Losing the thunder Down Under
Abhijit Chatterjee

Their fall from grace has been dramatic, but not unexpected. Australia have been carrying injured players, out-of-form stars and new boys still learning their trade, who are bound to take some time to come up to the expections of the team.

This year they have been losing matches at regular intervals in all forms of the game to teams, which one time did not have the wherewithal to challenge their domination. While at one time they treated their rivals with disdain, now they have to take on every team on a game-to-game basis.

Australia, who have dominated the cricket world in all forms of game for years together, suddenly found that they might lose their top place in the rankings. And the two teams which have threatened their reign are India and South Africa, who have it in them to take the top slot in the world of cricket.

This year the Aussies got their first jolt from India in the Border-Gavaskar series at home when India nearly upset their home record.

There was no inkling that things would turn around so dramatically after the visitors were handed out a 337-run defeat at the Melbourne cricket ground by Australia in the Boxing Day Test. The second Test at Sydney, marred as it was by a number of umpiring errors and on-ground rhetorics by players of both teams, was won again by Australia after the visitors threatened to upset their applecart after taking a first innings lead.

But the writing was on the wall and Australia had got the feeling that India were one team which could threaten their domination in world cricket in the months ahead.

And India proved their mettle in the third Test at Perth, traditionally a fast bowler’s hunting ground, by beating the Aussies by 72 runs in a low-scoring game. The match saw the medium fast bowlers, a traditional Aussie forte, of India coming good with R.P. Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma taking on the home team batsmen with some really hostile bowling. And just when it seemed that India would pull off a victory in the last game of the series at the Adelaide Oval, dogged bating by both sides saw the match meandering into a draw.

Australia defeated the West Indies in the Caribbean winning the series 2-0 in a three-game tour to show the cricketing world that they were a force still to reckon with and then travelled to India to renew their rivalry.

But the team lacking the tenacity and the fire of the old lost 2-0 in the four-match series to show the world that Indian cricket was on the rise.

This defeat saw Australia captain Ricky Ponting admit, however grudgingly, that Indian cricket would be worth following in the year ahead as Dhoni and his men make their mark.

But the Aussies did try to regain some lost ground after beating New Zealand 2-0 in a two-game series but South Africa brought them down to ground zero by beating them in back to back Tests, the first at Perth by six wickets and the next at Melbourne by nine wickets as Australia have come really close to losing their number one status in the ICC rankings.

Ricky Ponting became the first Australian captain in 16 years to suffer a series defeat on home soil. Australia last lost a home series way back in 1992-93 to the West Indies.

Australia will have to do a lot soul searching as well as rebuilding as a number of players may not make the cut for the Ashes series this summer.

As it is Australia are sorely missing players like Glenn McGarth, Shane Warne (never mind the rumours taking of his return to don the baggy green after his wonderful showing in the inaugural IPL season in India) as also Steve Waugh and former wicket keeper-opener Adam Gilchrist.

Opener Matthew Hayden (whose season’s tally is a depressing 79 at an average of 11.29) and Andrew Symonds (who was kept out of the squad which toured India) may also face the axe for non-performance as Australia look around for new talent in an attempt to try and rebuild the team.

As Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, who this year has had quite a few run-ins with the Australian cricketers, said recently: "I think they (the Australians) concentrate a lot on talking when others just concentrate on the game and do the basics right".

Maybe the time has come for the Australians get their basics right if they hope to dominate the cricket world as they have done in the decade gone by. The empire has finally fallen. It is now about rebuilding from the bottom.

In shooting, this Singh is the king
Sandeep Rana

It has been over a week but retired Captain Param Pal Singh Guron is yet to get out of the hysterical moment of being declared the number one skeet shooter in India after his meticulous win at the recently concluded National Shooting Championship (Shotgun) held in Jaipur.

This is the first instcance where Punjab has produced a top shooter in the event. "I still can’t forget it. I was not at all nervous and wasn’t under any pressure while contesting but the moment they declared me the winner I felt my heart sinking and that was really strange," says an excited Param.

In the championship, other than clinching the individual gold medal, Punjab also claimed the team championship in which Param participated with Smit Singh and Sourab S Gill.

Guron who has already represented the country twice in the skeet event, the Asian Clay Championship 2007, Kuwait and the Asian Clay Championship 2008, Jaipur, is eying the Mini World Cup (Shotgun) to be held in Egypt next year. "This year I have had some good games and I am hopeful of making it to the national squad in the forthcoming mini World Cup," says Param who claimed the individual silver medal in 2006 as well.

