Gavaskar slams ‘schoolboys’ Indian team Friday, August 05, 2011 NEW DELHI: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar on Thursday blamed poor technique for India’s dismal show in the Test series in England, saying the tourists looked like a “schoolboys team”. “India were totally outplayed by England in the second Test so much so that it looked like a contest between a professional team and a schoolboys team,” the former opener wrote in the Hindu newspaper. “The batting has failed to get to 300 in four innings and the bowling in both Tests has faded away after a bright beginning.” India trail 2-0 in the four-Test series following a 196-run defeat in the first match at Lord’s and a 319-run loss in the second at Trent Bridge. Drawn games in the last two matches will enable England to dethrone Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Indians as the top-ranked Test team. “India’s lower order is just not technically good enough, and if a player knows he is technically struggling then mentally too he stops fighting,” wrote Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs. “Not that the top order has shown any great technique, especially the youngsters who plunder millions of runs on Indian pitches getting onto the front foot and then suddenly find that when it comes to overseas pitches and the quicker bowlers, they just don’t know how to play off the back foot.” Rahul Dravid has looked the best Indian batsman on the tour with two hundreds, while Venkatsai Laxman has made two half-centuries and Sachin Tendulkar one. “The guys scoring the runs are those who have honed their technique on the longer version of the game,” Gavaskar wrote. “Those others who are destroyers of bowling where the ball does not come above the waist are finding how tough Test cricket is.”
Friday, August 05, 2011
SYDNEY: Australian Test captain Michael Clarke said on Thursday he was excited by the new blood in his squad to face Sri Lanka this month.
Four uncapped players have been included in the 15-strong line-up for the three-Test tour, including pacemen Trent Copeland and James Pattinson, spinner Nathan Lyon and batsman Shaun Marsh.
South Australian offspinner Lyon was picked after just four first-class games, with the 23-year-old impressing on the just-completed Australia A tour of Zimbabwe.
Clarke has yet to meet him but they have spoken on the phone.
“He’s got an opportunity to grab it with both hands and, by all reports, I’m pretty confident he’ll do that, so he’s certainly got a lot of talent,” Clarke said as he prepared leave for Colombo.
“Now it’s about giving him a go and seeing how he handles playing cricket for Australia.”
Clarke is leading the team in his first Test series as full-time captain on the tour from August 6 to September 20, which also includes two Twenty20 matches and five one-dayers.
“I love the fact we’ve got some new fresh faces that are excited and itching for their opportunity. I think that’s a great thing to have around the group,” he said.
“But the facts are we have to have some success, we have to play good cricket, we have to improve from our recent results throughout the last Australian summer.
“We need to get better, and we know that as players, and I can guarantee we’re working as hard as I’ve ever worked in my career, so hopefully we can turn that around sooner rather than later.”
Australia head into the Test series fifth in the world rankings, one place below Sri Lanka.
“I really hope we can turn things around straight away. I think it is going to take time for us to work our way back up the rankings,” Clarke added.
The Test series opens in Galle from August 31 with following Tests in Kandy from September 8 and Colombo from September 16.
India expect great things from Sehwag’s returnMUMBAI: Former India players are united in their belief that Virender Sehwag’s return from injury will stabilise the team’s fragile batting order and lift morale in the remaining two Tests against a dominant England.
The dashing opener has been sidelined since undergoing shoulder surgery in May, keeping the 32-year-old out of the tour of the West Indies and India’s first two Tests against England. India, 2-0 down in the four-match series, had looked nothing like the world’s number one-ranked team in the Lord’s and Trent Bridge Tests but that could change with the return of the explosive right-hander, according to Anshuman Gaekwad.
“It is almost going to be like a new series. To have Sehwag and (Gautam) Gambhir back... It will give a lot of confidence to the team,” the former India international and coach told Reuters.
Sehwag’s opening partner Gambhir injured his elbow while fielding at Lord’s and missed the 319-run defeat at Trent Bridge but is likely to return to the starting line-up for the third Test beginning on Aug. 10 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The injuries to the top order forced India to tinker with the batting lineup, placing Rahul Dravid in a makeshift opener’s role and Vangipurappu Laxman up the order at number three.
“In a Test match, it is of utmost necessity to have a good start. Their return will be a big relief for the captain and the team,” emphasised the former India opener, who played 40 Test matches from 1975-85.
