Australia ready to unleash Tait ............

Sania advances to Australian Open second round ........

Delhi meet UP in Ranji final on neutral territory ..........

Sehwag recalled for third Test

PERTH, Jan 15: Swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag is all set to make a comeback after Indian skipper Anil Kumble said he may be recalled for the third Test against Australia.

"We still have to have a final look at the pitch but in all probability sehwag will come in,’’ Kumble told a news conference here today.

Sehwag’s inclusion will prompt Team India to reshuffle their batting line-up with former skipper Rahul Dravid, who opened in the first two Tests, probably going back to his normal position at number three.

"I think we’ll stick to the regular batting order that we’ve had and have the quality of Dravid at three,’’ Kumble said.

"It’s not a question of finalising the batting order, it’s just a matter of going out there and getting the runs, that’s something we need to do. The quality is there,’’ he added. (UNI)

To err is human, to forgive divine: Bucknor

MONTEGO BAY (Jamaica), Jan 15: Dumped by the ICC from the India-Australia Test series following widespread criticism of his blunders in the Sydney Test, West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor today shot back saying he was punished for making just two wrong decisions.

A dejected Bucknor said he was disappointed by the turn of events and called it a sad day for umpires.

Bucknor, however, said he respected ICC’s authority in the matter.

"I am disappointed that I am not continuing the tour between Australia and India, in Australia. But I respect ICC’s authority in the matter," the veteran of 120 Tests said in a statement.

"To err is human, to forgive divine, as the old saying goes," Bucknor said.

Bucknor, who was sacked by ICC from officiating in the Perth Test after India complained against his blunders which cost them the Sydney Test, said he faced the flak for making just two wrong decisions.

"However, I consider it a sad day to see umpires sidelined after making only two wrong decisions out of a record of 35 appeals," he said.

The 61-year-old Bucknor, the most experienced umpire in the elite panel, quietly returned to his home managing to evade the press.

Andrew Symonds was out caught behind when he was on 30 but the appeal was turned down by Bucknor and he went on to revive the Australian innings with a blistering 162 not out.

Later Symonds’ admission that he was out turned on the ire of the visitors on Bucknor, who has given several controversial decisions against India in the past.

The caught behind dismissal of Rahul Dravid on the last day when India was battling to save the Test made matters worse.

ICC replaced Bucknor by New Zealand’s Billy Bowden after the Indian team complained and commentators and former players criticised his decisions.

ICC CEO Malcolm Speed while announcing the removal of Bucknor made it clear that he will continue to officiate in international matches.

Bucknor, a former FIFA referee, have stood in a record 120 Tests and five World Cup finals in his glittering career. (PTI)

Build-up to Perth has been fiery: Gilchrist

MELBOURNE, Jan 15: The ‘peace talks’ between rival captains Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble notwithstanding, Adam Gilchrist says the two teams will enter the Perth Test with fire in their bellies.

The Australians are pushing for a record-breaking 17th straight win and the Indians, who are 0-2 down in the series, are desperate to make a comeback.

"This game I’m sure will have a bit of build-up to it and there will be a bit of fire in everyone’s bellies at the start," Gilchrist was quoted as saying in ‘The Age’.

However, the wicketkeeper-batsman felt the two sides are professional enough to keep their focus on cricket.

"... I think both teams are professional enough that once the ball’s bowled we’ll just get underway and just get back into cricket mode," he said.

The build-up to the Perth Test has been sullied by off-field controversies on umpiring blunders and a racism row, requiring intervention from the ICC, which sent chief referee Ranjan Madugalle to broker peace between the two captains.

According to both Ponting and Kumble, the meeting helped clear the sir on several contentious issues.

Gilchrist said the Aussies were desperate to clinch their 17th consecutive win.

"We’re desperately keen to get this 17th win, we also want to win the series (Australia lead the four-match series 2-0), we don’t want a drawn series even though we’ve retained the (Border-Gavaskar) trophy," he said.

"It’s great there’s so much excitement about this Test match. A lot of people would say it’s a dead rubber, but it’s far from that," Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist, who was in the Steve Waugh-led team which won 16 successive Tests before being beaten by India in India, said he never thought that he would get another opportunity to be a part of the same record again.

"Every player would love to be part of that team if it was to happen, because having had that experience before and setting a record that I thought would never be broken and it’s now been equalled, everyone would be excited to be part of a team that sets a new record," he said.

The stumper, who overtook Rahul Dravid’s record of longest unbroken Test run with 94 matches, said he was proud to have the record under his belt.

