Chandigarh, May 1
When Yuvraj Singh smashed an unbeaten 29-ball 52 to take Royal Challengers Bangalore to a comprehensive win over Delhi Daredevils (incidentally his first game after the T20 World Cup final where he struggled like a fish out of water), his friends and fans didn't waste any time proclaiming how wrong and harsh the critics had been on the left-hander. Maybe that was in reaction to the criticism he’d attracted, which too was excessive and unfair, because T20 is largely a game of chance.

His supporters were out reminding everyone that he wasn't finished yet, and he still had a couple of good years left in him.

Maybe they were right in saying that Yuvraj isn't finished yet; maybe the left-hander is still good enough for one last hurrah. One hopes so, for he has been a stupendous match winner for India in his heyday. Where they were wrong, though, was in making that one odd IPL knock the bedrock of their belief. It was plain foolish to try and paper the cracks that a quality international attack had exposed in Yuvraj's armour with a knock against an average attack.

Quality counts

Let's check who the left-hander faced in the T20 World Cup final and against Delhi Daredevils. While Sri Lanka unleashed Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekra, Rangana Herath, Suchitra Senanayaka and Angelo Mathews on the left-hander, against Daredevils he had to contend with the likes of JP Duminy, Wayne Parnell, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Sharma, Jimmy Neesham. Mohammed Shami was the only bowler of international repute in the attack comprising mostly of average bowlers.

While the difference in the quality of the two attacks is apparent, the chasm looked even greater on that particular day for the Delhi bowlers were absolutely ordinary; they offered a plethora of loose deliveries and Yuvraj feasted on it. The point is, an odd IPL performance is no yardstick to judge a player, as was proved by the left-hander's less flamboyant knocks in the following games against slightly better attacks.

Maxwell puzzle

And it's as relevant to Glenn Maxwell, who has set the tournament alight with his incredible knocks, as to low on form and confidence Yuvraj. Yes, the Kings XI's Australian import has been sensational in his brutal assault and amazing strokeplay, hammering 43-ball 95 twice and a 45-ball 89 in his first three knocks. Incidentally, he missed out on in the last two games.

While the Australian deserve all the credit for his fearless and innovative batting, especially his range of strokes, punctuated with stunningly powerful reverse sweeps and switch-hits, one still can't gloss over certain facts that would put his stunning efforts in a better perspective.

To begin with, the Australian was dropped thrice while he was essaying those three incredible knocks. Yes, others too were dropped, and they couldn't capitalise on the reprieve like the Australian. Yet, it can't be denied that Maxwell would have had just one big knock under his belt instead of three if those catches had been taken.

Where are the quicks?

Secondly, who did the Australian face while belting out those knocks? In his 43-bll 95 against Chennai Super Kings, he didn't face any threatening pacer, what with over-the-hill Ashish Nehra, rookie Mohit Sharma and occasional bowler Dwayne Smith doing the job.

The spin of course had quality with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shouldering the responsibility. Ironically, Maxwell picked spinners for the punishment, picking 30 off Ashwin in 15 balls and 26 off 9 balls against Pawan Negi.

Against Rajasthan Royals, when he hammered a 45-ball 89, James Faulkner was the best of the bowlers he faced, the others being Kane Richardson, Dhawal Kulkarni, P Tambe, Rajat Bhatia and Stuart Binny. Here, Maxwell took the toll on Rajat Bhatia (32 off 13 balls) and Dhawal Kulkarni (17 off 8). While he took advantage of Bhatia's lack of pace by reverse sweeping him for several boundaries, Dhawal bowled full tosses, and so did James Faulkner.

Spinners suffer

Hyderabad Sunrisers, against whom he smashed 43-ball 95, had Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar upfront, and he managed just six off Steyn's five balls and two off four balls from Bhuveshwar. Yet again, it were the spinners who bore the brunt, Amit Mishra leaking 36 of 11 balls and Karn Sharma conceding 27 of 11.

In all fairness, Maxwell smashed the stuffing out of the spinners but he didn't face enough quality pace in those three innings.

And when he did in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Morne Morkel sent his stump cart-wheeling.

In the next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Varun Aaron, a quick with decent pace, got him cheaply.

While it's nobody's case to try and prove that Maxwell isn't a good player — he's of course good, and he has proved it at the international stage — the limited point is that the IPL could make players look better than they actually are.

Big bats, small boudaries

Another reason why the modern batsman has become so destructive, in both T20 and international matches, is the modern muscular bats. With the willows these days sending the ball flying with as much force from the edges as from the sweet spot, edges and mis-hits that should have ended in the hands of the fielders go sailing over the boundary ropes. This has become the norm because of the smaller boundaries, pulled in to as close as 60 yards from the batsman.

