CHENNAI, Nov 21: Indian team expected to do well during their 82-day tour of Australia but for that "we have to lift our game", skipper Sourav Ganguly today said as the 16-member squad left here for Australia via Kuala Lumpur. ............more

BCCI suspends Kale,
orders inquiry in
bribery charges

KOLKATA, Nov 21: Rocked by unprecedented charges of bribery, the Cricket Board moved in quickly today and suspended first class cricketer Abhijit Kale........more

The tour down
under is truly a
series to reckon with

By Javagal Srinath

The Indians, who embark on the Australian tour today, are a resolute lot with the will to do well. Being part of the team all this while, I know on a tough and challenging tour like this one......more

Kiwis pick 7
newcomers for Pak tour

AUCKLAND, Nov 21: Seven players who have never represented New Zealand in one-day play have been named in the 15-man squad to play five matches in Pakistan beginning next week..............more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 21: Semi-final position of the ongoing Guru Teg Bahadur Hockey Tournament cleared today with Zorawar Club Satwari.......more

Nishant, Pallav crash out of Tournament
Ishuk, Turki, Rashu enter
semi-finals of Jr Snooker

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 21: Last year’s champion—Nishant Azad and Pallav Gupta today crashed out of the Junior Snooker in the.........more

BSF lifts All India
Police Golf tournament

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 21: Border Security Force (BSF) has lifted All India Police Golf Tournament.....more

Belt Grading Test, Racing
Track Tournament organised

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 21: All India Taekwondo Union today organised Belt Grading Test......more

District Kathua Athletic Meet from Nov 28......

PG lifts final of Inter-College Basketball......

Malleswari disappoints too, no medals for India .....

We have to lift our game: Sourav

CHENNAI, Nov 21: Indian team expected to do well during their 82-day tour of Australia but for that "we have to lift our game", skipper Sourav Ganguly today said as the 16-member squad left here for Australia via Kuala Lumpur.

Sourav, along with coach John Wright and Manager Shivlal Yadav, the former India off-spinner, told newspersons here that a tour to Australia was always challenging.

"The Aussies are a very strong side and the tour will be tough just as the teams coming here find playing against India,"he said.

Asked about the fitness level of the team, Sourav said "we are all very fit."

Earlier owing to a minor surgery on his thigh, the left hander was forced to sit out of the triangular series final against Australia at his home ground Eden Gardens three days ago.

Talking about his own state of mind, Sourav said he would not be under any additional pressure. "I got back for the two one dayers after the test matches against New Zealand. I am hitting the ball well."

"Since the start of the season, I have been playing well," he said.

Asked what his goal on the tour was, Wright, who, incidentally had taken over the coaching assignment after India’s tour down under in 1998, said "my goal is to see that the team wins." Replying to a question about selecting the opening pair on the tour as the team had three regular opening batsmen, with the return of Sadagopan Ramesh, Sourav said "it’s too early to decide on the combination. We will have to see the wickets and the performance in the matches before the tests."

On whether the selection of two regular wicket-keepers for the tour in Parthiv Patel and Deep Dasgupta meant that vice captain Rahul Dravid would not be asked to don the gloves in the one dayers, Sourav clarified "we have selected the team only for test matches. The team for one dayers is yet to be selected."

On the other hand former player and the team’s manager, Shivlal Yadav said his job was to ensure that the every member of the team felt comfortable. "It is upto them to lift their game and perform as sourav said," he observed.

The 16-member squad has Tamil Nadu batsman S Ramesh making a come back after having played last against Sri Lanka in 2001, while medium fast bowler L Balaji was lucky to be on the flight coming in place of Mumbai new ball bowler Avishkar Salvi, who was ruled out due to an injury. Balaji had played two tests against the Kiwis in the recent home series.

Irfan Pathan-Jr would be looking to make his debut in the senior team, being picked after his performance for the under 19 team in the Asia Cup. Balaji and Irfan, along with Aashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, complete a rather inexperienced new ball attack. India had a disastrous tour to Australia in 1998 losing the test series 3-0 and the triangular one day series as well which had archrival Pakistan as the third team.

The team: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Verender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Sadagopan Ramesh, Ajit Agarkar, Akash Chopra, Parthiv Patel, Deep Dasgupta, Zaheer Khan, Aashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan-jr, L Balajee and Harbhajan Singh. Coach: John Wright, Physio: Andrew Leipus, Physical Trainer: Allan King, Manager: Shivlal Yadav. (UNI)

BCCI suspends Kale, orders inquiry in bribery charges

KOLKATA, Nov 21: Rocked by unprecedented charges of bribery, the Cricket Board moved in quickly today and suspended first class cricketer Abhijit Kale for allegedly offering Rs 10 lakh each to two national selectors for a place in the Indian team to Australia and ordered an inquiry into it.

