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India keep England guessing
100TH teSt
‘We have a chance so soon to turn it around’ |
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Dhoni’s demand for turner is just a mindgame, says Warne
Umesh likely to miss second Test
Wildcard for Somdev
Force India to get investment boost
Dynamo Moscow awarded win over flare incident
Benitez checks in at Chelsea as Abramovich moves fast
Dhoni to come up with racing academies IOA lashes out at Sports Ministry Samuel’s ton propels Windies chase Grandmaster Harika storms into World C’ship semifinals
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India keep England guessing
Mumbai, November 22 Hundreds of eyes gaze at it, and they see nothing more revealing than a brown, damp patch of mud with a bit of grass, seemingly innocent of guile — if you can’t read the signs. Indian captain MS Dhoni, who had expressed a deep revulsion for the Ahmedabad track, even after India won, has issued a warning for Mumbai. “If this pitch also does not help our spinners, then I will again come and criticise it,” Dhoni said today, the glitter in his eye suggesting that he was not really being facetious. “But it looks like a good wicket to start off.” The track here, made of red soil, must have some grass out of necessity. The red soil is loose and doesn’t bind easily, and grass acts to hold it together. The grass would be shaved a bit, and probably the track would not be watered much from now on. A dry track, of course, is good news for spinners — it breaks faster, the ball grips it better. And India’s spinners would be the happier recipients of good tidings. They had, after all, picked up 13 wickets in the Ahmedabad win. So the wicket will spin – this much is very obvious, even if Dhoni hadn’t made a fervent, even angry wish for greater spin on Indian tracks than he’d seen in Ahmedabad. The difference here is that there would be greater bounce — which should gladden both spinners and pacers, and the sea breeze would help the seamers. Andy Flower, the England coaching director, admitted a couple of days ago that he had failed to read the pitch for the Ahmedabad Test and opted for a three-pacer, one-spinner attack. England’s three quicks picked up just one wicket in the match. The team was crushed. Shane Warne, the Australian genius, says that visiting teams must replicate India’s strategy when they play in India – that if India play two spinners in a Test, the opposition must follow suit. However, there’s another school of thought that believes that visiting teams must stick to their own strengths -- and England thought their strength was pace, not spin. Flower believed he’d try to win with pace. Not too many teams have done that in India -- and England last did that in 1984, when Neil Foster took 11 wickets in their Chennai win. Mumbai’s bounce, its likely encouragement to seamers, could confound England -- should they play three specialist seamers again, or get in a second spinner to partner Graeme Smith? Captain Alastair Cook wasn’t revealing anything, but their best bet could be to take out either Tim Bresnan or Stuart Broad and get in Monty Panesar. Flower is a tough man, but it would take enormous amount of bravery to defy public opinion, which is massed behind Panesar. Apart from the pitch, opener Virender Sehwag is getting a great amount of lip service — the Delhi dasher, who played a crucial, and already-forgotten knock of 117 in Ahmedabad, plays his 100th Test here. Also, Ishant Sharma is likely to be the fourth Delhi man in the XI after Umesh Yadav was declared unfit due to a sore back. Tendulkar inspired Indians to take up cricket: Dravid Rahul Dravid said the veteran has inspired youngsters across the country to take up the game. “Yesterday, at the BCCI's function, Sachin said Sunil Gavaskar inspired him to take up the game. What Sachin has done is inspire generations of players in the small towns and villages. That is the impact he has had on India.People may not remember me, but will remember Sachin," said Dravid. Squads: 2nd test India: MS Dhoni (capt), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt. & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Ashok Dinda England: Alastair Cook (capt.), James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Nick Compton, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Stuart Broad, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Graham Onions, Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar and Stuart Meaker live on star cricket ( 9.3o am)
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Sehwag’s mindset is totally different: Dhoni
Sehwag would be making his 100th Test appearance when he takes the field against England here tomorrow in the second game of the ongoing four-match series. "The crucial decision that he made in his career was when he decided that he will open the innings. I think that was a big challenge for him but he accepted it. His stats are one of the best stats that you can see. He is someone who is very different to a lot of individuals. His thinking is entirely different," Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference here today. "How he takes up or faces a particular kind of challenge is very different." The 34-year-old Sehwag is on the verge of becoming only the ninth Indian player to reach the 100-Test club list, which his idol Sachin Tendulkar tops with 191 under his belt. "He has got a very important role right from the very start. He is someone who can play shots right from the very first delivery, which means if the bowler is off target, he looks to put pressure on the bowler," Dhoni said. "We have seen once the batsmen get after the bowlers and if they score a few boundaries off the bowler, then it is very difficult for them to get back into the game," he added. Dhoni said Sehwag is always full of positive energy irrespective of his form with the bat. "When you talk about the mindset, that is why he is so special. Whether he is in form or not in form, it does not