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‘BCCI meet fixed, Srinivasan should have quit’
Winning is a good habit, says captain Dhoni
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Ponting equals Sachin’s record of first-class tons
Railways, Air India make National Hockey quartersfinals
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‘BCCI meet fixed, Srinivasan should have quit’ Chennai, June 2 “I have the minutes and notes of the meeting. I categorically asked for his (Srinivasan’s) resignation. I said this sham will not satisfy the public. I said he should resign and come back if exonerated. He (Srinivasan) said he will step aside but not resign at any cost,” Bindra, the Punjab Cricket Association President, said after the meeting. “He (Srinivasan) is not resigning. He is just stepping aside for one month. This is taking the public for a ride. We needed something more than this. I suggested, let him step aside until September, but he said he is not going to resign,” he said. Bindra claimed that he was the only person in the meeting to have asked Srinivasan to resign. He said he has no problems with Jagmohan Dalmiya becoming head of an interim arrangement but had reservations about the way he was brought in. “I have no problem with Dalmiya coming in, he is an able administrator. But I don’t like the way he has been brought in,” he said. Bindra, a former ICC advisor, said BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley played a big role in finalizing the decision in the meeting “Mr Jaitley has had his way in this meeting. Most of the suggestions came from Mr Jaitley, including the appointment of Mr Dalmiya,” Bindra said. According to Bindra, Srinivasan said in his opening remarks that Jaitley had asked him to step aside in Kolkata (at the dinner party ahead of IPL final), and he had not agreed then. “Srinivasan said he is agreeing to it (Jaitely’s suggestion) now.” “I asked for a clarification on whether Srinivasan will step aside for the duration of the BCCI probe or the whole police investigation. Mr Jaitley said the investigation could go on for three-four years so let us limit it to the BCCI-constituted panel, Sundar Raman-appointed panel, rather. Mr Jaitley said the probe should not take more than six weeks.” According to Bindra, he had also asked Srininvasan about who appointed the three-man inquiry commission to probe Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan. “‘Who made this committee,’ I asked. Srinivasan said ‘I don’t know’. I asked Professor Shetty and he said a committee named the probe panel. That committee consisted of Sundar Raman, Shetty, Peter Griffith (from IMG), and Raman (the BCCI lawyer),” Bindra said. While Bindra called the proceedings a “sham”, former BCCI secreatry Jaywant Lele equated the happenings at the BCCI’s Emergent Working Committee meeting in Chennai to match-fixing in itself and termed the process of appointing Jagmohan Dalmiya as head of a four-member interim arrangement as “unconstitutional”. “I am absolutely disappointed at what happened today. What’s the difference between this and match-fixing? First of all, the whole thing is unconstitutional as the working committee cannot appoint anyone,” the outspoken Lele said. “Everything was unconstitutional. Srinivasan has not resigned, so where is the question of Jagmohan Dalmiya being appointed as interim president,” queried Lele. “Whatever has happened is all non-sense. Good luck to the cricket board,” Lele concluded in disgust. Jagdale, Shirke refuse to return Former Cricket Board secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke today made it clear that they have no intention of returning to the BCCI despite being requested by the working committee members to reconsider their decision to resign. “They were unanimous in asking us (Shirke) to take back the resignations, but I feel bad that I cannot respond in a positive manner,” Jagdale said in Indore. — PTI
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Winning is a good habit, says captain Dhoni
Birmingham, June 2 Chasing 334 for a win, India won with six balls to spare but only after Virat Kohli (144) and Dinesh Karthik (106 not out) rescued the team from 110 for four in the 21st over. Dhoni was full of praise for the character shown by Kohli and Karthik. “There was not much batting left after me but the way Kohli and Karthik played, it was good to see the middle-order handle a pressure situation well,” Dhoni said in a post-match chat. Feeling that the fast bowlers needed to improve, Dhoni said a victory was always important. The Indian skipper will now face a problem of plenty in the middle-order after Karthik’s 81-ball century. “He has really done himself a world of good. His century will boost his morale and whenever he gets a chance, he should prove himself again,” Dhoni said of Karthik, who is not sure to figure in the playing XI when India play their first match versus South Africa at Cardiff on June 6. But the man who turned the game on his head was Kohli. This was his fifth century against Sri Lanka and rival skipper Angelo Mathews admitted that the Delhi batsman has a special liking for the Lankan bowling. “We tried a few things today but not upset with the result. We have to work out a few things,” Mathews said. India and Sri Lanka are in different groups in the tournament.
