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

Pick holes in India’s win: Australian Media ...........

India set to be second in ICC rankings .............

Anand, Humpy record their first victories .......

Sania, Bhupathi moves on...............

Ganguly, Dravid left out by selectors

MUMBAI, Jan 20: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who made significant contributions in the current Test series against Australia, were today left out by the selectors in picking up of the Indian squad for the tri-series Down Under, also featuring Australia and Sri Lanka.

Left-hand batsman Suresh Raina and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla were recalled to the side that also includes wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick, who is already with the test team in Australia. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who played the last ODI series against Pakistan, was also left out.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah announced the 16-member team after a meeting of the selection committee for India’s one-off Twenty20 match against Australia on February 1 and the subsequent tri-series.

The omission of Ganguly came as a surprise as the elegant left-hander had been in very good nick in both the one-day and Test matches.

Explaining reasons behind ignoring Ganguly and Dravid, Shah said, "the emphasis was on fielding abilities and they wanted a young fielding side for the series. That’s why you see a lot of youngsters in the side."

The team, to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has Sachin Tendulkar as its most experienced batsman.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh, who struggled for runs in Australia and has injured his knee, was retained as the vice captain of the team, which the selectors said has been picked keeping the future in mind.

Virender Sehwag also retained his place in the 16-member squad for India’s lone Twenty20 match against Australia on February 1, followed by the tri-series starting on February 3.

Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel will be on standby, Shah said.

"The three selectors here had a teleconference with two of their colleagues (Ranjib Biswal and Venkatapathy Raju) and Dhoni, who are in Australia, after which the team was selected," Shah said.

A board source said the selectors had an eye on the future and hence they decided to invest in youth, rather than sticking with the seniors.

"We also decided to have three players on the standby so that in case of injuries to any players, we can fly them out to help the team," Shah said.

The selectors’ decision to leave out Ganguly and Dravid is a clear indication that they are looking firmly ahead, even if that invites stick from various quarters.

Meanwhile, Shah dismissed reports about Yuvraj’s alleged attitude problem and said, "there has been no mention on it. It’s all media creation."

Yuvraj, however, has still not recovered from his knee injury sustained during a practice game between the second and third Tests and would not be available for the fourth and deciding Test at Adelaide starting January 24.

"John Gloster (team physio) is confident he would recover in time for the Twenty20 tie against Australia," Shah said.

The board official also said that injured speedster Zaheer Khan might be sent to South Africa for treatment. He suffered a heel injury and returned after the first Test against Australia at Melbourne towards the end of 2007.

Pacer S Sreesanth, recuperating from a shoulder injury, was named in the squad, along with Ishant Sharma.

Harbhajan Singh will be India’s spin spearhead in the series.

Squad: M S Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Kaarthick, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar.

Standbye: Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel. (PTI)

Bakshi becomes youngest All India amateur champion

CHANDIGARH, Jan 20: It was celebration time for the golfing buffs of the nursery of Indian golf - Chandigarh as one more prodigy joined the long list of accomplished players hailing from the city beautiful.

Young Rahul Bakshi captured his second All India Amateur title in a span of 23 days when he steamrolled his senior counterpart Abhishek Kha 8 and 7 in the 107th All India Open Amateur Golf Championship that culminated at the Chandigarh Golf Club here today.

He had captured the Sunfeast All India Junior/Sub-Junior championship last month. Thus the 17-year-old became the youngest champion in one of the oldest national opens.

"It is a great feeling to win the national open title. It was a tough tournament as I had to face senior and experienced amateurs," said an elated Bakshi. "I did not expect to win as Abhishek was a good match-play player and comes with more experience. But I was surprised by his lack of form," said the young champion who flew to Malaysia for the Asian Junior Championship. (PTI)

Don’t risk your career by joining ICL: Modi tells Kiwis

MELBOURNE, Jan 20: BCCI vice president Lalit Modi has advised New Zealand players not to jeopardise their careers by joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is in a crisis with a number of Kiwi players already aligning with ICL and the fresh jolt came with their spearhead Shane Bond too deciding to take the plunge.

Modi urged the Kiwi cricketers not to succumb to the lure of the rebel league which, he felt, was not sustainable.

"To have a credible tournament one must not just look at the money but, more importantly, whether the competition is sanctioned, whether it’s going to have the (necessary) infrastructure, whether it’s going to be around for a while, and whether it’s investing in the growth of the game - or just profiting from it," Modi was quoted as saying by the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

"Do they have enough safeguards to protect against match-fixing? Do they have the right officials - such as match referees and umpires - and do they have the appropriate rules involving anti-doping policies and playing guidelines?" asked Modi, also the chairman of the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League (IPL). (PTI)

