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Sachin’s approach was understandable Natwar
meets Shahrayar Khan Mani’s remarks silly: Azhar Police disputes Gavaskar’s claim |
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Soumyajit helps India win TT gold Athens-bound boxers walk out
of national camp Keshav Mishra set to win golf title
Chandigarh to have hockey academy ICF lead in Rly chess
Jagtar to attend course in Budapest
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Colombo, July 22 Fears that Zaheer’s old hamstring problem had surfaced again proved unfounded after team physiotherapist Andrew Leipus said the bowler was just suffering from spasms. A “relieved” Baroda paceman said he was taking things very carefully now as he did not want to break down again. “I am relieved to have cleared the fitness test but am keeping my fingers crossed as I don’t want to break down again in a match,” said the 25-year-old who had to sit out of India’s Super League match against Bangladesh yesterday. Zaheer came over to the ground this afternoon and went through a series of fitness tests under the watchful eyes of Leipus. First he was asked to run at full stretch, then he bowled sharply at the nets and finally he bowled with a full run up in the middle. The entire exercise lasted nearly an hour after which coach John Wright and captain Sourav Ganguly, in consultation with manager Dorrai Rajan, allowed Leipus to break the good news to the waiting media. “He is in good shape. He did everything we asked him to do today. He has recovered from what I would call a spasm,” Leipus told reporters. Leipus said his main concern was to take measures to prevent injuries in future and keep the bowler fit. His back muscles had to be strengthened so that he would not face problems. “Naturally, the lower back will affect the bowler. But I don’t think he need to change his action. Only the muscles have to be strengthened’’ he said. Zaheer, who came along with Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, L. Balaji and Parthiv Patel during the optional nets, was subjected to stretch-outs and made to run in different strides. He also bowled in the nets as Wright and Ganguly keenly watched him. After a few deliberations among themselves, Leipus certified that the player was fit. Sourav, who preferred to skip the nets, joined later. He saw the bowler in action. Zaheer, who bowled nine overs despite the injury and conceded 39 runs, was keen on playing matches. He had played the lung opener against United Arab Emirates and conceded 42 runs in his eight overs. He expressed relief on clearing the test and was confident that he would come out of the injury as it was not serious. However, he would be happy when he played the matches. The player stressed that it had nothing to do with his previous injury. Because of the injury, Zaheer was rested and Ashish Nehra was included and the Delhi bowler came with a good spell in the match against Bangladesh and claimed a wicket giving away just 26 runs in nine overs. Zaheer had returned during the Pakistan Test series and was replaced by Ashish Nehra, who had injured himself during the one-day series. He had to miss matches in Australia due to niggling thigh injuries. After the Pakistan series, Zaheer had visited the MRF Foundation at Chennai and also was suggested by an Australian physiologist to make changes in his delivery style so that he could avoid injuries. The bowler was reportedly putting more weight on his leg to gain speed and not using his arms. The correction was suggested to avoid injuries. — PTI, UNI
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Sachin’s approach was understandable The Indian team has every reason to feel better after their clinical approach against Bangladesh.
