Mumbai, November 5
The selectors have tried to provide the team management with a backup option for all departments in the upcoming Test series against England, according to new chief selector Sandeep Patil who today said promising youngsters will get their “due chance” whenever the slots open up.

Patil also clarified that the selectors had chosen three openers and not four in the Indian squad with Murali Vijay being the reserve opener and Ajinkya Rahane being picked as a middle order batsman.

“We have selected three openers, not four. Ajinkya Rahane has been picked as a middle-order batsman. We have tried to provide the captain and the team management with a backup option for all departments. We have an extra spinner, top-order batsman, middle-order batsman and pacer”, he said. Asked whether the selectors had any specific long-term goal for the team, Patil said “No, we're going match by match and series by series.” “Every match is going to be important and we want the Indian team to do well in each of those matches. Let's not talk about the season ahead of us but this series against England that is coming up,” he told BCCI's official website. The 56-year-old Patil, a former Indian cricketer known for his flamboyant batting, said that he will try to blood the youngsters whenever the opportunity came.

“We have good established cricketers in the team. The opportunities will come for the youngsters. It's a long season and everybody will get his due chance whenever a slot opens up,” he said.

Asked if there was anything that he would like to continue from the previous selection committee, he said “ The previous committee did a fantastic job. They won the World Cup! We'd like to take the good work performed by them forward during our tenure.” Patil, who was also a coach before serving at the National Cricket Academy for three years as the Director of Operations, said he would just focus on his job.

“You have to restrict yourself (from coaching players). At this stage the responsibility I'm given is that of selecting the team and I will limit myself to performing that role”, he said. “Cricket is a challenging game, whether you are a player, a coach, a media person or a selector. You have to move forward and the requirements of different formats. I hope me and my committee fulfil our roles efficiently”. Patil said— PTI

England will have problems in facing spinners here. They were exposed in t20 World cup recently. The bcci has done well not to offer them spinners in the warm-up games. I am eager to do well 
— Pragyan Ojha

Nadaun, November 5
Having taken a massive 307-run first innings lead over Kerala, Himachal Pradesh on Monday gained three points in a drawn Group C Ranji Trophy tie.

After dismissing Kerala for 229 in the first innings, Himachal piled up a huge 536 for six declared and then reduced the visiting team to 256 for six in their second innings at the draw of stumps on Monday.

In a match that ended in a dull draw today, Rohan Prem turned out to be the saving grace as he scored an unbeaten 104 off 221 with the help of three boundaries and a six.

Resuming at 28 for three, overnight batsman VA Jagadeesh, who was unbeaten on six on Sunday, went on to score 36, while first innings centurion, Sanju Samson (30) also chipped in with some runs.

It was Rohan, who held on to his wicket at one end even as other batsmen kept falling at regular interval.

Rohan, however, could find an able partner in Robert Fernandez (31) and the duo added 99 runs together for the sixth wicket to help their team from getting all out once again in this match. For Himachal Pradesh, Mohinderraj Sharma became the pick of the bowlers with figures of three for 45.

Ghaziabad, November 5
Virender Sehwag batted like a man possessed as his brilliant 107 today dispelled doubts about his finger injury but favourites Delhi suffered the ignominy of a six-wicket defeat against a determined UP in a thrilling Ranji Trophy Group B match.

Sehwag had played cautiously yesterday to reach 21 but today he blasted the Uttar Pradesh bowlers repeatedly, peppering the off-side field as he hit 19 boundaries in his 165 ball knock.

It was solely due to Sehwag's heroics that Delhi managed 322 in their second innings, leaving UP with a target of 155 to win in 50 overs.

Chasing the target, rival skipper Suresh Raina, who was today axed from India's Test squad, hit a quickfire 37 but once he was holed out in the deep by Sangwan off Ishant Sharma's bowling, UP looked like going out of steam. When Raina got out, UP still needed around 40 runs. — PTI

Mohali, November 5
After having played 98 Tests with 406 scalps at a strike rate of 68.1, Harbhajan Singh, on Monday, had to answer questions like how does he feel to be back in the squad. Flushed with emotions, Bhajji replied, “I am excited... to be back in the team. I am looking forward to play my 100th Test, almost to remind everyone of his 12-yr long career.

