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I don’t want to sleep DHAKA, Dec 14: It has been an exhilarating ride for Irfan Pathan on the fast lane of international cricket. But one year after his debut, the 21-year-old pace sensation is hungry for more success. "It has been a good year, I am quite happy with my performance. But I want to look what is in front .......more Muralitharan smiles through the setbacks LONDON, Dec 14: Muttiah Muralitharan lost his world record, had one of his most dangerous deliveries banned, refused to tour Australia after a prime-ministerial put-down, lost five months to the surgeon’s knife and ended 2004 as the happiest cricketer alive. ..........more Jadeja slams ton as Delhi batsmen back in form NEW DELHI, Dec 14: Delhi skipper Ajay Jadeja (103 not out) joined the run riot as the hosts declared their first innings at 427 for seven in their Ranji Trophy elite Group A match against Karnataka at the Jamia Millia ground here today. ....more There are good things ahead for me: Zaheer DHAKA, Dec 14: The record-breaking half century in the first Test against Bangladesh that made Zaheer Khan the world’s top scorer for a number eleven batsman has capped his successful comeback from a period of injuries and low form............more |
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Army School Jammu Cantt bags trophies for academic excellence Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Continuing with its pursuit for academic excellence Army School, Jammu Cantt has bagged both the Northern Command trophies for the best performance in XII (12th) and X (10th) CBSE Board Examination for the session 2003-04...........more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Established to promote cricket in the State, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has crossed all limits of its non-seriousness towards the game. ... .........more Women
sports meet in Jammu gives a festive look By Sanjeev Sharma JAMMU, Dec 14: Hosts Jammu and Kashmir won their handball league match while hockey team lost on the opening .........more Parbhakar in Jammu, to launch cricket academy for beginners Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Former opener and cricket all-rounder, Manoj Parbhakar has disclosed the. .......more |
I don’t want to sleep on my success: Pathan DHAKA, Dec 14: It has been an exhilarating ride for Irfan Pathan on the fast lane of international cricket. But one year after his debut, the 21-year-old pace sensation is hungry for more success. "It has been a good year, I am quite happy with my performance. But I want to look what is in front, look forward, want to keep doing the good work I have done so far. I want to concentrate on my cricket, I don’t want to sleep on my success," Pathan told PTI here today. Pathan’s maiden appearance was in the historic Adelaide Test last December when India recorded its first win in Australia in 20 years. Since then, Pathan has been the team’s bowling spearhead, his lethal left-arm swing bowling proving to be a key weapon for Sourav Ganguly and Co. The amazing aspect of Pathan has been that when he came on the international scene he was a well developed fast bowler. Former Pakistani captain Wasim Akram, who has been role model and mentor, has said that Pathan was a more mature bowler than he was at his age. Combined with his batting potential, many say he is the first allrounder India has produced after Kapil Dev. But the Baroda youngster doesn’t want to be carried away by comparisons with former greats. "Feels good that I am being considered on par with such great players. But it has just been one year for me, it is going to take many more years to achieve what they have achieved," Pathan said. "It is going to take years of hard work and concentration. There are lot of talented people but very few achieve success. It is a long way to go for me." Recalling his first Test, Pathan said he was not intimidated by the huge frame of Matthew Hayden, who had broken the world record for highest individual score in Test cricket few weeks ago, standing at the crease. "Dada told me that I am going to play three days before the match. When I was to bowl the first ball, I was nervous, but after that my confidence started going up with each ball. "We have a game plan for every batsmen, and it was no different for the Australians." Pathan’s success is all the more creditable because of his style of bowling. While the likes of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan have reinforced the argument that a bowler needs to hit the deck hard to succeed on Indian pitches, Pathan has shown that skillful use of seam could also bear fruits on the dusty tracks of the subcontinent. The young left-arm pacer is not perturbed by the comparison evoked. "Zaheer is close to taking 100 wickets, Srinath and Akram they have all done well, no matter what conditions. My strength is swing, the pace will improve," he said. (PTI) |
