Sports India

Harbhajan Singh envisages a challenging role for traditional spinners in Twenty-20 format, saying the slam-bang version of the game will be the ultimate test of their bowling skills.

While describing the format as exciting, the off-spinner said it would be nothing short of nightmare for bowlers like him as it is tailor-made for strokemakers.

“It is a very exciting format (but) more for viewers and batsmen. Bowlers will always be under pressure in this format of the game,” he told newspersons here today.

“It will be great fun for batsmen like Dhoni and Sehwag. But it will be just ‘katle aam’ (massacre) for bowlers,” the 26-year-old said.

“I had a chance to play in Twenty-20 cricket (in England) which attracted a lot of viewers and they really enjoyed the short game. But my experience is that bowlers will have to keep their fingers crossed before every ball.”

After initially opposing the concept, the Indian Cricket Board recently decided to introduce the latest version in the domestic circuit and also confirmed their participation in Twenty-20 World Cup to be held in South Africa next year.

Harbhajan said the format made it necessary for the bowlers to score runs down the order so as to make some contribution to the total.

“Even from the tailenders, some hard hitting would be expected. In a nutshell, for bowlers it will be a great challenge and for batsmen it will be great fun,” he added. (Agencies)

Alright, alright, we’ll do it; we’ll publish a feature on the upcoming all-rounders in world cricket.
The cherry on the top of our want to write this one was Kevin Pietersen’s debut Test wicket in the first Test against Pakistan at the esteemed Lord’s. We totally predicted it - things are going so amazingly well for the guy it was only destiny that foretold KP’s triumph with the ball that fine day.

Okay, so he hardly falls into the all-rounder category just yet but it’s seemingly only a matter of time before King Kev’ leaves the rank of batsman and joins the more alluring and lauded role of all-rounder. Right, enough about ol’ KP, let’s check out those who have already graduated to the all-rounder big time.

Glenn McGrath is first man up on the graduation podium…just joking. Okay, stop laughing and nod your head in agreement that Brett Lee is most definitely worthy of all-rounder status. Lee, Australia’s premiere fast-bowler now that McGrath’s days at the top are coming to an end has done more than enough to justify a spot at number seven or eight in the Aussie’s batting line-up.

It’s true, we’re about to mention The Ashes once again…as if it hasn’t been written about enough, but the fact of the matter is Lee’s ability with the bat almost outshone his prowess with the ball during that fine England-won/Oz-lost series. He’s as brutal with the willow as he is cocky with the lip; Brett cracks number one spot on the graduation podium with great ease.

Slotting in at a cool second is India’s young Kapil Dev wannabe. Irfan Pathan, with a handful of more than decent knocks to his name continues to slip up and down the batting-order. Skipper of the day, recently Rahul Dravid, has employed Pathan at the pivotal number three throne-esque position with great effect in One-dayers.

There, Pathan has shown glimpses of brilliance and his ability to bludgeon the ball in times of run-need aswell as his skill in caressing rank half-volleys to the ropes ala Sachin Tendulkar is unequalled by his fellow bowler/batsmen posers.

With two bowlers claiming first and second on the pedestal it’s only fair to give a batsman with aspirations to bowl better the bronze medal. On Virender Sehwag we pin that medal. On more than the odd occasion Sehwag’s whipped through his lot of overs at an economical rate and picked up a wicket or two. We watch in amazement every time as his rather tasty and profit-bearing pie-type off-spinners don’t get profited off and leave a bad taste in victim of the day’s mouth.

True, Indian wickets are easy to bowl part-time spin on and Sehwag wouldn’t fair nearly as well on Oz or South African tracks but when at home and part of a three-spinner strong bowling-attack, Sehwag’s always hot on the heels of the somewhat more in-the-know-about-spin-bowling Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh - So much so that he has a little part-time protégé of his own in young Yuvraj Singh, who too has lately been featuring in the lower half of the scorecard.

