Mumbai. He brought Unmukt to me when he was only 12 years old. He was a disciplined boy then and is very obedient even now. He is firmly rooted to the ground,” the coach said. “He has studied in posh school and is now in a renowned college but he has never shown any outrageous qualities like teenagers of his age. His kitbag has books apart from cricket gear." Bhardwaj added aspiring cricketers should never ignore education. “I see parents coming with bagful of money to make their sons like Gautam,” he said.
— PTI |
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Zaheer Khan has been of great help: Umesh
Yadav, with 14 wickets from four matches, was the second highest wicket-taker behind Zaheer on that tour. "I didn't know anything much besides bowling fast. Since I started bowling with Zak Bhai, he told me that with my pace, if I can gain a bit of control over the ball, I'll be a much better bowler and I'll get many more wickets," Yadav said. "That's what I did in the latter part of the Australia tour — concentrated more on my line and length than earlier.” “He had ingrained in me the length that I had to hit, and I constantly kept that in mind before every delivery. I'm still working on it and I have a long way to go," he said. "He told me the sooner you learn from your mistakes, the better you'll get. I always keep that in mind and try not to repeat my mistakes," he said. Yadav said the team had forgettable time in Australia but he returned richer in experience. "As a team, we didn't do too well but when I returned home, the only thing I kept in mind was to keep up with the way I bowled there and keep improving on it every day. I was very happy to be going to Australia. It's a dream of every fast bowler to bowl on Australian wickets. I'm very thankful to Zaheer-bhai," he told bcci.tv after India's win against New Zealand in the first Test here. India returned to Test victory thrashing New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs and Yadav said they would look to carry on the winning momentum. “The last two series that we played didn't go well for us and we were under a lot of pressure ahead of this one. This is a good start to the season and we'll look to carry on in this vein." Yadav picked a wicket each in both the New Zealand innings as the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha shared the remaining 18 wickets in between them. The young Indian pacer said they too had a strategy against the Kiwis although the spin duo dominated the proceedings. "The wicket was not turning that much. Our spinners worked really hard for their wickets. But yes, when bowling on such slow and low wickets, we just try to keep pitching the ball on one side of the wicket consistently. That's what Zaheer bhai and I did ? we just kept bowling the same line and our spinners did the rest of the job," he said. — PTI |
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No problem with Dhoni: VVS Laxman
Laxman was, however, not present at the stadium to watch the first cricket Test between India and New Zealand as his children were unwell. "I wanted to go to the stadium on Saturday but it rained heavily and I had to abort my plan," Laxman said. “Yesterday, also I had plans to go there. But both my kids — elder son Sarvajith and and daughter Achintya — were down with fever." But Laxman made it a point to watch the proceedings on television. "I watched the entire match at home. It's good to see boys doing well and win the match in the series," Laxman said. — PTI |
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BCCI recommends Dravid, Gambhir for Padma awards
New Delhi, August 27 According to a BCCI official, president N Srinivasan and secretary Sanjay Jagdale were supposed to discuss the issue and forward the names to the government. "Dravid and Gambhir's names were discussed earlier and president and secretary were to take a final call in this regard. The last date for filing nominations was August 15 and the names have been sent" a BCCI official said. Dravid was earlier in line to get the Rajiv Khel Ratna award but the only cricketer in the panel Ravi Shastri was not present during the meeting to make a strong case for the former captain. Shastri said he did not get any invitation for the meeting. Dravid has scored more than 24,000 international runs with over 13,000 runs in 134 Tests and nearly 11,000 runs in 344 ODIs. He has scored 36 Test centuries and 12 centuries in the shorter version. Gambhir is a deserving candidate for Padma Shri having been prolific in all three forms of the game. He has already been conferred with Arjuna award and his 97 in the World Cup final last year makes his case a strong one. Sachin Tendulkar is the only cricketer to receive the second highest civilian honour in Padma
Vibhusan. — PTI |
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La Liga: Reality check for Madrid
