|
|
| Dravid comes to rescue of bowlers AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid today strongly defended his bowlers saying.........more India will play a different KOLKATA, Nov 14: Indian cricket Captain Sourav Ganguly today asked the fans not to confuse ........more West Indies team manager AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: The West Indies did not blow the issue of crowd trouble out of proportion as ........more Pakistan to wait for KARACHI, Nov 14: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said today it was waiting for a team manager’s ..........more |
|
Inter-College Hockey Tournament MAM College to take on Poonch College in final Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 14: MAM College to clash with Degree College Poonch in the final of the Inter-College Hockey Tournament tomorrow.............more Varun
Memorial Basketball Tournament Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 14: Vikram Club defeated Nagbani in the boys group while Nagbani beat Mubarak Mandi (A) in the girls.....more Leading
professionals KOLKATA, Nov 14: Top professionals including three leading prize winners of current PGA tour Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, local Feroj Ali and Digvijay Singh..........more |
 |
| State
Open Yoga Championship from Nov 15.... Security takes centrestage in troubled series .... |
|
|
|
AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid today strongly defended his bowlers saying it was very difficult to contain the batsmen on the Indian pitches which were very conducive to batting. Replying to a volley of questions on the unimpressive performance of the Indian bowlers in the one-day series against West Indies so far, Dravid, who addressed the media as skipper Sourav Ganguly was still to arrive from Kolkata, said it was all the more difficult for the spinners because of the nature of one-day game. "It is very hard for the spinners to bowl in one-dayers. The bowlers will definitely find it difficult to contain the flow of runs on batsmen friendly pitches," Dravid said ahead of the fourth match here tomorrow. "Different centres have different wickets and it is becoming very difficult for the bowlers to cope with the different tracks," he said. India twice failed to defend 275-plus totals and lost the first two matches at Jamshedpur and Nagpur. In the third match at Rajkot, the West Indian batsmen hit 300 runs but thanks to a blazing opening wicket partnership between Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, India were declared the winners on Duckworth-Lewis system after crowd disturbance forced the abandonment of the match. Dravid said said batting second was a good idea on the Indian wickets. "I think both teams prefer to chase under the circumstances. It will be difficult for the bowlers to defend any total. The team batting second can easily phase out their innings," Dravid said. "We did pretty well while chasing in Rajkot. We also succeeded in containing West Indies to 300 since they looked headed to a total around 320-325 at one stage. Then ganguly and sehwag were simply unstoppable," he said. Praising Sehwag, who cracked an unbeaten century at Rajkot, Dravid said, "he is in a great form. He is not just scoring runs but the way he is getting the runs which is a treat to watch. "It is very exciting to see him in full flow. Both Sehwag and Ganguly are in tremendous form and I hope they continue their good form in the series." Dravid was non-commital about the composition of the final eleven for tomorrow. "I really cannot say. We are waiting for the captain and the selectors to reach here and they will finalise the playing eleven." Dravid said there was a healthy competition between the members of the team and it was the right kind of attitude before the World Cup next year. "The team is trying to get the right combination before the World Cup and it is a healthy competition. With this kind of competition, every player will be kept on his toes which is good for the team," he said. (PTI) |
|
India will play a different game in World Cup: Sourav KOLKATA, Nov 14: Indian cricket Captain Sourav Ganguly today asked the fans not to confuse India’s World Cup challenge with the two unexpected defeats at the hands of the West Indies. India lost the first two ODIS at Jamshedpur and Nagpur before coming back strongly to win the third at Rajkot. During a hurricare visit to his city here in between the packed ODI schedule, Sourav said, "please don’t confuse the two defeats against the West Indies as a reflection of what could happen in the World Cup next year. That is a different game and a different India will play." Asked what was the reason behind the defeats, Sourav, who left for Ahmedabad this morning for the fourth odi tomorrow, summed up, "tiredness. The bowlers are extremely tired and so are all the players due to this very packed schedule. But this is a welcome sign. The warning bell is a blessing in disguise. It will help us to prepare better." He added hastily, "but dont worry, we shall try our best to win the series." His voice had the same authority with which he carrasses the balls on the offside field for the fielders to fetch from the boundary. About his own run scoring spree after a lean test series where he was often gobbled up by Mr Asoka D’Silva’s questionalble decisions, "you can say I was a bit desperate to score some runs. Now it feels better." However, it was certain that even if he had any plans to take rest for the final three ODIS, along with his Deputy Rahul Dravid, to give some relief to his sore back, all that was now a distant dream. The only thoughts on his mind was to win the next three games. "Now I have no such luxury. Rahul and I must play the entire series," he added sounding a bit jaded. Sourav was here to arrange the schedule for Lata Mangeskar’s visit to the city for a programme on November 28, where daneuse Sudha Chandran, singer Kavita Krishnamurty and composer Babul-Supriyo have confirmed participation. (UNI) |