After their defeat against Sri Lanka, I was not sure whether skipper Sourav Ganguly was more concerned about the rustiness of the top order batsmen or the penetration of the bowlers. But once Ganguly won the toss and opted to field, it was quite clear that he was more concerned about the bowling. Sending Bangladesh to bat first was a conscious decision to get the bowling combination right before the all-important game against Pakistan on Sunday. The team think-tank decided to go even further to rest Anil Kumble and give both Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra a good run. Even if Zaheer Khan is declared fit by physio Andrew
Liepus, the team cannot afford to take the risk of playing him in such crucial encounters. Although, Bangladesh is considered minnows, the performance of Ashish and Harbhajan has furthermore given the captain a good measure about their form and fitness. With Anil coming back into the side, the game against Pakistan will be a toss up between the third seamer and a second spinner, much depending on the nature of the strip. For some strange reasons, the extras have been playing havoc in this tournament. It’s not only the Indians, even the Pakistani bowlers are equally at fault. The Indians gave away a staggering number of 37 extras out of which 23 were wides and four no balls. That happens to be the second highest score in the Bangladesh scorecard. Equally baffling were in the manner the Pakistan bowlers conceded 17 wides and four no balls. The Indians will have to get better in this area. After all, in tight contests, discipline makes a major difference. Sachin’s cautious approach was quite understandable since it is always important for the batsman to spend time in the middle. Still a keen student of the sport, Sachin plays the game according to the merit of cricket. He, perhaps, showed maximum respect to the weak Bangladesh attack to derive the best for his batting. The mind and the body coordination are so important in this game that even an ounce of arrogance and recklessness can bring down the greatest of batsmen. It was a lesson for the youngsters to learn from the way Sachin went about building his innings. Ganguly followed the same pursuit to be among the runs. Pakistan’s dismal show has once again exposed their brittle batting line up. Their lack of experience is very much evident in recent games. The argument to induce fresh blood into the team does not necessarily always bring victories. The truth is that not much importance is given to the fact of blending youth with experience. The problem is that too many youngsters in the side automatically lead to the delay in maturing at the international level. Pakistan’s idea of having a foreign coach is a benign departure from conventional routine, which has failed more often than not. Bob Woolmer at the helm of affairs certainly has a far better grasp of things. He transformed the South African team into a good side and proved that one need not be a great international player to be a good coach.
— PTI
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Natwar
meets Shahrayar Khan ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahrayar Khan, a former Foreign
Secretary, apparently postponed his visit to Sri Lanka for the Asia
Cup to meet his “old friend”, External Affairs Minister K. Natwar
Singh. As the two sat over lunch after a warm hug at the Marriott
Hotel this afternoon, Mr Natwar Singh and Mr Shahrayar Khan fondly
remembered the days when they regularly interacted with each other on
India-Pakistan relations as top officials of the Foreign Services of
the two countries. — UNI
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Mani’s remarks silly: Azhar Colombo, July 22 When asked whether the ICC was up to some witch-hunting, Azharuddin, who is here as a media representative, told UNI: “it is difficult for me to react. It is too silly to say such things. I am here on a different job and interested in only doing my job and I am not worried what people are saying. Lot of people are going to say a lot of things.” When reminded that Mr Mani heads cricket’s highest decision making body, he said: “The ICC President should have shown some restraint and should know what he is talking about. Nobody can stop anybody from earning.”.
— UNI |
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Police disputes Gavaskar’s claim VADODARA: The city Police Commissioner said on Thursday that there was no record available to show that former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had resigned from the board of Topline Shoes, a company in the centre of a misappropriation case, as he had claimed. Talking to UNI, Police Commissioner S.K. Sinha said if at all Gavaskar had quit, the board of directors of the
Vadodara-based company should have immediately passed a resolution and communicated it to the Registrar of Companies (ROC) as required under the Act. “But the office of the ROC, Ahmedabad, the complainant in the case, claimed to have neither received Gavaskar’s resignation letter nor any communication to this effect from the company,” Mr Sinha said.
— UNI
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Key, Strauss pound Windies attack
London, July 22 Earlier, West Indies captain Brian Lara, who won the toss, almost saw his decision to field first rewarded in the fourth over when Marcus Trescothick was deceived by a slower delivery from fast bowler Tino Best. Scoreboard
England (1st Innings) Trescothick c Strauss c Jacobs Key batting 167 Vaughan batting 36 Extras:
(b-2, lb-15, w-12, Total: (for 2 wickets in Fall of wickets:
1-29, 2-320. Bowling: Collins 13.3-2-58-0; Best 16-1-75-1; Edwards 15-2-60-0; Bravo 14-2-42-0; Banks 17-2-111-1; Sarwan 9-0-28-0.
