BANGALORE, Mar 24: Indian pace spearhead Javagal Srinath is likely to make a comeback to limited overs cricket with captain Saurav Ganguly today hinting that the speedster would......more

Ponting rates Sachin
as greatest batsman

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Australian middle order batsman Ricky Ponting rates Sachin Tendulkar as......more

Anand escapes with a draw
in the Amber Tournament

MONTE CARLO, (Marvch) 25: World champion Viswanathan Anand escape with a lucky draw in .....more

Miandad sees toss as
important in third test

HAMILTON, (New Zealand), Mar 25: Javed Miandad is coy about Pakistan’s lineup for Tuesday’s .....more

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Carrying forward the momentum of the memorable win in the test series .........more

Jayawardene century helps
Sri Lanka down England

COLOMBO, Mar 25: Mahela Jayawardene hit a classy century to steer Sri Lanka to a 66 run win over ........more

Govt denies having
refused permission
to cricket team

NEW DELHI, Mar 25: Government today denied reports that it had refused permission for India’s .......more

Ist Wazir Masih Memorial Football
Vijay Club trounces BSF
Srinagar to reach final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: Locals Vijay Club showed BSF, Srinagar way out of the Ist Wazir Masih Memorial Football Tournament beating them by two goals......more

India to take on Aussies in one-day today
Home side has psychological advantage,
Srinath may play

BANGALORE, Mar 24: Indian pace spearhead Javagal Srinath is likely to make a comeback to limited overs cricket with captain Saurav Ganguly today hinting that the speedster would play in the opening one-day match against Australia here tomorrow.

Ganguly told reporters here that Srinath, who has not played a one-day game after the 1999 World Cup in England, was fit and likely to play the day-night encounter tomorrow.

The skipper said India had a ‘decent’ bowling attack and Harbhajan Singh had given a new edge to it.

He said India enjoyed a psychological edge after their stunning victory in the test series and expressed confidence of winning it too. But he also sounded a note of caution saying limited-overs cricket was a different ball-game and India had not played a one-day game in six months.

" The test series is over....It’s past... Australians are a pretty good one-day side...We have not played one-day game in the last six months.

" We are confident but it’s a new game. We have to start from scratch. One-day is a different ball game", he said.

Dismissing suggestions that pressure of captaincy was taking a toll on his batting, Ganguly said he was simply undergoing a bad patch and it was only a matter of time before he struck form again.

"Different people have different pressure. As new comer has pressure to retain his place in the team.... Myself, Sachin (Tendulkar) and Rahul (Dravid) have pressure to keep up our reputation... People have certain expectations from us," he said.

Ganguly said the absence of Jason Gillespie, who returns after the test series, will make things easier for Indian batsmen. "We now have only (Glenn) McGrath (to deal with)," he said.

Coach John Wright said the inclusion of some new players in the one-day side would obviously affect the batting order that was followed in the tests but he did not believe it would be effected at the top meaning the stylish V V S Laxman could bat at number three slot in the one-dayers too.

Wright was all praise for Laxman who became the highest scorer for India in the test series with an aggregate of 503 runs. Wright felt the Hyderabad batsman played ace Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne better than anyone else in the world. (PTI)

Ponting rates Sachin as greatest batsman

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Australian middle order batsman Ricky Ponting rates Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest batsman among the present day cricketers in the world.

"I consider him as the greatest batsman" Ponting said answering questions from prize winners at a function organised by a multinational soft drink company here last night. Sachin Tendulkar had played well all over the world and "I have high regards for him", he added.

Wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist, who was also present, said that he would have become a film star had he not clicked in cricket.

He felt that adelaide was his best ground and had fond memories of Lords (where they won the World Cup) and Mumbai (where he scored a century).

To another question, he said that Australia was a good side and they believed in themselves. He expressed confidence of doing well in the one-day series despite losing the three-test series.

Both Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrists were guests at the function and gave away prizes for winners of a contest. (UNI)

Anand escapes with a draw in the Amber Tournament

MONTE CARLO, (Marvch) 25: World champion Viswanathan Anand escape with a lucky draw in the 7th round of 10th Amber Blind Fold and Rapid Chess Tournament being played here.

Two great players, Anand and Valdimir Kramnik, are leading the event with 9.5 points after 7th round. They are closely followed by Veselin Topalov with 9 points.

In the rapid encounter, Anand faced queen’s Indian defense from white side against Zoltan Almasi of Hungary. He always preferred to play the same opening with black side. The Hungarian obtained a superior position in the early part of the middle game by deploying his forces in center. Almasi delayed castling and improved on queen side by sacrificing two minor pieces for rival’s rook and two pawns. Early exchange of queens put Anand on tight spot.

