MUMBAI, Mar 21: Dinesh Mongia was today rewarded for his sterling performance in the one......more

Pak confident of
New Zealand tour

ISLAMABAD, Mar 21: Allaying apprehensions that the recent attack on a Church here will have any..........more

Asian Billiards Championship
Pankaj, Joshi, Alok
enter quarter-finals

BANGALORE, Mar 21: The Indian trio of Pankaj Advani, Devendra Joshi and Alok Kumar.........more

India have a chance in
World Cup: Lindsay

MUMBAI, Mar 21: Former South African batsman and ICC match referee Denis Lindsay today said ....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 21: The hosts Jammu and Kashmir registered an easy victory over Uttranchal 23-2 in the opening league encounter..........more

Tawi Trekkers organising
Trekking progs in May

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 21: As part of the United Nations International year of the Mountains and Eco-tourism, the Tawi Trekkers........more

CS XI, DG XI Cricket
tie abandoned

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 21: A friendly cricket match between the Chief Secretary XI and Director General (DG) XI was today abandoned.......more

Dinesh Mongia included in Indian team
but Yuvraj overlooked

MUMBAI, Mar 21: Dinesh Mongia was today rewarded for his sterling performance in the one-dayers against England and Zimbabwe with a berth in the Indian team for the five-match test series on the West Indies tour but his explosive statemate Yuvraj Singh was overlooked.

Mongia, who was to lead the India ‘A’ team in South Africa, was picked in the 16-member squad which marks the return of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and speedster Javagal Srinath, both of whom missed the just concluded one-day series against Zimbabwe due to injuries. So does legspinner Anil Kumble who did not play in the last three one-dayers.

India ‘A’ team will now be led by Jacob Martin and Mongia’s place in the side will be taken by Yuvraj Singh, Cricket Board secretary Niranjan Shah said after a meeting of the selection committee here.

The squad, to be led by Sourav Ganguly, will leave for West Indies on April 1. The team for five match one-day series starting on May 25 would be announced later.

Shah said dashing batsman Virender Sehwag, who is yet to recover completely from a shoulder injury, would be sent to West Indies, "if asked for by the team management, as soon as he is fully fit". Team: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Dinesh Mongia, Shiv Sunder Das, Ajay Ratra, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan, Wasim Jaffer, Deep Dasgupta.

Keeping the pitches in West Indies in mind, the selectors picked four medium-fast bowlers - with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra making a comeback after missing the home series against England and Zimbabwe - and only two spinners, Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

"There was no scope for including a third spinner in the team. The wickets in West Indies help fast bowlers and that is why we have selected four genuine medium-pacers and one all-rounder in Sanjay Bangar," selection committee chairman Chandu Borde said.

"The two spinners we are taking are world-class bowlers who can be effective anywhere but accommodating a third spinner would have been very tough," he said.

Surprisingly, Mumbai leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule was discussed as a possible third spinner but the names of front-runners, off-spinner Sarandeep Singh and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, did not even figure in the discussions.

Continuing with their efforts to find a stable partner for Shiv Sunder Das in the opening slot in tests, the selectors recalled Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer to the national squad after a gap of two years.

Jaffer, who played two tests in the home series against South Africa in 2000, would be the regular opener though the selectors have also included Deep Dasgupta who has done better as an opening batsman than as a wicketkeeper.

"Ratra will be the first wicketkeeper in West Indies. Dasgupta has been included more as a batsman," Borde said.

Ratra, who played in the one-day series against England and Zimbabwe, will make his test debut in West Indies.

Veteran stumper Nayan Mongia’s name also came up during discussions but the selectors preferred Ratra and Dasgupta over him.

Asked about the injuries to Kumble, Tendulkar and Srinath, Borde said, "I have spoken to Kumble. The pain in his shoulder has gone. He is totally fit to play."

"Tendulkar and Srinath never had any injuries. They just wanted some rest," he said.

On the exclusion of Ajit Agarkar, Borde said he was more of a one-day player and thus was not picked for the test squad.

Borde said captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright had been informed about the selection and both had expressed their satisfaction with the team. (PTI)

Pak confident of New Zealand tour

ISLAMABAD, Mar 21: Allaying apprehensions that the recent attack on a Church here will have any adverse impact on New Zealand’s tour to the country next month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asserted that the Kiwis’ tour will proceed on schedule.

The New Zealand tour would go ahead as per schedule and the Kiwis would arrive in Karachi from Sharjah on April 18 to play two tests and three one-dayers, PCB director Munawwar Rana said.

"We do not see any problems and neither has the New Zealand board contacted us to discuss anything after the unfortunate incident in Islamabad," The News, quoting Rana, reported today.

He said all arrangements for hosting the tour were proceeding smoothly and the best security measures would be in place for the touring side.

New Zealand has agreed to tour Pakistan to compensate for their postponed tour last year after the September 11 attacks in Washington and New York and the us military action in Afghanistan.

