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| SPORT TRIBUNE Saturday, January 15, 2000 |
Corporate sector must be involved in sport By Ramu Sharma THE house of Tatas has once again taken the initiative. The news from Calcutta on the subject of an under-19 football tournament makes for exciting reading. According to reports a tournament for this age-group involving some of the best junior sides in the continent to be hosted by the Tata Steel at Jamshedpur is on the anvil. Though the exact dates have not been given, the government is most likely to be held in the early months of the current year. Century of Test appearances By S. Pervez Qaiser MARK WAUGH became the sixth Australian and 21st player in the history of Test cricket to play 100 or more matches. The third and final Test between Australia and India at Sydney was Mark Waugh’s 100th Test match. Millennium’s first grand slam By Sanjay Manchanda THE start of a grand slam season always signals the heralding of another year of intense rivalry and struggle for supremacy among the top 20-odd players of both the men’s and women’s sections. It is in this context that the new millennium’s first grand slam — the Australian Open — beginning from January 17 at Flinders Park, Melbourne, will be more keenly followed by the tennis lovers all round. |
SAARC
golf gains popularity
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Corporate sector must be involved
in sport THE house of Tatas has once again taken the initiative. The news from Calcutta on the subject of an under-19 football tournament makes for exciting reading. According to reports a tournament for this age-group involving some of the best junior sides in the continent to be hosted by the Tata Steel at Jamshedpur is on the anvil. Though the exact dates have not been given, the government is most likely to be held in the early months of the current year. This is indeed big news and one that should be welcomed by the football fraternity, not only in India but elsewhere in the continent. Tatas have been in touch with the various countries after having received a favourable response from both the Asian Football Confederation and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). The AIFF will no doubt be very happy with this move on the part of Tatas. This industrial giant has already contributed considerably by way of encouraging football among the juniors with the establishment of the Tata Football Academy from whose stable have emerged some of the leading players now doing duty for the various clubs in the ongoing National Football League. Quite a number of players from the TFA have also worn national colours. In their own quiet manner the Tatas have encouraged sport in a very big way. They have a large number of sportsmen and sportswomen from various disciplines on their roles and clubs bearing names were regular features in the Bombay football and hockey leagues for a very long time. The Tata Football Academy at Jamshedpur is the latest offering though one recalls the pioneering effort of this industrial giant in introducing the super soccer series some years ago. It is a pity that the project appears to have been given up very early. While lauding the efforts of the house of Tatas, one would at the same time like to know the efforts made by the AIFF in promoting the game during the past few years. The game is now dominated by money and players increasingly becoming cash conscious. Not having finances of its own, the federation is depending more and more on the corporate sector to bail it out. The result is that over the years the main accent of the federation has been on collecting money for tournaments rather than seek means and methods to improve the standard of the game. The AIFF is indeed hard put to conducts its own programme. Look what has happened to the Federation Cup? Started in 1977, the tournament gained in popularity and had a glorious session in the 80s. But in the last few years, the entry of sponsors, initially a great boon, found the AIFF spreading the canvas to involve more and more teams, and the tournament lost its sheen. The sponsors too wanted more mileage and naturally too. Now the AIFF has no sponsors and hence no Federation Cup. At least the tournament was not held last year. Postponed for one reason or the other and finally for the biggest reason of them all, the general elections. The AIFF quietly forgot about the tournament altogether. Now it remains to be seen if it will be held this year. The loss of one major tournament under the aegis of the AIFF and the failure of the DCM Tournament to take off in Delhi, has been the cause of considerable worry for the followers of the game. There has to be a way to keep major tournaments going. The Tatas’ idea of hosting an under-19 tournament for the best junior teams in the tournament, could be used by the AIFF to streamline its own house. Instead of looking for new sponsors every year why not raise funds of their own by having a lottery or some such things. At the same time involve the corporate sector in a bigger way by ensuring more coverage from television. At the moment it must be said that the sponsors are right when they claim that they do not get their money’s worth. Given the way the game is treated on the small screen, there is no reason why anyone would pour in any money. The AIFF has certainly not been able to convince the television people about the importance of the coverage of the various matches of both the NLF and the Federation Cup. The AIFF should now seriously think on expanding the idea projected by the Tatas. A major industrial house conducting an international tournament is bound to be a bigger success than a sponsored one. The AIFF should for a start throw open the Federation Cup and ask any one of the major industrial houses to conduct it on their own. It will of course have to be under the aegis of the parent body but the organisation will be entirely done by the company and its trained personnel. The profits too should go to the industrial house conducting the tournament with the AIFF’s share limited to the capitation fee. In this way the federation will be saved the bother of spending money and at the same can sit back and enjoy the success of the tournament. Direct involvement of business houses will certainly go a long way in ensuring the proper conduct of tournaments with the players also profiting. They will be looked after well and at same time collect a decent packet. By asking the industrial houses to conduct the tournament directly does not mean that the AIFF will have abjured its responsibility. It will play an active role as watchdog and at the same time can concentrate on the National League and the National Championship for the Santosh Trophy. A football tournament
being conducted by an industrial house is not a new idea.
