DHAKA, Mar 20: Asian Games champion India today defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 6-5 via tiebreaker.....more

Sachin Tendulkar

Host takes 89 runs lead against Aussies
Sachin’s masterly 126
guides India to 480

CHENNAI, Mar 20: Sachin Tendulkar with a masterly 126 guided India.......more

Ivanisevic maintains
comic ranking

LONDON, Mar 20: Goran Ivanisevic’s timing may be a little off kilter these days.....more

Unforgettable day

CHENNAI, Mar 20: Ace Indian leggie Anil Kumble and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) .....more

HYDERABAD, Mar 20: A city court today posted for April 3 the case of former cricket captain Mohamed Azharuddin challenging the life ban imposed on him by the Cricket Board.........more

Lewis has ‘nagging fear’
over Mike Tyson fight

LONDON, Mar 20: World heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis fears his anticipated showdown with former champion Mike Tyson may never take place.......more

Malcom Speed
appointed ICC
Chief Executive

CHENNAI, Mar 20: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Malcom Speed as its Chief Executive and he will succeed David Richards, who has held the position since its inception in 1993.......more

BSF to take on
J&K Bank Srinagar
in quarter final

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: BSF (Jullundher) will take on Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Srinagar while .....more

 
A 15 member team of the Goverment Medical College Jammu which has left for Chandigarh to participate in the All India Inter Medical College Cricket Tournament being played from March 22 to 25. The Caption of the team is Sandeep Singh. The other players in the team are Satish, Pankaj, Deepaman Singh, Ali Hussain, Rohit Koul, Varinder Bahu, Gurpreet Singh, Gagan, Ashok, Amit Bhagat, Sunny, Farhat, Fareed and Abhishek.

India lifts PM’s Gold Cup

DHAKA, Mar 20: Asian Games champion India today defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 6-5 via tiebreaker in a pulsating final to lift the nine-nation Prime Minister’s Gold Cup Hockey Tournament.

The two teams, clashing with each other after almost two years, were locked 2-2 at half time and 3-3 at the end of regulation time thanks to Dilip Tirkey who sounded the board just two minutes before the hooter to equalise for India.

Daljit Dhillon converted India’s fifth and final stroke in the tie-breaker to make it 3-2 after the Pakistan forward Muhammad Nadeem failed to find the goal.

Captain Baljit Dhillon and Arjun Halappa were the other scorers for India in the tie-breaker while Haider Hussain and Waseem Ahmed struck for Pakistan.

Earlier, Radhakrishnan scored a brace within two minutes of each other to put India ahead in the 25th minute after Muhammad Sarwar had struck the first goal for Pakistan in the 17th minute.

Sarwar equalised for Pakistan five minutes later as the two teams went into the break tied at 2-all. Nadeem’s 60th minute goal brought Pakistan tantalinsingly close to victory before Tirkey struck his decisive goal.

The match between the two Asian powerhouses came alive after brief spell of inactivity in the first half.

It was Pakistan who took the lead in the 17th minute. Following the first penalty corner which led to the second inside right Mohammed Sarwar scored for Pakistan tapping in a rebound following a poor clearance by the Indian defence.

With Baljit Saini and Prabhjot Singh tightly marked it was Pillay who opened up the Pakistan defence with his speed.

Indians equalised in the 23rd minute when a Baljit Saini pass found an unmarked Radhakrishnan near the post. The youngster from Tamil Nadu made no mistake giving no chance to Pakistan custodian Ahmed Alam.

Following the equaliser the Indian attacks gathered momentum with Prabhjot and Radhakrishnan moving up in tandem.

India took the lead two minutes later when Radhakrishnan and Prabhjot Singh played one to one and the former sounded the board with a diving effort.

Pakistan restored parity five minutes befor half time with Sarwar scoring his second goal.

Following an innocous looking move through the left the ball came to Sarwar who deflected it in a flash. (PTI)

Host takes 89 runs lead against Aussies
Sachin’s masterly 126 guides India to 480

CHENNAI, Mar 20: Sachin Tendulkar with a masterly 126 guided India to 480-9, a lead of 89 runs, at stumps on the third day of the third and final cricket test against Australia at the M A Chidambaram stadium here today.

Sairaj Bahutule (4) and Nilesh Kulkarni (0) were at the wicket after Sachin, Dravid, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan fell in the space of 27 runs in 15 overs.

Sachin, who came in at the fall of S S Das’s wicket in the morning, dropped anchor first and mastered an emaciated Aussie attack stroking at will and added 169 for the fifth wicket with vice-captain Rahul Dravid, who fell for 81 with 12 fours and a 6 in 178 minutes.

While it was Sachin’s 25th ton and the 4th in succession at Chepauk here, Dravid missed out on his tenth. However, the Aussies snatched the advantage again when Sachin fell slashing Gillespie for 126 in 346 mnts with 2 sixes and 15 fours.

