UNDATED: Bowlers of the world beware. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is 30. It is commonly believed that great batsmen............more

India sixth in
ICC Test table

NEW DELHI, Apr 23: Despite a fine run in the shorter version of the game, which has helped India climb the rankings..............more

Anju’s regimen to
win laurel at Athens

CHENNAI, Apr 23: Ace long-jumper Anju George has embarked on a 16-month-long methodical training schedule to fulfill her dream of bringing India a medal, hopefully a gold, in the Athens Olympic games in Greece next year.............more

Lara gives West Indies
hope after Hayden ton

PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 23: West Indies captain Brian Lara hit a 50 to give his team a glimmer of hope in the second test after Australia, with Matthew Hayden making a century, had set them 407..........more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 23: Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association (JKOA) has urged the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed that sportspersons.....more

Dangal in Ramban
on Apr 27

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 23: Ramban Dangal Committee is organising 5th Ramban Kesari 2003 dangal at Higher Secondary School......more

Psychologist blames
SA’s cup exit to
inappropriate lifestyles

DURBAN, Apr 23: A two-member team comprising a psychologist and a fitness trainer has blamed "psychological.......more

Wright favours players pool

KOLKATA, Apr 23: Indian coach John Wright is in favour of a "pool" which ought to be shortlisted well before the season....more

Rohan Bopanna, Vijay Kannan lose in ATP Challenger .....

Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne retires from one-dayers ......

Warne contemplating return to one-day cricket.....

Bowlers beware, sachin is 30

UNDATED: Bowlers of the world beware. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is 30. It is commonly believed that great batsmen become even more productive once they pass this personal chronological landmark.

Not that productivity at the batting crease has ever been a problem for Sachin. He had made seven test centuries before his 21st birthday and 31 before his 30th. Add 34 in the one-day arena in less than 10 years since his first hundred in 1994 against Australia in Colombo and 65 is an unsurpassed and possibly unsurpassable number.

Since Don Bradman did not play too many tests beyond his 30th birthday - he did make 11 of his 29 centuries after 1938 - a parallel has to be drawn nearer home because World War II may have robbed some from the greatest batsman in the history of the game.

Sunil Gavaskar scored 18 of his record 34 test centuries after his 30th birthday. Interpolating that percentage of post-30 success, Sachin should finish with at least 49 test centuries. Well, it could be a round 50 provided india is engaged in a reasonable number of test series. The sum total of international hundreds will certainly go beyond a century of centuries.

Sachin s international career since he began as a precociously talented 16-year-old in 1989 has been too well documented to merit a detailed recap. The point is this modern incarnation of Bradman has a genius for the game that only a select few have possessed.

By virtue of his skill, technique, self-assuredness, cognizance, acumen and genius, he has become such a consummate performer on the dual modern cricket stage of tests and one-day internationals that he is a national treasure nonpareil.

In a country of passionate following of idols in which he has become public property, Sachin has found a way to preserve his privacy while carrying out his responsibilities not only as a cricketer but as an icon a piece of which everyone seems to want.

As the standard of living edges upwards, the attraction of spectator sport has become much more evident as leisure time activity. The reverence or hysterical enthusiasm with which players are treated is a sure sign that cricket represents some kind of nationalism in a far from homogenous society.

In sport, the World Cup is almost a symbol of warlike nationalism and performances in it bound to be rated higher. Sachin’s World Cup form has placed him on such a pedestal that even the world’s richest cricketer, who can expect to earn 500 crores of Rupees in endorsements alone, should begin to worry about his demi-god status.

And, despite his massive achievements, he always shows a human side, be it in interviews, or in lending his autograph to a scanty piece of paper so eagerly thrust at him, or in talking of the game in absolutes, always placing team success above the hunting of records.

He has treated his rewriting the record books as almost incidental embroidery in a career furthering India’s cause in a sport that is considered a means by which the nation can prove itself. His name was anyway destined to embellish record books since he had unbeaten scores of 207, 329 and 346 in the space of five innings at the age of 14.

The fact that he is human, after all, may even be reflected in his failure at captaincy. This is one deficiency not covered up by his many-dimensional talent as seen in his satisfying every batting demand in tests and limited-overs cricket and in his varied bowling that reveals his cricketing acumen and his enthusiastic presence on the field.