The DCM is one great example of a major business family
running a tournament. It was easily the best run show in
India till, for reasons quite unknown, the tournament has
ceased to figure on the national calendar. One hopes the
DCM Tournament will be revived and the Tata project of an
Asian Championship for under-19 is a major success. It is
a great idea and the AIFF could easily expand on the
possibilities. |
Century of Test appearances MARK WAUGH became the sixth Australian and 21st player in the history of Test cricket to play 100 or more matches. The third and final Test between Australia and India at Sydney was Mark Waugh’s 100th Test match. Mark Edward Waugh who made his Test debut against England at Adelaide in the 1990-91 series, took eight years and 342 days to reach this milestone. It is the shortest time taken by any player to achieve this target. Englishman Colin Cowdrey was the first player to enter the club of 100 Test matches. Cowdrey who made his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane in 1954-55 series, played his 100th Test match against the same country at Edgbaston in the 1968 series. He took 13 years and 228 days to complete his century of appearances. England’s opening batsman Geoff Boycott was the second player to play 100 Test matches. Boycott who made his Test debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in the 1964 series took 17 years 28 days to play his 100th Test match against the same country at Lord’s in the 1981 series. At 40 years 254 days, Boycott remains the oldest player to accomplish this feat. The third player to play 100 Test match was West Indian Clive Lloyd. Lloyd took 17 years and 137 days to complete his century of Test appearances, the longest time to achieve this milestone. In the Mumbai Test against India in the 1966-67 series, Lloyd made the Test debut. He played his 100th Test match against Australia at Kingston in the 1983-84 series. India’s Sunil Gavaskar who was the first player in Test to cross 10,000 run mark, was the fourth player to appear in 100 Test matches. Gavaskar who made his Test debut against the West Indies at Port of Spain in the 1970-71 series, played his 100th Test match against Pakistan at Karachi in the 1984-85 series. He took 13 years 225 days to complete 100 Test matches. In the 1988 series against West Indies at Leeds, England’s David Gower became the fifth player to appear in 100 Tests. He also completed his 7000 runs during this Test match. Gower who made his Test debut against Pakistan at Edgbaston in the 1978 series took 10 years and 50 days to play 100 Test matches. Indian middle-order batsman Dilip Vengsarkar was the sixth player to enter the elite club of 100 Test matches. Vengsarkar, who played his first Test match against New Zealand at Auckland in the 1975-76 series, completed his century of Test appearance after 12 years 305 days against the same country at Mumbai in the 1988-89 series. In the 1988-89 series against Australia at Brisbane, West Indies’ Vivian Richards became the seventh player to play 100 Test matches. Vivian Richards who made his Test debut against India at Bangalore in the 1974-75 series took 13 years and 362 days to complete the century of appearances. He celebrated his 100th Test match by leading his side to victory with a day and half to spare. He also took his 100th catch in the same match. Australian Allan Border who holds the record of highest number of Tests (156 Tests) and most number of runs (11174 runs) in the Test cricket, was the eighth player to enter this elite club. Border made his debut against England at Melbourne in the 1978-79 series and took nine years and 361 days to complete his 100 Test matches at the same venue against the West Indies in the 1988-89 series. Border also holds the record of highest number of catches (156) by a fielder. The first genuine all rounder to enter the club of 100 Test matches was India’s Kapil Dev. Kapil who holds the record of highest