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India exact sweet revenge
Money is the name of the game when India play Pak
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Yuvi’s big hits made all the difference: Dhoni
Lost track early in the chase: Pakistan skipper
I don’t think of hitting a six, says Man of the Match Yuvi
Don’t want Tendulkar to embarrass himself with failures: Boycott
Kanpur Test shifts to Hyderabad
Tejaswini, Mahaveer win gold in shooting
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India exact sweet revenge
Ahmedabad, December 28 India, favourites at the start of the series, were designated the underdogs for this match after the defeat in Bangalore. Pakistan clearly posses a clearly superior, more versatile bowling attack, and it was thought that India’s spirit was crushed, while the confidence of the visitors was sky-high after Bangalore. But the T20 format, as is its wont, mocked at the experts and their predictions and opinions. It wasn’t a clear, decisive victory, of course. It was a very difficult target to chase, and you can’t expect two teams to score 190 runs off 20 overs each in one day. During the short break between the innings, Pakistan captain Mohamed Hafeez told his team to not look at the massive target — he told them to focus only on scoring nine runs an over and forget the bigger picture. The Pakistan openers came out swinging — the pitch was a true one, the ball was not doing tricks in the air or off the track, the batsmen were able to time the ball. Nasir Jamshed (41 off 32 balls) and Ahmed Shehzad (31 off 29) took Pakistan past 50 in five overs and one ball — the flag-waving, shouting crowd was quiet, glued to their seats, uttering only groans. Then Jamshed and Shehzad fell quickly, and it was 84 for two in the 10.5 overs. Pakistan’s hopes were dimming. Hafeez and Umar Akmal counter-punched with vigour and swiftness — 62 runs came off 5.3 overs. The Indian partisans, including the excitable ones in the press box, again receded into despondency. Pakistan seemed on course until the second ball of the 17th over. At that stage, they needed 47 off 23 balls; captain Hafeez, smashing everything in sight, was batting on 45 off 20 and Umar Akmal on 24 off 16. The packed stadium, stunned by the Pakistani chase, had lost its collective voice. Then Ashoke Dinda bowled the second ball of the 17th over — a slower ball on the stumps, Akmal swung at it, trying to deposit it in the stands beyond midwicket. A massive crash, down went the stumps, and Dinda went mad with happiness. Pakistan were always chasing shadows from there on — 41 required off three overs, 26 off two and 20 off the final over. Not impossible, but improbable. As they frantically tried to score, they lost their batsmen; the last five wickets fell for 35 runs. India took some good catches —Suresh Raina took out Hafeez running in from the boundary, and Virat Kohli caught Kamran Akmal after running across from long off to the extra cover boundary. Thus, in the dying moments of the second T20I, the crowd found its voice. They were in good voice for most of the Indian innings. Gautam Gambhir (21 off 11 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (28 off 26) took them to 44 in 4.5 overs; Kohli got 27 off 22 to provide support to the marauding Yuvraj. Finally, Dhoni smashed 33 off 23 balls to add to the ballast. SCOREBOARD Pakistan
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Money is the name of the game when India play Pak
Ahmedabad, December 28 The last One-day International here, against West Indies last year, saw a poor attendance. But for the first-ever Twenty20 International played at the venue, the demand for the tickets touched unprecedented levels. Massive crowds, massive interest: loosely translated, this means money, really big money for every stakeholder. From the Board of Control for Cricket in India, to the broadcasters to the local cricket associations to the vendors, supplying food and drink at the stadia, everyone has broken into hysterical laughter on their way to the banks.
And the demand for tickets for the three One-day Internationals is equally high — it's likely to be a sellout in crowd in Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi for the three ODIs. The BCCI earns Rs 40 crore per match from the sale of the TV rights. Apart from it, the biggest beneficiary of the thawing of the ties between the two neighbours, due to which this series could be organised, is the broadcaster. ESPN-Star Sports has sold advertising spots for the series at rates close to the double of what it charges at the Indian Premier League. The rate is Rs 7.25 lakh for a 10-second spot for the ODIs and Rs 9 lakh for 10 seconds for the T20Is. The rates for the series against England are much lesser — Rs 6 lakh for 10 seconds for the T20Is that took place before the Pakistan tour, Rs 3.5 lakh for 10 seconds during the ODIs that will be held after the series against Pakistan. The state associations, who keep all of the revenues made from ticket sales and in-stadia advertising, are also big gainers from the windfall. During the two T20Is against England, the revenue from tickets and advertising was Rs 7 crore for the Pune game and Rs 4.5 crore for the Mumbai T20I. The figures would be much higher for the matches against Pakistan. Pakistan wants a share of the pie, and it desperately wants India for a return tour of the country in August this year, when both teams have no engagements in their schedules. “We’re hoping the Indian team would tour Pakistan sooner than later,” says Wasim Bari, former Pakistan wicketkeeper here as a goodwill ambassador of the Pakistan Cricket Board. “A regular India-Pakistan series, if it becomes an annual affair, would become the biggest thing on the world cricket calendar,” says Nadeem Sarwar, PCB’s head of media affairs. That could be something of an overkill, actually... But it seems that when it comes India vs Pakistan, the advertisers and the crowds want more and more and more. The sky is the limit.
