Riding on a late penalty stroke conversion, Local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos beat former champions Hyderabad Sultans in the inaugural match of the Premier Hockey League's fourth edition at Sector 42 hockey stadium in Chandigarh on Thursday night. Dynamos shot to the lead with Sandeep Singh (59th) converting a penalty stroke and held nerves in dying moments to emerge victorious. Hyderabad defender Nitin Kumar blocked a Prabhjot Singh attempt in the circle and umpire VB Sing had no hesitation in awarding a penalty stroke. Sandeep grabbed the opportunity to give his team a winning start in the prestigious tournament.
The Hyderabad Sultans had their chances after the recess as Sardara Singh and Bikas Toppo made some smart moves but failed to sound the board. Earlier, both the teams played cautiously in the beginning and had an equal share of exchanges and ball possession in the first half. The Dynamos forced the only penalty corner of the match in the 10th minute of the first quarter, but failed to cash in on.
The crowds, which had turned out in good number braving cold weather, kept cheering for their team. Chandigarh forwards led by Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur and Rajpal Singh made some occasional forays but failed to get their act together at the all-important end with Jasbir Singh and Samir Baxla doing well in the Hyderabad defence.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66408.html
The Indians may have done exceptionally well to reduce Australia to 337 for nine in the opening cricket Test but Matthew Hayden reckons the visitors will also find the going tough on a pitch that will "definitely get difficult to bat on over the next few days". Hayden stood out among the Aussie batsmen to score a dominating 124 and gave a healthy start to his team by putting on a 135-run opening stand with Phil Jaques. But the hosts could not capitalise on the solid foundation on the first day. "I think we've lost a few too many wickets, there's no doubt about that, but in my mind it was a difficult enough wicket and those conditions will be revealed over the next four days," Hayden said after the opening day's play. "The fact is we are facing quite a difficult wicket. It's definitely a par effort (Australia's score), but maybe one or two more wickets down.”
"I think it is going to be a wicket that will be definitely hard to score on over the next few days," he said. Hayden said with the wicket getting slower, Australia would make life difficult for the visiting batsmen."They are going to be slow conditions, they are going to be challenging for run-scoring and I think you will see Australia putting the pressure with good in-out fields and really try to constrict India", he said.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/sports/index.jsp?news_code=66864
Hailing Anil Kumble as a bowler with "outstanding intuition," former Australian captain Steve Waugh said one should never underestimate the veteran leg-spinner. Impressed with Kumble's performance on the opening day of the first cricket Test played in Melbourne Cricket ground, Waugh said Kumble was a clever bowler capable of reading the minds of batsmen well.
Applauding Jumbo's caliber the former Australian captain said, “he(Kumble) possesses outstanding intuition, which enables him to sense complacency or uneasiness from a batsman, and in turn cleverly mixes up his deliveries and angles at the crease.”
"Having played against him many times, I knew never to underestimate Anil Kumble - even though you would never lose any sleep stressing over how to combat his bowling out in the middle," Waugh wrote in his column for daily 'Herald Sun.' "His methods are subtle and often most effective when you think you have him under control, he added.
Analysing his old adversary's performance, the Aussie great said the spinner exhibited great artistry while scalping Phil Jaques and Mike Hussey on Wednesday.
He tempted Jaques with a flighted delivery that was a well-concealed wrong 'un, while Mike Hussey departed to a quicker, flatter wrong 'un that beat him for pace."Both were clever pieces of artistry from a street-fighter, who for many years has been the benchmark in mental toughness in Indian cricket," Waugh pointed.
However, the former Aussie skipper felt that this series would be demanding more on Kumble, as he(Kumble) would play a double role of captain and strike bowler against tough opponents like Australia.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/sports/index.jsp?news_code=66900
Sachin Tendulkar has reiterated that cricketers must have enough rest in between the series to ward off early burnout. The legendary batsman on Saturday pleaded with cricket authorities to schedule international cricket in such a way that the players enjoy playing the game as well as spend time with their families. Tendulkar, who is on his final tour of Australia, said the workload of international players was too much and they need time to recharge their batteries between the series, and also to iron out flaws in their game. Tendulkar, however, is not sure if the administrators would heed his advice as they are scheduling more cricket than ever before what with the Twenty20 game joining the other two forms of the game.
"We can have more cricket, but it's equally important to have a little more gap in between the tours," Tendulkar said. "Players must get some time to rewind themselves and also spend time with their families. But the international calendar is very tight so there's not much time to go back home and assess things. But that is how the calendar is and there little one can do about it. We just have to get on with it."India could not arrive in Australia any earlier than this week as they had a tight schedule, which included the inaugural Twenty20 championship. This year the Indian players have been constantly playing, and their only rest came in April, following an early elimination from the World Cup in the Caribbean.
In May, they played one-dayers and Tests in Bangladesh, and then in June played South Africa in one-dayers in Ireland and began a tour of England.Since touring England, India won the Twenty20 championship in South Africa, which delayed subsequent one-day series against Australia and Pakistan, plus three Tests against their arch-rivals.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/23December2007_66624.html
Karun Chandhok's fledgling Formula One career received a shot in the arm with Force India part-owner Vijay Mallya promising to consider the youngster for a test driver's role, if not the race driver's seat, in 2009. Mallya made it clear that Karun remains on the F1 radar and if he does well in the GP2 series this year, the youngster might end up landing the race driver's job straightway in 2009. "I know his family for a long, long time and he is like my son. He himself felt he needs to spend one more year in the GP2, where he is doing quite well, before he is ready for F1" Mallya said from Malaysia. Mallya's words are sure to come as music to Karun's ear and the youngster seems on the right track to achieve his F1 dream.