number of wickets (434 wickets) in Test cricket, made his Test debut against Pakistan at Faislabad in the 1978-79 series. He played his 100th Test match against the same country at Karachi in 1989-90 series after 11 years and 30 days. At 30 years 313 days.Kapil was the youngest to accomplish this feat. Pakistan’s Javed Miandad is the first player in Test cricket to score a century on his debut as well as in his 100th Test match. Miandad made 163 in his first Test match against New Zealand at Lahore in the 1976-77 series. He scored 145 in his 100th Test match against India at the same ground 13 years and 54 days later. In the 1989-90 series against England at St. John’s, West Indian Gorden Greenidge became the second player to score a century in his first and 100th Test match. Greenidge who made 107 in his first Test match against India at Bangalore in 1974-75, scored 149 in his 100th Test match. He took 15 years and 163 days to became the 11th member of the elite club of 100 Test matches. After Gorden Greenidge, another West Indian, Desmond Haynes, achieved this feat. Haynes played his 100th Test match against England at Trent Bridge in the 1991 series. He made his Test debut against Australia at Port of Spain in the 1977-78 series and took 13 years 123 days to enter this elite club. The second genuine allrounder after Kapil Dev to play 100 Test matches was England’s Ian Botham. Botham, who made his Test debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in the 1977 series, played his 100th Test match against New Zealand at Wellington in the 1991-92 series after 14 years and 189 days. He was the 13th player to play 100 Test matches. England’s Graham Gooch was the 14th player to play 100 Test matches. Gooch played his 100th Test match against India at Calcutta in 1992-93. He took 16 years 202 days to complete the century of appearances, Gooch made his Test debut against Australia at Edgbaston in the 1975 series. Australian David Boon completed his century of appearances in the 1994-95 series against West Indies at Port of Spain and became the 15th member of this club. Boon who first played against the same country in 1984-85 at Brisbane, took 10 years and 139 days to complete the century. The 16th player to enter the 100 Test club was Australian Steve Waugh. Waugh played his 100th Test match against South Africa at Sydney in the 1997-98 series. He made his Test debut against India at Melbourne in the 1985-86 series and took 12 years and eight days to play 100 Test matches. Australian Ian Healy who completed the century of Test appearances in the second shortest time — nine years 138 days — was the only wicket keeper to play 100 Test matches. Healy made his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi in the 1988-89 series and played his 100th Test match against South Africa at Adelaide in the 1997-98 series. Healy also holds the record of highest number of victims behind the wicket. West Indian Courtney Walsh was the 18th player to play 100 Test matches. Walsh who made the Test debut against Australia at Perth in the 1984-85, took 13 years and 110 days to reach this milestone against England at Georgetown in the 1997-98 series. Australian skipper Mark Taylor became the 19th player in the history of Test cricket to play 100 matches. The first Ashes Test between Australia and England at Brisbane was Taylor’s 100th Test match. Taylor who made his Test debut against the West Indies at Sydney in the 1988-89 series took nine years and 298 days to achieve this distinction. This was the third shortest time to reach this milestone after Mark Waugh — 8 years, 342 days and Ian Healy who completed this feat in nine years and 136 days. Pakistan middle order batsman Salim Malik was the last player before Mark Waugh to play 100 Test matches. Malik who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Karachi in 1981-82, took 16 years and 280 days to reach this milestone against Zimbabwe at Lahore in 1998-99.