Other contenders: Ian Bell (but he will probably want to secure his spot in the side as a batsman first), Rana Naved (get well soon mate), Andre Nel (ha-ha…whatever) and Matthew Hoggard

The national selection committee, which is meeting here on Thursday to select the Indian team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, will have to brainstorm on who to drop rather than who to choose. The selectors have, more or less, zeroed in on the new inclusions. The difficult task for them will be to pick the exclusions from the team that did duty in the one-day series against the West Indies.

Source close to the members of the selection committee said Sachin Tendulkar, who was declared fit to resume action, and Punjab all-rounder Dinesh Mongia are certain to be included in the team for the August 14-29 tri-series. Also on the consideration are young Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma and Punjab/Railways all-rounder TP Singh. Both are presently doing duty for the India A team in the TopEnd series in Australia. Besides Tendulkar and Mongia, one of the two A team players will be included in the squad.

The three new inclusions means a certain exit for Robin Uthappa and Venugopala Rao from the squad. Incidentally, both Uthappa and Rao are also in Australia, with the latter leading the India A side.

Anil Kumble will have to wait to return to the national ODI team. The prolific wicket-taker in the Test side was widely tipped to be a part of the ODI team but selection committee sources said he would have to wait till the Champions Trophy to make his ODI comeback. Kumble is playing in England.

The non-inclusion of Kumble is good news for the Mumbai’s Ramesh Powar. The portly offie is certain to board the flight for Colombo on August 10 as is Harbhajan Singh.

The selectors’ plan, it is learnt, is to take eight batsmen, four pacers, two spinners besides the wicket-keeper in the 15-man squad. The four pacers are likely to be Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth. UP’s left-arm pacer RP Singh, who was part of the Windies tour party, may be the unlucky bowler to miss out.

It will be the first time since Greg Chappell took over last year that he will not be attending a selection committee meeting. But board secretary Niranjan Shah, who will convene the meeting, said committee chairman will consult the coach, who is believed to be holidaying in the US. It will be the last but one chance for Kiran More to chair the meeting. Thursday’s meeting will be More’s penultimate as chairman of the selection committee. His final task will come later in the year, to pick the team for the Champions Trophy.

The Indian football team takes the field for the first time under the guidance of new coach Bob Houghton when it meets a local club side at the Vancouver Whitecaps Nations Cup on Wednesday.

After taking over last month, Houghton, who has previous coaching experience with the national sides of China, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, conducted a three-week long camp in Goa, and selected a 20-member squad for the tour out of the 35 players who attended the stint.

In the absence of star striker Bhaichung Bhutia, who did not attend the camp and has asked to be excused from national duty, their team will be led by Mahindra United midfielder Shanmugam Venkatesh who wore the captain’s armband before the ace goalpoacher returned to the side for the SAF Cup in Karachi late last year.

With the Mohun Bagan stalwart missing from the line-up, the Indian forwardline sports a much weakened look and the responsibility of finding the net would fall on the Kolkata outfit’s Sushil Kumar Singh, JCT Mills’ talented Sunil Chetri and Freddy Mascarenhas of Churchill Brothers.

Cleared by the doctors the BCCI announced his fitness. An official fitness test was not required by a Board that always believed in the aura of its persona.

While the return of the master is welcomed, the stance of the board has raised a debate on its double standards. His return is likely to change the batting order and it could not have happened at a better time. India having lost 4-1 to the West Indies will look forwards to having the master in their midst for the Triangular Series in Sri Lanka .

India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar has recovered from a shoulder injury and is fit to play in a tri-series in Sri Lanka next month, a cricket official said in Mumbai on Tuesday. Tendulkar has been declared fit by team physiotherapist John Gloster in a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said Niranjan Shah, the board secretary. “Tendulkar has been undergoing a graded physical testing of his right shoulder for the last five days under the supervision of physiotherapist Gloster and has made satisfactory progress to make him available for selection for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka,” Shah said in a statement. Sri Lanka, India and South Africa will participate in the tri-series, beginning August 10. Tendulkar underwent surgery on his right shoulder for a cyst and a tear in London in March. He didn’t travel with the Indian team to play in the test series and one-day internationals against the West Indies, which concluded earlier this month.

