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Australians want to BANGALORE, Oct 3: The Australians want to win the four-Test series against India with a "tag of legitimacy" by taking on a full strength Indian side that has Sachin Tendulkar in it. ...................more By Shane Warne I will be sharing my own personal experiences combined with those of the team over the next few weeks through these columns. Our last few tours of India have definitely not gone according to plan for us. Whilst we have had a couple of good wins, overall it has been disappointing as we have not been able to claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, even though we played really well the last time we were here.........more Dalmiya the king maker, Ganguly the ‘kingpin’ By Rajesh Dhar "Joginder bowled very well. There was not much pace on the wicket. He bowled with a lot of nip and accuracy" said..............more Malik
and Khan earn PESHAWAR, Oct 3: All-rounder Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan returned to form with timely half centuries today to lead Pakistan to a narrow three-wicket win over a determined ..............more |
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Sports Council to host all India women sports festival Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: State Sports Council is hosting the group-II of the all India women sports festival in three events of handball, hockey and tennis from December Ist at Jammu.................more 12-member
group leaves Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: A 12-member team, including six girls and their teachers, was today given a send-off for participating in the inter-state junior Red Cross training-cum-study camp to be held at Kurukshetra........more J&K enters QFs of junior National Kabaddi Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: Jammu and Kashmir today entered into quarterfinals of the 31st junior National Kabaddi (boys) championship being hosted by Karnataka Amateur Kabaddi Association at Bangalore............more Federer beats Roddick to win Thailand Open BANGKOK, Oct 3: Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick 6-4 6-0 to win the Thailand Open today, and joined Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as the only players to win 12 consecutive finals. "When I came here I didn’t know what to expect," said Federer. "I took it easy . ........more |
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| Kirui, Sun emerge winners of World
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Australians want to beat India legitimately BANGALORE, Oct 3: The Australians want to win the four-Test series against India with a "tag of legitimacy" by taking on a full strength Indian side that has Sachin Tendulkar in it. Australian captain Adam Gilchrist said he "suspects" Tendulkar to play in the series-opening Test, beginning here on Wednesday, and his players also wanted that as they were keen to win legitimately. "I think he (Tendulkar) will be there (for the first Test). Obviously, everyone would love to see him. He is an element that you want to play the best. He is the best batsman that I think I have ever seen. So, if we are going to win here (India) legitimately, it’s nice to play the best team possible," Gilchrist said. The national selectors have included Tendulkar in the 15-member squad for the first two Tests but his featuring in the playing XI would depend on his match fitness. "I suspect Sachin is going to play. So, wait and see whether he plays or not. But even if India does not have him, we know as well as any team around the world, the quality of other players. So, we won’t take them lightly," Gilchrist told reporters at a promotional event of Castrol. Gilchrist said his side was aware of India’s strengths when playing at home but his players had planned well this time to counter the challenge. He said Australians were aware as to how tough "india is in home conditions and by playing well in the last away series, they also proved how tough they are in Australian conditions also. We have utmost respect for the Indian team. "(But) we have planned well (for the series). We are thorough in our preparations. We have a very, very well balanced squad. It really comes down to preparations, and we should really play well." However, he was not willing to add too much hype to the contest. "We are not going to try and build it (this series) as a bigger series than ever before. It’s important for now. It’s not be-all-end-all of all our careers. We still have (achieved) a lot regardless of what the result would be — win or loss." Predicting an exciting and terrific series, he joked when asked what he has been telling the players as Australia have not won a series in India for 35 years. "Having not won in 35 years, we have nothing to lose. No expectations that we are going to win," he said in a lighter vein. Praising Indian spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, Gilchrist said "the team is going to have a difficult time" from the duo. "Hopefully, we will get a plan to counter these bowlers and can adapt to the scenario," he said. (PTI) |
