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Saturday,
December 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Saurav Ganguly writes Dalmiya to
meet Wright, Leipus today |
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| Suddenly, a problem of plenty for Indian cricket Chandigarh, December 7 Suddenly the national selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India have a problem of plenty on their hands. There are a number of talented openers, middle-order batsmen and bowlers who are desperately looking for a chance to make the national squad but since they have place for only 14 in the team, a number of talented players have by force been sidelined.
Sunil Kumar enters
final School games events
postponed Haryana’s showing
appreciated Anand reaches
semifinals Rohan, Nazma clinch
titles BSF outplay RCF; Signals
held Punjabi varsity, PU record
wins Postal wrestling
results Innings defeat for Himachal
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India edge out Belgium Kuala Lumpur, December 7 With this win, India earned three points and tomorrow face South Africa who shocked favourites Argentina 3-2 in the opening match of the tournament earlier in the day. The Indians, who sprang a surprise by omitting Deepak Thakur from the 16 that opened against Belgium, started slowly and with Belgium playing defensively with almost seven at the back, found cutting across the Belgians difficult. But the Indians also had themselves to blame as they didn’t work up moves and for almost 15 minutes in the first half, hassled by the defensive Belgians, shot aimlessly in the Belgian circle. The midfield also didn’t exert enough pressure to move up and unsettle the Belgian defence. Thirumalvalvan, Sukhbir Singh Gill and Bipin Fernandez were just too off-colour. The Belgians came close twice but their wayward shooting let them down. After the break, the Indians attacked with purpose and used the flanks for the first time in the match, thus opening up the Belgian defence. Pillay played a superb game and for almost 15 minutes in the second half, the Indians attacked with power and should have easily been three goals up but for the Belgian goalkeeper Vincent who made some smart saves. The winning goal came in the 47th minute when Pillay found himself in the striking circle after a shot rebounded off a Belgian defender’s stick. Taking his time, Pillay shot it high into the net, not giving the goalkeeper any chance of a save. A couple of minutes later, Pillay and Baljit Dhillon moved in but Vincent came out and stopped the shot giving away a penalty corner, India’s only one of the match. But the Indians muffed that up. Pillay, who looked in stunning form, made another move with Baljit with the third pass moving to Arjun Hallapa whose fearsome shot was taken on the visor by the Belgian ‘keeper. The Belgians came close to equalising when off a breakway move they earned a penalty corner. The corner led to three more in succession with the second one hitting the post and going out of play. In the end, India managed to hold on to their 1-0 lead. Coach Cedric D’Souza said he was happy as this was the first match and promised that the team would play better as the tournament progresses. “They have assembled after a long time and with the juniors joining the team, it will take a couple of matches for them to come together,” he said. He justified omission of junior World Cup hero Deepak Thakur from the 16 today saying he would be playing him against South Africa and that he wanted to give other players a chance against Belgium. Earlier, in the opening match of the tournament, South Africa shocked World Cup qualifiers champions Argentina 3-2 with two stunning goals in the dying minutes. Argentina took the lead in the 10th minute off a penalty corner conversion by Jorge Lombi. Four minutes later, South Africa’s Justin King scored the equaliser off a penalty corner. At the break, the two teams were locked at 1-1. In the second session, South Africa seemed the more committed lot but they missed a few sharp chances in the Argentina striking circle. It was Argentina who took the lead in the 62nd minute when Mario Almeida shot the ball high into the net. Just when it seemed that Argentina would run out 2-1 winners, South Africa, off a free-hit outside the circle, managed to get the ball to captain Craig Jackson who shot in to tie the scores.
