SACHIN, IRFAN SHINES AS INDIA CRUSH BANGLADESH

Nishad Anwar, is a budding journalist and sports writer. He contributes sports reports regularly.

India cruised to an easy eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second round of the Asia Cup at the Sinhalese Sports Club stadium in Colombo on Wednesday. Sachin Tendulkar looked like he was getting back to his best with a controlled 82. He was given good support by captain Sourav Ganguly as India won with 11.3 overs to spare. Earlier, Tendulkar snapped up three wickets as Bangladesh were bowled out for 177. He took three for 35 after 19 year-old left-arm quick Irfan Pathan had done the early damage, taking two wickets in two balls to leave Bangladesh reeling at 10 for two in the third over.Tendulkar was named Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

When the Indians stepped on to the field, they knew well enough that it would be an easy game. But their greatest challenge was to guard against complacency. Ganguly's decision to bowl first ensured two things: the Indian bowlers would not take it easy and, two, they would have a chance to regain their confidence in the field.
In many ways, it was also a must-win game for the Indians. Teams in the second phase need a minimum of two victories to get into the final and a game against Bangladesh must surely count for one. There was also the threat of thunderstorms in the days to come and India would not have wanted to leave anything to chance.
Ganguly stuck with a line-up that has brought him much success of late: three pacemen and a spinner. V V S Laxman was back to bolster the batting, with Parthiv Patel getting the boot. Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh came in for Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble, respectively.

For Bangladesh, Faisal Hossain came into the side for injured opener Javed Omar. Manjural Islam Rana returned to the side and Tareq Aziz also got into the playing eleven.One of India's biggest strengths in recent times has been the ability of the new ball bowlers, Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji, to take early wickets and put the opposition on the backfoot. And that is exactly what happened. In the third over of the day, an in-swinging delivery from Pathan beat Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar, found the space between bat and pad, and crashed into the stumps (10 for 1).

Pathan followed it up with a similar delivery that pitched on the middle and straightened to trap new batsman Rajin Saleh plumb in front of his stumps. The umpire upheld the appeal and Bangladesh had lost two wickets in two balls. Pathan was on a hat-trick (10 for 2), but Alok Kapali played out the next delivery safely to deny the teenager.

Balaji, at the other end, was having a torrid time. He had trouble controlling the swing and sprayed the ball around. It didn't help matters when Kapali, on 5, was dropped off his bowling by Laxman at second slip.
With Balaji struggling, one thought Ganguly might have done well to give him a rest and introduce Ashish Nehra into the attack. But the skipper persisted with the Tamil Nadu medium-pacer, introducing Nehra only in the 13th over. The left-armer struck almost immediately. The fourth delivery of his spell had Kapali (10 off 29 balls) edging a regulation catch to wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid (56 for 3). That ended what proved to be the most fruitful partnership of the innings. Mohammad Ashraful and Kapali had put on 46 runs off 65 balls. When they were at the crease, Bangladesh seemed to be staging a recovery. Ashraful, in particular, was not afraid to play his shots. Without doubt, he is one of their best batsmen. After 15 overs, Bangladesh were 68 for the loss of three wickets. An a azing 24 extras (23 wides and 1 no-ball) were part of this total.

Faisal Hossain joined Ashraful and batted with a degree of comfort that seemed to suggest that the recovery would continue. But it was not to be.Harbhajan Singh, playing his first One-Day International since November last year, foxed Hossain (17 off 34) completely. Two well-flighted deliveries were followed by a quicker one that caught the batsman nailed to his crease, plumb in front of the wicket (92 for 4). For the second time in the innings, Bangladesh suffered a double blow in the same over. Ashraful (35) responded to Khaled Mashud's call for a a suicidal single. The ball was hit quite hard to Yuvraj Singh's throwing hand and the throw thudded into Dravid's gloves. The 'keeper had no trouble whipping the bails off. With the Bangladeshi top order back in the pavilion, Ganguly took Nehra out of the attack and introduced Tendulkar. If the batsmen thought they could take it easy, they were proved horribly wrong in the 34th over.

Amazingly, it was another double blow for the minnows. Mashud (12 off 24 balls) was beaten by a regulation leg break. The resultant edge was taken by Dravid (117 for 6).Mohammad Rafique was the next man in. He lasted just three balls before a fastish delivery from Tendulkar, bowling from around the wicket, crashed into his stumps (117 for 7). From here on it was just a damage limitation exercise for the Bangladeshis. And they managed it quite well. Aided by useful contributions from Manjural Islam (21), Khaled Mahmud (22), and Abdur Razzaq (21), they reached 177 before being bowled out in the 50th over.

