KUALA LUMPUR: Canada's Sean Campbell (left) struggles with Aamir Saleem from Pakistan during the 9th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup '99 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Pakistan won the match 6-3. — AP/PTI Pakistan trounce Canada

Punjab in Ranji semis
AMRITSAR, April 3 — By virtue of their first innings lead Punjab entered the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy even as their quarterfinal five day match against Tamil Nadu ended in a draw at the Gandhi Grounds here today.

Lalitha, Shiv Kapoor in amateur golf final CHANDIGARH, April 3 — Lalitha Kumara of Sri Lanka upset favoured Digvijay Singh in the semi-finals of the 98th Amateur All-India Golf Championship.

Santosh Trophy: Bengal take on Goa today
CHENNAI, April 3 — The 28-time champions and invincible for the past five years in a row, reigning champions Bengal took favourites when they take on Goa in the final of the 55th-Bharat Petroleum Santosh Trophy National Football Championship at the Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

Hingis storms into semifinals
HILTON HEAD ISLAND (SOUTH CAROLINA), April 3 — Martina Hingis kept her winning streak alive in the Family Circle Cup. Even if her game lagged a little yesterday.

Off-colour Warne dropped
ST. JOHN'S (Antigua), April 3 — Australia is dropping its leg-spinning great and vice captain Shane Warne from its team for the decisive fourth and final cricket Test against the West Indies.

Invincible 3-0 lead for India
Paes-Bhupathi duo wins doubles tie

CALCUTTA, April 3 (PTI) — Crack doubles duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi whipped unfancied Chinese pair of Zhu Ben-Qiang and Jiang Shan in straight sets to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zonal group-1 tie here today.

The world number three ranked Indian pair began with a flourish, but seemed to lose their concentration in the second set before carving out a comfortable 6-1, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 victory in about 115 minutes to clinch the tie for the hosts on the second day itself at the South Club grasscourts.

With India already winning the tie with a day to spare, tomorrow’s ‘dead’ reverse singles matches will be only of academic interest.

Playing under a scorching afternoon sun, the Indians expectedly dominated the proceedings straightaway displaying an attacking brand of tennis, but had to struggle in the second set before tilting the balance in their favour in the tie-breaker.

Both Paes and Bhupathi, whose participation here was doubtful because of a hamstring injury that had kept him out of action for some time, broke the hapless Chinese pair in the first, third and seventh games to wrap up the first set 6-1 in just 22 minutes to take tight control of the proceedings.

After pocketing the first set easily, both Paes and Bhupathi seemed to lose their concentration a little bit and committed a number of unforced errors allowing the Chinese to fight back and level the score 6-6 in the second set.

But the two experienced Indians raised their game in the tie-breaker firing in a couple of aces and some rasping baseline volleys to clinch the set much to the delight of the fairly large turnout at the South Club.

Undaunting by the embarrassing margin in the first set, the Chinese pair broke the Indians in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead, but the hosts managed to make it 5-5- by breaking their opponents in the tenth game.

Zhu Ben-Qiang and Jiang Shan again raised hopes of winning the set by breaking Bhupathi’s serve in the 11th game, but the Indians, who suddenly found themselves under pressure, quelled the brief Chinese resurgence by breaking back in the 12th game to level the score 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, both Paes and Bhupathi showed glimpses of their high calibre tennis giving absolutely no points to their opponents as they raced to 7-0 to eventually win the set which lasted about 51 minutes.

Bhupathi, who had opted out of the singles due to his hamstring injury, looked a pale shadow of himself in the second set as he played erratically and failed to hold serve in the third and eleventh games.

The hosts went about their task with authority in the third set which they won 6-4 in 42 minutes to trigger off celebrations in the galleries.

The Indian pair broke Jiang’s serve in the seventh and held their service games right through unleashing a barrage of crisp baseline returns and drop shots to unsettle the Chinese in what turned out to be a fairly one-sided contest.

The Indians were determined to accomplish the job today itself and non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea, who had indicated yesterday that local lad Syed Fazaluddin could partner Paes in the doubles, preferred to go into the doubles rubber with his crack pair.

Bhupathi did seem a little short of match practice at times, but playing against such weak opponents made things easier for him.

"Towards the end my leg was getting a little tired, though I had no problem in lunging," Bhupathi said after the match.

Both Zhu Ben-Qiang and Jiang Shan, who were more used to playing on hard surface, found it difficult to adjust on the grasscourt, while the hot and humid conditions compounded their misery.