It was drudgery for Australia in the intense heat. Except for the dismissal of overnight batsmen S S Das and Laxman in the space of 6.1 overs, and later the fall of captain Saurav Ganguly (22), the Aussies rare moments of dominance fizzled out into total submission to Sachin and Dravid’s technique and flair.

As the battle of nerves continued after tea, the Aussies were further done in by ill luck. Sachin and Dravid struck miller for 11 runs in the first over. They posted the 100 run stand in 101 minutes in 23.2 overs. Then Dravid took India past Aussie score of 391 driving miller to the ropes.

Then the Aussies committed "Harakiri" when Michael Slater dropped Sachin on 82 off miller, wrongly positioning his hands to hold the ball against his face.

India posted the 400 in 521 minutes off 123.5 overs. Sachin posted his 25th century in tests lifting Colin Miller over Longon. His 100 came in 287 minutes , 195 balls with ten fours and two sixes. Of this, he hit 55 runs off the wicketless Aussie offie Colin Miller.

The Aussies, however, had another success when Dravid edged an intended drive off gillespie into Gilchrists gloves to see india 5-453.

Dame luck smiled on the Aussies as 15 runs later Sachin fell slashing at Gillespie (6-468) and leggie Warne trapped Samir Dhige (4) leg before 2 runs later to contain India’s lead in the innings. Miller had Zaheer Khan caught and bowled (4).

India was caught on the wrong foot as overnight pair, opener S S Das and V V Laxman walked out to resume at the overnight score of 211-1 and build up the innings.

The Kangaroos were hopping in joy as off the very first ball paceman Glen McGrath trapped Das leg before and ended the Das-Laxman stand off 88 in 22.3 overs.

The formidable Aussie paceman struck in the 7th over to have the prize wicket of Kolkata hero Laxman (65, 125 min 87 bls, 11 x 4). After he added just 26 runs for 3rd wicket with Sachin Tendulkar, Das who missed his 2nd test century made 84 in 261 mnts, 10 fours and a six.

The onus was on Sachin and captain Saurav Ganguly to carry on the task. But the Aussie bowlers, who seemed to be bowling negatively, managed to keep them on a leash. In the first hour of play today India lost 2 wickets, adding 32 runs in 14 overs. At one stage only 16 runs came off 14 overs between the 70th and 84th overs of India’s innings.

With Sachin and Saurav playing cautiously to dig themselves in, India went into lunch at 266-3 off 92 overs, Sachin on 27 off 89 balls and Saurav on 14 off 61 balls.

In the post lunch session, it appeared that Saurav decided to be more aggressive, asking Sachin to drop anchor. But that proved to be short lived. In the fifth over after lunch, McGrath struck another blow for Australia’s joy. Saurav edged one leaving him to wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist. The Indian captain’s 114 minute innings ended at 22 off 76 balls with 3 fours. Saurav and Sachin who raised hopes of a big partnership for the fourth wicket, added just 47 runs in 26.1 overs of their togetherness.

The onus now shifted on to vice captain Rahul Dravid and Sachin whose craft with the willow was slowly unfolding. He was now stroking with silken touch every Aussie bowler.

His six off offie Miller posted the 300 for India in 423 minutes. Sachin went on to post his own 50 off 110 balls with a six and six fours in the same over.

As Sachin and Dravid mixed caution with aggression to move the score along to Aussie’s total of 391, India added 58 runs off 13 hrs in the first hour of play after lunch, losing the wicket of captain Saurav Ganguly.

With Rahul Dravid, Sachin grinding the Aussie attack slowly to submission, posted the 50 stand for the fourth wicket in 50 minutes off 11.1 overs. With Dravid too stroking fluently five fours in his first 31 runs, India posted the 350 mark in 110.1 overs.

A frustrated Aussie captain could only keep switching his luckless spinners Warne and Miller around, neither managing to extract anything from the pitch.

The Aussies claimed the new ball in the 114th over. But neither McGrath nor Gillespie could achieve a breakthrough as delectable shots continued to flow from the bats of Sachin and Rahul Dravid. The latter playing the cover drive to perfection.

India went into tea at 378 for four 13 runs only behind Australians 391, the post tea session being crucial for both. The Kangaroos seemed to be down and out now. (UNI)

SCORECARD:

Australia (First Innings) 391 India (First Innings) S S Das lbw G McGrath 84 S Ramesh c R Ponting b S Warne 61 V V S Laxman c m Waugh b g McGrath 65 Sachin Tendulkar c A Gilchrist b J Gillespie 126 Saurav Ganguly c A Gilchrist b g McGrath 22 Rahul Drvid c A Gilchrist b J Gillespie 81 Sammer Dighe lbw Warne 4 Sairaj Bahutule (Batting) 4 Zaheer Khan c and b C Miller 4 Harbhajan Singh c M Waugh b C Miller 2 Nilesh Kulkarni (batting) 0 Extras (b 19, lb 2, w 1, nb 5) 27 Total (for 9 wickets) 480 in 154 overs. Fall of wickets: 1-123, 2-211,3-237,4-284,5-453,6-468,7-470 8-475,9-477. Bowling:

G McGrath 31-12-69-3 J Gillespie 31-9-82-2 Colin Miller 44-5-151-2 Shane Warne 42-7-140-2 R Ponting 2-1-2-0 Mark Waugh 3-0-8-0 M Hayden 1-0-7-0. (UNI)

Ivanisevic maintains comic ranking

LONDON, Mar 20: Goran Ivanisevic’s timing may be a little off kilter these days as the three-times wimbledon finalist sinks lower in the world rankings but the Croatian’s comic timing is as sharp as ever.

