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Injured Zaheer out; Agarkar, Dinesh Karthik in squad
News Analysis Agarkar bags 5-wicket haul Gavaskar in ICC selection panel |
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PCB rules out change of guard
Sunil Dutt moots insurance cover for Olympians Sharapova cruises into third round Dingko Singh upset
Sunit Dhawan Unseeded players shine Players, coach fail to turn up for camp |
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Injured Zaheer out;
Agarkar, Dinesh Karthik in squad
Kolkata, August 5 Meanwhile, Rohan Gavaskar also got a berth in the team as the 15th member, albeit only for the Videocon Cup in Holland from August 21 to 28 and NatWest Challenge in England (September 1, 3 and 5). At the end of a three-hour-long selection meeting on the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) premises at the Eden Gardens, BCCI secretary S.K. Nair announced the squad. Team: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Laxmipathi Balaji, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Karthik and Ajit Agarkar. Mr Nair said team physio Andrew Leipus had advised Zaheer Khan rest for which he was left out of the squad. Mr Nair said both M.S. Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik were discussed during the selection committee meeting and ‘’we decided to give Dinesh a chance after taking every aspect into consideration’’. “We had taken both the domestic and the India A team’s performance into count and Dinesh Karthik proved to be a marginally better choice,” he said. Regarding Hemant Badani, Mr Nair said, “Badani’s name was indeed asked for consideration but since he is nursing an ankle injury, though it is not very serious, we did not want to take any risk.” Dinesh Mongia’s name has also come up for consideration as he had been scoring briskly in county cricket. However, Rohan Gavaskar was preferred for the Videocon Cup and the NatWest Challenge on account of being an all-rounder. Mr Nair further announced that the team would leave for Holland on August 17 and there will be no preparatory camp before that. All five national selectors, headed by chief selector Syed Kirmani, chief coach John Wright, captain Sourav Ganguly and BCCI secretary S.K. Nair attended the selection committee meeting. Before the meeting commenced, BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya had an hour-long discussion with the Indian think-tank. — UNI
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News Analysis Chandigarh, August 5 On far too many occasions Zaheer Khan has broken down during tournaments, putting pressure on other bowlers in the squad. It is the right time to get him fully fit before the taxing home series against Australia later this year. His replacement, Ajit Agarkar, has been playing for English county Middlesex and seems to be in very good nick. As far as Parthiv Patel is concerned, the axe has been hanging over his head for quite some time as the team management could not find a regular place for him in the playing eleven. The decision to bring in Dinesh Karthik should not surprise anyone. It was obvious right from the word go that wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel did not enjoy the confidence of skipper Sourav Ganguly during the Asia Cup. Otherwise, there was no reason why the regular Indian stumper should have played only two matches in the tournament, specially when vice-captain Rahul Dravid had announced before the team left for the island nation that he was not interested in keeping wickets. In any case, Parthiv didn't do anything of note in the limited opportunities he got, both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere over the past one year. Keeping wickets in the one-day squad is a tricky question, specially when the balance of the team is discussed. Rahul Dravid did a commendable job behind the stumps in the last World Cup (his keeping wickets allowed the team management to play seven regular batsmen in the team) but after it went on record to say he was not interested in keeping and would like to concentrate on batting. That his keeping was adversely affecting his batting was visible in the Asia Cup when time and again he failed to get going after making a good start. Dinesh Karthik came into the limelight after the under-19 World Cup when his performance came for high praise from team coach Robin Singh. His 70 runs off 39 balls against Sri lanka was the talking point of the tournament. Dinesh made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu last season and his keeping was found faulty (he was dropped in the knockout phase of the tournament). But this year his keeping has improved by leaps and bounds after attending the national wicketkeeping camp at Bangalore, where he learnt the finer points of his trade from Kiran More, one of the finest keepers the country has produced. One thing is very important. Dinesh must find a permanent place in the playing eleven if he has to gain confidence, a luxury which Parthiv never enjoyed. It is obvious that Sourav Ganguly (who also attended the meeting of the national selectors in Kolkata today) must have been consulted but the youngster must be allowed to play to find his feet in the highest grade of the game. |
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Agarkar bags
5-wicket haul London, August 5 After the rain-truncated first day saw the Indian claiming three of the four Gloucestershire wickets, Agarkar was equally impressive on day two and claimed two more, including that of Phil Weston (98), who top scored for
Gloucestershire. After Gloucestershire were all out for 347 in their first innings, the Middlesex batsmen, however, could not put up a good show and finished the day on 66 for
three. Agarkar returned with an impressive figure of 29-7-81-5. Shouldering the strike bowler’s responsibility in absence of Glenn McGrath, Agarkar breathed fire and took the vital wicket of Weston, who toiled for six hours only to finish just two shy of a century when he perished at square leg trying to pull the Indian. Agarkar competed his five-wicket haul when Martyn Bell top-edged him only to find the fielder at fine leg.
