Chandigarh, March 14
The stupidest thing one could ever do is predict a winner, for that matter even a favourite, in a T20 tournament. Such is the fickleness of the format that every team worth its salt has as good a chance as any other in the fray.

Here’s a small piece of information that will hammer the point home. In the four T20 World Cups, coming in just nine years after the format arrived on the international stage in 2005, each event has seen a new champion — India, Pakistan, England and West Indies. In four events, there have been six different finalists.

The 50-over World Cup, in contrast, has seen just two winners in the last four events — Australia lifted the Cup three times and India once. And unlike in the World T20s, every time the eventual champion had gone into the tournament as the red-hot favourite.

And it’s not just the form and record that this format cocks a snook at; it shows little respect to other widely acknowledged cricketing truism — conditions. All four winners triumphed in conditions alien to them. While India won the WorldT20 on the generally quick and bouncy South African tracks, Pakistan won in the seaming English conditions. England then lifted the Cup — incidentally their first ICC silverware — on the rather slower West Indian tracks, and finally West Indies won on the sluggish Sri Lankan wickets.

So with form, record and conditions counting for little in this format, will the fifth edition of the tournament, starting in Bangladesh on March 16, play out in the same fashion? Maybe not, for the conditions in Bangladesh are too pronounced to not make an impact, and not suit certain teams more than the others.

“Bangladesh traditionally has very low and slow wickets. And given that it’s the end of the season there and a lot of cricket has already been played there in recent times, the wickets will be even more tired,” said Daljit Singh, the BCCI’s chief curator. “So I think spinners will enjoy bowling there. The bowlers who could work on the ball, bowl cutters, slower-ones too should like it.”

If the conditions remain as pronounced as Singh predicts, it would give a headstart to the Big Three from the subcontinent and defending champions West Indies, all of whom have reasonably good spin resources. But it’s not that spinners are going to have everything going their way; the massive dew that Bangladesh experiences at this time of the year will pose a big challenge to the tweakers.

In the end, despite factoring in the help spinners will get, you are as likely as ever to eat your words if you try and pick a favourite.

Dhaka, March 14
Playing plenty of domestic Twenty20 matches in similar conditions will hold the Indian bowlers in good stead for the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday.

The Indian squad is filled with strokemakers suited to the slam-bang format but Dhoni’s major worry will be the bowling frailty which has recently been laid bare in other formats.

The Indian bowling attack has been panned by critics for its failure to win matches on foreign soil and the team also failed to make the final of the recent Asia Cup in Bangladesh, which was played in the 50-over format.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni, who leads the team in all three formats, was not concerned.

“We have got bowlers who have played a lot of T20, not internationally you may say but quite a few games in India especially in the IPL,” Dhoni told reporters.

“The condition being similar will really help them. The standard of IPL is very high and they have played against the best players in the world.

“They have to execute their plans, I think that will really help them. Overall, it will be a good challenge for them.”

Dhoni refused to pick a favourite for the tournament as he felt the shortness of the format gives every team an opportunity to win a match.

The India skipper himself missed the Asia Cup with an injury but said he felt rejuvenated after the break.

“I always look at the positive side. For me the positive side was that I got some rest,” Dhoni, who led India to victory in the inaugural edition of the World T20 in 2007, said. “I was at home, no work, nothing... just watching television.

“Overall it was a break for 10-12 days and I am back playing international cricket.” India open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan next Friday at Mirpur’s Shere Bangla National Stadium. — Reuters

New Delhi, March 14
The BCCI today made it clear that India coach Duncan Fletcher has its “full support” and there was no immediate plan to remove him despite calls for his ouster from batting icon Sunil Gavaskar, among others.

Fletcher was summoned by BCCI chief N Srinivasan for a meeting on Thursday to discuss the team’s sagging performances of late but no warning was given to him.

“Let me set the record straight. Duncan Fletcher has the wholehearted backing and support of the BCCI. There has been no discussion on his removal. We told him that we have a lot of faith in his coaching abilities and he should not be worried about anything else,” said BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel.

“There is no truth in reports that Fletcher was given a warning by the president,” said Patel.