Sehwag has 22 hundreds in 87 Test appearances but it his strike rate of almost 82 runs per 100 deliveries that make him one of the most intimidating batsmen in cricket. Former captain Ajit Wadekar said Sehwag’s return would ease the pressure on India’s “Big Three” — Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman.
Ojha buoyed by shock recall
NEW DELHI: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is keen to capitalise on a second bite of the cherry after landing a surprise call-up to an India squad he was originally omitted from for the ongoing tour of England.
The Hyderabad spinner watched from the pavilion on India’s June tour of the Caribbean as leg-spinner Amit Mishra was selected ahead of him, and Ojha dropped further down the pecking order when Harbhajan Singh returned for the England series.
However, Ojha recently signed a contract with English county Surrey and was practising with his Ranji Trophy teammates in Hyderabad when spin spearhead Harbhajan’s injury provided an opportunity for the 24-year-old is keen to seize with both hands.
“I was already practicing for my Surrey stint and would have left (for England) in a week’s time. This surprise India call-up means I would be leaving earlier than planned,” the spinner said.
“At a time when there is no cricket being played (in India), all I could do was to practice hard and keep myself fit. I can’t change what happened in the West Indies but what I can do now is give my best in England.”
Once again, Ojha will vie with Mishra for a place in the starting side for the remaining two Tests of the four-match series, which has been dominated by the pacemen and offered little to the slow bowlers on either side. As England ran riot to open a 2-0 series lead with a pair of big wins, Harbhajan bagged just one wicket at the Lord’s Test and one more at Trent Bridge before he was ruled out of the remainder of the series with an abdominal muscle strain.
Stadium’s decorative wrap given green light
LONDON: London’s 500 million pounds Olympic Stadium will have a glossy makeover for next year’s Games with the steel girders and grey concrete that form its exterior being covered by a decorative wrap, organisers said on Thursday.
Chemical giant Dow, the newest worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will foot the bill for temporary fabric wrap which will consist of 336 individual 25 metre high vertical panels.
The sleek 80,000-seat bowl-like stadium, completed in May, was originally designed to be covered by a wrap but the plan was ditched last October to save around 7 million pounds ($11.48million) from the project unless a private partner could be found.
Dow would be allowed to advertise on the wrap until a month before the Games, after which, all venues must be clean, organisers said.
In an image released by LOCOG, the wrap resembles a series of white vertical blinds. A spokesman said exactly how they would be decorated was still being discussed.
However, after criticism in some quarters that the stadium looked rather stark compared to the eye-catching Bird’s Nest in Beijing, the wrap will allow coloured lights and images to illuminate the structure which has now become a landmark on the east London skyline.
Friday, August 05, 2011
NEW YORK: Roger Federer is relaxed about turning 30 on Monday, having slid to third in the world rankings and the chance that this will be the first year since 2002 in which he does not win a Grand Slam title.
The 16-time Grand Slam singles champion told reporters on a teleconference on Wednesday that he still has the competitive fire to challenge Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for tennis supremacy.
“The fire has always been there clearly,” Federer said. “I’ve always enjoyed my matches with both guys, particularly the rivalry with Rafa has been very special. I have massive fire and power to play against those guys.”
Federer has accepted the fact that Nadal and Djokovic, together the winners of the past six Grand Slam singles titles, have passed him in the rankings.
“I’m at peace with myself because of it. There’s nothing else I can do,” Federer said.
“I’m very laid back about the situation. Sure, I’d love to be World No. 1 and not No 3. No 3 is a good ranking. It’s not number I don’t know what. I’m at peace with that.”
Federer, whose most recent Grand Slam crown came in last year’s Australian Open, lost to Nadal in June’s French Open final after dispatching Djokovic in a semi-final, snapping the Serbian star’s 41-match unbeaten start to the season.
But at Wimbledon, Federer suffered only the third loss of his career when up by two sets, falling to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals after winning his first 178 Grand Slam matches when leading by two sets.
“I thought Wimbledon was unfortunate, but I haven’t been thinking too much of what’s been happening. I’m more looking forward to what’s hopefully to come,” Federer said.
“Physically I’m fine. I think I have had a solid season so far. Now I feel really eager to go.”
Federer returns to action at ATP Masters Series events in Montreal and Cincinnati the next two weeks, the US Open tuneups being his first tournaments at age 30, a milestone he has already started looking beyond.