Madrid, August 27 Gonzalo Higuain put Madrid ahead after 26 minutes but their weakness in the air returned to haunt them as Juan Valera headed Getafe level after 52 minutes. Madrid pressed forward looking for the winner but instead they were caught out at the back, with Abdelaziz Barrada scoring a 74th-minute winner. "It was a deserved win for Getafe but they didn't do anything special and we were very poor," said Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. "It was an unacceptable performance and I don't feel frustrated about the result because it was totally deserved." Mourinho's side will now look to get their season back on track in the second leg of the Super Cup on Thursday against Barca, who beat Real Sociedad 2-1 earlier on Sunday. After a scrappy opening at Getafe, Madrid began to assert themselves and Mesut Ozil was guilty of a glaring miss in the 15th minute when he hit the bar with the goal gaping after a neat combination with Cristiano Ronaldo. Higuain had been picked ahead of Karim Benzema and he gave the visitors the lead from Angel Di Maria's pass, using his strength to round the goalkeeper and slot the ball home. After the break, Getafe came out looking to attack and got their reward thanks to poor marking from Madrid, with the unmarked Valera heading in from a free-kick. The visitors pushed forward looking to regain the lead but instead Getafe struck again, with Adrian Colunga going past Raul Albiol and setting up Barrada to score. Earlier, Lionel Messi struck a late brace to give Barcelona a victory over 10-man Osasuna that took them to top on goal difference over Rayo Vallecano.
— Agencies |
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Chelsea blank Newcastle
London, August 27 Chelsea, who have played one more match than their any of their opponents, have nine points, three clear of Swansea City, who beat West Ham United 3-0 and Everton, who beat Aston Villa 3-1 for their second successive wins. Champions Manchester City came from behind twice to force a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield where Carlos Tevez saved a point for City with his 100th English league goal. Meanwhile, title-holders Juventus began with a 2-0 win at home to Parma, Stephan Lichtsteinger and Andrea Pirlo scoring the goals early in the second half. AC Milan slumped to a 1-0 home defeat against Sampdoria where Andrea Costa headed winner. Inter Milan won 3-0 at Promoted Pescara.
— Reuters |
Favourite Federer sounds warning
A year ago, the Swiss virtuoso reached the semifinals but lost a five-set thriller to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the championship over Rafa Nadal. "I felt good last year, but probably felt that maybe at times the matches were not always in my racquet, whereas maybe this time around I feel like if I'm playing well I can dictate who's going to win or lose," said Federer. "It's going to take something special from my opponent to win. That's kind of how it feels right now." The 31-year-old Federer won a seventh Wimbledon crown - his 17th Grand Slam title - this year and regained his spot as the best player on the planet. He is the top seed at Flushing Meadows and if the seeding holds form will play Olympic champion Andy Murray in the semifinals after Murray beat the Swiss in straight sets to win the gold medal. POSSIBLE SHOWDOWN
With an injury sidelining Nadal, Djokovic avoids Federer or Murray until a possible showdown in the final. But the Serb denied he had a dream path through the tournament. “I don't think there is a perfect draw, to be honest with you," he told reporters. "The draw is something that you cannot affect. It's a question of luck, obviously. There are 128 players here who have plenty of motivation to perform their best in the Grand Slam, the last Major of the year, so I'm sure that they want to cause some upsets in the opening round.” "I'm truly taking one step at a time. I had good and bad draws in the past, but it's something I cannot affect, so I'm not calculating or predicting anything,” he added. “I'm just trying to focus on my game, which is the most important thing." Murray, who lost to Federer in four sets in this year's Wimbledon final but gained his revenge at the London Games, comes into the two-week U.S. Open with some much-needed momentum. "Obviously winning the Olympics was the biggest win of my career, that's for sure," said the Scotsman, who is still searching for his first Grand Slam title. "It meant a lot to me. The Wimbledon final, I mean, that's the first time I have been there. I was happy with the way I played. It was obviously disappointing, a tough one to take for a few days afterwards, but I don't know. I feel confident in myself just now. That's what's important." Though he is playing well, Federer declined to predict a championship at Flushing Meadows, saying there is always the possibility of a first-round shocker. "You have to always be very careful how you say it and how you then play," he said. "I will take it one match at a time. There's no doubt about that. I will never ever underestimate an opponent ever again. I did that enough when I was a teenager. Serena hopes to conquer Flushing Meadows
