Chennai, February 21
As the two great batsmen after whom the Border Gavaskar Trophy is named attended to the minutae of the sport today — getting photographed and videographed with the trophy — the real protagonist, the pitch, provided the backdrop.

MS Dhoni

The track for the first Test match between India and Australia is dry, completely bereft of grass. To the naked eye, it presents no mystery: it should spin. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity about how it will behave; yet, the responses it has evoked from the two captains are remarkably different.

The Australians go into the Test with three pace bowlers, one spinner and a medium-pace allrounder; India’s team selection is likely to be poles apart — three spinners, one pace bowler and a spinning allrounder.

This might suggest that one of the two captains involved has been hallucinating, seeing green grass in the place of bone-dry aridness — and it’s not Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

But Michael Clarke, the Australian captain, insists that he hasn’t been seeing things. He’s going into the Test match acutely aware of the fact that Dhoni wants tracks that turn from the first day; Clarke says that Dhoni “is going to get it out there” in Test. He knows there will be turn.

“Both teams have seen exactly the same pitch,” Clarke said with a laugh today. “I think both teams have different strengths. It is no good that we pick the same team as India. We have a different team to England or South Africa. We are going to try and use our strengths. We do have our balance in (spinner) Nathan Lyon, and David Warner is bowling lot of leg spin in the nets. I can bowl some left-arm orthodox as well.”

That’s a bit different than the challenge presented by the English combination of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann late last year. It’s definitely less potent. The top Indian pace bowlers are either in hospitals, licking their wounds, or recuperating. Thus, it’s likely to be a spin-centric series. On the spin front, the Australians definitely lag behind the hosts. Yet, it’s prudent to not start counting the eggs as yet; Australia will make India sweat for success. As Harbhajan Singh, who will play his 100th here, the nucleus of all Australian teams has one thing in common — something steely, something hard, flinty. They are tough, they never give up, they come hard at you.

There’s something different, too, about these teams from the ones from the past; they are both in transition. They’ve lost great players, they’re in a state of flux. While Australia seem to be rising, after hitting a trough, India seem to be falling. India have lost 10 of their last 20 Tests, Australia have won 12 of their last 20 and lost only 3.

Squads: Australia (from): Michael Clarke (captain), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Moises Henriques, Matthew Wade (wk), Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Glenn Maxwell (12th man); India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

SAFETY PARAMOUNT

In the wake of the blasts in Hyderabad, the Australian team has discussesd security issues with the Indian cricket board. “The safety of the squad is of paramount importance and Australian team management and Cricket Australia staff are liaising with the BCCI in India, local authorities and the Australian High Commission to ensure we have all the appropriate information,” a team statement issued on the eve of the first Test said.

Chennai, February 21
India today announced that Harbhajan Singh would play the Test match, his 100th. The other two spinners are likely to be Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin, one of whom will probably have to share the new ball with Ishant Sharma. Murali Vijay is likely to beat Shikhar Dhawan as Virender Sehwag’s opening partner. Ravindra Jadeja, much admired and praised by Dhoni in the recent past, is likely to pip Ajinkya Rahane for the No. 6 slot.

India seem to be attaching little importance to pace, but history suggests that pace isn’t quite irrelevant on Indian tracks. Ishant and Zaheer Khan took 26 wickets when India beat Australia in 2008; more recently, Jimmy Anderson played a significant hand with 12 wickets in India’s defeat late last year. This is the thought animating Clarke’s hopes with a fresh, young team. In this bunch, only Clarke, Shane Watson and Peter Siddle have played Test cricket in India before.

Clarke has said that he’d play without fear, attack India. He’s got the resources for that -- three extremely attacking batsmen in David Warner, Shane Watson and Moises Henriques. All three of them are sluggers, licensed to kill. One success by any one of them in each Test match can hurt India badly, much like England’s Kevin Pietersen hurt India in Mumbai with a gamechanging knock of 186. Then there’s Clarke, of course, who made with 1595 runs last year at an average of 106. This included three double centuries and a triple century. He’s reaching the prime of his batting life. Watson at No. 4, following the in-form Clarke, has potential to be fatal to India’s hopes.

When England came here last year, the official broadcaster ran ads that said something about “angrezon ki poongi/band bajana” — the closest translation would be to “smash the Englishmen like guitars”. The smashing was rather on the other foot.

Pretoria, February 21
The lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius murder case is himself facing attempted murder charges for firing on a minibus full of passengers, South African police said as prosecutors argued in court to deny the athlete bail.

Hilton Botha, who took the stand against Pistorius at the Paralympic and Olympic track star's bail hearing earlier this week, is due to appear in court in May over the 2011 shooting incident, police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila said. "Botha and two other policemen allegedly tried to stop a minibus taxi with seven people. They fired shots," Malila told Reuters.

At the time, Botha - a detective with 24 years on the force - was chasing a man accused of murdering a woman and disposing of her dismembered body down a drain, local media said.