“I’m already way past this point. I’m already thinking beyond the Olympics next year. That’s kind of how my schedule goes,” Federer said.
“Birthdays happen. They’re part of life. I’m happy I’m getting older. I’d rather be 30 than 20, to be honest. To me it’s a nice time.
“In the preparation nothing changes. Do you listen to your body more? Yes you do. Are you more wise? Yes you are. Are you more experienced? Yes. Do you have 1,000 matches in your body? Yes you do. You just go with what you have.
“It’s not going to affect anything really.”
In spite of Father Time claiming another set, Federer does not approach the upcoming US Open as any sort of last chance after losing the final to Juan Martin del Potro in 2009 and watching Nadal beat Djokovic in last year’s final.
“I don’t feel it’s my last chance, not at all,” Federer said. “I see many more chances to come. Maybe it’s the last Grand Slam of the season, fine. But still there are many more tournaments than just Grand Slams.
“I know I’ll be measured very often just by my Grand Slam results, which is fortunate or unfortunate depending how you look at it. My game is in a good place right now and I’m excited to see how I’m going to do at the US Open.”
Federer does not see himself as the average 30-yeear-old ATP player trying to hang on for one last day in the sun.
“I don’t want to say I’m a special case, but I’ve won so much you feel like if you put yourself in the right position, you do all the right things, you’ll definitely get a shot again of winning any big tournaments, or any tournament really for that matter,” Federer said.
“My planning is always in the long-term. That’s why I’m looking forward to see how much I can achieve from this point forward
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Friday, August 05, 2011
PARIS: Scottish giants Rangers and Ukrainian heavyweights Dynamo Kiev were the biggest name casualties after the third qualifying round of the Champions League second-leg matches on Wednesday while Benfica safely survived their tie against Trabzonspor.
Rangers failed to defy history in overcoming a 1-0 loss at home in the first-leg in drawing 1-1 against Malmo in Sweden to bow out 2-1 on aggregate — their cause not helped by finishing the match with nine players.
The Scottish side had not come back from a home defeat in the past 55 years to win a European match.
Dynamo Kiev, who took part in the group stage for 12 seasons in a row until 2009/10 and also semifinalists in 1999, will miss out for the second time running as they never looked like overturning the 2-0 first-leg deficit against Russian side Rubin Kazan and went out tamely losing 2-1 on the night leaving the victors within sight of their third successive appearance in the group stages.
Another former regular group stage performer Norway’s Rosenborg also went out as they lost 3-2 away at unheralded Czech side Plzen to go out 4-2 on aggregate.
That trio joined Greek giants Panathinaikos in being surprise losers — Panathinaikos had lost a seven goal thriller at home to Danish side Odense on Tuesday to bow out 5-4 on aggregate.
A 1-1 draw at Trabzonspor was enough for twice former winners Benfica while Twente Enschede, FC Zurich, Sturm Graz and APOEL also went into the final round of the qualifiers following Wednesday’s 12 ties.
Rangers were already up against it after their home defeat but the last thing they needed was to go a man down as early as the 18th minute when Steven Whittaker saw red for an off-the-ball incident for throwing the ball at an opponent’s head.
However, the ten men levelled the game on aggregate in the 24th minute through Nikica Jelavic’s superb volley.
Madjid Bougherra was ordered off in the 66th minute for elbowing Dardan Rexhepi in the head before Malmo’s Ricardinho joined him for an early bath for a second bookable offence.
Rangers, with only one win in their past 22 European matches, were only 10 minutes away from extra-time when Jiloan Hamad smashed in a 20 yard volley to put the Swedes into the next round.
Ally McCoist’s side will now join rivals Celtic in the final qualifying round for the Europa League group stages.
The Rangers manager felt his side had been the masters of their own demise.
“Obviously the result is a blow because we are out the competition but I thought for the majority of the game when we were down to ten and nine men the fact we keep ourselves in it was very pleasing,” said McCoist, who stepped up from assistant manager to manager this season after the retirement of Walter Smith.
“But I don’t think there is any doubt about it that indiscipline probably cost us the tie, certainly tonight.”
Dynamo, three times beaten semifinalists, left former AC Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko on the bench at Rubin as they attempted to claw back from a 2-0 home defeat.
