Trials for Sub-Junior Tug-of-War Championship
from tomorrow

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 19: Jammu and Kashmir Tug-of-War Association is conducting selection trials to pick up probables for the 7th Sub-Junior National Tug-of-War on April 21 and 22.

The 7th Sub-Junior National Tug-of-War Championship will be held at Jaipur in Rajasthan from May 7 to May 11. The selection trials will be conducted at Unique Public Higher Secondary School Gadi Garh Jammu and Phy College Gandharbal Srinagar on April 21 and 22 at 9 AM.

From April 24 to May 4, a camp will be organised at Unique Public Higher Secondary School Gadi Garh Jammu for selected players.

ICPA says six ODI ban on Ganguly ‘excessive’

KOLKATA, Apr 19: The Indian Cricket Players’ Association (ICPA) today rallied behind a beleaguered Sourav Ganguly and termed as ‘excessive’ the six-ODI ban slapped on him by the International Cricket Council.

Arguing that the player should have been given a hearing after he filed his appeal, ICPA vice president Arun Lal said in a statement that while the ICC had to ensure over rates, a six-match ban could impact a cricketer’s career.

"We feel that the six-match ban is excessive. We realise that the ICC has to ensure over rates, but a six-match ban could impact a players’ career — surely, that is not the intention of the ICC," Lal said.

The ICPA also lauded the BCCI for standing by Ganguly.(PTI)

Pak media hail cricket team as national heroes

KARACHI, Apr 19: Pakistan media was full of praise for the cricket players and hailed them as national heroes today after they returned home from a hugely successful tour of India where the team drew the three-test series 1-1 and won the one-day series 4-2.

All the newspapers gave extensive coverage to the team’s arrival with most of the leading dailies carrying at least four-column front page photographs of captain Inzamam-ul Haq mobbed by thousands of fans on his arrival in Lahore yesterday.

Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan — the three cricketers who had a fine outing in India — were also shown photographed with garlands.

While the English newspapers were sober in their headlines, the Urdu newspapers used all the possible adjectives in the praise of the cricketers.

The newspapers also gave prominence to President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement of cash award of Rs five million for the team for its fine show in India.

The announcement was made on Sunday at a dinner reception hosted by the Pakistan High Commissioner to India.

"The cricketers deserve more rewards because they have done that was considered unimaginable. Imran Khan won in 1987 but he had a good team but Inzamam did with a weak team and for that he and his team are to be given the status of national heroes," a local daily said in its report.

Besides Musharraf’s announcement, which is certainly one of the many to follow, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shaharyar Khan has announced Rs 500,000 for each player.

Musharraf has already made announcements of Rs one million for Inzamam after his match-winning innings at Ahmedabad and Rs 500,000 for Afridi for his electrifying century at Kanpur.

The entire collections will be equally distributed amongst the 16 players of the squad.

Besides the cash awards, Inzamam is also set to be decorated with the ‘pride of performance’ award, the highest civilian medal of the country.

In the past, legends like Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and Wasim Akram have been decorated with this honour.

Dawn newspaper compared the one-day series victory to Pakistan’s first test win in 1954 against England at the oval where Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets.

Under the caption "Shabash Pakistan", the newspaper in its editorial said: "When Pakistan beat England on their inaugural tour in 1954, it obliged a British newspaper to write an editorial titled `Shabash Pakistan’."

It continued: "When they began their tour of India a month-and-a-half ago, nobody gave them half a chance against their formidable hosts, especially after the disastrous tour of Australia earlier this year.

"As it turned out, `never say die’ became the visitors’ rallying cry. Henceforth, it was to be one for all and all for one."

Pakistan bounced back in the Bangalore test to level the series 1-1 while won the last four matches in the one-day series to take it 4-2.

The paper said the best thing about Pakistan’s performance in India was that success came through a complete team effort.

"It would be difficult to pick and choose from among Inzamamul Haq’s boys. He had a man for almost every occasion.

"It was Younas Khan in the test series, it was Rana Naveed-ul Hassan and of course Shahid Afridi in the one-day encounters, helped on all occasions by skipper Inzamam himself. He led the side unobtrusively, even modestly and with a minimum of fuss.

The Dawn also praised cricketers for their off-the-field conduct.

"Results apart, the Pakistani cricketers were excellent Ambassadors for their country whenever they played. They were great competitors on the field and amiable comrades off it.

"They have played no mean part in the on-going process of normalisation of relations between the two countries. Shabash Pakistan and never say die."

The nation credited the team’s performance to some inspirational leadership of Inzamam.

"Though it was a great team effort, Inzamam-ul Haq’s contribution in leading from the front deserves appreciation. Not only did he lead the team to victory with the bat, he also provided the right mindset that did not let the boys fall apart under pressure, as has happened too many times in Pakistani cricket history," the paper said in its editorial.

