Daily Excelsior.........sports

Bhajji is a lovely
person says Afridi

LAHORE, Jan 17: He might have hit Harbhajan Singh for four consecutive sixes but Shahid Afridi remains on good terms with the turbanator and says that he considers the Indian offie a lovely human being........more

Australia game for more
Test series against India

SYDNEY, Jan 17: Dropping enough hints that they would like to have more Test series against India, the Australian cricket board said they are ready..........more

Dravid, Sehwag
flay Lahore pitch

LAHORE, Jan 17: Indian skipper Rahul Dravid and his deputy Virender Sehwag may have made merry on the placid Gadaffi Stadium pitch but they.....more

Sehwag and Dravid miss
record as Test ends in draw

LAHORE, Jan 17: Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid squandered a golden chance of breaking the world record opening partnership as the weather-hit first cricket Test match between India and Pakistan predictably ended in a tame draw here today............more

Bhura lifts
Panthal Kesari title

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 17: Bhura Pahalwan of Pathankot has lifted the 106th edition of the Panthal Kesari title after he was........more

GCW Parade, DC
Udhampur win in
inter-college Badminton

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 17: Government College for Women, Parade defeated Degree College Kathua in straight games to......more

JK Scouts launches
programme for Jammu

Excelsior Correspondent

Jammu, Jan 17: The Divisional Core Group of J&K Scouts Organisation in its meeting..........more

Sub-junior hockey trials
postponed for January 22

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 17: Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association has postponed the...........more

Bhajji is a lovely person says Afridi

"We are good friends despite the fact that I struck four successive sixes off his bowling," the flamboyant allrounder told Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

"Harbhajan is a lovely person and I enjoy his company and also share jokes with him," he said.

Afridi said the on-field aggression has no bearing on their relation off-field and Harbhajan even came over to meet him after the day’s play.

"When the play ended he came to me and asked if I had deliberately selected him to hit those sixes and I gave him a simple answer, no," Afridi said adding,"I am sure he will forget saturday (the day he hit the turbanator for those sixes) very soon."

The hard hitting batsman said as professionals both he and Harbhajan were doing their job and the situation could have been completely different if the pitch had assisted the bowler.

"Obviously if the conditions would have been friendly for spinners, Harbhajan would have created problems for me because that is his job," he said. (UNI)

Australia game for more Test series against India

SYDNEY, Jan 17: Dropping enough hints that they would like to have more Test series against India, the Australian cricket board said they are ready to address the ‘bilateral ambitions’ between the two major cricketing nations.

Cricket Australia’s head of corporate affairs Peter Young told BBC sport that "the frequency of India v Australia matches had been modest compared to ashes series" between England and Australia.

"That is something that cricket Australia is looking to address and our chief executive and chairman were in India before Christmas, partly as a protocol visit, but also to discuss our bilateral ambitions," he was quoted as saying.

The CA official, however, was quick to point out that the Board was not going into a confrontation with the ICC.

"Cricket australia remains committed to the ICC’s future tours programme, which includes events like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy." Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already made its intentions clear that would not like to take part in the Champions Trophy in future after hosting the event this year. BCCI vice president Lalit Modi was quoted in reports saying that the scheduling of the event meant they had to cut down on the number of Test and ODIs. BCCI is reportedly planning to host Australia in October for the next three years from 2007 and if that materialises, Champions Trophy would lose its sheen with the two major cricketing nations skipping the event. Recenty, Mr Modi and two other BCCI officials — secretary Niranjan Shah and is Bindra — met England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials in London to discuss cricketing ties and future tours between the countries. (UNI)

Dravid, Sehwag flay Lahore pitch

LAHORE, Jan 17: Indian skipper Rahul Dravid and his deputy Virender Sehwag may have made merry on the placid Gadaffi Stadium pitch but they did not mince words in denouncing the track after the first Test ended in a tame draw here today.

"Bowlers would not like pitches like these," said Dravid who remained unbeaten on 128 in the match which saw only eight wickets fall over five weather-hit days.

Sehwag agreed with his captain and said even though the wicket was a beauty to bat on, "it was not good enough for international cricket" as it did not allow a fair contest between bat and ball.

Dravid was, nevertheless, happy that India came back strongly after "being under the hammer for the first two days."

"We needed a good batting display and I am happy that Viru and I could provide that."