PTI |
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Saurav Ganguly writes It’s always good to win the first Test of a series, and while this is not the first time this has happened, it’s most satisfying on two counts. First, we had just a day to regroup after landing from South Africa, after a disappointing series there. Second, it was India’s first Test win in Mohali and that too on a pitch that was greener than any other wicket I’ve seen in India in my five-and-a-half years of Test cricket. The Mohali wicket was perfect for Test cricket in that it gave a great deal of assistance to seamers and at the same time, batsmen could also play their shots. It did have much turn, which is why Harbhajan Singh’s and Anil Kumble’s performance was all the more praiseworthy. It was a crucial toss to win, and our seamers — all debutants — did a good job. Tinu Yohannan was really impressive and had a great debut. He looks extremely fit and is a very, very good prospect for us. The other notable performance came from Deep Dasgupta, and I was thrilled to see him score his maiden ton. He has superb technique and is well-equipped to play fast bowling — a quality he proved in unfamiliar conditions in South Africa. His century here is all the more creditable since it came after he had kept for almost one whole day. It’s heartening to see that he’s keen to open even after more than five hours of keeping. The turning point of the match came on the first day itself, when Harbhajan took a flurry of wickets in his post-tea spell. It was the first day of the Test and there was hardly any turn in the pitch for spinners. Yet, Harbhajan bowled well and capitalised on the fact that he got a great deal of bounce. It’s great to see Kumble and Harbhajan bowl in tandem as they generate a lot of pressure on the opposition. I guess the sight of my Lancashire mate, Andrew Flintoff, having a word with me in the middle might have raised some eyebrows. It was good to see the match referee not interfering since bowlers need some aggression and you simply cannot take that part away from the game. Such passion is what gets crowds to watch Test cricket, and is an integral part of the game. Looking ahead, the spinners will get a lot more assistance from the pitch in Motera since the surface there has red soil as opposed to clay soil in Mohali. I have not seen the surface yet, but I’m sure we’ll have the upper hand there. Javagal Srinath will be back in the eleven and will enjoy bowling with Yohannan at the other end. Both relish bowling to left-handers and since the English team has quite a few of them, it’s bound to work to our advantage. Sanjay Bangar looks a good prospect too, and it’s unfortunate that he will be out of the rest of the series. This automatically makes way for Virender Sehwag, and I’m sure he’s dying to get back into the middle. During the two games in which he was made to sit out, John Wright and Leipus made him train extremely hard, and he’s ready for five days of Test cricket. The victory in four days enabled the team to disperse and spend some time with their families. While it’s always refreshing to take some time off from the game, this break is extra special for me since I get to spend time with my one-month-old daughter. I can tell you it’s a very special feeling to carry her around and spend time with her and I’m making the most of the time I’ve got to spend with her.
Gameplan |
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Dalmiya to
meet Wright, Leipus today New Delhi, December 7 The meeting comes in the wake of Mr Dalmiya’s statement earlier that there was hardly any communication between the team management and the board. Soon after donning the mantle of the BCCI chief two months ago, Mr Dalmiya had written letters to both the coach and physio even as the team was licking its wounds in South Africa and had said he would sit across the table with them to analyse India’s poor show on the away tour. The unprecedented action of the BCCI President had sparked off the speculation about an imminent sacking of the two foreigners from their posts.
PTI |
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Suddenly, a problem of plenty for Indian cricket Chandigarh, December 7 One feels sad for players like Dinesh Mongia, Jacob Martin or even Punjab’s Reetinder Sodhi who have not found favours with the national selectors for the second Test against England, commencing at Ahmedabad on December 11. Dinesh Mongia’s name was considered by the national selectors when Virender Sehwag was sidelined for the first Test against England due to a one-match suspension handed out to the Delhi-based batsman by the match referee in the second Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth . However, Dinesh could not be included in the team as he was playing in a Ranji Trophy tie at Amritsar against Delhi. This match ended on December 3, the same day when the Test match commenced at SAS Nagar. Since Dinesh could not be released by Punjab, the national selectors