ADELAIDE, Dec 13: Ponting played his career best knock of 242 as India lost four quick wickets in reply and were trying to save follow-on in the second Test match between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval here today............more

Albright favours
plebsicite in Kashmir

NEW DELHI, Dec 13: In a statement that goes against India’s stand, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today favoured a referendum or plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the people of Kashmir, which she described as one of the "most dangerous and tragic places in the world."................more

Dilshan’s century
pushes England
into a tight spot

KANDY (Sri Lanka), Dec 13: Tillekeratne Dilshan celebrated his return to Test cricket after almost three years by smash..............more

Cricket match of
Indo-Pak veterans
on December 19

JALANDHAR, Dec 13: The efforts of India and Pakistan to improve the bilateral relations including resumption of cricket.............more

By Sanjeev Sharma

JAMMU, Dec 13: Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) has broke all past records of hiding the facts and favouring the blue eyed players at the cost.............more

Strength Lifting championship ends
Munish is Champion
of Champion

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 13: Three-day long State Strength Lifting Championship, organised by the J&K Strength Lifting Association concluded today with the holding of prize..........more

State Judo meet concludes

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 13: State Judo Championship, sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir State Sports......more

‘The First Step’ celebrates
Annual Sports Day

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 13: ‘The First Step’ pre-school, Trikuta Nagar celebrated its first Annual Sports Day in the school premises......more

RBI Jammu excel in inter-RBI Badminton meet.....

Kalakote lifts Rajouri Wrestling trophy.....

Windies start run chase in solid fashion .....

Ponting hits double ton as India struggle
to avoid follow-on

ADELAIDE, Dec 13: Ponting played his career best knock of 242 as India lost four quick wickets in reply and were trying to save follow-on in the second Test match between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval here today.

Replying to Australia all out for 556, India were 180 for the loss of 4 wickets at the close of play on day two.

Earlier, riding on his luck that Sehwag was so generous in giving on day one, ponting went on to complete his second double century in Test cricket on the second day of the Adelaide Test between India and Australia.

Walking into the Oval at his overnight score of 176, Ponting comfortably reached the double ton mark, and also in the process went past his highest test score of 206 against the West Indies. Australia were 523 for seven at lunch with Ponting unbeaten on 228, looking good for a triple ton, while Jason Gillespie was undefeated on 29.

Indian hopes of wrapping up the Aussies early were raised after Adam Gilchrist left trying to pull one from Agarkar with Akash Chopra taking a lovely catch. But this wasn’t before gilchrist had given the Indians a scare hitting two sweetly timed cover drives.

Gilchrist’s departure saw Andy Bichel coming in, who was smart enough to give maximim strike to Ponting. Ponting completed his double century by pulling Kumble to the mid wicket fence for his 27th boundary. He needed 288 balls for his mega effort.

Ponting flying kisses to the Australian dressing room, and the bowing to the crowd after completing his double ton is a sight the spectators at the Adelaide Oval would not forget in a hurry.

Bichel soon departed, offering a catch to Chopra at short leg, off Kumble, scoring 19 facing 45 balls laced with two fours. But the Australians were in no mood to relent, as the next next batsman in Gillespie threw his bat around to gather valuable runs for his team and also added to the frustration of the Indians.

The beleaguered Indian captain Sourav Ganguly looked helplessly as Ponting continued to score in boundaries while Gillespie’s edges too reached the fence.

The Australians added 123 runs in the first session of play on the second day.

When play started after break, post lunch was seemingly moving towards cricketing history for the day’s double centurion Ricky Ponting when a Anil Kumble ball jumped vicisiously kissing Pontings’s now historic bat and Rahul Dravid scooping up the catch with ease.

Ponting swung his bat in anger and then to the applause of the 20,000 fans at the Adelaide Oval started the long walk back each as one and all stood up to pay homage to a truly majestic innings of 242.

Ponting’s frustration was understandable as he was set for a historic triple century, that split second of indecision seeing history slip away.

Ponting, heir apparent to Steve Waugh after the fourth Sydney Test in the ongoing India-Australia series, got his amazing 242 off 352 deliveries after a stay of 508 minutes at the pitch. Kumble’s eventful 43rd over continued as Brad Williams came in and then left as a straight one clean bowled him.

Stuart McGill came in and on the very first ball that he received was plumb Leg Before Wicket. In the space of an over, Australia had been bundled out for 556 and were kept away from the 600 run-mark figure.

For Australia Jason Gillespie was the man unconquered with an unbeaten 48 off 54 deliveries studded with six hits to the fence. Replying to Australia’s 556 all out, India started well with Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag putting on 66 for the first wicket before Andy Bichel had Chopra driving straight but straight into Bichel’s safe hands.

Chopra drove well but Uppishly and Bichel who had been slammed for 13 by Sehwag and Chopra in one over accepted the chance with enormous glee. Rahul Dravid walked and had a small chat with Sehwag, probably telling the Delhi opener not to slash outside the offstump. After four quick wickets within 19 runs, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman tried to steady the Indian boat with some success. During their partnership, India reached 100 in 25.4 overs, and the same pair took India past 150 mark in the 43rd over.