Thuram faults Zidane’s head-butt and Materazzi’s provocation:

France defender Lilian Thuram disagreed with Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt in the World Cup final and said the Italy player who provoked him was hurting soccer. Thuram said in an interview being published on Tuesday by the French weekly Les Inrockuptibles that he understood Zidane’s reaction to Marco Materazzi for insulting his family but that the timing was wrong. Zidane, France’s captain, rammed Materazzi in extra time and was sent off. France lost 5-3 on penalties. Thuram said he and Zidane, who planned to retire after the final, spoke briefly after the game. “Materazzi insulted his family. I understand that Zidane reacted. But not on the field, not on the field,” Thuram said. “He made a mistake and he knows it. To be clear, I don’t think it affected the result. But, well, Zidane knows that he was tricked.” Players like Materazzi hurt the game, Thuram was quoted as saying. “This type of player is a sickness. It shouldn’t exist … Materazzi gives a negative image to soccer,” Thuram said. Materazzi has admitted insulting Zidane, but denied he verbally attacked his mother. FIFA is conducting an investigation. Materazzi appeared before a disciplinary committee last Friday, and Zidane is scheduled to appear on Thursday.

Fiorentina fans block railway to protest relegation:

Almost 2,000 Fiorentina fans brought chaos to the country’s railway system as they protested their team’s demotion to Serie B as punishment for their role in the Italian match-fixing scandal. Their action caused delays of up to six hours to services after they congregated at Florence’s Campo Di Marte station which lies at the heart of the main Milan to Rome line. Lines were cleared only after intervention by the police late on Monday night. Fans also broke into the national team’s training center at Coverciano. There they staged an hour-long protest where they sat spread out on the pitch to form the word “Basta,” (Enough). Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B and docked 12 points for their role in the match-fixing scandal which also Juventus and Lazio also demoted.

Man United interested in at least one Juve player:

Manchester United is interested in signing at least one player from relegated Italian club Juventus. Juventus was stripped of its last two league titles and demoted to Serie B last week in Italy’s match-fixing scandal. United hasn’t signed any players this offseason, and manager Alex Ferguson said he had been waiting on the outcome of the Italian case before making any moves in the transfer market. “We’re working on several things and talking to several clubs,” Ferguson told the Manchester United Web site on Tuesday. “We have made several inquiries for several players but we have held certain things back because of the Juventus situation. “I think everybody will be looking at all the Juventus players. (Patrick) Vieira, Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Emerson are the ones that people will be focusing on. “Now we know where we’re going in terms of making inquiries and maybe definite offers for one or two players.” Manchester United is currently on a preseason tour in South Africa.

I’d rather go to Milan not Chelsea, says Zambrotta:

Juventus’s World Cup defender Gianluca Zambrotta would prefer to play for AC Milan rather than English champions Chelsea if he had to leave the disgraced Italian giants. The World Cup winner is set to quit Juventus following the team’s relegation to Serie B as punishment for their role in the country’s match-fixing scandal. But the player’s agent said AC Milan, who were allowed to remain in Serie A despite being implicated in the same controversy as Juve, have the upper hand in the negotiations. “Zambrotta’s wish is to stay in Italy but not at Juventus, and the only club that can afford the transfer and that have shown a keen interest is AC Milan,” Giuseppe Bonetto said. “Should Juve fail to reach an agreement with AC Milan then Zambrotta will consider the other alternatives. “An agent representing Chelsea will meet Juventus in the next few days. It will be down to Juventus to make the decisions and let us know what the options are once there is something concrete.

