I will remain hockey boss for 3 more years: Gill

NEW DELHI, Mar 13: Under-fire IHF President KPS Gill today made it clear that he was not going to oblige his detractors by resigning and said that he would remain hockey boss for about three more years.

Gill said India’s failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years has thrown a "real challenge" at him and he would leave the post only after the team regained lost ground.

"The team was doing well till we failed in the last Olympics. I expect this team to pass through the same phase and I am sure it can bounce back again. I give myself two to three years. Once that happens, I will go," he told in an interview here.

"It is no doubt a setback. A challenge has been thrown at my face and I accept the challenge. I want to prove to the world that it is not because of the lack of talent or capability. I want Indian hockey on top again," he said.

The IHF supremo said the nature of qualification process put immense pressure on the team. "It was a matter of how the team played on a particular day. One bad day can afflict any team, that day (final match against Great Britain) we played 10 per cent of our potential."

Gill said "umpiring assaults" on India played a big part for the team’s failure to book a berth for the Beijing Olympics and he would take up the matter with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

"The umpiring blunders have been happening time and again. I had taken it up for the first time in 1997. This kind of discrimination has to go. Such things can break the morale of any player," he said.

The IHF chief spoke at length on a variety of topics ranging from his anguish to see India’s current hockey plight and his strategy to revive the game during the interview.

Asked why he was still clinging to the post after being at the helm for 14 years, gill said it was not the right time to go since he could still contribute something to the game.

"I had made up my mind to go in 2003. We had a number of memorable victories and we had beaten teams like Australia and Holland. But there was a request by a large number of people that I should continue. The team started going down and we failed to finish in the medal bracket in 2004 Olympics," he said.

On whether he had convened a meeting of the office bearers to take stock of the situation and formulate a blue print for revival of Indian hockey, the IHF Chief said "we already have a strategy in place."

"The strategy was there even before the qualifiers. How is it that our junior team is at the top for the last few years. India had finished fourth in the last Junior World Cup in Holland. These results would not be possible if there was no planning," he said.

Gill said the Olympic qualifying rules were changed this year and India would have made it to Beijing if they had won a medal in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.

Expressing his unhappiness over the new qualifying system, Gill said the ihf was in favour of the old system and he would take up the issue with the fih.

Gill said he has been having discussions with former players and administrators to take their inputs on how to revive Indian hockey.

"I have been having discussions with some former players and administrators in the last couple of days. I will take that into account when we draw up plans," he said.

Gill also lashed out at former hockey players who have been demanding his resignation and said they were "professional mourners" who take pride in running down the establishment.

"There is a coterie of five or six former Olympians who are just professional mourners. They just know how to do breast beating, howling and crying whenever they get the chance. That is their choice, I cannot do anything."

The veteran administrator also gave a thumbs up to the current Indian team and ruled out the possibility of drastic changes following the debacle. (PTI)

Zaheer doubtful for initial part of series

BANGALORE, Mar 13: Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan appears doubtful for the initial part of India’s Test series against South Africa as he needs four weeks to be match-fit for international cricket.

"I am not (yet) ready for international cricket", said Zaheer, who pulled out of the Test series against Australia because of an ankle injury.

The speedster, who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team launched here yesterday, said he hoped to be in position to bowl in four weeks.

Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad also said Zaheer needs time to regain full fitness.

The first test between India and South Africa starts on March 26 in Chennai.

Former india captain Rahul Dravid, who is leading the Vijay Mallya-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team, said he is excited about the prospect of sharing a dressing room with international stars such as Jacques Kallis and Nathan Bracken.

"It (IPL) is a new concept and whether we succeed will be known in time," Dravid said at the launch of the team here last night.

"If the cricket is good, the crowds will come back." (PTI)

India, Australia, Pakistan in one group

DUBAI, Mar 13: After a volatile tri-series Down Under, India and Australia are set to face off again in September as the two teams find themselves in the same group for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Pakistan.

India has been pooled with Ricky Ponting’s defending champions, arch rivals Pakistan as well as the dangerous West Indies in group A.

The other pool features South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.

The groupings were finalised on the basis of teams’ rankings in the ICC ODI championship table as on March 12, which was the cut-off date for the determination of the seedings for the Champions Trophy.