|
West Indies team manager says player safety paramount AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: The West Indies did not blow the issue of crowd trouble out of proportion as such incidents posed real threat to players’ safety, team manager Ricky Skerrit said here today. A visibly agitated Skerrit told reporters on the eve of the fourth one-day international against India here, that it was wrong to suggest that the incidents of crowd trouble were being blown out of proportion by his side. "Do you think that a stone hitting a player’s back and an empty bottle thrown at a player’s legs are small incidents? "This kind of attitude by the spectators could result in a major injury to the players. These incidents should be stopped at all costs," he said. Skerrit also sought to clarify that his team had neither walked off on its own during the third one-dayer at Rajkot nor refused to resume play at any stage. "It was match-referee Mike Procter who had asked us to come out of the field after a plastic cover filled with mud and an empty bottle was thrown on the fielders." "I would also like to mention at no point of time the match-referee asked us to continue the match and we were more than willing to finish the match provided the organisers had guranteed us that there would be no repetition of the incident," Skerrit said. Procter was quoted as saying after the Rajkot match that West Indies had refused to resume play until the entire stadium was cleared. Skerrit said the team was satisfied with security arrangements for tomorrow’s match. "We assume that the security will be tight and there will be no problem. We have come here to play cricket and we will do just that. "It is for the BCCI and State Association to ensure and look after the players’ safety." (PTI) |
|
Pakistan
to wait for manager’s report on ball KARACHI, Nov 14: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said today it was waiting for a team manager’s report on accusations of ball-tampering against fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in Zimbabwe before taking action. "The team management has conveyed the incident to us but we have asked the team manager in Zimbabwe, Brigadier Khawaja Mohammad Nasir, to submit a detailed report before taking the matter further," PCB spokesman Samiul Hasan told AFP. Akhtar was found guilty in a disciplinary hearing at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday evening of ball-tampering in the first test against Zimbabwe. He was severely reprimanded for ball-tampering by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd in his capacity as match referee for the tour of Zimbabwe. "We have reason to believe that the offence was of minor magnitude because history suggests that players involved in ball tampering have been severely punished and Akhtar has been reprimanded only," PCB’s Hasan said. Akhtar took seven wickets in the match which Pakistan won by 119 runs. Pakistan’s current captain Waqar Younis is the only bowler who was suspended for tampering with the ball in international cricket, during a match against Sri Lanka in 2000, while another Pakistani Azhar Mahmood was fined 50 percent of his match fee for the same offence in the same series. Pakistan’s famous bowling pair Wasim Akram and Younis were accused of tampering the ball by english media during Pakistan’s series in England in 1992, but no proof was found to support the claim. (AFP) |
|
Inter-College Hockey
Tournament Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 14: MAM College to clash with Degree College Poonch in the final of the Inter-College Hockey Tournament tomorrow. MAM College made its entry into the final by defeating PG Arts while Degree College Poonch reached final by beating Degree College Kathua. In the first semi-final, Degree College Poonch defeated Degree College Kathua by 4 goals to one in one-sided match. The first goal of the game was fired by Pawan Kumar of Poonch College in the 10th minute of the match and after that none of the team could make another goal till half-time. In the second half, the ball remained in the possession of Degree College Poonch and none of the players of the Degree College Kathua could stop Mohinder Pal Singh from making three goals in 44th, 49th and 51st minutes. Though Poonch College got 11 plenty corners in the 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 27th, 28th, 38th and 57th minutes yet none of the player could convert them into goals. The lone goal from Kathua College side was made by Jasbir Singh in the 53rd minute while the lone chance which Kathua College got in the shape of plenty corner could not yield any fruitful result. In the second semi-final, MAM College defeated PG Arts by one goal to nil. None of the team could make any goal till half time of the match. But in the second half, lone and winning goal from MAM College side was made by Joginder Singh in the 41st minute. MAM College got seven plenty corners but on the other side PG Arts got no plenty corner. |
|
Varun Memorial
Basketball Tournament Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 14: Vikram Club defeated Nagbani in the boys group while Nagbani beat Mubarak Mandi (A) in the girls group in the league matches of the Varun Memorial Basketball Tournament organised by Varun’s Associates at Mini-Stadium, Parade. In the boys group, Vikram Club defeated Nagbani by 60 points to 34 points. The winning team was leading by 21 points till half time and in the second half Vikram Club added 19 points while Nagbani added 14 points. For winning team, Amit, Ramneev and Vikas played well and got 18, 14 and 7 points respectively while for the losing team Anubhuv, Sahil and Aazat Shatru collected 10, 8 and 6 points respectively. The match was officiated by Amit and Sumeet while table officials were Rakesh, Biju, George and Vaneet. In the girls group, Nagbani defeated Mubarak Mandli (A) by 6 points. Till half time, Nagbani made 4 points while Mubarak Mandi (A) took two points. In the second half, Nagbani increased its points from 4 to 12 while Mubarak Mandi (A) made total 6 points thus losing the match by 6 points. For winning team, Swati, Pupoli and Deshu played well while for the losing team only Santosh and Mandeep clinched points. The match was officiated by Biju, George and Vanjeet while the table officials were Rakesh, Mousmi, Varinder and Arun Sharma. |
