Ahmedabad, November 15
Virender Sehwag’s blazing – yet effortless – century and Cheteshwar Pujara’s unobtrusive excellence put India firmly in control on the first day of the series against England. Sehwag smashed his way to 117 off 117 balls without seeming unduly hurried, and Pujara made an unbeaten 98 with an excellent display of thrust of parry, and India were 323 for four at the draw of stumps.

Yet, in the Indian dressing room, there would be sighs of regret at wickets thrown away. In the English dressing room, too, there would be sighs, but they would signify relief at evading complete destruction despite bowling quite badly, with the honourable exception of Graeme Swann, the day’s sole wicket-taker.

The pitch here has been the centre of much debate and comment, and it was easy to see why: A dry, arid patch surrounded by surprisingly lush outfield – the sight suggests to the mind’s eye an oasis in reverse. The most important act of the day, thus, was performed by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his only appearance on the turf – he won a vital toss for India and chose to bat first. The importance of the toss cannot be overstated - batting against Swann on this track in the fourth innings would be quite unpleasant.

The pitch began to look worn in less than 10 overs from the ineffectual England pace attack, and by the 30th over, it seemed a day old. That would have interested off-spinner Swann, who was brought into the attack in the 14th over, though there was no sharp turn or bounce to trouble the batsmen. There was nothing in the wicket, in fact – it was slow, had no turn or bounce, no help to the seamers or spinners.

Timing the ball was tough, but Sehwag made batting seem easier than it was. He got a bit of help from the English seamers, who completely forgot their lines and lengths, bowling on both sides of the field and copping much punishment. Their plight was much like that of the Indian bowlers in England last year – nervous, fearful and clueless. They sent down an assortment of punishable deliveries to Sehwag: length balls, wide ones, full tosses, on the pads. Sehwag made them suffer. When the quick bowlers tried bouncers – which had made the Indians visibly flinch in England last year – the ball obligingly sat up to be smacked. On this slow track, not easy to time the ball on, the English pacers needed patience and doggedness. They didn’t show any sign of these.

Sehwag did, and made it look easier than it was. With Sehwag blazing away, India made their runs at 4.5 an over. After his exit, India averaged 2.5 an over.

Gautam Gambhir had to work hard to make his runs and get the partnership going. It was tough for him, and the effort showed – at lunch, Sehwag had galloped to 79, Gambhir was on 37. Still, the combined effort was good enough for their first century stand since December 2010. Gambhir lasted longer than he looked like lasting, and eventually fell when he attempted an avoidable shot, trying to cut a Swann delivery angled in from around the stumps and missing.

Sehwag fell when, off the first ball of the 51st over, bowled by Swann, he attempted a wild sweep-slog through midwicket, and missed. Tendulkar came in to a surprisingly loud din made by around 10,000 spectators present in the ground. He radiated authority in his brief innings, spanking two fours off 18 balls, the second off a sweep against Swann – hit in the air, something he doesn’t do too often early on. He hit the ball in the air once again in the over, 57th of the innings, but it was one time too many – he didn’t quite time it, got too much under it and sent it up.

Virat Kohli didn’t quite seem himself – his first runs came off the 30th ball he faced, he edged one to slip and was dropped, and finally fell when he left a massive gap between bat and pad to Swann. Meanwhile, Pujara went on with his business with the calmness of a Rahul Dravid, not neglecting to score off a bad ball. The last ball of the day, driven beautifully through extra-cover, underlined that he’s both an accumulator and aggressor. For India to gain complete control, Pujara’s longevity will be crucial.

SCOREBOARD

India 1st innings

Gambhir b Swann 45
Sehwag b Swann 117
Pujara batting 98
Tendulkar c Patel b Swann 13
Virat Kohli b Swann 19
Yuvraj batting 24
Extras: 7
Total: (4 wkts; 58 ovrs) 323
Fall of wickets: 1-134, 2-224, 3-250, 4-283
England bowling: Anderson 17-3-66-10, Broad 17-1-71-0, Bresnan 10-0-56-0, Swann 32-5-85-4, Patel 14-2-39-0.