Having already opened up an unbeatable 3-0, the Indians will clash with the winners of the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Kazakhstan in their next round.

Pak start favourites

BANGALORE, April 3 (UNI) — Some of the World Cup probables will get one last opportunity to impress upon the selectors as Pakistan start hot favourites against India in the day-night final of the Triangular Pepsi Cup at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here tomorrow.

With five selectors finalising the 15-member team for the World Cup, focus will be on the performances of, left handed Amay Khurasia, who made an impressive debut against Sri Lanka in the current triangular series, and spinners Nikhil Chopra and Gyanendra Pandey to make to the team for the World Cup to be played in England next month. The trio's inclusion in the team for the finals is a clear indication that the selectors want them to be given another chance to prove their mettle.

Pakistanis, who arrived in the city late last night, and Indians, who landed here in batches, had nets under lights in the evening. Both the teams indicated that they would name the playing eleven just before the match.

In a chat with newsmen here, Indian captain Ajay Jadeja said the morale of the team was very high and they were going into the finals brimming with confidence. The loss at SAS Nagar in the last league match on April 1 had not lowered the morale of the team. "We came back into the game after failing to put up a good score", he pointed out.

He said the composition of the team would be decided after going into the condition of the pitch and weather.

The Pakistani team also expressed similar views when asked about the morale and the composition of the team.

Ajay Jadeja, who has been leading the side for the third match in a row as captain Mohammed Azharuddin is yet to recover from shoulder injury, said that the Indian batting should click here.

Jadeja, who rates his innings in the World Cup against Pakistan at the same venue as the best in his career, hoped that it would turn the fortunes for the country. Bangalore has been a lucky ground for India and for himself too. "I hope the team will repeat the performance of March 1996 (when India beat Pakistan in a match played under tight security)".

Asked whether he was contemplating sending Rahul Dravid lower down the order as Shoaib Akhtar has been bothering him, he said the Karnataka player was one of the best number three batsmen in the world. Just because a batsman gets out a couple of times, there was no need to change the order.

Though there has been tremendous interest in the match involving the arch rivals, security measures were in no way comparable to the 1996 World Cup match. All the tickets had been sold out and a full house is expected to watch the match despite the mercury levels slowly shooting up in this garden city.

India, who were drubbed twice by Pakistanis in the preliminary league matches, go with a distinct disadvantage of not having two of their key players in Mohammed Azharuddin and run-machine Sachin Tendulkar, both expressing their inability due to injuries.

Though the selectors have tried to strengthen the team by bringing back Sadagopan Ramesh, Javagal Srinath, Nayan Mongia and Anil Kumble, Pakistan should romp home comfortably with their morale being very high. Barring a close finish loss to Sri Lanka, they have been doing very well with the ball and the bat in the series. The team has shown improvement with every match.

The pitch at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium should be a batsman’s paradise. "It will be full of runs. There should be a tall scoring match", curator Kasturirangan said.

The return of Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath has definitely strengthened the Indian bowling and the return of Nayan Mongia and Ramesh would give solidity to the batting.

Meanwhile the Indian team morale has been low as they have failed twice in quick time to put up a decent total against Pakistan attack, which has variety.

Indian batting looks suspect in the absence of two of their most experienced players. But still Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ramesh, Amay Khurasia and Robin Singh are capable of taking the fight to the enemy camp with their solid batting.

The Chinnaswamy stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the Indians as they had won all the previous day-night finals held here in the last four years. Out of the nine matches involving India, the home team has emerged victorious seven times. India had lost twice to England.

Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has been bowling with full fire and venom, ably supported by Shoaib Akhtar and Azhar Mahmood. Off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, rated as the best off spinner in the world, is on a roll in the last couple of years.

The team has the confidence of defending any total as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar have been among runs and Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan have been consistent.

Following are the teams:

India (from): Ajay Jadeja (captain), Nayan Mongia (wicket keeper), S. Ramesh, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Amay Khurasia, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Robin Singh (sr), Anil Kumble, Nikhil Chopra, Gyanendra Pandey, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar.

Pakistan (from): Wasim Akram (captain), Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Moin Khan, Azhar Mehmood, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Arshad Khan, Abdul Razzak, Shahid Nazir and Imran Nazir.

Indian team needs allrounders
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The national selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India are scheduled to meet at Bangalore tomorrow during the final match of the triangular series between India and Pakistan at the Chinnaswamy Stadium to select the Indian squad for the World Cup. But the question which arises is: what criteria will the five "wise men" of Indian cricket take into consideration to spot the 15?