— Agencies
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Soumyajit helps India win TT gold New Delhi, July 22 In a gruelling five-setter in the under-16 section, the Bengali lad, who is seen as a top future prospect for India, held on to his nerves to overcome his Korean opponent 9-11, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10 at the NDMC stadium here today. Soumyajit, who seemed to be overawed by the big stage initially, went down tamely in the first game allowing Kim to take it 11-9. But he overcame his nervousness and showed his class to win the second game 14-12. Kim, who was cheered throughout the game by a vociferous Korean contingent, came back into the match when he took the third set 11-7. Playing in the deciding game like a man possessed, Soumyajit forced to a 5-0 lead against the Korean. However, with victory firmly in sight, Soumyajit faltered allowing his opponent to get back into the match. Kim rallied to level the scores 8-8. But Soumyajit prevailed in the end, taking the game and the match. — PTI
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Rathore shoots gold New Delhi, July 22 Rathore shot an excellent 187 to win the gold, the National Rifle Association of India said in a press note here today.
— PTI |
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Athens-bound boxers walk out
of national camp Patiala, July 22 While Jitendra Kumar (81 kg) and Akhil Kumar (51 kg) left the NIS yesterday for their native places in Haryana, Diwakar Prasad (54 kg) and Vijender (64 kg) left for New Delhi this morning even as officials of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) claimed that the camp had been shifted to New Delhi. Even though they stated that the camp had to be shifted due to “changed circumstances”, sources said the four boxers were finding it difficult to train due to lack of good sparring partners. Jitendra Kumar, who represented the country in the Sydney Olympics, and Vijender, who at 18 is the youngest boxer to have been selected for the Olympics, were contemplating staging a walkout for the past many days. However, they were restrained by Cuban coach B.I Fernandez, who was assisting chief coach
G.S. Sandhu at the camp. A senior coach disclosed that the IABF had selected suitable sparring partners for the four pugilists in their respective weight categories. However, since the rescheduled dates of the senior national boxing championship clashed with the dates of the national camp, most of the boxers acting as sparring partners decided to leave the NIS to prepare for the nationals to be held at Hisar in the first week of August. Earlier, ace pugilist Akhil Kumar had refused to train under the coaches selected by the IABF. He was training under his own personal coach at Bhiwani and was persuaded to join the camp only when the Cuban coach arrived in mid-June. All four boxers had even defied the IABF when they refused to tour Cuba on a training-cum-competition stint planned by the federation in mid-June. The pugilists, at that time, had claimed that they were made to fight low-rung Cuban boxers, forcing the federation officials to cancel the tour. Even as trouble was brewing for the past few weeks, neither IABF President Abhey Chautala nor its Secretary Rajesh Bhandari visited the NIS to take stock of the situation. |
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Lima (Peru), July 22 Argentina ousted defending champion Colombia 3-0 on Tuesday. The final is on Sunday. Uruguay will play Colombia for third place on Saturday. Cesar dived to his left side to stop Sanchez’s penalty shot when Brazil were leading 4-3. Alex then slotted in the decider past Uruguay goalkeeper Sebastian Viera. Luisao, Luis Fabiano, Adriano, Renato and Alex all scored for Brazil, while Dario Silva, Viera and Omar Pouso netted for Uruguay. Uruguay came out strong in the first half, controlling the pace of the match and creating most of the scoring chances. Brazil were caught by surprise, failing to impose its game at National Stadium. Only in the second period were the five-time world champions able to match their South American rival. Uruguay coach Jorge Fossati decided to replace regular starter Diego Forlan — one of the team’s offensive stars — with defensive midfielder Diego Perez, in a move that paid off early as Brazil had trouble overcoming the team’s setup at midfield. — AP