Sehwag's 117 is his highest score against England, bettering the 106 at Trent Bridge in 2002. He last recorded a hundred 2 years ago — 173 at Motera against Kiwis (2010) The century opening stand between Sehwag and Gambhir is only the third for India in the match first innings against England. It is also the second at home vs England Graeme Swann (4/85) has registered his best bowling figures in Tests in India - his second best overall, next only to his 6 for 106 at The Oval in 2012 6 is the number of centuries Sehwag has scored at a strike rate of 100 or more. Since 1990, only Gilchrist has done so more often (7 times) Swann is now behind only Derek Underwood on the list of most successful England spinners after going past Jim Laker's tally of 193 wickets 134 run opening stand between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir is the highest by any pair at Motera 6 is the number of time Swann has taken Gambhir's wicket in five Tests — the most times a bowler has dismissed him

Ahmedabad, November 15
The mind of Virender Sehwag, outwardly quite simple and straightforward, would provide for a fascinating study. It’s crusty and flinty, bursting with confidence, leaving no room for self-doubt – which is exactly what a sports psychologist would recommend. This would involve a bit of self-deception too, a wilful forgetfulness of events unpleasant, events past. Sehwag can do that mid-innings, ball by ball. Induced amnesia is his greatest strength.

Thus, for instance, Sehwag is quite oblivious of the fact that he averaged 29.53 last year, and that he was averaging 28 this year before his century today – as compared to his career average of 51-plus. He seems to have forgotten that he hadn’t made a century in 29 innings and two years.

“I and my team had no doubt about me,” he said after his knock of 117. “Yeh aapke oopar hai ki aap apni man marzi se koi story chalate hein – it’s you who write what you wish to write about.” Despite failures, including a king pair in England last year, Sehwag is not assailed by the even the most minute bit of self-doubt – he’s managed to shift blame on others. That’s an amazing achievement. And it’s not that it was an easy wicket to score runs today – the Indian scoring rate dropped by two runs an over after Sehwag fell, yet the team reached 323 because of the hiding he administered to the England.

Quite amazingly, Sehwag expostulated on the virtues of patience while batting – after spanking 117 at a run-a-ball. He said he had “begun cautiously” (3 off the first eight balls, 7 off 14) because he had an epiphany on match eve – he learnt that when he plays the new ball cautiously, he goes on to make a century.

“I have to thank to DJ (Dhananjay), our video analyst. He gave me the list of last 10 hundreds I have played, and I was watching the videos last night till 11 pm,” Sehwag said. “I realised that if I play the new ball a bit more cautiously, I would reach 100. It’s good for me, and can give the team a good start. I did that today.”

Sehwag also said that England went on the defensive very quickly, putting men on the boundaries, removing men from the slips and covers. “The wicket is on the slower side, and they set fields with everybody on the (boundary) line, especially deep point and deep square-leg, so it’s not easy to hit boundaries,” he said.

Yet, Sehwag managed to disregard the impediments, grab the opportunities and make runs freely almost throughout the innings.

The most amazing part is that he, Sehwag, who has scored his runs faster than any opener in Test cricket, said that the other batsmen should have been more patient. “The first three batsmen were trying to hit the ball and get out… If you try to block the ball, it’s difficult too get out,” he said. “If you play your shots and make a mistake, you’ll get out, because the wicket is very slow. It’s not turning sharply, so if you show some patience, you can score runs.” 

Ahmedabad, Nov 15
England would have been happier with five or six wickets by stumps on the opening day of the first cricket Test, according to off-spinner Graeme Swann, who said destructive opener Virender Sehwag took the game away with his blistering run-a-ball 117 today.

"They are in a very strong position. The first session they undoubtedly won. Arguably the other two were even. Having lost the toss and bowled first on that pitch we'd have liked five or six wickets but we'll take four," said Swann, who was the standout performer for the visitors with his 4-85 haul.

"If we had five or six it would have been an exceptional day for us and would have knocked 60 runs off the total," he added.

Swann credited Sehwag for taking the game away with his first Test century in two years.

"You have to hand it to Viru the way he played at the start. The way Viru batted he really took the game away from us in the first couple of hours so it was very important to pull it back. We know he can be destructive, he's done it against us before," Swann said.

"I've been reading in the paper that he hasn't got a century for a couple of years and he's been questioned by the local press ... Good on him for banishing those doubters," the 33-year-old added.

