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Can England match steps with India in
ODIs?
Pujara has to wait for ODIs: Dhoni
We’re underdogs: Cook
RANJI TROPHY |
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Pak players doubtful for Hockey India League
Arjun Tendulkar selected in Mumbai U-14 squad
Dravid to Dhoni: Quit Twenty20 captaincy but carry on with Tests
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Can England match steps with India in
ODIs?
Rajkot, January 10
The 1-2 loss to Pakistan had exposed chinks in the Indian batting armour, forcing the selectors to omit off-colour opener Virender Sehwag and replace him with in-form local hero Cheteshwar Pujara in the squad to take on England in the first three games. The consolation victory over Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller in the final game in bitterly cold conditions was a desperately-needed shot in the arm for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men ahead of the rubber against England, which earlier whipped the hosts 2-1 in the four-game Test series. England will again be led by their victorious Test skipper Alastair Cook but their bowling attack, without the presence of several key Test bowlers, appears inexperienced and could be just the tonic needed by the bruised Indian batting line-up to get back into the groove.
Barring Dhoni, who scored a ton and a half ton in totalling 203 runs in the three games against Pakistan, it was a collective batting failure by the Indian top-order in which Suresh Raina, with a modest tally of 92 runs with 43 as his best score, emerged as the second-best batsman. Opener Gautam Gambhir, who escaped the axe in the aftermath of the series defeat, his Delhi teammate Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh were flops against Pakistan whose pace attack severely dented their confidence. But against the less-experienced England pace attack, led by Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn, the same set of batsmen ought to flourish, especially on what promises to be a batting-friendly playing surface. The old ground in this city, the Madhavrao Scindia race course ground, was known for its placid tracks and in the last ODI game played here in 2008, the England pace attack was hit all over the park by Gambhir, Sehwag and Yuvraj, who cracked a 78-ball 138 with 6 sixes and 16 fours in it. That attack comprised of James Anderson, India’s nemesis in Tests who is absent from the ODI series, Stuart Broad, available only for the last two games of the current rubber, and the retired duo of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. The current new-ball attack comprising Bresnan, Finn, Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach does not appear as lethal as the one that was smashed to smithereens by the Indian batsmen four years ago. “It will be good to see the Indian batsmen getting some confidence back (after their poor display against Pakistan bowlers) and the track will suit the batsmen. Scores in excess of 300 are expected,” said a top official of the Saurashtra Cricket Association about the pitch at the newly built SCA Stadium. — PTI Squads: 1st odi
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Joe Root, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Joseph Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Stuart Meakar, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Petersen, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes |
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Pujara has to wait for ODIs: Dhoni
Rajkot, January 10 “Well it (ODI debut) looks very unlikely as of now because we have to see the whole batting line-up the position he’s ideally suited for and all those things. As of now, it looks very unlikely,” said Dhoni . “Let’s see what happens tomorrow. If somebody gets unfit, we’ll see...,” he added. Pujara, who notched up 352 this morning in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Karnataka, has played nine Tests with distinction for the country and has scored three hundreds and a fifty in his fledgling international career. The 24-year-old cricketer has been included in the ODI squad for the first time in place of Virender Sehwag. Instead of practicing with the rest of the Indian team, Pujara continued batting in the Ranji Trophy game after getting permission from the team management. “As of now everyone is fit. I don’t know if it will change by night, but everyone is fit now,” said Dhoni. Dhoni conceded that the lack of big opening partnerships has hurt the World Cup champions’ chances in ODIs off late. Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have struggled to cobble together sufficiently big opening partnerships for the rest of the batting line up to build upon. “The stats suggest that for quite some time we have not got off to a very good start in terms of a (opening) partnership. Yes, the openers have been scoring runs on and off, but we have not been able to get a good partnership between them. One of them has been getting out. We are hoping to get good starts in this series. Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) is the new opener. He has played on and off and done decently well,” said Dhoni. Dhoni, however, sounded unfazed about the criticism he and the team had to go through after a series of losses. “It (criticism) is not something that’s new to us. As Indian cricketers, you know you are supposed to do well. The moment we don’t do well as an individual or as a team you know you’ll get to face a lot of criticism,” said the skipper. “But it’s the same when you do well, then you get a lot of appreciation. I’ve always said it’s very important to be in a good zone as a team, because if you are in a good zone you have more chances of being successful and be able to perform. “I never question my ability. That’s one thing that all the weaker persons do. Before others question you as an individual you start questioning yourself. Self-belief is something that’s very important. Especially in a team sport, it’s important that everybody keeps believing.” — PTI
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Rajkot, January 10
“Clearly we are the underdogs in this series but if you look through our side we have got a lot of firepower and world class players. For us to win this series, those world class players and everyone in our squad have to play out of skin,” said Cook. The England skipper, who had led his team to a Test series triumph in India after 28 years at the end of 2012, said the team was lacking a bit in experience due to injuries to key members. “We have got an inexperienced side, a few experienced players missing through injuries and rotational policy. It’s quite similar to probably the squad that we had last time. So, it will be a real big test to us as players and real good test to these guys who have been around now a bit in international scene to try and step up.” The visitors lost both their warm-up games. — PTI
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Kohli hits triple ton as Punjab make it to semifinals
Jamshedpur, January 10
