KARACHI, Mar 25: Pakistan selectors left out Shoaib Akhtar and made three changes to the squad currently in India but had to give in to the team Management’s demand to sacrifice an opener for a spinner when they announced the 16-member squad for the six-match one-day series against India beginning on April 2........more

Younis helps Pak
amass mammoth total

BANGALORE, Mar 25: An epic double century by Younis Khan set up a massive Pakistan total and gave the visitors a chance to have a go at India in the third and final cricket Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here today...................more

I bowled the doosra
openly: Harbhajan

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today said he was unfazed by the controversy surrounding his..........more

Sania and Neha
made early exit

HYDERABAD, Mar 25: Wild card entrants, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and Indian born American Neha Uberoi made exit in the first round of the US dollars 6.56 millions tier-1 Nasdaq Open tennis tournament being played at tennis centre.. .....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: Laxmi Cricket Club today registered a big 54-run victory over Aryan Cricket Club, Bahu Fort to advance into the second round 5th round of qualifying tournament for the North Zone Gold Cup at GGM Science College, here.........more

Jammu man qualifies
chess arbiter exam

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: Top ranking player of the past from Jammu and Kashmir at the national level, SP Sharma has qualified the national chess arbiter examination which was held at Moga in Punjab........more

Sanjay elected head
of Sports Council
employees body

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: Sanjay Kumar Pardhan was elected as president of the Lower Grade employees union of J&K State Sports Council in an election meeting held here.......more

GOC XI wins friendly
cricket match

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: General Officer Commanding (GOC) XI defeated Chief of Staff (COS) XI by five wickets in a friendly cricket.........more

Pak leave out Shoaib for one-day series......

Pak leave out Shoaib for one-day series

KARACHI, Mar 25: Pakistan selectors left out Shoaib Akhtar and made three changes to the squad currently in India but had to give in to the team Management’s demand to sacrifice an opener for a spinner when they announced the 16-member squad for the six-match one-day series against India beginning on April 2.

The selectors decided to leave out Shoaib on fitness ground and omitted openers Yasir Hameed and Taufeeq Umar along with left arm paceman Mohammad Khalil, currently touring India for the Test series.

Off spinner Mohammad Hafeez and medium pacers Shahid Nazir and Rao Iftikhar Anjum would join the squad in their place.

"We have made just three changes in the team that is presently in India. Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Khalil will return home after the Bangalore Test and the trio will be replaced by Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez and Rao Iftikhar Anjum," chairman of selectors Wasim Bari told PTI.

"Shoaib Akhtar was not been considered (for selection) because he is not fit. His trainer Grant Compton told me that he requires two weeks to regain fitness. Once he conveys us his availability, we will take his fitness Test and then decide about his selection," he added.

Bari also refused to comment on Shoaib Akhtar’s inclusion in the team for the second half of the one-day series and said their role begins after the bowler declares himself fit and available.

"He (Shoaib) has to convey his availability and then we will organize a match in which we will see his fitness. The selectors role starts after he reclaims match fitness and conveys his availability," Bari said.

Shoaib, who has taken 186 wickets in 120 matches, pulled out of the India tour with a hamstring injury that had also cut short his Australian trip. He had earlier this month hoped to stage a comeback in the one-day series but legendary Imran Khan, who admitted to advising the bowler to withdraw from the Indian tour, suggested the speedster not to rush his comeback.

Bari, also a former captain, did not hide his disagreement with the team management on the demand of retaining an additional spinner but emphasised that the their request was accommodated "because the team was involved in a pressure series."

"We had wanted to send another opener in place of a spinner. But the team management wanted to retain two spinners. Now who will open the innings or will there be make-shift openers in the one-day series, I am not in a position to tell you. These questions should be asked from the coach or the captain," a visibly upset Bari said.

Pakistan retained Danish Kaneria in the one-day team and sacrificed an opener. Interestingly, the team management had dropped the leg spinner from the VB series in Australia arguing that the wrist spinner’s body was getting tired after the Test series.

"I am not in a position to defend the inclusion of Danish for the Indian one-dayers after being overlooked for Australian one-dayers. I think the team management are the best people to justify this decision because they were the ones who sent him back from Australia and now retained him," Bari said.

Kaneria has played 10 one-dayers in which he has taken nine wickets. His last one-day appearance was against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in July last year.

Yasir Hameed appears to be the man who was sacrificed for Danish Kaneria. Although Hameed’s last century was almost nine months ago, the Peshawar-born batsman has scored 1,707 runs in 46 matches at 37.93.

Against India, he averages 36.63 after scoring 293 from eight matches. And had had scores of 7, 86, 98, 45 and 2 during the five match series in Pakistan last year.

Nazir was recalled in the team after nearly five years in wilderness. He last played against Sri Lanka and has taken 19 wickets in 17 appearances. He will join the Pakistan team from Colombo where he is with the Pakistan ‘A’ team taking part in the ‘A’ teams triangular series also involving England besides the host nation.