"Sportsmen are great ambassadors for their countries. The Pakistani public feels a special liking for cricket and therefore relates closely with the team’s performance, especially against India." (PTI)

India face South Africa in Azlanshah opener

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: India will take on South Africa in their opening match in the 14th Sultan Azlanshah Hockey Tournament to be played in Kuala Lumpur from May 26 to June 5.

The seven-nation tournament is slated to be played on round-robin league and top two teams will clash in the final on June 5.

Apart from India and South Africa other teams taking part are Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Korea and host Malaysia.

India had finished last in the 13th edition of the tournament which was won by Australia and Pakistan had finished runners up.

Australia, Pakistan and India have won the tournament three times each. The Indian title victories came in 1991, ’95 and ’98.

Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is likely to announce the probables for the tournament at the end of the Murugappa Gold Cup now being played in Chennai. The camp for the probables will also be held there.

Following is the schedule of the tournament:

May 26: Pakistan vs New Zealand, India vs South Africa, Malaysia vs Australia. May 27: India vs New Zealand, Korea vs Australia, Malaysia vs South Africa. May 28: Korea vs Pakistan May 29: India vs Malaysia, Pakistan vs South Africa, Australia vs

New Zealand. May 30: Malaysia vs Korea, New Zealand vs South Africa May 31: Pakistan vs Australia, India vs Korea June 1: Australia vs South Africa, New Zealand vs Malaysia, India vs Pakistan June 2: Korea vs New Zealand June 3: South Africa vs Korea, India vs Australia, Malaysia vs Pakistan June 4: Rest Day June 5: 5th and 6th placing, 3rd and 4th placing, final. (UNI)

Sehwag’s attacking style resembles that of Bradman

By Bob Woolmer

Sir Donald Bradman must have been a genius. He averaged 99.4 in test cricket and by all accounts decimated attacks showing them no mercy. Today Virender Sehwag must come close to resembling a modern day genius because of his unerring and unnerving ability like Sir Donald to manhandle attacks and make test match bowlers look like pop gun attacks.

For me, he has redefined how an opening batsman can approach an innings. His performances in this recent series have been quite phenomenal, we helped him at Mohali by dropping him early on, but then that is the game, and it is not Sehwag’s fault if the opposition would not accept chances.

He is effortless, with sublime timing, he is destructive, often able to score over 10 in an over, he puts the bowlers under severe pressure often until they crack. He hits sixes as though the ground is only the size of a postage stamp. He gave us grey hairs trying to find ways to dismiss him!

I would often sit in front of the computer with Sehwag’s innings on the biomechanics screen searching for the weakness, looking for the line and the length that would give him most difficulty.

In the end we settled for a short ball targeted into his chest, while this stunted his run scoring we did not get him out this way.

Early on in his innings his strength is his weakness, the short ball swinging away but on a tight line to the off stump might induce a nick to the slip cordon, if he tries to hit it harder it often flies over the slip cordon or if you are lucky he drags the ball off the inside edge onto the stumps. They are not conclusive ways of bowling to him, however.

We were able to run him out occasionally and at times he gets careless, we did not see much of that in this series unfortunately.

What makes him so good? he follows the most important basic principle of batting; He is still when the ball is released and is therefore able to judge length early and then make the shot timorously without flaw. His balance when he hits the ball is a joy for any coach to study as he transfers his weight perfectly, makes contact with an ability to hit the ball extremely hard but look as though he is just caressing it. It is the wonderful gift of timing, pure timing, that makes him so dangerous.

When I watch him he seems to have no regard for a bowler, it is the presence of a man who does not believe he can get out. Viv Richards had it, Graeme Pollock had it and Barry Richards had it and Adam Gilchrist has it. While unique in appearance (every individual is different) the result is the same.

Yet despite all the above Sehwag’s results in the limited overs matches are significantly poorer than his test match record. The white ball is not his favourite; he plays differently as though he is a loose cannon, his discipline that he shows in the multi-day game seems to go out of the window and it looks as though he is in a competition to see how far and how often he can hit a boundary.

While he is still very dangerous he gives the Bowler more chances, I guess that is also the nature of the game. It is interesting why though he cannot just bat normally for 45 of the 50 overs as he is such a good player that he would still ensure a big score.

If I were to have a criticism of the Tendulkar-Sehwag partnership neither seems prepared to go the distance and both want to outscore each other!

His off spin bowling is totally under-utilised and it staggers me that he does not bowl more. He is excellent in the field takes catches in the deep and close with relative ease. He is a very complete cricketer.

His batting definitely takes on the qualities of a genius, like Bradman used to he is able to dominate attacks and will do so all the while that he is prepared to be hungry at the crease.

I cannot imagine a better technique and he could perhaps play the short ball better, but there have been a lot of batsman who have played the same way, hooking too early can lead to dismissal and stern and angry looks from coach, captain and team-mates.