Swann had started the day one wicket behind Jim Laker (193 wickets) and became England's highest wicket taking off-spinner when he scalped Sehwag's wicket.

"It is a proud moment. I always say I'm not a stats man but when people told me I was near Jim Laker I was genuinely excited. When you're growing up these are the famous names of the game, you don't even dream of emulating them, let alone going past them," he said.Swann, who grabbed the wickets of Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, said the key on the slow Sardar Patel Stadium wicket was to bowl straight which his team did not do in the opening session.

“At lunch time we sat down and came up with a new game plan. I don't think we bowled straight enough in the first session. On a pitch that is low and slow you have to attack the stumps a bit more. I think we did that as the game went on and that's why we got a couple of wicket and pulled the run-rate back," he said.

Swann said there was not much turn on the pitch and credited luck for getting some extra turn to beat the defensive bat of Virat Kohli and bowl the Indian batsman through the gate. "I was fortunate that the ball was changed after the quarter seam exploded on the soft ball. The replacement was a touch harder. No ball spun for three or four overs and then one just hit a pebble and turned square.

"If you look at the footage going through the day, very few balls have turned. Towards the end there was a bit of turn, but I don't think that necessarily makes a bad Test wicket. It's very, very flat for the seamers. You could argue that it's a good Test pitch. I will say that because I've got four wickets," he added.

Though he got senior batsman Tendulkar's wicket, caught in the deep, Swann said the senior Indian batsman was still the greatest player in the active players' list. "Before he even comes out to the middle you know who it is from the crowd's noise. It's always nice to get him out, and get him out early. Let's face it, he's the greatest player still playing the game," he said.

Swann said the Indian slow bowlers can pose some problems to his team's batsmen but the pitch was still good for batting.

"The Indian spinners were probably watching with eagle eyes today and looking forward to bowling on that pitch. It's still a very good pitch for batting on. It's only the odd ball that turned. That can pose problems sometimes. I think our batsmen will look at the footage and realise that it's still a good pitch," he said. — PTI 

London, November 15
Freddie Flintoff was bullied at school and developed an eating disorder as he battled weight issues during his Test cricket career.

These were the shock themes to emerge from a documentary to be broadcast in the run-up to his professional boxing debut at the end of the month. At a private screening in London yesterday of From Lord's to the Ring the first episode of which is to be shown on Sky1 next week, Flintoff reveals a vulnerable side that is in part driving the compulsion to box professionally.

“I would stick my fingers down my throat to make myself sick," Flintoff said. "Even after I had gone to good restaurants I would do it. I ended up losing about 15kg [33lb]. It became a very difficult habit to shake myself out of." Flintoff also spoke about his school days in Preston, where he was a victim of persistent bullying, and how his immersion in boxing has helped him process the anger and resentment related to that experience. "I had a very rough time at school. I wanted to play cricket and I frequently got knocked around because of it. I really wanted to retaliate but for some reason I couldn't make myself. So now I want to put that side of my life to bed a little bit.

"I have no qualms about talking about it. It happened a while ago now. I suppose if anyone is feeling like that it is all right to talk about it. Maybe me speaking about it helps people who have been through it to feel that it's OK to speak about it, too."

Flintoff's flirtation with boxing has attracted a mixed response. "Car crash TV" was the description used by promoter Frank Warren. The other boxing promoter, Frank Maloney, was even more scathing, claiming Flintoff is turning boxing into a joke. To balance the argument there is an authenticity about Flintoff's approach and attitude that is best exemplified by the evolving contours of his nose, which has been significantly disfigured.

He has sympathy with his detractors but believes his association with the sport is positive. “I can understand people wanting to defend their sport. I would feel the same about cricket," Flintoff said. "Our intention is not to cheapen the sport, but to show it for what it is, how hard it is.” — Reuters

Ahmedabad, November 15
England's Jonathan Trott displayed a distinct lack of sportsman spirit when he persisted with his appeal for a catch despite dropping the ball during the first day of the opening Test against India here today.

Post-tea, when India were at 259 for three, Kohli, who was on four, went for a cut shot off Graeme Swann's bowling but edged the ball to Trott at slip. The ball struck Trott's forearm and he dived backward to complete the catch. He, however, dropped it on the turf but still appealed and forced the on-field umpires to refer the matter to third umpire Sudhir Asnani.