"Justin Langer always said the greatest characteristic or sign of a true champion is longevity, because they’ve been around long enough to show their skill and their wares over time in various conditions," Gilchrist said.

"So that’s a nice little something to reflect on and know that I’ve been able to do it and stick around and haven’t missed a Test match, which is a big thrill, a big honour" he added. (PTI)

NCC sails into final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 15: National Cricket Club (NCC) showcased a disciplined team effort to edged out star studded Cantt Cricket Club (CCC) by 31 runs in a low scoring semifinal today to enter into the final of the ongoing Twenty20 Cricket tournament being played at Mini Stadium, Parade Ground.

NCC elected to bat first after winning the toss garnered 105/9 in the stipulated overs with Manish Dogra was the top scorer with 25 runs.

Kanwaljeet Singh also chipped in with useful 14 down the order. For CCC, Umesh Gupta was the most successful bowler with three scalps while Vijay Dogra and Vicky took two and one wicket respectively.

CCC made mess of what could be an achievable target as whole side was folded for paltry 74 runs in 19.3 overs to suffer a 31 run defeat.

CCC batsmen had to blame themselves for the loss who never really looked comfortable against NCC bowlers.

Even the likes of Ian Dev Singh and Vijay Sharma (Ranji players) found it hard to cope up with the speed and swing of NCC bowlers who bowled with firing on all cylinders.

They gave no width whatsoever to the batsmen to play their shots at will.

Ian Dev Singh and Vijay Sharma contributed 14 runs each while Ashish Rana made 13.

For NCC, Sanjay Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets whereas Pranab Mahajan and Deepak took shared two wickets apiece.

Inderjeet chipped in with one wicket. Sanjay Sharma was adjudged man of the match.

Earlier, NCC got walkover Kathua Blues Cricket Club (KBCC) who could not come to play the remaining 10 overs.

As a result, NCC declared winners.

National Winter Games from Feb 18
J&K to stake claim for Commonwealth
Winter Games in 2010: CM

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 15: The 5th National Winter Games would be held at Gulmarg from February 18 to 22.

Teams from Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarak-hand, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Border Security Force, Indian Navy, Army Sports Control Board, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, Indo Tibe-tan Border Police, GMVN, WHVN (Manali) and hosts J&K would compete for top honours in the five-day long sporting event.

Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad who who has been personally monitoring arrangements for conducting the important event convened a meeting with the office bearers of the Tourism department to review the preparations.

Muzaffar Hussain, Deputy CM, who also holds the Tourism portfolio, G M Saroori, MoS for Tourism, Anil Goswami, Principal Secretary to CM and Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism, Kashmir attended the meeting.

Naeem Akhtar made a power point presentation on the upcoming event.

Chief Minister said the State will take the claim for holding the Commonwealth Winter Games at Gulmarg in 2010.

He further said he would take up the matter with Suresh Kalmadi, president, Indian Olympic Association.

The events to be held during the event include slaloma, giant slaloma and snow board in alpine skiing, free style (men and women) in cross country whereas figure skating and speed skating would also be held in both men and women section.

Ice hockey competitions for men would be held in skating rink category.

Meanwhile, the torch of the National Winter Games will be taken from Delhi and enroute travel through Auli in Uttar Pradesh and Srinagar before reaching Gulmarg.

JU team wins 3 prizes in NZ Inter-
University Youth Festival

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 15:The team of Jammu University (JU), which participated in the recently held North Zone Inter-University Youth Festival at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University Kanpur, has brought laurels by claiming three prizes. Those who won prizes included Juhie Mohan of Department of Sociology, first prize in Elocution Contest, Shiveta Pandita of Department of Zoology, second prize in Collage Making and Sachin Bhagat of ‘The Law School’, second prize in Poster-Making.

On their success, Vice Chancellor Prof Amitabh Mattoo, Chairman Campus Cultural Committee Prof N R Sharma, Dean Students Welfare Dr P S Pathania, Associate Dean Prof Dhian Singh Bhau, Assistant Dean Prof Shohab Inayat Malik and Assistant Dean Vijay Atri have congratulated the winners and other participants.

The other participants were Rajinder Pal Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Neeraj Sharma, Kanwar Iqbal, Anjum Manhas, Ashish Kant, Umesh Sharma, Ankush Manhas, Hemant Kumar, Rishi Kumar, Sarang Vaid, Naveen Sharma, Vijay Anand, Bunty Kumar, Kulvinder Kour, Priya Raina, Bhasha Sumbli, Ram-eshwari Slathia, Isha Taggar, Antima Kumari, Mridu Jamwal, Ma-ndeep Kour, Preeti Sharma and Mamta Kalotra.