— UNI |
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Gavaskar in ICC selection panel
London, August 5 The other members of the star-studded panel include three cricket legends — Ian Botham, Michael Holding and Barry Richards. The ICC Awards selection panel will shortlist players in the four individual award categories for the 50-member Voting Academy to cast 3-2-1 votes for each individual award. They will also select the ICC Test Team of the Year and the One-Day International Team of the Year before the inaugural ceremony at London’s Alexandra Palace on September 7. An ICC note here quotes Chief Executive Malcolm Speed as saying that the appointment of the panel was the first and foremost step of a comprehensive selection process to judge the world’s best players of the past 12 months.
— UNI |
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Jayawardene puts Lanka on top Galle, August 5 Sri Lanka, who had resumed on 279 for seven, having lost two wickets in the last two overs of Wednesday, took control of the match on a dry pitch.
Jayawardene, starting the day on 116, was in imperious form, dominating an increasingly weary South African attack during a chanceless eight-and-a-half hour marathon. The 27-year-old right-hander faced 415 balls, hitting 25 fours and three sixes. The closest he came to being dismissed was a mistimed drive that dropped a few yards short of a diving Shaun Pollock at mid-off. South Africa's fielders believed Jayawardene had been caught off the glove on 190 but replays showed the ball had hit his arm. He raced to the second double hundred of his career, sweeping Nick Boje for four and then reached the landmark with a straight six two balls later. Vaas hit 10 boundaries during his 142-ball 69 before drilling a catch to mid-off where Nantie Hayward took the catch on the second attempt.
Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings) Atapattu c Boucher b Pollock 9 Jayasuriya c Klusener b
Sangakkara c Boucher b Boje 58 Jayawardene lbw b Hayward 237 Samaraweera lbw b Pollock 13 Dilshan b Hayward 25 Kaluwitharana b Pollock 33 Chanadana b Ntini 5 Vaas c Hayward b Boje 69 Maharoof not out 6 Muralitharan b Hayward 0 Extras
(b-8 lb-3 nb-6 w-2) 19 Total (all out, 145.4 overs) 486 Fall of wickets:
1-13, 2-22, 3-108, 4-145, 5-189, 6-274, 7-279, 8-449, 9-486 Bowling:
Pollock 23-5-48-4, Ntini 20-1-61-1, Hayward 16.4-0-81-3, Kallis 16-3-52-0, Klusener 19-0-69-0, Boje 42-3-148-2, Rudolph 9-2-16-0 South Africa (1st innings) Dippenaar not out 46 Van Jaarsveld not out 30 Extras
(b-4 lb-2) 6 Total (no wkt, 34 overs) 82 Bowling:
Vaas 8-3-20-0, Maharoof 7-4-9-0, Muralitharan 12-1-36-0, Chandana 6-0-10-0, Jayasuriya 1-0-1-0.