|
Leading professionals to be seen in Royal Challenge Golf KOLKATA, Nov 14: Top professionals including three leading prize winners of current PGA tour Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, local Feroj Ali and Digvijay Singh from Meerut will be seen in action during the second leg of the Royal Challenge Grand Prix to be held here at the Tollygunge Club course from November 19 to 22. Briefing reporters here today Mr H N Nanani, Chief Operating Officer of Jumbo Group of Industries, the sponsor of this event, informed that the meet which offerd a total prize money of Rs 8 lakh would feature a total of ninety players. The other notable players in this meet included Ashoke Kumar of Delhi, Indrajit Bhalotia, SSP Chowrasia, Uttam Singh Mundy and Rahil Gangji, all from Kolkata, Shamim Khan from Delhi and Shiv Prakash from Kanpur. Mukesh and Digvijay have won six of the ten events of the season and are expected to face tough local challenge at the second in the series. "Our commitment to the growth of the golf in the country is evident as Rs 1.8 crore of prize money on offer in the Royal Challenge Golf program constitutes almost 50 per cent of the total prize money available in the current golf season (August 2002 and April 2003)", Mr Nanani said. This prize money combined with a multi-crore media campaign will undoubtedly give the sport an unprecedented boost, added Mr Nanani. The event is poised for exciting golfing action in a field mixed with seasoned pros and young guns. Leading the way is defending champion of the Kolkata leg of the royal challenge Grand Prix, Rafiq Ali, who hopes to retain the title. Others in the fray include the twice-indian open champion Ali Sher, 1999, Indian Open jouint-runner up SSP Chaurasia, Rookie of year (2000-01) Rahil Gangjee and the promising Ashok Kumar (currently ranked 7th in the PGAI tour order of merit) and Zai Kipgen. Local favourites Uttam Singh Mundy and Indrajit Bhalotia add to the excitement of the field. This event and the RCGP Delhi are two of the five nominated tournaments selected by the IPGA on which qualification for the 2003 Asian PGA tour is based. Players with the best total performances in these events will earn spots in select APGA events next year. Additionally, the two top prize money winners across the four RCGP’s will qualify for the Indian team who will clash with the two top Asian players in the Royal Challenge international match on March 25, 2003, in Delhi with the winners taking home US 8000 and the runners up US 4000. Last year Mukesh Kumar and Vijay Kumar defeated Korean Anthony Kang and Thaworn Wiratchnat of Thailand at the Delhi Golf Club to win the match. (UNI) |
|
State Open Yoga Championship from Nov 15 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 14: Jammu and Kashmir Yoga Association is conducting State Open Yoga Championship at Sports Complex, MA Stadium from tomorrow. Players interested to take part in the Championship are required to give their names alongwith entry fee of Rs 10 to Surinder Pathak at Nagbani School, Sanjay Kumar, State Yoga Coach at Sports Complex, MA Stadium, Anil Gupta, State Yoga Coach at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar and Surinder Kumar, State Yoga Coach at Sports Complex, Jammu. |
|
Security takes centrestage in troubled series AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: With bowling remaining their biggest concern, India are likely to include left-arm spinner Murali Kartik for tomorrow’s high-security day-night game against West Indies which will be under the scanner for altogether different reasons. Following crowd violence in all the first three matches, security concerns have taken the centrestage at this volatile venue which had witnessed crowd trouble in an earlier match also, incidentally involving West Indies in 1993. Heavy security arrangements have been made in the city and the stadium has been virtually turned into a fortress after International Cricket Council threatened to review the status of venues where crowd trouble is incessant. Aside from all the security paraphernalia that has kept their minds engaged no doubt, the Indian team was thinking about the strategy to adopt in the only day-night game of the seven-match series which they trail 1-2. And it seems Kartik, who was included in the squad in place of leg-spinner Anil Kumble for the next two one-dayers, and, possibly all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, form an important part of the team’s strategy as the hosts try to add more variety and sting to their bowling attack. Bangar, who broke into the one-day team on strength of his fine all-round performance in the tests, is also likely to get his first game of the series, most probably in place of J P Yadav. Kartik has fully recovered from a wrist injury that kept him out of a Ranji Trophy match recently and is almost a certainty for tomorrow’s game. The railways bowler told PTI from his hotel room that his wrist, which was in bandages till a couple of days ago, was perfectly fine now and he was looking forward to playing tomorrow. The sacking of Ajit Agarkar and Kumble for two matches due to their lacklustre performances, provides a fine opportunity and also a lot of responsibility on Kartik who will be playing a one-dayer after a very long time. Despite the focus being on the bowlers, the Indians realise that it is their batting which will be the key to their fortunes. The Indians have put up good