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4th One-dayer
Ganga keeps Windies afloat
Sajid alleges racial abuse
Aussies name same squad
for 2nd Test
SA rest six seniors for Pro-20 match
Doha Asiad |
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Indian is Asian kabaddi chief
Pakistan bodybuilders test positive
School games: Punjab bag two gold
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4th One-dayer Dravid’s replacement still undecided Ashish Shukla
Port Elizabeth, November 28 The promise, however, rang hollow, given the injury-induced absence of skipper and key batsman Rahul Dravid, a replacement for whom for the day-night encounter was still not decided. Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag, himself struggling for runs, sought to put up a brave front though and said Dravid’s absence would give the other players a chance to show their worth. “There are a few issues, including Dravid’s replacement, which would be discussed later in the day,” Sehwag said. “But in a way it (Dravid’s absence) is an opportunity because we could have games in future when there would be no Tendulkar or Dravid. The rest of the boys have to be prepared and take over the responsibility,” he said. Sehwag also said that he believed in going into a match with five bowlers but it remains to be seen whether the team management actually has the daring to do that when it is the batting which is their main concern. But both the spinners — Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh — were likely to bowl in tandem once again as indicated by the Delhi opener. Trailing 0-2 in the five-match series, the first of which was washed out, India desperately need a win to prevent a whitewash and salvage some pride, dented several times over ever since they set their foot in this country. After the first match was washed out by rains, Indian batsmen struggled against South African pace attack losing their last two matches by huge margins of more than 100 runs. V. V. S. Laxman, who was initially overlooked for the series, has been drafted in as a replacement for Dravid but it appears unlikely that he would be able to reach the venue in time. The team appears worn out by the happenings on field in South Africa, as well as off-field issues igniting the passions in India. The players as well as coach Greg Chappell have reasons to feel under siege. Stand-in captain Sehwag now has the dual responsibility of attending to his batting as well as motivating the players to stop the team from sliding one step closer to a complete whitewash in the series. Sehwag himself missed the first two matches of the tour due to a finger injury and is struggling to find form after he was out for a duck in the third ODI on Sunday. Sachin Tendulkar too could sense the heat around him as he is seen doing nothing to shore up the team’s cause and another failure here would park the caravan of critics right in front of his door. Laxman’s arrival in a way is a complete letdown for Chappell’s philosophy of looking to find younger and fitter players to shape India’s one-day line-up in years to come. Chappell has always been a big advocate of encouraging at least two-dimensional cricketers in the team but the return of Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble, and now Laxman, appears a vote of no-confidence against his fresh-legs theory by the selectors. Indians have done the act of shifting horses in the midstream and it must be said that its world cup plans, as well as that of future beyond, at the moment are in complete disarray. South Africa, on the other hand, have the luxury to try out new faces and they have gone ahead and done exactly so in this match by adding Ashwell Prince to the squad. Prince replaces Boeta Dippenaar as the only change to the South African ODI squad for the remaining two matches against India. — PTI
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Karachi, November 28 Ganga steered West Indies to 191 for six at close on day two with his defiant and unbeaten knock on a slow, low bouncing pitch on which Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria took six wickets. Ganga, who has faced 214 balls and batted for 308 minutes, ensured his team were not rolled over by the home side, who were bowled out for 304 one hour into the morning session. After a solid 51-run opening stand between Ganga and Chris Gayle, who stroked his way to 40 from 54 balls, West Indies were rocked by pacer Gul who took three wickets in 10 balls. He had Gayle caught at mid-on by Abdul Razzaq and two balls later bowled skipper Brian Lara with a beauty that moved away and took off-stump in his first over after lunch. Lara failed to get off the mark after scores of 61, 122 and 216 in the previous two Tests. Next over, Gul produced an unplayable, in-dipping yorker to clean up Ramnaresh Sarwan, back in the side after being dropped for the second test, also for a duck. Ganga revived the visitors from a precarious 51 for three with a 63-run stand with Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the fourth wicket, the latter picking the gaps beautifully to score 36 from 49 balls with seven fours. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) Hafeez b Collymore 18 Farhat c Ramdin b Bravo 47 Younis run out 20 Yousuf lbw Collymore 102 Inzamam c Chanderpaul b Ganga 18Malik lbw Taylor 18 Razzaq c Ramdin b Bravo 7 Akmal b Collymore 31 Nazir b D. Powell 0 Gul b D. Powell 26 Kaneria not out 7 Extras (b-1, lb-7, nb-2) 10 Total (all out, 100.5 overs) 304 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-72, 3-112, 4-178, 5-222, 6-239, 7-248, 8-265, 9-272. Bowling: Taylor 22-3-76-1, Collymore 21-6-57-3, Gayle 16-3-27-0, Powell 23.5-5-83-2, Bravo 14-6-33-2. Ganga 4-0-20-1. West Indies (1st innings) Gayle c Razzaq b Gul 40 Ganga not out 77 Lara b Gul 0 Sarwan b Gul 0 Chanderpaul c Farhat b Kaneria 36Morton c Farhat b Kaneria 21 Bravo c Akmal b Kaneria 8 Ramdin not out 0 Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-4) 9 Total (6 wkts, 72.4 overs) 191 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-51, 3-51, 4-114, 5-153, 6-190. Bowling: Gul 16-4-49-3, Nazir 12-2-38-0, Kaneria 28.4- 11-48-3, Razzaq 12-3-41-0, Hafeez 4-1-10-0. — Reuters