The 37 extras conceded by the Indians proved to be the highest single contributor to the Bangladesh innings.
For the Indians, Irfan Pathan was superb and thoroughly deserved the three wickets he claimed. Ganguly must also be pleased with the efforts of Nehra, who looked good, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, who also claimed three wickets.

Indian innings

If there were any doubts of an Indian victory, they were dispelled in the first over of the innings as Virender Sehwag and Ganguly tore into Tareq Aziz and slammed 22 runs, the most ever scored in the first over of an ODI innings. The eventful ten-ball over saw four no-balls and three fours. Bangladesh also claimed the vital wicket of Sehwag off the fifth legal delivery of the innings. But then that's how Sehwag plays. Hit or miss, he tends to go for his shots and one wouldn't want him to change his style for anything the world can offer. On his day, he can be a match-winner. Today was not that day.Sehwag (16 off 8 deliveries, 3 x 4) went after a delivery that was well outside the off-stump and only hit it to Kapali at point (19 for 1).
There was a long delay before the next batsman, Ganguly, walked in. It almost seemed as if the captain had put his feet up and relaxed after watching Sehwag get off to the blazing start.But if Bangladesh thought they could make any more inroads, they were wrong. Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly took their time settling down, then went about setting up an easy victory for the Indians. The run-rate was slow, but that was only because the two batsmen were finding their feet in international cricket after a long off-season. Nothing the Bangladeshi bowlers bowled troubled either of them. It was simply a case of there being too vast a gulf in class and talent. The Bangladeshis threw themselves around in the field with great enthusiasm, but it takes more than that to win matches.Tendulkar was the first to reach his half-century with a swept four in the fine-leg region. He then followed it up with another four over mid-wicket to finally break the shackles. He took 93 balls to reach his 67th half-century in ODIs. Ganguly, at the other end, was starting to get back to his best as well. He reached his fifty having hit two boundaries and three sixes.

The runs were coming easily and it was a no-contest. One expected the second stage of this tournament to have some keenly contested games, but this match was a disappointment. Ganguly perished late in the innings with India needing only five runs to c linch victory. The skipper used his feet to Mohammed Rafique in a bid to end the match with a six. But he only found Kapali, who took a good catch at deep mid-wicket.
The partnership for the second wicket between Tendulkar and Ganguly was worth 154 runs (173 for 2).
V V S Laxman wrapped up the innings soon after with a single. Tendulkar remained unbeaten with 82 off 126 balls (10x4, 1x6) and towards the end of the innings looked much more like his old self. India won by eight wickets with 11.3 overs to spare.The credit for this victory rests mainly with the bowlers. But India must remember that the real tests are still to come.

SOME VIGNETTES FROM WORLD CRICKET

M. K. Dharmaraja*
18:33 IST
Modern cricket’s history of nearly 130 years is replete with several exciting interludes which make it a game of absorbing interest. The 1961 Brisbane Test between Australia and the West Indies was full of electrifying thrills and nerve tingling strain. The match that ended in a historic tie was a contest of Titans. Richie Benaud who led Australia summed it up as “the finest expression of all those qualities which make cricket the grandest game in the world”. The Australians in this match included the stalwarts Neil Harvey, Norman O’Neil, Bobby Simpson and Allan Davidson. The West Indies had Garfield Sobers, Frank Worrell, Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, F.M. Alexander, Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin. The total scores of the teams were even when an unbelievable dismissal intervened. The Australian pair of Kline and McCkiff were at the crease when McCkiff, trying to run for the winning shot, was dismissed by Joe Solomon’s accurate throw!

The advent of Packer’s commercial cricket serves brought about a total transformation in the international cricket scene. Big money with fabulous payment to the game’s top performers lured a number of them to the Packer ‘circus’. Like the soccer and tennis super-stars notable cricketers now are in the higher-bracket affluent class.

Numerous factors like the razzle-dazzle of the one-day international matches (ODI’s), mostly played in flood-light made them highly hilarious events. The accent on spectator-appeal made the game highly popular.

The advances in television broadcast technology have led to the use of T.V. replays to help umpires give their ruling in consultation with the third umpire. A radical change has been introduced by the induction of the all-important “Match Referee” as the final arbiter on vexed issues.

