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

Batsmen failed to apply themselves: Jayawardene

SYDNEY, Feb 8: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene blamed his batsmen’s lack of application for the humiliating 128-run defeat against Australia in the third match of the cricket tri-series here today.

"Our bowlers did a good job by restricting the Australians to around 250 but the batsmen did not apply themselves on a slow pitch," a dejected Jayawardene said.

"We knew chasing would be hard. We did not have a great start and lost too many wickets too soon playing bad shots," he rued.

The Lankan captain said most of his batsmen did not look to spend time in the middle to have any chance of a successful run chase at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Lamenting the inconsistency of his side, Jayawardene said the players will have to pull up their socks in the coming matches.

"You have to be always playing well against these guys (Australians). If you have a lacklustre performance against them you will have to lose. It was a disappointing loss," he said.

"Some new guys are coming into the side. But our one-day performance has been up and down. We have to be consistent if we are to become a top side," he said. Jayawardene’s opposite number Ricky Ponting felt his side adjusted better to the conditions than their rivals and the win would give a huge psychological boost ahead of their match against India on Sunday.

"I think we adjusted to the conditions better (than the Lankans). Nathan (Bracken) bowled fantastic, we knew his skills on slow pitches.

"250 was a good score and Gilly and Hayden gave a good opening, then Clarke did a great job to make things easy," Ponting said.

"We have started with a big win. This will give us a boost ahead of India match on Sunday in front of 80,000 crowd."

Man of the match Bracken credited the batsmen for putting up a good total to defend which he said made the bowlers’ task easier.

"The boys batted well to give us a good total to defend. It was slow pitch and we had to just bowl in the right areas.

"Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson bowled well. Hogg chipped in and I did my bit. It was a good team effort," he said. (PTI)

CA still not satisfied with PCB security assurance

MELBOURNE, Feb 8: Despite Pakistan Cricket Board’s assurance to the Australians to provide tight security during their March-April tour, Cricket Australia said it would continue to monitor the situation before giving a green signal.

The PCB has offered top security to the Australians including assigning of personal bodyguards to each player and roads being closed to all traffic as the team travels to and from grounds, but it seemed that CA was far from satisfied.

With Pakistan’s national election scheduled for February 18, Cricket Australia wants to continue to monitor the security situation.

"The fundamental principle for us is we need to be sure about safety and security and we and the ACA (Australian Cricketers Association) have a joint view that we can’t compromise on security," CA spokesman Peter Young told Australian Associated Press, a news agency.

CA said they still had "issues" with the venues in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad and its chairman Creagh O’Connor will write to his Pakistani counterpart to outline his worries.

"We are familiar with all four cities, and they all have got the appropriate facilities for playing cricket," Young said.

"What we need to get a clear understanding of is what safety and security measures will be in place. We are still working through the process, and as we have said all along, we will not put our players and officials in any position where their safety is at risk," he said.

A report in ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ said PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf even discussed to swap the tour so Australia would visit the subcontinent nation at the end of next year, to which CA said its team had commitments to be in Australia at that time and could not travel.

O’Connor is believed to have told Ashraf in their recent meeting in Dubai that March-April would not be an ideal time to play in Australia due to wet weather and a clash with football matches.

The PCB, on the other hand, wanted the CA to conduct a pre-tour visit before expressing concerns over the proposed venues.

"They have got issues with the venues. We will wait to see Creagh O’Connor’s letter. They don’t have an issue with the cricketing side of things, it comes to the safety and security of their players," a PCB official said.

"Once your (pre-tour security assessors) are out here, we can sit down and discuss whatever needs to be discussed and any issues they have. What the indication is from them is there is too short a time, (and) they won’t be able to come for a pre-tour visit," he said.

The official said the board would provide security given only to heads of states to the Australians and they should not have fears for their safety.

"If a player is travelling in a lift, there will be security with him. If he goes to eat somewhere, he will have protection. There will be man-to-man security.

