Winning Adelaide Test will be Ponting's greatest challenge: Warne

Published>Wed, Dec 01 10 03:08 PM

Adelaide (Australia), Dec.1 (ANI): Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne believes that the host team's bid to win the second Ashes Test in Adelaide will be skipper Ricky Ponting's greatest challenge.

According to Warne, the task of getting Australia to regroup and focus will be a tremendous one for Ponting, after the draw in Brisbane.

"This is the biggest test of Ricky Ponting's leadership of men," Warne wrote in the London Telegraph.

"It is fine to dissect the tactical side of his captaincy but this is now about something different. It is about picking up his players after a hammering in the field. It is a hard one for any captain, but he has to stand up and be counted and try to inspire his team," Warne adds.

Warne also reckoned that Ponting needed to get a little less flighty as a leader, having made too many changes in his efforts to get wickets in Brisbane.

He urged Tasmanian left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty to add a little more variety to his repertoire.In Test matches like this one when the quicks are not dominating you need the spinner to dry up one end. But if you want to know why both sides have been able to build partnerships, it is because Graeme Swann and Doherty were not able to keep it tight. You need a spinner to come in and take a wicket or two and stop these partnerships from developing," Warne said.

"We have seen enough to know he can spin the ball and can play a role. If he plays at Adelaide then he needs to work on how to mix up an over. At the moment he bowls three or four faster ones. It needs to be the other way round," Warne said. (ANI)

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Ghosal, Joshna top seeds for the nationals

Wed, Dec 01 10 02:52 PM

Mumbai, Dec 1 (PTI) Saurav Ghosal, who won a bronze medal in the recently-concluded Asian Games in Guangzhou after beating compatriot Sidharth Suchde, will renew his rivalry with Suchde during the 58th Senior National Squash Championship to be held here from December 4. The two men, who are seeded one and two respectively, are expected to have a face-off in the final once they overcome the likes of Harinderpal Sandhu, Sandeep Jangra, Gaurav Nandrajog and Ravi Dixit. Meanwhile, in the women''s category the absence of Dipika Pallikal should make it a bit easy for the nine-time champion Joshna Chinappa, who will be up against Anwesha Reddy. Reddy, who will be vying for her fifth successive title has been seeded number two behind Chinappa. The six-day long tournament with a total prize money of seven lakh rupees will be held at Cricket Club of India (CCI), which is to host the senior nationals after more than six years. The Club will also run Western India Open event for juniors simultaneously, according to Organising Committee member Naval Pandole.

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UEFA punishment for Mourinho, players irritates Madrid

Published>Wed, Dec 01 10 02:48 PM

Madrid, Dec 1 (DPA) Real Madrid and their fans are irritated at European football body UEFA's decision, announced Tuesday, to give coach Jose Mourinho a heavy fine and a Champions League touchline ban.

UEFA's disciplinary committee found Mourinho guilty of improper conduct for having ordered Real players Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos to get themselves sent off at the end of the November 23 Group G match away to Ajax.

Mourinho has been banned from the touchline for two UEFA matches - the second of which is suspended for three years - and Real have been fined 120,000 euros ($158.32 million).

Real were leading 4-0 when Alonso and Ramos seemed to deliberately provoke second bookings for time-wasting, which meant they would be suspended for their final group game and their previous cautions would be wiped out for the round of 16.

Real have already finished top of the group, having taken 13 points from five games.

Mourinho has also been fined 40,000 euros. Alonso and Ramos - both of whom helped Spain to win the World Cup in July - will have to pay 20,000 euros each.

Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas and his reserve, Jerzy Dudek, who seemed to pass on messages from Mourinho's coaching staff, have been fined 10,000 and 5,000 euros respectively.

There has been no official reaction from the club to the sanctions, but most comments in the media and in fans' blogs have been very negative.

However, some sections of the media have been harsher in their criticism of Mourinho than of UEFA. For example, radio station Cadena COPE commented late Tuesday that: 'Mourinho has damaged the image of Real Madrid with this sad episode...He deserves to be punished for it.'

Television channel Cuatro, for its part, criticised the Portuguese coach 'for making his stunt so obvious for everyone to see - and for then lying about it.'

Mourinho is also being criticized for his naive tactical approach to Monday's Clasico match away to Barcelona, in which Real were humiliated 5-0.