— Agencies |
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Guptill powers Black Caps to series win over England
London, June 2 Guptill, 26, carried his bat throughout New Zealand's innings for the second successive match as the visitors scored 359-3 in 50 overs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Jonathan Trott struck an unbeaten 107 in England's reply but they were always battling in the face of the imposing target and lost wickets at regular intervals before being bowled out for 273. After New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to bat under blue skies, Guptill smashed 19 fours and two towering sixes in a 155-ball stay. He combined for partnerships in excess of 100 runs each with Kane Williamson (55), Ross Taylor (60) and McCullum (40 not out) on the way to a another century after guiding his team home at Lord's on Friday. England's bowling attack, once again minus the injured Stuart Broad and Steven Finn, lacked depth on a flat pitch. Only James Anderson threatened consistently as Jade Dernbach conceded 87 from his 10 overs and Chris Woakes struggled through just seven overs. New Zealand kept England captain Alastair Cook under pressure throughout their innings with some clever running between the wickets. — Reuters Scoreboard New Zealand Guptill not out 189 Ronchi b Anderson 2 Williamson b Swann 55 Taylor c Woakes b Anderson 60 McCullumnot out 40 Extras: (b 4, lb 4, w 5) 13 Total: (3 wickets; 50 overs) 359 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-132, 3-241 Bowling Anderson 10-0-65-2 Bresnan 10-1-73-0 Woakes 7-0-49-0 Dernbach 10-0-87-0 Root 3-0-16-0 Swann 10-0-61-1 England Cook b Mills 34 Bell c Franklin b Bracewell 25 Trott c not out 109 Root c Bracewell b McCullum 28 Morgan c Ronchi b Elliott 21 Buttler c Guptill b McClenaghan 2 Woakes st Ronchi b Williamson 13 Bresnan run out 0 Swann b Williamson 1 Anderson b McClenaghan 28 Dernbach c Mills b McClenaghan 2 Extras: (lb 3, w 6, nb 1) 10 Total: (all out; 44.1 ovrs) 273 Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-64, 3-122, 4-166, 5-169,
6-212, 7-213, 8-218, 9-265, 10-273 Bowling McClenaghan 8.1-0-35-3 Mills 9-0-55-1 Bracewell 8-1-55-1 McCullum 8-0-47-1 Franklin 5-0-40-0 Elliott 2-0-13-1 Williamson 4-0-25-2
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Ponting equals Sachin’s record of first-class tons
London, June 2 Interestingly Sunil Gavaskar also has 81 first-class centuries — an Indian record which Sachin recently equalled. Sir Jack Hobbs leads the list of most first-class tons, with 199 to his name. The 38-year-old, who joined up with his new team this week after playing in the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians, struck 13 fours as Surrey reached 362 for four in reply to Derbyshire's first innings 452 all out. Ponting's experience is a boost for Surrey who are without South Africa skipper Graeme Smith due to injury. Ponting last played county cricket in 2004 for Somerset.