— Reuters |
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Lahore, August 5 In what seemed a deviation from the common hire-and-fire practice after every debacle, the PCB announced both the skipper and the new coach would be given sufficient time to work on the team, regardless of outcomes in tournaments. “We want to introduce continuity in the team,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters here yesterday. The PCB chief also confirmed that the board had worked out details of the central contracts for the cricketers. “It has been decided that central contracts would be given to 15 to 20 players and when I met Woolmer in Colombo he was also in favour of having central contracts for the players. We would like to do it before the team leaves for Holland around August 17 or after the tournament,’’ he added. Meanwhile, former Australian skipper Greg Chappell, who reached here on a short-term coaching assignment, said professionalism and physical and mental toughness could take Pakistan to the top. He also welcomed the central contract system. — UNI
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Ganguly’s T-shirt
for museum SILIGURI: The famous T-shirt that attracted media attention worldwide after India captain Sourav Ganguly swung it after the win against England in the Natwest Trophy tournament at Lords two years ago will find a place in a newly constructed Sports Museum, to be
inaugurated next week, here. Siliguri Municipality Corporation’s Mayor Bikash Ghosh said besides the Indian captain’s shirt and other cricketing gears, the museum would display a hosts of sports gadgets of famous former and current players of the world. The 1,100-sq feet museum would house rare photographs of cricketing icon Bradman, Sir Girfield Sobers, hockey sticks of Olympian Gurbux Singh, Triangle shaped flag of Real Madrid and many other things that would inspire younger generation, Mr Ghosh said.
— UNI
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Sunil Dutt moots insurance cover for Olympians New Delhi, August 5 Sunil Dutt said it was a great honour to represent the country in the Olympics and the feeling gets sweeter when one realises the fact that out of the 18,000 odd athletes competing in the Athens Olympic Games from all over the globe, 76 would be from India. “Winning or losing does not really matter. It’s a great honour in itself to represent the country in the Olympics,” he averred. Sunil Dutt said the Railway Ministry has accepted his suggestion to provide free travel facilities to the Olympic medal winners of the country for the rest of their lives. He said provision has also been made to give Rs 2 lakh from the National Welfare Fund to deserving sportspersons, who had brought laurels to the country, but were facing hardships now. The minister had recently granted Rs 2 lakh to ailing hockey Olympian Vivek Singh from the same fund. At a felicitation function held here today, Sunil Dutt exhorted the seven-member Indian wrestling squad, whom he described as the “navratnas” of the country, to do their best in the Olympics, instead of developing mental blocks. India would be fielding a seven-member wrestling squad at Athens, who include Yogeshwar Dutt (55 kg), Sushil Kumar (60 kg), Ramesh Kumar (66 kg), Sujeet Mann (74 kg), Anuj Kumar (84 kg) and Palwinder Singh Cheema (120 kg) in freestyle, and Mukesh Khatri (55 kg) in Greco-Roman. Former Olympian Jagminder Singh is the chief coach while Ch. Dara Singh has been named the manager. The wrestling squad was felicitated by their sponsors Ambuja Cements, under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industries. Palwinder Cheema and Mukesh Khatri were, however, conspicuous by their absence. Sunil Dutt also presented $ 1,000 to each wrestler on behalf of the WFI. The minister promised to look into some of the demands put forward by Mr Malik and initiate necessary steps to solve them after the Athens Olympics. The WFI president had lamented the lack of sports psychologists in the country to motivate the athletes and requested the minister to create facilities for the training of sports psychologists and sports medicine experts. He also told the minister to get the dope testing laboratory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium fully accredited with the International Olympic Committee. |