But the Television replays clearly showed that the ball spilled out of his hand as he dived backward and then his body covered the ball before he scooped it up and appealed.

It remains to be seen what action match referee Roshan Mahanama takes against the fielder for his action, which was clearly against the spirit of the game. — PTI

New Delhi, November 15
Bengal speedster Ashoke Dinda is all set to be released by the Indian team management so that he can join his state team for the third round Ranji Trophy encounter against Gujarat starting from November 17 at Eden Gardens.

After Ishant Sharma was diagnosed with viral fever, the BCCI had announced Dinda's name as stand-bye. He joined the squad as Ishant's stand-bye on SOS basis.

Dinda was in Chandigarh when he got a call of his selection and he travelled to Kolkata and from there dashed to Ahmedabad. "Ashoke Dinda will be taking 3:45 pm flight from Ahmedabad and will be back in Kolkata by the evening. Since the first Test has already started, the selectors feel that it is better to release Dinda so that he can utilise the time in a serious match situation against Gujarat," a senior BCCI official said.

According to reliable sources in the Board, the selectors want the 14th and 15th member of the squad to leave for Ranji Trophy duties so that they get proper match practice. "The idea is that we need two extra players who can be substitute fielders. As for the others, it is better that they go and play the Ranji Trophy which will also help them get good match practice," a senior official informed. Bengal's chairman of selection committee Deep Dasgupta wants to look at the positive side.

“I would say Dinda should feel good about the fact that his short call-up meant that selectors now feel that he is the number one back-up pacer in the country after Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav and Ishant. Also, it will be a good thing as he would be able to bowl a good 25 overs," the former India player said. — PTI

Paris, November 15 
Zlatan Ibrahimovic lit up a night of friendlies most club coaches had castigated as an unnecessary intrusion into their domestic campaigns as the Swedish star scored four times to give his side a 4-2 win over England.

There was also further evidence France's 1998 World Cup winning captain Didier Deschamps was having a dynamic effect on the present French team as they followed up their impressive 1-1 draw against world and European champions Spain in a World Cup qualifier last month with a 2-1 win over Euro 2012 finalists Italy in Parma.

Elsewhere two Euro 2012 semifinalists Germany and Portugal had to settle for draws — the Germans drawing 0-0 with arch-rivals the Netherlands in Amsterdam and the Portuguese, playing without the absent Cristiano Ronaldo, held 2-2 by Gabon.

A poor result in a friendly doesn't often provoke a sacking but Chile's Argentinian coach Claudio Borghi was told enough was enough after his side slumped to a 3-1 defeat by Serbia — it came on top of a disappointing series of results in South American qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. "I was sacked, I didn't resign," said the 48-year-old.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni too won't be feeling too comfortable as his side slumped to a 1-0 home defeat by Greece - their second successive home reverse following the 6-1 humiliation by Germany in a World Cup qualifier last month.

Scotland are looking for a new manager and while they gained a welcome win in caretaker manager Billy Stark's first game in charge since Craig Levein was relieved of his duties, a 2-1 away win over minnows Luxembourg won't have his paymasters rushing to sign him up on a permanent basis.

Ibrahimovic at his very best is unstoppable and he decided that the inauguration of the new national stadium, the Friends Arena, was a suitably grand occasion for him to produce a masterclass and in doing so inflict England manager Roy Hodgson's first defeat over 90 minutes in 12 games. Ibrahimovic, who rose to fourth in the all-time Swedish scoring list, saved his most spectacular goal for last, an outrageous long-range bicycle kick in injury time that drew a standing ovation from the Sweden dug-out.

"Sometimes, when he's doing these things, in training or in matches, you don't think it's possible," said Sweden coach Erik Hamren, whose side were scoring four goals for the second successive match. "Sometimes, you think you're watching a video game. Because it's not possible to do that — the fourth goal, for example." The 31-year-old striker, though, said it wasn't his finest match for his country as he said he had played many great games for them, but when asked how he would mark his international career out of 10 he had no hesitation.

