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Monday,
December 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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England concentrated on ‘stopping runs’ Sachin
opts out of Challenger |
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Ganguly’s captaincy to be reviewed? Wright, Leipus to continue BCCI, ECB close to solution Bitter-sweet win for Punjab Delhi crush J&K by 9 wkts Sandeep Sharma’s ton in vain Gowda moves into semifinal Punjab honours National Games medallists Salgaocar hold JCT
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India keep home record clean
Bangalore, December 23 England, who made a strong comeback after losing the first Test at Mohali by 10 wickets, dominated the match here but rain denied them what perhaps was their best chance to square the series. With weather playing the spoilsport, a total of 150 overs and more than 10 hours of play were lost on the first four days before the fifth day’s play was entirely rained out today. England had made 336 in their first innings and then bowled out India for 238 to take a 98-run lead. The visitors were 33 without loss in their second innings when play was called off after just 16.1 overs were bowled yesterday. Heavy overnight rain and slushy outfield had delayed the start of play today scheduled at 9.30 am. The umpires who made an inspection at 9 am decided to take another look at 11 am but it started raining again and play was called off for the day. “If there was no more rain this morning, there was a chance of play starting at around 1 pm. But it started raining again after 10 am and the umpires advanced their inspection by half an hour and decided that there was no possibility of any play,” match referee Denis Lindsay said. Andrew Flintoff, who returned with an excellent spell of four for 50, was declared the man of the match, while Sachin Tendulkar walked away with Man of the Series trophy having scored 88 at Mohali, 103 and 26 in Ahmedabad and a superb 90 here. It was a third home series for Saurav Ganguly as captain having beaten Zimbabwe 1-0 and Australia 2-1 earlier. India have lost just one series against South Africa 0-2 under the captaincy of Sachin Tendulkar during in the last 18 home series in 14 years. Even though he was satisfied with his performance, master batsman Sachin Tendulkar said the negative bowling by the visitors in the final match came as a disappointment. “They (England) kept bowling over the wicket. I was a bit disappointed,” Tendulkar said and added that he had felt like batting in grounds in England in this series. “It was more like playing in England. In India, we get dead grass on the wickets. But the pitches in Bangalore and Mohali were very different,” he said. Asked about his decision to opt out from the one-day Challenger series between India Senior, India ‘A’ and India ‘B’ which will act as the selection trial for one-day series against England in January, Tendulkar said, “My foot injury requires some rest and I am looking forward to the break.” Skipper Sourav Ganguly, who received the trophy on behalf of his side for winning the series 1-0, said his team’s batting had been erratic and it needed to be worked upon. Ganguly said England would be a tough side to beat in the one-day series, which starts next month after a Christmas and new year break. “The three-week break is important. We can come back charged for the one-day series,” he said. PTI
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England concentrated on ‘stopping runs’
Bangalore, December 23 “They (England) could have been more attacking. They were little careful and concentrated on stopping flow of runs” and not willing to take risks, Saurav Ganguly said at a press conference after India wrapped up the three-Test series 1-0 against England. However, England skipper Nasser Hussain, speaking separately, defended their action saying that they had achieved what Australians could not. “We restricted them to 209 and 238. Australia had conceded 570 odd runs despite having spinner like Shane Warne”. About his own form, Saurav said he was indeed worried about his lean patch in Test matches and despite getting starts, he was failing to convert them into big scores. “I am a bit worried though I am doing well in one-dayers”, he added. However he hoped to reverse the downturn in the matches next year. “There has not been any slump in my game but I am not getting any big scores and getting out in the 40s and this is my major concern”. Denying complacency in the team after winning the Mohali Test in four days, he said “toss was vital factor. We lost it in the last two Tests and we were not totally outplayed”, Ganguly added. Commenting on being at the receiving end after winning at Mohali, he said “we didn’t lose. We played well in Mohali but did not play so well after that. We did well to save the Test at Ahmedabad and lot of cricket was washed away at Bangalore. So we can’t really see much into this Test match”. The batting needs to be more consistent and more runs be scored by the team, he added. UNI