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Muralitharan smiles through the setbacks LONDON, Dec 14: Muttiah Muralitharan lost his world record, had one of his most dangerous deliveries banned, refused to tour Australia after a prime-ministerial put-down, lost five months to the surgeon’s knife and ended 2004 as the happiest cricketer alive. All those setbacks were to shrivel into insignificance when the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced proposals to review the laws on throwing. Should they opt next February to allow bowlers to flex their arms by up to 15 degrees, Muralitharan will never again have to worry that Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard considers him a "chucker". He will doubtless have little to fear from international umpires either, even in Australia where he was called for throwing in 1995-6 and 1998-9. The question mark hanging over his achievements will be removed and, doubtless too, he will return to overhaul arch-rival Shane Warne and regain the world mark for Test wickets. The pair’s wrist-spinning rivalry lit up 2004. They met head-to-head in March when the world champions visited Sri Lanka. Honours were shared, with Muralitharan claiming 28 wickets at 23.17 runs apiece to Warne’s 26 at 20.03, but Australia emerged clear winners in taking the series 3-0. Worse still for Sri Lanka, their key bowler was reported by match referee Chris Broad, whose concerns over Muralitharan’s ‘doosra’, a disguised leg break, were backed by the ICC who told him to cease bowling the variation. Muralitharan, however, continued to prosper and broke Courtney Walsh’s world record of 519 Test wickets in May against a pathetic Zimbabwe. The spinners’ proposed rematch, though, never went ahead after the Sri Lankan took exception to Australian criticism and boycotted the tour down under in June. A shoulder joint problem then ended his 2004, leaving the way open for Warne to snatch the world record from him. The other big record-breaker of the year was Brian Lara. Having seen Matthew Hayden eclipse his previous mark of 375 late in 2003, the West Indian quickly reclaimed the honour with 400 not out against England in the fourth Test in Antigua in April. But, as in the case of Muralitharan, Lara’s personal heroics were not enough for team success. England, inspired by Steve Harmison and his seven for 12 at Sabina Park, won the series 3-0 for their first success in the Caribbean for 36 years. They then beat them 4-0 on home soil as Michael Vaughan’s side reached December with 10 Test wins out of 11, vaulting them into second in the world rankings. They also got to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy before losing to Lara’s men. |
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Jadeja slams ton as Delhi batsmen back in form NEW DELHI, Dec 14: Delhi skipper Ajay Jadeja (103 not out) joined the run riot as the hosts declared their first innings at 427 for seven in their Ranji Trophy elite Group A match against Karnataka at the Jamia Millia ground here today. In reply, Karnataka reached 32 for no loss with their opening pair of Ayudda Uthappa(14) and Barrington Rowland(17) at the crease when stumps were drawn. Resuming on their overnight score of 205 for four, Delhi batsmen Shikhar Dhawan(130) and Rajat Bhatia(50) added another 25 runs when Dhawan perished at midwicket while trying to hoick Sunil Joshi. The southpaw’s 266-ball knock was studded with two sixes and 11 hits to the fence. Despite the breakthrough, Karnataka bowlers could not tame the Delhi batsmen and host skipper Ajay Jadeja partnered Rajat Bhatia to milk the Karnataka bowling attack which looked toothless. Bhatia departed after adding 70 runs with his skipper when he fished outside the offstump off Vinay Kumar and Sunil Joshi made no mistake in the first slip. Next man in Vijay Dahiya(49) also chipped in with useful contribution as he and Jadeja continued to frustrate the visitors. Jadeja looked in supreme touch and his effortless unbeaten knock of 103 included 15 hits to the fence—on the either side of the wicket. (UNI) |
