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special
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Dwayne Smith steals Gayle’s thunder, takes Windies to big win
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Srinivasan draws flak from former players
Supreme Court calls BCCI’s bluff
Srini under pressure as 3 BCCI VPs ask him to resign
Drag-flicker Gaganpreet comes into his own
Saina, Sindhu could face off in Indian Open
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India spinning their way to top
Mishra, Ashwin, Jadeja not only choking run flow, but taking wickets too Subhash Rajta in Mirpur There's something unexpected happening in this T20 World Cup. India's spin attack is being talked about with awe and respect. Every question posed and answer given about the craft has a direct or an indirect allusion to how the Indian tweakers are spinning a barely believable success story. Agreed, the slow bowlers were expected to succeed on these spin-friendly tracks. But in the talks and discussions revolving around spin playing a crucial role in the tournament , not many had the Indian spinners in mind; it was the images of mystery spinners like Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka), Sunil Narine (West Indies) and the brilliant Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan) that sprang more readily to the mind. But a week into the tournament, history, which India has in abundance in the art of spin, seems to be stealing a march over mystery. So what has caused this turnaround? “You got to play to your strengths and attack as much as possible. If you go in with the mindset of restricting a batsman, it's not going to happen. You've got to go for wickets, and that's how you can stop the flow of runs too,” said Amit Mishra, the two-time Man of the Match in as many games. In fact, much of the credit for this turnaround goes to the leg-spinner. He has proved to be the missing piece in the spin jigsaw; his leg-spin has given the attack more teeth and a more complete look. For Darren Sammy, the most impressive thing about the Indian spin trio has been its ability to bowl a nagging line and length. “They have bowled wicket to wicket, and have been very difficult to score off. They are settling into a nice rhythm from the word go, and it becomes very difficult to hit a spinner if he settles into some rhythm,” said the West Indian skipper. Apart from skills and the executions of plans, a captain has a huge role behind a spinner's success and failure. Dhoni, so far in this tournament, has been on the money in handling his spinners. Backing his bowlers to bowl to their strength without the fear of getting hit, he has encouraged them to attack and go for wickets. No wonder, the trio has picked up nine wickets among themselves, and that too with impressive economy rate. “It is important they bowl according to their strength. Mishra was feeling a bit of nerves against Pakistan. I told him he was known for turning and flighting the ball, and had variations. So, there was no need to keep bowling the straighter ones, or try to bowl back of a length. I told him to use his strength to deceive the batsmen and I am really happy how he bowled after that,” said Dhoni. The skipper has also been quite deft at rotating them, and has used them at every stage of the game, from opening with Ashwin to finishing off with Jadeja. Against West Indies, for instance, everyone expected him to open with R Ashwin against Chris Gayle. But he didn't, and the move paid rich dividends. “Well, the reason I didn't use Ashwin against Gayle was because everyone thought I would,” he chuckled. Apart from smart captaincy, the sharp ground fielding, too, has made the spinners more effective. With the side packed with a lot of good fielders, the batsmen have struggled to rotate the strike, and even find boundaries. While the going has been good so far, the spinners may face a sterner test when India bowl second under the lights. Can they hold their own and execute their plans as effectively with the pressure of defending a target on their shoulders? Only time will tell. dhaka diary Novel strategy
Have you been wondering why Chris Gayle doesn’t run but hobble between the wickets? We have an answer for you. The big man isn’t to be blamed for it. Here’s why. West Indies coach Otis Gibson feels that if you could his sixes, then why run singles. “It’s all about playing to your strengths. We are blessed to have players who can hit the ball into the stands. I’m sure most people would want to hit the ball for a six rather than attempt a quick single and pull a hamstring," said the coach. Gayle, in particular, seems to be following the philosophy to the
tee. — Subhash Rajta |
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Dwayne Smith steals Gayle’s thunder, takes Windies to big win