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Sachin opts out of Challenger Bangalore, December 23 However, the selectors, who met here today to pick the three teams, still named Ganguly as captain of the senior side. Selection committee chairman Chandu Borde said VVS Laxman will lead the team in matches where Ganguly would be absent. Rahul Dravid has been named captain of India ‘A’ while the India ‘B’ team would be led by Anil Kumble. The January 10 to 13 tournament for the NKP Salve Trophy will act as a selection trial for the Indian team to play the one-day series against England in January, Borde said. He said the selectors had a discussion with coach John Wright last evening and advised him to address the area of fielding where a lot of improvement was needed. The performance in the tournament will be taken into account for selecting the Indian team for the one-day series against England beginning in the third week of next month, Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement released during the India-England Test match here today. “The tournament will have a special significance this time, as the performances will be keenly observed for selection in the ensuing domestic ODI series against England and Zimbabwe”, the statement added. Karnataka speedster B.K. Venkatesh Prasad continues to be ignored while medium pacer Ajit Agarkar, middle order batsman Vijay R Bharadwaj gets another opportunity to impress the selectors. Others who will get another opportunity are Yuvaraj Singh, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Murali Karthik. Teams: India seniors: Saurav Ganguly (Capt), Shiv Sundar Das, VVS Laxman, Virendra Sehwag, Hemang Badani, Sanjay Bangar, Deep Das Gupta, Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Joshi, Tinu Yohanan, Iqbal Siddique, Debasish Mohanty and Jacob Martin. India “A”: Rahul Dravid (Capt), Connor Williams, Daniel Manohar, Rohan Gavaskar, Sangram Singh, Yuvaraj Singh, Ajay Ratra, Reetinder R Sodhi, Murali Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Sarandeep Singh and Sitamshu Kotak. India “B”: Anil Kumble (Capt), Mohammed Kaif, Sridharan Sriram, Dinesh Mongia, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Arjun Yadav, Z Zufari, Vijay Bharadwaj, P Dharmani, Ashish Nehra, S Pandey, A Bhandari and D Bundela.
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Ganguly’s captaincy to be reviewed?
Bangalore, December 23 “It is too early to say. Let him finish his term. It is not correct to change the horse midstream,” Borde told reporters when asked whether there was any move to remove Ganguly from captaincy. “We want to take a look at the one-day series. After that we will sit and decide.” “It is worrying for us that he has not batted well. Every cricketer undergoes a patch in his career but his is a prolonged one,” he said. Borde also admitted that the excellent record of the batsmen had made it difficult for selectors to drop any of them even though there had been a number of ‘experiments’ in the bowling department. “That’s the worry. They (batsmen) have excellent record. They cannot be dropped overnight.... Tell me whom should we drop.” Borde was also worried about the performance of Deep Dasgupta as a wicketkeeper. “He has been batting well but he needs to improve his keeping. He is working hard and I hope he will live up to our expectations.” He looked satisfied with the performance of the three new medium-pacers — Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui, and Sanjay Bangar — who had been given chance in the Test series against England, saying they had “come up to our expectations”. PTI
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Wright, Leipus to continue Bangalore, December 23 Wright, a former New Zealand captain, and Leipus had been appointed for a one-year term last year and their contracts expired in November. After the team’s disastrous performance in South Africa, there had been reports that the two, who had been asked to
continue till the Test series against England, would be replaced soon. However, board President Jagmohan Dalmiya announced the decision to persist with both of them after having wide-ranging discussions with the two men and consulting the senior players including skipper Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble. “They (Wright and Leipus) had genuine reasons (for continuing) which were not looked into earlier,” Dalmiya told reporters here. Significantly, both Ganguly and Tendulkar had openly come out in support of Wright, saying the New Zealander had been doing a good job and should be continued with. Dalmiya said the performance of the Indian team, especially abroad, was a matter of concern and his discussions with Wright and senior players centred around finding the “missing links” into this issue. “We have talent but we must convert it into performance,” he said. “We are the world champions in under-15 and under-19 categories but the senior side is not performing at that level. Our test ranking is only eighth out of ten,” Dalmiya said, and added that the “players had been asked to be more consistent” with their performance.
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BCCI, ECB close to solution Bangalore, December 23 Dalmiya told reporters here that the two sides were discussing a “package” and the problem would be solved in the next two or three days. India have been asking England to play an extra match in one-day series, which begins after a Christmas and New Year break, and an extra Test when the Englishmen come again in 2004-05 to respect the spirit of reciprocity. England played only three Tests in the just-concluded series and are scheduled to play five matches in the one-day series while India are to play four Test matches and at least six one-dayers in a triangular series when they go on a return tour to England next year. India had said they would not play the fourth Test in England unless their demands were acceded to but Dalmiya today said the two sides were nearing an agreement.