Almasi pulled the game into ending with deadly passed pawn on ‘B’ file which forced Anand to give up his knight for a mighty pawn, both the players reached to endgame.

Almasi could have won but the super defender Anand managed to hold his difficult position.

In the blind fold game Anand played safe and accepted the truce offer of Hungarian Grand Master’s after 16 moves with black pieces.

Brain games champion Kramnik of Russia too was lucky to draw his rapid game against Boris Gelfend of Israel. The Russian had to face serious trouble after loosing a pawn on 26th move in Queen’s gambit.

A critical moment came at move number 20, when Kramnik decided to promote his king pawn which was lost six moves later. This mistake graciously admitted by Kramnik during the post-mortem. Russian displayed a fine technique of endgame by cleverly switching over the game into rook pawn ending which was difficult for gelfend to win. Peace treaty was signed after 62 moves.

In the blind fold game Kramnik played enterprisingly to score a overall victory over Gelfend with 1.5—0.5 margin to share the lead, that witnessed popular line of king Indian defense where Russian had the advantage of white pieces. The opening followed the usual pattern till 10 move, when the Russian deviated for uncommon line.

The players landed then a position with a extra pawn for white. Gelfend could have made the game longer but for less time on clock. He was, however, unable to put up a proper resistance and resigned after 46 moves.

Gm topalov of Bulgaria drew both the games to remain on third spot against GM Ivanchuk of Ukrane. In the rapid game the Bulgarian playing black adopted Nimzo Indian defense and lost a pawn in middle game. He had to fight in order to get counter play and succeeded in his task squeezing half point.

In the blind fold game both the players were involved in a tense battle of Roy-Lopaz. The Bulgarian sacrificed a pawn in middle game to activate his pieces on king side but Ivanchuk played accurately and drew the game after 42 moves.

Defending champion Alexi Shirov of Spain scored a comeback victory over former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia 1.5—0.5 but only after Karpov missed a bright chance of immediate win in the blind fold game.

Standings after 7th round

1-2 Anand, Kramnik 9.5

3 Topalov 9

4 Leko 8

5 Shirov 7

6-7 Ljubojevic, Piket 6.5

8-9 Gelfand, Karpov 6

10-11 Almasi, Ivanchuk 5.5

12 Van Wely 5 —(UNI)

Miandad sees toss as important in third test

HAMILTON, (New Zealand), Mar 25: Javed Miandad is coy about Pakistan’s lineup for Tuesday’s third and final test against New Zealand in Hamilton.

But with a 2-0 series victory within his sights, he says much could depend on the toss.

"We want to win the third test and go home with a 2-0 win," the Pakistan coach told reporters in Wellington during his team’s early Lacklustre performance against New Zealand’s domestic champions on Saturday.

"If we play positively, I think we have the ability to take this test," he added.

Miandad had little to say about his side’s early performance against Wellington. "Just wait for the test," he said. He uttered the same words after the 3-2 loss in the one-day series and after the innings and 54 loss to New Zealand a in Lincoln.

Pakistan then proceeded to Auckland and the first test and whipped New Zealand by 299 runs, putting in a fine all-round performance when there were reports of discontent in the team.

The second test in Christchurch was a non-test, unless you count the individual batting milestones — two double centuries and two centuries including a maiden hundred for Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq.

In Christchurch, the pitch nullified any effort from the bowlers of both sides.

The Hamilton pitch is likely to suit the pace bowlers with a bit of green early on.

We’re not worried about what the pitch will bring. All over the world a wicket does not stay the same for the whole five days, Miandad said.

It may advantage one team for two days and advantage the other for the next two days, he noted, adding: the toss may be more crucial than it was for the other two tests.

Batting is not a problem for Pakistan, with all test players having had some success in Christchurch or in the Wellington match, which ended in a draw.

But leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed is likely to miss out again in Hamilton and, while it hasn’t been confirmed, Mohammad Akram, who played in the Wellington match, may replace Fazl-E-Akbar in the seam attack.

Miandad, who never drops his guard when discussing a test, said the makeup of the Pakistan 11 would not be finalised until the morning of the match, when the pitch had been examined.

New Zealand’s test record has been poor as it struggles with injuries to front-line bowlers.

Its wretched luck continued in Christchurch when Chris Drum’s first test was cut short after he sustained a shoulder injury while fielding.

He is still unavailable and his place has been taken by James Franklin, who performed with credit in front of chief selector Sir Richard hadlee during Pakistan’s first innings in Wellington.

Leg-spinner Brooke Walker, who had regained his place, popped his right shoulder while bowling in Auckland for his club side at the weekend and has been forced out of the side.