Asked about Gavaskar’s comments that Fletcher should be removed immediately, Patel said, “Mr Gavaskar is entitled to his opinion just like everyone else. It is not necessary that the BCCI is in agreement with what Mr Gavaskar thinks. It’s his opinion and the BCCI has nothing to do with it.”

Fletcher’s trip to Chennai a day before the team’s departure triggered speculations that the BCCI boss had told him that board was not happy with his performance. — PTI

Mumbai, March 14
Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar wants Rahul Dravid to take up the highly challenging job of India coach but the former captain is not ready as yet to take the mantle from under-fire incumbent Duncan Fletcher because of “time constraints”.

“I am happy that he (Gavaskar) said I am capable of doing the job. But the job requires a lot of time, almost 11 months a year. I have just retired and at the moment because of time constraints, I have to decline,” said Dravid.

Dravid, however, did not totally rule out the possibility of taking up the job in future. “I am going to perform a different role (mentor) for Rajasthan Royals this year in the IPL. Who knows what lies in store in the future,” said the 41-year-old.

Dravid expected the board to continue with the current support staff comprising Zimbabwean Fletcher, bowling and fielding coaches Joe Dawes and Trevor Penney, respectively, at least till the end of the next World Cup in March 2015.

“With the World Cup less than a year away I don’t think there would be any changes in the support staff of the team. Ideally, they should be given a four-year period to change things. There is no point of changing the leadership ahead of the World Cup,” said Dravid. — PTI

Kolkata, March 14
Railways put up an all-round performance to down Bengal by five wickets in a low-scoring match and set up a Vijay Hazare Trophy final with Karnataka at the Eden Gardens here today.

Bengal’s inept batting, coupled with the defensive strategy to shave the grass off the wicket on the eve of the match, brought the home team’s downfall as they were bundled out for a paltry 185 in 47.4 overs.

In reply, Railways openers feasted on the Bengal attack to put on a 109-run partnership, with Amit Paunikar scoring 83 (86 balls), before Ashok Dinda made the first breakthrough in the 22nd over. Railways lost four wickets for 31 runs, including Veer Pratap Singh’s two-wicket burst in one over, but it was too little, too late as opener Shivakant Shukla held his nerve with an unbeaten 56 off 88 balls to help the side chase down the target with 11.4 overs to spare.

Railways had last won the title in 2005-06, while their Sunday’s summit clash opponents Karnataka are yet to win the one-day crown.

Brief scores: Bengal 185 in 47.4 overs (Tiwary 61, Goswami 38; Chanderpal Saini 3/25, Karn Sharma 2/41, Ashish Yadav 2/25) lost to Railways 188/5 in 38.2 overs (Amit Paunikar 83) by five wickets. — PTI

Karachi, March 14
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi today sought to bat away controversy over comments he made about women's cricket, saying he had been quoted out of context. The big-hitting 34-year-old came under fire this week after TV interview footage circulated of him commenting on women's cooking skills in response to a question about women's cricket.

In the footage, taken from an interview in October last year, Afridi is asked whether he thinks Pakistani women should play cricket. “Our women have great taste in their hands and they cook very tasty food,” he replied.

Afridi insisted his remarks had been taken out of context by people who wanted to bring him down after his recent heroics in the Asia Cup. “It was a five-month old interview and my half answer was put on the net, which I feel is an attempt to malign my popularity.”

Afridi, who hails originally from the deeply conservative tribal areas along the Afghan border, said he had always backed the women's game. “I have been a big supporter of women's cricket and if you ask our women players they will let you know how I tried to get sponsorship for them,” he said. — PTI

Basel, March 14
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal set up a quarterfinal clash with World No. 3 and top seed Chinese Yihan Wang, while Commonwealth Games bronze winner Parupalli Kashyap, too, entered the last eight in the $125,000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold tournament.

Saina registered an easy 21-7 21-13 win over Sashina Vignes Waran of France in the pre-quarterfinals that lasted 34 minutes.

Kashyap, on the other hand, had to toil hard before prevailing over Malaysia’s Beryno Jiann Tze Wong 21-23 21-9 21-14 in a 57-minute match. He will next take on Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou in the quarterfinals.

