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Taking his game beyond pain
Pacers helpless and hopeful
WORLD c’ships
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Liverpool’s academy a welcome initiative
India’s tour of South Africa on, Lorgat gone
East Bengal’s final hopes dashed after 0-3 defeat
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Taking his game beyond pain
Dhoni’s power extends much beyond Ranchi, of course. It might sound sacrilegious in these days of veneration of Sachin Tendulkar, but Dhoni has probably done enough to be called India’s best ever One-day batsman. Tendulkar’s batting was a thing of beauty; Dhoni fights ugly and wins beautifully. He’s one man who has conquered the fear of losing — that’s what makes him such a dangerous man when the pressure is making each man around him lose his head. Unlike Tendulkar the ODI opener, Dhoni faces a perplexing range of circumstances under which he faces the first ball. He can come in at 29/5 in the 10th over and go on to make 113, to take the team to 227 for six in 50 overs — this he did against Pakistan last year in Chennai. He can come in at 300/3 in the 42nd overs and smack 68 off 35 balls, to take India past 400 — this he did against South Africa at Gwalior in February 2010. In the shock of India’s defeat to Australia in Mohali, the amazing quality of Dhoni’s knock of 139 runs was overlooked. He’d come in at 76/4 in the 13th over, in which India lost both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. Before he faced a ball, he slipped while running and twisted his ankle and had to call in the physio to have a look. He’d made only 40 off the first 67 balls he faced, and he had only the tail for company. Yet he suddenly exploded at the end, getting his final 47 runs off 20 balls, ending with 139 off 122. That was, even by his own standards, an exceptional innings. How does he do it? Dhoni answers such questions with bland words about ‘need of the situation’ and ‘adapting to the circumstances’. He also says that he almost forgets why and how he played a certain knock in the immediate aftermath of it. What of the injury in Mohali, then? That must have been painful? “Well, you know, I’ve been playing with pain for some time in my career,” Dhoni told The Tribune after practice today. “I’ve had pain in my fingers for some time. And you should see my ankles — they’re in such a bad state that they don’t even swell when I twist or hurt them in any way.” Seeing Dhoni, and seeing him smash the ball, it’s possible to believe that this muscular, beefy man is indestructible. But he’s known, and knows, physical pain, and yet manages to play the sport with unparalleled physicality. “He is real good batting at the death and hitting the ball all over the park,” Phil Hughes, the Australian opener, said today. “But the bowlers are still staying positive, they don’t want to dwell too much on that (Dhoni’s knock of 139).” Raina also talked about the amazing strength of the captain that allows him to send even yorkers for sixers down the straight boundaries with a swing of his arms and a flick of his wrists, often with the ‘helicopter shot’. “It’s very difficult to play that shot. You have to pick the length early,” Raina said today. “When someone is bowling yorkers at 140-145 kmph and the ball is aimed at the toes, you have to put the entire load on the back (foot) and turn the bat. He always clears the ropes with it because he has that kind of strength.” That’s the keyword for Dhoni — strength. Raina was talking of the captain’s physical strength, but it’s actually his mental strength that made the smalltown lad with a dubious batting technique the invaluable batsman and captain.
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Pacers helpless and hopeful
Ranchi, October 22 All three of them are lucky to be still in the squad. But the cupboard is bare, actually — MS Dhoni doesn’t have much of a choice. That’s the reason when the selectors picked up the squad for the final four ODIs, they retained the stragglers — is a straggler. No outstanding talent has been recently unearthed, several bowlers have declined, and the ones in the squad are the best we have. In the absence of a plan to conserve the fast bowlers, help them gain skills and confidence, the matter rests on hope and prayer. Suresh Raina was very hopeful today on the issue of our disheartened bowlers. “Ishant has practised well in the last two days. I hope he stays strong in his mind, and if he stays positive, we’ll definitely see a good performance from him,” Raina said. Raina is the key figure in the other conundrum of the Indian team, the No. 4 batting spot. Since Virat Kohli became a regular at No. 3 — since March 2012, to be precise — he’s played his last 34 innings at No. 3 and only one at No. 4. Since then, five men have batted at No. 4 for India - Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu. Kohli was stupendous at No. 4, averaging 62.57. The men who’ve tried to fill his shoes -- including men who were his seniors -- don’t do too well at that position. Rohit has batted at No. 3 in 26 innings and averages 31.08, and Yuvraj is only slightly better at 34.39. Karthik and Rayudu have played too few innings at No. 4 to be adequately assessed - eight innings averaging 23.5 for Karthik and three innings for average 50.5 for Rayudu. Raina, exciting as a teenager, has been around since 2005. He averages 48.5 in 13 innings at No. 4, much better than his average at No. 5 (36.55 in 53 innings) and No. 6 (37.4 in 55). This encouraged Dhoni to give him a longer run at that position. Raina hasn’t caught fire in this series, though. But he knows the captain is going to let him a long rope at No. 4. |
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Vikash, Sumit, Satish in quarters
Almaty, October 22 Vikash Malik (60kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) joined Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) in the quarterfinals, making it one better than the previous best achieved in the 2011 edition in Azerbaijan. “It is a historic performance. I mean, we have won medals but as far as reaching this level is concerned, it is the first time that five Indians have made the quarterfinals,” an elated national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said. “We are getting standing ovations from fans here. It is thrilling and something that makes you feel very proud.” Vikash was the first Indian boxer to step into the ring on Tuesday and was the underdog against fifth seed and former 2008 European Championships silver-medallist Miklos Varga. The Indian trailed by a couple of points in the opening round but made a stupendous recovery in the next two rounds, clinching them unanimously to emerge triumphant. Vikash has another tough bout as he will be facing Brazil's fourth-seeded Robson Conceicao, a former Pan-American Games silver-medallist. “Vikash employed his straight punches and uppercuts to good effect. He did not give any chance or time to the Hungarian boxer to regain his composure. It is a great win,” Sandhu said. Next in was Sumit and it never looked that he was facing an opponent more fancied than him. The 20-year-old Olympian handed out a 3-0 thrashing to eighth seed Siarhei Novikau of Belarus. “I played my natural game of back-peddling and hitting straights. I kept the distance and hit on every opportunity that I got. It helped that I knew I was leading,” Sumit said. “Sumit's mantra was to hit and dodge craftily. He mostly used his left straights and his technique was excellent,” added Sandhu. Sumit is also in for a tough contest in the quarterfinal as he would be fighting it out against London Olympics silver-medallist and top seed Adilbek Niyazymbetov of Kazakhstan. The local favourite had won a silver medal in the previous edition. "I have seen his fights and hopefully I will be well-prepared to tackle him. I am not intimidated by his past record,” said Sumit. The last Indian in the ring was Satish and the imposing pugilist outpunched Belarus' Yan Sudzilouski 3-0. “Satish mostly used his straight punches in what seemed like a street fight. Satish ended up sustaining a cut above his right eye. Hopefully he would be fine to fight the quarterfinal tomorrow,” said Sandhu. Satish will be up against Olympics bronze-medallist Ivan Dychko. — PTI IBF doesn’t have any validly appointed officers: AIBA
New Delhi: Livid with the suspended Indian Boxing Federation's antics, International Boxing Association (AIBA) President Ching Kuo-Wu said the world body will now work with the IOA to "get to a position where it will be possible to hold new elections" for the IBF. In a sternly-worded missive after receiving information about IBF's plan to hold an Annual General Meeting on November 9, Wu has stated that the IBF "does not have any validly appointed officers" at the moment. — PTI |
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Liverpool’s academy a welcome initiative
Chandigarh, October 22 A selection panel will shortlist players, below 18 years, from across the nation to train at the academy, which will offer state-of-the-art training facilities. Besides fielding the selected players in different age group tournaments, the academy will also send them abroad to gain international exposure. Coaches from Liverpool will also visit the academy. “At Liverpool’s junior academy, we aim to develop skilful players. Last season seven players debuted for the senior side. In our Indian venture, we will take care of the player’s education as well,” said Frank McParland, academy director. “It’s for the first time any English club has had this sort of partnership with an Indian club. The DSK Shivajians feel honoured; we aim to produce talented players for the country,” said Shirish Kulkarni, Executive Director of DSK Group. Billy Hogan, Chief Commercial Officer at Liverpool FC, said this academy would open a window of opportunity for upcoming footballers in India. “Liverpool and its academy are looking forward to producing the best players. If all goes well, the players from the academy will play in big leagues in Europe.” |
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Force India look to consolidate position
New Delhi, October 22 Force India are currently placed sixth in the team standing with 62 points though close rivals Sauber are fast catching up, with only 17 points separating them from the Indian team. Though Force India have not done well after the British GP, di Resta and Sutil were confident that they could play a turn-around, as they enjoyed racing at the BIC. Sutil, who replaced Nico Roseberg in Force India this season, said he was game to stay put in the team, if the management retained him. Di Resta said Force India were fine, though there was “organised chaos” as the tyre-change had affected the team adversely. But he promised that they would be putting up a good show at BIC. “We are going to give a good performance, though car balance is the key,” di Resta asserted. With four races left, the Force India drivers were hopeful of either finishing fifth, or at least maintaining their sixth position. They had great races in the Spanish and Monaco GPs, earning 12 points each, with Di Resta finishing fourth at Spain. Sutil was fifth at Monaco and Di Resta 9th, which showed the driving skills of both. And at BIC, they hope to accelerate in the best way they can, to get the best results yet. “We had many good races; we are driving better than at the beginning of the season,” added Sutil. “We need to score points in the next four races to keep up the sixth position. We have to fight, and every moment you think what way you can improve.”
