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Sehwag to lead Rest of India vs Mumbai
Smalltown tag made me tougher: Dhoni
Cricket Australia fends off criticism from Warne
Warm-ups: Australia crush listless India
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I’ll guide rookies in Davis Cup: Paes
Govt will seek views of NSFs to resolve Sports Code issue
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Sehwag to lead Rest of India vs Mumbai
Chandigarh, January 29
The BCCI named two other squads today — the Board President’s XI and India A — for the warm-up matches against Australia. Punjab, who reached the Ranji Trophy semifinals this year, found representation in all three squads. Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh, who made five centuries in his debut season, has been included in the India A squad, along with Manpreet Gony. Mandeep Singh and Sarabjit Ladda are in the Board President’s team, while Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh is in the Rest of India team. Gautam Gambhir has not been named in any of the squads. Gambhir has been going through a patchy phase and it was expected that he would get to play some long format games before the Tests against Australia. Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav, who have had injury troubles, were not considered for selection as they are yet to submit their fitness certificates. “I was not expecting this call,” Jiwanjot told the Tribune. “I had scored runs in the season, and the team had been doing well too. But very few people get chance to get India A in debut season.” He said he’s aware that it’s just the beginning, that everything would be tougher at the next level. The next level for him will be playing against Australian bowlers, after all. “The competition and bowling will be tougher than what I’ve faced in the Ranji Trophy and I have to prepare for it,” he added. “I have some plans, and I need to work on them with my coach and start practising from tomorrow.” “The runs I scored in the Ranji Trophy gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “But that’s past, I need to prepare for the tougher competition.” He said the team was very disappointed after losing the Ranji Trophy semifinal to Gujarat. “We desperately wanted to win but one bad session caused the defeat to Saurashtra in the semis.” Mahesh Inder Singh Sodhi, Jiwanjot’s coach, is very hopeful about the young batsman. “He’s a very hard-working boy, and he has the right mindset,” said Sodhi. “I believe that he has the ability and temperament to do well at that level too. His technique and temperament are very good.” Squads Board President’s XI: Abhinav Mukund (captain), Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Parthiv Patel, Stuart Binny, Sarabjit Ladda, Parveez Rasool, Mohammed Shami, Parvinder Awana, and Kamlesh Makwana India A: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Jiwanjot Singh, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, CM Gautam, Rakesh Dhruv, Jalaj Saxena, Manpreet Gony, Vinay Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, and Ashok Menaria
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Smalltown tag made me tougher: Dhoni
Chennai, January 29 “I never thought I will play for India. I am never worried if I am not selected for a particular game or series but my focus will be on contributing for the next match,” Dhoni said at a panel discussion moderated by Harsha Bhogle. To a question about his early years in Ranchi, Dhoni said while many did not attach much importance to such small towns, they had a fair bit of senior players to look up to and a decent league cricket. “Comparatively, Ranchi has (more) senior players. Of course it’s a bit tough to come from a small city but that makes you tougher with the challenges it poses,” he said at the discussion. Dhoni however, expressed, joy over the increased media coverage to sports in such small cities. Asked how he managed to find time between the game and other engagements, including his endorsement commitments, he said the game was the central part to all the activity. “It is very easy. You follow cricket. If it is not there, nothing else is there. Shoots (for advertisements) help take off the time from cricket as you roam about freely, interacting with important people,” he said. Stating that he is not one to hit the gym hard, Dhoni said he relaxes once off the field and eats “whatever he wants”. Opener Virendar Sehwag, one of the panelists along with former captain Anil Kumble and former coach John Wright, recalled his long journeys in his early days to practice. Struggling to come back to the Indian One-day team, the world record holder for the fastest ODI double-century said it is important to switch on and off during failures and said he coped by relaxing with family and listening to music. — PTI
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Cricket Australia fends off criticism from Warne
Melbourne, January 29 Sutherland said he was prepared to meet with Warne and discuss his criticism of the CA’s player rotation policy and his claim that ‘rubbish’ decisions were turning Australian cricket into a ‘big joke’. After venting his initial anger on Monday, Warne reiterated his views a day later. “As I said last night, we need cricket people running the team & who understand cricket & what’s required at the top level, not muppets,” he tweeted on Tuesday. Warne questioned the logic of having former rugby union international Pat Howard as the board’s high performance manager but Sutherland threw his weight behind the former Wallaby back. “I have every confidence in Pat Howard and his team, and what they’re doing,” Sutherland said. “Personally I find it a little bit disappointing to read about that (Warne’s criticisms) in the fashion that I have. “Ideally, you’d like to be able to sit down with Shane and understand a little bit more deeply his opinions.” Australia won all three Tests in a recent series against Sri Lanka but were held 2-2 in the subsequent ODIs after resting skipper Michael Clarke for the first two matches. The hosts, however, lost both T20Is and were left debating the merits of a controversial rotation policy. The CA has introduced to manage injuries and the workload of their frontline players. While Warne insisted Australia needed to field their best 11 players every time they stepped out, fast bowling great Dennis Lillee has backed CA’s approach. “He’s 100 per cent in agreement with the selection panel with managing the load and development of players,” Sutherland said of Lillee. — Reuters