Saina, who had beaten Sashina in the same tournament in 2011 and 2013, didn’t have any problem whatsoever and snatched the opening game, moving to 6-1 and then 13-2, before closing it with three straight points from 18-7.

In the second game, the sixth seeded Indian was chased by the World No. 42 French from 3-8 to 11-12, but Saina reeled off six points at 15-13 to seal her place in the quarterfinals. Kashyap, meanwhile, had to dig deep into his reserves in the opening game but despite being 20-19, the Indian could not press home the slight advantage.

In the second game, the 27-year-old showed his class as he didn’t allow the Malaysian any chance to come near and led right from the start to make a roaring comeback in the contest. In the decider, Wong made early strides and led 10-5, but Kashyap clawed back at 11-11 and then zoomed ahead from 14-13 to 20-13 with a six-point burst. — PTI

Khanty Mansiysk (Russia) March 14, 2014
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand today played out an easy draw with black against former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the second round of the Candidates Chess tournament here.

Not missing anything after his fantastic opening round victory against top seed Levonn Aronian of Armenia, Anand gave yet another emphatic display of positional chess as he drew with Topalov without much ado.

The Indian ace moved to 1.5 points out of a possible two, a tally now matched by the Russian duo of Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler.

While the opening day saw only Anand winning and rest of the games ending in draws, the second round was quite the contrast as only Anand drew. Vladimir Kramnik cut through the defences of compatriot Sergey Karjakin in great style while Peter Svidler made his ‘wild card’ look worthy with a crushing victory over Dmitry Andreikin.

Making sure he won’t be far behind after the first round defeat, Levon Aronian struck back with vengeance as he made mincemeat of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan. With Anand, Kramnik and Svidler in front, Aronian holds the fourth spot on one point along with Topalov and these two have Mamedyarov, Karjakin and Andreikin right behind them with a half point each.

On what turned out to be an easy day as black, Anand opted for a set-up akin to the Slav defence and had apparently done a lot of home-work in the variation. Topalov sank in to a long thought early in the opening while he went about capturing a pawn in the centre and Anand was simply on top in preparation as he played much faster.

After winning the pawn, Topalov could not think of anything better than converting to a endgame with Rooks and Bishops still on board but Anand had worked out that this ploy will also lead to a draw only.

Further liquidations led to a drawn rook and pawns endgame and peace was finally signed with only the two Kings left on the board. The game lasted 54 moves. — PTI

Munich, March 14
Uli Hoeness said on Friday he would accept a 3-1/2-year prison term for evading 27 million euros ($37.6 million) in taxes and resigned as president and chairman of Bayern Munich, the club he made into one of the world’s most successful football dynasties.

Hoeness, 62, a household name in his country and friend of Chancellor Angela Merkel, had admitted evading taxes on income earned in secret Swiss bank accounts but hoped for leniency in one of the most scrutinised cases of its kind ever in Germany.

“After discussions with my family I have decided to accept the ruling of the Munich court on my tax affairs. This befits my understanding of decency, dignity and personal responsibility,” he wrote in a statement published on the Bayern website.

“Tax evasion was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Indian Wells (USA),March 14
Roger Federer charged into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open with a straight sets win over South African Kevin Anderson.

The Swiss master succeeded where others had failed by blunting the serve of the towering Anderson to win 7-5 6-1.

LUCKNOW, March 14
Chandigarh Olympic Association, Services Sports Control Board and Sports Authority of India registered victories in their respective matches on the opening day of the fourth Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship 2014 (Division A) at Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium.

Chandigarh Olympic Association defeated Andhra Pradesh 4-2 in Pool A. The Chandigarh team dominated with a 2-0 lead till half-time. Tarandeep Singh scored the first goal in the ninth minute, followed by Navdeep Singh’s two goals in the 20th and 39th minute. Lakhwinder Singh scored fourth goal (51st min).

For Andhra Pradesh, Krishan Kishore V opened the account in the 55th minute followed by Rajesh N S in the 57th minute.

Earlier, Services Sports Control Board beat Association of Indian Universities 1-0 in Pool A. For Services, Lovedeep Singh converted the penalty corner just a minute before the match-time ran out.