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India’s tour of South Africa on, Lorgat gone
New Delhi, October 22 “Following meetings in London over the past couple of days, CSA and the BCCI have today announced that the South Africa cricket team will play against India in an upcoming home series comprising of two Test matches and three One Day International matches, the specific dates and details of which will be announced in due course,” the BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a joint statement. “In addition, both parties have also agreed to continue with good faith discussions between their respective Presidents about the possibility of agreeing further bilateral arrangements in respect of the scheduled fixtures between the two teams, and taking into account any scheduling imbalances from previous years.” The tour that had been in limbo ever since July after CSA unilaterally released its itinerary, a move which miffed the BCCI. The Indian Board was also not too happy with Lorgat's appointment as CEO. The BCCI's uneasiness with Lorgat stemmed from the somewhat frosty relationship that the BCCI shared with him during his stint as the ICC CEO due to their differences over a number of issues. Matters came to a head recently when CSA's former legal adviser David Becker, allegedly at the behest of Lorgat, accused BCCI President N Srinivasan of being manipulative. The BCCI-CSA statement said the ICC has now decided to investigate the matter, including Lorgat's reported role, even though Becker has maintained that the views expressed were completely his own. “The agreement to tour was concluded by the two boards after various concerns were raised around the recent ICC Board meeting in London about the alleged conduct of CSA's Chief Executive, Mr Haroon Lorgat, and recent comments made about the ICC Board by a former legal advisor to CSA, Mr David Becker,” the joint statement read. “The ICC and CSA have already refuted the comments made by Mr Becker, and the ICC is now considering its legal options in respect of the same. “In addition, the ICC will convene an investigation by an independent third party (to be appointed by the ICC) into the content and distribution of the media comments, subsequent attempts to have them withdrawn, and, in particular, the role of Mr Lorgat in relation to these matters,” the statement said. — PTI ‘Everyone deprived of a meaningFUL series’The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has expressed its disappointment at the joint announcement by CSA and the BCCI confirming the shortening of India’s tour to South Africa. “This is a huge blow not only to the players but also to the cricket loving public of South Africa,” said SACA’s chief executive, Tony Irish. “Everyone is now deprived of a meaningful series, especially in the Test format between the world’s top two cricket nations. I don’t see how this can possibly be in the interests of either cricket in this country or of the global game. Cricket is the loser, plain and simple.” “In addition CSA will suffer massive financial losses which will affect players, cricket programmes and cricket development at all levels in our country”. “It’s a very sad day when international cricket becomes more about what happens off the field than what happens on it” said Irish.
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East Bengal’s final hopes dashed after 0-3 defeat
Kolkata, October 22 The scorers for Kuwait SC were Rogerio Coutinho (42nd minute), Hadi Khamees (44th) and Fahad Awaad (87th). East Bengal played with 10 men for the last 24 minutes as their stopper Arnab Mondal was shown a red card for pulling a rival player down. The two-time defending champions thus made it to yet another continental club championship final with an aggregate scoreline of 7-2. It was a match where the superior skills of the visitors and a greater tactical acumen shown by their coach Marin Ion proved to be decisive. Needing a minimum 2-0 win to make it to the summit clash, East Bengal players looked overawed by the occasion and also didn’t have the firepower to win the match. Having put up a gutsy show for 40 minutes, East Bengal lost it in the final five minutes before the break as their back-four bungled big time conceding two goals in two minutes as the match ended as a contest at the end of first half itself. — PTI
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In his hometown, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is superman, a king — even if the grand palace he’s building for himself was deserted yesterday, protected by a lone security guard. He’s the most famous resident of the city and the state. He’s the reason Ranchi, which never hosted a One-day International before this January, is holding its second ODI of the year.
Ranchi, October 22
