Special nets, tight
security at IMCL Stadium

BARODA, Nov 16: With crowd trouble affecting three of the four one-day internationals between India and West Indies, police has taken stringent steps to prevent spectators from throwing objects.........more

Expert Comments
"God doesn't sleep"

By Michael Holding

The trend in this One Day Series between India and the West Indies continues, bat second and win. India must have thought to themselves that a target of 324 runs was going to be a tough ask, irrespective of how well the pitch was playing. When they lost........more

I dream a little more of
winning the World Cup
in 2003: Kapil

KOLKATA, Nov 16: India’s fabulous run chase against the West Indies at Ahmedabad is making cricket icon Kapil Dev "dream little more about winning the........more

Bharat Petroleum boys,
NR eves clinch titles

JALANDHAR, Nov 16: Bharat Petroleum (BP) boys and Northern Railway (NR) eves today won the titles by defeating their opponents defending champions..........more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 16: Government Degree College, Kathua claimed the Inter-college Judo trophy after they topped the points..............more

State Boxing Championship
Neeru winner in Sr Women

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 16: Neeru Narainia won first ever gold in the senior women section on the opening day of J&K State Boxing.....more

Confident J&K to take on
Haryana in Ranji today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 16: The confident side of Jammu and Kashmir who launched their campaign in style against Bihar in Bihar on November nine, shall take on Haryana in their second league ............more

Combined ATC of
2 J&K Bn NCC ends

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 16: Combined Annual Training Camp (ATC) of the 2 J&K Bn NCC Jammu at NCC camping ground, Nagrota....more

Suhasini, Ritwan shine in Painting competition ....

Indu of Gandhi house bags solo dance trophy ....

Cultural Academy launching talent search programme ....

Special nets, tight security at IMCL Stadium

BARODA, Nov 16: With crowd trouble affecting three of the four one-day internationals between India and West Indies, police has taken stringent steps to prevent spectators from throwing objects on the ground and check illegal entry of fans in the stadium for the fifth match here on Monday.

Special nets would be installed at the stadium to prevent objects from landing on the field during the match, city Police Commissioner D D Tuteja told PTI today.

There were disturbances by a section of the crowd during the matches at Rajkot, Nagpur and Jamshedpur.

Tuteja said police have also installed low intensity electricity wires around a small area of the stadium adjacent to nearby Undera village to check illegal entry into the stadium, as fans in the past had tried to gain entry into the stadium.

When asked if installation of wires could prove fatal, Tuteja said prior announcements have been made in this regard and the wires will carry low intensity current.

The BCCI has asked the staging centres to take all possible precautionary measures to avoid crowd trouble.

The International Cricket Council’s threat to withdraw international status from venues which fail to meet security guidelines has put the board under more pressure.

The Gujarat Government has provided seven companies of special reserve police instead of three sought by the local administration, to prevent any untoward incident. Besides, four Deputy Superintendents of Police, eight Assistant Commissioners, 23 police Inspectors, 80 Sub-Inspectors would also be deployed at the stadium, he said.

The Baroda Cricket Association will deploy 300 security personnel at the gates, BCA secretary Kiran More told PTI, adding, security of both the players and the spectators was of paramount importance to the organisers.

Policemen and women in plain clothes at the stadium will check mischievous elements, Tuteja said, adding, police personnel would also be present at the boundary line facing the crowd.

To enter the stadium the spectators will have to pass through metal detectors installed at 11 gates. After first check they will again be subjected to metal detectors before being allowed inside, Tuteja said.

Close circuit TVs have been installed for monitoring and volunteers, with special badges, will look for trouble makers.

The BCA secretary Samarjeetsingh Gaekwad said that fans will not be allowed to carry anything inside the stadium.

Strict security arrangements have been made at the hotel where both the teams are staying and visitors record was also being maintained.

For the first time, bca has taken additional insurance cover of Rs 1.90 crore for the match and has taken out a comprehensive policy, covering rioting and terrorist attack and any natural calamity. (PTI)

Teams arrive for fifth one-dayer

With the one-day series interestingly poised after the home team’s spectacular victory in Ahmedabad, the Indian and West Indian cricket teams arrived here today for Monday’s fifth one-dayer hoping to gain an upper hand in the series.