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By Shane Warne I will be sharing my own personal experiences combined with those of the team over the next few weeks through these columns. Our last few tours of India have definitely not gone according to plan for us. Whilst we have had a couple of good wins, overall it has been disappointing as we have not been able to claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, even though we played really well the last time we were here. We started the last tour with a bang, winning our 16th consecutive test match well under four days at Mumbai, and that was to be our last celebration for the test series. What confronted us was the Very, Very Special Laxman. Along with Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid, he took the series away from us. We know how dangerous this Indian team is and that is why we are not focusing on any individual player in our preparations, but the whole team. We are well aware that these players are hugely gifted and all of them can win a match on any given day. This Australian team is not going to make the mistake, which other teams touring here have done - our target is not to focus on one individual, but Team India. I am concentrating on being more consistent. On the last two tours I have bowled well in patches. One cannot afford to bowl any lose deliveries to these Indian batsmen. They are just too good on their feet and have got some of the hardest hitters in the game. But this time around we are an improved side in terms of better equipped to face spin, ( 3-0 win in sri lanka against Murali is a testimony to that) and our fitness levels are at their best.There is lot of eagerness to go out and win this series as this the only place we as a team have not tasted success. The whole team loves to play cricket in this part of the world. The following is simply unbelievable. Indians are without doubt the most enthusiastic fans in the cricket world. They not only follow the game religiously but understand it too. Whilst I love India, I am not a big fan of the local cuisine. I am more of a Pizza person than a curry fan, and hope to get a nice pizza - ham and pineapple the night before our test match at Bangalore. It's like a tradition for me, a nice pizza the night before the first test of every series. Although I'm not a big fan of Indian food, there are others in the team who love it. We are based in Mumbai, and it is one of the better places to have fun. Upon arriving here we were told that there are plenty of good restaurants and pubs around. So far we we haven't been disappointed. I hope when we finish the series in Mumbai on 7th November we will have enough reason to party hard in this party place of India. |
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Dalmiya the king maker, Ganguly the ‘kingpin’ By Rajesh Dhar "Joginder bowled very well. There was not much pace on the wicket. He bowled with a lot of nip and accuracy" said Ganguly while praising Haryana’s rookie paceman Joginder Sharma after his three wicket haul in practice match between India seniors and India A at Bangalore , some days back. This statement of the Indian skipper came at an ‘appropriate’ time as the weather- cock behaviour is his trademark from the word go and he very well knows when to strike, where to strike and how to strike, rather has a full knowledge of driving the boat with the wind. The Haryana boy ( Joginder), no- doubt is a class act and his potential can hardly be challenged in any class of cricket, but what is point of concern is the fact that this bowler rather an all- rounder ( as he can yield his willow also) deserved such praises some year back, as he has had many better performances before also, but the only differenence was that Kolkatta’s Dalmiya was at the helm of affairs then, and now it is Haryana’s Ranbir Singh Mahendra wearing the crown . So the Captain thought it opportune time to advocate for Haryana lad . Now, there will be no surprise to see ‘Prince of Kolkatta’ backing the players like Joginder Sharma, young Sunny Singh (Haryana) etc to please the new president of cash - rich BCCI, who was the nominee of Ganguly’s mentor ( Dalmiya) , and who only managed to win with the casting vote of this out- going President , who now is patron - in - chief of BCCI. And it won’t be surprising to even see amendment in the constitution of BCCI to benefit the post of chief patron in terms of powers. No -doubt , one can’t ignore Dalmiya’s role in promoting cricket