really bother him. He just keeps thinking positive. He was working a lot on his batting but still his approach remained the same," said Dhoni "His (Sehwag's) role is very crucial, not to forget the experience that he has got playing in all the formats and also the fact that he still can get us a few wickets. We have not been using him too much in the bowling department but is still someone who can get us a few breakthroughs," said Dhoni. The India captain said the way Sehwag plays, it is always easy for him to strike form after a lean phase. "I don't think it is too difficult for someone like him to come back to form. We all know that form is about 15 runs here and there. All of a sudden from a very good run, you get out in 15 deliveries. It's the mindset that helps you get back in the game and that way, I think he is brilliant," he said. Dhoni said people need more time to understand Sehwag's mindset. "When it comes to Viru, you need a bit more time to understand him. All the players who have played with him and shared the dressing room with realise the fact that his mindset is completely different from maybe all the cricketers around the world," the skipper said. "He is very positive and he backs his stint and looks forward to score runs. It doesn't matter whether the wicket is seaming or turning or doing anything.” — PTI
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‘We have a chance so soon to turn it around’
Mumbai, November22 "Clearly it was tough on confidence when you get beaten in a heavy manner. The beauty of the game is such quick turn around. Now we have got the chance and the opportunity to try and put it right. That is what we will have to do. We have to try and learn from last week and play well," Cook said. Left-handed opener, Cook, was among the few from the touring party to come out of the disastrous first Test with his head held high, scoring a marathon 176 in the second innings, which kept England afloat till the last day. Cook said he and his teammates have talked about the importance of scoring big in the first innings on Indian pitches. They were bowled out for 191 on a dusty Motera track in Ahmedabad.
"The first innings run is vital. We know that. I spoke about it when we lost the game and I have been speaking about it ever since. We know how important that is. We have got an opportunity now and a brand new situation. Whether you win or lose, you start on a level playing field straight away. We are going to try and use that to our advantage. "We have good players. We have some world class players with fantastic records. We have to hold our hands up in these conditions, we haven't played well enough. There is no one else to blame," he said in the pre-match press conference. Though reluctant to name the playing XI, with Ian Bell not available having returned home for personal reasons, Cook said the aim was to pick a team that could trouble the hosts. "I am not going to name the team now. But we will try and pick a team that will trouble (India). Ian Bell is not with us. We are going to miss his experience but it gives someone else the opportunity to show the selectors and show us what he can do. He has got an opportunity to grasp and if he takes it then there is competition for the place." PTI "I am confident. The guys have done in it the past. There are a couple of guys with slightly more experience and scored hundreds in the sub-continent conditions and youngsters have the opportunity to do that.— PTI
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Dhoni’s demand for turner is just a mindgame, says Warne
Mumbai, November 22 I don't like captain specifically asking for it. Asking the curator if we can have a big spin. I don't think you should be asking for it. We know it is going to spin. I think he is playing a few mind games with England batsmen," Warne said at an ESPN event here today. "I think the groundsman will prepare whatever wicket he wants to prepare. I am sure Dhoni hasn't even spoken. He just put some doubts in the English batsmen's mind that we are getting huge turning wicket. But I am sure the pitch will be just the same. It is just mind games," the legendary spinner said. Warne's comments came in the wake of Dhoni's explicit demand for turning tracks after a nine-wicket win over England in the opening Test in Ahmedabad. The flamboyant Aussie said he does not approve of captains asking for specific pitches as it's a job best left to groundsmen. "I don't think the captain should be asking. It should be upto the groundsmen. the groundsmen will take pride in producing the best Test wicket. And both teams will then have a look at the wicket and work out the team combination and work out whether they want to bat or bowl first. "There is a contest between the bat and the ball. I don't think anyone is interested in flat wickets with 700 runs. It's boring. But in India you have to expect turning wickets," he said. Warne said the hosts arelikely to win the series and toss would be crucial. — PTI
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Red-hot Clarke hits double ton, again
Adelaide, November 22 Captain Clarke blasted 39 fours and a six in a sparkling unbeaten 224 at Adelaide Oval to demoralise the Proteas after they lost paceman Vernon Philander before play started with a back injury and Jacques Kallis with a suspected hamstring injury after lunch. Dale Steyn, the world's top-ranked test bowler, took himself off after tea with another suspected hamstring strain, leaving the tourists at the mercy of a withering barrage from Clarke and fellow centurions David Warner and Mike Hussey. "We just made 480 in a day, now I'm trying to work out what we've got to do tomorrow to set up this game to have a crack at winning," Clarke told reporters after becoming the first player to score four double-centuries in a calendar year. "It's a very good wicket... So there's a long way to go in this game before anybody wins but certainly for us, we need to really focused on tomorrow morning and continuing this momentum and making as many runs as we can in this first innings." Steyn bowled Hussey with the last ball of the day but the horse had already bolted as Clarke and the rugged 37-year-old combined for a 272-run stand in bright sunshine. That followed a thrilling 155-run partnership between Clarke, Warner. — Reuters SCOREBOARD Australia first innings Warner c Smith b Morkel 119 Cowan c & b Kallis 10 Quiney c Smith b Morkel 0 Ponting b Kallis 4 Clarke not out 224 Hussey b Steyn 103 Extras: 22 Total: (5 wkts, 86.5 overs) 482 Fall of wickets: 1-43 2-44 3-55 4-210 5-482 Bowling: Steyn 17.1-1-62-1, Morkel 22-5-128-2, Kallis 3.3-1-19-2, Kleinveldt 16.1-2-70-0, Tahir 21-0-159-0, Du Plessis 7-0-34-0