This is true for bowlers too, as the batsmen are taking crazy risks and trying to slog every ball, making wickets easy to get. With the exception of a few names like Lasith Malinga and Sunil Narine who have done consistently well, it's more of a lottery than the test of their skill against self-destructing batsmen.

No wonder, then, even someone like Rohit Sharma boasts of a hat-trick in the IPL; Yuvraj Singh has two.

Let's enjoy the IPL heroics with the understanding that the degree of difficulty involved is far less compared to the feats attained at the international stage.

New Delhi, May 1
In IPL-6 last year, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore had remained unbeaten in all their home matches, while Sunrisers Hyderabad won every single home game till they came across Chennai Super Kings.

Making the home ground a fortress had been the major talking point last season, and when the IPL-7 schedule was released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), three of the eight franchisees somewhat lost out on their home advantage.

While two-time champions Chennai Super Kings will play two of their home matches at Ranchi, Kings XI Punjab will play two games at Cuttack after Dharamsala was dropped as a venue by the IPL Governing Council.

But Rajasthan Royals have been the worst affected as they will play all their four home matches at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. RR did not lose a single IPL-6 and CL T20 match at their home ground, their fortress Sawai Mansingh Stadium last season.

A total of 10 cities — Ranchi, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Mohali — will host the remaining 40 matches of IPL-7 after the completion of the first phase in the United Arab Emirates. Each team will play nine matches in India.

Should home advantage matter much in the IPL?

One would think not, given that the matches are all held in India, where the pitches are fairly similar to each other. In the first five editions when the tournament was held in India (barring the 2009 IPL in South Africa), the home teams didn't enjoy much of an advantage in terms of results, except for CSK who won all their home games in 2011, but last year saw home sides winning an unusually high number of games.

Home advantage, or away disadvantage, as a concept is better understandable if a team is touring another country, when fan loyalty and drastically different conditions and favourable wickets would help the home team. To apply the same to IPL franchises is quite perplexing, as conditions are not much different one place to another, and fans of the home team are not aggressively hostile to a visiting team.

When Rajasthan Royals' mentor Rahul Dravid was asked for his reaction, he said the team will miss vociferous Jaipur fans. “Obviously, we will miss playing at the Sawai Man Singh stadium. We had great results there. This year is a bit unique. We have a new home at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera and hope we will have some success in Ahmedabad,” said David.

“In India, we will be playing in different grounds in different conditions. We will be playing four-five matches in Ahmedabad. The target is to win matches and score a run more than the opponent. We have done well in the UAE and have won more matches than we lost. We hope to continue the good form,” he added.

In the IPL, you need to field seven India players and four foreigners in the playing XI, so how does it actually matter whether the team is playing at home or away? It is India after all and thus, home.

Royals have won three matches and lost two during the Abu Dhabi leg. “We played well in UAE. We won more matches than we lost. As the tournament progresses, the matches are going to be more competitive and in India we may see some tight finishes,” said Dravid. RR will play their first game in India against Delhi Daredevils here on Saturday.

Exactly which team enjoyed 'home' advantage in the UAE? Did Kings XI Punjab win all their games there because of some strange away-from-home advantage?

Sydney, May 1
Australia have reclaimed the No 1 Test ranking for the first time in five years following their Ashes whitewash of England and a series defeat of South Africa.

Australia also remain the top-rated One day international side in the latest official rankings from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

It is the first time since December 2008 that Australia have been ranked number one in Tests and ODIs at the same time. They last held the top Test ranking in August 2009, when they were displaced after losing the Ashes 2-1 to England.

Darren Lehmann's Australians nudged out South Africa, who had held the top Test spot since August 2012.

Australia gained eight ratings points to move up from 115 to 123 points to be equal with South Africa, who dropped from 127, but Australia moved ahead by a fraction of a point.

India slip to 5th spot in Test

India’s dismal performance in the international season gone by pushed them down the ladder in the ICC Test rankings with the team finishing fifth in the annual updated list issued on Thursday.

India, who were thrashed during trips to South Africa and New Zealand in their most recent Test assignments, have slipped from third to fifth in the table after dropping 10 ratings points.

In the ODIs list, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men held on to the second spot.

Chandigarh, May 1
Anirban Lahiri is high on confidence and overcame a one hour delay caused by lightning to card a five-under-par 67 in the first round of the tri-sanctioned event, The Championship at Laguna National in Singapore. Lahiri, who teed off the tenth hole today, bogeyed his first hole but came back strongly. He made no errors thereafter and birdied the 15th, 17th and 18th holes to make the turn at two-under-par. He then eagled the par-five second hole and birdied the eighth to card a 67.