In what comes across as the Army’s loss and shooting’s gain, Param left his job with the forces in 2004 to pursue his passion. "I had joined the Army with loads of dreams but could sense a professional stagnation and so I finally called it quits. I took to faming for my daily bread and devoted my entire attention to shooting," he adds.

Sharing his experience of shooting during his stint with the Army, he says, "We have an Army shooting team, Army Marksmen Unit, where we used to participate in various shooting championship and we won many games which helped me to learn a lot."

Though his family has a a history of being involved with shooting, however, his love for the sport went to such an extent that for his coaching he opted for a world champion from Cyrus, George Achilloes, after getting fascinated from his shooting style. "I contacted George on the Internet after watching his game and every year I go to Canada for a coaching camp, where I learn different techniques of the trade" quips the ex-Army man from Punjab.

It is the lack of coaches in the skeet event in India that made him opt for a foreign coach. "There are no coaches in India and that’s why I kept surfing the net for a professional coach," he adds.

Even though he gives most of his time to farming but never forgets to practice 3 days in a week and for this he goes to Patiala. "The shooting range in Mohali doesn’t work so I prefer to go to Patiala," he exults. "My first priority is farming as it’s our family business but then shooting is my love and I want to do something big in it," he concludes.

Breather before the final dash
Mike Collett

Billions of dollars, pounds and euros may have been lost in the global financial crisis, but most of Europe’s leading soccer clubs are still poised to spend big when as the winter transfer window has opened on New Year’s Day.

The club most likely to be unaffected by the credit crunch is Manchester City, who may still be serious under-achievers at the wrong end of the Premier League, but became the world’s richest club when they were bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

They have been linked with more than 50 players in the build-up to January 1 including Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Kolo Toure of Arsenal and Roque Santa Cruz of Blackburn Rovers.

European champions Manchester United, meanwhile, are unlikely to spend much in January with manager Alex Ferguson saying this week he was happy with his squad. Ferguson spent nothing last January and so far has indicated that only only teenage Serbian winger Zoran Tosic is moving to Old Trafford.

Liverpool, the English league leaders, have been linked with a number of players including a return to Anfield for Wigan striker Emile Heskey but Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could be the busiest among England’s Big Four.

With Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas all out through long-term injuries, Wenger could move for Zenit St Petersburg’s Andrei Arshavin, while David Villa of Valencia and Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma have also been mentioned as targets.

The transfer window looks set for a slow start in Italy however, where AC Milan are the only leading Serie A side to have said that they want to do business in January.

Chief executive Adriano Galliani said yesterday that the seven-times European champions are looking for a left back but the Italian media has suggested that Liverpool centre back Daniel Agger is their top target amid uncertainty about Alessandro Nesta’s return from a stubborn back problem.

With Gennaro Gattuso out for six months after knee surgery, an extra midfielder could be useful too. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has said David Beckham can provide cover, but the Englishman is only staying for a few months on loan from LA Galaxy and doubts remain about whether a winger can fill Gattuso’s central role.

Juventus are thought to be looking for a defender too with Dario Knezevic and Jonathan Zebina expected to remain unavailable with injuries until March.

The Turin club have their sights set on Portuguese centre back Manuel da Costa, who is struggling for a place at Fiorentina, while Juve are also hoping to take advantage of Valencia’s financial problems to land midfielder David Silva.

Inter Milan’s dealings will depend on whether Brazil forward Adriano moves on after irritating coach Jose Mourinho with repeated indiscipline.

The leaders are being linked with Genoa’s Diego Milito, although club president Enrico Preziosi said he would not sell the Argentine forward for 30 million euros ($42.55 million). Real Madrid have dominated the transfer news in Spain as the injury-hit Primera Liga champions seek to boost their chances of closing the 12-point gap to leaders Barcelona.

The club is locked in a dispute with UEFA over whether the two signings already agreed — striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar from Ajax and midfielder Lassana Diarra from Portsmouth — can both play in the Champions League. New Real coach Juande Ramos has said he is also interested in signing a winger and players named in the Spanish media as possible targets include Aston Villa’s Ashley Young, Liverpool’s Jermaine Pennant, Aaron Lennon from Ramos’s previous club Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan’s Antonio Valencia.

German champions Bayern Munich have warned their fans not to expect too many signings but they have targeted SV Hamburg striker Ivica Olic, who has had an outstanding season so far, to partner Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose up front.

Bayern striker Lukas Podolski could move from Munich back to Cologne, his former club, if the price is right, especially since the arrival of another striker, Landon Donovan, who recently joined the champions on loan from L A Galaxy. — Reuters