Australia were sitting atop the charts on the cut-off date, just ahead of the Proteas, who can take over the number one ranking if they beat Bangladesh in the third one-dayer of their series in Mirpur tomorrow.

India, who were joint winners of the Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka in 2002, are placed fourth, one better than Pakistan while West Indies are the lowest ranked of the eight participating teams, even though they won the 2004 Champions Trophy and lost in the final of the last edition.

New Zealand are ranked third and Sri Lanka sixth, one ahead of England.

The event will be played in a round-robin format with the top two sides from each group progressing to the semi-finals with the winners of these matches contesting the final.

India finished an acrimonious tour of Australia by beating the hosts 2-0 in the best-of-three tri-series finals, the first time it had achieved the feat.

The ICC Development International Board had decided that the 2008 tournament would feature the eight top teams as per the ICC ODI championship table exactly six months prior to the scheduled start of the tournament. The following are the two groups (with seedings in brackets):

Group A: Australia (1), India (4), Pakistan (5), West Indies (8)

Group B: South Africa (2), New Zealand (3), Sri Lanka (6), England (7) (PTI)

Sania-Mattek start well

NEW DELHI, Mar 13: Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek sailed past Poland’s Klaudia Jans and Gabriela Navratilova of Czech Republic in straight sets to advance to the second round of the USD 2,100,000 Pacific Life Open.

The seventh seed Indo-American duo won 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Tier I hardcourt event at Indian Wells, California, last night.

Sania has been seeded 21 in the singles event and moved to the second round after getting a bye.

She next faces Ukranian Olga Savchuk, who rallied to beat Russian Yaroslava Shvedova.(PTI)

Nissar visits Santosh Trophy venues

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 13: To examine the arrangements made for hosting of National Football Championship, Santosh Trophy, in the twin cities of Jammu and Srinagar, Minister for Youth Services and Sports Hajji Nissar Ali today visited M.A. Stadium and G.G.M Science College, and took stock of works under execution in these playing fields. Rs. 1.12 crore have been earmarked for improvement of existing infrastructure and development of the fields.

Bakhshi Stadium Srinagar and Polo Ground football field west will be the main venues of the tournament. Polo ground foot field East and Bemina playing field will be the practice grounds.

Similarly, G.G.M. Science College football ground and M.A. Stadium and Jammu will be the main venues while Mini Stadium Parade ground and Jammu University as practice fields.

The Minister was informed that the works executed including upgradation of changeroom alongwith additional bathrooms, repairs and renovation at M. A. Stadium Jammu were almost completed and rest of the execution works is in full swing.

The Minister asked the concerned to speed up the pace of works and completed them by the end of this month so that the arrangements for conducting of the tournament should be finalized.

Natasha strikes double in Inter-Collegiate Athletic Meet

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 13: Natasha of PG Department came up with a brilliant performance to bag top honours in both Discus Throw and Javelin Throw on the second day of the ongoing 35th Inter-Collegiate Annual Athletic Meet at Jammu University today.

Smita Rane (GCW Parade) and Nilza Angmo (PG Department) finished second and third respectively in Discus Throw.

In Javelin Throw, Mamta Sharma and Rajani Rajput (GCW Parade) secured second and third positions respectively.

In 200 mts race (women), GCW Parade claimed first two positions with Reema and Kajal Rani finished first and second respectively.

Arti Maurya (GCW Gandhi Nagar) stood third.

Kiran Kumar (GCW Parade) secured first position in Triple Jump followed by Sukhmeet Kour (PG Department) and Manpreet Kour (GCW Parade) who had to be content with second and third positions respectively.

In 400 mts race, it was again Reema and Kajal Rani of GCW Parade who notched up first two positions while Gulshan of MIER College finished third.

In the men section, Narinder Kumar (PG Department) secured first position in Triple Jump whereas Gautam Sharma (Commerce College) and Vinod Singh (GDC Kathua) settled with second and third positions respectively.

Lokesh Kumar (Science College) bagged top honour in Javelin Throw while Kailash Singh (Commerce College) and Mohan Singh (GDC Kathua) stood second and third respectively.

In 200 mts race, Gurbachan Singh (PG Department) finished first whereas Amninder Singh and Randev Singh of Commerce College had to content with second and third positions respectively.