All the three prize winners would now represent the university in the National Youth Festival being organized by Shivaji University, Kohlapur (Mah-arashtra) from January 20-24.

Amandeep secures first position in debate competition

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 15: Amandeep Singh of Holy Cross Convent finished first in debate competition followed by Parvinder Singh (Holy Cross Convent) and Gurleen Kour (Saint Peter High School, Karan Bagh) who stood second and third respectively as the two-day long Rural Welfare Games organised by J&K Rural Sports Club concluded here today.

Schools from rural and urban areas participated in the competition held on the topic "Is our social set up a big hurdle in the promotion of National Bu-ilding".

Sister Maria Peter, Mrs Meena and Mohinder Pal Singh were the judges in the said competition.

The students of New National Higher Secondary School, Tali Morh, Miran Sahib and Holy Cross Convent enthralled the audience by staging cultural items.

Later, Father Johnson, principal, Holy Cross Convent distributed medals and certificates to the winner and runners up in the chess tournament while Pritam Singh, project officer gave away prizes to the participants of debate competition.

Narinder Singh, president, J&K Rural Sports Club, N P Singh and Kirit Singh were also present. The vote of thanks was presented by Narinder Singh.

Govt BEd College beat DC Akhnoor

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 15: Government B Ed College outclassed DC Akhnoor by 3-0 sets in a one sided contest on the second day of the ongoing Inter Collegiate Volleyball championship (men) being played at Jammu University of here today.

The set score was 25-13, 25-18 and 25-23. In the second match, Commerce College had to sweat hard to got the better of DC Poonch by 3-2 sets in an exciting enco-unter.

Commerce College won the first set by 25-20 but DC Poonch drew parity by taking the next set 18-25.

They (DC Poonch) surged to a 2-1 lead by grabbing the third set 25-17.

Commerce College after two consecutive set loses regrouped well and played with a much improved gameplan which finally yield dividends.

They took the fourth set 25-18 to make the contest tantalisingly closed.

The decider proved to be a dull affair as DC Poonch spikers failed to keep the momentum going and lost the issue 15-9.

Satish Sharma was the stand out performer for the winner team who unleashed powerful smashes to rattle DC Poonch defence.

In the third match, GGM Science College prevailed over DC Rajouri by 3-0 sets (25-14, 25-18 and 25-22). Bipan Singh was the outstanding performer for the winner team.

The match was officiated by Shashi Sharma, Neeraj Sharma, Mulkh Raj and Rajesh.

Australia ready to unleash Tait

PERTH, Jan 15: Australian captain Ricky Ponting announced with glee that he will unleash "wicket-taking machine" Shaun Tait to unsettle Indian batsmen at the fast-paced WACA track in the third cricket Test here tomorrow.

Australia have decided to field an all-pace attack at the fastest track on earth with fiery Tait, who will replace Brad Hogg, giving company to Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke and Mitchell Johnson.

"Shaun Tait is a wicket-taking machine, it’s very rare that he goes through a game without taking two or three wickets in an innings. He would be used in short spells to unsettle the batsmen," Ponting told reporters here.

Australia have been forced to make another change in their batting line-up with injured Matthew Hayden sitting out and left-hander Chris Rogers coming in his place.

"Hadyen is not fit. With 50 per cent running in yesterday, he hoped to be doing so 70 per cent today.

"In the last Test, he needed a runner and we thought if it happened in the first innings here, he would be needing a runner throughout. So we decided a week here and a few days extra should get him alright for Adelaide," Ponting said.

It’s the pace attack of the Australians on a fiery pitch which was the talk at the WACA and Ponting felt it was for good reason.

"This wicket more than anything else rewards when it’s bowled in good areas, giving yourself a lot more chance to pick wickets.

"Johnson didn’t have much luck in the first two Tests. But by bowling close to 40 overs in the first innings in Sydney, he showed he could bowl long spells.

"Stuart Clark is number two ranked fast bowler in world cricket. Lee and Tait are our tearaway fast bowlers who probably don’t need to worry about line and length.

Ponting said the grass on the pitch gives the pitch an old WACA look with lots of pace and bounce that will be difficult for the batsmen to handle.

