Hayden
support for banned Harbhajan
NEW DELHI, May 1: Banned off-spinner
Harbhajan Singh got support from an
unexpected quarter with his Australian
rival Matthew Hayden making light of the
bowler slapping S Sreesanth after an IPL
match, saying it was a one-off incident
which would not be repeated in future.
"I
think so, yes (it was a momentary lapse).
I didn’t think this was ever going
to happen and I don’t think it will
happen again either. Hopefully not,"
said Hayden, who had called Harbhajan
"an obnoxious little weed"
during India’s acrimonious tour Down
Under.
Hayden
also said the players must have regretted
whatever transpired between them on that
fateful night following which Harbhajan
was banned for rest of the IPL matches
this season.
"I am
sure they will feel remorseful as any
player would. Because I think any player
who has risen to the top of the game
obviously has enormous respect and
enormous discipline to get there,"
he was quoted as saying by
‘Cricinfo’.
The
Australian opener, currently playing for
Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier
League, said the row left him upset but
he would not use this to sledge either of
them when Australia tour India later this
year.
"I
was very upset, I just think we play this
great game, in a great competition and
both these guys are young men with
enormous responsibilities as two fine
players and prospects for the country
that adores cricket and its cricketers.
"No,
I won’t be (sledging them)," he
added.
Hayden
also defended his national team, which is
famous for its sledging tactics.
"It’s
the beauty of our game really; there is a
gentlemanly aspect to the game and we get
challenged on this. Australia has been
nominated as the best sledgers and we get
asked the question a lot of time but in
reality its actually a mis-truth or
certainly an exaggerated truth.
"What
the world has done following the success
of Australian cricket is to try and
vilify us. And that’s fair enough as
the best in the world need to be taken
down. So we always had to be on our guard
and understand within that we need to
address the issue before anyone else
does," he said.
Hayden
said the Australian team has discussed
the image of being the bad boys of
international cricket and the ways of
sledging.
"You
tell me what are these incidents of bad
boys. I don’t think we are. But yes,
we senior players do sit together and
work out where we want to go and how we
want to play our cricket. Also, making
comments can be distracting to some
characters. If someone is forced to do
that without it being a motivating factor
then its trouble."
He
believes every team has a few characters
that get involved in sledging. "I
think in any given side, there are always
two or three people that look to sledge.
In the Indian side, it would be
Sreesanth, Harbhajan and (Robin) Uthappa.
You wouldn’t hear a boo out of Rahul
(Dravid), MS (Dhoni) and (Anil) Kumble
though they are all fiercely
determined."
Hayden
also spoke about the art of sledging and
how he would pick certain individuals for
the treatment.
"You
choose your targets, really. I would
never say anything to Sachin (Tendulkar),
Rahul or Anil or anyone like that. I
believe they have marked the test of
time." (PTI)
We
are not a test squad, says Dravid
NEW DELHI, May 1: Bangalore Royal
Challengers skipper Rahul Dravid has
refused to buy the theory that his
presence, along with that of the likes of
Wasim Jaffer, makes it look more like a
test squad than a Twenty20 outfit.
After
their 10-run defeat against Delhi
Daredevils in last night’s Indian
Premier League match, Dravid told
reporters that "I don’t think
so. Twenty20 fates are decided in an over
or two. Luck, rub of the green are
factors here.’’
"And
it’s not that our team does not have
youngsters. If there is any missing link,
I think we lack that
X-factor,’’ he said.
According
to the skipper, Daredevils bowlers made
all the difference in match.
"I
think the difference (between the sides)
were (Glenn) McGrath’s wickets, both
upfront and in the later stage. (Daniel)
Vettori gave next to nothing in his four
overs, (V) Yomahesh bowled tight
too,’’ he said.
"Twenty20
matches are decided in one-two overs and
we needed two big overs, which we just
didn’t get. Chasing 10 per over, we
were right on track but could not
eventually make it,’’ Dravid
added. (UNI)
NCA
team to play in Australia
MUMBAI, May 1: A National Cricket
Academy (NCA) squad, picked by the
cricket board, would take part in the
2008 emerging players tournament,
involving Twenty20 and 50-over games, to
be held in Brisbane, Australia, in July.
This is
the first time that a BCCI-sanctioned
squad would be taking part in the event
hosted by the Cricket Australia Centre of
Excellence, though Karnataka team had
taken part in the event form 2005 to
2007, a CA media release said.
"For
the first time, the tournament will be
contested by the best young talent
selected by their respective boards from
South Africa, India, New Zealand and
Australia and we expect some excellent
cricket to be played," said CA COE
manager Belinda Clark.
Karnataka
won the inaugural emerging players
tournament trophy in 2005 while South
Africa had claimed the honours over the
last two years.
The
tournament involves teams from the host
country (Australian Institute of Sports),
New Zealand, South Africa and India and
would be held from July 14-26.
The
tournament schedule is:
Twenty20
matches:
July 14:
South Africa v India NCA XI; AIS v New
Zealand.
July 15:
South Africa v New Zealand; AIS v India
NCA XI
July 25:
India NCA XI v AIS; South Africa v New
Zealand
50 overs
matches:
July 17
South Africa v India NCA XI; AIS v New
Zealand
July 19:
South Africa v AIS; New Zealand v India
NCA XI
July 20:
South Africa v New Zealand; AIS v India
NCA XI
July 22:
South Africa v India NCA XI; AIS v New
Zealand
July 23:
South Africa v AIS; New Zealand v India
NCA XI
July 26:
final and 3rd place tie. (PTI)
Paes-Hanley
pair crashes out in Barcelona
BARCELONA, May 1: Sixth seeds Leander
Paes and Paul Hanley crashed out with a
shocking straight-set loss to Juan
Ignacio Chela and Pablo Guevas in the
second round of the Open Sabadell
Atlantico tennis tournament here.
