Well, it all sounds and looks good at the moment. Each of the previously disaffected parties has said the right things and we are assured any issues the England management team, England players and Kevin Pietersen had with each other have been resolved. I am sure over the coming weeks in India, as England prepare for their four-Test tour of the country, there will be plenty of pictures of Pietersen and his team-mates laughing and joking at the back of practice areas. It won't take long before everyone will begin to wonder what all the fuss was about. What could possibly go wrong?

But I have reservations over whether the previously fractious relationships have been repaired enough to survive the pressure they will be placed under over the coming weeks.

Cricketers, more than any other sportspeople, spend a huge amount of time together in these confined, intense places. If you all get on there is rarely a problem. But if you dislike someone it will irritate the living daylights out of you and resentment will set in.

The nature of cricket means there is a lot of time to talk too. Most of it is inane nervous chatter. Nonsense.Inevitably there is a lot of mickey- taking. Some players are easier targets than others. A lot of the comments made are cutting and to the point.

Sport at the highest level is ruthless. You are competing against people in your own side as well as the opposition. It might not be right but you need a pretty thick skin to survive. In good dressing rooms offence is rarely taken.

The modern way of describing it is "banter". But when there is a divide, when players don't get on, it is not seen as such. It is abuse, and tempers can quickly fray.

Despite the private face-to-face conversations, promises and agreements, it will only be when the England team spend time together alone in their dressing room that they and we will truly find out whether their issues have been resolved.

It is after a tough and disappointing day in the field that nerves are frayed and stress levels rise. It is at these points that shared values and tolerance keep the team together. If the glue holding the team together is not strong enough, character flaws appear and the team fragments. Winning games in these situations is virtually impossible.

Only after a tough session in India will we be able to see what is taking place. Will England look like a team together with shared values or be a group of distant individuals? If the team sticks together it will be real proof that Pietersen has been reintegrated.

Understandably, there will be tension to begin with. In the privacy of the England dressing room a lot will have been said over a long period of time. Strong words may have been exchanged. Those who believe this is only a recent problem, an issue brought to a head by provocative texts, are misguided. Personalities have been clashing for a while.

Players do not always get on and, believe it or not, I even had a few confrontations during my career. Nasser Hussain and I used to have at least one blowout on each tour we went on. On one occasion, in Antigua in 1994, he reacted badly to a bit of "banter" Alec Stewart and I were having at his expense. We were questioning Nasser's running between the wickets. Nasser reacted adversely to a comment I made and a colourful exchange of views ended with him threatening to wrap his bat round my head. There was a bit of tension for a day or two between the two of us, but the issue had been dealt with swiftly and we knew where we stood moving forward. Fortunately, we can laugh about it now.

One of the issues with Pietersen is that the England management seems to want and expect more from him than just runs, and rightly so. Senior players have huge roles to play in a team. They are extremely influential and the management needs them to say the right things and set the right example. If they don't they can unknowingly undermine the culture and environment that those in charge want to create.

Pietersen has not been the only guilty party in this sorry saga but, quite rightly, he has the most damage to repair. For England's sake, and their chances of success in India, I only hope that's possible. The Independent

 

Flintoff backs KP Kevin Pietersen is likely to come out with all guns blazing when he returns to the England squad for next month's test series in India, former team mate Andrew Flintoff said on Friday. The South African-born batsman was recalled by England this week after being dropped following a controversial text-message row."When Kevin's got a point to prove he usually proves it with the bat," retired all-rounder Flintoff told the BBC. "I think (new captain) Alastair Cook might benefit from all this. He might get KP at his best." — Reuters

New Delhi, October 20
Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev today conceded that the form slump of senior openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag is a big worry for the team ahead of the twin Test series against England and Australia.

"Of course, it is a cause of worry if players of that calibre don't get runs. They have big reputations and when you have such big reputations then there is a case for you to defend that," Kapil said on the sidelines of the Junior National tennis Championships where he was chief guest for the finals.

"They are big players and it is important for them to score runs not only for the team but also for themselves otherwise there will be worrying signs," he added.

Both Gambhir and Sehwag struggled at the recent World Twenty20 Championships but remain India's best opening option ahead of the upcoming home series against England next month and Australia which will come here in February-March.

Kapil sidestepped queries on the issue of whether Sachin Tendulkar should retire from international cricket.

"Bade player ke baare mein na hi baat karein to accha hai (It is better not to talk about the decisions of big players)," he said.

"He had recently given an interview and he has said what he had to say," he added referring to Tendulkar's statement that he would reassess his plans next month.

On to other issues and Kapil said the general expectations from Mahendra Singh Dhoni the captain are much more than what one should have.

"You can't expect him to win all the time. He has given you World Cup, World T20, won Test matches, been number one in ICC rankings, so you can't expect him to win everytime," Kapil said.

Kapil tried to put things in perspective when asked about the concept of multiple captains being tried out in India. — PTI

Mumbai, October 20
The statements of three Indian cricketers implicated in a TV sting operation, which claimed to have exposed corruption in IPL, were recorded by the Income Tax Department on Saturday.