"All roads will be closed to traffic every time the team travels to and from the ground. When they are entering their team bus, it will be checked by bomb-disposal units. There will be sniffer dogs, too," he said.(PTI)

Siddiquis demanded Rs 1.5 mn from me: Malik KARACHI, Feb 8: Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik added a new twist to the controversy over his "alleged" Nikah with an Indian Muslim girl by revealing that her family had demanded Rs 1.5 million to do shopping for the marriage. Malik said he became suspicious when the girl’s family demanded such a hefty amount to do purchasing for the impending wedding. "They kept on pressurising me into having a Nikah with her over the phone," he said on the popular ‘Nadia Khan’ show on Geo TV today. Malik said he would now consult his mother and sisters before taking any legal action against the Siddiquis as he had learnt his lesson. Malik also responded to a caller by taking oath and declaring that he had never entered into Nikah with the girl. Ayesha’s father claims that Malik entered into Nikah with his daughter in 2002 after a love affair mostly conducted on the internet and over telephone. He has threatened to sue Malik and produce documents as evidence of the Nikah. Malik said he was still waiting for such documents to be shown and pointed out that this would not happen as no Nikah had ever taken place. There was overwhelming support for the Pakistani cricketer from callers some of whom called in to state that they knew Ayesha Siddiqui from Hyderabad, Deccan, and she could not have had an affair with Malik. One girl called in to state that she was Ayesha’s student in Dubai and also sent in a photograph showing an overweight Ayesha. Malik said he had never seen Ayesha and conducted his affair on the internet and over telephone. "They sent me photographs of another girl whose real name is Maha. I don’t want to show her photographs here because she might be married and it could spoil her life," he said. Malik insisted that Ayesha never sent him her real photographs and infact it was another girl who even spoke to him. "I have never met Ayesha Siddiqui," he insisted. He admitted that he had been a fool in love and would not repeat the same mistake again. "My conscience is clear and my intentions were noble I wanted to marry her and I told my family about her. "But the girl I wanted to marry was not Ayesha who was in reality conducting the affair over internet and telephone. I am sure whatever her father is saying right now about me when he comes to know the real truth from her he will also realise i am not wrong," Malik added. (PTI)