in India, as he immensely has contributed to this game by working day -in and day- out for improving its standard but what dismays one is that after being President for two consecutive terms he still has lust to be in power by either being chief of Asian Cricket Board or Patron-in-chief of Indian Cricket Board .Furthermore, the out -going President just before the end of his two term tenure announced the contract agreement of the players to simply make them to sing his songs in future. Moreover, hardly any captain in Indian cricketing history should have enjoyed such a sort of freedom that Ganguly enjoys ___ courtesy Board of Control for Cricket in India. He is so fortunate that the Cricket Board without bothering about the out- come of results nominates him skipper for two to three consecutive tours , which has not been seen before. That is why the ‘Bengal Tiger’, time and again, warns other members of the team for taking their places for granted, least bothering about the security of his own place, which is cemented like a Berlin wall. The height of thinks is that the most ‘successful’ captain now dares to virtually declare the batsman like Sachin’s stature unfit, that too at the time when he was yet to be named as captain. " We will monitor his fitness on daily basis. Let’s see how he will do," says Sourav after being named as captain and after Sachin’s inclusion for first two tests against Australia . One can comprehend it in simple words that it is Dalmiya the King- maker, Ganguly the ‘kingpin’. |
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Malik and Khan earn Pak narrow win PESHAWAR, Oct 3: All-rounder Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan returned to form with timely half centuries today to lead Pakistan to a narrow three-wicket win over a determined Zimbabwe in their second one-day international. Malik made 80 off 104 balls and khan scored 77 as Pakistan recovered from an early scare of 48 for three to overhaul the 253-run victory target in 48.1 overs for the loss of seven wickets. Man of the match Khan, who did not figure in the ICC Champions Trophy in England last month due to poor form, earlier in the day also kept wicket after regular wicketkeeper Moin Khan missed the match due to influenza. Malik, dropped on 10 by a diving Mark Vermeulen in the slips, and Khan shared 114 runs off 128 balls for the match-winning fifth wicket partnership. Stuart Matsikenyeri brought off a spectacular sliding catch with both hands at long on to end Malik’s innings when Pakistan required just 50 more runs for victory. Zimbabwe lost the first game at Multan last Thursday by a massive margin of 144 runs. With the scores levelled today, Khan was run out after hitting four boundaries and a flat six at covers. Shahid Afridi brought the crowd of around 15,000 hometown supporters at Arbab Niaz Stadium to their feet with a straight six off medium fast bowler Mluleki Nkala to give Pakistan the win. Zimbabwe’s new-ball seamer Tinash Panyangara (3-28) mopped up Pakistan’s shaky top order batting lineup, and reduced the host to 48 for three inside the first 10 overs. However, after Panyangara’s opening burst, rest of the inexperienced Zimbabwe bowlers struggled, and both Malik and Khan played their strokes freely on both sides of the wickets. Earlier, Brendan Taylor and Dion Ebrahim struck half centuries against an under-strength Pakistan bowling attack and guided Zimbabwe to a solid 252 for four, after stand-in Pakistan captain Yousuf Youhana won the toss and elected to field first. Opening batsman Taylor made a defiant 73 off 122 balls, while Ebrahim scored an unbeaten 71 off 85 deliveries. Captain Tatenda Taibu accelerated the Zimbabwe innings in the last 10 overs with a brisk 46 off 33 balls and hammered three sixes in his 91-run unfinished fourth wicket stand off a mere 65 deliveries with Ebrahim. Pakistan rested speedster Shoaib Akhtar and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq after an easy win in the first game. Regular captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, with a groin injury, also missed today’s game. Pakistan backup seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took the wickets of Taylor and Vermeulen in one over, but was hammered for 82 runs off his 10 overs, with taibu hoisting him for big six over square leg in the last over of the innings. Zimbabwe with two defeats against host Pakistan now has a rest of five days. It will meet sri lanka in back to back matches on October 9 and October 11 in Rawalpindi. The Sri Lankan team will arrive later today in the Southern Port city of Karachi where it will meet Pakistan on October 6. (AP) |