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Athens ready to host magical games
Athens, August 5 “We are heading to very, very successful games.” Rogge will meet with officials to discuss the games and will preside over the IOC executive board meetings this weekend before moving into the Olympic village. The IOC was not always so optimistic about the August 13 to 29 games. Rogge was the IOC’s coordination commission chairman for Athens when former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch warned the Greeks in 2000 about construction delays and organisational problems. After becoming head of the IOC in 2001, Rogge appointed Denis Oswald, a Swiss IOC member, to replace him. Oswald also had to push officials to make up for the initial delays. Now, all venue construction is virtually finished, leaving only landscaping and other final details to be completed. Greece has deployed 70,000 police and soldiers to guard the Olympics, plus an additional 35,000 military personnel to guard railroad stations, borders and other areas, mainly outside Athens. Rogge said the security presence would not affect the games. “We’re satisfied that the government has done everything that is needed and everything that is humanly possible to secure the games,” Rogge said. Greece has spent a record $ 1.5 billion to protect the Olympics. “Everything is ready. Greece is realising a big, modern, peaceful games,” Culture Minister Fani Palli-Petralia said. On another subject, Rogge said “the IOC will take necessary action” on any misconduct in the 2012 bidding process. A BBC news programme secretly filmed four agents claiming they could secure IOC members’ votes for money. The show was shown in advance on Tuesday to journalists in London. The case was turned over to the IOC ethics commission last week. The only IOC member implicated in any possible misconduct is Ivan Slavkov of Bulgaria. He has denied any wrongdoing. — AP
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Olympic boycott TORONTO: WTA Tour players could boycott the Olympics if Germany’s Anca Barna and Marlene Weingaertner are not cleared by the German Olympic Committee to compete in Athens. According to a report in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail, players at this week’s WTA stop in Montreal met on Monday, angry that Germany’s top two players are being prevented from participating in Athens despite having met the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) qualifying standard. “We discussed the matter at a players’ meeting on Monday and I think there is a real chance of a boycott,” Nathalie Dechy of France told the Globe and Mail.
— Reuters |
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Sharapova cruises into third round
Montreal, August 5 The Russian assault in Montreal lost fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, a finalist at Roland-Garros, who was overpowered by unseeded Argentine Gisela Dulko 1-6, 4-6 in the $ 1.3 million hardcourt tournament. But Sharapova, who received a bye the first round, easily won over Kristina Brandi 6-1, 6-4, while Myskina breezed past Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-0, 6-4. In an all-Russian affair, Nadia Petrova was eliminated by compatriot Elena Likhovtseva, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, in a match that lasted two hours, 18 minutes. Russian Elena Bovina also reached the third round, beating American Lilia Osterloh 7-6 (9/7), 6-4. Other winners included ninth seed Paola Suarez of Argentina, No 11 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, No 13 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria and American Chanda Rubin. Rubin will face Myskina in the third round, while Bovina squares off against top seed Amelie Mauresmo. Hewitt wins Cincinnati:
Lleyton Hewitt signalled his belief that he is building up for his most convincing Grand Slam challenge for a couple of years when he enjoyed an emphatic win in a battle of former world number ones against Gustavo
Kuerten. The battling Australian’s 6-3, 6-4 victory over the popular Brazilian carried him into the last 16 Yesterday and suggested that he has a good chance to push on to his first Masters Series final for 17 months. Hewitt would relish that, given that he has had to endure constant questions that his career has been derailed by a long-lasting court case with the ATP, the governing body of the men’s tour. It was here in Cincinnati that it all began two years ago when Hewitt was fined for declining an interview with ESPN before the match, but there was no evidence of that bitter memory in his performance yesterday.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Dingko Singh upset