Hafeez, who was also reported for a suspect bowling action during the VB tri-nation series in Australia, has played 28 one-dayers in which he has scored 494 runs and taken 25 wickets.

Shoaib Malik was retained in the team despite not being allowed to bowl because of a suspect bowling action while Asim Kamal was included in the one-day side for the first time after being previously overlooked for the limited overs version of the game.

Squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Nazir, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan and Shoaib Malik. (PTI)

Younis helps Pak amass mammoth total

BANGALORE, Mar 25: An epic double century by Younis Khan set up a massive Pakistan total and gave the visitors a chance to have a go at India in the third and final cricket Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here today.

The vice-captain’s enduring knock of 267 spanning 11 and a half hours ensured Pakistan overcame an early bump and a minor middle order collapse to post a daunting 570 before being all out half an hour before close.

Younis Khan became only the sixth batsman from the neighbouring country to score a double century on Indian soil and almost carried the bat for the second full day, striking 32 fours and a six in a 504-ball essay.

If the Indians were able to hold their heads high and not allow their shoulders to droop, it was very much due to the heroic effort of Harbhajan Singh who ended up with his 16th five-wicket haul of six for 152.

The off-spinner, under the ICC scanner after being reported for suspect action during the second Test, put the brakes on Pakistan’s smooth roll by picking three wickets in the second session before scalping the prized wicket of Younis to hasten the end.

At stumps on the second day, India were 55 for no loss with Virender Sehwag batting on 39 and Gautam Gambhir on 13. Pakistan lost their captain Inzamam-ul Haq before he added a run to his overnight score of 184 in the very first ball he faced this morning.

They were then reduced to 446 for six after losing Yousuf Youhana (37) and Asim Kamal (4) in quick succession. But Younis Khan steered them out of the rough with three crucial partnerships.

After stitching 84 runs with Youhana for the fourth wicket, the 29-year-old batsman added 58 and 61 runs with Kamran Akmal (28) and Mohammad Sami (17) for the seventh and eight wickets respectively.

Younis remained the fulcrum of Pakistan innings after the early dismissal of captain Inzamam.

He crossed the 200 mark, glancing Anil Kumble for a boundary down the fine leg and followed it up with another four in the same over.

A jubilant Younis acknowledged the crowd’s ovation by lifting his bat and helmet and then kissed the ground. By then, he had hit 24 fours and a six facing 396 balls.

He needed 20 balls to move up from 196 but once he completed the double century, he came up with a couple of exquisite boundaries.

Younis’ previous best was 153 against the West Indies in Sharjah in 2001-02. Younis, one of the few to retain his place in the team after Pakistan’s World Cup campaign in 2003, had scored a century in the second Test at Kolkata.

The right hander finally perished when he went for a big heave against Harbhajan and holed out to Irfan Pathan at mid off.

The hosts had their hero in off-spinner Harbhajan. Shrugging off the ‘Doosra’ controversy, Harbhajan picked up three wickets in quick succession before and after lunch to put the brakes on Pakistan’s march towards a huge total.

Harbhajan struck twice early in the post lunch session to dismiss Asim Kamal (4) and Abdul Razzaq (5). In the fifth over before the break, he had sent back Yousuf Youhana (37).

At that stage, the visitors had lost three wickets for 31 runs to be at at 6-446 in the 130th over.

Skipper Inzamam failed to score a double century as India stuck early on the second day.

Inzamam, who had accomplished a rare feat by scoring a century in his 100th Test, was trapped leg before by Laxmipathy Balaji in his very first ball of the day.

It was a sort of a repeat performance by the Chennai bowler who had removed Shahid Afridi in his very first ball yesterday.

Inzamam, who was looking to build on his innings and take his team to a huge total, was applauded for his brilliant innings but he clearly walked back a disappointed man.

Inzamam’s third wicket partnership with his deputy yielded a record 324 runs which came in 368 minutes, 533 balls.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan 1st innings:

Y Hameed c Kaarthick b Pathan 6

S Afridi c Dravid b Balaji 0

Younis Khan c Pathan b Harbhajan 267

Inzamam-ul Haq lbw b Balaji 184

Y Youhana c Kaarthick b Harbhajan 37

A Kamal c Ganguly b Harbhajan 4

A Razzaq c and b Harbhajan 5

K Akmal b Harbhajan 28

M Sami run out 17

Arshad Khan not out 1

D Kaneria c Laxman b Harbhajan 0

Extras (b-8, lb-5, nb-4, w-4) 21

Total (all out in 167.5 overs) 570

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-7, 3-331, 4-415, 5-428, 6-446, 7-504, 8-565, 9-569

Bowling: Pathan 34-4-105-1, Balaji 29-4-114-2, Kumble 46-8-159-0, Harbhajan 51.5-9-152-6, Sachin Tendulkar 3-0-14-0, Sourav Ganguly 4-0-13-0.