Rubin erased any hopes of a Kiev comeback in the 19th minute by Vladimir Dyadyun with the Russian outfit — who are struggling to make a title challenge this season and trail leaders CSKA Moscow by 11 points — sealing victory through Aleksei Medvedev close to the final whistle. Veteran Oleh Gusev got a late consolation for Dynamo.
Belgian champions Racing Genk held on for a 1-1 draw away to Partizan Belgrade to knock out the former European Cup finalists 3-2 on aggregate.
Nemanja Tomic put the Serbs ahead five minutes before halftime but Jelle Vossen levelled with a penalty just before the hour. The visitors then survived waves of attacks, teenager Lazar Markovic missing a golden chance for the hosts in the dying minutes.
Benfica, twice champions and five-times runners up, fielded an all-foreign starting line-up including eight South Americans as they took a 2-0 first leg lead to Turkey.
The Portuguese League runners-up extended it with a 19th minute goal by Nolito, signed from Barcelona, who collected Javier Saviola’s pass and drifted past two opponents before scoring.
Paulo Henrique equalised before half-time but it was not nearly enough for the hosts.
Argentine defender Luis Ibanez swept home a rebound in stoppage time to give Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, who last qualified in 1999/00, a 1-0 win over HJK Helsinki as they qualified 3-1.
Forward Admir Mehmedi missed a first-half penalty but atoned with a second-half goal to give FC Zurich a 1-0 win over Standard Liege in a meeting of two former European Cup semifinalists, sending the Swiss through 2-1 on aggregate.
Dutch side Twente Enschede comfortably held out for a goalless draw at Romania’s Vaslui to qualify 2-0 on aggregate and Austrian champions Sturm Graz beat Georgia’s Zestafoni 1-0 for a 2-1 aggregate win.
Roman Kienast scored a second-half winner for Sturm who last qualified in 2000/01.
The winners go into Friday’s play-off draw which will see four-time champions Bayern Munich, 2006 runners-up Arsenal, recent semifinalists Lyon and Villarreal as well as Udinese enter the fray.
Friday, August 05, 2011
MIAMI: Marco Fabian scored twice in two minutes to lift Mexican club Chivas of Guadalajara to a stunning 4-1 victory over Spanish giants Barcelona in their friendly.
The European champions on Wednesday led at half-time through David Villa’s third-minute strike but Chivas hit back with a burst of three goals in 12 minutes in the second-half.
Barcelona’s visit drew 70,080 to Sun Life Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins — a record for a football match in South Florida.
Fabian equalised in the 60th minute with a drive from 30 yards before Omar Arello’s cross from the right two minutes later found Fabian free and he buried a flying scissor-kick.
Giovani Casillas added a third in the 72nd before Jose Luis Verduzco completed the scoring in the 90th minute.
“The result tells us we need to work hard on a few things,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. “I am not surprised by Chivas’ performance. Mexican football is very dynamic and entertaining.”
Friday, August 05, 2011
AKRON, Ohio: The spotlight’s on returning Tiger Woods at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational, where defending champion Hunter Mahan was among the many wondering just what kind of golf the former number one will produce.
“We always used to doubt him, and he’d always prove us wrong,” Mahan said of Woods, who returns to competition after an 11-week absence to let injuries to his left leg heal.
“But this is serious doubt because we have no idea how healthy he is. Who knows? I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows except him and probably his physicians.”
Even Woods says he doesn’t know precisely what to expect when he tees it up at the elite World Golf Championships event — whether his form and his health will recall the player who has captured seven titles at Firestone, or whether he’ll look more like the player who limped out of the Players Championship in May.
“I still haven’t been in a competitive environment yet, so that’s a totally different atmosphere,” said Woods, who hasn’t won a tournament in 22 months.
In addition to getting back in the groove after his injury layoff, Woods will be without long-time caddie Steve Williams, sacked by Woods last month.
Bryon Bell, a boyhood pal of Woods, will carry the bag for 14-time major champion.
Woods insisted that, as always, his expectation is to win. Not everyone thinks that’s a realistic aim.
“No one expects him to come out and play well,” US Open champion Rory McIlroy said. “I’m sure he expects himself to come out and play and compete, but given the length of layoff and considering that he’s only been able to hit full shots for the last two weeks or whatever, it would be an unbelievable effort if he was to come back and compete. ”