BSNL Cricket team leaves for Indore *Excelsior Sports Correspondent* JAMMU, Feb 8: A thirteen member cricket team of BSNL J&K Circle has left for Indore (MP) to participate in the upcoming 7th All India BSNL Cricket Tournament slated to be held from February 10 to 17. K C Meena, Deputy General Manager (Planning), BSNL J&K Circle, Jammu and Vinay Khajuria, Sub Divisional Engineer, Mobile (Jammu) are accompanying the team as manager-cum-player and coach-cum player respectively. Earlier, the selection trials for the team were held on December 11 under the supervision of Dalvinder Singh, Deputy General Manager (Operations), BSNL J&K Circle, Bodh Raj Sharma, Sports Inspector, BSNL J&K Circle, Jammu and Krishan Lal, TM office of SDE (FRS), Gandhi Nagar (CSCB Member). The team comprises K C Meena, Mohan Lal, Tarandeep Singh, Vinay Khajuria, Lal Bahadur, Ajay Kumar, Anil Tickoo, Anil Kumar Sharma, Rakesh Mattoo, Suresh Verma, Harbans Singh, Mukesh Kapoor and Varinder Kumar. KC Public School students win medals *Excelsior Sports Correspondent* JAMMU, Feb 8: The students of KC Public School has won 22 medals including 7 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze in the recently concluded J&K Junior Sub Junior State Invitational Karate Championship. Four students namely Sahil Singh, Manik Jandyal, Yuvraj Singh and Tushar have been selected to represent India in Seiko Kai Asia Cup Karate Championship to be held at New Delhi from February 15 to 17. Jorawar Singh, Principal, KC Public School has congratulated the medal winners and also lauded the efforts of Ambedkar Gupta, Karate coach. Later, a special assembly was also organised to felicitate the students. Medal Winners: Gold: Gourish Partap, Yuvraj Singh, Anwar Janbaz, Yuvraj Shalla, Sahil Singh, Tushar Jandial and Manik Jandyal. Silver: Rupakshi Mahajan, Yamini Gupta, Sourav Dhar, Sadat Mufti, Abhishek Sharma and Anoop Gupta. Bronze: Raivat Dhar, Rasagya Tandon, Zakki Ahmed, Tarun Tikoo, Mohd Azeem, Amir Latif, Harshvardhan Singh, Richi Singh and Ayush Mahajan. Gambhir’s simple formula for success in Australia BRISBANE, Feb 8: India’s dashing batsman Gautam Gambhir has devised a simple formula to be successful in Australian conditions in the ongoing cricket tri-series — see the ball, hit the ball and play in the ‘V’. The young Gambhir, the lone centurion in the series so far with a 99-ball unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka at Brisbane last Tuesday, said the conditions Down Under were conducive for strokeplay and he preferred to meet the ball on the front foot. "The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the ‘V’. The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes though (admittedly) you need a lot of courage and determination," said Gambhir, who joined the Indian squad for the Twenty20 and tri-series matches. "There is a lot of talk that when you come to Australia you play on the backfoot all the time. But if you ask me, the plan should be to meet the ball on the front foot", he said. The Delhi batsman admitted that going on the front foot against genuine fast bowlers like Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson may not be easy. "It’s difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the backfoot," he added. Unlike most of his team-mates, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gambhir has experience of playing in Australia as well as of facing some of the quicks who are now part of their national squad. "I had played in Australia for India ‘A’ before and have faced the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. I did well then and to be honest, I have never felt this confident before," Gambhir said. Gambhir, a left-hander with quicksilver reflexes, has a simple mantra in life: "you don’t win a silver, you lose a gold." The inference is clear: win at all costs. "That is what I believe in and this is what I want to maintain throughout my playing career," said the youngster, who has the potential to build a great deal on his three centuries from 39 ODI games as of now. Gambhir seems to come on to his own against the Sri Lankans. He has two centuries from three games against the neighbours and averages a bradmanesque 116.50 against them. He admitted of having difficulty in picking up Muttiah Muralitharan initially but towards the later stages of his innings in Brisbane was lording over the world’s most successful bowler ever. "I’m coming on the back of a good Ranji season where I played quality spin bowling. I think this will keep me in good stead against the Lankans." Gambhir’s nimble footwork has been lauded in the past as well. The likes of Imran Khan and Ravi Shastri have even gone on to claim that he possesses the best footwork against the spinners. "That is because even as a kid I played quality spin bowling, but more than the feet the positive approach is in the mind. If you are sure and confident in the mind, invariably your feet will take you where you should be," he said. Gambhir does not feel that there is anything missing when he bats at number 3. "What is paramount is what the team management wants. We have to support our skipper and make sure that India wins, what is our batting slot or who gets the new ball are all inconsequential," he said. "Veeru and myself have a great understanding since we have played a lot of cricket together, while Sachin ‘paaji’ gives a lot of confidence when I’m batting with him, so it is a treat to bat with either of them. Though Gambhir is proud of the Twenty20 World Cup triumph in South Africa, he still maintains that the real stuff is Test cricket and one-day internationals. "September 24 , 2007 when we won in Johannesburg is one of the proudest days of my life but I’d still want to be remembered as a good Test and one-day player," said Gambhir, who is India’s highest run-getter in the Twenty20 format.(PTI)
