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India
Vs england day 1 |
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Fighting ugly, Sachin lights up Eden Gardens
Gambhir hopes Zak’s swing benefits India
‘Working on reverse swing watching Zaheer’
Shooters’ poor show a cause for concern
ioa
suspension ioa AGM
IOA constitution not aligned with Oly Charter: Ministry
Jaitley asks govt, IOA to show some sportsmanship
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India
Vs
england day 1 Bowlers show sustained brilliance throughout day Rohit Mahajan /TNS
Kolkata, December 5 India scored over 600 runs in the first innings of their last three Test matches here; this time around, they are reduced to 273 for seven at stumps and would have to play out of their skins to reach the 350 they wish for now. India have won five of the last seven Tests played at Kolkata. To win this one, they would need to bowl the way England bowled today. James Anderson, for the first time in the series, became a force to reckon with, grabbing the key wickets of Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. He was particularly impressive with his reverse-swing, and Zaheer Khan would dearly love to emulate him, better him when he gets to bowl some time tomorrow. Monty Panesar was excellent too, with his variations in flight and speed. England lost the toss for the third time in the series, and for the third time India batted first. From 47 without loss in 10 overs, at which point they lost Virender Sehwag to a careless run out, India struggled, crawled their way to 273 for seven as Anderson and Panesar bowled with great skill and heart. Innings from two men under pressure, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar, saved India from falling into deeper trouble. After the intense speculation over the nature of the pitch, a flat surface with cracks was unveiled today. It was harder than the tracks for the previous two Tests and the quick bowlers were able to make the ball rise sharply when they bent their backs. But some deliveries kept surprisingly low, too, collected by wicketkeeper Matt Prior close to his shoelaces. Those deliveries, and the cracks on the surface of the pitch, suggest that batting in the last two innings could be very difficult. It didn’t seem difficult when India started today; Sehwag was off quickly, scoring 23 off 26 balls, with three notable drives and cuts past point for fours. His dismissal, run out when Gambhir didn’t go for the third, changed the game dramatically. Gambhir later said that after seeing the replays, he realised that the third run was on. Maybe that played on his mind as he batted with Cheteshwar Pujara, and the run-scoring fell quickly. Pujara fell at the score of 88, for his second straight failure after three excellent innings, after adding 41 runs with Gambhir. Panesar, varying his speed and flight with impressive control, took out Pujara with an arm ball that beat the bat’s inside edge. Then Tendulkar gritted his teeth, put his head down and played an innings that showed the strength of his mind, his desperate desire to keep the light burning. Meanwhile, Gambhir fell while cutting a ball that was too close -- like the first innings in Ahmedabad -- Virat failed yet again, and Yuvraj Singh gave it away after seeming to settle down. Several batsmen started well, but only Gambhir and Tendulkar passed 50, Tendulkar for the first time since January this year.
SCOREBOARD
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Fighting ugly, Sachin lights up Eden Gardens
Kolkata, December 5 The outside edge of Tendulkar’s bat was beaten umpteen times; the bouncer surprised him more than once, eliciting ungainly evasive actions, the ball even brushing across his chest on one occasion; an edge off the splendid James Anderson fell short of the second slip. He looked shaky — ‘scratchy’ was the word Anderson used — and insecure for most of his innings. Yet, powered by his extraordinary will, Tendulkar fought it out for 155 balls to make the 76 that could yet prove significant in the match. He tried to nudge and tickle the ball for runs behind the wicket; 11 of his 13 boundaries were hit behind square, and over 60 percent of his runs came in that region. Tendulkar was in a mood of intense self-denial, determined to not repeat the mistakes, in offence and defence, that cost him his wicket once to Graeme Swann in Ahmedabad and twice to Monty Panesar in Mumbai. His gameplan against the spinners was fascinating — a closed door against the outgoing spin of Panesar, attack against the incoming deliveries of Swann. England captain Alastair Cook unleashed Panesar on Tendulkar —well above half (83 out of 155) balls that Tendulkar played today were delivered by the left-arm spinner. But Panesar was confronted with a shut door. Tendulkar dealt with Panesar with the straightest bat possible and scored just 20 runs off those 83 balls from him. He played off six maiden overs from Panesar, and an incredible 73 dot balls from him. Most of them were pushed backed defensively, with a straight face and a straighter bat — there were just six singles, one double and three fours. Tendulkar came in to bat 15 minutes before the lunch break for a tricky little period. He faced eight deliveries from Panesar in this time, all played