The
Indo-Australian pair went down 1-6 4-6
bow out of the euro 888,000 clay court
event.
The loss
to the Argentine-Uruguayan duo means that
Paes and Hanley’s quest for their
first ATP title of the season has been
stretched by another week. (PTI)
SSCC
to organise Summer Cup
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 1: The Super Star
Cricket Club (SSCC) would conduct Summer
Cup Cricket Tournament at MAM College
Grounds.
Sandesh
Bali will be the chief organiser of the
tournament. All Kashmiri Migrant teams
desirous to take part in the tournament
should submit their entry fee on or
before May 3 up to 7 pm.
For more
information, contact 9906039381 and
9419214850.
KC
Public School celebrates Gujrat Day
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 1: K C Public School
celebrated Gujrat Day in the school
premises on a colourful note.
A group of
30 artists from Gujrat enthralled the
audience by staging Garba and Dandia, two
famous traditional dances of Gujrat.
The
cultural programme was organised in
collaboration with Gujrat State Govt and
Venu Bharti sponsored by NGO
"Mission 2020".
Rajesh
Gupta, chief patron of the Mission 2020
was the chief guest on the occasion who
advised the students to preserve their
rich cultural heritage.
Sudarshan
Mahajan, Chairman of KC Educational
Society and Jorawar Singh, Principal, KC
Public School were also present.
Super
Kings aim to continue winning streak
CHENNAI, May 1: Unbeaten so far,
the Chennai Super Kings — sans
Australian stars Matthew Hayden and
Michael Hussey — will face their
toughest test yet when they take on Delhi
Daredevils in the Indian Premier League
at the M A Chidambaram stadium here
tomorrow.
Former New
Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is all
set to replace Hayden in the opening slot
and maintained that although the Aussie
stars would be missed, the team had the
strength to compensate for their absence.
All the
Australians participating in the league
have left for a training camp that will
be followed by a tour of West Indies.
"I am
looking to the match and prove my
keenness to perform," Fleming said.
The Delhi
team, which has suffered just one loss in
four outings, seems to be least affected
by the Aussie exodus as their top
performer from Down Under — Glenn
McGrath — has retired from
international cricket.
Gautam
Gambhir, captain Virender Sehwag and
Shikhar Dhawan have lent assurance to
their batting order with their consistent
performances.
The
Chennai team has been equally destructive
with the willow but Hayden and
Hussey’s departure would not be easy
to cope with.
Bowling
has been bolstered by Mahakhya Ntini and
Albie Morkel, who have more than made up
for the departure of New Zealand
all-rounder Jacob Oram.
On points,
the Chennai team remains the lone squad
to have won all their matches so far
(eight points) but Delhi (six points)
have a better run rate than the hosts.
The host
team will, however, miss an injured
Manpreet Gony, the most successful bowler
so far in the tournament, having claimed
seven wickets for 134 runs in 19 overs.
It is
likely that they would play Ntini,
Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Palani Amarnath
and Muthiah Muralitharan and Parthiv
Patel and Fleming would open their
batting followed by Suresh Raina, S
Badrinath.
Coach
Kepler Wessel is hoping that the
departure of Aussies would not hurt the
team too much and the replacements would
come good.
"Makhaya
brings in a lot of experience and will of
course open with the new ball. Albie is
fine all-rounder and then we have Stephen
Fleming batting at the top of the order.
So, I feel that our team has the kind of
balance that it did not have in the
previous four games," he said.
Both teams
will finalise their playing elevens only
on the morrow after taking a closer look
at the pitch that is likely to be
batsman-friendly. (PTI)
PCB
can’t force IPL to allow Akhtar:
Legal Counsel
KARACHI, May 1: Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) has said it will not wield
its influence to get banned pacer Shoaib
Akhtar back in the Indian Premier League
(IPL).
When asked
about the IPL’s decision to keep
Akhtar out despite being initially
contracted with the Kolkata Knight
Riders, PCB legal counsel Tafazzul Rizvi
said the board didn’t have any
jurisdiction on the matter.
"Look
it is on their discretion if they want
him to play. We cannot force anybody. But
the PCB has shown a big heart in allowing
him to play in the IPL despite the
five-year ban on him. If they ask us we
will tell them he is not stopped from
playing anywhere outside Pakistan,"
Rizvi said.
The
three-member appellate tribunal headed by
Justice (retd) Farrukh Aftab yesterday
rejected an application from
Akhtar’s lawyers to stay the ban
imposed on him by the disciplinary
committee of the board.
But the
tribunal said it had no objection to
Akhtar playing outside Pakistan till the
proceedings of the tribunal resume on the
appeal filed by the fast bowler against
the ban in June.
"We
can’t force them (IPL) to get a
player inducted in any squad. We know now
very well how particularly they are about
discipline. And if he (Shoaib) gets
there, he would have to follow their
disciplines," Rizvi said.
The Indian
cricket board and the IPL have yet to
officially announce if they will allow
Shoaib to play in the league for the
Kolkata Knight Riders team.
The IPL
had last month stopped Shoaib from
joining his team because of the ban
imposed on him by the PCB from playing
for or anywhere in Pakistan .
Rizvi said
Shoaib, in his appeal, had not asked the
tribunal to allow him to play in the IPL.
(PTI)
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