The charges against Botha were provisionally withdrawn but were reinstated on February 4 - 10 days before the shooting of 29-year-old model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp in a locked toilet at Pistorius' Pretoria home, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said. “The decision to reinstate was taken on February 4, way before the issue of Pistorius came to light or the murder of Reeva was committed," NPA spokesman Medupe Simasiku told Reuters. "It's completely unrelated to this trial.” Malila said there would be an internal investigation. — Reuters

Chennai, February 21
Set to complete a century of Test appearances, veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today said he is a "bit nervous" going into the first Test against Australia.

With 408 wickets from 99 Tests at an average of 32.27 and a strike-rate of 68.1, Harbhajan has been one of India's most prolific bowlers even though he has been enduring a tough phase for some time.

The off-spinner will become only the 10th Indian cricketer to achieve the milestone after it was confirmed that he will be in the playing eleven for the series opener.

"It's a big game," Harbhajan, who interestingly found fame after wrecking the same team in the famous 2001 series, said at the pre-match press conference here. "(The previous) 99 are gone. Obviously a bit nervous but I am sure I will be fine. I have faced these situations before," the 32-year-old spinner added. Talking about the milestone, Harbhajan said the next target would be to add another 50 Tests to his CV.

“I have gone through times when I was not doing well or when I was doing well and got too excited. These things happen. Bit nervous to start with, but I will be fine.Once I get away with 100, we will see what needs to be done to play another 50-odd. Probably I will have to work even harder," he said. Reflecting on a career which has had its share of highs and lows, Harbhajan said he has learnt never to give up through the journey. "It's been a journey with lots of ups and downs. No one can always be at the top and no one will be always down... You will have ups and down, like normal guys, doing routine things," Harbhajan said.

"What I've learnt from great players is to never give up.

These guys have done so well for India, made themselves great cricketers and ambassadors for the game. They had one thing in common – never give up. That made this team successful. They showed us how to work hard. “They made us believe we can win anywhere, from any situation. I'm very lucky, very proud that I've played with all these greats like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid...I repeat their names because without their support I wouldn't have achieved this," he added. Asked how he kept himself motivated during the tough times, especially after being dropped from the team, Harbhajan said the desire to be a part of the squad kept him going.

"Playing for India itself is a big motivation. When you're not playing, that's what motivates you...that I should be there playing for India, I should work hard for the team and get there.

"It comes to individuals, if you want to work hard at that stage, or you want to just sit back and say I've played...it's fine whether I get picked up for India or not. But I want to play for India and that's the only thing I wanted," he said.

"I really worked hard whatever time I was out. I wanted to come back and do well for the team. If you're willing to work hard, God will help you. I've always believed. I was trying to stick to this – work hard, have faith in God, and you'll get the chances, opportunities," he added.

Chennai, February 21
Australian captain Michael Clarke has decided to go with a lone spinner in Nathan Lyon against India in the first Test and believes that one needs "courage" to stick to their plans irrespective of whether you are bowling spin or facing it.

“Playing spin bowlers is no different to playing fast bowling. You need to have the courage to stick to that plan whether you make zero or 100. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it does not. Now we are going to try our best. That is for sure," Clarke said. On not having a second specialist spinner, he answered,”I have made plenty of mistakes before and enough to say before making another mistake. But, the focus is to pick the members to have best success. And if that does not work, we reassess for the next Test matches." “I have seen on England matches on television. After the first Test, they brought on Panesar and they had huge impact. So, you have to learn from how teams had their successes in the sub-continent to be sure. But like I said it is silly to say that we should play like some body else. We will play our brand of cricket and stick to our strengths," Clarke reiterated.

Clarke also explained the reason for announcing first XII, 48 hours prior to the start of the Test.

“There are a couple of reasons. Mainly, the reason was that we had such a big squad. The second reason is that Moises Henriques is making his debut and if he wants to have his family to India to watch the match, it is an opportunity as well." Clarke still feels that his fast bowlers will be able to get their variations going.

“It generally spins a lot more but it will also be a bit of up and down. I hope that fast bowlers will be able to execute to get some balls to get quicker and some balls to be little bit slower. Whether it reverses or not, you still have the natural variations." 

Mumbai, February 21
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting will replace Sachin Tendulkar as captain of the Mumbai Indians for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League, starting April 3.

Pointing, who retired from international cricket late last year, was bought by Mumbai Indians at a base price of USD 400,000 during the IPL players' auction held in Chennai earlier this month.

Mumbai Indians said in a statement that decision to name Ponting as the skipper for the forthcoming season was taken after consultation with its newly-appointed chief mentor Anil Kumble, head coach John Wright and icon player Tendulkar.

"Ricky has a lot of experience to lead a competitive and a high-profile side like Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Sachin readily agreed to my suggestion that Mumbai Indians is best served when he leads the batting unburdened by the rigours of captaincy. It was our idea (Sachin and mine) to bring in Ricky as the captain of the Mumbai Indians," Kumble said.

On his new role in the Mumbai Indians team, Ponting said: "It's a huge honour and I thank Mrs Ambani and the Mumbai Indians management for the faith they have reposed in my abilities.