"I am excited at the way the wicket looks, it’s got a pretty good grass on it and all indications are it is getting to the WACA of old, lots of pace and bounce." (PTI)

Sania advances to Australian Open second round

MELBOURNE, Jan 15: Sania Mirza shrugged off recent controversies and minor niggles to sail past Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova in straight sets to advance to the second round of the Australian Open here today.

The Indian, seeded 31, beat Tulyaganova 6-4 6-2 in little over an hour long tie to set up a clash with Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky, who beat Australian Sophie Ferguson 6-4 6-3.

"It’s not easy to deal with things like that off the court, there are some misunderstandings happening," Sania, who was recently embroiled in a controversy related to insulting the indian national flag during the Hopman Cup, said after the match.

The 21-year-old, who was also battling minor injuries like an abdominal strain that cut short her season last year, was rusty to start with and wasted a couple of break points besides committing 11 unforced errors in the opener.

But Tulyaganova’s patchy form worked to Sania’s advantage and the Indian wrested the first set after a 40-minute see-saw battle.

Sania then showed some fine form in the second set. The Indian cut down on her unforced errors broke Tulyaganova twice.

Sania also did well to hold her serve and did not give away a single break point, outplaying Tulyaganova in just 29 minutes to advance to the second round of the season’s first Grand Slam.

The Hyderabadi ace said despite the off-court distractions, her focus on the game has not wavered but warned that she was not immune to being affected by the controversies, which have plagued her ever since she started her career.

"... I’m at a slam and the most important thing is to play tennis. I’m not superhuman so it does affect me a little bit no matter how much I try to block it out, it’s still at the back of your mind," she said.

If she gets past the second-round hurdle, Sania, who is placed in the third quarter of the draw, will have to brace up for a possible showdown with eighth seed American Venus Williams.(PTI)

Delhi meet UP in Ranji final on neutral territory

MUMBAI, Jan 15: A grassy track expected to offer good bounce awaits six-time champions Delhi when they take on 2005-06 winners Uttar Pradesh on neutral territory in the five-day Ranji Trophy final here from tomorrow.

Delhi, with an array of experienced batsmen in their ranks, hold a distinct advantage over up, led by their captain and India discard Mohd Kaif, who started slowly before picking up momentum to reach the summit clash at the Wankhede stadium.

Both the teams are very eager to bag the national championship and have come well prepared to fight it out tooth and nail at the headquarters of 37-time winners Mumbai.

Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir, who is expected to make the India one-day squad to be picked here on January 20, and Aakash Chopra are capable of giving the lower order batsmen the right platform to mount a good score against the varied, but largely inexperienced, UP bowling attack.

In bowling too Delhi seem to hold the cards with the availability of left arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan who grabbed 28 wickets in the league phase of the tournament before missing the semi final against Baroda as he was part of the India Under 19 team now in South Africa.

Sangwan, Parvinder Awana, Amit Bhandari and first change new ball bowler Rajat Bhatia have been in good nick which has eased the pressure on the spin department which has been strengthened by the inclusion of seasoned campaigner and former India ODI bowler Rahul Sanghvi.

"We wanted the bowling attack to have an all round look which was lacking and that’s why we included (left arm spinner Sanghvi," Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said today.

"We had not done well as a team though around 10 to 12 boys had gone on to play for India. We are totally focused on winning the title and play in the same manner whether Mithun Manhas is the captain or Virender Sehwag or now Gautam Gambhir," Dahiya said.

His words explained why Delhi, with so much talent in the ranks, have not won the Ranji Trophy since 1991-92 or even reached the finals since the first and only day-night summit clash they lost to Mumbai at Gwalior in 1996-97.

But the former stumper cautioned his teammates not to take up lightly saying, "UP is a very good all round side, similar to ours. A lot of their players play in the Delhi league and know our players well".

UP skipper Kaif, who played a crucial knock of 80 to help his team pile up 188 in the first innings which virtually decided the course of a low-scoring semi final against Saurashtra in Vadodara, also praised the wicket that has been prepared for the final here by ex-India opener Sudhir Naik.

"It’s a very good wicket, but the only grouse is such wickets need to be prepared from the under 17 levels. We had a seaming wicket at Baroda and were surprised but with more experience can play comfortably on such wickets," Kaif said.

Kaif gave credit to his inexperienced bowling line up, which has an exciting new ball bowling talent in Sudeep Tyagi, for bringing the team back into contention first in the later part of the league and against Saurashtra in the semis.

"We are thinking only about winning the trophy and not about India spots. We have a balanced side and have done well after struggling a bit initially and were even in danger of being relegated at one stage," he said. (PTI)