Edmilson back in training with Barcelona after knee op:

Brazil midfielder Edmilson said he felt no ill-effects on his return to training with Barcelona after a knee operation that caused him to miss the World Cup. “I felt very good and did not notice any pain,” the 30-year-old was quoted as saying in Barcelona sports daily Mundo Deportivo on Tuesday. Edmilson pulled out of Brazil’s World Cup squad after suffering a torn knee cartilage in his right knee when the team were preparing for the tournament in Switzerland at the end of May. He was operated on in Brazil on June 1. The midfielder, who can also play in the center of defense, joined Barca from Olympique Lyon in 2004 but missed much of his first season at the club after tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee during a league match in October. The Spanish and European champions returned to training on Monday with striker Eidur Gudjohnsen joining his new teammates for the first time since his 12 million-euro ($15 million

After Sachin Tendulkar got the thumbs-up from his physiotherapist John Gloster, his spiritual mentor V S Nayak of Bangalore also has good news for him. “Sachin’s performance will be good in the upcoming tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa,” Nayak told ToI from Amritsar on Wednesday.

However, Nayak said that he had insisted that Sachin also perform a “seva” to get rid of his “naga dosha” at Kukke Subramanya Temple in Dakshina Kannada district. Sachin, along with his wife Anjali, had performed the ritual known as “Sarpa Samskara” and “Ashlesha Bali” at the temple on May 8. Nayak feels Sachin’s best performance will come only after he performs all the rituals associated with removal of “Naga Dosha.”

Sachin had to leave the temple town in a hurry as he was hard pressed for time. Nayak also said at that time that the ritual should be performed for three-and-a-half days. Sachin was in Subramanya only for one-and-a-half days.

“Some poojas are still remaining,” Nayak said expressing his disappointment that Sachin had not contacted him ever since he left Subramanya. “There are still some problems associated with ‘naga dosha.’ If that is looked into, his performance will be better,” he added.

The series loss (1-4) in West Indies does not warrant wholesale changes to the Indian ODI squad that will be chosen for the tri-series in Sri Lanka on Thursday. It was a verdict voiced by almost all former cricketers, who TOI spoke to on the eve of the selection.

Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, while ruling out a major shuffle, felt, “Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan should get a look-in purely on merit.” Agrees former national selector Ashok Malhotra: “I feel Zaheer should be back, may be in place of Munaf (Patel). And Kumble should be in the side. He will be a key player on Lankan pitches and South Africa do not play him well.”

While conceding that “large-scale changes don’t make sense", former left-arm spinner Maninder Singh too backed Kumble and Zaheer’s recall. “I would pick Sreesanth, Munaf and Agarkar as the pacers with the fourth spot being a toss-up between Irfan and Zaheer. I feel that VVS Laxman merits a place in the ODI team and that Gambhir should open with Sehwag. Sachin should bat at No 4.”

Malhotra was perplexed at the talk of large-scale changes in the squad. “In spite of the side not doing well in West Indies, I don’t see any need to replace Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin or Dhoni. And I don’t think you have players of that calibre to replace them.”

Former national selector Sambaran Banerjee too stressed on the accent on experience. “We don’t have good enough players as replacement,” he said while throwing his weight behind Kumble. Among the younger lot, he felt, “Tamil Nadu captain S Badrinath could be tried out.”

Former India opener and coach, Anshuman Gaekwad put things in perspective, saying, “The ideal thing would be to have a blend of youth and experience. The wickets in Lanka being conducive to slow bowling, I think three spinners should be included in the squad. It won’t do us any good if we try to do more experimentation.”

“The selectors have a knack of throwing up surprises whenever a squad is picked and one can never rule out wholesale changes,” says former India wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna, who concurs with Gaekwad’s theory of an ideal mix. “The return of Sachin and Kumble to the ODI squad would bring in vital experience. Also, despite his poor show in recent matches, Irfan should be persisted with,” he added.