The fiery Sardar admitted that for more than one year he has not been in his prime and have had a tough time.

“Every one goes through a rough patch. Shane Warne, Murali, almost every player. I am criticized for going wicketless. On a flat track, a spinner is restricted to mere containment job. The seamers attack on hard and green pitches, he says, advocating the need to have sporting wickets which help seamers on first day, batsmen in the middle and spinners towards the end. “I also want to bowl at the batsmen’s ribs,” commenting on a recent remark on off spinners by MS Dhoni.

The 31-year-old offie said, “I think I have become a good listener and can handle things on the field in a better way. I have learnt to make the moves rather than work for things to happen on their own. I have evolved as a cricketer in the last one year.”

Bhajji appeared in combative mode for the upcoming Englad’s tour of India. Last year’s drubbing is still fresh in his mind but he says, “That was England, this is India. It is perfectly right not to give them the opportunity to play spinners in warm-up game.”

Mohali, November 5
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh celebrated his return to Indian Test side by leading his Ranji team, Punjab to an innings win over Hyderabad on the fourth and final day of their opening group league match here today.

Harbhajan grabbed three wickets at the expense of 50 runs to give able support to Siddarth Kaul who had a five-wicket haul as Punjab crushed Hyderabad by an innings and 68 runs to collect seven points from the Group B match at the PCA Stadium.

The 32-year-old offie, who has been struggling of late, gave the crucial breakthrough as he broke the 108-run stand between former Test batsman V V S Laxman and Akshath Reddy, which had given Hyderabad a chance to fightback after conceding a huge 307 first innings lead.

Hyderabad, who had scored 258 in their first innings, finally ended their second essay at 239 all out in 80 overs. They faced 65 overs after resuming the day at 46 for three.

Laxman, who was yet to open his account when the stumps were drawn yesterday, top-scored with a 110-ball 67, which was studded with 10 boundaries and Reddy defied the Punjab attack for more than a session and 30 overs.

Mumbai, November 5
England emerged with a few positives, ahead of the opening Test of the four-game series against India, from their three-day warm-up game against Mumbai A that ended in a draw at the DY Patil Stadium here today. The visitors first shot out the home team for 286 to take a 59-run lead, with left-arm spin duo Monty Panesar and Samit Patel polishing off the lower order in style.

Later opener Nick Compton — who is vying for the opener's slot with 21-year-old Joe Root to accompany captain Alastair Cook in the first Test — got back some form in the second innings by scoring an unbeaten half century.

Compton, who flopped in the first two innings that he played on the tour by scoring a duck (against India A in the opener at the Brabourne Stadium) and one (in the first innings here), started nervously before helping himself to some form.

England, who made 345 for nine declared in the first innings, were 149 for two wickets in 52 overs in the second when play was called off.

When stumps were drawn for the last time, Compton was unbeaten with 64 after a stay of 214 minutes during which he faced 162 balls and hit 6 fours.

Ian Bell (28), who faced 42 balls and hit three fours in 58 minutes, was the batsman who was not out at the other end. The England pace bowlers did not do anything extraordinary in the match barring bowling long spells, with James Anderson and Graham Onions procuring one and two wickets respectively. Stand-in skipper Stuart Broad could not do that too because of a left heel injury that restricted him to bowl 10 overs, while Panesar showed he could trouble the Indian batsmen with some help from the track. Patel was a big gainer and staked strong claims to grab a middle order slot with his knock of 60 and followed it up today by claiming three wickets in 16 balls as Mumbai A slumped from overnight 232 for 4 to being all out in 93 minutes. Coming on top of the 100 he made and the two wickets he claimed in the first game against India A, his all-round display here has strengthened his claims for a Test spot.

Patel took three for 44 while Panesar finished with three for 64, which included the prize wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara who was retained today by the national selectors in the squad for the opening two Tests.

England used the remaining time to get some valuable batting practice before the opening Test starting at Ahmedabad on November 15. They will play a four-day practice game, their last, against Haryana in the textile city from November 8-11.