The ideal Indian team for the World Cup should consist of three specialist openers, five batsmen, six bowlers, mostly medium pacers (remember the Indian success in 1983 when India had quite a few bowlers who could bowl at military medium pace) and one wicketkeeper. While the basic configuration of the team is more or less fixed it would be good if the selectors pick up batsmen who can bowl and bowlers who can bat. It is a well known fact that the current Indian team lacks good allrounders barring of course Robin Singh and Saurav Ganguly who might find the conditions in England to their liking.

It was on January 16 last that the national selectors had picked 30 players for the World Cup. This was done in compliance of the directive issued by the International Cricket Council. Then, on March 3, the list was pruned to 19. Now has come the time when this list will be cut to 15. And these 15 will travel to England for the World Cup after playing in the Sharjah tournament later this month.

All the 19 shortlisted players (barring of course Sachin Tendulkar who could not play a single match because of a back pain which is yet to heal fully) were tried out in the triangular series so that the national selectors could gauge their competence, if one may call it so. Also, wicketkeeper Saba Karim (who is not in the list of 19) was played in the last league match against Pakistan to give some much-needed rest to Nayan Mongia.

But even in this exercise the selectors showed a fair amount of discrimination. For example, Vinod Kambli, returning to international cricket after a lay off, should have been played in all the matches so that a correct assessment could be made about the form of the batsman who is known for his fighting qualities. Instead ,Vinod Kambli played in only two matches, at Nagpur and Jaipur and it is apparent that he is probably not in contention for a berth in the World Cup squad.

The national selectors can probably explain why Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, both certain to make the trip to England, were asked to play in all the four matches played so far while opener Sadagoppan Ramesh, who turned out in only one tie. For a cricketer who made such an exciting debut against Pakistan Ramesh should have been given more opportunities to prove his mettle in the shorter version of the game. However, now that it is known that the "think tank" of the Indian team is contemplating asking Sachin Tendulkar to bat down the order there is every possibility of Ramesh finding a place in the World Cup squad.

One feels sorry for players like Gyanendra Pandey, Hrisikesh Kanitkar and Virendra Sehwag who might just miss the bus for the World Cup. While Pandey got just two opportunities to show his mettle — at Jaipur against Pakistan, where he went for a duck — and again at SAS Nagar where he remained unbeaten after scoring four, Kanitkar played only against Pakistan in the last league where again his performance was nothing to speak about-out for 12 and a bowling analysis of 4-0-21-0. Sehwag also got a single match, against Pakistan at SAS Nagar, where he scored one and gave away 35 runs in just three overs. Surely, it is absolutely impossible to gain the confidence of the selectors by such a performance.

While bowlers like Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were asked to bowl in three matches Laxmi Rattan Shukla, who is said to be a very exciting prospect, was played in just two matches, against Sri Lanka at Nagpur and then against Pakistan at SAS Nagar. And in both matches he went wicketless. But given the paucity of medium pacers there is every possibility of Shukla making the trip to England.

The following is the likely team for the World Cup: Mohammad Azharuddin (captain), Ajay Jadeja, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ajit Agarkar, Nayan Mongia (wicketkeeper), Laxmi Rattan Shukla, Anil Kumble, Nikhil Chopra (or Hrisikesh Kanitkar), Javagal Srinath, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Amay Khurasiya, Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad.

Punjab in semis of Ranji Trophy

AMRITSAR, April 3 (UNI) — By virtue of their first innings lead Punjab entered the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy even as their quarterfinal five day match against Tamil Nadu ended in a draw at the Gandhi Grounds here today.

This is for the third time in the history of Ranji Trophy that Punjab have made it past the quarterfinal stage. In 1993 they lifted the Ranji Trophy while in 1995-96 they lost to Mumbai in the finals.

Their opponents in the semifinals to be played here from April 9 would be defending champions Karnataka.

Resuming their second innings today at 411 the hosts lost two quick wickets with the addition of eleven runs, with Dinesh Mongia departing without adding to his overnight score of 160 runs.

With their star batsman Navjot Sidhu not fit, the hosts declared their innings closed at 422 for the loss of nine wickets.

Though Tamil Nadu made no effort to chase Punjab’s mammoth total of 505 runs,they lost five wickets before the lunch interval with just 63 runs on the board.

