INTERVIEW - Bielsa revolutionised Chile, says Isla

Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 12:29 PM

Chile midfielder Mauricio Isla credits coach Marcelo Bielsa with revolutionising the national side and says his faith in young players helped them qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.

"The great virtue and merit of having qualified for the World Cup is only his," the 21-year-old midfielder told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We players know we are the ones who play but he revolutionised the country.

"He built a team with very young players who had got no chance of playing in the senior team."

Chile, who face Spain, Switzerland and Honduras in Group H at the finals in South Africa, achieved several milestones in qualifying, including a first competitive win over Argentina.

They will be appearing at their first World Cup finals since 1998.

Bielsa tried out 37 players and formed a good nucleus by the fifth of their 18 matches in the South American group, a 2-0 win away to Bolivia at altitude in La Paz.

"He arrived in Chile and changed quite a lot of things, he worked on things we had never done and, thank God, it worked with a great campaign in the qualifiers," said Isla, who plays for Italian club Udinese.

"He tries to plan a good game depending on how the opponents line up and how we can complicate them and if we play badly never mind. He's not the kind of coach to hold you responsible for mistakes."

Isla identified Argentina captain Javier Mascherano as his ideal midfield role model.

"I really like the way Mascherano plays," he said. "It's good to observe. I'm a very young player who likes to watch a lot of other players to be able to copy the good things they have," he said from Italy.

Both Isla and Mascherano made their international debuts under Bielsa, who coached Argentina from 1998-2004.

Mascherano made his Argentina debut against Uruguay in a friendly in July 2003 when he was just 19.

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IT officials have gone back satisfied: Modi

Published Fri, Apr 16 10 11:47 AM

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Offering IPL to any scrutiny by any agency, its commissioner Lalit Modi today said that the Income Tax authorities had sought details relating to two new franchises Kochi and Pune and have gone "satisfied". Debunking reports that he was quizzed by IT officials for seven hours last evening, Modi told PTI in a telephonic interview "they wanted the name of bidders, the process of bidding and the details of the bids for the two new teams... we have complied with everything and they have gone back satisfied about the entire process." Income Tax teams had visited IPL offices in BCCI at Wankhade Stadium as also Lalit Modi''s offices in Worli, Mumbai, in the face of a controversy relating to the ownership of the Kochi franchisee after a successful bid of Rs 1,533 crore. On the inquiry part, Modi said, "I was questioned for only 15-20 minutes and they wanted to know formally IPL''s position on the bidders and the related issues. We explained it to them. They wanted all the relevant papers and to collect those relevant papers from 2-3 different places, it took some time." The former BCCI chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had come out openly in support of Modi last evening saying "there in nothing wrong in disclosing the names of the stakeholders (of IPL franchisees) to the public." His statement came amidst controversy over Modi questioning the ownership of the consortium that won the Kochi franchisee. It was alleged that Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor had a hand in his close friend Sunanda Pushkar getting free equity worth Rs 70 crore in IPL Kochi, a charge vehemently denied by the minister. Pawar had also defended Tharoor saying his ministerial colleague''s "basic interest" was to bring cricket to the centrestage in Kerala and provide opportunities to players from the state. Asked if IT officials had sought details about other teams that were bid three years ago, Modi said "they had asked few questions on it and after they were told that information is in public domain, they did not seek further details." PTI RHP

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Dhoni blames Hayden, self for loss

Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 11:19 AM

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today conceded his and opener Matthew Hayden's poor run of form has hit his side hard in the IPL as they now depend on the largess of other teams to qualify for the semifinals.

"Hayden has been our leading player, so him not batting well as he had been has affected us. I have also fired only in a few matches. After the injury, I wasn't 100 per cent sure of what I was doing in the middle. I am a sort of player who loves to spend more time on the wicket," Dhoni said after his side's six-wicket loss to Delhi Daredevils.

Asked about his side's chances for a semifinal spot, Dhoni said, "It's not in our hands now. It depends on Deccan Chargers, who have two matches while we have only one.

