V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid &
Harbhajan Singh

Aussies record run ends as
India pull off impossible

KOLKATA, Mar 15: India did the impossible today, humbling the all conquering Australians with a .....more

ICC aims for new test
umpire system by Apr 2002

LONDON, Mar 15: A new system for umpiring and refereeing in test matches could be in operation ......more

Three changes in
Indian side for third test

KOLKATA, Mar 15: The national selectors today made three changes in the Indian side for the third .....more

Paes, Bhupati in
Davis Cup team
against Japan

MUMBAI, Mar 15: Former doubles specialists Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati will lead the Indian .....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) will take on Archaeological Survey of India (SAI) in the final of the Central Government..........more

Udhampur boys win
divisional level
quiz contest

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Ashish and Kapil bagged the first position for district Udhampur in the.....more

Football tourney
postponed for today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Ist Wazir Masih Memorial Football Tournament, which was scheduled to start today at the .....more

Council’s intervention
sought in ‘illegal’ Wrestling
Asso election

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: The Jammu and Kashmir Wrestling Association vice-president, Bansi Lal......more

 
Ashish and Kapil of district Udhampur receiving the trophy from Director, YSS, Asgar Ali at Jammu.

Aussies record run ends as India pull off impossible

KOLKATA, Mar 15: India did the impossible today, humbling the all conquering Australians with a sensational victory, only the second team to win after following on in 1535 test matches in the history of cricket.

Indians came back from the dead — beating the visitors by 171 runs taking all the ten Australian wickets in two sessions on the final day of the second test at the Eden Gardens to level the series 1-1 and end the record run of 16 consecutive test wins by the visitors.

Young offspinner Harbhajan Singh brought down the formidable batting line up with six for 73, on top of his seven for 123 in the first innings, including the first hat-trick in tests by an Indian for a remarkable 13 wickets for 196 runs.

But, it was the monumental knock of 281 by 26-year-old ‘man of the match’ V V S Laxman which not only saved India from the ignominy of an innings defeat but laid the platform from which 20-year-old Harbhajan Singh, ably aided by Sachin Tendulkar (3/31), went on to destroy the mighty Aussie batting.

This was the third time in the long history of the game that a team went on to lose a test after enforcing the follow on and to the Aussies goes the dubious distinction of ending up on the losing side all the three times. They lost on the first two occasions to ‘old enemy’ England, in 1894 at Sydney and 1981 at Leeds (England). Today, it was India’s turn to give them the treatment.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight 589 for four, the hosts declared their second innings at 657 for seven, leaving the visitors requiring 384 runs to win in 75 overs.

V V S Laxman missed his triple century by 19 runs when he was caught at gully by Ricky Ponting off Glenn McGrath after adding just six runs to his overnight score. His 281 contained 44 hits to the fence.

Rahul Dravid, who shared a mammoth 376 run fifth wicket stand with Laxman, was also dismissed before he could reach his second test double-century. He was run out for 180.

Captain Saurav Ganguly declared the innings one hour into the morning session with Zaheer Khan batting on 23 and Harbhajan Singh unbeaten on eight.

The game took a dramatic turn after the tea interval as Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar exploited the turning track to devastating effect to claim five wickets in a span of 31 balls and swing the match in India’s favour.

The departure of skipper Steve Waugh triggered a middle-order collapse as Matthew Hayden (67), Ricky Ponting (0), Adam Gilchrist (0) and Shane Warne (0) returned to the pavilion in quick succession.

Harbhajan, who kept nagging the batsmen with a controlled line and length, provided the vital breakthrough when he got rid of Steve Waugh who was beginning to get a feel of the last day.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight 589 for four, the hosts declared their second innings at 657 for seven, leaving the visitors requiring 384 runs to win in 75 overs, a target they fell short by 171 runs when they were dismissed for 212 in their second innings.

V V S Laxman missed his triple century by 19 runs when he was caught at gully by Ricky Ponting off Glenn McGrath after adding just six runs to his overnight score. His 281 contained 44 hits to the fence.

Rahul Dravid, who shared a mammoth 376 run fifth wicket stand with Laxman, was also dismissed before he could reach his second test double-century. He was run out for 180.

Captain Saurav Ganguly declared the innings one hour into the morning session with Zaheer Khan batting on 23 and Harbhajan Singh unbeaten on eight.

The game took a dramatic turn after the tea interval as Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar exploited the turning track to devastating effect to claim five wickets in a span of 31 balls and swing the match in India’s favour.

The departure of skipper Steve Waugh triggered a middle-order collapse as Matthew Hayden (67), Ricky Ponting (0), Adam Gilchrist (0) and Shane Warne (0) returned to the pavilion in quick succession.

Harbhajan, who kept nagging the batsmen with a controlled line and length, provided the vital breakthrough when he got rid of Steve Waugh who was beginning to get a feel of the last day track.