India 1st innings:

Virender Sehwag batting 39

Gautam Gambhir batting 13

Extras (b-1, nb-2) 3

Total (for no loss in 10 overs) 55

Bowling: Sami Mohammad 5-1-23-0, Abdul Razzaq 3-0-23-0, Danish Kaneria 1-0-6-0, Arshad Khan 1-0-2-0. (PTI)

I bowled the doosra openly: Harbhajan

BANGALORE, Mar 25: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today said he was unfazed by the controversy surrounding his bowling action and bowled the ‘doosra’ liberally to claim a six-wicket haul against Pakistan in the third and final Test here.

"I was not thinking of the ICC matter. Board is there to look after the matter. I played my game. I am very happy that I got six wickets. I am feeling really happy about it," the off-spinner said.

"I definitely bowled doosra and off-spin because doosra had been cleared last time and I had passed the Test. I bowled openly."

Stressing that he was not worried about having been reported again for a suspect bowling action, he said that such "small allegations" are bound to be levelled against players.

"What’s important is I am confident and believe in myself. The team and the board has supported me, and I want to thank them."

"I am not bothered about what’s happening".

Harbhajan said there was nothing in the wicket for spinners in the first two days but he got some bounce before the tea-break today.

He said he was not expecting the strip to change a lot. "Wicket is good for batting. We have to bat well tomorrow and hopefully the day after also."

On his spin partner Anil Kumble going wicketless in the first innings, Harbhajan said it was just an "off-day" for him. "Kumble is a legend, he is a great bowler. He is number one in the world," he said.

Harbhajan, who had his 16th five-wicket haul in an innings today, rated Abdul Razzaq’s dismissal as the best of the lot because of the "way he got out".

"I tossed the ball up and he was trying to play cover drive," Harbhajan said referring to the dismissal of Razzaq who perished after offering a return catch.

He praised Pakistan’s batting and said they played sensibly. He termed Inzamam-ul Haq’s dismissal as the crucial wicket for India on the second day.

Harbhajan said he did not lose any sleep just because he had not taken a wicket on the opening day.

On his conversation with Sunil Gavaskar, he said the former batting great was just complimenting him for his good bowling performance.

On exchange of words with Younis Khan yesterday, Harbhajan said he was telling the batsman something in Punjabi. "If you are speaking in Punjabi, it always sounds like a quarrel." (PTI)

Sania and Neha made early exit

HYDERABAD, Mar 25: Wild card entrants, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and Indian born American Neha Uberoi made exit in the first round of the US dollars 6.56 millions tier-1 Nasdaq Open tennis tournament being played at tennis centre.

According to the information received here, 77th ranked Sania Mirza went down fighting to an unseeded Spaniard Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 2-6, 5-7 in 73 minutes.

Sania started shaky in the first round which lasted 31 minutes, gave tough fight to Spanish player in the second set that lasted 42 minutes. Sania committed eight double faults as against six by the winner.

Indian born American Neha Uberoi went down to Galina Voskoboeva of Russia 4-6, 2-6 in 71 minutes. (UNI)

Big win for Laxmi in cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 25: Laxmi Cricket Club today registered a big 54-run victory over Aryan Cricket Club, Bahu Fort to advance into the second round 5th round of qualifying tournament for the North Zone Gold Cup at GGM Science College, here.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, Laxmi set a target of 177 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 25 overs, which, in reply Aryan Club could not chase and bowled out 123 runs in 22 overs.

J&K skipper, Dhruv was highest scorer with 71 runs off 49 balls studded with two sixes and seven boundaries. Opener, Pardeep Bali and Surinder contributed 30 and 29 runs respectively. Skipper, Pawan Gupta added valuable 15 runs with the help of a four. From Aryan Club, Masood bagged two wickets while Mantu, Rahul and Sunny shared one each.

Later, chasing a run-rate of seven runs per over, Aryan Club lost all their wickets for 122 runs in 22 overs. Sunny was top scorer with 30 runs including four hits to the fence. Baldev Singh and Rahul made 14 and 15 runs respectively.

Ajit Singh, Sameer and Sushil took two wickets each for Laxmi Club while Raju Saini, Dhruv Mahajan and Pawan Gupta shared one each.

Dhruv Mahajan was later adjudged man of the match for his brilliant match winning innings of 71. Santa Singh and Pappu Dogra were umpires in this match. Narinder Sanotra was scorer.

Meanwhile, the organisers of the tournament, Roshni Cricket Academy has decided to hold the final of the fourth round of tournament held at Udhampur at Science College ground here tomorrow. Challenger Cricket Club will take on Rehari Cricket at 10 am.