The 29-year-old Ivanisevic finished five of the last 10 years having served more aces than any other player and his dead-pan deliveries have always been as lethal as his swinging, left-handed serve.

Despite dropping to a lowly 115 in the rankings though, Ivanisevic — who has been awarded a wildcard into this week’s 3.4 million dollars Ericsson Open in Miami — is still a top seed in the wisecrack stakes.

Looking back over a 14-year career which has seen him amass 21 titles and almost 19 million in prize money, the volatile Croatian remembers most fondly the rackets he has smashed.

"I won lot of tournaments...I beat everybody...I broke most rackets on the tour by far," he said recently at the Masters Tournament in Indian Wells, California.

"My fines...I pay more fines than some guys’ career prize money on the tour.

"The guy who is making rackets for me is not busy any more but now (Marat) Safin has come along...The next guy after me.

"He’s good," he said of the world number two. "I like the way he is. He has a personality — I think he throws the racket with emotion...That is how you should throw the racket."

While other players employ dieticians to design and monitor high-carbohydrate diets and energy-efficient eating patterns, Ivanisevic claims to have just one rule.

Eat meat.

"No, I can’t survive without meat," he said. "If I die I die like a man eating meat," he added warming to his theme.

"I have to have meat at least five times a week...I can’t change my diet.

"I don’t eat cucumber sandwiches because I am not like that — I’m going to eat a nice steak.

"Hopefully I don’t get mad cow disease...Maybe I’ve got it already. Who knows? I’m still alive." (REUTERS)

Unforgettable day

CHENNAI, Mar 20: Ace Indian leggie Anil Kumble and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president A C Muthiah have one thing in common.

For both February seven, 1999 is an Unforgettable day in their lifetime.

While Kumble achieved what is for many a bowler just a dream — claiming all ten wickets ( 10 for 74) in an innings against Pakistan at the Ferozshah Kotla ground in New Delhi, for Dr Muthiah it was his wedding anniversary.

"I cannot forget the day Kumble achieved the feat in my life, since that day happened to be my wedding day too", Dr Muthiah said at a glittering function got up in a five star hotel to commemorate the launch of the Memorabilia "The Perfect 10" by Kumble, a show piece of Anil Kumble Sports Promotion Private Limited.

"Like great philosophers such as socrates and aristotle who passed on their thoughts till Alexander, Kumble should pass on his skills to another Alexander", Muthiah said and heaped praise on the leg spinner for his outstanding achievement.

"Great players like Anil Kumble should pass on their skills and techniques to the up and coming talents", he added.

Receiving the Memorabilia— a giant portrait of ten photos comprising the ten dismissals and autographed by Kumble— Dr Muthiah said this would adorn the cricket museum being constructed at Mumbai.

Wishing a speedy recovery to Kumble, who is recovering from a shoulder surgery in South Africa, he hoped that Kumble would be back soon into the team.

Speaking on the occasion, Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who were witness in the field to Kumble’s heroics on that day, lauded the leggie for his achievement which is an ultimate in a bowler’s career.

Ganguly said Anil was a role model for all young bowlers. "He is a very cool person and never brags about it."

Sachin said "Kumble was a mentally strong guy and his feat should inspire young aspirants to emulate it."

Winding up the show, which was attended by the members of the Indian team, besides for cricketers like Krish Srikkanth, W V Raman and national selectors Madan Lal and Sanjay Jagadale and T A Shekar, Kumble thanked all his team mates for helping him achieve the feat and his parents for encouraging him.

Recalling the moments on that unforgettable day, Anil said "only after I picked up nine wickets I came to know that I was at the threshold of taking all ten wickets in an innings", Kumble said.

About his shoulder surgery, he said he would be going to South Africa again for treatment and hoped to get back very soon. He thanked the BCCI and Dr Muthiah for supporting him in his hour.

Kumble said the Memorabilia was also on sale for public. (UNI)

Azhar-BCCI case posted to Apr 3

HYDERABAD, Mar 20: A city court today posted for April 3 the case of former cricket captain Mohamed Azharuddin challenging the life ban imposed on him by the Cricket Board.

Second Chief Judge J Shyamsunder Rao adjourned the case to April 3 following requests from Board counsel seeking two weeks time to furnish details on the appointment of K Madhavan as its Commissioner.

Azharuddin had filed a petition on March 7 seeking supply of documents regarding appointment of K Madhavan as BCCI Inquiry Commissioner to the court and the judge had asked the respondent to file a counter in this regard by today. (PTI)