"10," he replied. France - whom Deschamps took over as coach after his fellow World Cup winning team-mate Laurent Blanc stepped down after they went out in the last eight of Euro 2012 - may have beaten a far from full strength Italy side but it left their coach a very happy man. "The result is important isn't it? We have just recently drawn with Spain and here we have beaten the Euro 2012 finalists."

The goals also came on the day a politician from the far-right Sweden Democrats was forced to resign after a film showed him using offensive language about immigrants. Sweden's team has players of different ethnic backgrounds including Ibrahimovic, who is of Bosnian and Croatian descent. — Agencies

Johor Bahru, November 15
India booked their berth in the final of the Sultan of Johar Cup hockey tournament with an impressive 3-1 victory over New Zealand on Thursday.

The Indian junior men's team dominated proceedings from the outset with Mandeep Singh scoring in the 19th minute when his shot from the right beat goalkeeper Richard Joyce. Playing their fourth round-robin league match at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, Harjeet Singh increased the lead for India with his strike in the 27th minute while skipper Manpreet Singh made it 3-0 in the 34th minute.

In the second half, Benedict Van Woerkom scored a field goal in the 48th minute to reduce the margin, but that was the only time when the New Zealanders had their say. India will now square off against hosts Malaysia in their last league match on Saturday.

After four matches, India lead the points table with 10 points and remain the only undefeated team in the competition so far. India had earlier stunned defending champions Australia 2-0 and formidable Germany 3-1 before settling for a goal-less draw against arch-rivals Pakistan in previous matches. — PTI

New Delhi November 15
Dutch legend and world's highest capped player, Teun de Nooijer will be among eight stars from the Netherlands to feature in next month's player auction for the Hockey India League to be held in January next year.

De Nooijer, who made his debut in 1994 before retiring last month after playing 453 international matches, has always been a key member of the Dutch national team.

Penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema is another big star from the Netherlands who will be in the players auction. The 32-year-old defender has experience of 239 internationals scoring 221 goals. Taekema has been key member of Netherlands team in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 (Silver) scoring 7 goals and Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 (4th position) scoring maximum number of 11 goals. — PTI

Chennai, November 15
Some of the top tennis players, including world No. 6 Tomas Berdych and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic, are set to take part in the 18th Aircel Chennai Open 2013 to be held here from December 31.

This will be 26-year-old Berdych's second visit to the tournament, while Tipsarevic will open his new season at the Chennai Open for the fifth successive year. "Tipsarevic is a regular to Chennai and loves to play here. He has been doing well in 2012 and I am sure his presence will ensure that fans will get to see some fantastic games being played during the tournament. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome him to India," he added. — PTI

New Delhi, November 15
London Olympics quarter-finalist, Parupalli Kashyap showed nerves of steel to notch up a hard-fought three-game victory over seventh seed Vietnamese, Tien Minh Nguyen, to reach the final eight of the China Super Series in Shanghai.

The world number 23 Indian recovered after dropping a game to see off Tien 12-21 22-20 21-14 in an hour and nine minute match in the men's singles competition. He will next take on China's Zhengming Wang in the quarters tomorrow.

Kashyap, who had beaten Tien in the London Olympics in August, could not get his act right in the opening game and was left doing the catch up job as the World No. 11 Tien closed it comfortably without being threatened much.

In the second game too, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist was lagging 1-5 but he then made a strong come back, reeling off seven straight points to open up a five-point lead over Tien.

The Vietnamese caught up at 17-17 and moved to 20-20 but the Indian quickly notched up two points to roar back into the contest.

In the decider, Kashyap went into the break at 11-8 after fighting tooth and nail and though Tien stepped up the heat, the Indian kept his nose ahead and eventually cemented his place in the last-eight comfortably.

Among other Indians, Indonesian pair of Riky Widianto and Puspita Richi Dili proved too good for the young duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Siki Reddy N, beating them 21-11 21-15 in just 24 minutes. Indian men's doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu also lost to top seed Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark 10-21 8-21 in 32 minutes. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Dempo take on ONGC
New Delhi:Defending champions Dempo Club (Goa) will meet Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in a sixth round I-League match at the Ambedkar stadium. Dempo top the table with 13 points from five matches while ONGC are among the bottom-placed on two points from five matches. Dempo hold a definite edge. — TNS