In another exciting clash, Comptroller & Auditor General of India overcame Sports Authority Of India 5-1 in their opening match of Pool B. Results: (Pool A): Chandigarh (Navdeep Singh 20th and 39th min, Tarandeep Singh 4th min, Lakhwinder Singh 51st min) bt Andhra Pradesh (Krishna Kishore V. 55th min, Rajesh N.S 57th min) 4-2; Services Sports Control Board (Lovedeep Singh 69th min) bt AIU 1-0; (Pool B): CAG (Gurpratap Singh 10th min, Dhyan Singh 13th min, Chandan Singh 39th and 48th min, Imran Khan 51st min) bt SAI (Arjun Yadav 45th min) 5-1.

Chandigarh, March 14
SSP Chowrasia carded a second consecutive three-under-par 68 to move up to third place at a six-under-par 136 at the end of second day’s play at the Solaire Open in Manila, one stroke behind co-leaders Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena.

The Kolkata player carded birdies on the second, third, seventh, 10th, 14th and 16th holes but a double bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the eighth resulted in a repeat of his first-round score.

Chowrasia made some changes to his putting stroke which have showed results this week. “I’m glad I made some changes in my putting although my putting was good. I have really struggled with my putting in last few months. I made a small change in my stance and my hand is positioned slightly in front instead of behind which is what has helped,” he explained.

“There’s no secret to my good scores. No doubt, the course is very challenging and it reminds me of the courses in Europe but the weather there is obviously colder! I like to play on windy courses because I hit the ball really low,” said Chowrasia.

Bangalore, March 14
In a move that appears set to revolutionise India's relevance on the global football platform, an Indian company today announced its association with four-time Ballon D'Or winner Lionel Messi for exclusive rights to manufacture a range of covers for mobiles, laptops and tablets under the player's own brand, Messi.

Celebrity commerce company Collectabillia, in partnership with iAccy, announced the tie-up.

The stylish range of accessories will be available globally starting from the middle of April this year.

Backed by renowned investors Accel Partners of Facebook and Angry Birds fame, Collectabillia currently boasts of a power packed list of celebrity associations that include being the official merchandise partner to Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Vivian Richards and Vishwanath Anand among others. The association with Messi marks a significant achievement for an Indian company, propelling them as one of the licensors of the global development of the new range of different product categories under Messi's brand.— PTI

BRIEFLY

Sachin upbeat about team’s prospects in 2015 World Cup
Mumbai: Retired batting great Sachin Tendulkar is optimistic about the chances of the under-performing Indian team successfully defending its World Cup crown next year, and wants the fans to lend it a whole-hearted support. “I have no hesitation in saying we are a talented side and there are some special players in the team. I know that they have not been able to produce the kind of results or live up to the expectation , but things can change,” he said. “This is the time that I feel the team requires support,” he said.

Shooter Heena Sidhu gets OGQ’s support
New Delhi: Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) today announced its support for India’s first-ever World Cup gold medallist in pistol shooting, Heena Sidhu, till the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. OGQ’s support comes as she aims to win medals for India at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian games later this year. Before OGQ, Heena was supported by the now-defunct Mittal Champions Trust. “I am very delighted to get OGQ support. This is a very important year for shooting with 4 World Cups, CWG, Asian Games and the World Championships coming up and the support from OGQ has come at the right time,” Heena said.

IPL schedule won’t expand for next 8 years at least: CA
Melbourne: Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards has revealed that he feared international cricket being “left behind” by the IPL given its growing popularity but the BCCI allayed his apprehension by promising not to expand the T20 event`s schedule for the next eight years. “There was a very real chance that India would have gone on an IPL voyage and left world cricket behind. That was said more than once,” said Edwards.

Sanam sets up final clash against Enrique
Chennai: Sanam Singh lost just two games against Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan as he outplayed his second seed compatriot to reach the final of the ITF men’s Futures tournament, on Friday. Third seed Sanam cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win in the semifinals of the $10,000 hard court event but top seed Enrique Lopez-Perez prevented an all Indian final by defeating N Sriram Balaji in the other semifinal. — Agencies