Rain clouds over third ODI
Dark clouds over the Goan skies seemed to be a throwback to the abandoned first ODI of the three-match series at Kochi. It has rained a bit over the past few days here and, on Friday morning, there was a brief drizzle across different parts of the city though it did not affect the training schedules of the Indian and Australian teams.
In the run-up to the third and final ODI at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday, the Australians trained first with coach Tim Nielsen remaining wary of the clouds.
“I am not sure whether the pitch has seen a lot of sun. I don't love the look of the clouds up there at the moment. I hope the sun comes out and that they can roll it a bit more. I expect the pitch to be a bit slow. It will be a good batting wicket,” Nielsen said.
Later in the afternoon, the Indian team went through the paces. Secure with an impregnable 1-0 lead following the facile triumph at Visakhapatnam, the Indians had an optional stint at the nets, with skipper M.S. Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and R. Ashwin resting in their hotel rooms.
Openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan took first strike in the nets while Rohit Sharma looked circumspect.
The weather forecast meanwhile has hinted at rain over the weekend.
Hopefully, last Sunday's wash-out at Kochi will not find a repeat act.
Working his way back into the fold
The last fortnight in Indian cricket has been a tale of fearless youth wielding the bat with aplomb while the masters continued to sparkle.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara at Bangalore, and now, Virat Kohli at Visakhapatnam have surely gladdened the hearts of the fans and the connoisseurs, as have stalwarts V.V.S. Laxman who stood firm at Mohali and Sachin Tendulkar who gave the cheering Bangaloreans sore throats.
Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh has been busy rebuilding his career.
Fitness issues and vagaries of form have plagued Yuvraj over the last year.
After an indifferent run in the tri-series at Dhaka and the alleged pub-brawl incident during the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May, Yuvraj seemed to lose his way. The selectors dropped him from the Asia Cup squad.
Though he was subsequently sent to Sri Lanka for a tri-series, an imposing knock remained elusive. After Suresh Raina bagged Yuvraj's Test berth with a century at Colombo, the southpaw's despair seemed complete.
The Indian team think-tank, however, has enormous belief in Yuvraj's potential — M.S. Dhoni recently said: “He is a kind of player who can change gears at any point of the game and take control.
At the same time, he has played over 250 ODIs, which means he has got a lot of experience behind him. Apart from that, his bowling is very important for us because if we decide to play with four bowlers, we will use the other part-timer as the fifth bowler. He has got both dimensions of the game and that will help us.”
Big part of the plans
Yuvraj remains a key player in India's plans as the World Cup looms, and his success in the coming days will gift a sigh of relief to his team-mates. His 58 at Visakhapatnam — though dwarfed to a certain extent by Virat Kohli's in-the-trenches ton and Raina's blitz — was a significant contribution in a tall chase that ended with India gaining a 1-0 lead against Australia in the current ODI series.
When Yuvraj walked into bat at Visakhapatnam with India struggling at 35 for two while chasing 290, nerves jangled at the venue. He soon eased his front foot and whipped John Hastings over his favourite mid-wicket region and a sense of calm enveloped the ground as he and Kohli chiselled out a crucial 137-run third-wicket partnership that proved to be a match-winning stand.
Yuvraj is often trapped in the image of being a player who can single-handedly destroy attacks — a description built on innumerable big-hits and that classic six sixes off Stuart Broad. That perception, while valid, glosses over Yuvraj's partnership-building ability. In the past, Yuvraj and Rahul Dravid have scored 2,663 runs together in ODIs. He has also teamed up well with Dhoni and the dashing duo have notched up 2,365 runs that have often heralded Indian victories.
The game's longer version may have gotten away from him but the hunger to shine in whites is still there as he made it obvious with a double hundred while recently leading Rest of India to an Irani Trophy triumph against Mumbai.
India needs Yuvraj to shine in all his facets — as a powerful batsman, a weaver of productive batting alliances, a handy left-arm spinner and an agile fielder despite a dodgy knee.
Adebayor hat-trick takes City to the top
Emanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick for Manchester City in the Europa League on Thursday night to take his side to the top of their group with their third win from three games.
Togo international Adebayor scored two goals for the home side in their Group A game before the break and then added a third in the second-half, while Joel Tchibamba pulled one back for Lech Poznan.
The other group game saw Red Bull Salzburg draw 1-1 with Juventus.