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London, November 28 Sajid has revealed that while he was taking a drink out to an England fielder, a spectator told him: “You can’t be English.” Writing for his column in The Guardian, the Lancashire quick said: “Yes, it is racist, but I can’t do anything about it. It is the third instance of abuse for the members of English team after spinner Monty Panesar was referred to as ‘stupid Indian’ and Kevin Pietersen was targeted during the tour match against New South Wales in Sydney. Sajid’s family hails from Pakistan, while Panesar has his roots in India and Pietersen comes from South Africa. Sajid suspected the verbal attacks could aggravate as the series reaches its peak. “You’re going to get stuff like that out here and you’ve just got to learn to ignore it. There’s no point biting back because there’s going to be a lot of it,” he said. “If I get caught up in that sort of stuff my focus and concentration on the game will be taken away. And right now the whole squad needs to focus on one thing and that’s getting our grip back on that little urn. There’s enough to focus on without worrying about abusive crowds,” he added. — PTI
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Aussies name same squad
for 2nd Test
Sydney, November 28 With all-rounder Shane Watson ruled out through injury there was no place for second spinner Stuart MacGill, allowing batsman Michael Clarke to retain his spot when the two sides begin their next confrontation on Friday. MacGill had hoped to be included at the batsman-friendly Adelaide Oval, but was again omitted from the squad as selectors retained their victorious line-up. But chairman of selectors Andrew Hildtich said did not rule out picking two spinners later in the series. But selectors retained Tait and Johnson as possible “options”, with the team to be finalised later in the week. Team: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait and Shane Warne.
— AFP
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SA rest six seniors for Pro-20 match
Durban, November 28 Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock would be rested, Convenor of the Selection Committee Haroon Lorgat said in a statement today. “We are fortunate to have talented players in reserve which allows us to rest some of our senior players. These include the likes of AB de Villiers as a wicket-keeper, and all-rounder bowlers such as Tyron Henderson, Albie Morkel, Roger Telemachus, Robin Peterson and Johan van der Wath,” he said. Lorgat also tried to clear up misconceptions about his decision to bring in Andrew Hall for Andre Nel in the third ODI. “Nel had sustained an injury to his right index finger and I made the call to the replace him,” Lorgat said. SA Pro-20 squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Tyron Henderson, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Robin Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Roger Telemachus, and Johan van der Wath. — PTI
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Doha Asiad
The team, led by Baichung Bhutia, arrived here after their 10-day preparatory camp in Dubai, thus ending the uncertainty surrounding its participation in the Game. The 20-member team, cleared on the no-cost-to-government basis, will also play against Maldives in this pool. Goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, midfielder Climax Lawrence and striker Baichung Bhutia are the three players over 23 years of age in the squad. Sandeep Nandy was very thrilled with his maiden Asian Games and was confident that India will do well. The team’s fortunes have been sliding ever since anyone can care to remember. From being in the top 100 in November 1993 — India was ranked 99 — they are down to 148 this November. The All India Football Federation has changed nine coaches in the last 18 years but with no positive results. India had won the inaugural Asian Games gold medal in 1951 and defended it in 1962 at Jakarta. Their last good show at the Games was a bronze medal in 1970. India has even struggled against Maldives in the SAF Football tournament but Bob Houghton is hopeful that his boys would perform well this time. Prakash opts out