However skipper Sharath and Madan Gopal steadied the Tamil Nadu innings and added 65 runs for the sixth wicket. Madan Gopal fell for 30 caught behind by keeper Harminder Jugnu off medium pacer Sandeep Sharma.

Play was called off after the seventh mandatory over when Tamil Nadu had scored 189 runs for the loss of six wickets with Sharath remaining not out on 71 compiled with the help of eleven hits to the fence while D. Vasu was unbeaten on 15.

For Punjab Sandeep Sharma and spinners Harbhajan and Navdeep shared two wickets each.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings) 344
Tamil Nadu (1st innings) 261

Punjab (2nd innings)
Vikram Rathore c Badani b Subbiah 7, Sandeep Sharma c Madan Gopal b Sriram 51, P. Dharmani c Kumaran b Subbiah 49, Dinesh Mongia lbw b Kumaran 160, Amit Sharma c Mahesh b Badani 45, Harminder Jugnu lbw b Mahesh 50, Sarandeep Singh c Madan Gopal b Kumaran 3, Harbhajan Singh b Kumaran 13, Navdeep Singh not out 18, Bharat Bhushan c Madan Gopal b Kumaran 10.

Extras 16.

Total (for nine wkts. Decl.) 422

Fall of wickets: 35-1, 76-2, 153-3, 258-4, 337-5, 340-6, 363-7, 412-8, 422-9.

Bowling: T. Kumaran 17-1-42-4, S. Mahesh 15-2-60-1, D. Vasu 29-6-57-0, P. Subbiah 32-5-110-2, S. Sriram 14-2-51-1, S. Sharath 4-1-18-0, Madan Gopal 4-0-18-0, H.K. Badani 16-3-57-1.

Tamil Nadu (2nd innings):
S. Anand b Sandeep Sharma 1, S. Sriram b Navdeep 31, S. Visvanathan b Harbhajn 18, R. Paul b Navdeep 5, H. Badani c Jugnu b Harbhajan 2, Madan Gopal c Jugnu b Sandeep Sharma 30, S. Sharath not out 71, D. Vasu not out 15.

Extras: 16

Total (for the loss of six wickets) 189

Fall of wickets: 1/1, 2/48, 3/52, 4/57, 5/63, 6/128

Bowling: Bharat Bhushan 8-1-22-0, Sandeep Sharma 13-3-25-2, Navdeep Singh 18-8-45-2, Harbhajan Singh 22-4-57-2, Sarandeep Singh 8-3-12-0, Dinesh Mongia 3-1-2-0, Amit Sharma 2-0-8-0, Vikram Rathore 1-1-0-0 Pankaj Dharmani 1-0-4-0.

Lalitha, Shiv Kapoor in amateur golf final
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 3 — Lalitha Kumara of Sri Lanka upset favoured Digvijay Singh in the semi-finals of the 98th Amateur All-India Golf Championship.

Shiv Kapoor who was expected to advance to the finals after beating Harmeet Kahlon also lost his stride and fell to Sheeraj Kalra of Delhi.

Both matches were replete with good golf and surprise till the very end.

Lalitha Kumara and Digvijay Singh both began very well playing neck and neck till the 5th where Digvijay's second shot went out and he bogied to lose the hole. Digvijay then 3 putted the 7th to go two down. He was unfortunate on the 8th again to plug his vee shot in the bunker wall and lose the hole. Lalitha Kumara set his seal on the first half by birdying the 9th and going 4 up.

Digvijay then seemed to shake off his troubles and birdied the 10th & 12th to be only 2 down but the green side bunker again proved to be his waterloo on the 3 par 14th and he was 3 down. Keeping his cool however he executed a brilliant Chip 'n' putt on the 15th to win back a hole when Lalitha missed a 3 footer, and he was 2 down with 3 hole to go. Digvijay had to win the last holes to force a play-off but Lalitha Kumara giving no chance closed out the match with an excellent birdie on the 17th hole.

In the other semifinal Shiraz Kalra started out like a winner with a birdie on the first hole, and won the 3rd hole again to be 2 up. But Shiv Kapoor showed his mettle birdying the 4th & 5th and winning the 6th as well to go into the lead. On the ninth hole Kalra made a bogie despite being in the rough off his drive and the second shot as well Shiv Kapoor whose drive was also in the rough failed to capitalise on this advantage missing his putt for par.

Kalra then played very well to birdie the 12th & 13th holes and win the 14th as well. But Shiv, however, rallied to win the 15th.

Two down on the 16th Shiv Kapoor faltered once again to make bogie whilst Shiraz had an excellent up and down from the green-side bunker.