"Their statements seem to be believable but we have not given them a clean chit yet," I-T sources said on Saturday.

Five cricketers of different IPL teams were caught in a sting operation carried out by a private news TV channel where a reporter posed as an agent of a fictitious company scouting for players for other teams.

The channel had claimed the sting operation, telecast in May this year, had blown the lid off "murky deals" in the IPL among players, organisers and owners.

Statements of three players — Manish Pandey, Mohnish Mishra (both Pune Warriors India) and Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab) — were recorded recently.

Mishra, in his statement, has said his talks of getting Rs. 1.5 crore from his owner was "a lie" and only meant to impress the middleman (the TV reporter).

Pandey has told the I-T department that he was paid Rs. 20 lakh as player fee by his franchise and that the flat he stayed in was rented. Srivastava claimed whatever he said about Pandey (in the sting operation) was based on "hearsay", the sources said.

The department has also recorded the statement of Abhijeet Sarkar, Head of Corporate Communication of Sahara India, which owns Pune Warriors.

The sources said the department was also probing the allegations of betting in IPL V though it is very difficult to ascertain the claims. — PTI

Richie Ramsay

Bangalore, October 20
Richie Ramsay of Scotland held on to his lead despite struggling with a cold putter in the third round of the Hero Indian Open on Saturday. Ramsay, who has held on to the lead since day one, posted a one-under-par 70 for 11-under-par 202 to hold a narrow one-shot lead over Asian Tour Qualifying School graduate Jaakko Makitalo of Finland.

Makitalo, playing one flight in front of Ramsay, charged into contention for a first Asian Tour win as he returned with a 68 at the $1.25 million event.

Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant (67), winner of the 2005 Hero Indian Open and 19-year-old Panuphol Pittayarat (69) were a further shot back, along with James Morrison (67) of England at the Karnataka Golf Association course.

Ramsay, who is playing on a sponsor's invitation, knows it will be a close race to the finishing line.

"I found it tough to play with the wind blowing all over the place. I needed to make some putts, which I didn't. It was a case of being close but not close enough today," said Ramsay, a two-time winner in Europe.

"It is surprising to be leading in a tournament with the way I putted. If I can putt better, then I think there's a better score out there," he added.

Makitalo eagled the par five 11th hole for the second successive day after hitting his hybrid to four feet from the hole. He could have shared the lead if not for a bogey on the last.

"There's definitely going to be nerves. I was nervous today but I'm going to play like how I've been playing and avoid looking at scoreboards," said Makitalo.

Panuphol's patience was rewarded with four birdies against two bogeys, as he admitted that his performance this week has surpassed his expectations.

"My goal was to finish top 20, but I'm close to winning now. I don't feel any stress or nerves," said Panuphol, who is hunting for a first Asian Tour win. — Agencies

Odense (Denmark), Oct 20
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal set up a semifinal clash against old nemesis and world number one Yihan Wang of China after easing past local hope Tine Baun in straight games at the Denmark Open badminton tournament here.

Third seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat fifth seed Baun 21-10 21-11 to make the last-four stage where she will be up against an opponent who has beaten her in all their six previous encounters.

Saina, playing her first tournament after becoming the first Indian shuttler to fetch an Olympic medal (a bronze) in London, was hardly troubled in the match yesterday.

With her trademark smashes and better command over the baseline game, the world number four Indian dictated the proceedings and emerged triumphant.

This is Saina's fourth straight win over Baun. The two had also come face to face in the London Olympics and the Indian had prevailed in that match. In fact, Baun has not beaten Saina since November 2011's Indonesia Open. — PTI

New Delhi, October 20
It was a protracted battle between two Delhi boys that lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes. Ultimately, Garvit Batra rallied brilliantly to prevail over Shashan Nautiyal 7-5, 4-5,6-2 to annex the boys’ under-16 singles title in the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here today.

The tall and big-hitting Garvit was leading 4-1, after dropping the first game, in the first set. That is when Shashan broke him, and won four games in a row to catch up. From then onwards, it was a gritty battle of equals for supremacy as both traded punches without holding back their weights. Though Garvit held the edge, he got nervous when Shashan started fighting back forcefully.

Shashan’s backhand and forehand returns proved searing, and caught his tall rival laden footed, though he also tossed the ball up to set up long rallies. Garvit made the mistake of not attacking Shashan’s soft spot — his forehand —as due to an injury, he was shaky in this area. But the players seemed to relish it as the match was prolonged.

Eventually, the contested got locked only when Garvit became decisive in the third set. Both had scalped seeded players on way to the final, and in the title clash, none was willing to concede ground without putting up a tough fight.

Top seed S Snehadevi Reddy annexed the girls under-16 singles title, but she could lay her hands on the trophy only after a big fight when she stormed back from a set down to tame Pranjalla Yadlapalli 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Top seed BR Nikshep raced to the boys under-14 singles title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sani Jagtiani while Delhi girl Vanshika Sawhney defeated Mihika Yadav 6-4, 7-6(4) to bag the girls singles title.