down with the greatest caution. The master was prepared to play ugly, bide his time. It was only after lunch, off the 15th ball he faced from Panesar, that Tendulkar got his first run off him -- this was, incidentally, also Tendulkar 34,000th run in Tests and One-dayers combined. He continued to play Panesar like a stingy millionaire who wants to be a billionaire — with care and caution. The three fours that Tendulkar hit off Panesar were all against deliveries that were either short outside off, angled in at his pads, or tossed up at perfectly driveable length. Of the balls directed at his stumps by Panesar, Tendulkar drove at perhaps two or three. He was beaten an equal number of times, once by a ball that turned and leapt past his bat. Tendulkar was infinitely more adventurous against Swann, from whom he faced 28 balls and obtained 21 runs. Two of the three fours he hit off Swann were struck with a confidence surprising in a man under so much pressure and clearly much below his best — twice he bared his stumps by moving across and paddled the ball past the wicketkeeper. This brought up gasps of dread from the adoring fans, who were hoping that Tendulkar’s good luck could see him through a face-saving century. That wasn’t to be as Tendulkar’s luck finally ran out, against Anderson. Anderson has now dismissed Tendulkar eight times in 13 Test matches, the maximum dismissals of Tendulkar by a bowler in Tests, along with Muttiah Muralitharan. Later, Anderson was asked if Tendulkar could be called his bunny. Not quite, said the embarrassed Anderson.
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Gambhir hopes Zak’s swing benefits India
Anderson got the ball to reverse consistently in the post tea session that saw England claiming three wickets to leave India tottering at 273 for seven at the end of day one of the third Test here. "We have got Zaheer and Ishant who can reverse the ball really well. If they are on song, it's going to be difficult for England as well," said Gambhir after the first day's play. "Zaheer Khan is a master of reverse swing. If he gets going I think it would be worrying for England. Hopefully, Zaheer and Ishant can do the job for us and play a big role for India. This is a wicket which will have something for everyone. It has carry, and sometimes the ball remains up and down," he added. Praising Anderson (3 for 68), Gambhir said the English pacer was hiding the ball well as he dismissed Tendulkar and Ashwin with reverse swings. Dhoni hugs curator
Veteran curator Prabir Mukherjee was basking in the adulation from both current and former cricketing greats for the wicket he has prepared for the game. None other than India's captain cool called him "boss of the Eden". "Dhoni came to me just after the toss. He shook hands, and then embraced me. Then he told me: "Dada, maine kabhi apko bura bola hai? Kya main bol sakta hoon? (Have I ever said anything negative about you? Can I say such things?)You are the boss of Eden". The 83-year-old curator was visibly happy. "Dhoni is a gentleman", Mukehrjee said. However, he said at this stage of his life he was unmoved by both praise and criticism. "If anything goes wrong, nobody will spare me," he said. — PTI |
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‘Working on reverse swing watching Zaheer’
"I remember a few years back, in the last tour in 2007, Zaheer did get a lot of reverse swing. That's when I started practising it. There is a shiny side, and if the batsman knows which side it is, it makes it a lot easier for them. It proved to be a good skill," Anderson said. Asked about the reverse swing, he said:"We had hints of it in the last two matches. I saw the pitch and said let's go ahead. Reverse swing is crucial for seam bowlers because it keeps you in the game. I felt pretty good whole day. I think I bowled reasonably well with the new ball first thing. And enjoyed it as much as I could." Anderson is one of those bowlers in world cricket who has got a brilliant success-rate against Sachin Tendulkar having dismissed him around eight times in longer version. "It's always good to get Sachin's wicket. Once I retire, it will be nice to tell others that Sachin's was a big wicket. When I got him out, it looked like he was set. He was bit scratchy to start with but was happy to get him out when I did." Asked about the Jonathon Trott low catch that dismissed Gambhir, he said:"Really difficult to field in the slips and hold onto these low catches. Luckily, he caught onto it in the end." The seamer seemed happy with the strip. "This pitch is very abrasive. Reverse swing is a tricky art to practise. But we were able to swing the ball. There is a bit of dew because of the early start and that helps." Asked to compare the wicket with Wankhede, he replied:"I don't know really. This wicket seams a little more, it's harder. You can get a little more out of it, if you are a seamer and willing to bend your back. There were a few that kept low but they were wide." — PTI