On the Australian’s tour to Pakistan in August and October, Rana clarified that they always had reservations over playing at Peshawar, which is close to the Afghanistan border.

"It is nothing new. They had reservations from the start. But we are trying to finalise an itinerary for them, which is satisfactory to both of us," he added. (UNI)

Asian Billiards Championship
Pankaj, Joshi, Alok enter quarter-finals

BANGALORE, Mar 21: The Indian trio of Pankaj Advani, Devendra Joshi and Alok Kumar registered emphatic wins and booked their quarter-final berths in the 2nd Asian Billiards Championship here today.

Defending champion Geeth Sethi and national champion Ashok Shandilya too maintained their winning streak.

The 16-year-old Advani, junior national champion, whose form in this tourney has stunned even veterans, scored his fifth successive win in Group B league when he trounced U Kyaw Oo (Myanmar) in four frames 100-15 56-100 101-55 101-42.

Others who recorded successive wins were Alok Kumar and Devendra Joshi in Group B and a league respectively.

While Alok Kumar outplayed U Win Myint (Myanmar) 77-101 104-49 101-83 101-0 Joshi defeated Ronnie Chua Poh Teck (Singapore) winning 100-31 100-2 100-45.

Sethi proved he was among the hot contenders for the title, which he won 16 years ago, as he defeated Boteju (Sri Lanka) 3-0. Sethi won 100-96 100-28 100-85, after recording good breaks of 79 in the second game. This is Sethi’s third successive win.

Shandilya registered his second win when he outclassed Uden Khaimukh (Thailand) 3-0 (101-53 102-96 101-92).

In another Group B match, Glen Yeo Teck Shin of Singapore defeated compatriot Theik Chong Alan Puan 3-0 (101-53 100-43 100-97).

U Aung San Oo (Myanmar) beat Muslim (Indonesia) 3-1 (102-16 70-100 100-29 101-47. (PTI)

India have a chance in World Cup: Lindsay

MUMBAI, Mar 21: Former South African batsman and ICC match referee Denis Lindsay today said India could have a go at the World Cup in South Africa next year by building the innings around Sachin Tendulkar and playing to a game plan.

However, he added that India had not done well in South Africa despite having the best batsman in the world -Tendulkar.

Lindsay was speaking at a panel discussion on "what are India’s chances of winning the 2003 World Cup" alongwith former Indian test stars Sanjay Manjrekar and Yajuvendra Singh here.

"With the emergence of new talent like Dinesh Mongia, Mohd Kaif and Yuvraj Singh and with the experience of Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, their first priority would be to build a total around Tendulkar, who probably is the best batsman in the world," he said.

Former Rajasthan Ranji player Piyush Pandey and cricket writer Ayaz Memon were the other two panelists while former Australian skipper Ian Chappell was the moderator.

"If Indians open the batting with their skipper Sourav Ganguly and other dashing batsman Virender Sehwag and score an average of 75 runs in the first 15 overs and then try and get 250-275 in their 50 overs, then they can put pressure on the opposition despite being a bit weak in the bowling and fielding departments," Lindsay said.

"I think the Indian bowlers should bowl wicket-to-wicket and the combination should be Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar with just one spinner either Anil Kumble or Harbhajan Singh. Tendulkar, Ganguly and Sehwag can be the back up bowlers," he said. (PTI)

30th Senior National Handball Championship
J&K register easy win over Uttranchal in opening tie

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 21: The hosts Jammu and Kashmir registered an easy victory over Uttranchal 23-2 in the opening league encounter in the 30th Senior National Handball Championship which began at Mini-Stadium, Parade, here today.

The team comprising most of the international players, dominated the field giving little chance to the comparatively weak side of Uttranchal to strike on the hosts goal.

At the end of the first half, J&K was leading by 15 points as against two by Uttranchal. In the second half, J&K added eight more points to their tally, but Uttranchal failed to improve their first half score of just two points.

Akshay Khajuria was the highest scorer from J&K with 10 goals, while Ranjit Singh made two.

In another league matches of the day, Steel Plant beat Assam 17-6; Pondicherry bet Manipur 21-18; Uttar Pradesh beat Goa 21-6; Chatisgarh beat Kerela 28-20.

The championship, which was declared open one and half hour late than the scheduled time by the Secretary, State Sports Council, Sheikh Fazal Ahmed, remained a low key affair, for both participants and the organisers, in absence of any of the prominent chief guest.

In fact, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, was scheduled to declare open the championship, but he could not turn up the venue. In the absence of the Chief Minister, the organisers tried for the Minister for Sports, Harbans Singh, who too was not available to take salute from the contigents of the visiting states.

However, the Secretary, State Sports Council, Sheikh Fazal Ahmed, who was present at the venue, became the ultimate choice of the organisers to be the chief guest. The Secretary, alongwith life time president, Ramesh Mahajan and president, S M Bali, of the J&K Handball Association, took the salute and declared the meet open.