In 1500 mts race, Makhan Singh (GDC Kathua) stood first followed by Gaffur Hussain Malik (Commerce College) and Mukesh Kumar (PG Department) finished second and third respectively.

"Freak" performance rescues England

WELLINGTON, Mar 13: Test novice Tim Ambrose forged an unbroken 155-run partnership with Paul Collingwood to rescue England on the first day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand here today.

At stumps, England were 291 for five with Ambrose, in only his second Test, on 97 and the vastly more experienced Collingwood on 48.

The 25-year-old Ambrose, known as "freak" because everything apparently comes easily to him, arrived at the crease shortly before the tea break when England had collapsed to 136 for five.

Faced with a dire situation, Ambrose was circumspect with the first four balls before launching into his counter-attack by extracting 16 off Mark Gillespie in the last over before tea.

He belted fours and contributed to four leg byes when he was hit on the helmet and the ball deflected to the boundary.

As his score rose, and Collingwood was prepared to play the support role at the other end, Australian-born Ambrose oozed confidence as he aggressively moved into the 90s pulling Kyle Mills for six over the fine-leg boundary.

England could narrowly claim the honours on the first day with unbroken stands before lunch and after tea while New Zealand took five wickets in the middle session.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first on a green wicket with overcast skies.

But his bowlers failed to take full advantage of the conditions allowing Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook to go through to lunch at 79 without loss.

On the second ball after lunch, the momentum changed when all-rounder Jacob Oram bowled Vaughan for 32 and in his next over had cook caught behind by Brendon McCullum for 44.

Kyle Mills chimed in with the wicket of Andrew Strauss for eight when he directed the ball straight to Mathew Sinclair at point and in the first nine overs after lunch, England had lost three wickets for only 15 runs.

Mills was also unlucky not to get Ian Bell first ball when he sent a top edge to midwicket where Mark Gillespie completely misjudged the flight of the ball and spilled the catch.

Bell had a second life when he was dropped by McCullum and he crawled to 11 off 38 balls before McCullum made no mistake with the next edge and held a catch diving to his right off Chris Martin.

Gillespie also made amends for his dropped catch when he bowled Kevin Pietersen for 26 as the England dangerman played all around a full length delivery and England had lost five wickets for 57 runs.

It was the removal of Pietersen that saw the arrival of wicketkeeper Ambrose, who had displayed his tenacity and stroke-making ability when he posted 55 in England’s first innings of the first Test.

Oram was the most impressive of the bowlers and finished the day with two for 25 off 22 overs.

Chris Martin, Kyle Mills and Mark Gillespie also claimed a wicket each.

Banking on the pitch favouring the pace bowlers, New Zealand made one change to their winning combination from the first Test with seamer Gillespie coming in at the expense of the off-spinner Jeetan Patel. (AGENCIES)

Gill says he will remain in the post for three more years

NEW DELHI, Mar 13: Under-fire IHF President KPS Gill today made it clear that he was not going to oblige his detractors by resigning and said that he would remain hockey boss for about three more years.

Gill said India’s failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years has thrown a "real challenge" at him and he would leave the post only after the team regained lost ground.

"The team was doing well till we failed in the last Olympics. I expect this team to pass through the same phase and I am sure it can bounce back again. I give myself two to three years. Once that happens, I will go," he told in an interview here.

"It is no doubt a setback. A challenge has been thrown at my face and I accept the challenge. I want to prove to the world that it is not because of the lack of talent or capability. I want Indian hockey on top again," he said.

The IHF supremo said the nature of qualification process put immense pressure on the team. "It was a matter of how the team played on a particular day. One bad day can afflict any team, that day (final match against Great Britain) we played 10 per cent of our potential."

Gill said "umpiring assaults" on India played a big part for the team’s failure to book a berth for the Beijing Olympics and he would take up the matter with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

"The umpiring blunders have been happening time and again. I had taken it up for the first time in 1997. This kind of discrimination has to go. Such things can break the morale of any player," he said.

The IHF chief spoke at length on a variety of topics ranging from his anguish to see India’s current hockey plight and his strategy to revive the game during the interview.

Asked why he was still clinging to the post after being at the helm for 14 years, gill said it was not the right time to go since he could still contribute something to the game.

"I had made up my mind to go in 2003. We had a number of memorable victories and we had beaten teams like Australia and Holland. But there was a request by a large number of people that I should continue. The team started going down and we failed to finish in the medal bracket in 2004 Olympics," he said.

