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special
coverage
WI nudge Oz out of race for semis
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BCCI says SC interim order is acceptable
Justice Mudgal welcomes ‘balanced decision’
Former players, politicos hail decision
Pakistan using tyres to practise yorkers
Lahiri makes a point
Rosberg quickest at Sepang
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special
coverage Subhash Rajta in Mirpur
‘WHY don’t you fly home and ask these questions from the people talking about it. It’s just half-an-hour flight home from here,’ chuckled Dhoni, when asked for a comment on the events unraveling back home and the reports saying that he would give up India captaincy after the T20 World Cup and the other event unraveling. It was of course not the best of the questions to pose to the captain who had just led India into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Bangladesh. The skipper, however, handled the question with as much calm and comfort as he handled the Bangladesh attack during his 12-ball 22 cameo while guiding the team home. Earlier, India followed the same template to notch up their third consecutive win as in the first two games. Dhoni won the toss, the same eleven took the field, the bowlers, spinners in particular, restricted the opposition to 138, and then the batsmen chased it down without breaking a sweat. While Shikhar Dhawan, who hasn’t had a good run in the tournament so far, again made a quick exit, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma again cracked half-centuries to set up a comprehensive win for India. When Rohit fell after taking India to the threshold of victory, Dhoni promoted himself up the order to spend some time in the middle as he hadn’t got a chance to bat so far. And he made the most of it by cracking two sixes and a boundary in his 22-run cameo. The importance of making the semis in as emphatic fashion as India did — winning three straight games — can’t be overstaed under the current circumstances. Not only it puts them just two wins away from lifting the T20 World Cup and end their recent barren run but also it will inject some positive vibes into the Indian cricket, currently reeling under one crisis after another. “A lot goes around you in Indian cricket. But you got to keep your focus and stay calm. A good dressing room environment, backing and enjoying each other’s success help us stay a happy and focussed unit,” said Dhoni. While the victory and the semis berth will have taken some pressure off the India, Bangladesh will be devastated, going down again without much fight. If they were looking for support from their fans after the bad loss against the West Indies, there was no dearth of it. The team, buoyed by the vociferous support, seemed to be responding to it when the Bangladesh openers smashed 13 runs off the very first over. The illusion lasted just three overs, though. As soon as R Ashwin, into his second and innings’ fourth over, picked two wickets on consecutive balls, the usual downslide began for Bangladesh. Scoreboard India
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WI nudge Oz out of race for semis
Mirpur, March 28 The climax turned out to be better than the build-up. The West Indian skipper failed to score off the first two balls, but then hammered the next two for massive sixes to clinch a memorable four-wicket victory. And the moment the ball left Sammy’s bat for the second six, all hell broke loose. Sammy made a dash to his dug out, followed by Dwayne Bravo, and those in the dugout sprinted out to the middle. To put it simply, it was madness out there, with players were screaming and shouting, and then Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo leading them into their signature Gangnam jig. If one thought the celebrations were way over the top, which of course were, for winning just a league match, then he needs to rewind to the verbal sparring the teams had had in the build-up to the game. James Faulkner had told an Australian website that “he wasn’t particularly fond of the West Indians.” West Indies were cut up with the comment, and the West Indian skipper made it known that how that it pumped them up. “Talk is cheap, cricket is a game of action and it happens on the field. You may talk as much as you want, but it’s played on the ground. This defeat will hurt them, and Faulkner won’t like us even more now,” said Sammy. “It feels nice to know that we snatched the victory from the hands of the person who had been doing all the talking,” said Sammy. The best thing to emerge out of this win is that the real Chris Gayle finally showed up. Unlike in the last two games, where it appeared some imposter had come in his garb and labored around for two scratchy knocks, the big-left hander looked more like his usual self, looking to send the ball out of the stadium rather than just hanging around. He was of course still some distance away from being at his destructive best, but his 35-ball 53 was good enough to at least give West Indies the start they needed to chase down a challenging 179-run target set by the Australia. The star of the day, however, was his skipper, who, along with Dwayne Bravo, anchored the tough chase in the last four overs to guide the team home to a thrilling victory. With West Indies needing 42 off the last three overs, Australia looked favourite but the skipper turned the game on its head with a 13-ball 34. And Sammy was absolutely right in saying that Australia, are virtually out of the race for the semi-finals. Brief Scores: WI: 179/4 (Gayle 53) bt Australia: 178 for 8 (Maxwell 45, Narine 2-19) by 6 wickets.
