Chandigarh, February 21
The Indian cricket team and the captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have been rightly put through an intense scrutiny after their recent failures in South Africa and New Zealand. However, the coaching staff —specifically, chief coach Duncan Fletcher and bowling coach Joe Dawes — have managed to completely escape the inquest.

Fletcher is helped by the fact that he's, famously, a very reticent, uncommunicative individual. Dawes, an Australian who got the job with India exactly two years, also prefers to maintain a low profile. It, thus, becomes quite impossible to figure out exactly what they're up to as the team goes through a period of strife.

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, always forthright, has spoken about the role of the two team mentors. Like always, and unlike many other cricketer-commentators, he's minced no words. “Our reputation has been tarnished, but Dhoni needs help,” Ganguly said today. “I don't know what Duncan Fletcher is doing. The approach needs to be right, and Fletcher needs to help Dhoni. He has clearly struggled and he needs to be more involved. He needs to plan better and the selectors have to assess and get the right squad.”

Ganguly also said that Dawes could do more to help the bowlers, who have struggled to bowl the opposition out in, most recently, South Africa and New Zealand.

In South Africa, the hosts nearly chased down a target of 450 in their second innings of the first Test, and made 500 in the first innings of the second.

In New Zealand, the Indian bowlers did well in two innings and were torn apart in the other two. The home side made bewildering scores of 503, 105, 192 and 680/8 in the four innings.

Ganguly said that Dawes should be more proactive in match situations. “I saw Allan Donald in South Africa, walking around the boundary line, talking to his bowlers,” Ganguly said. “But I don't see Joe Dawes doing that.” The Indian cricket board (BCCI) is likely to discuss the roles of the coaches when it reviews the disastrous performance of the team in the recent times.

Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, confirmed that they would hold a review with Dhoni and Fletcher.

“Yes, we will be talking to them. This is a normal procedure that we adopt after every tour. In all probability that would happen only after the T20 World Cup,” Patel said. Reports said that the BCCI top brass “wants to review the team's performance away from home and probably discuss with them ways to improve their overseas record”. The matter is set to come up for discussion during the BCCI's working committee meeting in Bhubaneswar on February 28.

Dhoni's record as captain abroad is dismal. Fletcher's record is the same. He took over as coach during India's disastrous tour of England in 2011, when they were whitewashed 4-0 That was followed by a similar thrashing in a four-match series in Australia in 2011-12. Fletcher's overseas record shows 10 defeats in 15 matches. The Zimbabwean's contract ends in March this year.

New Delhi, February 21
With the government making it clear that it will not be able to provide adequate security for IPL 7, the BCCI has started talking to other boards for possible venues for the cash-rich tournament.

“The (central) government has expressed its inability to provide adequate security for IPL 7 in view of the upcoming general elections. So we have started talking to different countries to hold the tournament,” Ranjib Biswal, the IPL chairman, said.

Asked if South Africa is a likely venue, he said, “South Africa is a favoured venue to host the matches but we will have to decide.”

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said that the government would not be able to provide adequate security for the IPL — likely to be held between April 9 and June 3 — as its dates clash with general elections.

Biswal said in any case the IPL will have to get all government clearances before holding the tournament in another country. “There is not going to be any IPL without government clearance. We will get all the clearances before the tournament,” he said.

Port Elizabeth, February 21
JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell and Vernon Philander put South Africa on top as the hosts reduced Australia to 112 for four on the second day of the second test at St George's Park on Friday. All-rounder Parnell, playing his first Test in four years, and paceman Philander grabbed two wickets apiece after South Africa had amassed 423 in their first innings thanks to centuries from Duminy and De Villiers.

It might have been even worse for the tourists as wicketkeeper De Villiers dropped David Warner on 43. The left-handed opener was still there on 65 at the close of play with Nathan Lyon 12 not out.