Of course, there will now be talk of his failure in the World Cup final, on the very special occasion to which he had carried india in his splendid batting form that really blossomed in his 98 against Pakistan. Maybe, he will correct it in 2007.

That he retains his boyish enthusiasm for speed as in go-karting is, perhaps, a sign of a freshness of mind. The bloom has not been staled by having played in the high pressure atmosphere of more than a combined 400 tests and ODIs and several other games of various classifications since his first class appearance in 1987.

If seen out of context, his last four test innings of 8, 51, 9 and 32 may even represent a dip. But we must remember that the bad patch came on the diabolical wickets of New Zealand late last year. Not even a batsman of his calibre could have flourished in such conditions.

The test innings before that which is the 176 he made in Eden Gardens was a fitting answer to several doubts expressed over his response to second innings pressures. He saved the third test for India against the West Indies, a defensive task he had accomplished only on few occasions since the match in which he made his first test century, at Old Trafford in 1990.

A little known fact about the well known Sachin Tendulkar is he had a votary in Dilip Vengsarkar when he was on the verge of his first class debut. Too young, was the cry of the Mumbai selectors and it was up to the shrewd judge of the game in Vengsarkar to convince one and all that Sachin had to be picked.

After centuries on appearance in the Ranji, Irani Cup and Duleep Trophy, Sachin has never looked back. Really, the bowlers of the world must beware now that a teenage prodigy is an accomplished performer with a huge base of experience whose hunger for runs is intact. Let us wish him well as Sachin enters his fourth decade. (UNI)

India sixth in ICC Test table

NEW DELHI, Apr 23: Despite a fine run in the shorter version of the game, which has helped India climb the rankings ladder, the lack of test matches will force the team to slug it out at the bottom of the ICC Test Championship table for the rest of the year.

Joint winners of the recently-concluded TVS Cup South Africa will have a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table with a two test series against Bangladesh, which they are expected to win quite comfortably.

However, world champions Australia will challenge the Proteas having put on a wonderful effort in the first two tests against the West Indies in an away series.

This will be the first time that South Africa plays test cricket in Bangladesh and a series win will boost its average to 1.61 (29 points from 18 series).

However, with Australia ahead in their four-match series against West Indies, even victory may not be enough for South Africa to hold on to their lead in the ICC Test Championship for long.

A series win for Australia will boost its points tally to 21 from 13 series, taking its average up to 1.62 which is 0.03 higher than South Africa’s current average and crucially 0.01 more than Proteas can amass even with a series win in Dhaka.

The 2003 cricket World Cup hosts and Bangladesh played their first ever head-to-head series in South Africa in October 2002 with the home side winning 2-0.

Bangladesh is still looking for an inaugural test victory. It will not be allocated an average score until it has played nine of the possible 18 test series.

Team Played Won Lost Drawn Points Average

South Africa 17 13 3 1 27 1.59

Australia 13 9 2 2 20 1.54

New Zealand 17 8 5 4 20 1.18

Sri Lanka 16 8 6 2 18 1.13

England 16 6 6 4 16 1.00

India 15 5 6 4 14 0.93

West Indies 17 7 9 1 15 0.88

Pakistan 16 4 8 4 12 0.75

Zimbabwe 16 3 11 2 8 0.50

Bangladesh 7 0 7 0 0 -

The ICC board has also agreed to a new format for the ICC Test Championship, which recognises the rewards and result of each test match played. The new system will be introduced from the beginning of June. (UNI)

Anju’s regimen to win laurel at Athens

CHENNAI, Apr 23: Ace long-jumper Anju George has embarked on a 16-month-long methodical training schedule to fulfill her dream of bringing India a medal, hopefully a gold, in the Athens Olympic games in Greece next year.

The soft-spoken Anju, ranked 13 in the world and being trained by her husband Robert Bobby George, promised while replying to felicitations by Tamil Nadu Amateur Athletics Association last night that she would try hard to bring the country laurels in the Olympic Games.

And the key component in the training-cum-competition schedule she has drawn out for herself is taking lessons under world record holder in long jump, Mike Powell of the United States. Impressed by her gold-winning performance at the Busan Asian Games and prior to that the Commonwealth Games at Manchester in England, Mike Powell has offered to coach her at the California State University, Fullerton.

Anju also has the distinction of being the first Asian to qualify for the world indoor athletic meet earlier this year although she failed to bring home a medal.