DOHA: It is going to be tough for the Indian tennis squad at the Asian Games here as Prakash Amritraj has opted out, while Sania Mirza finds herself in a tough field, which comprises nine of the top 10 women players of the continent in the competition to be held from December 4 to 14. Among the women players, Asia’s number one women player Ai Sugiyama is not coming here to play but the likes of Chinese number one Li Na, ranked 21st in the world now, will be here. India’s challenge will be spearheaded by Sania, ranked sixth in Asia and 67th in the World. However, China is the clear favourite to dominate the women’s section as another strong contender for the gold, Zheng Jie, a doubles specialist, also confirmed her participation. In the men’s section, India’s hopes suffered as Prakash Amritraj has decided not to participate in the Asiad due to a wrist injury. Prakash was to play in singles and pair with Rohan Bopanna in the doubles. It is not yet known who will replace Prakash but his dropping out has created problem for the Indians not only in the singles but also in doubles. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are the other doubles pair for India in this competition. The Koreans are also sending strong side and India will find hard to get past them. In singles, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan is rated to be the hot favourite. Team: men: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Harsh Mankad, Karan Rastogi. Women:Sania Mirza, Shikha Uberoi, Ankita Bhambri, Isha Lakhani, Rushmi Chakravarthi, Sandhya Nagraj. Paddlers in tough group
DOHA: Indian paddlers have run into rough weather as they are placed in the toughest group along with defending champion China and Japan in the table tennis competition of the Asian games here. Yemen is the fourth team in the group A. Indian men team faces Japan in the opener while the women take on Uzbekistan in their opening matches tomorrow. In the evening, Indian male paddlers face China and their women team-mates play North Korea in their second league matches. Sixteen teams have been divided into four pools with as many teams in them and top two teams from each pool will make it to the knockout stage. The Indian women, however, can hope of a winning start against Uzbekistan but they face tough competition in their second league match against North Korea. Chess: India wary of China
CHENNAI: The Indian trio of Grand Masters, Krishnan Sashikiran, Pentyala Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy, who is also a men’s GM, would have to be wary of the ‘Dragon variation’, so to speak, as by their own admission, China would be their main rival in the fight for gold at the Doha Asian Games from December 1, where chess would be making its debut as a medal sport. Addressing a press conference on the eve of the Indian chess contingent’s departure to Mumbai early tomorrow en route to Doha, the trio who had a short duration coaching camp with trainer Lev P Sakish said the team was confident of performing well with Sakish emphasising that the team would definitely bag the second spot. Rugby: Nasser to lead
MUMBAI: Nasser Hussain will lead a 12-member Indian Rugby Team at the Asian Games in Doha, according to information received from the Indian Rugby Football Union. There are 18 member countries of Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), of which only 9 countries have qualified for the Asian Games. Team: Nasser Hussain (capt); Mufaddal Indorelwala, Hrishikesh Pendse, Pritom Roy, Ganesh Sawant, Shailesh Devrukhkar, Bilkash Jena; Sendil Kumar, Sujai Lama, Amit Lochab, Puneet Krishnamoorty, Sheikh Saidul and Bikash Mondal.
— UNI
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New Delhi, November 28 Amateur Kabaddi Association of Thailand president Maj. Gen. Samara Kesomin was elected the deputy president while Brig. E.M. Mahindra Ambanpola of Sri Lanka, Abdul Majeed of Pakistan and Mala Banerjee of India were elected vice-presidents. Incumbent secretary-general S.T. Arasu of Malaysia was re-elected for another four-year term. The meeting also proposed to take effective measures to arrest the dwindling number of kabaddi teams in the Asian Games as only five teams would be featuring in the Doha Asiad, and the number may further dwindle in the 2014 Asiad. — OSR
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Pakistan bodybuilders test positive
Lahore, November 28 Quoting a Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation (PBF) official, The Nation reported that the three bodybuilders — Atif Anwar, Khalid Ali, Shoaib Zahoor — were found positive in tests conducted on the instructions of the Asian Bodybuilding Federation. The PBF received the reports from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) laboratory at Malaysia and immediately decided against participating in the Asian Games which start December 1. The official also stated that the punishment for the tainted trio will be decided after the Games conclusion on December 15.
— UNI
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School games: Punjab bag two gold Ferozepore, November 28 Priyanka D. Shinde gave the first gold to Maharashtra by beating Poona of Punjab in the final of 30 kg category. Priya Aken (32 kg) and Sarika Kadam (40 kg) were the other gold medallists for Maharashtra. Mizoram won the top positions through Lalrinajieli (37 kg), C Vanpalzauali (48 kg) and P.C. Rodinliani (52 kg). Maharashtra also won two gold medals in weightlifting. Nawale Ketaki captured gold in the girls’ 48 kg category with a lift of 91 kg. Maharashtra struck another gold when Ranjit C K lifted 192 kg in 56 kg category for boys. Tamil Nadu won gold in table tennis by defeating Maharashtra 3-0 in boys’ section. Punjab have to satisfy themselves with a bronze. — UNI
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Doha, November 28