From the home side, Pujara struck timely form with an innings of 87 yesterday and, more importantly, spent nearly four and a half hours to have a good look at the England attack.

The Saurashtra batsman, who played in the game as an invited player along with Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan, and Hiken Shah, who was out for 92 today, showed exemplary patience when adding 163 runs for the third wicket yesterday to frustrate the England bowlers.

This morning, England shot out the hosts, after the latter resumed at the overnight 232 for 4, in 93 minutes to grab the first innings lead.

The hosts' lower order collapsed against Panesar and Patel after speedster Onions secured the first breakthrough.

Onions sent back overnight batsman Shah before the left arm spinners ran through the remainder of the batting. The last five wickets of the home team fell for the addition of only 22 runs and in the space of 6.3 overs after Shah fell at 240. Panesar took two of the five wickets that were claimed by the spinners while Patel got the other three while conceding ten runs. — PTI

Mumbai, November 5
Struggling England opener Nick Compton was today satisfied that he could stay on the wicket for sufficient time and score runs against Mumbai A in the drawn three-day practice game here.

“It's not been the ideal start. Sometimes you have to give yourself time. It's a new country, a new bunch of team-mates so it does take a bit of time. Perhaps I was a bit hard on myself but for me the most important thing was to spend some time out in the middle as early as I could. The more balls I faced and the more time I spent will help me for future games,” said Compton, after scoring an unbeaten 64 off 162 balls at the D Y Patil Stadium.

“I was desperate to spend quality time at the wicket. I was happy I stayed there for more than three hours and scored some runs. The time out in the middle felt better, I will definitely try to build on it. “I feel like this has given me three hours in the middle. I think I got my balance back and the feet got moving. Earlier in the game my feet weren't moving that well and I got caught out, but that can happen. We've had 6-7 weeks off in England,” he added.

Compton, who is vying with rookie Joe Root for the second opener's spot alongside skipper Alastair Cook, made 0 and 1 before today's unbeaten knock in the two innings he played at the Indian shores on October 29.

“I would be lying if I said I didn't have an eye on that opening spot. It was very important to get into the mindset for getting some runs,” said Compton, grandson of former England great Denis, who had played the Pentangular and Ranji Trophy games in India but never a Test. The 29-year-old South Africa-born Compton said he was pleased with the way he was able to leave the ball alone in the second innings. — PTI 

New Delhi, November 5
Senior players Sandeep Singh, Shivendra Singh and Ignace Tirkey were today axed from India’s 18-member hockey squad announced by Hockey India for the upcoming 34th men’s FIH Champions Trophy and Lanco International Super Series in Australia.

With an eye on future, the Hockey India selectors made as many as seven changes from the squad that represented India in this year’s London Olympics, where they finished a disappointing 12th and last.

Mid-fielder Gurbaj Singh and striker Sarvanjit Singh, who all played in the Olympics, have also been dropped from the Australia-bound team.

The squad also does not include goalkeeper Bharat Chetri, who led India in the London Games and senior striker Tushar Khandker. Both Chetri and Khandker were omitted from the pruned 33-member probables list last month.

Promising striker Yuvraj Walmiki, who was left out of the Olympics squad due to a hamstring injury, returned to the squad along with defender Rupinderpal Singh. Nithin Thimmaiah and Akashdeep Singh were the two new inclusion in the forwardline, while PR Sreejesh and PT Rao are the two goalkeepers in the squad.

Defender Harbir Singh and mid-fielder Gurmail Singh are also two new faces in the national team.

Star mid-fielder Sardar Singh will lead the team in both the tournaments in Australia, while defender VR Raghunath has been named his deputy.

The selectors also named six stand-byes in Srenivas Rao (goalkeeper), Amit Rohidas (defender), MB Aiyappa (halfback), Chinglensana Singh (forward), Pradhanna Sommanna (forward) and PL Thimmanna (forward).

Hockey India selectors Col. Balbir Singh, BP Govinda and Thoiba Singh as well as government observer Harbinder Singh and chief coach Michael Nobbs picked the squad after witnessing the three-day trials at SAI Centre, Netaji Subash Institute of Sports in Patiala from October 25-27.