Asian Squash stars to feature in Kolkata International KOLKATA, Jan 20: The top eight Asian players would be seen in action in the three-star USD 30,000 Kolkata International Squash tournament to be held from February 3 to 8 at the Calcutta Racket Club here. The tournament, being held after a three-year gap, would have world number 15 Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia as the highest ranked player, who would face a tough challenge from compatriot Ong Beng Hee - placed a rung below in the global psa list. Formidable Pakistani players Aamir Atlas (WR 29), Mansoor Zaman (WR 35), Farhan Mehboob (WR 52) and Shahid Zaman (WR 53) would also be in the fray, along with the Egyptians trio of Omar Mossad (WR 28), Omar Abdel Aziz (WR 39) Amr Mansi (WR 66). Reigning British Junior Open champion Mohd El Shorbay of Egypt would play the qualifiers. The tournament is being organised by the CRC through the Professional Squash Association (PSA) under the aegis of the Squash Rackets Federation of India. (PTI)

Semifinals to be played today Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Jan 20: The semifinal line up has been drawn in the ongoing Inter Collegiate Kabaddi Tournament (men) being played at New University Campus Ground with DC Kathua will take on DC Reasi in first semifinal while DC Akhnoor would lock horns against PG Department in the second semifinal to be played tomorrow. In the matches played today, DC Kathua outclassed GGM Science College by 49-28 points. In another match, DC Reasi got the better of DC Rajouri by 21-7 points with Parshotam Singh was the stand out performer for the winner team. PG Department prevailed over MAM College by 52-45 points in a keenly contested encounter. The matches were officiated by Ajay Gupta, Anil Sharma, Sukhmeet Kour and Arti Choudhary. . Inter Bn Cross Country competition held Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Jan 20: An Inter Bn Cross Country Competition organised at 162 Bn BSF under the supervision of K J S Cheema, DIG Sector, Ramban and B P S Parihar, Commandant, 162 Bn, BSF here today. In all 204 athletes from all over BSF Jammu Frontier participated in the event. DIG K J S Cheema and S S Dogra, Commandant, 182 Bn, BSF gave away the trophies and prizes to the winner and runner up athletes. Hard to please billion people: Sania MELBOURNE, Jan 20: Fighting one controversy after another ever since her rise to prominence has taken a toll on Sania Mirza’s morale and even forced her to consider quitting the game but the Indian tennis ace says she has gradually learnt not to get rattled by off-court furores. "Yeah, it is painful... You know you can never get used to things like that. Of course, it does hurt you, because you are playing for your country," Sania said reflecting on the controversies ranging from her on-court attire to a recent court case relating to allegedly disrespecting the Indian national flag during the Hopman Cup. The 21-year-old said she has understood that she would never be able to please everyone in her more than a billion strong nation. "1.2 billion, I mean, there are going to be a couple of people that don’t like you. That’s very hard, but it’s very hard for everyone to like you as well," she said. "But I don’t take it personally, to be honest. They obviously have good enough reasons for whatever they’re doing," she quipped. Sania, who crashed out in the third round of the ongoing Australian Open after a straight set loss to former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, said despite the controversies she remains focussed on her game. "If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be playing these tournaments, I wouldn’t be feeling the way I feel about my country, and I would not be living in India right now with all this," Sania said. "I would have moved out a long time ago, but I’m proud to live in India and whatever I am I am because I have grown up in India," she added. But the Hyderabadi ace admits that her young age makes it difficult for her to understand what the fuss is all about whenever fatwas are issued against her for wearing "revealing" on-court attire or any other petty issue. The recent court case about allegedly disrespecting the national flag has only added to her misery but she vows to fight through. "You know, it will come and go. A lot of things have come and gone, and this will come and go as well," she said. "Yes, I’m fighting (court) cases, but I guess it’s fine. I mean, it’s just life. At the end of the day, yeah, I am 21, and it is very hard for me to deal with stuff like that sometimes and I feel very down." Sania said playing good tennis was one of the ways of coping with the hard off-court life that she has been leading. "After having all that at the back of my head I’m just playing good matches and I’m still trying my best and still doing the right things," she said. And I think that’s the most important thing in my life right now is tennis," she added. (PTI)
Surender, Kavita win half marathons MUMBAI, Jan 20: India’s Surender Singh pipped finish rival Jitsi Utiranen in thrilling fashion to win the 21-km race in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here today. Surender edged out the Finn to finish the exciting race in one hour, five minutes and 39 seconds — 0.14 seconds ahead of Utiranen. Fellow Indian, Santosh Kumar, came third in one hour, six minues and 12 seconds. Kavita Raut headed an Indian clean sweep of the correspondiong women’s half marathon after warding off a stiff fight from compatriot Preeja Sreedharan. A fraction of a second separated the two women with both being officially clocked one hour, 16 minuees and 32 seconds. Preeti Rao ended third. (PTI)