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Yuvi’s big hits made all the difference: Dhoni
Ahmedabad, December 28 "Yuvi was at his best, those big sixes and fours really helped us in the end. We got 10 runs more than what we would have been happy with," said Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremony. Yuvraj creamed three sixes off Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal in the 19th over, which helped India post a competitive 192 for five. Dhoni praised his bowlers for finding their mojo just in the nick of time to restrict the arch-rivals to 181 for seven. "A lot depends on the youngsters bowling the last overs, I think they held their nerve nicely. They were feeling the pressure but they responded really well and executed the yorkers. When they wanted to bowl slower ones they did that," he said. Dhoni said Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane laid a solid platform for the rest of the Indian batsmen with their 44-run opening stand. "While batting we got off to a very good start from Gautam and Jinks. Overall it was a good competition between the two sides," he added. Dhoni's counterpart, Mohammad Hafeez blamed his bowlers for not following the basics right. "When we were bowling, we didn't follow the basics, we bowled short of length," he said. Hafeez, who was adjudged the man-of-the-series, admitted that the 97-run partnership between Yuvraj and Dhoni made all the difference. With skipper Dhoni (33) he added 97-runs for the fourth wicket as India put on board its highest total against Pak. — PTI
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Lost track early in the chase: Pakistan skipper
Ahmedabad, December 28 "In the first six overs, we played very well but in the seventh-tenth over we didn't score as much as we should have.We wanted Umar Akmal to have more time in the middle but overall it was a good game." Man-of-the-match Yuvraj Singh said today's knock came as a sigh of relief for him as he was finding it difficult to middle the ball in the nets a day before. "Yesterday, I was batting in the nets and I couldn't middle a single ball, so I was trying to spend time in the middle there," he said. Yuvraj said had Dhoni and he stayed at the crease till the end, India would have ended breaching the 200-mark barrier. "We thought 160-170 was a good total but if MS and me stayed till the end we knew we could score more," he said. — PTI
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I don’t think of hitting a six, says Man of the Match Yuvi New Delhi, December 28 Gul had bowled three of his four overs within the 16th over and it was Ajmal who went for 22 in the penultimate over where Yuvraj hit him for three sixes. “I think their best bowler Umar Gul finished one of his four overs early. The one that he was to bowl at the death. So Dhoni and I knew that one over would be bowled by a spinner and we would target him," Yuvraj told mediapersons at the post-match presentation ceremony. Yuvraj's 36-ball-72 had seven huge sixes but by his own admission, he never thinks about hitting sixes. "I don't think of hitting a six. I just back myself to react with my natural instincts. If it is there to be hit, I will hit it. I am just trying to watch the ball because if you make plans early and the ball is not there to be hit, you get out," he added. Although he agreed that T20 requires different mindset but there is no substitute to good cricketing shots. “I think T20 it is a different mindset but at the end of the day, you still have to play good cricketing shots. We have to bowl in the right areas to get good batsmen out. "It is just that in T20, you get less time to get set and you have straight away start hitting the balls. That is why batting averages aren't high and you don't get time to set in and hit those balls. But today, I got to bat in seventh over and got three to four overs to get set and that really made the difference,” he said after the match — PTI
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Don’t want Tendulkar to embarrass himself with failures: Boycott
New Delhi, December 28 "He desperately needs some runs against Australia in the Test matches in March, because I don't think any of us want to see him embarrass himself with more failures after failure," Boycott said. "If he doesn't get runs against Australia, I'm reasonably confident that he'll see the light and call his own retirement. But you cross your fingers and hope he can get some," he said. One of the game's all-time greats, Tendulkar had, on Sunday, announced his retirement from one-day cricket, bringing to an end a glorious 23-year-old career in the format in which he rewrote numerous batting records. Boycott called Tendulkar's decision a reasonable and sensible one. "It's very sad, it's a fact of life, that more of us, as we get older, we have to accept we just can't do what we used to do. There's no fun in accepting that, there's no fun in believing it. There's no fun in having to say it gets easier, because it doesn't get easier. It can't. "So for him, it's tough, is one-day (cricket). As wonderful as he's been, we can't live on the memories. He's 39, and so I think giving up is very responsible and sensible. Asked if India needed Tendulkar more in the Test format, Boycott said, "I'm not sure it's about what India needs most, I think it's about what's best for Sachin.” — PTI
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Kanpur Test shifts to Hyderabad