Laxman completed his half century in 95 balls hitting six fours. At the close of play, Laxman was not out on 55 while Rahul Dravid was undefeated on 43. (UNI)

Albright favours plebsicite in Kashmir

NEW DELHI, Dec 13: In a statement that goes against India’s stand, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today favoured a referendum or plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the people of Kashmir, which she described as one of the "most dangerous and tragic places in the world."

At the same time, emphasising on the need to institutionalise the cease-fire and stop cross- border terrorism in the state, she said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s peace initiative was very important and hoped that Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf would understand the importance of India’s overtures.

In her concluding address at the two-day leadership initiative conference on ‘peace dividend— progress for India and South Asia’ organised by ‘Hindustan Times’ here, Albright talked about the plight of the ordinary Kashmiri people who had been "buffered between terrorists on the one side and security forces that had sometimes failed to observe basic human rights."

In reply to a question by National Conference president Omar Abdullah, the former Secretary of State said she believed a referendum or plebiscite was the best way to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, she said that Vajpayee has made "some very important steps in terms of understanding the reality of living side by side and I think this initiative is very important."

Albright said, "one would hope that he (Musharraf) would understand the importance of the overtures and initiatives that Prime Minister Vajpayee has made."

Touching upon Afghanistan in her address to the conference, Albright said Americans had made a strategic mistake there. The first mistake was ordering us troops to pull back from Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

This mistake, she said, was further compounded when, following the invasion of Afghanistan post 9/11, the administration failed to follow through with both adequate humanitarian aid and relief packages.

The US had failed to stabilise the situation, she said, adding "the Afghan Army was supposed to have had 70,000 troops. It has only 4000."

Two years ago, when the Taliban was driven from power, hopes were high of a new era, Albright said. "Unfortunately, Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still at large and warlords continue to rule. Heroin and poppy production has risen by 3,600 per cent and crime is widespread," she said, adding "there is no no effective international peace-keeping beyond Kabul."

Albright said that Al Qaeda, the target of the US invasion, had not only "survived but thrived." She sought the help of the international community to help organise another reconstruction conference and "drive the Taliban and Al Qaeda out of business permanently."

Albright also spoke about the costs of war not only in terms of its human toll but also in terms of triggering off a possible nuclear catastrophe. She reaffirmed her opposition to India and Pakistan’s decisions to conduct nuclear Tests in 1998. "I was accused of being arrogant and a hypocrite back then," she recalled but added that she had not not changed her basic position.

In reply to a question by a former Indian diplomat C Gharekhan, she said she supported India’s claim for a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council. (PTI)

Dilshan’s century pushes England into a tight spot

KANDY (Sri Lanka), Dec 13: Tillekeratne Dilshan celebrated his return to Test cricket after almost three years by smashing a blazing century today as Sri Lanka seized control of the second cricket Test match against England.

Dilshan’s 129-ball 100, his second century in 11 Tests, helped Sri Lanka set a daunting target of368, which England has never successfully chased in 107 years of test cricket.

England, whose highest successful chase so far is 332 for seven against Australia in 1928, finished the fourth day’s play on 89 for two, requiring another 279 to win.

England lost opener Marcus Trescothick (14) and Mark Butcher (6), but skipper Michael Vaughan (50 not out) and Nasser Hussain (17 not out) kept the challenge alive.

Riding on Dilshan’s 153-run fourth-wicket partnership with Mahela Jayawardene (52), Sri Lanka recovered from the loss of two early wickets today to declare on 279 for seven. The hosts led by 88 runs in the first innings.

Resuming at yesterday’s score of 39 for one, Sri Lanka lost overnight batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya (27) and Kumar Sangakkara (10) within four overs to slump to 53 for three before Dilshan joined Jayawardene at the crease.

Opener Jayasuriya had his off-stump knocked out by pace bowler James Kirtley (2 for 62), while Sangakkara fell to a diving catch by Paul Collingwood at forward short-leg off left-arm spinner Ashley Giles (3 for 101).

Dilshan, 27, who played his previous test in March 2001 at Colombo against England, struck one six and 13 boundaries as he dominated the partnership with Jayawardene, which created a new Sri Lankan fourth-wicket record against England.

The previous record of 148 was set by Sidath Wettimuny and Arjuna Ranatunga at Lord’s in 1984.

Dilshan asserted his authority by driving giles for two successive boundaries. He gave the same treatment to off-spinner Gareth Batty at the other end before hitting Andrew Flintoff for a six over square-leg.

He completed his century with a single of Flintoff before being stumped by Chris Read off Batty (1 for 47).

Jayawardene’s three-hour knock ended when Flintoff (1 for 40) found the gap between his bat and bat.

Skipper Hashan Tillekeratne (20), Thilan Samaraweera (23 not out) and Chaminda Vaas (20) notched some quick runs before Sri Lanka’s declaration.

Vaas (1 for 25) denied England a sound start as Trescothick sent a catch to Jayawardene at slip, while Butcher was a victim for a Sangakkara stumping for the second time in the Test, this time off Muttiah Muralitharan (1 for 19).