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Umesh likely to miss second Test
Mumbai, November 22 The skipper also ruled out any chance of including A third spinner in the team. "Not really. We are looking at a 2-2 combination. Add balance to the side. Also you don't know exactly whether you are bowling first or batting first. Which means if the spinners are bowling and there is not much turn for them, ball is not stopping. It may be difficult for them to restrict the batsmen," Dhoni said. Srinivasan hopes long season at home will bring success The BCCI is hopeful that the long season of international cricket at home will bring a lot of success to the Indian team which performed miserably last year when it was whitewashed in England and Australia. "The Indian under-19 team won the junior World Cup. The senior team did not have a great year. I hope this domestic season, a long one, will give them sufficient success," said BCCI chief N Srinivasan. the Board has generated a lot of revenue because of the players and said the money was being used to improve the game. — PTI
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Saina, Jayaram lose in Round 2
New Delhi, November 22 While Olympic bronze-medallist Saina suffered a 19-21 15-21 defeat to former world number one Wang Lin in a women's singles match, Ajay went down to world number one Lee Chong Wei 18-21 19-21. Kashyap had to concede his match midway through the first game against Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto in the men's singles competition due to pain in his abdomen. World number three Saina was in for a shock as she failed to match 2010 world champion Wang with her smashes during her 37-minute duel at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon. Saina, who returned to the court after skipping the China Masters last week because of a knee problem, was not in her elements as she had just five smash winners against 10 by the Chinese. Wang, who holds a 3-2 record against Saina, brought the Indian close to the net and then used her smashes to good affect. In the first game, Wang surged to a 4-1 lead but Saina clawed back at 6-6 and held the lead for 10 more points, before the Chinese surpassed her at the last moment. In the second game, Wang didn't give Saina any chance as she raced to 6-1 first and then held fort, leaving the Indian to do the catch up job.Among other Indians, Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre suffered a 17-21 18-21 defeat to Thailand's Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul in the women's doubles competition. In mixed doubles, top seeded Chinese pair of Chen Xu and Jin Ma ended the journey of India's Pranaav Chopra and Siki Reddy with a 21-16 21-10 victory. — PTI
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Chennai, November 22 Devvarman, who had pulled out of the previous edition because of a recurring shoulder injury, has been given the first of the two wild cards for the event to be held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium from December 31 to January 6. The playing field, sans Milos Raonic of Canada, will see International players including Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka. — PTI
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Force India to get investment boost
Sao, Paulo November 22 “We had a board meeting in India after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the board has approved a 50 million pound capital investment programme for the team," he said in a preview for Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix."We are going to invest heavily in new technology and give more tools to our design team to try and move further up the grid." Indian Liquor and aviation tycoon Mallya is principal of the British-based team that he co-owns with the Sahara Group, who have a 42.5 percent stake. Force India are seventh overall on 99 points, 25 behind sixth-placed Sauber and 23 ahead of Williams in eighth, and are almost certain to stay in that position now unless they or Williams have an astonishing result on Sunday. They finished sixth last year, but with only 69 points, and their current tally is the most they have managed since Mallya bought the struggling Spyker (previously Jordan) team in 2007."Every year we've demonstrated that we've gone up the ladder," said Mallya. "And we've taken fairly significant steps, not just baby steps. Given the tools that we have, which are mostly of the Jordan era, we have done exceptionally well." Sahara invested $100 million (62 million pounds) in Force India when they bought into the team in October 2011 and Mallya has said the money would be paid in three tranches over three years with the final instalment due in 2013. — Reuters
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Dynamo Moscow awarded win over flare incident
Moscow, November 22 Goalkeeper Anton Shunin was briefly hospitalised with eye injuries following Saturday's incident, which led the referee to lead the teams off the pitch. Zenit, the reigning champions, have been ordered to play their next two home games behind closed doors and issued a fine. Fans have also been banned from Dynamo's next home game. Zenit blamed Dynamo in the immediate aftermath. — IANS
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Benitez checks in at Chelsea as Abramovich moves fast