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There are good things ahead for me: Zaheer DHAKA, Dec 14: The record-breaking half century in the first Test against Bangladesh that made Zaheer Khan the world’s top scorer for a number eleven batsman has capped his successful comeback from a period of injuries and low form. From the high of spearheading the Indian bowling in the World Cup, things changed upside down for Zaheer within a year’s time as he watched from the sidelines his team score victories in Australia and Pakistan. But now that his worst days are behind him, the Baroda fast bowler is keen to look forward. "You can’t help certain things, you can’t change them. You have to live with that. I want to look ahead and keep moving, I am sure there are more good things ahead for me," he said. Zaheer has not been exactly among the wickets this season and for the most part been a support cast to his state teammate Irfan Pathan. But there has been the endurance and consistency that marked him as a talent when he made his debut four years ago, especially in the Kanpur Test against South Africa where he was the team’s only recognised fast bowler. "I definitely feel happy about the way things have gone. I have played all the seven tests and done well. Of course there is scope for improvement," Zaheer said. "I am looking forward to the break after this series, when I plan to work on my fitness and improve my bowling further," Zaheer said. The one thing that may be lacking in his bowling is the speed. He had averaged near the 130 kmph mark whereas he used to bowl close to 140 kmph earlier. Zaheer said a bit more fine-tuning would help him add a couple of yards to his pace. "It is all about rhythm. When you hit the right length obviously your pace becomes better. I also need to work a bit more on my fitness." He said he has taken the negative criticism and the troubled times of last year in his stride. "When you are not doing well, people criticise. You have got to live with that. The motivation for me was to control things that I could control. I kept my focus on things that I can do better." Zaheer denied that he rushed his comebacks last season when he frequently broke down with one injury after another. "Not really. Andrew (Leipus) and me did not know exactly why injuries were happening, so we did not know in which direction to go." "When one muscle got injured and I did all that was required to comeback from that, then a different muscle would give away. It was only after the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, Andrew could figure what was going wrong and from there on we could decide on the direction (of treatment)," he said. (AGENCIES) |
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Army School Jammu Cantt bags trophies for academic excellence Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Continuing with its pursuit for academic excellence Army School, Jammu Cantt has bagged both the Northern Command trophies for the best performance in XII (12th) and X (10th) CBSE Board Examination for the session 2003-04. The trophies are awarded annually by the northern command on the basis of overall performance in the CBSE results for class X and XII. The chairman of the School Brig M. M Choudhary, GoC of 26 Inf. Div and Principal Mrs Anu Jandial received the coveted rolling trophies from Maj. Gen P. K Mahajan chief of staff Northern Command at the annual Army Schools and Army Public Schools Principals meet at Udhampur. All the Principals of the Army Schools and Army Public Schools of the Northern Command were present. It’s a matter of great pride and honour for the school to have received these trophies three times in the last four years. The school’s outstanding performance was appreciated by the officers of AWES, under whose guidance Army Schools run. Last year, Vaibhav Bindroo has created a record by scoring a brilliant 94.8 per cent in class XII. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs.3000. Sanjoli Gupta, Shruti Sharma, Shivani Sharma and Parul Vaid of class X were awarded Rs.3000 each for achieving more than 90 per cent aggregate. The patron of the school Maj Gen Vinay Sharma and the chairman of the school Brig M. M Choudhary congratulated the Principal, teaching staff and students for maintaining high educational standards through rigorous discipline and close monitoring. |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Established to promote cricket in the State, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has crossed all limits of its non-seriousness towards the game. The recent example being the selection trails of under-22 team without any information to the players. Victimising the genuine cricketers by showing sympathy with those overage and ‘blue-eyed’- kith and kin of influential people, the JKCA office bearers are directly sending whosoever want to play in under-22 to the Government Medical College hospital for X-Rays to ascertain their age. However, taking advantage of non-serious office bearers of JKCA, who even did not bother to remain present at the time of X-Rays, some of the overage players were allegedly presenting some one younger in their name so as to get underage certificate. According to the parents, some of whom complained to EXCESLIOR telephonically and by approaching its office that all was not well the way JKCA was ascertaining the age of a cricketer. They were of the opinion that if a cricketer who is well under age than what was the fun of sending him through X-Ray. At the same time they wondered whey JKCA office bearers were issuing slips for conducing X-Rays to the players they knew were overage, including some of the players who have been representing J&K in Ranji Trophy. It may be recalled that similar situation had arisen in under-19 year selection also. However, the chairman of JKCA, Ashutosh Sharma could not be contacted for his comments. |