“I got off to a wayward start. I didn’t hit the ball very good today but it was nice to have my putter come to my rescue for a change. I am happy with how I am striking the ball. I feel more confident with my game this week (after my win in Indonesia last week) as compared to the last few weeks. It’s a good start for me. Hopefully I can keep it up for the rest of the week,” said Lahiri who trails first leader, Panuphol Pittayarat by four strokes. The Thai golfers carded a bogey-free nine-under-par, 63 to take a one-stroke lead over his closest rivals.

Discussing the playing conditions which saw four players card an eight-under-par, 64 and another four shoot 65, Lahiri added, “I feel a lot more comfortable reading the lines. I think the conditions were really favourable today. You can really score if you play well. For me, I guess I was fortunate to have saved a couple of pars which kept my momentum going.”

Jeev Milkha Singh made a brilliant start with five birdies, on the second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth holes to card a five-under-par for nine holes. He then picked up a birdie on the 11th hole but made a double bogey on the par-three 17th hole. A final birdie on the last helped him finish with a 67.

“It was a great round for me. I haven’t been doing well in the last few weeks but my game is coming around. I’m happy that I shot 67. It’s come after a long time. I’m feeling good about my game and I am working on the right things. I just need to trust my game more,” said a relaxed Jeev. “My shoulder injury is getting better. I’m taking medication after the surgery so it’s working out. I think what is important for me now is to trust my game. I have got to trust it under pressure and put up a few more good numbers. The course is in an excellent conditions. The greens are fantastic. I will just follow my own routine and see what it turns out,” he added.

Rahil Gangjee was also at five-under-par for 15 holes when play was called off due to bad light.

Digvijay Singh was at five-under-par playing the 17th hole but a bogey there and a par on the last saw him finish at 68. 

New Delhi, May 1
Indian hockey team’s head coach Terry Walsh wasted no time in pressing the realistic button when asked about his team’s chances at the World Cup, which is less than a month away from now.

A 21-member team has just returned from its preparatory tour to the Netherlands, where the World Cup will take place from May 31 to June 15, and Walsh knows there’s no point in doling out tall hopes and then faltering in attaining them. “There’s a lot of ground for this team to cover at the international scene. We would not be able to cover much of that before the World Cup. It’s a long process and it has taken us six months to reach that level, I mean physical level. We can’t do much until we get to that level,” Walsh said after the team’s practice session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here today.

Walsh said the European tour has resulted in a “big physiological change” for the players. “There will be a big physiological change in the sharpness. There’s a whole lot of strength programming which has been done. There is a lot of scope for improvement and we are going to refine what we have already achieved.”

Walsh said the team played with much more confidence, which proved the tour to be constructive. “We were quite a threat to the European style of hockey, there’s no doubt that we can play them with much more confidence. We have some elements in our game which really threatened their defensive structure,” he added.

Talking about the searing heat in the capital where the camp is underway, Walsh said he would have preferred a city with much lower temperatures than the capital’s 43° C.

The World Cup will be hosted by Hague, where the maximum temperatures would be between 20-25° C. “It’s really hot out here. There are no second thoughts on how hard our players have worked throughout the training. It’s a pretty harsh temperature.”

London, May 1
Atletico Madrid produced an inspired display of counter-attacking football to beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Champions League semifinal second leg on Wednesday and set up an all-Spanish final against city rivals Real.

Goals from Adrian Lopez, a penalty from Diego Costa and the killer third from Arda Turan 18 minutes from time gave Atletico a 3-1 aggregate victory after last week's goalless draw in Madrid to send them into the final of Europe's elite competition for the first time since 1974.

Chelsea took the lead after 36 minutes when former Atletico favourite Fernando Torres scored with a deflected shot, but the goal inspired the La Liga leaders who will now meet their neighbours in the first European final in any UEFA competition to feature two clubs from the same city in Lisbon on May 24.

"The truth is the team was brilliant," Atletico forward Costa said. "We have done everything possible to get to the final. Both Real Madrid and us are deserved finalists."

Atletico knew that if they scored one goal Chelsea needed at least two to win the match in 90 minutes and they did not panic even when they went behind to Torres's opening strike.

Torres, linked with a move back to his boyhood club after three disappointing seasons at Chelsea, did not celebrate the goal against his former club, but the hosts did not have the chance to celebrate for too long either.

Atletico, set up in a cautious defensive 4-4-2 formation by coach Diego Simeone, counter-attacked with great pace and that adventure paid off when they equalised a minute before halftime.