Shoaib signs MoU with ICL LAHORE, Feb 8: Speedster Shoiab Akhtar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), dumping the BCCI-backed IPL, according to sources. Moin Khan, a representative of the ICL here, said he could not comment on Shoaib’s intentions but confirmed the fast bowler was made an offer last year when the ICL had started acquiring players for its tournament. Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq along with Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmed and Azhar Mahmood, are already associated with the ICL. However, Moin Khan confirmed that the ICL was still looking to sign around nine more players from Pakistan and negotiations were continuing with them. "There is a proposal to field one team of Pakistani players in the next league and we need more players to add to the six we already have with us,’’ he said.(UNI) Ganguly, Tendulkar are BCCI’s players for Oct-Jan period MUMBAI, Feb 8: The cricket board has declared senior players Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar as its "players for the period October’07 to January’08" for their exploits in the Test series against Pakistan at home and against Australia Down Under respectively. Ganguly was nominated as one of the two best players by the BCCI, in its newly launched quarterly newsletter, for having been India’s best batsman in the three-Test series against Pakistan when he scored 534 runs, including a century and a double ton, at an average of 89. The stylish Bengal left hander, who made his 100th Test appearance in the controversy-riddled January 2-6 Sydney Test, finished last year with an aggregate of 1,106 runs in ten Tests, the eight-page newsletter noted. Tendulkar was picked for accumulating 493 runs in the four-Test rubber against Australia, the highest run-getter from both teams, and the tally included his 38th and 39th Test hundreds. The newsletter also carries a short message from BCCI President Sharad Pawar in which he stated that it was important to keep Indian cricket’s constituents posted on the happenings in Indian cricket and the inaugural edition of the quarterly "is an attempt to do just that". (PTI) Bopanna gives India 1-0 lead in Davis Cup NEW DELHI, Feb 8: Rohan Bopanna outplayed Farrukh Dustov in straight sets to give India a vital 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania zone group I tie against Uzbekistan here today. The Indian stormed past his opponent 6-3 6-3 6-1 in the lopsided first rubber in little over an hour on a chilly morning at the DLTA courts. Dustov could hardly put up a fight against the rampaging Indian, who broke the Uzbek with ease and was on top from start to finish. Bopanna stamped his authority with some crisp serve and volley throughout the match. The big-serving Indian also used his booming first serve to good effect, sending four aces in the first set as he went 4-2 up. (PTI) Sydney row should’ve been sorted out in dressing room itself MELBOURNE, Feb 8: Expressing utter disappointment at the way the racism row involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds was handled, former Indian captain Ravi Shastri has said the issue should have been resolved in the dressing room itself. "I was surprised with the extent they took it to. I thought it was blown out of all proportion. It could have been sorted out within the dressing room by the two boards instead of taking it that far," Shastri was quoted as saying by ‘The Age’ today. The cricketer-turned-commentator also said the players should have had the matter handled by a lawyer in the first instance rather than burdening match referee Mike Procter with a situation that fell out of his jurisdiction. Shastri, however, observed that Australia’s focus towards India was gaining more importance than England and said the current India tour’s financial benefit to Australian cricket were "bigger than the Ashes". On the difference between previous and present Indian teams, Shastri said today youngsters were aggressive as they wanted to be counted against Australia and not just "fill in the numbers". "The young kids who are coming on the block now from India, they’re right in your face, they’re not overawed by names and reputations. The bottom line is they want to compete against the best sides in the world. (PTI) BCCI institutes award for best umpire MUMBAI, Feb 8: The cricket board has introduced an award for "the best umpire" in domestic cricket this season onwards. The BCCI is also set to enter into a three-year contract with its Australian counterpart ‘Cricket Australia’ to organise workshops and training sessions for umpires and umpires coaches, according to its newly launched quarterly newsletter. The video recordings of all Ranji Trophy matches held this season, shot with eight cameras at each venue, and the reports of the umpire-coach present at all matches have been sent to Director of umpire, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, it said. The brief given to the former India skipper and off spinner, the last umpire from the country to make it to the ICC’s elite panel, is to "scrutinise them and suggest ways and means of enhancing the performance and consistency of umpires in domestic cricket," the newsletter stated. (PTI)