Sunit Dhawan Hisar, August 5 In a major upset, Dingko Singh of Services lost to Sonu Chahal of Haryana 11-12. Robin Dev of Steel Plants unleashed a series of right hooks and jabs against Tauseef Khan of Jharkhand. The referee had to stop the contest in the third round. In the light flyweight category, Haryana’s Gouru managed to stretch the bout till the final round, but his opponent, Jonathan of the SSCA, defeated him 33-16. Sukhvir Singh of Haryana got the better of Taasi Bhuria of Sikkim in the 91 kg category. Ram Singh of All-India Police defeated Thareena Harav of Andhra Pradesh in the 81 kg weight category. In another contest in the 91 kg category, Ranjit of Madhya Pradesh beat Harpreet of Sports Promotion Board. Rajenderpal Singh of Manipur defeated Ravinder Bhushan of Jammu and Kashmir while Ravi Gill of Andhra Pradesh outboxed Rajesh Kumar of Arunachal Pradesh. Vipin Sharma of Uttar Pradesh defeated Shivraj of Maharashtra. Results: 64-69 kg : Jagdip Singh (Andhra Pradesh) b Mustak Miyan; Lalit Thapa (Meghalaya) b Ajay Singh (Chandigarh). 69-75 kg : Gautam Bhargav (Punjab) b Anand Singh (Andhra Pradesh); G. Vivar (Karnataka) b Jitender Tokas (BSF); S.Kumar (Arunachal Pradesh) b Suraj Dev Verma (Tripura); Aman (Chandigarh) b N.G. Nithia Nantham (Tamil Nadu); Kunga Namje Bhutia (Sikkim) b Goswami Singh (Bangol); Mahender Thapa (Meghalya) b Jagvinder (Jammu Kashmir); Jasvir Singh (Delhi) b Natsuta Venuh (Nagaland). 75-81 kg: Ram Singh (AIP) b G. Tharina Herav (Andhra Pradesh); Vishal Gaurav (Chandigarh) b Piyushit Yadav; Jiwan Prakash (Uttaranchal) b Ranjit M. (Kerala); Laxmi Pathak (MP) b Rajbir Singh. 81-91 kg: Ravi Gill (Andhra Pradesh) b Rajesh Kumar (Arunachal Pradesh); Vipin Sharma (UP) b Shivraj (Maharashtra); Harpreet Singh (RSPB) b Ranjit (MP); Sukhbir (Haryana) b Tasi Bhutia (Sikkim); Rajenderpal (Manipur) b Ravinder Bhushan (Jammu and Kashmir). |
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Unseeded players shine Amritsar, August 5 In other quarterfinals, top seed Mamta Mukhi outplayed Deepti 4-0 and Nirmala defeated Poonam Sharma 4-0. Deepank Das, S. K. Jain, Satnam Singh and Ram Singh Sengar in the men’s section while Mamta Mukhi, Nirmala, Anita Agnihotri and Vijeta Virayani in the women’s category entered the semifinals after winning their respective matches. Second seed Ram Singh Sengar was trailing by three sets before he bounced back to win the last four against Anupam Walia. The match was stopped for at least 30 minutes due to power cut and alternative arrangement failed to work too. In the other three quarterfinals, top seed Deepank Das overpowered unseeded V. K. Sachdeva 4-1, fourth seed S. K. Jain defeated Anuj Kumar 4-1 and third seed third Satnam Singh registered a facile 4-0 victory over N. K. Jain. A total of 27 players from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh, including nine women, are playing in the two-day tournament. Top four players from both categories will represent the North Zone in the LIC All-India Table Tennis Tournament to be held at Nagpur from August 9 to 12. Results (men’s pre-quarterfinals): Deepank Das b Rajiv Sachdeva 3-0, V. K. Sachdeva b Hardip Singh 3-2, Ram Singh b Vinod Madnawat 3-1, Anupam Walia b Rajinder Kumar 3-0, N. K. Jain b Baljinder Singh 3-0, Satnam Singh b Ajay 3-0, V. K. Sachdeva b Hardip Singh 3-2, S. K. Jain b Sharanjit Singh 3-0, Rajiv Sachdeva b Yashpal 3-1 and Vinod Madnawat b Ravindra Lahoti 3-1. |
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Players, coach fail to turn up for camp
Kolkata, August 5 Former international Prasun Banerjee, who was appointed selector recently, waited in vain for the 35 probables and chief coach Stephen Constantine for over three hours along with scores of mediapersons, some coaches of the SAI and an All-India Football Federation official, before deciding to call it a day. A fuming Banerjee alleged that he was kept in the dark about the change in the schedule.— PTI
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London, August 5
Sania advances