The Board appointed Chairman of the Bar Council of India D V Subba Rao as the Commissioner of Inquiry who has been asked to submit his findings within 15 days.

Announcing this, BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya said the inquiry report would be referred to the Board’s disciplinary committee for final adjudication and till that time Kale would remain suspended from participating in any tournament conducted by the Board, Dalmiya said.

Kale, who has denied the charge, has also been asked by the Maharashtra Cricket Association to appear before a three-member inquiry committee in Pune tomorrow.

The BCCI chief, who read out written reports given to him by two selectors - Pranab Roy of East Zone and Kiran More of West Zone - whom he had allegedly approached, clarified that Kale had offered monetary inducements for his selection in the Australia-bound Indian team.

The bribery controversy, the biggest to hit Indian cricket since the match-fixing scandal more than two years ago, came to light during the TVS Cup final between India and Australia on Tuesday when the two selectors verbally informed Dalmiya about Kale’s alleged offer.

"I told them to give everything in writing as this was a serious matter and had legal ramifications," Dalmiya said, adding that the actions announced today were as per the advice of Board’s legal counsel.

Dalmiya said that on November 19, he had conveyed the matter to the Maharashtra Cricket Association, to which Kale belonged and whose representatives were in the city for the tri-series final.

The written reports from the two national selectors, he said, were received by him late last night and referred them to the legal counsel.

In his report, Roy said "I was approached by Abhijit Kale with an offer of monetary inducement of Rs 10 lakh" for a place in the Indian team.

"I reprimanded him for his audacity and misdemeanour and he apologised," Roy said in the report, according to Dalmiya.

In a separate report, more said "kale repeatedly called me over phone and tried to offer money to get selected."

"The manner in which he approached me is unethical and might have spoilt the image of the game in the country," more said in his report.

None of the selectors, however, mentioned when they were offered these inducements, but both of them indicated that Kale called them on more than one occasion to impress upon them for a place in the Indian team.

Apparently, the offers were made before November 13, when the national selectors met in Bangalore to choose 20 probables for the Australian trip. The final 16 were selected at Hyderabad two days later.

The punitive action taken by the Board has been conveyed to Kale and to all affiliated units of the board including the Maharashtra Cricket Association.

Asked whether More’s letter had specified the amount allegedly offered by Kale, Dalmiya said "these details you will know once the inquiry is held".

"I have acted as per prima facie evidence ... On the basis of whatever information I had. The Commissioner of Inquiry asked me to initiate the process quickly as applying the principle of natural justice is important," Dalmiya said.

The BCCI chief said the controversy has "definitely" sullied India’s image in the cricketing world.

"Definitely such things cause loss of face. But I’m more concerned and worried that such things have happened. It has to be nipped in the bud," he said.

Dalmiya described as ‘personal opinion’ Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly’s defence of Kale in Chennai today.

"Whatever is the truth will come out once the inquiry is held. The discplinary committee will then deal with the matter as per our rules," he said.

Asked whether such offers were made to selectors in the past, Dalmiya said "if somebody does not tell me, how do I know?"

To a pointed question from a scribe whether action would be taken against the selectors if their allegation was proved to be false, he said "we will cross the bridge when we come to it".

Dalmiya said he would go by legal advice if Kale went to court against the suspension. "I don’t know who’ll do what. I’ll go by legal advice".

He felt the controversy would have no impact on the Indian team which left for Australia during the day. "This is a separate, isolated incident. It has nothing to do with the Indian side. Why should they be under pressure for this?"

The BCCI chief said he was not aware whether Kale’s name figured in the selection committee meeting. "I don’t attend such meetings. It is the bcci secretary who was present," he said. (PTI)

The tour down under is truly a series to reckon with

By Javagal Srinath

The Indians, who embark on the Australian tour today, are a resolute lot with the will to do well. Being part of the team all this while, I know on a tough and challenging tour like this one, all they need is the positive help from every quarter and not just criticism. After all we are part of the system from where the team is picked.

The Indian seasoned campaigners will be looking for new formula to better the previous results. The younger lot will be very eager to make a mark which would have a big impression on their future cricket.

No batsmen can claim to fame without scoring runs down under and no bowler’s career is fulfilling having not done well in Australia. Although, the drawn home test series against the Kiwis and the inexcusable defeat against the Australians in the recently concluded tri-series final does not point to an auspicious start of the season, the Indian team lands at Adelaide with fresh hopes and new-found ideas.