decided to call up Jacob Martin to join the team. Now that Sehwag is eligible to play in the second Test, Martin has been axed from the team. Also, Dinesh Mongia’s name, though discussed by the national selectors when they sat to pick the squad, did not figure in the team though his batting abilities came in for praise. However, to make place for Sehwag in the playing eleven (and how can you drop a player who has scored a century in the last Test he has played for the country) a batsman will have to be dropped. The axe can well fall on V.V.S. Laxman who has not done anything of note in quite a few innings that he has played. How long can he continue on the basis of the double century he hammered against the Australians at Kolkata earlier this year? Jacob Martin too is a good batsman but the national selectors are finding it difficult to make a place for him in the squad. The surfeit of batsmen is good for India because if one batsman fails there is somebody to walk into the void. The problem of plenty is also there in the fast bowling department and the good performances of Tinu Yohannan, in particular, and Iqbal Siddiqui in the first Test against the tourists has only added to the problems of the selectors. There was no way the selectors could have left out veteran Javagal Srinath from the squad once he recovered from the injury he suffered in the last match of the South African tour, but to make a place for him in the playing eleven it will indeed be sad if the axe falls either on Yohannan or Siddiqui. Both deserve a place in the squad on the basis of performance alone in the SAS Nagar Test, But then one must remember that the selection committee had forced Srinath to warm the benches for nearly two years in home matches since Kapil Dev was not willing to call it a day. One hopes that the same fate does not fall on either of these two who made their Test debut at SAS Nagar. At Ahmedabad , where the pitch is more spinner friendly, playing more than two new ball bowlers will be a luxury. The spinners in the team, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, might have to be supplemented with the induction of one more spinner (there is Sharandeep in the 14 named for the Test) into the playing 11. But this problem is bound to rankle the brains of the selectors who will assemble at Ahmedabad one day before the Test to finalise the playing eleven. Besides the three medium pacers in the squad there is still the likes of Asish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Debashish Mohanty or Venkatesh Prasad still in the wings . This is surely good for Indian cricket one would be tempted to say. Now that Deep Dasgupta has come good as an opener what does one do with another like Connors Williams. The opening slot will obviously go to Shiv Sunder Das and with the second slot going to Deep, Connors will continue in the reserve benches. One only hopes that with time Deep improves his keeping. The sooner the better. One though that with the induction of Sanjay Bangar the problem of the vacancy in the allrounder’s department had been solved. But the injury to the Railways player, who will be forced to miss the remaining Tests in the current series against England, has opened up the issue all over again. Why is nobody thinking of Reetinder Sodhi for this slot? |
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Dingko’s career at an end? Patiala, December 7 Dingko Singh, a Petty Officer with the Indian Navy, failed to turn up with the Services squad which did duty at the recently concluded National Games here. The boxer, who defied odds to win gold medal in the bantamweight category in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, sustained a finger injury during the 1999 Imphal National Games, where incidentally he was declared the best boxer. It was diagnosed as a stress fracture of the right hand and Dingko aggravated the injury during the inter-Services meet held at Vizag immediately after the Imphal National Games. Sources disclosed that was the turning point of the pugilists career as he was forced to take part in the Vizag meet. Dingko Singh’s selection for the Sydney Olympics also raised a heat as rumours were thick that the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) had selected an injured boxer. At Sydney, Dingko turned out to be a mere passenger, forcing the IABF to come out with clarifications. After the Sydney fiasco, Dingko failed to take part in any national level meet and remained out of the media glare most of the time. He went to Shimla in June this year to attend the national camp for the World Boxing Championships, which were held in Belfast in July this year. However, the boxer was turned back on the plea that he should first get his medical fitness report from his unit based in Mallad in Mumbai before he could be considered for the national camp. Interestingly, the whereabouts of the boxer are not known even to the top brass of the IABF. Most of the office-bearers who were present here in strength for the boxing events of the National Games feigned ignorance about his whereabouts. Even sportspersons from Manipur, from where Dingko hails, were unaware of where exactly the boxer was. |