Mirpur, March 25 On Wednesday, there must have been many Bangladesh supporters wanting to see the typical Gayle hits even as they cheered for their team as hard as they could. But to the disappointment of the diehard Gayle fans and the delight of the hardcore Bangladesh supporters, the big left-hander appeared completely out of sorts, pushing and nudging all the time. He started as tentatively as he often does — played a lot of dot balls, hobbled along for an occasional single, and swung his bat a few times, though without any success, in between. But the struggle, one would have thought, was the proverbial lull before the storm, and he would break free anytime and unleash a torrent of sixes and boundaries. Well, that never happened, except for a few late desperate hits. Gayle lumbered on till the 19th over, and was eventually put out of his misery by Zaiur Rahman, with 48 runs against his name in as many deliveries. And had it not been for a couple of hits he managed to connect towards the end of his innings, this knock would have looked even more unlike Gayle. That West Indies managed to put up a 171-run total, what eventually turned out to be a winning total, was thanks largely to a quick fire 72 by his partner Dwayne Smith. If that uncharacteristically laborious Gayle knock was disappointing, the Bangladesh fans had much bigger disappointment is store as their team crashed to an embarrassing 73-run loss. As Bangladesh chase started coming off the hinges with batsmen heading back to the dugout one after the other, the packed stadium went into silence, watching their team put up yet another inept display in horror. On the eve of their Independence Day, the Bangladesh fans, who came out in large numbers despite some embarrassing losses of late, would have liked their team to at least put up a fight. But they were let down by their team. “We are trying but nothing is going our way. We could have of course done so many things much better, especially fielding. We feel sorry for our fans and hope to be at least competitive in the remaining games,” said Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur
Rahim. Brief Scores: West Indies: 171 for 7 (Smith 72, Al-Amin 3-21) beat Bangladesh: 98 (Badree 4-15, Santokie 3-17) by 73 runs. |
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Srinivasan draws flak from former players
New Delhi, March 25 After the two-judge panel headed by Justice A K Patnaik came down heavily on the beleaguered Srinivasan, former cricketers asked him to resign from his position to facilitate a fair probe into the fixing scandal, in which his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan has been implicated. “The supreme judicial body of the country has made an observation today that Srinivasan should step down from his position. He should respect the apex court's decision and step aside as BCCI chief. By doing so, he will give the message to the nation that he is serious about the issue and wants the culprits to be brought to justice,” former India spinner Maninder Singh told The Tribune. “It's a serious matter. His son-in-law is embroiled in the IPL fixing scandal. It's a major reason in itself for his resignation. The Supreme Court has made an observation and it's up to him to decide whether he wants to go gracefully or not. I hope better sense prevails,” said Maninder, who represented India in 35 Test matches and 59 One-day Internationals. The Supreme Court bench made its observation after going through the contents of the Justice Mukul Mudgal probe report, which highlighted corruption in the domestic Twenty20 tournament. The report, released in February, had concluded that Meiyappan was guilty of illegal betting on IPL matches. Former India captain and left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi took to twitter to express his delight at the decision. “BCCI touches lowest low-thx SC' nudge 'Srini must step dn' & out of all matters crkting!What happens2all his cronies in bcci & icc?!Hail SC!" Bedi wrote on his Twitter account. Bedi thanked Justice Mukul Mudgal for his efforts to clean up Indian cricket. “Justice Mukul Mudgal arrived on Indn crkt scene most providentially/aptly 2 clean up corrupted culture. Any culture gud or bad stems from top down!!” “Following SC 'nauseating' bouncer, many Srini cronies will now pounce on him w/vigour!Q is y/how did they tolerate his shenanigans all along?" wrote Bedi, who played Test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979 and was part of the famous Indian spin quartet. Another former India captain, Chandu Borde, exercised restraint while expressing his opinion but did urge Srinivasan to step down in the interest of Indian cricket. “The Supreme Court order is there and Srinivasan has been given two days' time to explain his position. He has been given the opportunity by the apex court to decide and we must wait for it. My understanding says that the Supreme Court's order is binding on Indian citizens,” Borde said. “The apex Court has given him a fair chance to decide his exit. It's up to him, let's wait,” he added. |
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Supreme Court calls BCCI’s bluff
Cricket lovers nowadays look forward only to the Supreme Court to tame and shame habitual offenders in the BCCI, who break law with scant regard to public order and decency.
The Supreme Court today asked N. Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president to ensure a fair probe of the Indian Premier League fixing and betting scandal.