Kalra had only to half the 17th thereafter to win the match.

The final will be played tomorrow over a gruelling 36-holes between Lalitha Kumara of Sri Lanka and Shiraz Kalra.

Santosh Trophy
Bengal take on Goa today

CHENNAI, April 3 (UNI) — The 28-time champions and invincible for the past five years in a row, reigning champions Bengal took favourites when they take on Goa in the final of the 55th-Bharat Petroleum Santosh Trophy National Football Championship at the Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

But Bengal eager to devour Goa are hardly complacent just as the runners-up for the past three years, Goa are quite confident of pulling the rug from under the feet of Bengal.

"The fight would be even", both the Goan coach Shabir Ali and Bengal coach Sankar Bannerjee and Sudip Chatterjee said.

Shabir, reluctant to reveal his cards, however, said the main strength of his team, for whom it has been so near and yet far since 1995-96 would be the fact that every player had been scoring. "We have no injuries and yellow cards," he added.

"We know they have more stars like Bhutia while we have just one or two," he said about his assessment of the formidable rivals.

Bengal captain Baichung Bhutia, whose golden goal in the final here against Punjab still lingers fresh in memory, confirmed that his team was not taking Goa lightly and had come here to retain the trophy. "Who wouldn't like to keep winning," he added.

Bhutia also said the Goans had been combining well as a team and that was their strength.

When asked if there was any Bengal forward or medio whom he would like his defence to closely mark, Shabir Ali quipped, "It would be our 11 players against their 11".

"We know they have super stars," he added.

"The final is always different from other matches", Bengal coach Sankar Bannerjee said. "Goa is a good team and some of their players from Salgaocar have been scoring since the national league. They are a better side compared to others who were playing in the nationals".

Still it could be anybody's match. The team which draws blood first might also hold early advantage and win" Sankar said.

Bengal are in the finals for a record 36th time while Goa have been there nine times.

Out of these appearances Goa had won the title in 82-83 (jointly with Bengal), 1983-84 defeating Punjab and in 1989-90 defeating Kerala.

Pakistan trounce Canada

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (AP) — Former world champions Pakistan whacked Canada 6-3 in a Sultan Azlan Shah Cup match at the National Hockey Stadium here today.

Pakistan skipper Atif Bashir scored four goals to emerge as the opening day’s top scorer, while Pakistan’s other two goals came from Sohail Abbas.

The Pakistanis broke the deadlock after 10 minutes of play when Atif rammed a powerful grounder past Canadian keeper Mike Mahood.

Pakistan, who has never won the Azlan Shah Cup despite qualifying for the finals four times (1983, 1987, 1991, 1994), dominated the first half with fast and accurate attacking led by Atif and another experienced player, Mohammed Shahbaz.

Pakistani coach Shahnaz Sheikh said he was happy with his boys’ performance and that the match was a good start for the tournament.

"Our players were playing a good attacking game today and created many chances," he said.

The Pakistanis could have scored as early as the second minute, but a powerful shot by Muhammad Sarwar through a penalty corner hit the right post.

Atif struck again in the 20th minute with the second goal, featuring a great combination between Atif and Muhammad Nadeem.

Hingis storms into semifinals

HILTON HEAD ISLAND (SOUTH CAROLINA), April 3 (AP) — Martina Hingis kept her winning streak alive in the Family Circle Cup. Even if her game lagged a little yesterday.

Hingis the world's top player won the first seven games against No 11 Natasha Zvereva. Then held on through a second-set tie-breaker to win 6-0, 7-6 to reach the semifinals at the Sea Pines Racquet club.

Zvereva's assortment of lobs spins and slices caught up with Hingis after a quick opening set.

"In one way, it's fun to play her." Hingis said. "But it also just makes you crazy."

Hingis swept to the title in her last appearance here two years ago. This week she has mostly shown the same confident style and aggressive swagger in beating Silvia Plischke and Conchita Martinez. Hingis winning streak grew to eight straight victories still far short of Chris Evert's tournament record of 32 consecutive singles victories.

"It seems like when I come here I feel better. The bones don't hurt so much on clay" Hingis said with a laugh.

She will face third-seeded Jana Novotna 6-2, 6-4 winner over No. 16 Henrieta Nagyova.

Patty Schnyder, the No 6 seed needed a third-set tie-breaker to top No. 14 Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, (7-3) and move on to face No 7 Anna Kournikova. The Russian teen-queen had the easiest day as Andrea Glass retired with a left hip flexor strain early in the second set.