Referring to his decision to open the innings, Dravid said "we decided that the best side should play and thought that I was the best equipped to come as opener."

Complimenting Sehwag’s blazing innings, the Indian skipper said he had the best seat in the house.

"The balls which other batsmen defend, he was hitting to the boundary," Dravid said.

Sehwag, adjudged man of the match, said he was indeed disappointed at not breaking the world record for the highest opening partnership.

"We came to the field for that reason only even though the light was not good," said the cavalier batsman.

Sehwag said he enjoyed playing against Pakistan. "Everybody in the team gets charged up when playing Pakistan."

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq admitted that the pitch was not helpful to the bowlers but said his team did not bowl in the right areas.

"I hope that the wicket in Faisalabad for the next Test is a fast and good one which produces a result," he said. (PTI)

Sehwag and Dravid miss record as Test ends in draw

Only 14 balls were possible on a rain-truncated final day which turned out to be all the more heart-breaking for India as their opening pair missed breaking the 50-year-old record by just four runs with Sehwag being dismissed for 254 and the team total reading 410.

The dismissal of the swashbuckling Delhi batsman meant that Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy’s record of 413 established against New Zealand in Chennai in 1955-56 remained intact.

The Indians were 410 for one in reply to Pakistan’s 679 for seven declared when play was finally called off due to bad light. Rahul Dravid remained unbeaten on 128 while VVS Laxman, who faced just a couple of balls, could not open his account.

Only eight wickets fell during the course of the match while over 1000 runs were scored on a placid track at the Gaddafi Stadium which has come in for heavy flak from various quarters.

The two teams will now travel to Faisalabad for the second Test beginning from January 21.

The only interest left in the match going into the final day, with India on 403 overnight, was whether the Indian duo would overhaul the world record.

But Sehwag, after adding seven runs to his overnight score of 247 and when the partnership was worth 410, top-edged an attempted slash over the slip cordon off Rana Naved ul-Hasan, bowling the second over after a four-hour rain-hit delay, to squander a golden chance to leap into Test record history.

Sehwag fell into the trap set by the rival captain Inzamam-ul Haq as he attempted to get for the record with what could have been his 48th four. But he only ended up in top-edging the short ball to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.

Rana leapt to punch in the air and celebrated as if Pakistan had won the match.

Sehwag’s knock, which came in 328 minutes and off 247 balls, contained 47 fours and a six.

Sehwag had begun today with a single off Shoaib Akhtar’s first over. He then got a couple with a turn to backward square leg off Rana and followed it with a superbly cover-driven four off the same bowler.

Just when destiny beckoned him and Dravid, the Delhi swashbuckler fell to the bait and to a shot that had got him plenty of runs earlier on in the innings.

It was the cavalier batsman’s third plus-200 score against Pakistan with his Test and Indian best of 309 in the Multan Test of 2004 between the two being the crowning glory. He scored 201 at Bangalore in the previous Test encounter between the arch-rivals.

The partnership of 410 in 76.5 overs by Sehwag and Dravid was the tenth-best for all wickets in Test history and only the eleventh plus-400 stand ever.

The highest for any wicket stands at 576 for the second wicket between Roshan Mananama and Sanath Jayasuriya at Colombo in 1997.

Dravid and new batsman Laxman faced further three balls without adding any run before appealing for light which was indeed poor when play started four hours late. It was upheld and the players walked off the field in murky light and tea was taken.

But play was later called off light without any more balls being bowled. Only 14 balls were bowled in all on the rain and bad light marred final day.

Dravid remained unbeaten on 128 after having batted for 332 minutes and faced 233 balls. He struck 19 fours and did not add any run today to his overnight score.

A total of 928 minutes of play was possible in the five days during which 220.5 overs were bowled. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan 1st innings: 679 for 7 decl.

India 1st innings:

V Sehwag c Akmal b Rana 254

R Dravid not out 128

VVS Laxman not out 0

Extras (b2, lb7, w2, nb17) 28

Total (for 1 wkt, in 77.2 overs) 410

Fall of wicket: 1-410.

Bowling: Akhtar 16.2-6-46-0, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 16-1-94-1, Afridi 11-0-55-0, Sami 12-1-67-0, Kaneria 10-0-69-0, Malik 12-1-70-0. (PTI)