The Serie A side has three points in the group from their third draw in as many games and is one point behind Poznan, while Salzburg has just one point.
Sporting Lisbon and CSKA Moscow also won their third game of the campaign, with the Portuguese team securing the biggest victory of the night with a 5-1 victory against Gent in Group C, while CSKA won 3-0 at Palermo in Group F.
Sporting lead their group from Lille, who are on four points after beating Levski Sofia 1-0. Sparta Prague, who drew 3-3 with Lausanne, are second in Group F with just four points.
The holders Atletico Madrid kept alive their hopes of retaining the trophy with a 3-0 win at home against Rosenborg in Group B to move to four points from their three matches.
Bayer Leverkusen, who played to a goalless draw at Aris Saloniki top the group on five points, while the Greek club and Atletico are on four. Rosenborg on three points can also still advance to the knock-out stage.
In Group D Villarreal moved to the top with a hard-fought 1-0 win against POAK, while Dynamo Zagreb played to a goalless draw at home against Club Brugge.
The Spanish side now has six points, while PAOK remain on four and were overtaken also by Zagreb, who are in second place on goal difference.
The final matches saw Bate Borisov keep the lead in Group E with a 1-0 win at FC Sheriff. Dynamo Kiev, who won 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar, moved into second place.
Borisov are on seven points, while Kiev have four points. Both other clubs are on three points.
In the earlier matches, struggling German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, former UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg and Porto maintained their 100 per cent record.
Stuttgart beat visiting Spanish club Getafe 1-0 through a goal from Ciprian Marica, while St Petersburg beat Hajduk Split 2-0.
Porto, who ended their game at Beskitas with nine men after having Maicon and Fernando sent off, won 3-1 through a brace by striker Hulk and a first-half goal from Radamel Falcao. HI, IOA to field hockey team in Asian Games: SC
The Supreme Court today permitted the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Hockey India (HI) to select the men’s and women’s hockey teams in the upcoming Asian Games in China.
A Bench comprising Justices R.V. Raveendran and H.L. Gokhle said its interim orders passed on August 25 and 27 allowing HI and IOA for selecting teams for the recently concluded Commonwealth Games will continue for the next month’s Asian Games in Guangzhou.
The order for the selection of teams for the Asian Games is based on the same fact and circumstances as was prevailing when the issue had reached the apex court in August before Women’s World Cup hockey in Germany and Commonwealth Games.
The order was passed by the Bench after Hockey India’s rival Indian Hockey Federation had admitted that it was not affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Indian Olympic Association also had said that it recognises only Hockey India as the National Federation.
The IOA had submitted before the court that being an apex body of the sports, it considers the suggestion of the respective associations and federations affiliated with it for the selection of teams.
The court maintained its previous order in which it had noted that everybody including HI, SAI (Sports Authority of India) and IOA agrees that the team would be selected by the National Selection Committee, which comprises former players like Zafar Iqbal, Ajit Pal Singh, Govinda and Balbir Singh.
During the hearing on the issue on August 27, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had failed to convince the court that IOA alone could facilitate the entry of the teams to the Games.
The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Hockey India (HI) are locked in a battle for controlling Indian Hockey.
The apex court on August 17, in an interim order, had rejected Government’s claim and allowed Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to send a women’s team to participate in the World Cup in Argentina.
The Bench had passed the order after Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports failed to produce any written communication to substantiate its claim that the International Hockey Federation (FIH) had authorised it to send the team for the World Cup.
HI had succeeded in placing before it a communication by the FIH which authorised it to represent the Indian team in international events.
Webb Roger, the acting Director General of FIH, in the communication had made it clear that only HI can send a team to participate in the Women’s World Championship.
Hockey India has challenged the government decision revoking recognition to it for flouting guidelines relating to age and tenure of officials.
The Ministry had contended that since HI was a ‘private body’ it could not be authorised to select the team for representing India.
The Ministry had claimed that IHF was recognised by the FIH to send the team for the women’s world cup.
The HI has also sought revocation of a letter written by government to the International Hockey Federation about its decision that HI is not a recognised body.
The letter written by the government to the IHF on August 9 had said “Hockey India has lost the national character”.
HI has consistently been maintaining that it is the only recognised body for India by the International Hockey Federation.
The Delhi High Court had, on May 21, held that the HI was a private body and restrained it from holding election for its office bearers. However, the apex court had later allowed the conduct of election.
The apex court will hear the matter next in December |