Indian batting line up looks the best in comparison to the previous tours. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid playing the lead role, it will be VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly who will really lend credibility to the Indian batting.

The opening slot remains undecided and to my knowledge it might invariably fall on the shoulders of Dravid during the course of the four tests. For the newcomer Akash Chopra and the other opener in Deep Dasgupta or Sadagopan Ramesh, will have to really show a great temperament and technique to offer resistance to the new ball.

It is a sad state to see the Indian opening slot has never looked settled for years. Either the players have not capitalised to build their career on or it also appears that the people of our country with great cricketing expertise have not tried enough to impart the intricate knowledge of dealing with the new ball.

The young openers have been found fending for themselves in the quest for continuing the legacy left behind by our predecessors unsuccessfully for a long time.

Over the years Sachin Tendulkar has fought the lone battle with the other batsmen not really dominating as much as they can, but now with huge experience behind them our batsmen can definitely make this sojourn a different one from the last two series.

It will be really interesting to see how Virender Sehwag applies himself on the tour. A splendid maiden hundred at headingly against England is a pointer for people not to write him off at any stage of the series and I am sure, Sehwag will be keenly looking up to Tendulkar and Dravid to help him on this challenging series. Laxman would be a treat to watch as he has this tremendous affinity to take the Australian attack on.

A fit Ashish Nehra will form the right combination with Ajit Agarkar being the first change bowler. The captain will have a real problem in choosing between the two spinners. The pre-test games will be the measuring scale for the spinners to pick themselves into the test side.

Though, it is the first outing for Zaheer and Nehra, they have enough experience and success behind to see through the series with favouring results. With Wasim Akram around doing the commentary, I am sure they will not hesitate to look up to him for any useful tips for what a great fast bowler he was in the world.

It has been a normal practice for years to go into a test match with four regular bowlers. A change in strategy to add extra fifth bowler to go with one less batsman is not a bad idea either. If the first five batsmen can’t deliver it is highly improbable that a sixth batsman would succeed, but definitely a 5th bowler can bring in a lot of variety into the attack and give the much required rest for the main bowlers to be fresh to come back into the attack by sharing the workload.

The world champions seldom lose any games, but any defeats they face will be dealt with vengeance at the right time. The series loss in their last Indian tour will be one thing on their minds to make our lives hard. Indians being the underdogs have nothing to lose but everything to gain. (PTI)

Kiwis pick 7 newcomers for Pak tour

AUCKLAND, Nov 21: Seven players who have never represented New Zealand in one-day play have been named in the 15-man squad to play five matches in Pakistan beginning next week.

Four established players are unavailable — Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Ian Butler and Lou Vincent — and Captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle are out because of injury.

Kyle Mills is also missing with a viral infection.

Matthew Horne and Andre Adams have also opted out of the tour without explanation. Last week, New Zealand players received death threats by e-mail in Pakistan where security officials are searching for the culprit.

Fast bowler Shane Bond, who is in the final stages of rehabilitation from injury, was not considered.

Established test player and sometime one-day international player, Mathew Sinclair, is recalled, as is Hamish Marshall, a replacement batsman to South Africa in 2000-2001 who made 40 in his only test innings and has not been used since. (agencies)

Guru Teg Bahadur Hockey Tournament
Zorawar Club, Stadium-XI, Khalsa Club, Digiana
Eleven enter semis

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 21: Semi-final position of the ongoing Guru Teg Bahadur Hockey Tournament cleared today with Zorawar Club Satwari, Stadium-XI, Khalsa Club and Digiana Eleven making their entries.

While Khalsa Club and Digiana Eleven made their entries in the Semi-Finals by winning their respective matches yesterday, Zorawar Club and Stadium-XI entered the semi-final position by defeating their respective opponents today.

Zorawar Club Satwari defeated Khalsa Blue by 7-0. For the winning team, Sunil and Baldev scored two goals each for the team and Sonu, Anoop and Vijay scored one goal each.

It was only due to the attacking performance of these players that Khalsa Blue could not score even a single goal and lost the match.

In the second match, Stadium XI defeated Diamond Club by 4-2. For Stadium-XI, Sachin scored two goals and Amit and Anil scoerd one goal each.

For the losing team, Gurmukhpreet Singh and Manmeet Singh scored one goal each.

The matches were officiated by Jasbir Singh, Amarjeet Singh, Harmenon Singh and Vijay Vaid.