Last July, a two-member BCCI-appointed panel comprising a pair of retired judges (T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian) had found "no evidence of any wrongdoing" on the part of Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra in the scandal. However, the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal committee found that Gurunath was indeed guilty. Justice Mudgal's report also stated that the question whether Gurunath was involved in match-fixing and spot-fixing too was not "investigated thoroughly" by the Anti Corruption Units of the ICC and the BCCI or the Crime Branch CID of Chennai police. I have been repeatedly raising these very serious issues both in Parliament and outside. Just imagine, a group of individuals have formed a cartel and do not allow even the Sports Bill to see the light of the day. They do not allow the Sports Bill to be discussed in the cabinet because it seeks to bring the BCCI under its ambit. A whole lot of politicos from major parties have ganged up and threaten the government into throwing out both the Bill as well as the Minister who tried to push it through. Look at the various committees of the BCCI. They are all packed with loyalists, and their job is to wag their tails each time Boss sends them some proposal. Or if there is an attack from somewhere, they have to jointly repulse the attack. The lawyer fraternity in the BCCI then sets the tone — get a favourable opinion from some retired judges and push the problem under the carpet. Many of the internal committees of the BCCI have consistently aided and abetted crooked activities and have practically let all issues brought before them go unpunished, or at the most have let the delinquents off with minor penalties. In the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association, the management has consistently manipulated the election process by appointing pliable ex-judges who are paid a huge amount for a day's work. One senior office-bearer cast 157 proxy votes in December 2012 in favour of three candidates instead of two that he was supposed to vote on. But these proxies were deemed valid when they should have been declared invalid, and the Returning Officer, a retired High Court judge, himself decided on two of the candidates. The BCCI is full of such practices, and it's for this precise reason that it does not want to come under the RTI Act, because then their nefarious activities will come out in public domain. All of us need to thank Aditya Verma of the BCA, the press and the Supreme Court for having brought the fear of God to the BCCI. I would love to see the stooges amongst the BCCI state satraps and its legal eagles running for cover now! These very chaps will now run to find another Chief, who will protect their state turfs and continue their immunity from the loot of Rs 30 crore in grant that they get every year. The public is now eagerly looking forward to Thursday's proceedings in the SC, when many of these shameless BCCI top officials will be exposed further. I hope that the BCCI sees the writing on the wall and cancels the proposed IPL, which has been brazenly announced in UAE. Is it not the same venue which was banned by the BCCI following Madhavan's damning report in 2001? The writer is a former India cricketer |
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Srini under pressure as 3 BCCI VPs ask him to resign
New Delhi, March 25 After going through the contents of a report filed in a sealed cover by the apex court-appointed probe panel into the scandal, a bench headed by Justice A.K. Patnaik said there are “very very serious” allegations made in the report and unless the BCCI President steps down, no fair probe can be conducted. The beleaguered Srinivasan now appeared isolated even within the Board as three of the five vice-presidents — Shivlal Yadav, Ravi Sawant and Chitrak Mitra — asking him to abide by what the SC observation. “SC has given the order, nobody can challenge it. We have to accept it. Since the SC has given an order, there is no question of going back on it or giving an opinion on that. It has to be carried out in total and BCCI will have to follow whatever the Apex Court has given,” Yadav, a vice-president representing South Zone, said. Asked if he was willing to do the duty, he said, “Absolutely, I am ready to accept any responsibility given to me.” Another vice-president Ravi Sawant, who represents the West Zone, asked Srinivasan to resign within the next two days, before the matter comes up before the apex court. “If the Supreme Court has said he should resign, then he should step down within these two days,” Mr. Sawant said. “If there is a vacancy (in the post of BCCI president), the GBM of the BCCI will decide (who will occupy the vacant chair),” he added.
— PTI Come with answers
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Anand maintains lead
Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), March 25 It turned out to be another good day for Anand as main contemporaries Levon Aronian of Armenia and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia failed to bridge the gap and the Indian ace continues to be in front with a full point lead. Aronian could not use his white pieces to much use against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov and had to settle for a draw while Kramnik's poor run continued when he failed to spot a tactical stroke that led to a quick loss against compatriot Peter Svidler. The other game of the day between Russians Dmitry Andreikin and Sergey Karjakin also ended in a draw. With just four rounds to come, Anand is sitting pretty training his sights for the next world championship match on 6.5 points. Aronian remains the nearest contender on 5.5 points followed by Mamedyarov, Karjakin and Svidler who all have five points apiece. Kramnik remained on 4.5 points and he has Andreikin as company while Topalov is at the last spot another half point adrift. Apart from the match for the next world championship, the winner here also takes home 135000 euros. Playing with white, Anand stuck to his guns and repeated the moves of his previous round game against Topalov. The opening went off well for Anand but Mamedyarov was probably not impressed and came up with the equaliser in no time.
The Indian had to exchange the dark square Bishop early and then Mamedyarov followed suit with castling on the queen side, leaving the position absolutely level.