Pick holes in India’s win: Australian Media PERTH, Jan 20: Struggling to digest the defeat India rammed down the hosts’ throat in the third Test, a section of the Australian media today reacted with dented pride and hurt ego as it sought to pick holes in the visitors’ emphatic win. Stung after Anil Kumble and his comrades-in-arms halted the Australian juggernaut, denying them a record 17th straight Tests win, the media here cried foul, blaming the defeat to India’s financial clout and the game’s "weak-kneed" governing body. "India’s stunning performance in the third Test at the WACA should be dedicated to a lot more than the 11 players out on the field," a whining report in the ‘Courier Mail’ said. "They should share their pay cheques with their bullying officials back home, the weak-kneed administrators at the International Cricket Council and certain members of the media who have taken every opportunity to put the knife into the Aussies since this series began," Mike Colman wrote in the daily. The barrage of criticism after the acrimonious Sydney Test had forced Ricky Ponting and his teammates to discard their ruthlessness and the rather civilised approach to the game never really worked for them, he said. "Remember that scene in one of the Rocky movies where Rocky’s trainer tells him he’s no longer feared by his opponents? ‘Kid,’ he says, ‘the worst thing that could happen to a fighter happened to you. You got civilised.’" "In the space of a week the Australians got civilised...So instead of a confident, arrogant, winning team, we get a nice, civilised one. Maybe a losing one," it rued. (PTI) India set to be second in ICC rankings DUBAI, Jan 20: The historic triumph against world champions Australia at Perth has assured India a rise to the second place in the ICC Test rankings regardless of how the fourth and final Test in Adelaide pans out for the resurgent visitors. Apart from this, Anil Kumble’s men have another reason to smile as all their top performers in the match have moved up in the individual rankings. After shinning with both bat and ball, Irfan Pathan has has broken into the top 20 of Test bowlers chart released today. The Baroda pacer, who scored 28 and 46 with the bat besides claiming 5-117 in Perth, climbed six places to 19th to join Kumble, who is unchanged at sixth, and an injured Zaheer Khan (13th) in the top 20. If the final Test in Adelaide starting January 24 ends in a draw, India will move two rating points ahead of third-placed Sri Lanka. And if Kumble’s side manages to square the series, it will finish on 113 ratings points, four ahead of Mahela Jayawardena’s team. Even if Australia wins the match in Adelaide, India will sit above Sri Lanka when ratings points are calculated beyond the decimal point. Pathan will be hoping for another good show at Adelaide that will help him to overtake Pakistan pair of Mohammad Asif and Danish Kaneria as well as New Zealand’s James Franklin. Only 24 ratings points separate 16th-placed Asif from Pathan who is now just three short of 100 Test wickets. He also re-established himself as one of the most promising all-rounders in the game by leapfrogging Australia’s Brett Lee and West Indian duo of Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo to sixth spot in the Test all-rounders’ list. Among other Indians, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have all made improvements in the batting charts. Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman rose one position each to 13th, 15th and 17th respectively. Sehwag, meanwhile, jumped three places to share the 32nd place with Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal and England’s Marcus Trescothick while Dhoni lifted one place to share 41st spot. (PTI) Anand, Humpy record their first victories WIJK AAN ZEE, Jan 20: World champion Viswanathan Anand won his first game handing Judit Polgar a defeat while two other Indians Koneru Humpy and Parimarjan Negi also chalked out victories in the seventh round of Corus Grand Masters Chess tournament. It was game similar to the one they played 10 years ago. With this win Anand avenged that defeat winning in 53 moves of a game in Sicilian Najdorf. It was Indian’s first win and first loss for Polgar in this year’s event. The win helped Anand find back his way in the tournament he has won five times. In seven rounds Anand now has 3.5 points and moves in a tie for fifth place with five others. Anand lost the Sicilian game in 1998, and was in trouble this time, too. Both players were in agreement that white had many good ways to improve her position and get very close to a winning advantage. But with Anand turning the flow, Polgar could not accept the change of events and tried for a draw. So, she went downhill and lost to the Indian star in 53 moves. In group C, Parimarjan Negi won his fourth game beating American Irina Krush in just 39 moves following a Sicilian Rauzer opening. Negi now has four points and is tied for sixth. The leader is Arik Braun of Germany with five points and he is tied with Fabiano Caruana of Italy. In group B, Koneru Humpy also got her first win beating the strong Polish GrandMaster Michael Krasenkow in a modern defence, where the game went as long as 94 moves before the Indian won. With this win Humpy moved up tied 10th with three points. (PTI) Sania, Bhupathi moves on MELBOURNE, Jan 20: Sania Mirza whose impressive run in the singles ended after a brave fight against Venus Williams, managed to keep her hopes alive in doubles as she advanced to the third round of Australian Open here today. However, Leander Paes and Paul Hanley, seeded fifth, received a major upset by Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram in men’s doubles. Sania and her Australian partner Alicia Molik defeated Russia’s Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina 6-3 5-7 6-4 in a rain affected match. The Indo-Australian pair will be up against the 12th seeds Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka and Israeli Shahar Peer who ousted the Swiss pair of Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Patty Schnyder 6-3 6-3. Meanwhile, Bopanna and Ram proved a little too good for Paes and Hanley 6-3 3-6 7-6 (6) in the second round of men’s doubles. Bopanna and Ram will now take on the South African pair of Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie in the third round. (PTI)