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Shooter misses flight to WC due to Chinese stapled visa

Published Fri, Apr 16 10 10:55 AM

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter Pemba Tamang was stopped by immigration officials in Mumbai from boarding a flight to Beijing as his passport had the "invalid" stapled visa, which China issues to the Indians from Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. Tamang, a resident of Arunachal, was last night going to Beijing for International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup, to be held from April 17 to 24. The Rapid Fir pistol shooter said he was not aware of the fact that the Ministry of External Affairs had declared stapled visas as invalid for travelling out of the country in an advisory issued last year in November. "I had travelled to China on a paper visas on three previous occasions and I was wasn''t aware that the government had declared them invalid. If I had known, I would not have accepted the visa when it was issued to me," Tamang told PTI. Recalling the sequence of events in Mumbai, Tamang, who is part of a 28-member team for the World Cup, said he was stopped by the immigration after checking in. "We were boarding the flight from Mumbai for the World Cup. We were first supposed to go to Bangkok and from there to Beijing. Immigration officials told me that my visa was not valid as the government does not accept stapled visas. "I tried to explain that I had travelled on such a visa three times earlier but they said the new guidelines don''t allow it anymore," he said from Pune. Tamang, however, can still make the World Cup if he is issued a fresh pasted visa. "I may still go because my event is on April 21 and 22. Immigration people told me that if the Indian Embassy in China issues a letter relaxing the conditions then there is a slim possibility of me going," he said. Reacting to the controversy, the National Rifles Association of India''s secretary Rajeev Bhatia said, "He was issued a paper visa because he is from Arunachal while the rest of the team got the normal pasted visas." "It is true that he has travelled to China in the past on a stapled visa but the government guidelines right now prohibit that. Now, he won''t go unless he gets the normal visa," he added. Last year, the External Affairs Ministry had slammed China for issuing separate visas "to certain categories of Indian nationals on the basis of their domicile, ethnicity and/or place of issue of the passport. "All Indian citizens intending to travel to China are advised that before making any travel arrangements they should first ascertain from the Chinese embassy or consulate, whether the visa being issued to them will be affixed to the passport or will be in the nature of a stapled paper visa, so that they are not inconvenienced or put to any financial loss later on this count," the ministry had said.

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Karthik departs, Delhi 41 for 4

Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 10:25 AM

Chennai, April 15 -- Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat in their IPL match against Delhi Daredevils here today. CSK made two changes from their last match with Lakshmipathy Balaji coming in for Anirudha Srikkanth while Muttiah Muralitharan makes way for Michael Hussey. Delhi made three changes from their previous match eleven. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dirk Nannes and Umesh Yadav coming in for AB de Villiers, Andrew McDonald and Pradeep Sangwan. The Teams: Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Matthew Hayden, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Michael Hussey, S Badrinath, Albie Morkel, Doug Bollinger, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati.

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Yusuf flies high on new logo

Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 10:19 AM

Mumbai, April 16 -- The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, who had objected to sporting the Kingfisher logo on his team shirt, has had a change of heart. Pathan had the logo taped over till their away match against the Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. But respecting his religious sentiments of not consuming or endorsing an alcohol brand, Kingfisher has given him a new logo without the 'premium' tag. Kingfisher Premium is the label of their alcohol product and Yusuf has agreed to sport only the Kingfisher label that endorses the brand's packaged drinking water section. Confirming the change in the logo, the Rajasthan Royals' chief marketing officer, Raghu Iyer said: "The new logo was given to him after the April 3 match against the Chennai Super Kings. Kingfisher has removed the 'premium' word from the logo, which is the label for their alcohol product. The sponsor respected his sentiments and agreed to change the logo soon after he (Yusuf) made his opinion public. It was a mutual decision and both parties are happy over it."

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Matches leave officials in a spot

Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 09:59 AM

Dharamsala, April 16 -- As this scenic venue gets ready to host its first IPL match, the long list of VIPs expected to grace the occasion has got the administration on its toes. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) president, Anurag Thakur, who is a BJP MP from Hamirpur, has sent out invites to top leaders of the party, including president, Nitin Gadkari, leader of opposition, Sushma Swaraj, and the party's leader in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, and Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi. Thakur said that of the invitees, few were likely to attend. "Though many prominent leaders figure in the list of invitees, many may not be able to come as Parliament is in session."

With all major hotels in the town being booked by the HPCA and Kings XI Punjab, the administration is finding it difficult to arrange for well-furnished rooms for the VIP guests.

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