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, who also set up his team to defend deeply to cope with Atletico's swift breaks, watched in amazement as poor defending allowed Atletico to draw level in the 44th minute. He was even more astonished in the second half as Atletico totally dominated his flat-looking side, taking control of the midfield where Koke, Turan and the tireless Costa over-ran Eden Hazard and Cesar Azpilicueta who faded on the right as the game wore on.

Mourinho has now lost his last four Champions League semifinals after three defeats with Real Madrid and his dream of becoming the first man to win the trophy with three different clubs in his home capital of Lisbon faded as the evening got worse.

There was nothing lucky about Atletico's win. They looked hungrier for the ball, were quicker in the tackle and sharper all over the field as Chelsea visibly wilted.

Chelsea's opening goal seemed to inspire the visitors more than it did the home side whose supporters were left in stunned silence as their team capitulated.

It came after Willian turned his marker wide on the right before Azpilicueta, playing in an unfamiliar midfield role, set up the chance for Torres who clipped the ball home via a deflection off Mario Suarez.

Torres started as Chelsea's lone striker but although they finished with three strikers on the field after Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba were brought on, they looked impotent in front of goal. — Reuters

New Delhi, May 1
As cricket continues to maintain a stranglehold on India's sporting landscape, the organisers of a new kabaddi league have taken a hands-on approach at dragging the game into the professional era. IPL’s success has spawned similar franchise-based competitions on a much smaller scale in several sports and kabaddi is the latest to attempt a formal structure.

Roughly 100 players will enter an auction early next month and STAR Sports will broadcast the eight-city Pro-Kabaddi League live from July 26 as the ancient sport is propelled into the 21st century on the back of big-money sponsorship deals.

Rakesh Kumar, who captained India to the 2010 Asian Games gold, reckons the new league is precisely what the game needs to advance towards professionalism.

"We may not become household names overnight but there would be more money and more visibility for sure," Kumar, a ticket inspector with Indian Railways, employers of the largest number of kabaddi players, said. "Kabaddi is only shown on television when we win gold at the Asian Games and sporadically during the nationals but now we have a confirmed, quality broadcaster for the league, public interest is bound to rise."

Charu Sharma, the man behind the league, said kabaddi’s popularity in rural areas made the tournament boasting Rs. 10 million in prize money an inevitable step along the path of progression. “Kabaddi is our unique heritage. Our lack of respect for it is mystifying,” Sharma, a well-known television commentator, said. “It's tailor-made for television. Played by extremely athletic sportspersons in a small indoor arena, under the lights, on a coloured mat.”

What makes Sharma optimistic of the league's long-term viability is the fact that franchise owners, including actor Abhishek Bachchan and industrialists Uday Kotak and Kishore Biyani, are in no hurry to cash in on their investments. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

Manavjit is World No 3
New Delhi: Manavjit Singh Sandhu attained World No 3 ranking in men's Trap event by virtue of his excellent performance in ISSF World Cup at Tucson, USA in April 2014. He clinched an individual gold after defeating two-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Diamond of Austria. He was earlier ranked at 16th.

Indian women paddlers earn direct quarterfinal berth
Tokyo: Indian women topped their group to secure a direct entry into the quarterfinals while the men will fight it out in the round of 16 after finishing third in their group in the second division of the World Team Table Tennis Championships on Thursday. The women got past Bulgaria 3-2 in their toughest test in Group G which they topped with five wins in as many matches. Given a bye in the first round of the knock-out stage, India face the winners of the Egypt-Brazil in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

I train my brain even while travelling in bus: Kohli
Bangalore: RCB skipper Virat Kohli said he prepares for a match by training his brain even while travelling in a bus. “Even when I am going to the ground in the bus, I keep thinking about the shots I am going to play and to which bowler .. Once you train your brain what to do then obviously when you go out there ... You find that perfect zone,” he said. Kohli, who holds the record for the fastest century by an Indian batsman in ODIs, said he visualises of how to play certain bowlers before the match. “I visualise a lot. I sit and think before a game. I visualise the bowlers whom I am going to face the next day or on the game day,” he said.

Poonia, Om Prakash to train in US for CWG
New Delhi: Star Indian throwers Krishna Poonia and Om Prakash will be leaving for the US this Saturday for a training-cum-competition programme in preparation for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow. Krishna will be training at Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California. National record holder in men’s shot put and Asian Indoor Champion Om Prakash will be training at Aphelion Athletics Club, Pennsylvania (USA). — Agencies

Dhoni’s CSK look to continue winning run
Ranchi: Chennai Super Kings will seek to continue their winning momentum when they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who will be hoping for a reversal in fortunes. Since being out-slugged by Kings XI in their high-scoring opening game, CSK brought their A game into play, which saw them winning the next four matches with ease.— Agencies