The two teams, locked 2-2 in the seven-match series, arrived by road from Ahmedabad and were confined to the comforts of their hotel after the four-hour drive. Both the teams will have net practice tomorrow morning.

Expert Comments
"God doesn't sleep"

By Michael Holding

The trend in this One Day Series between India and the West Indies continues, bat second and win. India must have thought to themselves that a target of 324 runs was going to be a tough ask, irrespective of how well the pitch was playing. When they lost Sehwag and then Ganguly, the two men in the absence of Tendulkar, thought most capable of scoring quickly, the fans probably held little hope of realistically getting there. They obviously forgot the class of Rahul Dravid. If there were any doubting Thomas’ around, and I am sure there were many, he has certainly silenced them, if not for good then for a very long time. Of course lots of people will now say, "We know he could do it", but before this he was the first man to be seen disappearing down the batting order when quick runs are needed. This version of the game is termed, limited overs, but although 50 overs may seem a short innings, it’s not always for the swift but for those capable of lasting until the end. He may have had a bit of luck in doing so but Rahul Dravid showed the virtue of that in this 4th One Day International.

Speaking of luck, the West Indies certainly didn’t help their cause in the field. It’s all well and good to say Rahul Dravid and India did well to score those runs and congratulations to them because they certainly did but the West Indies lacked basic discipline in their bowling. How can excuses be found for the number of no-balls bowled by the slow bowlers Hooper and Nagamootoo? How can one bowler bowl 3 wides and a no-ball in the same over? How can 6 bowlers be used in the innings and not even one of them managing an economy rate less than 6 runs per over? Every time the West Indies seem to take a step forward with their cricket, very shortly after they take a couple of steps backward. There is certainly a lot of work to be done, I don’t envy Roger Harper his job.

I am happy my good and well respected friend Ian Chappell is not here covering this tour with me. He would be very quick to remind me today of a saying that I have repeated to him on numerous occasions, in Australia in particular, whenever I have had reason to believe that the West Indies were hard done by with any decision by the home umpires. That expression is "GOD DOESN’T SLEEP". Of course by that I mean that he watches over us all and makes note of the unfair instances and redresses the situation at some opportune moment. There was a fine example of that today with Vasbert Drakes. There is no way he could convince me that he wasn’t aware of the fact that his foot touched the rope when he claimed that catch down on the boundary. Of course with so many cameras covering the game these days, it was clearly shown exactly what had happened and of course since God doesn’t sleep, when there was the opportunity for him to run out Rahul Dravid, he messed it up completely, lobbing the ball well over Ridley Jacobs’ head. Of course that’s the man who held things together for India and won them the game. If he had been dismissed at that juncture, who knows, things might have been a bit different. (TCM)

I dream a little more of winning the
World Cup in 2003: Kapil

KOLKATA, Nov 16: India’s fabulous run chase against the West Indies at Ahmedabad is making cricket icon Kapil Dev "dream little more about winning the cricket World Cup" in South Africa next year, but not without an advice to improve the fielding and running between the wickets.

India yesterday chased 324 to win with 14 balls to spare, thus repeating the feat of chasing above 300 and winning within a span of four months, the last being against England in the finals of the natwest series.

The legendary allrounder, talking to the media at the launch of promotion of an electronic channel, said, "its fantistic. There was a nervous period in between when the bowlers felt lost and then again during India’s batting. But these fellows never allowed to get the situation out of hand."

" I thought yesterday I saw one of the best spells from Harbhajan under pressure," he added.

The Haryana hurricane went on to defend the indifferent performance of the bowlers. "They have so limited opportunity. ODIs have given much more to the batsmen than the bowlers. They have become slaves of limitations. The captain will say stick to the basics and bowl straight. So they dont swing much and are more of a containing bowlers. Where is the chance to experiment" Kapil observed.