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Women sports meet in Jammu
gives a festive look By Sanjeev Sharma JAMMU, Dec 14: Hosts Jammu and Kashmir won their handball league match while hockey team lost on the opening day of the 30th national sports festival for women (group-II) which was declared open by Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Vijay Bakaya. Had it not been the state mourning, declared by the Government on the demise of former Chief Minister, Mir Qasim, the opening would be a colourful affair. In absence of scheduled chief guest, Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the contingents representing different states just had march past holding their respective state flags. However, the scene at the main venue, M A Stadium, gave a true picture of the festival with women playing all-round in different fields prepared for the purpose. Lawn Tennis matches under flood lights near the Billiards hall gave a feeling as if one is roaming around sports stadia of some other state. Field inside the stadium has been fully covered with two hockey and three handball fields to hold matches simultaneously in the four-day festival. A big pandal has been set-up for the three-time meal to the participants and their officials adjoining to the indoor complex as so as to make it convenient for the players. The big achievement on part of the State Sports Ministry was that they have managed to bring all the three major sports departments (State Sports Council, DYSS and SAI), working in J&K, on a common platform. It was quite impressive to watch coaches and officials of all the three departments act hand in hand to establish a name for the state at the national level as a hospitable hosts. The credit for the visionary approach to involve everyone whosoever is associated with sports for a national event being hosted by the state goes to the the man who heads both State Sports Council and Department of Youth Services and Sports besides hold control on the SAI coaches in J&K.Earlier, in the opening day matches, J&K women won their handball match but lost in hockey. In handball, J&K defeated Tamil Nadu 11-4 in their pool league match. Other league results: Assam bt Delhi 19-17, Chattisgarh bt Uttar Pradesh 34-8, Manipur bt Tripura 22-4, Goa bt Gujarat 14-8, Chandigarh bt Karnataka 24-18, Assam got walkover Kerala, Rajasthan got walkover West Bengal, Orissa got West Bengal, Punjab bt Andhra Pradesh 15-4, Andhra Pradesh bt Orissa 21-7, Madhya Pradesh bt Gujarat 23-10, Haryana bt Karnataka 15-14, Chandigarh bt Uttar Pradesh 23-7, Goa bt Tamil Nadu 12-10. Senior handball coach, Arun Kumar is supervising the handball competitions. J&K could not win their inaugural league hockey match and lost to Goa 1-2. Other league results: Madhya Pradesh got walkover Karnataka, Gujarat bt Chattisgarh 4-1, Punjab bt Haryana in tie breaker, Orissa bt HP 5-0, Bihar got walkover Kerala, Delhi bt Andhra Pradesh 3-2, HP bt Manipur 4-0, Chandigarh bt Tamil Nadu 12-1, AP got walkover Assam, Gujarat bt West Bengal 5-0 and UP got walkover Karnataka. Senior hockey coach Dalbir Mehta is supervising the handball competitions. |
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Parbhakar in Jammu, to launch cricket academy for beginners Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Former opener and cricket all-rounder, Manoj Parbhakar has disclosed the launching of a cricket academy by him for the beginners at Greater Noida in Delhi by this month. Parbhakar, who was in Jammu in connection with a seminar organised by Naturance Research Pvt. Ltd., an aurvedic (beauty) products company owned by the cricketer, was talking to the newsmen, here this afternoon. (The famous cricketer quit playing active cricket in 1996 and subsequently banned by the BCCI for his allegations against the cricket board and former skipper, Kapil Dev on the issue of match-fixing.) While giving more details about his forthcoming venture, Parbhakar said, " it will be launched on December 19 at Greater Noida in the name of Manoj Parbhakar TGI Naturance Cricket Academy-the learning ground for the beginners in the age group of 8-12 year will be laid at St. Joseph School." He said that if needed, he will approach legendary cricketers and former friends like Gavaskar, Azhar and Ravi Shastri for their services in moulding the budding cricketers. Parbhakar, who had also contested the unsuccessful Parliamentary elections on the ticket of Congress (T), will again visit the City of Temples in February in connection with his business. Commenting on the cricket scenarios in Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj said that there should not be any quota system in game like cricket as prevails in Jammu and Kashmir and stressed for giving chance to the new comers. Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Ramsue branch of the State Bank of India (district Doda) organised a cricket tournament under the community service banking involving the local youth. In the final, Ramban XI defeated Magerkot XI to lift the winners trophy. V K Mahajan, branch manager of the host bank distributed prizes to the winners and runners-up teams. Mohd Rafiq was declared man of the match while Imran Ahmed was adjudged man of the series and player of the tournament. J&K skaters win 18 medals in nationals Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Jammu and Kashmir won as many as 18 medals in the recently held 42nd national roller skating championship at Faridabad in Haryana. Arjun Gandotra made hat-trick winning two gold and a bronze medal in in-line speed skating in senior group. Vanita Suri and Bavneet Kour also bagged one bronze each in the same category. Divij Balotra clinched three medals in 10-12 year age category and was also awarded with speed championship trophy. Youngest in-line skater of the state, Shivang Gupta brought home a bronze medal in 8-10 year group. Aakshi Sangra performed classical artistic and was appreciated by the federation artistic committee. In team events of roller hockey, J&K bagged three silver medals in senior men, senior girls and sub-junior girls categories. Meanwhile, president of the J&K Roller Skating Association, G S Khurmi has expressed satisfaction over the performance of the J&K contingent. He complimented the management of Shiva Roller Skating Institute, where most of these skaters use to practice and their parents. He had all praise for the dedicated team of coaches including Kamal Anand, P PP Singh and Roshan Gupta besides team manager, Parbhat Aggarwal. He hoped that the skaters, especially those younger ones would continue their hardwork and improve the medals tally next year. Medal winners: Arjun Gandotra two gold (15000 mts and 10000 mts) and bronze in 5000 mts in road race; Vanita Suri, bronze medal in 15000 mts; Bavneet Kour, bronze medal in 300 mts; Tarun Gandotra, bronze in 10000 mts; Shubham Manhas, bronze in 1000 mts; Divij Balotra, three gold (300 mts, 1000 mts, 3000 mts); Ragni Gupta, gold in 300 mts; Mir Daniyal, gold in 2000 mts; Shivang Gupta, bronze in 1000 mts; Dhananjay Charak, bronze in 1500 mts and Aakshi Sangra, bronze in Classical. Temporary relief for underfire Rach NEW DELHI, Dec 14: The Indian Hockey Federation today deferred a decision on underfire coach Gerhard Rach, who was widely expected to be shown the exit door, leaving the country’ first ever foreign coach to wait till the middle of January to know his fate. Rach met IHF president K P S Gill here this afternoon amid speculation that he would be given the marching orders for his failure in changing the team’s fortunes but his future was not discussed during the 30-minute one-to-one. Gill asked Rach to meet him after he returned from Germany in the middle of January for further discussions. "I had a one-to-one with the IHF chief during which we talked about the performance in the Champions Trophy. He said we must speak with a free mind on a later date since there is a lot of media pressure now. There was no discussion on my future," Rach told PTI after the meeting. Rach, who did not sign any formal contract with IHF but worked on an agreement till the Champions Trophy, had recently said that he had received a message from the IHF which claimed that the government was not happy with his performance. Although Gill has asked rach to meet him next month, the IHF is free to appoint a new coach. Rach would leave for Germany tonight and return on January 11. Rach, who took over from Rajinder Singh just two weeks before Olympics, has come under severe criticism for the team’s failure to put up a fight at the highest level. India’s fourth place finish in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy in Lahore intesnified the clamour for his ouster. "Gill agreed that I was under a lot of pressure to deliver in the Champions Trophy," Rach said referring to India’s performance in the elite six-nation competition where they won just won out of six matches to finish fourth. Under Rach, India finished a dismal seventh in the Athens Olympics and lost the eight-match Test series against Pakistan 2-4 before their medal-less finish in Lahore. (PTI) |
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