Hingis took 21 minutes to blank Zvereva, the world's top-ranked doubles player in the first set then grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second set.

Zvereva twice a Family Circle finalist extended points and got back in the match. Suddenly Hingis missed lines and netted serves while Zvereva caught chalk on her rocket groundstokes.

Novotna had waited out a four-hour rain delay on Thursday night before winning her third-round match in cold dreary conditions for the right to face Nagyova.

"When I finished (Thursday) I was really tired from just being here and hanging around for such a long time" Novotna said. "But I got some good rest and was mentally much calmer today."

If anyone can match Hingis confidence. It might be Kournikova, who is known mostly as a hardcourt star. Her best showing was the 1998 Lipton finals but she has now focused on tuning up her clay game.

In juniors, I won about everything on clay," she said. "In Russia, we only had clay so it's not a new surface to me."

Also not new are the packs of fans following her around, Sea Pines pestering her to sign her poster and hanging off the stands when she plays Despite all that. She's in the semifinals for the second time in seven tournaments this year.

"It's my life," she said. "Like I said what would I be doing if I wasn't playing tennis?"

Off-colour Warne dropped

ST. JOHN'S (Antigua), April 3 (AP) — Australia is dropping its leg-spinning great and vice captain Shane Warne from its team for the decisive fourth and final cricket Test against the West Indies.

Instead, Australia will field the versatile Colin Miller, who bowls both pace and off-spin, manager Steve Bernard said. It will be Miller’s first match of the series.

The West Indies lead the Cable and Wireless series 2-1, and the visitors must win to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy they have held since 1995.

Warne, who has taken 317 wickets in 71 Tests, has struggled since he returned from a eight-month lay-off following surgery on his bowling shoulder. The 30-year-old has taken just two wickets in the series for 268 runs and appears a shadow of the bowler who had mesmerised batsmen throughout his career.

"The bottom line is we have to pick a side that we think is going to win", captain Steve Waugh said.

"I’ve always said myself if I’m not playing well then pick someone else", Waugh added. "No one deserves a right to be in the side or has a right to a place".

Former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson, covering the series as television commentator, is among the growing voices calling for Warne to be replaced.

"I would dump Warne after this performance, none for 60 on the fifth day of a Test match", Thomson said, referring to the West Indies’ one-wicket triumph on Tuesday.

Warne is part of the selection team that will make the decision just before the start today.

While admittedly out of form with his bowling, there are a few factors that weigh in Warne’s favour.

UT wrestling
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Chandigarh Wrestling Association will conduct the UT Junior Wrestling Championship at coaching centre Sector 30, on April 6. The wrestlers should bring with them their birth certificates. The Chandigarh team for the 300th Khalsa birth anniversary celebrations competition scheduled from April 8 to 12 at Anandpur Sahib will also be selected during this meet.

Status quo ordered
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Civil Judge (JD) cum Judicial Magistrate, Hisar, yesterday, ordered status quo in the matter concerning the holding of the general body meeting of the Haryana State Amateur Athletic Association scheduled for April 4 at 11.30 am in Sector 35 here.

The order was passed on an application moved by Mr AK Sharma Deputy Director Sports, Haryana, Chandigarh and secretary of the Haryana Amateur Athletic Association, who had prayed for restraining Mr HS Bhadu and others from holding the said meeting.

Taekwondo team corners glory
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 3 — The Chandigarh taekwondo team bagged five gold medals, two silver and seven bronze medals in the National Taekwondo Championship which concluded on March 31 at Gandhinagar (Gujarat). The gold medal winners include Sunu, Joni, Ompal, Satinder and Anita. Babu Pal and Ravi Kumar won the silver while the bronze was won by Bhagwan Dass, Manzur Ali, Ganga Prasad, Sushil Kumar, Tej Pal, R. Gupta and Vimal Kumar.

Chetna CC win
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 3 — Chetna Club trounced Brother XI by 125 runs thanks to a fine knock of 93 not out by Narinder Kwatra in the Chandigarh league-cum-knock out cricket tournament played at the cricket stadium, Sector 16 here today. The results of other matches are: Punjab Civil Services XI beat DYFI XI by 41 runs: Punjab Warehousing Corporation beat Mohali Gymkhana XI by 50 runs: Eleven star Cricket Club beat A One Cricket Club by six wickets: Eagle Cricket Club beat Unknown Cricket Club by nine wickets.