Earlier, Duminy answered his critics with 123 while De Villiers struck 116 as the pair shared a stand of 149 for the sixth wicket. Duminy, who averaged 11 in his previous seven Test innings, looked assured from the start on Friday and brought up his third hundred off 199 balls before becoming off-spinner Lyon's fifth victim, trapped leg before. "I knew today was going to be a big one for me personally and for the team and luckily it worked out well," Duminy told reporters.

Ranchi, February 21
Bolstered by a strong showing in the league stages, table-toppers Jaypee Punjab Warriors would look to continue their winning streak against defending champions Ranchi Rhinos when the two sides meet in the semifinals of the Hero Hockey India League here on Saturday. Punjab Warriors had a dream campaign in the HHIL this year, having lost just one match so far, that too against Delhi Waveriders in the tournament-opener on January 25.

After the initial hiccup, the Warriors won seven games while two ended in no result to draw curtains to their league engagements on top with 40 points from 10 games. To add to it, the Warriors boast of a 100 per cent record against the Rhinos this year, having beaten the defending champions 4-2 and 3-2 in their two meetings. So understandably, the Warriors would approach tomorrow's crucial match high on confidence against a side which has looked a pale shadow of itself this year. The Warriors forward-line will be led by the inspirational Jamie Dwyer of Australia.

Apart from Dwyer, the Warriors striking force includes a mixed bag of youth and experience like Affan Yousuf, Gurmail Singh, Malak Singh, Dharamvir Singh, S V Sunil, Shivendra Singh and Australian Kieran Govers among others.

The Warriors also have a dangerous penalty corner specialist in Sandeep Singh, while the goal will be manned by none other than world's best goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann of The Netherlands. On the other hand, the Rhinos' campaign in the tournament has been far from impressive this year.

The title holders won just four and lost five matches while one ended in draw to finish the league stages at the fourth position with just 26 points.

But the Rhinos know it very well that it will be a completely new game tomorrow and if they can post a win against the Warriors, the results of the league stages will be a thing of the past. The Rhinos can also take heart from the fact that the entire stadium will be rooting their every move tomorrow. — PTI

Dubai, February 21
Having won all their group stage matches convincingly, defending champions India will have a slight edge when they lock horns with England in the quarterfinals of the Under-19 World Cup on Saturday.

In-form India had notched up a mammoth 245-run win over Papua New Guinea in their last round-robin match to top group A and having posted 300-plus runs on a difficult batting wicket, the Vijay Zol-captained side will fancy its chances at the Dubai International Stadium.

India's victory margin was the seventh-biggest in the history of youth ODIs.

England, though, will not be an easy meat as they also have proven players in their ranks, who have impressed in the tournament.

The Indians kick-started their campaign with a 40-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan. They struggled a bit against Scotland before pulling off a five-wicket win in their second match.

The holders roared back to form with a thrashing of Papua New Guinea on a Sharjah track that was not one of the best for batting.

Leading the side, Zol has been having a decent outing, but the batsman to look out for in their last eight match will be Sanju Samson.

The 19-year-old, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), had smashed his way to a 48-ball 85 against the hapless Papua New Guinea, giving enough indications about what the batsman is capable of when in form. — PTI

Mikaela Shiffrin of the US clears a gate during the first run of the women's alpine skiing slalom event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics

Sochi, February 21
Erik Karlsson's second-period goal lifted Sweden to a 2-1 win over Finland on Friday and a place in the Olympic men's ice hockey final.

The game, a repeat of the 2006 Olympic final, got off to a sluggish start as both sides seemed wary of committing the first mistake and falling behind in what was expected to be a tight affair.

Finland had several chances to open the scoring during a two-man advantage that lasted 95 seconds of the first period but could not beat standout Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

Their best chance on the powerplay came when Teemu Selanne fired a cross-ice pass to the Swedish net that was stopped by Lundqvist, who slid across the crease just in time to get a pad in front of the puck before it crossed the goal line.