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Pankaj Advani says no to Bollywood

Wed, Dec 01 10 02:38 PM

Mona Parthsarathi New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) The poster boy of Indian cue sport Pankaj Advani has turned down offers from Bollywood filmmakers, citing time contraints because of his "crazy" schedule. "Yes there have been offers but since I''m the only one in the country playing both snooker and billiards on the international arena, my schedule is nothing short of crazy. "To concentrate on other things, I need to take time off from the game. Even then I can''t take more than a month or two off," Advani, who had won a gold medal for India in recently concluded Guangzhou Asian Games, told PTI Bhasha in an interview. Talking about the Asian Games, Advani said that he always knew that he was going to fetch a gold medal for India. "The pressure was immense, especially as India had not won any gold in the two days prior to the billiards finals. I desperately wanted to win the first gold for India and visualised myself standing on the podium with the gold medal, seeing India''s flag going up and hearing the National Anthem being played. "When it all happened, it was deja vu," the player from Bangalore said. Pankaj, however admitted that getting the world title is tougher than winning the Asian Games medals, since the level of competition is higher. "Competition wise, a world title is much tougher to get as the competition is not restricted to Asian countries only. But since the Asian Games comes once in 4 years, so people tend to think this is it. "But having said that, we had some of the finest players in the continent who competed in the Asian Games," he said. MORE PTI MJ CM

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Smouldering Cook is England's Toy wonder: Swann

Published>Wed, Dec 01 10 02:08 PM

Adelaide (Australia), Dec. 1 (ANI): England opener Alastair Cook may not be the batsman you would go miles to watch, but his strong mentality and his ability to deliver in a telling manner when the chips are down, makes him an asset for any team, feels off-spinner Graeme Swann.

In a write-up for The Sun, Swann said: "He might be a handsome man with those dark smouldering looks but, when he straps on his pads, he is horrible to watch. There are people in our team you'd pay to watch - the Bells, Pietersens and the Swanns! Then there are some for whom you wouldn't cough up an Aussie cent - like Cook, Strauss and Trott. But they're the ones churning out the big hundreds so we don't care what they look like."

He adds: "He's had to be mentally strong as it was only two Tests ago there were widespread calls for him to be dropped. Then he scored a ton at The Oval against Pakistan and it all changed. To get a double-century in Australia is incredible. He said it was his highest score in any cricket - he thinks. It must be nice if you have to think whether 235 not out is your best. I can tell you it would be mine!

Swann said that he watched Cook's ten and a half hour knock lying on the floor.

He said: "We bowlers are very superstitious when England bat. So, if I get into a position that's comfy and we're not losing wickets, I won't move. I stayed in my spot on the floor - it was horrendously uncomfortable and my back was killing me by the end of the day. But who cares when England aren't losing wickets?

Swann says England has taken more out of the First Test than Australia, and adds that nothing has changed in his mind about England's chances of winning an Ashes series Down Under.

"Australia had a tough couple of days and their press is tearing them to pieces. But we know they'll come back twice as hard. This series will be a real dogfight," he said. (ANI)

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Sudha Singh meets Sonia Gandhi

Wed, Dec 01 10 01:52 PM

Rae Bareilly (UP), Dec 1 (PTI) Gold medallist of the women''s 3000 metre steeplechase in the Asian Games, Guangzhou, Sudha Singh expressed her joy after meeting the Congress President Sonia Gandhi here. "Soniaji not only congratulated me and conveyed her best wishes but also assured me to provide a house. She also promised to build a stadium in Rae Bareilly so that sportspersons here do not have to rush to other places to practice," said Sudha. "She (Sonia Gandhi) also asked me about my next target and I told her that I am vying for the the world championship and Olympics," an elated Sudha told the reporters after her meeting with the Congress chief, along with her family. When asked about Gandhi''s assurance of a stadium, Sudha said that there is a lot of talent in the rural areas and it would be easy to groom them once proper infrastructure is put in place.

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Ashes: Ex-selector Hughes says Johnson should not be dropped

Published>Wed, Dec 01 10 01:38 PM

Melbourne, Dec. 1 (ANI): Former Test selector Merv Hughes believes it would be a mistake to drop left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson from the Australian squad for the second Ashes Test to be played against England in Adelaide from Friday.

Hughes said that such a move would be unfathomable and would seriously dent Johnson's confidence.

He believed Ben Hilfenhaus was the fast bowler under most pressure to retain his spot for the second Test against England starting Friday in Adelaide.

The ex-selector said Hilfenhaus's performance (1-142) in the drawn Ashes opener in Brisbane was more disappointing than Johnson's wicket-less match.

Hughes said expectations on Johnson were too high.

"Everyone is having a crack at Mitchell Johnson. Now, if other bowlers have taken wickets, you can point the finger at Mitch and say mate, you have got to lift your game. But, when no one takes wickets, none of the fast bowlers take wickets, there's 11 (England) wickets taken for the match - understand that Adelaide is probably going to suit Mitchell Johnson a little bit better than Brisbane because it sort of slides on, his extra pace is going to be useful," Hughes told Fox Sports.

"I think we are just starting to get too critical. We are starting to expect a lot from a young man that, yes, he has got talent, but really hasn't matured or developed into the cricketer that he can be. And by cutting him short, and leaving him out of this Test match, it's going to dent his confidence more than anything else," Hughes added.

"Obviously he's not bowling outrageously well. But I can't fathom the people that think he should be dropped from this side," Hughes said. (ANI)

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