Former India off-spinner Gopal Sharma, who foresees “a couple of changes,” feels Venugopal Rao and Munaf Patel could be axed. “With Sachin (Tendulkar) back, it will mean one of the youngsters like Venu will miss the bus. I think Munaf Patel has drawbacks as a One-day cricketer. Keeping the World Cup in mind, a younger paceman should be drafted in.”

Sharma’s statemate and junior national selector, Shashikant Khandekar, deosn’t agree with the general mood. “This is the right time to get the youngsters with an eye on the World Cup. India has enough experience. So there is need to infuse some young blood. Younger, faster legs are as crucial as experience,” he says

India’s only Formula 1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan yesterday began the process of selecting four young drivers for his two racing teams, to participate in the Formula Rolon category of the 2006 JK Tyre National Racing Championship, commencing on August 20, here.

Narain, together with Amaron Batteries, BPCL and J K Tyres, has created two teams – Amaron NK Racing and Speed NK Racing – and shortlisted 14 candidates for his teams.

As a first step in the selection at Kari Motor Speedway on the city outskirts, the youngsters were asked to familiarise themselves with the cars in the morning session.

Awaiting the winners is a fully sponsored drive for all six rounds rounds of the 2006 JK Tyre National Championship, which will finish in December at the Sriperumbudur track in Chennai.

Narain, who met reporters Monday night, said he wanted to pursue his desire to give back something to the sport which has made him an international sporting hero.

The selected four would benefit enormously from Narain’s experience and knowledge of driving the fastest racing cars in the world.

The teams are likely to be announced within two days.

The aspirants are Aditya Akkineni, Aditya Patel, Akhil Khushlani, Saahil Shelar, Deepak Chinnappa, Ajay Kini, Saran Vikram, Sharan Parek, Kartik Shanker, Ashwin Sunder, Charen Chandran, Sudarshan Rao, Vignesh Devarajan and Kunal Shah.

The master blaster is back but the moot question is where will he be in the pecking order for the Tri Series in Srilanka.

Sachin Tendulkar has been declared fit and is set to return to the Indian team for next month’s tri-series to be held in Sri Lanka. With his return, the team management will now have to recalibrate the batting order. So will he come back to his favoured place at the top of the innings? Or will Dravid drop down the order? These are Questions that need to be answered.

Kiran More, Chairman of selectors said: Sachin has been declared fit. We have got a report from John Gloster saying that he is available for selection for the forthcoming series in Sri Lanka and this is surely a good news for India.

These words from the Chairman of selectors clearly indicate the importance of Sachin in the Indian team. Having played the game for close to 17 years, Sachin continues to be the top drawn in the Indian team. But the question is where will Sachin bat on his comeback. Tendulkar has opened the innings in one-day cricket with both Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. In his absence, that job was taken over by Rahul Dravid and occassionally by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. So will Sachin walk into his old position?

Top world teams have shown that the best way to make your prized asset last is to play them in the middle order and also only in key games. Inzamam Ul Haq does that with great success and so does Brian Lara. Could Tendulkar do the same for Team India? Some of his teammates disagree.

EAS Prasanna, former player, said that India will be competing in one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka and Sachin has been an opening batsman throughout, so I think that he should play as one.

While Sreesanth, Bowler, Indian team said: “Playing as an opening batsman is the easiest form to get some run in the opening stand, and thus, it is much easier to play.”

Whatever the position, Sachin will still have to push himself to stay ahead of the young guns. Coach Greg Chappell is known to have equal yardsticks for fitness and performance for all players. And in spite of having so many runs under his belt, Sachin will invariably walk out under pressure.

Sachin has made a return to the Indian squad arousing a debate as to whether he should don the role of opening batsman or should he play in the miidle order. However, at this juncture, it hardly matters when he bats. His presence on the ground is good enough, not only for the team, but for the nation to celebrate.