On whether he had convened a meeting of the office bearers to take stock of the situation and formulate a blue print for revival of Indian hockey, the IHF Chief said "we already have a strategy in place."

"The strategy was there even before the qualifiers. How is it that our junior team is at the top for the last few years. India had finished fourth in the last Junior World Cup in Holland. These results would not be possible if there was no planning," he said.

Gill said the Olympic qualifying rules were changed this year and India would have made it to Beijing if they had won a medal in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.

Expressing his unhappiness over the new qualifying system, Gill said the ihf was in favour of the old system and he would take up the issue with the fih.

Gill said he has been having discussions with former players and administrators to take their inputs on how to revive Indian hockey.

"I have been having discussions with some former players and administrators in the last couple of days. I will take that into account when we draw up plans," he said.

Gill also lashed out at former hockey players who have been demanding his resignation and said they were "professional mourners" who take pride in running down the establishment.

"There is a coterie of five or six former Olympians who are just professional mourners. They just know how to do breast beating, howling and crying whenever they get the chance. That is their choice, I cannot do anything."

The veteran administrator also gave a thumbs up to the current Indian team and ruled out the possibility of drastic changes following the debacle.

"It is an excellent team, that they lost is a different matter. We cannot put all the blame on the players. I do not foresee any drastic changes in the team."

"We will be working on this team for the next couple of days. Of course some players may come and go because of injuries. But that is the case with all the players. They have the capability to prove their worth and mettle. The coaching staff will also show their mettle," he said. (PTI)

I’ve all bats with which I scored centuries: Tendulkar

NEW DELHI, Mar 13: Sachin Tendulkar has more bats than any sport goods shop as he has kept all the bats with which he scored 81 Test and one-day centuries so far.

The master batsman, who has scored 39 hundreds in Tests and 42 in one-day internationals, however, said he did not know how many bats he had collected so far.

"I have all the bats with which I have scored hundreds (in Tests and one-dayers). I don’t know how many bats I have but I have kept all of them," he said.

Tendulkar, who scored three centuries — two in Tests and one in the tri-series finals — on the recent tour of Australia, singled out two shots against paceman Mitchell Johnson as his ‘defining moments’ of the tour Down Under.

"Probably, the two shots that I played over the wicketkeeper’s head off Mitchell Johnson during the first final in Sydney," he said.

"Similarly, off Brett Lee in the Perth Test. Also, those straight drives off Lee in the Melbourne one-day which we won," he told ‘Mid Day’.

The 34-year-old cricketer, with a career spanning over 18 years, said his obsession with the game had only increased with time.

"Yes, it has. I am enjoying everything and it is fantastic."

Tendulkar said foundation for the Perth Test win was laid in the second Test in Sydney which was the "turning point" of the series.

"That partnership (with Rahul Dravid at Perth) was extremely important. That sent a strong message to the Australian dressing room. But it was the Sydney Test which changed things and caused the turnaround. We just carried that momentum into the next Test at Perth and in Adelaide. It was from Sydney where things started working differently," he said.

Tendulkar’s advice to team-mates for the Test at the Waca, touted to have the fastest pitch in the world, was to spend time in the middle.

"The only thing I told my team-mates was that if you spend some time at the crease in Perth, it is the toughest place for bowlers... There are always opportunities to put the ball away and that’s the way I would approach it... Is what I told them."

Tendulkar agreed that a "couple of more" warm-up games in Australia before the start of the Test series would have helped the Indian team.

"Ideally, one would have liked to have a bit more practice. The one warm-up game we played was washed out. That was tough but you don’t make excuses," he said. (PTI)

Sania-Mattek start well at Pacific Life Open

NEW DELHI, Mar 13: Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek sailed past Poland’s Klaudia Jans and Gabriela Navratilova of Czech Republic in straight sets to advance to the second round of the USD 2,100,000 Pacific Life Open.

The seventh seed Indo-American duo won 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Tier I hardcourt event at Indian Wells, California, last night.

Sania has been seeded 21 in the singles event and moved to the second round after getting a bye.

She next faces Ukranian Olga Savchuk, who rallied to beat Russian Yaroslava Shvedova 2-6 6-4 7-6 (4) in her first round match.(PTI)