New Delhi, December 28 “The Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI has decided to shift the third Test between India and Australia from Kanpur to Hyderabad," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said. India will take on Australia in a four-match Test series, and the other three matches will be played in New Delhi, Mohali and Chennai. The revised match-schedule is as follows: First Test — Delhi (February 22 to 26) Second Test — Mohali (March 2 to 6) Third Test — Hyderabad (March 14 to 18) Fourth Test — Chennai (March 22 to 26). — PTI
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Australia rout Sri Lanka to clinch series
Melbourne, December 28 Needing 305 runs to make Australia bat again, Sri Lanka surrendered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after adding only 103 in their second innings, with a top order collapse and a raft of injuries leaving the tourists smarting ahead of Sydney's dead rubber test next week. Sealing the series a match early was some consolation for Michael Clarke's team after they conceded a hard-fought series 1-0 against the top-ranked test nation South Africa with a stinging defeat in the third and final test in Perth. "I said that at the start of the series that our goal was to win these three test matches and really show that we learnt from the South African series," Clarke, who scored a sparkling 106 at the MCG to cap a brilliant year with the bat, told reporters. "So far we've done that... My goal doesn't change." Seamer Mitchell Johnson was justly named man-of-the-match after taking six wickets and making an unbeaten 92 with the bat in an outstanding return to the team after being dumped from the first test victory in Hobart. Johnson took 4-63 in the first innings to lead the bowling as Sri Lanka were skittled for 156, but his bone-crunching menace may have Australia's selectors pondering a more permanent role for the mercurial paceman. Johnson broke Prasanna Jayawardene's thumb in the first innings to force the wicketkeeper to surrender the gloves to Kumar Sangakkara, then broke the replacement's left forefinger in a fiery bout of short-pitched bowling. Sanga came off the ground immediately after being struck on the glove. — Reuters SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka 2nd innings
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Tejaswini, Mahaveer win gold in shooting
New Delhi, December 28 In the standard pistol category, Singh shot 569 to bag the top prize ahead of Pemba Tamang (567) of Army and Samaresh Jung (563) of CISF at the Karni Singh Shooting Ranges. Amanpreet Singh of ONGC shot 580 + 99.5 to clinch the gold medal in men's air pistol while the silver went to Jitu Rai of Army who scored 579 + 100. P N Prakash of Karnataka won the bronze medal with a score of 580 + 98.4. In the 3-position women's event, Sawant shot 581 + 98.2 for the top prize while Raj Chaudhary of Army stood second with a score of 579 + 98.5. The bronze went to Lajja Gujarat's Gauswami who totalled 578 + 96.6. In the air pistol junior category, Sarjeet Singh of Army won the gold medal after scoring 573 and he was followed by UP's Digvijay Malik (573) and Punjab's Achal Pratap Singh who shot an identical score. In the air pistol youth competition, Achal bagged the gold with a score of 573, followed by UP's Ankit (565) and Vikas Dhama of Maharashtra, who shot 562. In the 3-position junior meet, Anjum Moudgil of NCC won the gold after scooring 571 while Tejaswini Muley (565) of Maharashtra bagged the silver. Priyal Keni (564), also from Maharashtra, had to be content with bronze. In the women's skeet event, Aarti Singh Rao won the gold with the score of 70 out of 75, while Rashmee Rathore (67) won the silver. There was no bronze medallist in this event as only three shooters competed. — PTI
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Punjab cagers begin in style at nationals
Ludhiana, December 28 It was international star, Talwinderjit Singh, captain of Punjab team who made all the difference as he led from the front, sinking in as many as 33 points to steer his side to romp home victorious. Talwinder combined well with Ranbir and Jagdeep Sr and the trio forced the visitors fighting against the wall. Ranbir scored 17 points while Jagdeep chipped in with 12 points. Amritpal contributed 10 points to complete the rout. For Kerala, Nikhil and Eudric played well but that was not enough for them to save their team from an inevitable defeat. Manoj and Monish dropped 11 and 10 points, respectively. In the women's section too, hosts Punjab had a reason to rejoice as they outperformed Uttar Pradesh 80-60. Earlier, in the women's section, champions Indian Railways beat Delhi 107-57. Other results (Men)- Services bt Karnataka 73-64; Chandigarh bt West Bengal 63-50; Indian Railways bt Andhra Pradesh 85-51; Chhattisgarh bt HP 93-69; MP bt Maharashtra 82-75; women-Maharashtra bt AP78-70; WB bt Haryana 54-32; Uttrakhand bt J&K 46-25; MP bt Chandigarh 37-28 and Bihar bt Rajasthan 63-45. A total of 46 teams will vie for top honours Punjab are hoping for a repeat of their last year's scintillating performance in front of the home crowd while Railways (women's ) will look to keep their last five years record in unblemished. — TNS
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There were several empty seats during the two Twenty20 Internationals against England; there’s no danger of that happening during the series against Pakistan. The first T20 match at Bangalore was sold out; the second one here was sold out, too — if at all, it was oversold. “The capacity is just below 50,000, but I’m sure the cops have spirited in a few thousand people of their own too,” says a Gujarat Cricket Association official.