After an initial phase of six-month training schedule, Anju would continue to train right till going to Athens. But she would combine this with participation in European Grand Prix in July-August, World Championship in October in Paris, Asian Championship in Manila and the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad later this year.

Besides the Tamil Nadu Amateur Athletics Association, Anju has the wholehearted support of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India and the Government, which has cleared her schedule besides providing her the initial expenses.

Encouraging and inspiring Anju, Tamil Nadu Amateur Athletic Association president W I Dewaram appealed to Kerala-born jumper to "go for the gold" at Athens besides the other competitions in which she is scheduled to take part.

Anju expressed gratitude to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the AAFI, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and the state association for encouraging her. (UNI)

Lara gives West Indies hope after Hayden ton

PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 23: West Indies captain Brian Lara hit a 50 to give his team a glimmer of hope in the second test after Australia, with Matthew Hayden making a century, had set them 407 to win the match.

West Indies’ fate was firmly on the shoulders of the 33-year-old left hander after fast bowler Jason Gillespie rocked them with two quick wickets on the fourth day.

Gillespie took two for ten in seven overs as he removed Devon Smith and first innings century-maker Daren Ganga in quick succession.

Lara responded well to the challenge, making an unbeaten 52 as he and opener Wavell Hinds took the score from 12 for two to 107 for three at the close on the fourth day — still a delicate position for the home team.

Lara, slowed by the Australian spinners, needed 75 balls to made his 50 which included seven fours. Hinds was out for 35 one over before the close when he deflected Stuart MacGill’s delivery on to his wicket.

Australia declared at 238-3 just before tea after Hayden reached his century, while Darren Lehman followed up his first innings 160 with a quick, powerful 66.

Having toiled in the field, West Indies were quickly in trouble as Smith was trapped LBW for naught by Gillespie in the second over, bagging a pair of ducks in only his second test.

Ganga, a hero on Monday when he became the first Trinidadian to make a century on his home ground since Larry Gomes in 1983, followed in the eighth over when he got an outside edge to Gillespie and was caught by Hayden at first slip.

With Hinds living dangerously and Lara enjoying a let-off on six, when Brett Lee dropped a chance for caught and bowled, the home team were teetering.

Earlier, Hayden, whose best previous score in the series was 30, batted through the entire Australian innings.

He reached his hundred in 274 minutes, receiving 180 balls and hitting ten fours and completing his 13th test century by taking a quick single of Marlon Samuels shortly before Australia declared. The West Indies’ ineffective three-man attack once again suffered at the hands of the Australian batsmen, taking only seven wickets in the entire match at a cost of 814 runs as the tourists declared in both innings.

They were not helped by yet more erratic fielding as Lehmann was dropped on 20 after offering a simple catch to hinds at point off Vasbert Drakes.

Lehmann, who had several escapes in the first innings and went on to make 160, again made the home team pay dearly for the let-off.

He hit a four off the next ball and went on to complete his 50 by lofting his second six of the innings over the long on fence.

Lehmann also hit six fours, including two meaty drives straight past the bowler, and faced 82 balls as he completed his half century. He went on to make 66 before being yorked by Mervyn Dillon, prompting captain Steve Waugh to declare.

Australia, resuming on 31 for one, made a steady start as Lara set a defensive field to try and keep the Australia run rate down.

Hayden survived two LBW shouts from Dillon, the pick of the West Indies bowlers. Tv replays suggested that both were missing the leg stump.

Vice-captain Ricky Ponting, who scored his first test double century in the first innings, was the only victim of the morning session when he edged Dillon outside the leg stump and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh. (AGENCIES)

Sportsmen too in need of CM’s ‘healing touch’

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 23: Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association (JKOA) has urged the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed that sportspersons of the Jammu and Kashmir too needed ‘healing touch’ from the Government.

Pleading the cause of sports, JKOA, in a handout issued here said that during the last over one decade of turmoil and restlessness in the State, sportspersons too have suffered a lot. In the absence of encouragements, infrastructure and basic facilities, the sportspersons were the wrost sufferers, the handout added.

The handout mentioned that the State Sports Council, during the last some time, has provided jobs to around 125 individuals but none of them is a sportsman. It was alleged that while enrolling them in Council’s fold, no interviews were conducted, no norms were observed and most importantly the posts were not advertised at all.

The height of the non-seriousness on the part of Government was that they even let the sportspersons covered under SRO 349 to run pillar to post to get their right, it continued.