For India the emergence of our national team as a front-ranking outfit under its most successful Captain, Saurav Ganguly has been a welcome portent. Likewise, the ascendance of Sachin Tendulkar who tops the ODI table with 13, 134 runs and thirty-seven hundreds together with Rahul Dravid’s commendable form as a consistently high scorer have been hopeful features of Indian cricket. Excelling them hurricane hitter Virender Sehwag has hoisted himself in the 17-member heavyweight-class of the Tests’ triple-hundred champions led by Don Bradman and Gary Sobers. But they were all overtaken most recently by the Carribbean Brian Lara with his score of 400 not out in the Test against England.

Test records in batting were toppled one after the other ten times in the course of the past seventy-four years. Lara himself, most interestingly, recaptured the title he had lost to Mathew Hayden of Australia six months before. Lara had gone to the top with 375 runs against England in 1994. Hayden went ahead with 380 runs against Zimbabwe last year. But the indefatigable Lara overtook him in encounter once again facing the formidable England team.

Meanwhile, the world’s foremost off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka overtook the bowling record of claiming 519 wickets in Tests held by Courtney Walsh, the retired West Indies bowler. Walsh’s record was achieved in 132 Tests whereas Murali reached the figure in only 89 matches. Hardly had the Sri Lankan hit the headlines when a ‘thunderbolt’ came from the International Cricket Council that he should stop bowling his lethal delivery known as the “doosra”. It is a delivery that turns away from the right-handed batsmen. The ICC had ruled that it looks like throwing or “chucking the ball. Muralitharan had a genetic defect that prevents him from straightening the bowling arm.

It was unfortunate that even the Australian Prime Minister John Howard had thrown his hat into the ring calling Murali a “Chucker”. This had to be noted in the context of Australia’s 34-year old Shane Warne running close to the 32-year old Murali. Warne had a haul of 517 Test wickets taken in 110 matches. India’s ace-spinner Anil Kumble has commented that the controversy over the World’s top Test bowler was unnecessary. “You can’t keep pointing fingers at Murali everytime he takes a wicket, he said. Muralitharan himself said in anguish that he was being unfairly harassed. “It was not just to bring in rules to test only one spinner”.

Despite such aberrations with parochial overtones, the spectacular and exhilarating game of cricket has been extending its frontiers. The ICC has drawn up a blueprint to globalise the unique sport by improving the playing standard of its numerous associate and affiliate members spread all over the world. The high-voltage game of cricket flush with sponsored revenue for T.V. networks is poised to captivate teeming millions. An action-packed live show is the name of this exciting game of expanding horizons!

*Sports Writer

CRICKET IN INDIA

M.K. Dharmaraja*
14:16 IST

The premier national championship in Cricket for the Ranji Trophy was instituted in 1934 to commemorate K.S. Ranjitsinhji – subsequently the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar. Years later, the stamp issued on the occasion of his centenary depicted Ranji playing the leg-glance(glide), the dainty stroke patented by him.

At about the time when Ranji was polishing his cricket strokes in England, the game had become quite popular in India. We have an account of a school-boy cricketer in Rajkot. Mohandas Gandhi (destined to be Mahatma) as a keen cricketer. His classmate Ratilal Chelabhai Mehta has recalled that "Mohandas was a dashing cricketer, good at batting and bowling". About half a century later when Douglas Jardine’s England team came to India in 1933-34, Gandhiji wrote ‘I am your 13th man’ on their bat, presented for his autograph.

It was against Jardine’s team that Lala Amarnath entered the Test arena as India’s first cricketer to score a century on debut. His astounding innings of 117 runs made in less than two hours was scored against the pace attack of Nichols and Clarke, followed by the redoubtable spin maestro H.Verity. Amarnath was a versatile cricketer who led the first Indian team to Australia in 1946-47 against the all-conquering outfit of Don Bradman. Amarnath was an exceptionally gifted all-rounder who in a match against the visiting West Indies also donned the wicket-keeper’s gloves replacing the injured Koko Sen and accounted for four dismissals. It was only the umpire’s hasty action of terminating the match before time that robbed India of a certain victory against the Caribbeans who had the famous three W’s – Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell in their ranks. Amarnath at one time had been toasted as "India’s reposte to England’s Hammond and Australia’s Bradman!" But the Second World War had intervened cutting short their playing careers at a time when a much lesser number of Tests were played.

Not only Amarnath but Vijay Hazare and the best all-rounder of the time, Vinoo Mankad, also had their playing careers similarly curtailed. Hazare’s feat of scoring a century in each innings in the Adelaide Test during India’s 1946-47 tour was recalled in memorable words years later by the then Australian captain, Sir Donald Bradman. In his foreword to Hazare’s memoirs, he said, "A century in each innings is a rare and invariably a great performance. But to perform the feat when your team is beaten by an innings takes outstanding skill and courage. Hazare was one of the most graceful batsmen it was my pleasure to see. And, perhaps the best compliment I can pay him is to say that his batting more closely resembled that of the great West Indian star, Sir Frank Worrell, than anyone I can remember".