— Agencies |
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Federer sets up clash with Tsonga
Paris, June 2 Federer’s proud record of consecutive grand slam quarterfinal appearances stretching back to 2004 looked in jeopardy when Simon turned the match on its head with some superb tennis after being initially outclassed. But Federer refused to panic and hit back in style to take the sequence to 36 in front of a raucous late-evening crowd on Philippe Chatrier Court. The 2009 champion will now face another Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the semifinals. Sixth seed Tsonga dispatched Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-3 6-3 to book his place in the quarterfinals. Tsonga has yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year and sealed a straightforward win in one hour 45 minutes. Tsonga, still on course to become the first Frenchman to win a grand slam title since Yannick Noah at Roland Garros in 1983, has matched last year’s performance in Paris where he was knocked out in the quarters by Novak Djokovic after wasting four match points. On a windswept Court Philippe Chatrier, after dark clouds had eaten away the last bit of morning sun, Tsonga whizzed through the first set. World number 57 Troicki upped the tempo in the second set but cracked in the seventh game when Tsonga caught him off guard with a flicked lob which the Serbian returned into the net. Tsonga broke decisively in the sixth game of the third set with one of his 17 forehand winners and wrapped it up on his third match point before doing his trademark victory swirl on court. Claycourt warrior Tommy Robredo came back from the brink yet again to beat fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and reach the quarterfinals of the French Open. The 31-year-old Robredo looked down and out when he trailed by two sets and 4-1 on Suzanne Lenglen court but produced a stunning fightback to outlast the 11th seed 6-7(5) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 after a three-hour-49-minute baseline battle. Serena in quarters
Ask her to describe the way she plays and Serena Williams has a one-word response — fierce. She is unlikely to hear a word of disagreement from Roberta Vinci after the Italian was beaten 6-1 6-3 in the fourth round, a result that keeps Williams on course to win a first Roland Garros title since 2002. The match hammered home the inescapable truth that there is no substitute for raw power in the modern women’s game as Williams, whose array of shots could blow holes in concrete, ably demonstrated by out-muscling the canny Vinci. The Italian found out that as you head into the second week of a grand slam, you need at least one weapon in your armoury that can put your opponent on the back foot. As it happens, Williams has a whole arsenal at her disposal and wrapped up victory for the loss of only four games, to take the total she has conceded in the entire tournament to 10. Asked for a word to describe Vinci, a doubles specialist who relies more on her wiles to stay afloat, Williams replied: “Tricky”. Her own epithet was more emphatic. It was certainly a fearsome display that she put in to complete her 28th straight victory and underline her title potential. She coped better with the blustery conditions on Philippe Chatrier Court and broke three times to take the first set. Vinci, who has won three grand-slam doubles titles with last year’s French Open singles finalist Sara Errani, tried to move her opponent around the court to compensate for her lack of firepower but it was ultimately a futile effort. Although she put up a better fight in the second set, she came up short at crucial moments and lost the last 10 points in a row to succumb in one hour 10 minutes. A sterner test for Williams is likely to come in the next round as her quarterfinal opponent is 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 6-4 4-6 6-3. Kuznetsova is not seeded at Roland Garros for the first time since 2003 but beat the American when they last played at Roland Garros. — Agencies |
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Bayern Munich seal historic treble
Berlin, June 2 The all-conquering Bavarians, who had previously landed the Bundesliga and Champions League titles, led 3-0 before Stuttgart struck twice in a 10-minute spell and almost grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser. Bayern, runners-up in all three competitions last season, were cruising when a harsh penalty converted by Thomas Mueller and two Mario Gomez goals against his old club put them 3-0 up inside 61 minutes. Stuttgart, hammered 6-1 by the Bavarians in the Bundesliga, then gave the European champions a real scare as Martin Harnik pulled two goals back and Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer stopped Serdar Tasci’s header on the line with almost the last touch of the game. Bayern hung on to complete a memorable season and give departing coach Jupp Heynckes the best possible send-off as he ended his third stint in charge to make way for former Barcelona supremo Pep Guardiola. Heynckes has left the Spaniard with a tough act to follow as he has managed to rotate the team and keep Bayern’s wealth of international players happy even when they have been dispatched to the bench. They became the seventh team to win their own league, cup and European Cup in the same
season, following Inter Milan (2010), Barcelona (2009), Manchester United (1999), PSV Eindhoven (1988), Ajax Amsterdam (1972) and Celtic (1967).
— Reuters |
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Railways, Air India make National Hockey quartersfinals
Pune, June 2 While in Pool B Air India trounced Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 10-1, Railways defeated Namdhari XI 5-2 in Pool F and Haryana thrashed the Hockey Maharashtra 6-1 in Pool D. For Air India, Vikram Pillay, Joga Singh and Affan Yousuf scored two goals each, while Vikas Choudhary scored the only goal for Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy. For Railways, who were helped by an own goal in the 34th minute, Sanjay Bir got a brace while Amit Gowda and B Horo scored one goal each. Yuvraj Valmiki and Didar Singh scored for Namdhari XI. In pool F Hockey Bhopal beat Jammu & Kashmir 6-2. The goal scorers for Hockey Bhopal were Osaf UR Rehman (2, 12, 14 min), Azam Baig (25 min), Mayank James (34 min) and Irfan Ali (42 min) while Sikander Pal Singh (18 min) and Rajinder Singh (40 min) were on target for Jammu & Kashmir. In Pool G, Andhra Pradesh defeated Kerala 5-2. — PTI |
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