The game picked up in the second period and Finland opened the scoring seven minutes in when Olli Jokinen beat Swede Jimmie Ericsson to a loose puck before firing a shot that squeezed through Lundqvist's legs and trickled over the goal line.

Sweden struck back five minutes later when Loui Eriksson followed up a fine pass from Jonathan Ericsson with a low shot that beat a sprawling Kari Lehtonen, who was starting in place of the flu-ridden Tuukka Rask.

Karlsson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal when he blasted a shot from the point that hit Lehtonen before finding its way into the net with less than four minutes to play in the second period.

Jalandhar, February 21
The lone Sports School of Punjab at Jalandhar is undergoing a great upheaval these days. It’s in the midst of a renovation, but it has been one for almost one year, and it is actually becoming an obstacle rather than a better nursery for the budding athletes.

Not only has the construction work halted the training of athletes this session, the seats for the forthcoming seasons have been reduced drastically due to the resultant space constraint.

The ground and the track are filled with construction material scattered everywhere, often posing risk to the practising children. Almost 60% seats in various disciplines to be filled in April this year have been cut to manage the worsening situation.

In the ongoing trials, the basketball and athletics seats have been brought down from 40 to 20. Hockey will suffer more. The Punjab Sports Department is mulling to wipe off an age group – there will be trainees for only one team, either Under-17 or Under-19.

In volleyball, the seats have been reduced from 15 to just 10, which does not even make for a complete squad of 15, let alone the stand-byes.

“We are in acute shortage of accommodation at the sports school. Six children are sharing one small room. It is almost impossible to add more students. So, we had to cut down seats from each wing but we will increase them once the renovation work is over next year,” said Tejinder Dhaliwal, Punjab Sports Director. Questions are being raised over why the trainees were not shifted to Amritsar or at the Government College Hostel, Ludhiana, where 40 to 50 rooms are lying vacant.

Also, why was there no proper planning regarding the training of the athletes for the duration of the renovation, for one full year? The fate of fresh trainees too is in a limbo.

“By cutting so many seats we are going to miss out on huge talent and may never be able to fill the gap. The years spent in school are the most important as this is the time to develop their reflexes, coordination ability and stamina,” said Sukhveer Grewal, former India coach.

Dehradun, February 21
Punjab remained the top earner by grabbing two gold medals in the boys youth category on the opening day of three-day National Youth and Junior Judo Championship being organised by the Judo Association of Uttarakhand.

Shamsher Singh stood first in the 81kg category while Harshdeep Singh emerged victorious in 73kg category.

Haryana’s Pinki Devi Ram bagged the first position followed by Roshani Stephen from Kerela in the youth (63kg weight) category.

In another bout of the same category, Vanshika Sangwan of Delhi and Raniti from Punjab shared the third spot.

In 52kg youth category, Purnima Devi of Manipur trounced Komal (Delhi) to bag the first position. Komal Hargekar (Karnataka) and Kabra Altabh (J&K) shared the third spot. In the boys youth category (81kg), Shamsher Singh of Punjab routed Vinay Punia (Haryana) to grab the top spot. Prabhjot Singh (Delhi) and Tribhun Bangera (Mumbai) settled for the third place. Harshdeep Singh of Punjab grabbed the first spot in the 73kg weight category while Chetan Gauna (Karnataka) stood second.

Poor quality food irks judokas

If substandard accommodations and dirty bathrooms were not enough to lower the morale of nearly 650 judokas participating in the National Youth and Junior Judo Championship, then it was the poor quality of food that did it for them.

Irked over failure of organizers to provide a proper diet to the players, coaches of state teams have now decided to take up the matter. The players were served aloo-puri for breakfast which several found too heavy to be consumed before their match. Shruti, a Delhi player, said “I skipped my meal and instead took some fruits that I had purchased a day before,” she said.

Haryana coach Ranbir Singh said the players were not provided milk in the morning.