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Doda (Muktsar), December 5 The league match, earlier to be held as second match of the day, was played as last match of the day, but was witnessed by a large number of kabaddi fans in a jam-packed stadium at Doda village in Muktsar district. Though the captain Sukhbir Sarawan in his first raid could not make a point, later all the team members played well and scored a thumping win. The England athletes also showed a good game and one of their raiders Gurdeep Deepa sustained a knee injury, just a minute before the half time. For England, raiders Jaskarn, Gurdev Gopi and Inderjit got 8, 6 and 4 point respectively, whereas it's stopper Sandeep Namal and Jagtar Singh Jassa scored 5 and 3 points respectively. Till the half time, India team had scored 21 points against 10 of the England. In the first match of the day Denmark beat Afghanistan 55-33. In the women kabaddi, Denmark beat Canada 47-16. Meanwhile, Kabaddi India is contemplating the formation of an International Kabaddi Committee after the "success" of the third edition. — TNS
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Shooters’ poor show a cause for concern
Patiala, December 5 Not even a single shooter has been able to bag a gold medal in the recent championship despite the fact that crores of rupees were spent on their training in the past couple of years. Big names like Mansher Singh, Ronjon Sodhi, RVS Rathore have failed to impress though a sole grace till date has been an individual Bronze by Rathore in the Maharaja Yadavinder Singh Memorial Indian Open grand prix Championship. The government has roughly spent over Rs 22 crores on Indian shooters, in the past over an year. After a disappointing show at the London Olympics, India's star trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi failed to impress at 2nd Asian Shooting Championship as he was unable to qualify for the final round of the individual double trap event, a couple of days back. Defending the shotgun shooters, Indian shooting coach Marcello Dradi said that the Indian shooting team has not had a camp from the past almost one year and it is very difficult to keep on winning medals in every tournament. "There are some international rules that are expected to change after a few months and we will start our preparations according to that", he stated. On the poor run of his shooters in the 2nd Asian Shotgun Championship in progress at new Moti Bagh Gun Club in village Maine, dradi said that it was not a poor run but a slump in form. "Ronjon, Mansher have won medals in Guangzhou, CWG and at almost every event in the past and Rathore is coming back from a break and is getting better every day. I am very hopeful for the future and just that if they do not win a medal in every tournament does not mean that they are performing poorly", A former shooter confirmed confirmed that lack of training, especially before the start of such an important tournament is showing up and many shooters have been caught off-guard. "There is too much happening off the range and as a shooter you have to keep yourself focused. Shooting can be a very demanding sport, especially when you are not shooting well", he stated. Interestingly the performance of shooters in better in the Grand Prix where they have good prize money at stake, but the same performance is missing when it comes to the Asian Championship. "Well you see there are dollars to be won and in the official championship, it is just the medal. The difference is like a test match and IPL in cricket", claimed a core Indian shooter. Sodhi, who has lost considerable weight in the recent past, says that it is wrong to count him out. "I have been consistent in the past and surely work more hard", Sodhi added. Meanwhile there are high hopes from ace shooters Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh who are expected to compete tomorrow in the trap event.
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ioa
suspension MS Unnikrishnan /TNS
Kolkata, December 5 Though president Abhay S ingh Chautala, secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, treasurer N. Ramachandran and senior vice-president Virendra Nanavathi had been elected unopposed earlier following the withdrawal of the opposing candidates from the Randhir Singh panel, the election process had to be completed for the other posts, mostly from the Chautala panel, and some independents. There were 15 candidates in the fray for the posts of vice-presidents, seven for joint-secretaries and 28 for the executive committee members, and the elections lasted almost five hours. Around 165 members, out of the total number of 188, cast their votes. However, outgoing secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, abstained. But those who had got court orders for voting like the Indian Hockey Federation, and the rival factions of the Gymnastics Federation of India and the Haryana Olympic Association were allowed to cast their votes, setting a new precedent. The IOC has suspended the IOA at its Executive Board meeting in Lausanne yesterday, and the “suspension will remain till the IOA meets all the requirements”. The IOA received a communication to this effect today. The IOC Executive Board noted that "The IOA is faced with outside interference in applying its election rules, which threatens the IOA's autonomy and the holding of free and fair elections in conformity with the IOA statutes and the Olympic Charter; and... "The IOA has been unable to observe its own statutes and the Olympic Charter and to enforce the basic principles of ethics and good governance."