According to sources in the selection meeting, all the selectors and coaches were unanimous in their decision of giving youngsters a chance in the wake of India’s disastrous Olympics outing.

“There are no injury scares. The team has been picked completely on the basis of form, fitness and keeping in mind the future of Indian hockey,” a HI selector said. “All those present in the selection meeting were of the opinion that it is time for non-performers to clear the way for youngsters,” he added.

India will take part in the Lanco International Super Series at Perth from November 22 to 25 which will also feature England, Australia and Pakistan.

India will open their campaign against England on November 22, followed by matches against Australia (November 23) and Pakistan (November 24). — PTI

London, November 5
A tired sounding Novak Djokovic says he will need to draw on all his mental and physical strength if he is to crown another stellar season with the ATP World Tour Finals title.

The Serb heads into his opening match with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday safe in the knowledge that he will end the year as the world number one for the second consecutive year.

Whether he can add a sixth title to his 2012 resume, which includes the Australian Open, will depend on how his body has recovered since he was knocked out of the Paris Masters by American Sam Querrey on Wednesday.

He admitted after the match he began to struggle physically during the second set, having won the first. “I want to give my best and at this moment I'm trying to be as optimistic as possible,” Djokovic, winner of the season-ending showpiece when it was staged in Shanghai in 2008, told a Sunday news conference at London's 02 Arena which is hosting the event for the fourth year running.

“It's expected to not always on your top form and especially at this time of year the effects of the long season can influence you physically and mentally also, but as I said, this is a very important tournament.

“I definitely want to do well, find the mental and physical strength to perform my best and we'll see if that best will be good enough.”

As well as a weary body, reports from Serbia have said the 25-year-old's father was ill, an issue Djokovic was not keen to elaborate on.

“It's not the right moment for me to be talking about these things right, I just want to talk about the tennis tournament.” Regardless of his result in London's docklands, where he has also been drawn to face great rival Andy Murray and Czech Tomas Berdych, he will finish the season as top dog in men's tennis.

He lost the tag to Swiss Roger Federer in July, but will take it back this week in a season that has seen him pocket more than $8 million in prize money.

“It means a lot, for all of us from our team, we are very proud of what we've achieved in 2012,” he said of reclaiming top spot. “It's definitely not easy ending the year as number one considering the competition that we had this year.” — Reuters

New Delhi, November 5
It was like yesterday once more as the silver jubilee function of Chetan Sharma’s World Cup hat-trick in Kanpur brought together two generations of cricketers on one podium recenty. They included Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin, Chetan Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, Chetan Chauhan, Maninder Singh, Ashok Malhotra, Atul Wasson, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Vivek Razdan, Gursharan Singh, Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand on one podium recenty. They all regaled the packed venue with hitherto unknown facets of Chetan Sharma’s odyssey.

The presence of three Dronacharya Award-winning coaches — Gurcharan Singh, Desh Prem Azad and Sunita Sharma — who have trained nearly two dozen international players, added lustre to the gathering.

Chetan recalled that he would not have achieved the feat but for Kapil Dev. His hand was in a plaster cast after an injury, and Kapil forced him to play after the BCCI didn’t provide him a replacement. With just five bowlers in the team, captain Kapil had little scope to middle with the team. The Kanpur ODI was historic for two reasons —Sunil Gavaskar scored his first ODI century and Chetan claimed three-in-a row against New Zealand.

“Kapil Paaji, Maninder Paaji and some others took the hotel knife to tear off my plaster, and here I was, forced to bowl in a World Cup match,”Chetan recalled.

“It’s nice to revive those old memories. Chetan was a terrific cricketer, but he did not perform as much as his talent demanded,”Kapil observed. “When I first saw him (in 1983), Chetan bowled on a flat wicket against the West Indies. If the wicket was better, he would have done better. When he started bowling, the West Indies dismissed him contemptuously, but when the ball started whizzing past their ears, they played him with respect.”

Azad’s association with Chetan started 35 years ago, when he was brought to his coaching centre in Chandigarh. “Chetan came to me when he was just seven. He was naughty, but a quick learner, and his hard work has taken him to the top,”Azad reminisced.