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Keshav Mishra set to win golf title New Delhi, July 22 Accompanying Keshav in the leader group for the final round tomorrow will be Ranjit Singh of Royal Kolkata Golf Club and three-time Sri Lankan Open winner Simarjeet Singh, with the former occupying the sole second position at one-under 215. Vikrant Chopra was tied for the third place at level-par 216, along with Simarjeet. Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev returned a card of one-under 71 to share the fifth position with Vikramjit Singh. The duo have a 54-total of two-over 218. Keshav, who had set the course on fire yesterday, began in the same vein in the third round, with a birdie on the opening hole. However, missing a small putt, he lost a stroke on the very next hole. He then fired consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth. Keshav, playing steady golf, added two more birdies to his kitty on the 10th and 14th to stay well ahead of the field. Ranjit Singh, who had scored a four-under par-68 in the second round, met with fluctuating fortunes. |
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Chandigarh to have hockey academy Chandigarh, July 22 Announcing this here today after the meeting, IWHF President Vidya Stokes also announced the introduction of the North Zone Six-a-Side Women's Hockey Tournament. The first edition will be conducted after October this year. The idea to introducing the six-a-side competitions is to sharpen the reflexes and skills of the players. Teams from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Pepsu, Chandigarh and Punjab will stake their claims for the top honours. Mr J P Sidhu, who is also the Joint Director of Sports, Chandigarh Administration, has been appointed convener and coordinator by the
IWHF. Mrs Vidya Stokes is reported to have assured the Chandigarh Women's Hockey Association to provide funds for the smooth running of the academy. Mrs Stokes will approach the Sports Ministry to provide sufficient financial assistance for the new venture which is aiming at improving the women’s hockey standard by selecting budding players and providing them training on scientific lines. This academy will not be linked with the Centre of Excellence for hockey girls being run by the Sports Authority of India in Sector 18. Meanwhile, the selection procedure to choose 24 girls for the next coaching camp, concluded late this evening. Watched by the selectors, including IWHF Secretary-General Mrs Amtir Bose and Government nominee Madhu Yadav and chief coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik and Narinder Saini, the Indian probables played matches. The Sports Authority of India coaching center girls played against the probables. Thirtynine girls are attending the coaching camp which will last till July 31. The next camp at scheduled at Hyderabad from August 14. Hyderabad will also host the Junior Asian Cup Women’s Hockey Tournament for under-21 in October/November. |
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Punjab boxing meet begins Sangrur, July 22 The results: Middleweight: Sharanpreet (Mansa) b Mandeep Singh (Ropar); light heavy weight: Pawan Kumar b J.M. Singh (Ropar); bantamweight: Suresh Kumar (Fatehgarh Sahib) b Rohit (Mansa); Mehmood b Gurinder; Kulwinder (Sangrur) b Sant Ram (Ludhiana); Amandeep Singh (PP) b Daljit Singh (Ropar); Ravinder Singh (Sangrur) b Yadvinder (Moga); Gaurav Pathak b Kuldeep Singh (Bathinda). |
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ICF lead in Rly chess
Patiala, July 22 Eastern Railway and Southern Railway garnered 14 points apiece to be placed joint second while fancied Northern Railway with 12.5 points shared the third spot with Western Railway. In the individual events, which commenced this afternoon, Bansi Lal of hosts DMW lost his first-round match to favourite P.D.S. Gopinath of South-Central Railway in 35 moves. The hosts suffered another jolt when Jatinder Pal Singh went down fighting to Shankar Roy of Eastern Railway in 34 moves. Other results: R. Balasubramanium (ICF, Chennai) b Brijesh Kumar (DLW, Varanasi); K. Ratnakaran (SR) b D.P. Chimpa (NWR); G.P. Singh (NR) beat D. Singh (NR); R.Preetham Singh (SR) b D.N. Malik (CLW); Dinesh Kher (NCR) beat V. Kamble (WR); Argyadip Dass (ER) b Dinesh Pathak
(WCR).
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Jagtar to attend course in Budapest Chandigarh, July 22 According to a communication received from Mr Balbir Singh, Coordinator, Olympic Solitary Programmes, of the IOA, Semmelweis University, Budapest, will organize courses in several sports disciplines. A state awardee, Jagtar Singh of Punjab Sports Department has trained several international women gymnasts.
— TNS |
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In video:
Indian cricketers in Sri Lanka feast on food by home
chef. (
The Indian team has every reason to feel better after their clinical approach against Bangladesh.
After their defeat against Sri Lanka, I was not sure whether skipper Sourav Ganguly was more concerned about the rustiness of the top order batsmen or the penetration of the bowlers.
VADODARA:
The city Police Commissioner said on Thursday that there was no record available to show that former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had resigned from the board of Topline Shoes, a company in the centre of a misappropriation case, as he had claimed.