Waugh, who scored a heroic century to pull his team out of trouble in the first innings, tried to flick Harbhajan but failed to keep the ball down and substitute fielder Hemang Badani held on to a smart catch at backward shortleg much to the delight of the Indians.

The dismissal of Waugh served as tonic for the hosts who suddenly raised their game by several notches to put pressure on their opponents.

Harbhajan struck again in the same over by having Ricky Ponting caught by Shiv Sunder Das at forward shortleg with the batsman yet to score.

Next to go was hard-hitting Adam Gilchrist, out for nought for the second time in the match, which served a big blow to the visitors.

Gilchrist, who had played in all the 16 tests Australia had won before this match, was trapped plumb leg before the wicket by Tendulkar who was pressed into the attack just before the tea break.

Matthew Hayden, who looked quite comfortable at the crease despite wickets falling at regular intervals, finally perished, victim to another low ball from Tendulkar who made amends for failing with the bat by picking up a few important wickets.

In a reversal of roles, Tendulkar claimed his third wicket when he trapped Shane Warne leg before to leave the Aussies tottering at 174 for eight and facing defeat for the first time in two years.

Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz made a valiant effort to play out the remaining overs and managed to take the score to 191 before the 20-year old Harbhajan struck again by breaking their stubborn resistance.

Gillespie tried to flick the ball but could not control his shot and Das brilliantly held on to a low catch at forward short leg to give Harbhajan his fifth wicket of the innings.

The last pair of Kasprowicz and McGrath delayed India’s moment of glory by some time before Harbhajan ensured the inevitable when trapped McGrath leg before wicket in the 69th over to trigger off wild celebrations in the galleries. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

Australia first innings: 445

India first innings: 171

India second innings:

S S Das hit wicket b Gillespie 39

S Ramesh C M Waugh B S Warne 30

V V S Laxman c Ponting b McGrath 281

S Tendulkar c Gilchrist b Gillespie 10

S Ganguly c Gilchrist b McGrath 48

R Dravid run out 180

N Mongia b McGrath 4

Z Khan not out 23

H Singh not out 8

Extras (b-6, lb-12, nb-14, w-2) 34

Total (for seven wickets decl in 178 overs) 657

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-97, 3-115, 4-232, 5-608, 6-624 7-629

Bowling: G McGrath 39-12-103-3, J Gillespie 31-6-115-2, S Warne 34-3-152-1, M Waugh 18-1-58-0, M Kasprowicz 35-6-139-0, R Ponting 12-1-41-0, M Hayden 6-0-24-0, M Slater 2-1-4-0, J Langer 1-0-3-0.

Australia 2nd innings:

M Hayden lbw b Tendulkar 67

M Slater c Ganguly b Harbhajan 43

J Langer c Ramesh b Harbhajan 28

M Waugh lbw b Raju 0

S Waugh c Sub (Badani) b Harbhajan 24

R Ponting c Das b Harbhajan 0

A Gilchrist lbw b Tendulkar 0

J Gillsepie c Das b Harbhajan 6

S Warne lbw b Tendulkar 0

M Kasprowicz not out 13

G McGrath lbw b Harbhajan 12

Extras (nb-8, b-11) 19

Total (all out, 68.3 overs) 212

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-106, 3-116, 4-166, 5-166, 6-167 7-173, 8-174, 9-191.

Bowling: Z Khan 8-4-30-0, V Prasad 3-1-7-0, Harbhajan Singh 30.3-8-73-6, V Raju 15-3-58-1, S Tendulkar 11-3-31-3, S Ganguly 1-0-2-0. (PTI)

ICC aims for new test umpire system by Apr 2002

LONDON, Mar 15: A new system for umpiring and refereeing in test matches could be in operation by April 2002, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said today.

Chief executive David Richards said the ICC was committed to overhauling the current system following a recent escalation in the number of controversies involving match officials.

Richards acknowledged the issue of umpires was one of the most important challenges facing the game.

The recruitment and training of independent umpires and match referees as well as the use of technology to help decision-making are the focus of proposals under review.

"Recent events have brought added attention to this area but the ICC had already agreed a process for reviewing both the use of technology and the wider issue of providing the highest standards of umpiring and refereeing," Richards said in a statement.

"We recognise that achieving these standards is a major priority and we are working hard to agree and implement new procedures in the shortest practical timescale," he added.

A target date of April 2002 has been set for the introduction of a new system.

An ICC committee, chaired by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, will meet in May and the issue of umpires will be high on the agenda, the ICC said.

The committee will include prominent former test cricketers including Allan Border, Zaheer Abbas, Kris Srikkanth, Duleep Mendis and Andy Pycroft.

In February, an ICC executive board meeting in Melbourne agreed to the principle of a major review of the regulation of the game on the field.