His place will be taken by Grant Bradburn, who was recalled at Christchurch for the first time since 1992 and whose home wicket is Hamilton.

Franklin played his debut test in Auckland and missed out in Christchurch, with Hadlee saying he looked tired and jaded.

The break has done him good because he bowled with renewed vigour at the basin reserve, Hadlee said. (REUTERS)

India win by 60 runs

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Carrying forward the momentum of the memorable win in the test series, India tonight registered a convincing 60-run victory against Australia in the first one-dayer here to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Indians played inspired cricket and outplayed their opponents in all departments of the game, first piling up a huge 315 - their best against Australia - and then bowling out the Aussies to 255 in 43.3 overs.

Almost all the batsmen game good, with Rahul Dravid leading the pack with a handsome 80 after captain Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting track.

Virendra Sehwag, who made a fine contribution with the bat scoring 58, became the most successful bowler claiming three wickets for 58 runs.

The Australians made a strong reply to the big total and were very well in the race till Matthew Hayden was on the crease. The burly opener continued from where he left in the test series and was hardly unnerved from the early losses of Mark Waugh (5) and Ricky Ponting (9) as he led the Aussie fightback in the company of Michael Bevan.

Hayden, who had a life at 55 when he was dropped by Harbhajan Singh off his own bowling, ran out of luck when he became the first victim of Sehwag. Looking all set for his first one-day century, he fell leg before wicket on 99. His 90-ball knock included seven fours and a six.

Bevan, who was flown in for the one-dayers had earlier missed his half-century by a run when he was caught by substitute Robin Singh off Ganguly after adding 109 runs for the third wicket with Hayden.

The rest of the batsmen could not put up a fight and were dismissed cheaply as Australia saw their 10-match winning streak come to a halt.

Captain Steve Waugh and his deputy Adam Gilchirst did offer some hope but once waugh was out to a doubtful leg before decision to Sehwag for 18 - Australia losing their sixth wicket at 212 - India looked well on course of a victory.

Javagal Srinath who finished with figures of 3-49, became the second highest wicket-taker for India in the one-dayers after Anil Kumble when he bowled Shane Warne for 13.

The Indians were not pressurised by the regular fall of wickets and scored at over six runs an over despite the early fall of Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman.

Tendulkar, who made 35 off just 26 balls, started the fireworks taking 19 runs of Glenn McGrath’s fourth over, which included a six and three fours, and the rest of the batsmen, notably Virendra Sehwag, Dravid and Vijay Dahiya, continued the good work with some flamboyant knocks.

Tendulkar, who looked in full flow, was unlucky to be run out after a mix-up with Laxman but the Indian innings did not falter. Laxman displayed the same form that made him the highest scorer for India in the test series and went on to play a gem of an innings before holing out a catch to Damien Martyn off Ian Harvey for 45.

SCOREBOARD

India:

S Ganguly c M Waugh b Fleming 6

S Tendulkar run out 35

V V S Laxman c Martyn b Harvey 45

R Dravid c Harvey b Martyn 80

H Badani c M Waugh b Warne 11

V Sehwag b Fleming 58

V Dahiya run out 51

A Agarkar c and b McGrath 13

Harbhajan Singh c Ponting b Harvey 0

Zaheer Khan not out 1

J Srinath c Martyn b McGrath 2

Extras (nb-6, w-7) 13

Total (all out in 50 overs) 315

Fall of wickets: 1/16, 2/52, 3/102, 4/122, 5/222, 6/283, 7/306, 8/311, 9/312.

Bowling: McGrath 9.5-0-60-2, Fleming 10-0-62-2, Harvey 10-0-68-2, Warne 10-0-58-1, M Waugh 6-0-42-0, D Martyn 4-0-25-1.

Australia:

M Hayden lbw b Sehwag 99

M Waugh b Srinath 5

R Ponting c Dravid b Zaheer 9

M Bevan c sub (R Singh) b Ganguly 49

S Waugh lbw b Sehwag 18

D Martyn c Dahiya b Sehwag 1

A Gilchrist b Zaheer 27

I Harvey c Ganguly b Agarkar 17

S Warne b Srinath 13

G McGrath lbw b Srinath 0

D Fleming not out 0

Extras (lb-3, nb-6, w-8) 17

Total (all out in 43.3 overs) 255

Fall of wickets: 1/16, 2/44, 3/154, 4/174, 5/179, 6/207, 7/230, 8/252, 9/254.

Bowling: Srinath 7.3-0-49-3, Zaheer Khan 8-0-34-2, Agarkar 8-0-54-1, Sehwag 9-0-59-3, Ganguly 3-0-15-1, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-41-0. (PTI)