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Sports Council to host all India women sports festival Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: State Sports Council is hosting the group-II of the all India women sports festival in three events of handball, hockey and tennis from December Ist at Jammu. Around 1000 players and officials, representing various states of the country, are expected to participate in this festival. To discuss the modalities of hosting the mega event in Jammu, a meeting was held in the chairmanship of Secretary, Sports Council, Manoj Pant. Meeting besides officials was attended by Jammu based members of the Sports Council. Two venues selected for holding competitions are MA Stadium, Gandhi Nagar playing field and K K Hakhu Stadium, here. For the smooth conduct of the festival, various committees have been formed by the Council involving the officials of the Department of Youth Services and Sports, of which Manoj Pant is a Director also. |
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12-member group leaves for Red Cross study camp Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: A 12-member team, including six girls and their teachers, was today given a send-off for participating in the inter-state junior Red Cross training-cum-study camp to be held at Kurukshetra. The camp is being organised by Haryana State branch of the Red Cross Society. Earlier, Dinesh Gupta, executive secretary Jammu district branch, welcomed all the dignitaries and highlighted the activities of Red Cross Society, a handout issued here today said. |
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J&K enters QFs of junior National Kabaddi Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 3: Jammu and Kashmir today entered into quarterfinals of the 31st junior National Kabaddi (boys) championship being hosted by Karnataka Amateur Kabaddi Association at Bangalore. According to reports reaching here today, J&K defeated Tamil Nadu 24-17 (9-9) in a well contested quarter-final match played today. Earlier, in the pool matches, J&K beat Bihar 38-19, held Maharashtra draw 9-9 (ht 3-5) and trounced Kerala 66-16 to qualify the pool. It was J&K juniors’ first-ever entry into the quarterfinals, said Kuldeep Gupta, general secretary of the J&K Amateur Kabaddi Association. |
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Federer beats Roddick to win Thailand Open BANGKOK, Oct 3: Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick 6-4 6-0 to win the Thailand Open today, and joined Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as the only players to win 12 consecutive finals. "When I came here I didn’t know what to expect," said Federer. "I took it easy after the US Open and was just hoping for a good tournament, and now I’ve won another one so that’s really fantastic. "I didn’t believe I could somehow reach 10 (titles) this year, and it just keeps on going. Obviously I’m very happy." The Swiss world number one dominated the American second seed, who received treatment in the second set for a right elbow injury. The opening game was drama in itself, with Roddick firing five aces, two double-faults and holding off three break points. Federer had to wait until the seventh game to take the lead, breaking for 4-3 when Roddick netted a forehand. Roddick had an opportunity to rescue the set at 5-4, holding two break points. But federer responded with consecutive aces to get back to deuce. Federer maintained the pressure in the second set, as Roddick made a backhand error to give Federer a break for 1-0, and a further break for 3-0 sealed the American’s fate. The trainer then attended to Roddick’s elbow, but that did nothing to delay Federer’s march to victory. "I hurt my elbow yesterday against Marat Safin, but I don’t think that made a difference. Roger’s been beating people all year," said Roddick. "I came out and gave it a shot, but when I went back to the room yesterday I started to feel something in one of the tendons in my elbow." "I probably just strained it, but it made it pretty tough out there." "I gave it the best shot I could, but once i got broken in the second I definitely didn’t feel too good about my chances." "I was playing with half a deck of cards and I have a bad record against Roger with a full deck of cards, so it was a little disappointing." (AGENCIES) Kirui, Sun emerge winners of World half Marathon NEW DELHI, Oct 3: More fancied racers were relegated to secondary positions as Paul Kirui of Kenya and Yingjie Sun of China won the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the IAAF World half marathon championships here today. The 24-year-old Kirui gave the Sunday crowd a treat of a lifetime as he outran title favourite and last year’s silver medallist Joseph Fabiano of Tanzania to win the coveted title. Sun, the 27-year-old from China, came up with a stunning show to take the women’s gold which was expected to be clinched by Sonia O’sullivan of Ireland, who failed to live up to