Training programmes

At present independent test match umpires are selected from a 20-strong panel nominated by all test-playing member countries except Bangladesh.

The proposal under development envisages an elite panel of eight full-time contracted umpires, who would be appointed to stand in most test matches.

Appointment to this group would be purely on merit, reflecting the seniority and status of individuals based on, among other things, marks awarded by test captains.

Another group of between 25 to 30 emerging umpires would be groomed to support, and in time join, the elite panel.

Umpires would be subjected to a comprehensive graduation programme involving extensive training, physical examinations —including sight and hearing checks — and international exchange programmes.

A similar approach is also planned for the ICC match referees’ panel. A full-time group of up to eight referees will be contracted to the icc and assigned to international series. (REUTERS)

Three changes in Indian side for third test

KOLKATA, Mar 15: The national selectors today made three changes in the Indian side for the third and final cricket test against Australia at Chennai bringing in leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule, left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni and speedster Javagal Srinath in places of Venkatesh Prasad, Venkatapathy Raju and Asish Nehra.

Announcing the team after India’s sensational 171-run victory over Australia at Eden Gardens, BCCI secretary Jayant Lele said, "if Srinath and Mongia were not found fit before the third test, they would be replaced by Orissa medium-pacer Debasish Mohanty and Mumbai stumper Samir Dighe."

The third test match would begin from March 18 at Chennai.

Following is the Indian side for the Chennai test:

India: Sourav Ganguly(captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Shiv Sundar Das, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Nayan Mongia, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Sairaj Bahutule, Nilesh Kulkarni, Hemang Badani and Sarandip Singh. (PTI)

Paes, Bhupati in Davis Cup team against Japan

MUMBAI, Mar 15: Former doubles specialists Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati will lead the Indian challenge in the Davis Cup second leg Asia-Oceania (Group-I) away tie against Japan next month.

The All India Tennis Association selection committee which met here today picked Mumbai youngster Harsh Mankad and Calcutta’s Sayed Fazaluddin as the third and fourth members of the team while youngster Vijay Kannan is the reserve player.

The selectors also picked women’s team for the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania group-I competition, boys and girls teams for the NEC World Youth Cup to be held at Jakarta in May and teams for the world junior meet to be held at Colombo in May.

The Fed Cup team consists of Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Rushmi Chakravorthy and Sai Jailakshmi. Youngster Sonal Phadke is the reserve player.

The teams

Davis Cup: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Harsh Mankad and Sayed Fazaluddin. Reserve: Vijay Kannan.

Fed Cup: Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Rushmi Chakravarthy and Sai Jailakshmi. Reserves: Sonal Phadke. (PTI)

CGEWCC’s Sports Meet
NSSO to take on ASI in Badminton final today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) will take on Archaeological Survey of India (SAI) in the final of the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee (CGEWCC) Sports Meet at Indoor halls, M A Stadium, here tomorrow.

NSSO reached the final beating Combined Defence Accounts (CDA) 2-0 in the first semi-final this morning. In the first singles, Mahesh beat Manan Gupta in straight sets of 15-7, 15-11. In doubles, Mahesh and Rajesh outplayed the pair of Rajinder Sadhu and Manan 15-10, 15-4.

In the second semi-finals, ASI beat Sports Authority of India (SAI) 2-1. In first singles, Rajinder Magotra took lead for SAI beating Capt Parshad 15-5, 15-8. The lead was equalised by the ASI pair of B R Mani and Balbir Jamwal, who beat Rajinder and Varinder Sharma in easy sets of 15-0, 15-4. In the reverse singles, Balbir Jamwal down Varinder Sharma 15-5, 15-5 to won the match 2-1.

Earlier, in a pre-quarter-final match Survey of India beat Accountant General only to surrender before ASI in the quarter-finals.

CDA to take on

RRL in TT final

JAMMU: Combined Defence Accounts (CDA) and Regional Research Laboratory (RRL) today reached the final of the Table Tennis, here today. Now, they will meet each other in the final tomorrow at 11 am.

In the first semi-final, CDA beat AG 2-0. In the first singles, Rakesh Koul beat Arun Thakur 21-10, 21-18. While’s in doubles, Rajinder Sadhu and Rakesh Koul outplayed Arun and Arvind Dogra 21-16, 21-19.

In the second semi-final played this afternoon, RRL beat Survey of India 2-1 to find berth in the final. Although, Shashi Jamwal won the first singles for Survey of India beating Vikram Abrol 21-14, 21-19, the rest of the fights were dominated by the RRL. In doubles, the pair of Sanjeev and R P Dubey lost to Vikram Abrol and Bal ji of RRL 5-21, 16-21. In the reverse singles, Bal ji beat Darshan 21-14, 21-12.