Other notable Indian cricketers of the time included Mushtaq Ali of the buccaneering bat who could smash the most formidable bowling attack to smithereens. His opening partner, Vijay Merchant who went on the 1936 and 1946 England tour was a proflific scorer even on the wet wickets there. Vinoo Mankad covered himself with glory by scoring 72 and 184 runs in his two innings besides capturing 5 wickets in England’s only innings at Lords. "Mankad’s Test" was the tag on that encounter.

India’s twin-triumph against the West Indies on their soil in 1971 is a matter of contemporary cricket history. Victory against the West Indies was significant since their team had the world’s all-rounder Garfield Sobers and powerful batsmen like Rohan Kanhai. India’s win against such a powerful combination was due to the mesmerizing spin bowling of the quartet – E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi, B.S. Chandrashekar and S. Venkataraghavan.

This saga of triumphs was climaxed by India’s astounding feat of lifting the Prudential World Cup in 1983. "Rags to riches" was the caption on the sports pages when "Kapil’s devils", as they were called, dislodged West Indies, "the invincible" defending champions.

For a number of years thereafter, the Indian duo of Kapildev Nikhanj and Sunil Gavaskar were the proud possessors of the ‘Tests’ records in bowling and batting. While the bowling record of 434 ‘Tests’ wickets was subsequently overtaken. Gavaskar’s record of 34 ‘Test’ hundreds remains un-assailed. The batsman to clamber closest to the figure is Sachin Tendulkar with only a century less than the un-eclipsed record.

*Sports Writer

India Dethrones Pakistan as the Asian Tiger

By Nishad Anwar

Just as Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal had left England stunned in their 1986 World Cup quarter-final, Sachin Tendulkar's hands that plucked a scorcher out of the Lahore night sky silenced a capacity crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium. Chasing India's solid 293 for seven, Pakistan were rocked by early strikes from teenaged seamer Irfan Pathan, but as long as skipper and danger-man Inzamam-ul Haq was at the crease, Pakistan were always in with a chance.

On him rested Pakistan's hopes. In the event, Inzamam had compiled a solid 38 before the pressure of the mounting run-rate eventually got to him. Eager to make the most of the left-arm spin of Murali Kartik, Inzamam chanced his arm, hitting the ball low and hard towards the mid-on fence. But luck was not with him this time, the little master of cricket ran the few yards needed to get to the ball, pulled it in inches from the ropes and charged into the huddle that greets every Indian success on the field nowadays.

To me this victory is to be savoured with the best. It ranks along with World Cup '83, WCC '85 and NatWest final '02 as extra special moments in the history of India in one-day cricket. There had to be profound failure to define overwhelming success and that may have come earlier this year in the world series finals down under. To come back from there and create history in a first series win in Pakistan defines the extent of the achievement of Sourav Ganguly's men in blue. No doubt, Inzamul Haq's will be widely criticised for his decision to put Australia in to bat after winning the toss.

Laxman's century, all finesse, and Irfan Pathan's swing bowling, all craft, were the golden features that carried eloquent proof of how artistry still works magic in the slam-bang world of the one-day international. A fighting 72 by Moin Khan was in vain as Pakistan, chasing 294 for victory, were all out for 253 in 47.5 overs.

Shoaib Malik also chipped in with a fine 64, after Pakistan were reeling at 96 for 6 in the 24th over, but it was not enough to see the hosts overhaul the Indian total. Mohammed Sami was the most successful bowler for Pakistan claiming four wickets, including the dangerous Sachin Tendulkar. nishadpersonal: The dismissal of Malik made very easy for India as none of the tailenders could resist the Indian bowling attack which was declared 'Weak' by the cricket gurus acroos the globe.This victory is simply great. We beat Pakistan in their own backyard. Though Sourav had to leave the field injured, midway into the Pakistan innings, much of the credit for today's 40-run victory should go to him. It was 'dada' who has metamorphosed a team of 'chokers' into a bunch of tough guys. Today like all other citizen I am also proud to be an Indian for we dethrone Pakistan as Asian giants.

 

Earlier Reports -


THE BATTLE of Kurukshetra seems to be going in a different node. The Pandavas are slowly loosing their control over the game. Pakistan squeezed past India by four wickets to win the third one dayer at Peshawar and go up 2-1 in the five match series. Few teams are as mercurial as India. Its players can don the mantle of kings one day and paupers the next, making their fans swing from wild ecstasy to agony. Accepted Saurav Ganguly’s Indians are so special. This side has a great talent. They have some world-class batsmen and excellent fielders. But at times they seem to have lost their consistency to play good cricket.