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Sunil Kumar enters
final New Delhi, December 7 In the final tomorrow, Sunil Kumar will taken on fifth-seeded Tai Wei Liu of Chinese Taipei. Liu disposed of compatriot Yu-Da Shieh 6-2, 6-0 without labouring much. Sunil too could have wrapped his match rather comfortably, but after easily capturing the first set, he encountered some problems with his serves and returns. Hsieh also started playing well, as seemed to have got a grip of the match. But after trading breaks, Sunil regained his touch and settled down to win the second set, to book his well-deserved berth in the final. The girls singles final will be a Chinese Taipei-Korea affair as the only Indian in the fray, Sanaa Bhambri, was ousted rather tamely by her Korean opponent. Bhambri was beaten by second-seeded Jung-Da Hong of Korea in the second semifinal at 6-0, 6-2 while Chin Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei upset the apple cart of fourth-seeded Pichaya Laosirichon of Thailand 6-3, 6-1 in the first semifinal. Top-seeded Taipei pair of CW Chan and C J Chung won the girls doubles title, beating second-seeded Julianto-Laosirichon combination from Thailand at 6-1, 6-1. In the boys doubles final tomorrow, Cheng Wang Hsieh and Chang Yi Wu of Chinese Taipei will take on compatriots Cheng Cheuh Shih and Wei Tai Liu. Wu and Hsieh beat Devvarman-Mathew of India 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the first semifinal while in the second semifinal, Shih-Liu beat Shieh-Saengsuwarn 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. |
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School games events
postponed Chandigarh, December 7 The games were postponed as hosts Punjab were busy in preparing for the international schools cricket meet for under-18 boys to be held from January 4 to 13 at Ludhiana, for which Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Singapore, Canada and Nepal have already confirmed their participation. England are also expected to confirm their participation soon. Mr Chhabra, also the Deputy Director, Physical Education in the Punjab Education Department, said chess and tennikoit would make their debut in these games. The foundation stone of the residential hostel at the newly-established hockey academy at Takhanwadh, Moga, will be laid by Jathedar Tota Singh, Education Minister, Punjab, on December 10 at 2 pm. The hostel will be ready by next summer and would have a 100-bed facility. The revised calendar is: football (U-17 boys and girls). December 11 to 17 Howrah (West Bengal), hockey (U-17 boys and girls), wrestling and judo (all age groups), (U-19 boys and girls), handball (U-17 boys and girls), basketball (U-17 boys and girls) CK Nayadu cricket December 24 to 29 at Delhi; football (U-19 boys) December 25 to 30 at Jammu, kho-kho (U-17, 19 boys and girls) December 28 to 30 Kherli (Navodya Vidyalya Sangathan); table tennis (U-14, 17, 19 boys and girls), cricket (U-19 girls) December 26 to 31 at Bhopal (MP); softball (U-19 boys and girls), korfball (U-19 boys and girls) January 2 to 7 at Jammu; cricket (U- 16 boys and girls) January 16 to 20 at Murshidabad (West Bengal); gymnastics C U-14, 17, 19), rythmic gymnastics will be conducted at Ambala from January 20 to 24. |
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Haryana’s showing
appreciated Chandigarh, December 7 He said the new sports policy announced by the Government of Haryana would go a long way in boosting sports culture in the state and the 3 per cent reservation in various corporations/boards has given a new lease of life to career security of sportspersons. Recently the Haryana State Industrial Corporation Limited (HSIDC) had recruited volleyball players to good positions to make a strong team. He said other public sector units would also absorb more sportspersons in various disciplines. Mr Chautala said the state would also host the five-day National Wrestling Championship for men and women from December 21. |
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Anand reaches
semifinals Moscow, December 7 Playing black, Anand employed the French defence and went for the safe Rubenstein variation wherein, in Anand’s own words, “white has to struggle hard to get a substantial advantage. However, white can go all out but that’s risky too”. Shirov decided against taking undue risks in the opening though he needed a victory to force the match into the tiebreak stage, having lost his first game of the two games mini-match yesterday. Anand was on familiar territory and produced a new move on his 10th turn aiming at rapid development of his pieces. By the 15th move Anand had exchanged a couple of minor pieces and had a comfortable position on the queenside where Shirov’s pawn majority did not look good enough.