Punjab made it to the final-four of India’s premier domestic competition on basis of a first innings lead of 298 runs against Jharkhand. Jharkhand, who had scored 401 all out in their first innings, were 33 for no loss off 13 overs in their second essay after Punjab declared their first innings for 699 for three at the stroke of tea. Resuming at their overnight score of 435 for three, Taruwar Kohli (who was on 151 at stumps on the fourth day) and Udai Kaul, made mockery of Jharkhand bowling attack and scored runs at will. The duo put on a 250+ partnership before Punjab skipper Harbhajan Singh decided to declare. Kohli, who made a come back into the Punjab team after two years, faced 609 deliveries to score his unbeaten triple ton, which was studded with 34 boundaries and two sixes. Kaul’s unbeaten century off 216 balls included nine hits to the fence. Jharkhand made 33 for no loss off 13 overs in their second innings with openers Ajay Verma (14) and Manish Vardhan (19) at the crease before the match ended. Scoreboard Jharkhand 2nd innings Pujara scores 352
Cheteshwar Pujara struck second triple hundred of his first class career as Saurashtra progressed to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy, courtesy their first innings lead over rival Karnataka, here today. The high scoring quarter-final ended in a draw with Saurashtra amassing 718 for nine in their second innings. The only highlight of the day was Puajra completing his triple century. Saurashtra now play Punjab. Brief scores Mumbai advance Thirty-nine time champions Mumbai entered the semifinals on the basis of the first innings lead after their quarterfinal against Baroda ended in a draw. After Mumbai had declared their second innings at 295 for six, setting Baroda a victory target of 670, Baroda ended up with 137/3 in 42 overs. Mumbai lost five wickets today for the addition of 108 runs as the wicket, breaking a bit, became difficult to bat on. Kaustubh Pawar reached his century before getting stumped on 115, while Sachin Tendulkar lasted only seven balls off which he made nine runs. Brief scores |
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Pak players doubtful for Hockey India League
New Delhi, January 10 In all, nine Pakistani players were bought by four of the five franchises for the HIL. Uttar Pradesh Wizards were the only team who did not buy a Pak player. Delhi Waveriders (Mohammad Rizwan Sr and Mohammad Rizwan Jr) and Ranchi Rhinos (Shafaq Rasool and Mohd Irfan) bought two Pakistani players each while Mumbai Magicians bought four (Mahmood Rashid, Fareed Ahmad, Mohammad Tousiq and Imran Butt) and Jaypee Punjab Warriors one (Kashif Shah). Delhi Waveriders’ executive director Amar Sinha said he was hopeful that the two Pak players would join the team by tomorrow afternoon as the Union External Affairs Ministry was co-ordinating with its Pak counterpart and the Pakistan Hockey Federation, though there was general skepticism about the Pak players’ participation following the killings of the two Indian soldiers by Pakistan. But Ajit Pal Singh, former Indian captain and chief team strategist of Delhi Waveriders, said sports should not be mixed with politics and the Pak players should be allowed to play in the HIL, which was a major initiative to give hockey a big boost not only in India, but also in the whole of Asia. “Some of the best players will be seen in action, and it was only natural that Pakistan should be represented in the HIL, to give the event the much-needed thrust and momentum”, Ajit Pal Singh opined. Delhi Waveriders’ captain Sardar Singh also echoed Ajit Pal’s views though he said the Pak players’ absence will not weaken his team. “We have some of the best hockey players in the world in our team, and we are a well-balanced outfit”, Sardar Singh told The Tribune. But Delhi suffered a major setback when penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema of The Netherlands pulled out due to a back injury. He was bought by Waveriders for his base price of $25,000 despite the fact he had skipped the London Olympics due to fitness problems. But Sardar said Delhi were packed with enough firepower to give the other teams a run. “We have one of the best teams, as we have in our ranks quality players. The HIL will give big exposure to the players and the spectators to play and watch world class hockey”, Sardar added. Meanwhile, the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, which had witnessed two world events in 2010—the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games---is once again gripped by hockey fever as the players have been training hard for the inaugural match on January 14. There will be 34 matches in all leading up to the final match on February 10.
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Arjun Tendulkar selected in Mumbai U-14 squad
Mumbai, January 10 His innings of 124 had 14 boundaries and a six which helped Khar Gymkhana beat GC by an innings and 21 runs. This century helped break into the Mumbai U-14 probables list for an off-season training. The teenager has been in the news in junior cricket circle in Mumbai for his all-round abilities as he once scalped eight for 22 bowling left-arm pace for Dhirubhai Ambani International School helping them beat Jamnabai Narsee School, back in Nov 2011. Born on September 24, 1999, Arjun often goes to the stadium to watch his father play. — PTI
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Dravid to Dhoni: Quit Twenty20 captaincy but carry on with Tests
New Delhi, January 10 “Not only is Dhoni the only man to lead India in Test cricket, he is still capable of doing the job well. What it will require from him is a change in the way he captains, a recognition that he can’t do everything all the time, and the willingness to ask for and accept help,” Dravid said. “Dhoni has got to recognise that he can’t continue to captain and play all the time, because it is making him stale... To start with, Dhoni could easily give up the India T20 and Chennai Super Kings captaincies...He needs to take breaks between captaining and keeping and playing,” he wrote in his ‘ESPNCricinfo’ column. “He should certainly play ODIs and T20s for India, because he is invaluable to the side. Giving up a couple of captaincy roles might give him more time in the main India job and the freshness to keep doing it. It would also give India an opportunity to perhaps give someone like (Virat) Kohli a chance to be T20 captain, break him into the job and see how he goes,” he said. Dhoni’s captaincy was criticised after India’s recent home Test debacle against England followed by the ODI loss to arch-foes Pakistan. Even though he is in decent form with the bat, several former players feel Dhoni has shown signs of fatigue as captain. But Dravid believes India does not have anyone to replace the wicketkeeper-batsman, who led the country to the 2007 Twenty20 World title besides the 2011 ODI World Cup. Dravid also said that Dhoni should change his approach slightly. “He has had a good run, and will be recognised as India’s most successful captain, and he now has a chance to extend it. Other than his leadership qualities, there is the fact that there are no alternatives to Dhoni at this stage,” he pointed out. — PTI
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