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Bitter-sweet win for Punjab Patiala, December 23 However, Haryana denied the hosts the all-important bonus point which would have enabled them to top the
table and qualify. In reply to their total of 321 for seven, Punjab needed to restrict Haryana to 256 runs to make it to the top but the visitors ended up with 261 for eight in their allotted 50 overs. Chasing Punjab’s total of 321 for seven, Haryana never went for the target and instead set up their own target of scoring 256 to deny Punjab the bonus point. Haryana achieved their objective in the last over of their innings. Undaunted by the huge target, and with Haryana tottering at 108 for three at one stage, Haryana’s middle order batsman Shafiq Khan, in company of skipper Ajay Ratra began recovery. Earlier, Punjab opener Munish Sharma hit a century along with an equally impressive 78 by Reetinder Sodhi and flamboyant knock by Yuvraj Singh, who scored 81 off just 43 balls. Scoreboard Punjab: M. Sharma st A. Ratra b A. Mishra 124, R. Sodhi st A. Ratra b G. Vashisht 78, Yuvraj Singh not out 81, D. Mongia st A. Ratra b Sonu Sharma 3, P. Dharmani lbw G. Vashisht 2, Ravneet Ricky run out 13, S. Mahajan lbw S. Sharma 3, Amit Uniyal c A. Ratra b S. Narwal 5, Kailash Sanwal not out
2 Extras: 10. Total: 321 for 7 FOW: 1-194, 2-210, 3-222, 4-229, 5-261, 6-274, 7-295. Bowling: S.Narwal 9-0-79-1, J. Sharma 10-0-76-0, G. Vashisht 10-0-56-2, A. Mishra 10-1-41-1, Parinder Sharma 1-0-11-0. Haryana: S. Ohlan b A. Uniyal 9, Jitender Singh b K. Sanwal 31, Sunny c R. Sodhi b Vineet Sharma 11, Shafiq Khan c R. Sodhi b S. Mahajan 119, Parinder Sharma c D. Mongia b K. Sanwal 18, Ajay Ratra lbw V. Sharma 33, J. Sharma not out 21, Amit Mishra c D. Mongia b Yuvraj 15, S. Narwal c R. Sodhi b A. Uniyal 1, G. Vashisht not out 2, Extras: 10 Total: 261 for 8 FOW: 1-10, 2-21, 3-108, 4-152, 5-224, 6-230, 7-250, 8-251. Bowling: Vineet Sharma 6-0-55-2, A. Uniyal 6-0-28-2, S. Mahajan 10-2-32-1, D. Mongia 1-0-14-0, Yuvraj Singh 10-0-50-1, K. Sanwal 10-0-47-2, Babloo Kumar 7-0-37-0. |
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Delhi crush J&K by 9 wkts
Jalandhar, December 23 After restricting the opposition to a paltry 173 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 50 overs, Delhi notched up the required runs in 36 overs for the loss of one wicket. With this victory Delhi earned five points, including a bonus point, to take their tally to 16 points. Electing to bat first, Jammu and Kashmir lost wickets at regular intervals against tight bowling by the opposition. The only batsman to impress in the innings was Guru Partap, who hit 43 runs off 46 balls. In the Delhi innings openers Akash Chopra and Dahiya notched up half centuries to guide their side to a comfortable victory. Dahiya hit 81 off 82 balls, with the help of 10 fours, while his opening partner scored an unbeaten 74 off 113 balls with seven hits to the fence. SCOREBOARD Jammu and Kashmir: Arshad Bhatt c Dhaiya b Nehra 0, Vikrant Tagger c Bhandari b Anand 29, Kanwaljit lbw Rathore 29, Dhruv Mahajan c and b Choudhary 24, Shammi Salaria run out 23, Guru Partap not out 43, Vijay Sharma c and b Minhas 10, Abdul Qayoom c Chopra b Bhandari 1, Hardeep Singh not out 5. Extras 9. Total 173 for seven. Fall of wickets:1-0, 2-54, 3-73, 4-102, 5-126, 6-158, 7-161. Bowling: Ashish Nehra 5-2-7-1, A. Bhandari 9-1-31-1, Arun Singh 4-1-20-0, R. Rathore 10-1-25-1, T. Anand 6-0-18-1, H. Choudhary 10-0-43-1, M. Minhas 6-0-24-1. Delhi: Akash Chopra not out 74, Vijay Dhaiya c Vijay Sharma b Dhar 81, Gautam Ghambir not out 9. Extras: 13 Total 177 for seven. Fall of wicket:1-138. Bowling: A. Qayoom 10-2-39-0, Surinder 2-0-10-0, Vijay Sharma 3-0-27-0, Manjoot Dhar 10-0-49-1, Hardeep Singh 5-0-30-0, D. Mahajan 3-1- 5-0, Guru Partap 3-0-14-0. UNI