PTI |
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Rohan, Nazma clinch
titles Sangrur, December 7 Sangrur has proved to be lucky hunting ground for both Rohan and Nazma. Only a few months ago they won the state championships in the same hall. Nevertheless Rohan’s 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 success over Gurmukh Singh was rather a disappointment, because much was expected from Gurmukh, after his upset victory over second seed Jaideep yesterday. But today he played like a novice. On the other hand Rohan entered the court with full confidence and got well on top from the word go. His reflexes were much quicker and his down the line smashes were powerful. Today, Rohan played according to a plan, not allowing Gurmukh to smash very often. Instead he himself started attacking from the very beginning of the game. This unnerved Gurmukh and he started making mistakes. The huge crowd, which had gathered to see the fight, went home disappointed by Gurmukh’s lacklustre performance. Rohan was dominant from the start, playing a fast game and today he was extra sharp at the net. The men’s doubles was well fought. The eventual winners Gurmukh and Harish, have untroubled course to the finals without losing a single game. They defeated Navdeep Singh and Chanderdeep Randhawa 7-0, 7-2, 8-6. Chander and Navdeep made lot of mistakes from the beginning of the game. They tried their best to put up a fight in the second and third games and to some extent they were successful. But they were certainly playing below their best because they are unfit and both have put on weight. Nazma Parveen, faced some resistance from upcoming Navita in the women’s finals. Nazma won 7-2, 7-2, 7-5. No doubt Navita tried to put up brave fight but Punjab champion Nazma was in her most dominant form. In fact Navita lost to a better player. Nazma Parveen joined Saloni Kundra of Amritsar to annex the women’s doubles title. They thrashed scratch pair of Sapna and Shahnaaz 7-3, 7-2, 7-2. Mr Sarvjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner and president of the District Badminton Association, gave away the prizes. |
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BSF outplay RCF; Signals
held Mandi, December 7 In the first match of the day DHA, Mandi, outclassed DTC Delhi 2-0. Pradeep Kumar of DHA sounded the board in the 11th minute of the first half. He struck again taking his team a 2-0 lead. DHA Mandi entered the league stage with six points. The match between RCF Kapurthala and BSF Jalandhar was the most exciting match of the tournament so far. Both the team displayed good talent and stamina in a well-balanced match. M. Tirky of BSF fired a field goal in the 11th minute, three minutes later, he struck again. S. Narang scored the third goal in the 25th minute. At half time BSF led 3-0. The second half witnessed a stunning change in game. Jagmohan Singh, captain of RCF, gave a calculated pass from the right flank to center forward Latit Ekka, who took the score to 1-3. Ekka converted a good cross from Ashok Kumar into a goal again and reduced the margin to 2-3. BSF, who were dominating in the second half, again increased the margin by one goal. Lalit Ekka scored his third goal and a first hat-trick of the game, in the 54th minute but could not save his team from defeat. |
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Punjabi varsity, PU record
wins New Delhi, December 7 In another match, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, defeated Jammu University 2-0. Both the goals came in the first half. Sarabjit Singh scored the first goal while Mahabir Singh converted a penalty corner to get the second goal. Panjab University, Chandigarh, defeated Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 2-0. Amandeep Singh scored once in each half to help Chandigarh gain full points. Kumaon University moved up the easy way as Punjab Technical University pulled out of the tournament. Saturday’s fixtures: CCS Meerut vs Panjab University (Chandigarh); Delhi vs Kumaon; AMU vs Punjabi University; Jamia Milia vs GND University. The matches will start at 11 am. Earlier yesterday Punjabi University, Patiala, made mincemeat of Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra, when they recorded a 15-0 victory. Navdeep was the hero of the match, scoring five goals, while Charanpreet (3), Navdeep Saini (2), Virender (2), Tajender, Randhir and Harminder accounted for the other goals. |
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Postal wrestling
results Kurukshetra, December 7 Results: 58 kg: Tej Bhan (Delhi) beat Onkar Singh (Rajasthan) on the basis of points; Suresh Kumar (Haryana) defeated S.B. Nimbalkar (Maharashtra) in 2.45 minutes by technical fall. 63 kg: Jagdish (Delhi) defeated Ashok Rajasthan by fall in 2 minutes; 69 kg: Pardeep Kumar (Orissa) beat Makhan Singh (Punjab) in 30 seconds. |
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Innings defeat for Himachal Rohtak, December 7 HImachal Pradesh, who were asked to follow on yesterday, were bundled out for 152 runs 25 minutes before lunch on the third day today. It took Haryana 33 overs to wrap Himachal’s second innings. Monty (29) and Talwinder (23) were the only ones to make runs against Haryana bowlers. Haryana’s Imran Khan captured six wickets for 39 runs to take his tally of wickets to 11 from the match. Brief scores: Haryana (Ist innings): 327 Himachal Pradesh: 133 and 152. |
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