Benitez, 52, agreed a contract that lasts until the end of the season and although in different circumstances he would not have been the club’s first choice, he will be given the chance to establish himself. The club said in a statement: “The owner [Roman Abramovich] and the board believe that in Benitez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives.” The 3-0 defeat to Juventus, which leaves them on the brink of elimination from the Champions League group stages, was the final straw for Abramovich and the club’s board. Pep Guardiola was their first choice but the former Barcelona coach will not abandon his year-long sabbatical in New York. The Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp is also admired at the club, so too Roberto Martinez at Wigan Athletic and the Germany national team coach Joachim Löw. During the summer Di Matteo was charged with giving the club a distinctive attacking style. There were doubts over whether he could achieve that and over the course of the season the club’s hierarchy have increasingly felt that the team lacks an identity and style. He had won the Champions League employing an acutely defensive approach that the club accepted at the time as pragmatic. The defeat to Juventus, a poor, incoherent display, was the confirmation the club needed to make the change. It left the club with just two wins from their last eight games. However, the club felt that a messy battle over compensation for any of those figures would have proved problematic. They wanted a manager in place in time for Sunday’s crucial Premier League game against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. The club accept that Benitez is not popular with Chelsea fans because of his association with Liverpool. — Reuters
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Dhoni to come up with racing academies
Hyderabad, November 22 “Dhoni has already announced plans to start racing schools. Once the 2013 race season is over we plan to set up racing academies in Delhi and also one in South India," Mahi Racing Co-owners, Telugu film actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and Nandish Domlur, told reporters. N-Motorsport, promoted by Nagarjuna, his son Naga Chaitanya and Domlur, had earlier announced a partnership with Mahi Racing. Dhoni's bike racing team, which will compete through the full season in 2013 beginning at Phillip Island in Australia, has the line-up of triple world champion Kenan Sofouglu and former world champion Fabien Foret. Signed by Kawasaki as its official factory team, with technical direction in the hands of Andrew Stone, Mahi Racing riders will be testing the Ninja ZX-6R bikes.. Srinivasan hopes long season at home will bring success The BCCI is hopeful that the long season of international cricket at home will bring a lot of success to the Indian team which performed miserably last year when it was whitewashed in England and Australia. "The Indian under-19 team won the junior World Cup. The senior team did not have a great year. I hope this domestic season, a long one, will give them sufficient success," said BCCI chief N Srinivasan. — PTI
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IOA lashes out at Sports Ministry Mumbai, November 22 Malhotra said accused the Sports Ministry of interfering in the affairs of the IOA and the election process. He said the secretary (sports) writing about the IOA to the IOC president was an “assault on the autonomy of the sports federations of the country”. In a communication to Jacques Rogge, Malhotra said the letter written by Deb was a “bizarre testimony of half-truths and distorted facts”. “The very fact that Mr Deb has directly written to you and the IOC by passing the IOA shows the Government’s intentions, interests and interference in the affairs of the IOA”, he said. The IOA acting president said the “double speak” of the Government was clear from the fact that on the one hand, it claimed that it had no “intentions whatsoever to interfered in the functioning of the IOA”, and on the other, it was insisting that the National Sports Federations (NSFs) should accept it’s Sports Code. Malhotra said that the Sports Code of the Government violated everything for which the IOA constitution and the IOC Charter stood for was evident from the letter he received from the Sports Ministry yesterday, seeking information about the recently-held elections of the office-bearers of Archery Association of India (AAI).
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Samuel’s ton propels Windies chase Khulna, November 22 Brief Scores: Bangladesh (387); WI: 241/2 in 82 overs ( Samuels 109*,D Bravo 85*, Ghazi 1/67, Hussain 1/67). — Reuters
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Grandmaster Harika storms into World C’ship semifinals Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), November 22 The Indian set the records right after a real scare in the second game on yesterday and displayed top form to win the first rapid game and then drawing the second easily as white. The victory means Harika will not only remain in the championship but will also have a fair chance of having a shy at the title with just two matches to go in the premier women event. In the next round now, Harika will meet Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria who was world champion in 2004. — PTI
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The Wankhede Stadium cricket pitch is undergoing an intense character study. Everyone wishes to know what’s in its heart; whether it would be fast and forthright, or tortuous and devious in the second Test of the India-England series.
Mumbai, November 22
It looks good. As is always the case I would like to review decision delaying it after five days. It does not turn I can come and criticise once again, but it looks like a good wicket to start
with.— MS Dhoni
I'm not concerned at the reaction of some players. I am concerned about the last game, and that we learn from that, and I'm concerned that we improve on the field.—
Alastair Cook
London, November 22