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BCCI says SC interim order is acceptable
NEW DELHI, March 28 Hailing the Supreme Court's decision not to suspend Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from playing in IPL 7, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla said the order was in the best interest of the game and cricket fans. “We have no objection to the Supreme Court order. The BCCI lawyers have also said that the order is acceptable. Even Mr Srinivasan had said through the lawyers that he is willing to step aside and after that what court decides will be acceptable to him,” Shukla said. “The good thing is that all eight teams will play in this year's IPL. IPL will go on and there will be no hindrance.” Senior counsel Harish Salve had yesterday accused Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni of being “guilty of corrupt practice” by lying before the Mudgal Committee on the role of the Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in Chennai Super Kings. BCCI defends Dhoni
But the BCCI today defended Dhoni in the court and said he has been wrongly vilified by media after yesterday's proceedings. “It was not wise to drag Dhoni is this matter. He has nothing to do with it,” Shukla said. Shivlal Yadav, who will look after all non-IPL affairs of the BCCI, has vowed to give his best. “I am quite happy to hear the news that I will be looking after cricket affairs after the IPL. I will try to do my best,” he said. Asked about his plan of action, Yadav said: “The BCCI secretary (Sanjay Patel) has not spoken to me yet. He might call me in the evening and then I can only decide my plan of actions.” “Once I take charge I will be able to give more clarity about cricket and other activities of BCCI,” he said. He, however, refused to comment anything on the scandal-hit IPL. “I don’t want to talk about it as the Supreme Court has given specific order that the IPL part will be with Sunil Gavaskar.” — PTI |
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Justice Mudgal welcomes ‘balanced decision’
New Delhi, March 28 Mudgal expressed his delight at Gavaskar’s appointment as interim head and said the 64-year-old veteran cricketer and commentator is an “intelligent and experienced” person. “Gavaskar has a lot of experience as a cricketer, commentator and administrator. He is an intelligent man. It’s good that he has been appointed as interim head,” he said. Asked whether Supreme Court went soft on Srinivasan by merely asking him to step aside, Mudgal said there has not yet been any kind of final decision by the apex court. “The final hearing is scheduled for April 16. The respected court has not given its final decision. Let’s wait for the verdict to come,” he said. Justice Mudgal, who had brought the conflict of interest issue in his report even though it was not in the committee’s terms of reference, said that players should not suffer as a result of the ongoing tussle between the BCCI and Cricket Association of Bihar.
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Former players, politicos hail decision
New Delhi, March 28 Aam Aadmi Party, the new political entrant, also welcomed the apex court’s decision on allegations related to the BCCI and IPL and demanded a time-bound fair probe into the alleged financial irregularities committed by the board. “I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision but I found the appointment of Gavaskar confusing. It’s not clear what role Gavaskar will play as an interim president during the IPL, how it’s going to be done? How much authority will he be able to exercise as IPL president given an established IPL management structure in place,” Maninder told The Tribune. “Supreme Court has made an arrangement for now, but they have to continue with their monitoring of the BCCI affairs. There will be clarity on the issue only in days to come,” he added. Wassan said the Supreme Court has worked out a “stop-gap arrangement” and the need of the hour was to change the BCCI’s constitution. “A lot of thought and deliberation must have gone into before arriving at this decision. I am willing to give time to this arrangement. But we must not stop here. The need of the hour is to change the constitution of the board. If you want to make the BCCI transparent, you have to bring in some changes to the constitution,” Wassan told The Tribune. Wassan too found the Supreme Court’s arrangement a “little” confusing and hoped Gavaskar will repay the faith shown in him by the Apex Court. Clean Sports India, a movement for a corruption-free sport in the country, said it’s an “opportunity” for the BCCI to win back the hearts and faith of the fans. BVP Rao, convenor, CSI said it’s a “shame” that politicians such as Arun Jaitely, Anurag Thakur and Rajeev Shukla have maintained a steadfast silence on the corruption in the BCCI. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Prashant Bhushan and Rahul Mehra said the BCCI should be brought under the purview of the RTI and its composition should be such that 75 per cent should be sportspersons and 25 per cent other administrators.
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Pakistan using tyres to practise yorkers
The massive dummy stands in front of the wicket in a half defensive posture, and the bowlers aim for its toes to sharpen their death-bowling skills. Pakistan, on the other hand, are making do with a far more basic tool to help their bowlers with their yorkers. They have simply cut a small tyre into equal halves, giving both parts the shape of an arc, and place it where the batsman would stand. And then, Umar Gul and Co. get on with their practice, hitting the arc more often than not. Apart from using it as a target for practising yorkers, the Pakistan side has found one more use for the humble piece of tyre. “It’s filled with water, and a few balls are kept inside it to keep them wet. The bowlers then use these balls during the practice to prepare themselves to bowl with a wet ball in case there is dew in the game,” informed a source close to the team. Incidentally, Lasith Malinga, the bowler with the most lethal yorker, didn’t even require tryes to practise and perfect his precise yorkers. The Sri Lankan would simply put a pair of shoes on the crease and knock them over.