Chasing a competitive 245 set by India to win, Pakistan struggling at one point at 173/6 managed to scrape home in the 48 th over. The Pakistani effort with the bat was spearheaded by opener Hameed who was unlucky to be dismissed for a well-made 98 from 116 balls comprising 14 hits to the fence. The experienced Abdul Razzak and Moin Khan then plated an intelligent cricket under pressure to steer Pakistan to a hard earned win.

My favourite bowler Irfan Khan Pathan had nearly rocked the nuclear rivals with his dangerous inswingers. The 19 year old rookie took three wickets. Fortune favoured India as Younis Khan who was playing attacking shots was run out by the bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji on his follow through.  Skipper Inzamam coming in lower down to bat, alongside Hameed brought Pakistan back on rails. But with the score reading156/4, Sachin Tendulkar elicited a lbw decision against Inzy from the umpire.

Opener Hameed held the key and Irfan Pathan got India back into the match when he had Hameed (98) caught by Yuvraj Singh at point. But after that skipper Sourav Ganguly seemed to miss a trick in terms of making the right bowling changes. Yuvraj Singh went for 10 runs in his one over with Pakistan getting some relief. Then Sachin Tendulkar dropped a shard caught and bowled chance offered by Razzaq and Pakistan were now dictating terms.

Earlier young Yuvraj Singh 65 runs and the irresistible Balaji took India past 200 mark. Balaji continued his fine form swashbuckling 21 from just 12 balls. I wold like to urge Captain Saurav Ganguly that if this superb player is promoted higher up in the order he will do wonders. No doubt for that. President of the country General Pervez Musharraf when he hosted a tea party for the visiting team in his Presidential mansion showered praise on Balaji’s blitzkrieg against speedking Shoaib Akthar in Tuesday’s match, which Pakistan won by 12 runs. “I thought you nearly stole the match from Pakistan” said Musharraf.

VVS Laxman is not in his best as he was in Australia last month. It would be better if the very very special player is dropped down the batting order in the next coming match, so that the middle order will become stronger.
There is so many cricket left in the series. All is not over yet. India will have to be tough and aggressive if it has to stay alive in the series. Talent is nothing if it is not controlled and disciplined. In terms of potential and mental toughness India is the better side. And Ganguly is a wiser captain for mind games. Nobody can defeat his in this. He remains the best captain in One-dayers. The very best example is the world cup where he was awarded the best captain award. Remember always fear is the dark room in which negatives are developed.

March 18, 2004

India was 12 meters away from capturing Rawalpindi

By Nishad Anwar

Now you know what cricket lovers across the world missed all these years. Now you know the two countries come to a virtual standstill when they play each other.In any sports India and Pakistan play especially cricket the rivalry is so intense that there have been riots broken up. But the on going one day series is quite a different from every other matches the two arch rivals play. The wicket at Rawapindi was so batting friendly as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar crossed yet another milestone in his glittering career when he completed 13,000 runs in One-Day Internationals during the second one dayer in Rawalpindi but the little master’s century went in vain, as Saurav Ganguly’s Indians lost against the nuclear rivals in the battle of Kurukshetra.

The 30 year old little genius the highest run getter in the shorter version of the game proved once again that he is ruling the world by cracking century No.37. This game too was a battle of batters as both the sides piled up record 646 runs in what said was a pitch that favours bowlers. But it too had some sense before Rawalpindi Express Shohaib Akther claiming four wickets. India had a good hope when Ramesh Powar and Balaji joined as the duo smashed Pakistani bowlers around the stadium before Bhalaji was run out, which changed the game in Pakistan’s favour.

India who won the first one day in a nail biting drama continued their juggernaut before Shohaib came back strongly in his hometown. But it was the master again ruled the game as he took 142 before giving a catch to Abdul Razzak at deep as the Pakistani fans were applauding the genius as he walked back to the pavilion.

The arch-rivals were playing each other for the seond time since the epic World Cup encounter in South Africa, and one could rest assured there would be no holding back on either side. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf made a surprise visit to the stadium as Inzamamul Haq’s side completed the required formalities with an over to spare. The Indians kept their heads in the final pressure moments but wickets kept on going at regular intervals and that denied them another famous victory.The opening game of a series is always a crucial one but India have one a big psychological round. Hey but Indians were just 12 meters away from capturing Rawalpindi. -Keralamonitor.com