He said when test cricket was in fashion, the bowlers had the chance to experiment and hone their skills and perfect them and then employ those in the limited over format. "But now with the odis taking over there is so little time to develop as a bowler," he added.

Asked about his becoming the bowling coach, he said, "the players don’t have the time after such a packed international calender. You can teach something when there is a four to five months’ break, when they practice and learn. Why itch them with a second thought when they have one too many?"

But Kapil pointed out that like every team India must concentrate on running between the wickets and fielding. "Running is so important. You can be a big hitter, but there will always be some lean period when you will think of accumulating. Fielding is also an integral part of the modern game. Any team that fields well is ahead on points," he said.

Coming back to the Ahmedabad feat, Kapil tickled a funny bone or two when he mused, "I think these batsmen have enormous strength. They make the ground look so small. Even, Bangar hit a boundary over point with one hand. I thought we were really weak people."

He lauded the equipment manufacturers for the fantastic work with the bats. "The bats we used in our time or in the early 70s were like wafers. But now the willow is such a robust weapon," he said.

Kapil hoped to see a team reaching 400 mark in the coming World Cup. (UNI)

Bharat Petroleum boys, NR eves clinch titles

JALANDHAR, Nov 16: Bharat Petroleum (BP) boys and Northern Railway (NR) eves today won the titles by defeating their opponents defending champions Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) and Haryana XI respectively in finals during 19th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey Tournament played here at Burlton Park Stadium.

While Bharat Petroleum edged out Punjab and Sind Bank by a golden goal in nail-biting match, Northern Railways eves defeated Haryana XI-girls by 3-2.

The final between defending champion Punjab and Sind Bank and Bharat Petroleum played on the fast note as several attacks and counter-attacks were seen from the very beginning. It was psb, who lighted the scoreboard first in the 17th minute when international player Ajit Pal Singh gave a well cross to Baljit Chandi, who passed it to Parminder Singh for successfully showing the way to net (1-0).

After several hostile attempts, bp finally succeeded to score an equalizer in the 31st minute by conversion of penalty corner through Saurab Bishnoi. At half time score was equal. After the change of side, PSB came back to the game with full determination and got lead in the 47th minute when Sandeep Singh scored an excellent goal through his solo efforts from right in front of the goal post (2-1). In the 59th minute bp got success to equalize score again when its forward Toshar Khandekar gave an excellent cross to Amar Aiyamma in the penalty area, who committed no mistake in putting it to the net (2-2). (PTI)

Inter-college competitions
Kathua College wins Judo trophy

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 16: Government Degree College, Kathua claimed the Inter-college Judo trophy after they topped the points tally winning three gold and one bronze medal at the Indoor Complex, MA Stadium, here today.

Second place went to Degree College, Udhampur with 15 points in their account, followed by Government MAM College (13 points) at third position.

These competitions were organised by the Directorate of Physical Education, University of Jammu.

The final results

Below 56 kg: Parshotam Sharma, MAM, Ist; Rahul Sharma, Science College, 2nd and Parvesh Ahmed, Udhampur College, third.

Below 61 kg: Jeet Singh, DC, Kathua, Ist; Ramesh Singh, DC Udhampur, 2nd and Shiv Jyoti of PG Departments, third.

Below 66 kg: Pritam Singh, DC Udhampur, Ist; Wasim, ASCOMS, 2nd and Ajay Kumar of DC Kathua, third.

Below 73 kg: Gulzar Ahmed, DC Kathua, Ist; Sohail, ASCOMS, 2nd and Ram Ji, MAM, third.

Below 81 kg: Beeshan Jaslotra, Science College, Ist; Sandeep Singh, DC Udhampur, 2nd and Ganesh, MAM, third.

Below 90 kg: Vinod Vaid, MAM, Ist; Ravinder Singh, DC Udhampur, 2nd and Kasturi, SPMR College of Commerce, third.

Below 100 kg: Rahul Sharma, DC Kathua, Ist and Sammi-u-llah, ASCOMS, third.

Open Weight: Vipul Gupta, SPMR College of Commerce, Ist; Yamin Wattali, ASCOMS, 2nd and Ashu, MAM, third.