her top billing by finishing fourth. The Chinese came up with a national record to take the top honours with a timing of 1 hour 08 min 40 sec. Kenya’s Lydia Cheromei took the second spot clocking 1:09:00, her personal best, while Romanian Constantina Tomescu-Dita came third in 1:09.07. Title favourite Sonia O’sullivan finished the race in 1:10.33. Kirui clocked 1 hour 02 min and 15 sec to take the top spot ahead of Fabiano (1:02.31) and Ahmad Abdullah Hassan of Qatar (1:02.36). Hassan is the current Asian record holder in 5,000m and 10,000m. Among the Indians, Ram Bahadur Subba was the best performer finishing 59th with a timing of 1:10.33. Mukesh Kumar Yadav (1:11.53) came 65th, Ajit Singh 66th (1:12.05) and Raj Kumar 69th clocking 1:12.12. In the team standings, Kirui’s effort, alongwith some fine run by John Cheruiyot Korir and Wilson Kiprotich propelled Kenya to the top spot. Kenya (3:07.55) came ahead of Ethiopia (3:08.37) and Uganda (3:13.48). Korir’s fourth place finish came in 1:02.38 while Kiprotich returned a timing of 1:03.02 to emerge sixth. Ethiopia came second after Solomon Tsige (1:02.42) finished sixth, Alene Emere (1:02.52) seventh and Berhanu Addane ninth (1:03.03). Wilson Busienei (7th place in 1:02.55), Martin Toroitich (13th in 1:04.48) and Joseph Nsubuga (27th in 1:06.05) gave Uganda the third place in the team standings. Earlier the prestigious event, being held for the first time in Asia, was declared open by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Also present on the occasion were Sports Minister Sunil Dutt, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, International Association of Athletics Federation president Lamine Diack and Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi. (PTI) India-Pakistan to resume rivalry today From Biswajyoti Brahma NEW DELHI, Oct 3: India would be banking on home advantage to carry their good work forward against Pakistan when the Asian giants resume their rivalry on the hockey field with the second leg of the friendship series starting here tomorrow. Putting behind the disappointment of the Athens Olympics, where they finished seventh, India fared impressively in the first four matches of the series in Pakistan where they won one and drew another test after some exciting contests. Although they lost two matches in the series, they improved with each outing in Pakistan and it should come as no surprise if the side, which was written off even before the start of the series, goes on to upset their arch-rivals. To achieve that, however, the home side would need to put in a lot of effort and reproduce their brilliance in all the departments that helped them match their opponents in Pakistan. "It’s quite a possibility after the way my boys played there. The players are young but they have the potential to emerge triumphants and they proved that in Pakistan," said Indian captain Dilip Tirkey. But more than the home advantage the, 27-year-old captain is relying on his players to see them through in the opener in Delhi tomorrow. "No doubt the home support would be an advantage, but the players have to perform to their best of abilities against a side that would be keen to make a mark here." Although India trail Pakistan 2-1, Tirkey said the players were feeling confident after the show in Pakistan. "Honestly speaking, we were a bit down on morale after the Athens Olympics. We knew that our performance had not been good. But this series has done a world of good to the confidence of the players," he said. The young side under Tirkey proved the detractors wrong when they bounced back in style after losing the first match at Karachi to fashion an imposing 4-1 win at Quetta. If the new-look forwardline availed of most of the scoring chances, the mid-fielders played their role to perfection. The defence under the ever-dependable tirkey thwarted several attempts by the Pakistani forwards. Adrian D’souza came up with yet another fine show under the bar that proved his growing stature as one of the finest goalkeepers in the world. "I am quite satisfied with what happened in Pakistan. All the coaches are happy," said assistant coach Jagbir Singh. "The forwardline did very well and just a look at their report card reveals that they scored 11 goals in four matches, which is an indication that we are heading in the right direction," he said. "We can say the team is progressing. Let us see how the team fares in future tournaments." While India can draw several positives from their tour of Pakistan, rival coach Roelant Oltmans was thinking hard on the strategy to be adopted to counter the challenge of the hosts. "It was not a surprise to see the Indians play well in Pakistan. They are a very good side and have some fine players," Oltmans said. Oltmans knows his boys must stick to the game plan to emerge victorious