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Sandeep Sharma’s ton in vain SAS Nagar, December 23 Opener Sandeep, who was in terrific touch, notching up 104 off just 97 balls with 12 fours and a six, kept his squad in hunt as at one stage Himachal, chasing a tough target of 297, were well-placed at 201 for three. But wickets started tumbling after that and Himachal only made 265 for the loss of nine wickets, falling short by 32 runs. Sangram Singh, who got selected to play in the Challenger Trophy for India “A” at Bangalore next month contributed 37 facing 45 balls. For Services Yashpal scored a brilliant 104 and Sanjay Verma contributed 66 as the team was able to post a difficult target of 297. Services: Reddy c Puneet b Shakti 5; Sarabjit c Puneet b Rahul 57; Jasvir c Puneet b Sandeep 33; Yashpal c Amit Sharma Jr b Virender 104; Sanjay n.o. 66; Amit run out 2; Sachin n.o. 08. Extras : 22 Total (for 5 in 50 overs) 297. Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-91, 3-118, 4-280, 5-285. Bowling: Shakti Singh 8-0-45-1; Rahul 10-0-46-1; Pankaj 6-0-21-0; Amit Sharma Sr 10-0-62-0; Sandeep 8-0-59-1; Nischal Gaur 4-0-30-0; Virender 4-0-30-1. Himachal: Rahul c Sarabjit b Ghag 12; Sandeep c Manish b Sachin 104; Amit Sr c Reddy b Yash Pal 36; Sangram c Yash Pal b Sayed 37; Virender st Sarabjit b Arun 25; Nischal c Reddy b Sachin 7; Shakti b Sachin 0; Richi b Manish 12; Puneet n.o. 13; Pankaj Chadha run out 1; Pankaj Kapoor n.o. 3. Extra: 15 Total
(for 9 in 50 overs): 265 Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-138, 3-199, 4-201, 5-220, 6-220, 7-239, 8-252, 9-253
Bowling: Ghag 10-0-39-1, Manish 10-0-86-1, Sayed 10-0-36-1, Arun 8-0-36-1, Yashpal 5-0-36-1, Sachin 7-0-26-3. |
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Gowda moves into semifinal Chandigarh, December 23 Other results Third round: 54-kg:
Kripa Shankar (Rly) b Shambhu Nath (UP) by fall; Narender Singh (AP) b A. Milan Meitei (Man) by fall; Rohtash (Del) b M. Krishan (TN) TF; Rakesh (Pun) b Chikkhuchxi (Nag)TF; Naresh Kumar (Raj) b Chanan Singh (HP) by fall; Sandeep Dahiya (Har) b Ravinder (NCR) TF; 63-kg: Pradeep (Ser) b P. Murugan (TN) by fall; Sandeep (Mah) b Jam Beshwar Subudhi (Ori) by fall; Shokinder (Rly) b Suresh Kumar (Del) TF; Satpal (UP) b Gurvinder (U’chal) TF; Vijay (MP) b R. Venu (Kar) TF; Lhou Kelese (Nag) b Vanlal Chama (Miz) by fall; Shilk Ram (Ben) b Paramjit Singh (AIU) 8-4; Karamvir (Bih) b Pardeep Singh (Jhar) by fall. 76-kg: Ajmer (Har) b Sudesh (Ker) TF; Sunil (Del) b Ashok (MP) 5-0; Sandeep (Ben) b Ramesh T. G. (Kar) by fall; Sujeet (Rly) b Devendra (Ser) by fall; Ashish (NCR) b Chandvir (Guj) TF; Raj (Chg) b T. Durgesh (AP) by fall; Naresh Kumar (UP) b Devendra (Bih) by fall. 97-kg: Sohan (Har) b Bushan (Goa) by fall; Bhagat Singh (UP) b R. Arokiya Susariraj (TN) TF; Narender (Del) b Ashok (U’chal) 10-2; Harjeet (Pun) b Reby Augustine (Ker) by fall; Raju Singh (AP) b Pinesh (Guj) by fall. Greco-Roman: Third round: 54-kg: Gautam (Rly) b Samji E. S. (Ker) by fall; Anil (Ben) b Sandeep (Mah) by fall; Om Prakash (Del) b Piyush (Guj) by fall; Rajesh b Kanhaya (UP) 4-2; M. Ibomcha (Man) b R. Dharam (TN) by fall; Joginder (Chg) b S. S. Budaki (Kar) TF. 63-kg: Virender (MP) b Ravinder Kumar (UP) by fall; Prashant (Ser) b B. S. Nagraj (Kar) TF; Satender (NCR) b Y. Mallesh (AP) TF; Sukhdeep (U’chal) b Surinder (HP) TF. 76-kg: Ranbir (Pun) b Sudesh (AP) by fall; Sanjay (Har) b