Serena Williams was doing her best to convince herself that there is no extra pressure playing at her home Grand Slam event. The 30-year-old American has blown her lid in spectacular fashion at her last two US Opens, but as she looked ahead to the tournament she insisted: "I don't feel pressure. My Dad said the only pressure you have is the pressure you put on yourself, so I don't really feel any pressure or anything. I don't put any pressure on myself. If I win, that would be
great. If I lose, I realise I'm going to go home and be devastated. But there's always tomorrow." Williams has won three Wimbledon and two Australian Open titles since her last victory at Flushing Meadows in 2008. In 2009 she lost in the semifinals to Kim Clijsters after a foul-mouthed tirade against a line judge, upon which she was deducted a point which cost her the match. Having missed 2010 through injury, Williams returned last year and lost to Sam Stosur in the final after another controversial run-in with an official. Eva Asderaki, the umpire, deducted a point from Williams at a crucial moment in the second set after the American screamed "Come on!" during a rally. During a subsequent tirade against Asderaki, Williams said the umpire was "a hater, unattractive inside" and "out of
control". — Agencies |
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Chetri key to India’s success
New Delhi, August 27 India coach Wim Koevermans later admitted that he did not see the ball-handling by a Maldives defender when Syed Rahim Nabi took a shot towards the goal. The Dutch coach said he was indeed surprised when the referee whistled for a spot kick. Sunil Chetri converted the penalty, and scored one more in the second half as India recorded a facile 3-0 victory. For the coach, the end result was more satisfying than the first goal, particularly the two goals scored by Chetri and Syed Rahim Nabi in the second half. Imagine, Koevermans did not want to include Chetri among the probables for the tournament as he had joined the camp for the Nehru Cup only a week after the Dutch had taken charge. Chetri had been away due to his commitment with Portuguese Club Sporting Lisbon’s B team. But once he joined the camp, and the coach got a first-hand experience of Chetri’s commitment and skills, he had no hesitation in naming him the captain and also playing him as the lone-ranger up front. Chetri has scored three goals in two matches to be the star of India’s 2-1 and 3-0 wins against Syria and Maldives respectively. He has a tally of eight goals in the Nehru Cup, to join the league of Baichung Bhutia, validating the faith reposed in him by the Dutch coach. Chetri has the ability to convert half chances into goals and like a true fighter, he never gives up till the final whistle. When Bhutia was the fulcrum of the Indian attack, Chetri had played an effective foil to him in the attack, and in scoring goals. Now that the burden of getting goals is rather solely dependent on him, Chetri is game for the challenge and has proved his worth in the first two matches to take India to the top of the group with six points. When India meet Nepal tomorrow, all eyes will be on Chetri as the hosts strive to better the 5-0 victory notched up by Cameroon against the Himalayan country yesterday. The 26-year-old Chetri has many firsts to his credit, and the hat-trick he struck against Tejkistan at the Ambedkar Stadium in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 was a landmark feat. India qualified for the Asian Cup after a gap of 24 years and Chetri was the man responsible for that piece of history. He had also played a major role with four goals in India’s firt Nehru Cup triumph in 2007, and again in 2009, though Bhutia was then a major cog in the wheel. The question “Who after Bhutia?” haunted the Indian team when Bhutia called its quits before the SAFF Cup last year, leaving a big vacuum. But Chetri stepped into Bhutia’s shoes rather effortlessly, scoring seven goals in the SAFF Cup. Chetri has so far netted 36 goals from 60 international matches and Koevermans is expecting many more goals from the Gorkha striker as India aim to win the Nehru Cup for the third time. “This Indian side is stronger than the one that played in the AFC Challenge Cup in Kathmandu earlier this year. They are fitter and sharper, and Sunil Chetri looks aggressive,” observed Nepal coach Krishna Thapa ahead of their match against India tomorrow. Though Nepal are virtually out of the title race, after losing their first two matches, they have no plans to be the doormat of the tournament and are determined to give their best shot against the hosts. |
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