in the series, which he predicts would be a close one. "The problem with our players is that they involve themselves so much in the game that at times they forget about the plan. Playing to a plan is very much important which could determine whether you are going to win or lose," said the Holland-born coach. The Pakistanis have so far failed to utilise most of the chances that came their way in the series and would not like to repeat the mistakes again. They also do not have an impressive conversion rate from penalty corners with Sohail Abbas failing to be his prolific self. Several of Sohail’s attempts were countered well by the teenaged goalkeeper D’souza, who seems to have found a way to stop the ace Drag Flicker from scoring with his favourite shot. The matches are expected to be highly charged affairs as both the sides would battle hard for supremacy before a big crowd expected to throng the stadium to witness the game at its best. The series has rekindled the passion for the game in Pakistan in a big way which was evident from the crowd turn out during the matches. While most of the stadiums were full to the capacity, Lahore had a whopping 25,000 people watching the 4-4 draw, the best match of the series so far. With the next two tests slated in Chandigarh and Amritsar, it should not come as a surprise if Lahore’s record is broken in the next seven days. Sun thankful to rains for a cool morning NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Overnight rains came as a blessing in disguise for Chinese runner Yingjie Sun who crushed Irish star Sonia O’sullivan’s dream of completing a rare triple of world titles by winning the women’s title in the 13th World half marathon championship here today. "Oh god, it is going to be a cool day! I thought last night when the rains came down," she said after winning the race. "Today the weather was pretty good though it was a bit warm towards the latter part of the race. But overall, it did not bother me much," said Sun, who bagged the winner’s purse of USD 30,000, through a translator. Starting in a pleasant 25 degree celsius temperature, the Chinese cruised through the 21-km course and emerged a comfortable winner in 1:08:40, 20 seconds clear of kenya’s Lydia Cheromei (1:09:40). Romanian Constantina Tomescu came third in 1:09:07 seconds. Sonia, who was lying seventh at the 10 kilometre mark, finished fourth in 1:10:33 thus missing a golden chance to add to her world track title won in 1995 and cross country titles in 1998. The 27-year-old Yingjee, a double gold medallist in the last Asian Games and bronze medal winner in the 2003 World Championships in Paris, was modest after her win and said she took the race as an opportunity to learn from other world class athletes. "A lot of athletes here were of very high standard and so I took this as a chance to learn from them. I followed and learned from them," she said. The Chinese railways sponsored athlete, who rarely moves her arms when running, was very happy to win the title in the first World half marathon held in Asia. "I’m very happy that I won the race but I did not expect to run this fast," she said after setting a new Chinese national record. Yingjie also thanked the Delhi public for their support: "the spectators were very warm hearted." On the challenge from 34-year-old Sonia, the Chinese, who continued her great form after Athens said, "I was aware about the challenge posed by her. Sonia is a big name, so I was ready." But it is not time yet for sun to rest as she prepares to have a go at the Beijing international marathon on October 17. "After Beijing I will take rest," she said. (PTI) NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Reposing its faith in players who toured Pakistan for four Test matches, Indian Hockey Federation today named an unchanged 18-member squad for the second leg of the friendship series starting here tomorrow. "The series in India is quite short and it will be over within a week. So the 18-member team will be for all the Tests to be played in India. A change will only take place if a player suffers any serious injury," IHF president K P S Gill told reporters here. Expressing satisfaction over the team’s performance in Pakistan, where it lost two matches and won one besides a draw, Gill said the side has shown significant improvement since their return from Athens Olympics. "There has been significant improvement in the performance of the team," he said. Team: Dilip Tirkey (capt), Devesh Chauhan, Adrian D’souza, Harpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, William Xalxo, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey, V S Vinay, Prabodh Tirkey, Vivek Gupta, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Tushar Khandekar, Girish Pimpale, Hari Prasad.
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