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Warm-ups: Australia crush listless India
Mumbai, January 29
India could score just 222 for eight after opting to bat and the Australians chased down the target in 37.3 overs, despite losing a wicket in the first over. Harmanpreet Kaur led the Indian batters in the absence of Mithali Raj and they started well. But soon after they began struggling and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They lost half their side for the score of 116. Raj had viral fever in the morning, which prompted her to rest, but the team manager later said that she was fine. In another practice match, defending champions England lost to New Zealand by 13 runs. Chasing New Zealand’s 223, England were bowled out for 210. Pak women don’t mind staying in stadium Cuttack: Pakistan women cricketers were not complaining over their accommodations being provided inside the Barabati Stadium, though the ICC and the BCCI were criticised by former Pakistan players over the issue. “I think all our matches will be played at the same ground (Barabati),” Pakistan captain Sana Mir said after her side defeated an Odisha XI by 95 runs in the practice match. The match was held smoothly without any disturbance neither near the venue or anywhere in the city. Sana and her team members were lodged at the OCA Club at the Barabati Stadium in view of the opposition to Pakistani team’s participation in the tournament, in the backdrop of the tension between the two countries. “We do not mind staying in 2 star, 3 star or 4 star hotels. We are here to play cricket,” Sana Mir said, adding they feel Barabati Stadium was like any other ground in Pakistan. Former players back home have lashed out at the ICC and the BCCI for lodging the Pakistan team inside the stadium instead of a five-star hotel. “It’s a shame that in a country like India even their government and board can’t assure safety of Pakistan players if they stay at a hotel,” said a former player. The Pakistani team would play all its matches against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa at Barabati Stadium with 1,500 security personnel deployed to ensure security to the visiting teams. Besides the Sangh Parivar, two small local outfits are protesting Pakistan’s participation in the event. They have also threatened to disrupt matches by digging up the ground. The protest seemed to have no impact on the Pakistani players. — PTI
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I’ll guide rookies in Davis Cup: Paes
New Delhi, January 29
Three Indian players will make their Davis Cup debut while Paes has been representing the country in the tournament for the past 20 years. As many as 11 top players, including Somdev Devvarman, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, had recently started a revolt against AITA, demanding better playing conditions, and in the process making themselves unavailable for the tie. “We have been in this positions a few times, basically leading the team into a tie. Boys are going to have some nerves coming into the tie. I am looking to basically cushion some of that butterflies, the guys will have,” the 39-year old multiple Grand Slam champion said . “It all depends on how an individual handles the occasion. For me, call of the day is to tell them how to handle it. I will show them. We have a tough task ahead,” Paes said. Paes had some encouraging words to say for his teammates. “Yes, there are rookies in our team. The exuberance, the fire is with them, you can see some nerves in them. You can see them looking up to the occasion, which is fresh and nice.” This is my 24th year in Davis Cup and it’s nice to come into a team that is pushing me hard, getting us to practice hard.” Like India, there are not much higher-ranked players in the Korean camp, but Paes rated the rivals highly. “Koreans are always a tough bunch. They have a lot of physical fitness, fast as a sporting community. They are always tough opponents. It’s a while that I have played Koreans but I expect nothing different this time,” he said. It was a sweet gesture on his part as Paes first involved captain SP Misra and then his partner Raja in the media interaction. “I am not really not in this one. I am neither here nor there. For me the most important thing is to play, play best, put my best foot forward. That’s what I do best. I have done that throughout my career. Athletes are best playing the game,” Paes said. It was a great opportunity for Purav, who is based in the US, to represent the country, he added. “I am practising with Purav for just under two years. You see it’s my 24th year and I am still out here with youngsters, pushing myself. For me, the greatest joy is to play for the country,” Paes said. — PTI
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Govt will seek views of NSFs to resolve Sports Code issue
New Delhi, January 29 The decision to seek the opinion of NSFs on the Sports Code was taken after a meeting of Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, Sports Secretary PK Deb, VK Malhotra, who was the Indian Olympic Association acting chief before controversial elections last month, and IOC member Randhir Singh. The IOC had offered to hold a meeting with the Sports Ministry representative and Malhotra to discuss on the ban imposed on the IOA on the ground of government interference. “The meeting basically tried to look at a roadmap to resolve the issue of IOC’s ban on India. It was decided at the meeting that a letter will be sent to all NSFs asking for their comments on the Sports Code,” a source from the Sports Ministry said. — PTI |
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Virender Sehwag, not part of India’s One-day plans in recent times, has been named captain of the Rest of India (RoI) squad for the Irani Cup match against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, to be held in Mumbai from February 6 to 10.
Paes joined the Indian training camp today and practised for close to two hours with Purav Raja, his doubles partner for the tie starting Friday, and reserves Arjun Kadhe and Ashiwn Vijayraghavan at the RK Khanna Tennis stadium.