— PTI |
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Drag-flicker Gaganpreet comes into his own
Chandigarh, March 25 The 19-year-old defender, playing his first tournament for Air India (on stipend), was adjudged the best player of the tournament. He scored eight goals, including one in the semifinals as well. “It was my first major senior tournament and the experience was great,” said Gagan, who also played in the Hockey India League for Punjab Warriors, but got very little playing time. But the drag-flicker said that the exposure of playing with veterans such as Australian Mark Knowles helped him immensely with his defending. “Mark helped with my tackling and positioning, which has made me a better player.” The Warriors had three penalty corner specialists, Sandeep Singh and Australians Chris Ciriello and Kieran Govers, a reason why Gagan got such little time on the pitch. “I learned a lot from the three, especially Sandeep. He gave us good tips during the junior India camp as well (Sandeep was asked by Hockey India to train the juniors),” said Gagan, who has been attending junior camps since 2011, but has represented India only once in a friendly against Malaysia. Drag-flicking is one of the favoured specialisations in India and the youngster, who hails from Batala, Gurdaspur, has had to contend with other Punjabi players such as Gurjinder Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh. “I don’t think about selection and competition. The others are more experienced than me and are better than me. I have 3-4 years to work on myself. My aim is to work hard and improve,” said Gagan, who is a product of Cheema Academy, Batala, and Surjit Academy, Jalandhar. “He called me after winning the best player award and thanked me. He was with us for five years and was one of the humblest and sincerest trainees,” said Avtar Singh, a coach at Surjit Academy. “He was low on confidence initially. I remember once he got so frustrated because he wouldn’t get the chance to play that he wanted to quit the academy. But I told him that he had potential and his time would come. And he worked really hard,” Avtar added. The competition was so tough in Punjab that he played for Himachal Pradesh in the junior Nationals in 2012. But with persistence, Gagan represented Punjab, as the captain, in the Nationals in 2013. In that tournament also he scored eight goals, including two in the final that Punjab won. |
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Saina, Sindhu could face off in Indian Open
New Delhi, March 25 The Hyderabadi girls have been drawn in the second half of the draw in the $250,000 prize-money tournament and could cross swords in the semifinals. Eighth seed Saina will kick off her campaign against Austria’s Simone Prutsch and her first real challenge should come at the last eight stages, where she is expected to meet former world champion and third seed Yihan Wang of China. Sindhu, World No. 9, has a more difficult task as she faces second seed and reigning All England champion Shixian Wang in the opening round. However, the world championship bronze medallist would take heart from the fact that she had never lost to Shixian in their previous two meetings. If Sindhu manages to cross that hurdle, she may have to overcome the challenges of Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi or Korean sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun before entertaining any thought of a possible face-off against her compatriot. In the men’s singles draw, K Srikanth, Thailand Grand Prix gold champion and currently the highest ranked Indian in the world, has the best possible opener among the Indians as he takes on Japan’s Takuma Ueda, placed one spot above him in the world ranking at 21.
P Kashyap opens his campaign against sixth seed Zhengming Wang of China. |
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Serena, Maria again on collision course
Miami, March 25 On a day that saw play interrupted by rain, it seemed nothing could stop the cream of women's tennis from rising to the top with Williams, a six-time Miami champion, Australian Open winner Li Na, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, five-time runner-up Maria Sharapova and fifth seed Angelique Kerber all moving into the last eight. But Serena's big sister Venus could not complete the Williams family double falling 6-1 5-7 6-3 to Slovakian 10th seed Dominika Cibulkova just as the centre court clock was about to strike midnight. While Serena Williams and Sharapova clashed in last year's Miami final there will be no championship rematch this Saturday with the American and Russian on the same side of the draw and closing in on a semifinal showdown. After getting her title defence off to a slow start, Williams, who lives an hour's drive from the Crandon Park Tennis Center and considers the event her home tournament, stepped it up a gear against Coco Vandeweghe, sweeping past the young American qualifier 6-3 6-1 in 79 minutes. Li was no less ruthless, the Chinese world number two demolishing Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0 6-2 in 61 minutes while Radwanska grinded out a 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. Kerber also needed three sets to get past Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 1-6 6-3.
Sharapova beat Kirsten Flipkens 3-6 6-4 6-1. Nadal continues rampage
Rafa Nadal continued his ruthless rampage through the tournament, crushing Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-1 6-0 to reach the fourth round. Also through to the next round is Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, who looked sharp in a no-nonsense 7-5 6-4 win over Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Nadal, who has reached the final three times but never lifted the Miami title, blew past Lleyton Hewitt in the second round before overwhelming Istomin in less than an hour in a centre court master class.
— Reuters |
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There's something unexpected happening in this T20 World Cup. India's spin attack is being talked about with awe and respect. Every question posed and answer given about the craft has a direct or an indirect allusion to how the Indian tweakers are spinning a barely believable success story.