"Mumbai Indians has the potent combination of Indian and international cricketers and I look forward to leading the team to play to its full potential." Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani added: "On behalf of the Mumbai Indians family, I welcome Ricky Ponting to the team as the leader of the side. Today we have world's two biggest cricketing greats in Sachin and Ricky, and I am sure the duo will be an inspiration for the youngsters in the team.

Chandigarh, February 21 
Mukesh Kumar has been winning tournaments for three decades and has won over a hundred tournaments in India. The 47-year-old from Mhow started playing golf after watching his father at the Army Golf Course in Mhow and has currently been leading the 2013 PGTI Players Championship for three days now. He will be the player with the odds in his favour when he tees it up for the final round tomorrow.

“His resilience unbelievable and one of the most consistent plays on the tour,” says Uttam Singh Mundy, Executive Director, Professional Golf Tour of India. "He plays within his own comfort zone and the week that his game comes together, no one can beat him,” he adds.

He also defeated Jeev Milkha Singh in a one-on-one matchplay competition during the recently concluded Louis Phillipe Cup in JP Greens, Noida. “It was wonderful to play with the best professional golfer of the country and to take him on and get the better of his that day was quite an achievement I felt,” says Mukesh.

“He is very consistent and is right the in the hunt every week,” says Jeev. "We have been watching him playing on the Indian Tour and winning tournaments almost since the time professional golf started.”

Mukesh has earned Rs.10,650,102 on just the PGTI tour since its inception in 2008. This does not include his previous earnings on the PGAI Tour and Asian tour events played in the country. “I enjoy playing more today than I did when I started playing the game as the competition is tough and one has to work hard to say in contention," says Mukesh.

A quiet person with a shy demeanor, Mukesh just goes about the golf course like he is doing a job, one that he does very well. Even though he carded a very average round of 75 today and lost his overnight lead of four strokes, he is confident of playing well. “I cannot even remember how often I have played this course and I will use my experience to finish well tomorrow,” he says. And knowing Mukesh that finish could well have him lifting the trophy.

Dharamsala, February 21
Punjab crushed Himachal Pradesh by 10 wickets en route their entry into the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the toppers of the North Zone leg. Punjab finished their group league engagements with 21 points having got a bonus point from the match played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.

Punjab skipper Taruwar Kohli won the toss and seamer Sandeep Sharma ran through the opposition taking five for 53 as Himachal were all out for 129 in 30.5 overs.

In reply, Punjab openers Ravi Inder Singh and Chandan Madan didn't have much trouble as they knocked off the runs in only 24.2 overs. Ravi Inder scored 76 off 82 balls with 10 fours and a six. Veteran 'keeper Madan remained unbeaten on 40. Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh 129 in 30.5 overs (Amit Kumar 39, Sandeep Sharma 5/53).Punjab 130/0 in 24.2 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 76 batting, Chandan Madan 40). Punjab won by 10 wkts; Points: Punjab 5; Services -1.

Munaf to play for West Zone in Deodhar Trophy

Baroda pacer Munaf Patel has been selected in the West Zone squad led by Parthiv Patel for the Deodhar Trophy inter-zonal one-day tournament to be held in Guwahati from March 10-13. — PTI

BRIEFLY

We will try to keep Asian Athletics C'ship in India: AFI
New Delhi: The Athletics Federation of India (AAI) has said that it would try its best to hold the Asian Athletics Championship in another city of the country after the prestigious event, schedule to be held in Chennai, was shunned by the Tamil Nadu government. Amid protests over the alleged brutal killing of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's son, TN Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa called off the 20th Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held in July, saying Lankan athletes have no place in the state.

Indian eves record third win in World League
New Delhi: Indian women recorded their third victory on trot, and with the highest goal-margin at that, when they trounced Fiji 10-0, though the tally should have been higher, considering the domination they had in the attack and the number of penalty corners they had forced, in the World Hockey League Round 2, at the National Stadium.

Afridi in ODI squad
Karachi: Shahid Afridi made a comeback to Pakistan`s One-day squad as selectors included him in side for the upcoming series against South Africa. He has also been retained in the T20 squad. This was probably the final opportunity for Afridi to prove his worth in team. — Agencies

Bhajji would be ‘very hard’ to face: mICHAEL Clarke

Australia captain Michael Clarke admitted that off-spinner Harbhajan Singh would be the toughest customer to face among Indian bowlers when the two teams lock horns in the first Test. Clarke also congratulated Harbhajan who is set to complete a century of Test appearances on Friday. “Firstly I think that is great for Harbhajan (playing in his 100th Test). On behalf of the Australian team, we congratulate him. It's a very special achievement. He is going to be very hard to face among all the Indian bowlers but we have our plans to win this Test," Clarke told reporters at the pre-match post conference. Clarke said he has always shared a good relationship with the veteran off-spinner on and off the field. “He has been a wonderful player. I always had a very good relationship with Harbhajan.” — PTI