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Anand set for another shot at glory
The oldest competitor in the fray, Anand has thus far outlasted everyone else. The Indian's tryst with destiny to win the Candidates and earn the right to challenge tormentor Magnus Carlsen is well on track. And Karjakin is one last hurdle that Anand faces with black pieces before he has a white game against Peter Svidler of Russia in the final round. With 7.5 points in his bag from 12 rounds, Anand has a full point lead over top seed Levon Aronian of Armenia who has 6.5 points. Karjakin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan are the other two in contention with six points each while four others — Russians Vladimir Kramnik, Dmitry Andreikin and Svidler and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria — 5.5 points. The one point lead for Anand is effectively 1.5 points lead as he beat Aronian 1.5-0.5 in their personal encounter. The rules specify that in case of a tie for the top spot, the personal encounter between the tied players will be the first consideration to resolve the tie. And since Anand beat Aronian, it is clear that the Armenian will have to score half-a-point more than Anand if he has to win the tournament. In the scenario, one point from the remaining two games will be enough for Anand to secure the tournament victory even if Aronian wins the last two rounds. History favours Anand. The Indian ace has never lost to both Karjakin and Svidler in any Classical game ever and this would give Anand a lot of confidence. Aronian's form right from the start has been a talking point of the tournament. Starting with a loss against Anand, the Armenian has not quite bridged the gap. Some easy draws, some positions out of his liking and the never-give-up attitude of fellow participants has not let Aronian come out of his shackles and he would wish for a miracle in the last two rounds. — PTI
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BSF, EME to vie for Dashmesh title
Ropar, March 28 In the first semifinal between IAF and BSF, the first half did not see any goal. Soon after resumption of play, though, the deadlock was broken by BSF in the 37th minute through a field goal by Hitinder Singh. IAF scored the equiliser in the 52nd minute through a brilliant field goal by Major Singh. After the match ended at 1-1, BSF won the tie-breaker 5-4. In the second match PSPCL took the lead through a penalty corner goal by Damanpreet Singh in the ninth minute. EME scored the equiliser in the 23rd minute through Barjinder Singh. Later, rain forced play to be stopped at 1-1. After the rain, EME won the match through a tie-breaker (4-2).
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Miami, March 28 Nadal, a three-time runner-up on the Miami hardcourts, will play seventh seed Tomas Berdych for a place in Sunday's final after the Czech eased into the last four with 6-4 7-6 (3) win over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov. The other semifinal will see world number two Novak Djokovic take on Japan's Kei Nishikori. Nadal's resume includes 62 career titles, but the Miami trophy has consistently eluded him. Raonic's booming serve, that included a couple at 140-mph plus, kept Nadal on his heels in the opening set but it was the his own serve that let him down when he double faulted on break point at 5-4 down to gift the 12th seeded Canadian the set. The unhappy Spaniard struck back by breaking Raonic twice to surge to a 4-0 lead in the second on the way to leveling the match. He then gained the upper hand in the third set with a decisive break at 4-3 then held serve to complete the victory. Serena tames Maria
Serena Williams and Li Na swept past familiar foes, setting up an exciting showdown for the women’s crown. World No. 1 Williams continued her utter domination of Maria Sharapova with a 6-4 6-3 win over the fourth-seeded Russian, while second-ranked Li won a rematch of her Australian Open final, beating Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 2-6 6-3 to maintain her perfect record against the Slovakian. A six-time Miami champion, Serena extended her winning streak against Sharapova to 15 matches, a stunning run that stretches back to 2004. — Reuters |
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Lahiri makes a point
Chandigarh, March 28 The Europeans led Asia 7-3 after the foursomes matches at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Malaysia today. Joost Luiten and Victor Dubuisson were one up after a birdie on the first hole but lost the third to a birdie and were back to all square. They got the score to one up again after a birdie on the ninth but lost the 12th to birdie and were all square for the second time in the match. Lahiri and Rahman birdied the 13th to go one up and won the par-five 16th with a par, which gave them a two up lead. They lost the 17th hole to par, but a putt holed for half on the last hole gave them victory with a score of one up. “I think that was the putt for the day. Thongchai told me that Pablo had also putted from there and he gave me lots of clarity with the line,” said Lahiri, a three-time Asian Tour champion. “The day belonged to us. We played really solid from tee to green.”
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Sepang, March 28 Rosberg, who won the season opening race in Australia two weeks ago, clocked a best time of one minute, 39.909 seconds in the second session at a steamy, slippy Sepang circuit, where track temperatures reached 50° Celsius, testing the cooling systems on the new V6 turbo engines to the max. Rosberg's teammate Lewis Hamilton had clocked the best time of 1:40.691 in the opening session despite sliding off the track earlier on Friday, but the Briton was only fourth in the second with a 1:40.051 after more grip issues. — Reuters
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Mirpur, March 28
Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), March 28