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Millennium’s first grand slam THE start of a grand slam season always signals the heralding of another year of intense rivalry and struggle for supremacy among the top 20-odd players of both the men’s and women’s sections. It is in this context that the new millennium’s first grand slam — the Australian Open — beginning from January 17 at Flinders Park, Melbourne, will be more keenly followed by the tennis lovers all round. In men’s singles competitions, the battle for the crown will be more fierce this year what with the No 1 ranking being up for grabs. Pete Sampras might have been dethroned by Andre Agassi but when it comes to a grand slam championship other than the French Open, there is no stronger pre-tournament favourite than the American. Aggasi, the current top ranked star, would obviously be the player to watch out for. Last year, he showed tremendous form in winning the French Open title and making it to the finals of Wimbledon. The icing on the cake came for the effervescent American at the previous millennium’s last grand slam — the US Open — when he pocketed his second title of the year without much resistance. Agassi would certainly like to keep up his last year’s form to strengthen his No 1 ranking in men’s tennis. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who is also eyeing to be world No 1 this year, should count himself among the front-runners for the title. Similarly, Richard Krajicek and Americans Michael Chang and Todd Martin, must also be training their sights on the crown. Others expected to make a mark include Thomas Enqvist, Tim Henman, Goran Ivanisevic, Mark Phillipoussis and Petr Korda In the men’s doubles, world No 1 Leander Peas of India will play a grand slam without his regular partner Mahesh Bhupathi after a long time due to an injury to the latter. It will be interesting to see how Leander fares with his new partner, Sebastian Laureau of Canada, who also is known to be a specialist doubles player. In the women’s section, though there may not be many contenders for the title, yet the interest among top five to six players would be at its peak. Martina Hingis clearly enjoys an edge over others because she has hit top form just at the right time. The world No 1 Swiss player won the last ATP World Championship in the style to prove that she is back to her winning ways. Among Hingis’
strong challengers would include Monica Seles, Lindsay
Davenport, Jana Novotana and the ever-enghusiastic
Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. |
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Cricket team’s efforts in vain My heart was filled with agony and pain on knowing that the Indian cricket team’s efforts were all in vain. We lost 20 wickets for 411 and claimed five for 552. The way the Aussies produced the result they forecast proved they were the team of future, present and past. Why blame the umpires? S.K. Khatri At Kapil’s mercy How quickly Kapil Dev has forgotten his past. Six years ago, when Azharuddin was the captain, Kapil could never have got past Sir Richard Hadlee’s record had the skipper and the selectors taken a stand similar to the one taken by the present lot. And now the man in question — Mohammad Azharuddin — is at the mercy of the same Kapil Dev! Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar are icons of the century, but they have lost their credibility by casting doubts on Azhar’s commitment. Kapil’s influence was felt when Ajay Jadeja was picked for the Test series against New Zealand and then more surprisingly for Australia. If Azhar says he is fit and is keen to play, let’s give him a chance to prove himself considering that he needs only two more Tests to join the elite club of 100 Test appearances. Vinish Garg Poor umpiring There is no doubt that the Australian cricket team is the best in the world. However, unfortunately the standard of umpiring by the Australian umpires leaves much to be desired. They are highly incompetent, indifferent and arrogant. Sachin’s dismissal in the first and third Tests was highly deplorable. The Pakistanis and Sri Lankans also had genuine doubts about the quality of umpiring by the Australians. All cricket lovers must raise their voice to impress upon the powers that be to have neutral and competent umpires. Col (retd) B.R. Kakkar Cricket analysis J.L. Gupta’s analysis of the recent cricket debacle in Australia was brilliant. Permit me, however, to add one point that he has missed out: the selection and performance of our team in Australia, as also in Amritsar, Lahore and Kandahar points to one important fact: that the softness of India is not in its state but in the head of our decision makers. M. Rajivlochan Inexperienced team Indian selectors have picked a poor and inexperienced team for the tri-series cricket tournament. It is unfortunate that players like Debang Gandhi, who never crossed the 25-run mark in eight innings in Test matches, have been selected. The selectors must test youngsters and give them exposure. Amit Pele Congratulations to the Brazilian legend Edson Aarantez du Nesimento or Pele for being selected as the “World Footballer of the Century” in a recent poll. Pele was just 17 when he got selected in the national team which won the World Cup. He was very popular among football lovers worldwide. Pele helped Brazil win the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cup titles. He played 1362 first class matches and scored 1280 goals which is a marvellous record. At 60, he still looks young. Bhupender Gusain |
