Struggling
Indians practice hard after dismal show
AHMEDABAD, Apr 7: On what should have
been the final day of the second Test
here, the vanquished and struggling
Indian team practised hard under the
harsh sun for three and a half hours to
try and recapture some form ahead of the
series decider against South Africa in
Kanpur.
Twelve
members of the jumbo squad of 16 selected
for the April 11-15 third and final Test
at the Green Park were in action at the
stadium in Motera, first doing ground
fielding and catching drills and then
having a session of batting and bowling
at the nets.
Captain
Anil Kumble, who is recovering from a
groin strain and is set to undergo a
fitness Test on the eve of the Kanpur
tie, and his spin partner Harbhajan
Singh, laid low by a stomach bug, skipped
the practice session.
Ishant
Sharma, also recovering from his finger
and toe injuries and scheduled to undergo
the fitness test with Kumble on April 10,
was yet to join the team.
Munaf
Patel, who replaced the out-of-form R P
Singh in the squad, has already reached
here and practised today.
Wicket
keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and pace
bowler S Sreesanth only batted at the
nets and did not take part in other
drills, leading to speculations over
their fitness ahead of the decider.
Sreesanth
is reportedly nursing an injury in his
bowling shoulder though BCCI Secretary
Niranjan Shah had said yesterday after
announcing the team for Kanpur that only
Kumble and Sharma would have a fitness
test on the eve of the final match before
the squad is pruned to 14. (PTI)
Pakistan
hopes to narrow gap with India
LAHORE, Apr 7: Pakistan will aim
to narrow the gap with fourth-placed
India in the ICC ODI championship table
when it goes head to head with Bangladesh
in the five-match series starting here
from tomorrow.
Pakistan
is currently lying fifth on 109 ratings
points four behind India and two ahead of
another Asian rivals Sri Lanka. If Shoaib
Malik’s side sweeps the series 5-0,
it will earn one ratings points which
will put it on 110 ratings points, three
behind India and three ahead of Sri
Lanka.
However,
if Bangladesh manages to win two matches
in the series, it will drop Pakistan to
105 ratings points, the same as England
but behind Paul Collingwood’s side
in seventh place when the ratings are
calculated beyond the decimal point.
Pakistan’s
Mohammad Yousuf in fourth place is the
only batsman from either side to figure
in the top 20 of ICC player rankings for
ODI batsmen while Bangladesh’s Abdur
Razzak in 16th position is the sole
representative from the two teams in the
bowling chart.
In the
batting list after Yousuf, Malik, who
also heads the all-rounders’ list,
is placed 24th while Yunus Khan (32nd)
and Shahid Afridi (41st) are the home
team batsmen in top 50.
For
Bangladesh, Shahriar Nafees is the
highest ranked batsman in 38th position
while Aftab Ahmed (40th), Saqibul Hasan
(49th) and captain Mohammad Ashraful
(59th) are the other batsmen who will be
aiming to make the upward movement. (PTI)
Tendulkar
wants to play 2011 World Cup
NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Nearly two decades
of cricket may have taken a toll on
Sachin Tendulkar’s body, but the
master batsman hopes to play in the 2011
World Cup and wants to realise his
"unfulfilled dream" of winning
the coveted trophy for the country.
Tendulkar,
who has been rested from the second and
third Test against South Africa due to a
groin injury, said he would not commit
himself to play in the 2011 mega event to
be held in the subcontinent, but would
want to call it quits with a World Cup
triumph.
"Winning
the World Cup is certainly still an
unfulfilled dream and I would love to
play in it. But 2011 is still some way to
go, and I don’t want to look that
far and commit myself to anything,"
said Tendulkar who will appear for a
record sixth time if he plays in the mega
event to be co-hosted by India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Tendulkar,
who began his international career in
1989 as a 16-year-old, said he will weigh
his career options series by series
without setting a timeline for
retirement.
"I am
enjoying my cricket at the moment and
don’t want to think too much into
the future. I have been playing almost
non-stop for 20 years and want to focus
only on present. I prefer to take series
by series," the master batsman who
turns 35 on April 24 told CNN-Lokmat.
He said he
had defended Harbhajan Singh in the
Sydney racial row as the off-spinner did
not say what he was accused of and it
involved protecting the national pride.
"I
defended Harbhajan Singh because he had
never said what he was accused of and I
felt if we don’t defend him this
time, then when will we stand by him. I
felt that Harbhajan was a teammate who
needed support and I should take the
lead," Tendulkar said.
"It
was not just important for us as
cricketers, but it was important for all
Indians staying abroad, not just in
Australia," said the maestro.
Responding
to a query on on-field sledging which
BCCI and ICC want to curb, Tendulkar said
any international player should be
prepared for it if it was within limits.
"There
are limits to everything which no
cricketer should cross. Some things will
happen on the field of play. Everyone
wants to win, and we should be prepared
for it as long as it is within
limits."
Tendulkar,
who has most centuries in Tests and
one-day cricket and just 171 runs away
from becoming Test cricket’s highest
run getter, said the West Indian legend
Brian Lara was the finest batsman he had
played with or against.
"Ricky
Ponting is good especially when he is
playing South Africa or West Indies, but
not against India. Lara is a great
player, a once in a lifetime player. He
had amazing ability," the Indian
icon said of Lara whose most Test runs he
is expected to erase from record books.
The master
batsman, who does not have a leadership
record to match his batting prowess,
picked Nasser Hussain as the most
inspiring captain.