He is so confident in his ability that he was quoted as saying that if he had not been run out he would have won the game for India at Bangalore, we shall never know if that would have been the case. He was certainly a threat and Inzamam delayed his declaration because of that threat.

In conclusion, India have unearthed a jewel, amazingly he learnt his cricket as a middle order batsman but has taken to opening like a duck to water, his technique is one to copy his propensity to go on and on after scoring a hundred makes him a modern day great. However and most remarkably it is his sublime timing that for me makes him a genius. (PTI)

I have gained a lot from Indian tour: Inzamam

KARACHI, Apr 19: Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, who has often been criticised for not being innovative and not asserting his authority in the field, today said the successful tour of India was a "great learning experience" which helped him to mature as a captain.

"I would only say that this tour has helped me tremendously and I have gained what I might not have learnt in 50 tests as captain," Inzamam told PTI from Lahore.

"I kept revising the gameplan according to the situation that kept changing probably every over. I made regular changes in the batting order, kept running the fielders here and there and experimented with regular bowling changes. It has been a tough but great learning series as a captain," he said.

Inzamam’s men, who were virtually written off as pushovers when they landed in India, drew the test series 1-1 and went on to record a remarkable come-from-behind 4-2 series win in the one-dayers.

The 35-year-old veteran of 100 tests said his players deserved all the praise and they should enjoy the moments after the tension filled 50-day tour but should not get overwhelmed with the win.

"The team should enjoy and celebrate these moments because they deserve it. But they can’t live on these laurels forever. It’s a performance and result oriented world and we can only survive by maintaining consistency in our performances.

"We have to keep our feet on ground, stay humble and collect all the praise, well-wishes and prayers because these will help us in future," Inzamam said.

Inzamam admitted that he was feeling much lighter after the gruelling tour.

"I admit that after nearly three months, I slept tension-free and there were no nightmares haunting me in my dreams. It’s feeling like I am reborn".

He added with a laughter: "I don’t want to leave the bed. I have hardly laid on it to relax in the last couple of months."

Inzamam’s men were not given even a half chance on the tour as the team had no star players, they had been thrashed on the previous tour of Australia, India were a much experienced team playing in their own backyard and lastly, that Shoaib Akhtar was grounded with a hamstring injury. By all means, this was the weakest ever team to leave shores.

"It has been an extremely tough and tension-filled series and only those involved in it can feel those pressures.

"My boys have gone through tough times and now they richly deserve the praise, rewards and appreciations because they have earned it through a dedicated and committed performance," Inzamam, who won his first one-day series as captain since taking over the charge in October 2003, said.

Inzamam now has drawn test series’ against Sri Lanka and India while he has suffered defeats against India and Australia. He has won against Graeme Smith’s South Africans and Stephen Fleming’s New Zealand.

Inzamam said when he saw the flood of Pakistan supporters waiting outside the arrival lounge at Lahore Airport yesterday to catch a glimpse of the players, the complete tour film rewinded through his mind.

"I was collecting my baggage when Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan left and I could see through the glass that they were being patted, garlanded, showered with rose petals and what not.

"It was then when I recalled what they had gone through during the last two months. I don’t think I will do justice if I try to describe their efforts in words.

"But I must admit here that their efforts would not have paid dividends had the almighty not listened to the prayers of our supporters. It was not a Pakistan cricket team’s success but the entire nation’s victory," said Inzamam, who is one of the devout nine players who offer prayers five times a day.

Admitting that yesterday’s reception reminded him of the welcome the national team got after winning the 1992 World Cup, the Pakistan captain said he disagreed that his team was weak. "It is inexperienced but talented," he said.

"Nowadays, there is so much cricket being played that in six months, you have 50 one-day internationals under your cap. But that doesn’t mean you have gained experience.

"If you look back at my team, I think after myself, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq and too some extent Mohammad Sami were experienced while the rest were raw but talented," he added.

"I mean Rana Naved-ul-Hasan taking 16 odd wickets in a series played on surfaces that produced 300 runs or more in an innings on four out of six times, can be described as a totally committed and disciplined performance," Inzamam said.

"Similarly, Rao (Iftikhar Anjum) was raw but he didn’t expose his limitations. Likewise, Danish Kaneria was our sole strike bowler in the tests and he took 19 wickets which is a great performance considering the wickets and the oppositions.

"And not to forget Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq batting almost the entire fifth day at Mohali is something you don’t see too often in recent times. I am not talking about the batsmen but the statistics will prove how great they had been on the tour," he said.

Inzamam said the pre-tour criticism made the players more determined to perform.

"I think the pre-tour criticism helped us to produce our best. Before the tour, we promised ourselves that we would give our best and stay united irrespective of what happens. Throughout the tour, the players stayed focussed to cricket, maintained cricket discipline, kept motivating each other and were eventually rewarded with winning performances that would not only make any captain proud of but also helped the nation forget last year’s disappointments," he added. (PTI)

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