After his maiden GP2 series victory with Durango Corse in Belgium, Karun has been rewarded with a test driver's role with the Red Bull F1 team. The youngster has also left the mid-field Durango to join top-flight iSports International, which won the championship previous season. It was a significant step in the right direction, considering iSport driver Timo Glock won the championship and was confirmed by Toyota for the next season.
In the past, drivers who made the GP2 to F1 transition include 2005 champion Nico Roseberg, who joined Williams, and 2006 winner Lewis Hamilton who was roped in by McLaren. Similarly, doing well on GP2 would open the F1 door for the 23-year-old Chennai driver, believes Mallya
"A new GP2 season beckons him and if he manages to do well ? and he would be driving for a top team this time - we might consider him for the race driver's role itself," Mallya said. "I can assure you that he would be considered at least for the test driver's role," he added. Since Mallya joined hands with the Mol family and took over Spyker, now christened 'Force India', he has provided a reasonable budget to the team and set them a target of a podium finish when India hosts its maiden Grand Prix in 2010.
Though he has been stressing on skills rather than nationality of the drivers, Mallya reckons having an Indian behind the Force India wheels in the 2010 GP would complete the picture. "A podium finish when India hosts its first maiden Grand Prix in 2010 remains the target of the team and icing on the cake would be having an Indian driver behind the wheels," he said.
However, Karun still has some way to go before joining the big league and former Jordan driver Narain Karthikeyan, plying his trade in A1 GP these days, is also out of the radar, but Mallya believes India would definitely have its next F1 diver by 2012.
"I think in the next five years, we would certainly have an Indian F1 driver. In fact it can be as early as 2012." And he himself would see to it that new driving talents come up, asserted Mallya. "Force India would also identify driving talents in India and fund their training in the academy at Johor Bahru, in Malaysia before sending them to France for further training."
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/sports/index.jsp?news_code=66793
Former champions Bangalore Hi-Fliers rallied from being 0-2 down to register a thrilling win over local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos 3-2 in the fourth Premier Hockey League (PHL) in Chandigarh today. After three matches each, Bangalore have five points while Chandigarh Dynamos remain on six. Bangalore Hi-Fliers' South Korean import- You Hyo-sik, was declared man of the match. After surviving two strong raids by Bangalore, the Chandigarh side struck twice in three minutes, with drag flicker Sandeep Singh netting two stunning goals from two short corners in the 10th and 12th minutes. In the 23rd minute, Bangalore pulled one back with speedy striker Sandeep Michael earning the team's second short corner. Chandigarh goalkeeper Baljit Singh blocked Len Aiyappa's resultant low drag flick but Hyo-sik converted the rebound.
After the first two quarters, Bangalore opened up the game. Despite an element of risk involved, they went all out in the attack and stretched the Chandigarh defence. Bimal Lakra was outstanding in the midfield and got good support from Vikramkanth and Vinay as they completely dominated the midfield and fed the forwards regularly.The Bangalore team also made the best use of the speed and skills of Hyo-sik, who was the livewire of the team with his speedy runs. Bangalore scored the equaliser in the 37th minute as they capitalised on a quick move on the right flank. From the midfield, Vinay put Arjun in possession with a fast pass and the former skipper gave it to Michael.
Michael darted into the middle, cut into the circle and gave a short pass to Tushar Khandekar on the right. With rival custodian Baljit Singh advancing, Tushar gave it to Hyo-sik who made no mistake in tapping the ball into the goal.Bangalore continued to exert the pressure on the Chandigarh goal and forced their fourth and last short corner in the 67th minute to seal the fate of the match. Tushar pushed the ball and Vikramkanth set it up for drag flicker Len Aiyappa. But Singh once again blocked Aiyappa's low flick and this time Cheyanna, a junior Indian camper, slotted home to earn the match-winner for Bangalore Hi-Fliers.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/sports/index.jsp?news_code=66808
Team India has dialled the number M which answers by the name of Munaf Patel. In a team meeting last night, Team India showed sufficient concern on its fast bowling resources, in particular those of its right-hand fast bowlers, to all but forward the request to the Indian Board. In a team meeting, it is learnt that bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad expressed his concern at the inability of India's right-arm fast bowlers to hit the right length on Australian wickets. The right-arm fast bowlers in the touring Indian squad are youngsters Pankaj Singh and Ishant Sharma, rank rookies even though the latter grabbed five wickets in only his second Test, the final one against Pakistan in Bangalore early this month.
Three other medium-pacers in the squad are all left-arm bowlers -- Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Irfan Pathan. While Ishant has been shorlisted in the 12 for the opening match, Pankaj Singh and Pathan have been left out. Opener Virender Sehwag and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Kaarthick are the others who do not figure in the 12 shortlisted for the game.The right length on Australian wickets is the one bowled closer to the batsmen even though visiting bowlers make the mistake of pitching it short which is meat and drink to the Australian batsmen.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/sports/index.jsp?news_code=66803
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