"A
good captain is someone who is always two
steps ahead of the game. Nasser Hussain
is the one captain who had that
quality," Tendulkar said of the
India-born Englishman.
Tendulkar
also sought to puncture the theory of
senior-junior divide in Team India,
saying it was a media creation.
"These
reports of senior-junior rift are totally
false. In the team, seniors and juniors
respect each other, and we realise the
importance of playing for the country.
"The
media is damaging its credibility by
giving stories without authentic
information."
He also
felt that IPL and Twenty20 cricket will
be huge boost to spreading the game to
more audiences in other parts of the
world.
"There
have been many changes in the game in the
last 18-20 years. Twenty20 cricket is
making the game like baseball and
football. Crowds know the game will be
over in three hours. This will help
globalise cricket.
"The
one complaint I get from foreigners is
that not just five days, but even the
one-day game is too long. They would
prefer a game that doesn’t go beyond
three hours," said the captain of
Mumbai Indians in the IPL starting April
18.
Tendulkar
would not buy the argument by some
cricketing greats that auctioning of the
players in the lucrative Indian Premier
League has destroyed the soul of the
game.
"No,
I don’t think so at all. I never
played the game thinking about the money
I would make out of it, and neither do
the youngsters (think like that)
today," he said.
"This
game has given me sleepless nights, just
thinking of how I will play the next day.
That excitement can never be measured in
terms of money. Right from the start, all
I wanted was to play well and score as
many runs as possible. That has been my
motivation, not money," Tendulkar
said.
About
post-retirement plans, Tendulkar said he
would want to be associated with the game
and continue charity works.
"I
would like to spend more time with my
family, but will in some way be connected
with cricket. The only thing I have known
in all these years is to play cricket and
I would have to be always associated with
the game.
"I am
associated with a number of charities,
only I prefer not to talk about it. I
hope to stay involved in some way with
the work," he said.
Tendulkar
said he imbibed his calm and composure
under pressure from his father who
expired nine years ago.
"As a
child whenever I looked at him, he would
always seem to so calm and composed,
never under any pressure. That has stayed
with me always and whatever I am today is
because of his guidance and love. I
cannot express that in words." (PTI)
Davydenko
downs Nadal to win Miami Masters crown
MIAMI, Apr 7: Russian fourth seed
Nikolay Davydenko defeated Spanish second
seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-2 in the final
of the USD 3.77 million Miami ATP Masters
series Sony Ericsson Open hardcourt
event.
Davydenko
won USD 590,000 and his 12th career ATP
title yesterday, his first since
capturing the crown at Moscow last
October and what he dubbed the biggest
title of his career.
Davydenko’s
best Miami result in six prior
appearances was reaching the fourth round
two years ago.
"For
me it’s surprising standing here (as
the winner). I never play good in
Miami," Davydenko said. "For me
to beat Nadal in the final, first time in
my career. I think it’s crazy."
Reigning
French Open champion Nadal, ranked second
in the world for a record 140 weeks in a
row since July of 2005, had won both
prior meetings with Davydenko but
struggled from the start yesterday.
Davydenko
became the first Russian to win the Miami
crown by dispatching two foes in a row he
had never beaten. He ousted Andy Roddick
in the semi-finals despite having lost
all five prior matches with the
sixth-seeded American.
"Maybe
something in my tennis will change from
Miami in the future. Maybe I feel more
confident because I beat very good guys
here and now in the future maybe
something different, maybe much faster,
maybe much better."
"In
the beginning he wasn’t playing very
good. But I didn’t play well
either," Nadal said.
Nadal was
broken in the seventh game by Davydenko,
who held twice more to claim the opening
set, then broke the spaniard again to
begin the second set when Nadal sent a
forehand wide. (AGENCIES)
Inter
Zone Sports Meet begins
JKP to demonstrate sports
talent at national,
international levels: Khoda
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 7: Director General of
Police Kuldeep Khoda has said that Jammu
and Kashmir Police ought to come out of
the State and national competitions to
demonstrate sports mettle at
international events.
Mr Khoda
declared open 5-day Inter Zone Sports
Meet, organized by Jammu and Kashmir
Armed Police at a colorful function held
at JK Police Sports Stadium, Gulshan
Ground today.
Addressing
the function, the DGP said the objective
of organizing sports activities by the
Police Organization at various levels was
to develop the sports culture among the
young generation.
Earlier in
his welcome address, the Inspector
General of Police, Armed, J&K, Sheikh
Owais Ahmed threw light on the 5-day long
Inter Zone Sports meet and gave detailed
account of the tournament in which more
than 18 events would be played in
different play fields in Jammu city in
which more than 400 sports persons would
participate.
On the
occasion, Khoda took the salute on
march-past of sports persons, taking part
in the events.
Among
others the function was attended by
Vigilance Commissioner, Dr. Ashok Bhan,
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sudhanshu
Pandey, Inspectors General of Police,
K.Rajendra Kumar, P. L.Gupta, Ram
Lubhaya, Gopal Reddy, Dr. S.P.Vaid,
Dilbagh Singh, Raja Aijaz Ali, Mr.
A.K.Gupta, M.Amin Shah, Z.H.Chisti,
senior retired and police officers.
Meanwhile,
in the events held today, Jammu Zone
started their campaign on a positive
note. In volleyball, Jammu Zone got the
better of Training Zone by 3-2 sets in
volleyball.
In
Basketball, Jammu Zone cruised past
Kashmir Zone by 12-2 while INTELSECT
overwhelmed Auxiliary Zone by 2-0.
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