Vaughan hit six boundaries from 104 balls in his unbeaten 144-minute knock, while former skipper Hussain had three fours off 39 deliveries in 51 minutes. (AP)

Cricket match of Indo-Pak veterans on December 19

JALANDHAR, Dec 13: The efforts of India and Pakistan to improve the bilateral relations including resumption of cricket tie has begun to yield results as the team of veteran cricketers of Pakistan would come here to play the first match of thee-match series with its counter players at Burlton Park Stadium on December 19.

"The veteran players of both the countries including star spinner Abdul Quadir, renowned batsman Mushtaq Ahmed and Mudassar Nazar, known for his golden arm during 80s would be the members of Pakistani squad and in Indian team, Robin Singh, Chetan Chauhan, Hirwani `Hiru’, S H Kirmani and Chetan Sharma will try to lock horns with their counterpart to prove their mettle" said Rakesh Rathor, president of Punjab Veteran Cricket Association here today.

The Burlton Park Stadium, which had witnessed the last encounter between India and Pakistan in 1983, has been given a new look for the historic match, he said adding that the other two matches of the series would be played in Agra and New Delhi. For the last two months the board for veteran cricket in India, led by its president and former cricket star Chetan Chouhan was trying to materialize the tournament and finally after resumption of cricket tie by both the countries, green signal was given to the tournament to initiate new relationship in cricket between both the countries, Rathor revealed.

The match would be directly telecast by the DD Sports and tickets at the rate of Rs 20 for children and Rs 50 for adults have been available for the cricket lovers, he said.

The Pakistan team include Majid Khan, Shafqat Rana, Mohsin Hassan Khan, Abdul Quadir, Mudassar Nazar, Azmat Rana, Ljaj Ahmed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Ashraf Ali, Sadiq Mohammad, Manzoor Elahi, Aamir Malik, Mansoor Akhtar, Aquib Javed, Alia Zia and Mehmood Rasheed.

The Indian squad include Kiran More, Praveen Amre, Ashok Malhotra, Atul Wason, Vivek Razdan, Surendra Khanna, Maninder Singh, Robin Singh, W V Raman, Chetan Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, S H Kirmani, Anshuman Gaekwad, Chetan Chauhan and Hirwani. (PTI)

JKCA announces Ranji team before boarding train

By Sanjeev Sharma

JAMMU, Dec 13: Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) has broke all past records of hiding the facts and favouring the blue eyed players at the cost of the match winners for the State in Ranji Trophy.

Putting players to dilemma whether to get ready or not for the next match at Nagpur, the JKCA came out with the 16-member team only in the evening and that too on telephone.

And, when asked by EXCELSIOR for the reasons of announcing the team at the eleventh hour, the general secretary of the JKCA, ML Nehru refused to tell anything and dropped the receiver saying, " I cannot give you the reasons".

The self-styled functioning of the JKCA, which otherwise beat the drums of their fair and straight forward approach in selecting the teams on performance basis, was totally exposed while naming the team for Ranji Trophy.

And, when the team was announced just before boarding the train for the venue of the next match against Vidharva, the match winners against Bihar on the home turf, all-rounders Ashwani Gupta and Vijay Sharma were shunted out of the first 16.

Taking plea that JKCA wants to ‘encourage youngsters’ by fielding them in place of Ashwani and Vijay, the selectors failed to understand that former skipper Sanjay Sharma, who has been accommodated in the first 16, is no more a young cricketer. On the other hand, young wicket-keeper, Vikrant Taggar has been placed among the extras and not in the playing.

"Where were these defenders of youngsters, when Dhruv Mahajan was replaced with Kavaljeet Singh, no doubt later deserved the captainship", questioned a senior cricketer on the condition of anonymity. He added that it was the real gift for Ashwani Gupta on his creating history of completing 75 Test matches.

However, the insiders told EXCELSIOR that the main reason behind Ashwani’s ouster from the first 16 was his protest against sending the team to Nagpur in second class coach of the train instead of the BCCI’s guidelines for first class journey for the Ranji players soon after the match against Tripura ended yesterday.

The team: Kavaljeet Singh (captain), Wajahat Majid (vice-captain), Ajay Bhati, Dhruv Mahajan, Shammi Salaria, Majid Dar, Arshad Bhat (wicket-keeper), Sameer Khajuria, Jagtar Singh, Abid Salim, Surinder Singh. Stand-byes: Shashi Sharma, Vikrant Taggar, Salim Ahmed, Ubaid Ronga and Sanjay Sharma. Ashwinder Koul is manager of the team.

Voters being promoted

The JKCA management has set new records by sending the ‘shop-keeper and photographer’ with the teams as managers only because they want to promote the voters.

Mr Prem, who runs a photo studio at Moti Bazar was made manager for under-19 one-day team. Ved Parkash, who runs a shop at Pacca Danga accompanied the under-17 team as manager. The sources further disclosed that a retired teacher, S K Raina also went with the under-22 team as manager.