Satya (Raj) 7-0; Surender (Chg) b Phool (NCR) 8-7; Rajesh (J and K) vs Dada (Mah) walkover; N. C. Naya Gowda (Kar) b Sujesh (Ker) by fall. 97-kg: Anil (Del) b Dilip (Mah) 8-6; S. R. Yalashetty (Kar) b Abilash (Ker) by fall; Ram Avtar (Ser) b Kallu Ram (Ben) 5-2; Satish (Pun) b Dheeraj (J and K) TF. Women: Freestyle: Third round: 46-kg: Sudesh (U’chal) b Ganga (AP) by fall; Nirmala (NCR) b Shoninder (Pun) 5-0; Ch. Chingalilimbi Chanu b Geetika (MP) by fall; Kekhungdnu (Nag) b Nisha (Guj) by fall; Sumel (Del) b Chitra (Mah) by fall; Reeta (Har) b Nilam (Ben) by fall. 56-kg: Mamta (Del) bt Bindya (Guj) by fall; Naseem (MP) b Sandhya (Mah) by fall; Manju (NCR) b N. Noni Devi (Man) 7-0; Anita (Raj) b Kamawini (Ori) by fall; Meena (Ben) b Monika (Chg) TF; Sheela (U’chal) b C. D. Divya Mol (Ker) by fall. 68-kg: Vandana (UP) bt Neeru Pangal (NCR) 4-0; Kiran (Del) b Sunita (Mah) by fall; Kelewnuo (Nag) vs Priyanka (Chg) walkover; N. Ranjana (Man) b Achi (Raj) by fall; Reenu (Ori) vs Vanisiri (AP) walkover; Geetika (Har) b Parveen (U’chal) TF. |
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Punjab honours National Games medallists Chandigarh, December 23 Punjab had an excellent medal haul in the 31st National Games, winning 61 gold, 44 silver and 58 bronze medals. Rajni Sharma, the golden girl of gymnastics, from Patiala, with three gold and one bronze won the most medals. The function began with Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and the President of Punjab Olympic
Association, thanking Mr Badal for the initiative taken in holding the Games. Mr Badal awarded the prizes while remaining seated due to his hip injury. Mr Badal said the government had decided to appoint sportspersons to the posts of three DSP’s, five Inspectors and 10 ASI’s and qualification had also been relaxed for them. Today, he offered the DSP posts to Gagan Ajit Singh (hockey), Sunita Rani (athletics) and Palminder Singh (wrestling). Abhinav Bindra and Sabeeha Dhillon received Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively. Shot put gold medallist Bahadur Singh could not make it. Gurpreet and Ajay Raj in the men’s section and Harwant Kaur in the women’s received Rs 2 lakh. However, there was some confusion regarding the cash award given to Rajni Sharma of Patiala when she was given cheque of Rs 2 lakh whereas she had earned three gold and a bronze medal and should have received Rs 3.25 lakhs. Mr Badal later announced a hike in cash awards for the
sport persons. The Olympics gold medallist will be given Rs 50 lakh, silver medallists Rs 30 lakh, bronze medallists Rs 15 lakh; World Cup: gold: Rs 25 lakh, silver: Rs 15 lakh and bronze Rs 10 lakh; Asian and Commonwealth Games: gold Rs 10 lakh, silver Rs 5 lakh and bronze Rs 3 lakh. National Games gold medal winners well get Rs 1.5 lakh, silver Rs 90,000 and bronze medal winners will get Rs 40,000. |
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Salgaocar hold JCT Margao, December 23 JCT, who drew their second successive match have two points from three matches, while Salgaocar with one win and a draw have four points from as many matches. JCT dominated the first half, while it was Salgaocar all the way in the second. JCT sounded the first warning in the 10 minutes when a long ranger from medio Sumeer grazed the post and went out. They made inroads mostly from the left with Hardip Sangha threatening the rival defence with long crosses. Once his powerful shot was well saved by keeper Kalyan Choubay, who had to leave the field five minutes before the interval due to muscle pull.
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