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ioa
AGM Tainted Bhanot takes secy general post even as IOC remains unrelenting MS Unnikrishnan /TNS New Delhi, December 5 Chautala said his first assignment was to form a committee that would present IOA's case to the IOC so that the suspension was lifted at the earliest. "We will form a committee to resolve the issue of suspension. The members of the committee to meet the IOC will be named in a day or two. They will try to convince the IOC and hopefully we will get the suspension lifted," he said. Chautala also said that a delegation of members will meet sports minister and try to convince the government about the problems the IOA was facing due to the National Sports Development Code. "We have completed a free and fair election under three eminent retired high court judges. I want to re-iterate that we have not done anything wrong by going ahead with the polls. We have to obey the law of the land.”"It was an unanimous decision of the house that we have not done anything wrong. The IOA had to bear the brunt of the tussle between the government and the IOC. Now we will explain to the IOC the circumstances under which we had to go ahead with the elections," he said. Bhanot, who was jailed and later released on bail for his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games corruption scandal, said that he would quit from the post of IOA secretary general if he is proven guilty by the law of the land. "I have not been proven guilty. I will quit if I am proven guilty by the law of the land," he said. Earlier, the IOA completed its election process when eight vice presidents, six joint secretaries and 20 executive committee members were elected at the Olympic Bhawan. Though president Abhay Singh Chautala, secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, treasurer N. Ramachandran and senior vice-president Virendra Nanavathi had been elected unopposed earlier following the withdrawal of the opposing candidates from the Randhir Singh panel, the election process had to be completed for the other posts. There were 15 candidates in the fray for the posts of vice-presidents, seven for joint-secretaries and 28 for the executive committee members, and the elections lasted almost five hours. Around 165 members, out of the total number of 188, cast their votes. — Agencies
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IOA constitution not aligned with Oly Charter: Ministry
New Delhi, December 5 The Ministry insisted that it was not the Sports Code, but IOA's constitution, which was not aligned with the Olympic Charter. "The IOA had agreed to amend its constitution in 2010, but has failed to bring about the necessary amendments in the past two years. Had this been done, there would have been no cause for intervention by the IOC," the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports said. The Ministry clarified that National Sports Development Code included such age and tenure guidelines for office-bearers of sports bodies as are enshrined in the Olympic Charter itself. "They are similar to the practices followed by the IOC and are drawn from the Constitution of the IOC and have been upheld by the Courts of Law in India. All that the Sports Code seeks to achieve is to ensure that the election of the IOA and others sports bodies are fair, transparent and in consonance with the Olympic Charter," the statement said. The Ministry reiterated that it was ready to discuss with the IOC and the IOA all issues related to the Sports Code and its compatibility with the Olympic Charter. "Government will take all possible measures to protect the interests of Indian sportspersons so that they can continue to participate in international sports meets under the Indian National Flag." The statement also indicated that the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh was "ready to hold discussions with all stakeholders, including the National Sports Federations, the eminent sportspersons, persons from civil society, etc in order to chart a way out of the situation created by the action of the IOC". Suspension meant that the IOA will stop receiving IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India's athletes will be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, but they can participate under the IOC banner if granted permission by the world body. — PTI
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Jaitley asks govt, IOA to show some sportsmanship
New Delhi, December 5 Bhanot to give explanation to IOC
The controversial Lalit Bhanot has been unanimously elected secretary general of the IOA with the proviso that he would present his case before the International Olympic Committee (IOC), explaining the legal position of the corruption cases he is facing. — Agencies |
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Kolkata, December 5
Doda (Muktsar), December 5
Kolkata, December 5
Kolkata, December 5