scores in all the three matches but they realise something extra is required to counter the sudden resurgence of West Indian batting. As a result, there is a chance of either Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif being promoted in the batting order and given more overs to play. These two batsmen often don’t have much to do coming at number six and seven and the Indians think their awesome talent can be put to a better use at a position like number four. Skipper Sourav Ganguly, who has delayed his arrival here from Kolkata where he had gone to visit his ailing father, helped himself to a good score in the violence-affected match at Rajkot and so did his opening partner Virender Sehwag who blazed his way to a brilliant unbeaten century to leave behind two low scores. West Indies, on the other hand, are boosted by the return of their captain Carl Hooper who had missed the match in Rajkot due to a minor injury. Hooper said his team was treating tomorrow’s match as a sort of final as a victory here would leave the hosts in a must-win situation in all the three remaining games. Hooper was very happy with the form of his batsmen but he himself is yet to get out of a lean patch which has followed him from the test series to the one-dayers. But the thought uppermost on their minds right now is the safety of their players in case of another unruly crowd at the stadium tomorrow. Manager Ricky Skerrit was quite firm in saying that his side would walk out of the game if there was any disturbance from the spectators. "If the players are at a risk, we will walk out again," Skerrit said. West Indies had refused to take the field again in Rajkot even after the entire section of the crowd which created the disturbances had been cleared by police. India were awarded that match on Duckworth-Lewis system since 25 overs had been completed in the second innings. Meanwhile, district administration is taking no chances to ensure an incident-free match and has come up with three-tier security arrangement at the Motera Stadium. "All vehicles and each spectator would be checked at least thrice before entering the stadium, including metal detector and physical frisking. At least 10 video cameras would be installed to monitor crowd behaviour," Deputy Inspector General Police (Gandhinagar range) Pramod Kumar said. This is the first day-night one-day match at this venue though it has hosted a few domestic tournaments under lights. Teams (from): India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, J P Yadav, L Balaji, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel. West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Marlon Samuels, Darren Ganga, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore, Cameron Cuffy, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ricardo Powell, Vasbert Drakes, Ryan Hinds, Pedro Collins. Umpires: Asoka De Silva (Sri Lanka) and K Hariharan (India). Third umpire: I Sivaram (India). Reserve Umpire: Francis Gomes (India). Match-referee: Mike Procter (South Africa). Time of play: 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm and 6:45 pm till finish. (PTI) High-level probe into doping scandal NEW DELHI, Nov 14: Taking into account "the wide-ranging concern", the Sports Ministry has appointed a high-level committee to inquire into the Sunita Rani doping controversy following the Busan Asian Games. The committee, headed by the former secretary in the Sports Ministry, will inquire into the circumstances responsible for Sunita’s testing positive during Busan Asiad for using a prohibited drug— Nandrolone. Among others, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Pharmacology Professor YK Gupta will also be a member of the committee, according to an official spokesperson. The committee will inter-alia, go into the role played by the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI), the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Manager of the team and the accompanying coach. It will suggest measures, taken to avoid such a situation, ascribe responsibility, wherever possible and recommend measures to prevent recurrence of such instances. During its deliberations, the Committee may consult experts in sports medicine or any other related field and it might take the help of any report or literature available on the subject and recommend measures for prevention of doping in sports. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months from the date of its constitution. (UNI) National Football League from today NEW DELHI, Nov 14: With most of the teams having prepared well with a clutch of foreign recruitments, defending champions Mohun Bagan will find their task cut out when the Seventh National Football League kicks off in Goa tomorrow. The seventh edition of the high profile league, India’s prestigious semi-professional event, will begin with the four goan sides in the fray taking on each other and run till end of March next year. In the inaugural matches tomorrow, last season’s runner-up Churchill Brothers will take on Salgaokar S C while Vasco F C will play Dempo SC, which was promoted from the second division. The other team which returns to the NFL is Chennai outfit Indian Bank, the two teams taking the place of relegated sides F C Kochin and Punjab Police. The main challenge to Bagan would come from arch-rivals East Bengal, who after winning the fifth edition finished fifth last time, Churchill and Mumbai’s Mahindra United who has roped in three of Bagan’s star players R C Prakash, James Singh and R P Singh. On Nov 17, Mahindra United will begin their campaign in Mumbai against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore. The southern outfit, promoted to the big league last season, impressed one and all with their superb performance and finished eighth ahead of fancied teams like JCT Mills, Tollygunge Agragami and F C Kochin. (PTI) |
| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports |
