Bhajji worry for hosts ahead of Mohali Test

MOHALI: Ahead of the first Test between Indiaand Australia, the hosts are facing the disturbing prospect of losing their best spinner Harbhajan Singh to injury. And if that happens, India's bowling attack going into the match at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium will be undoubtedly weakened.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wasn't ready to provide a definite answer on the spinner's availability. "We'll decide in the morning," was all he said, going on instead to explain why injuries happen and why they're part and parcel of the sport.

Harbhajan's impressive record of 79 wickets from 14 Tests against the Aussies, though, makes him India's best strike bowler and losing him will come as a big blow.

Harbhajan's fitness aside, India look all set to take on their famed rivals. This is also the first time Australia start behind India in the Test rankings ahead of an important series.

It was just recently that former captain Sourav Ganguly noted how if all is right with India's batting, retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in this two-Test series shouldn't be a problem. The Indian batting lineup has worn a settled look for years, and Suresh Raina replacing Ganguly in this Test will be the only change from the team of 2008 that faced Australia at this very venue. That is, if Harbhajan is fit to play.

In case he fails to regain full fitness, the Indian spin attack will comprise of Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra because there's little chance that Dhoni will look to play three seamers.

"Harbhajan has been our main spinner since Anil Kumble and our attack revolves around him. So missing him will be a big blow. But you can't control injuries. We are hoping that he will be available for selection, but if he can't recover fully, we will have to make use of the available resources," Dhoni added.

Apart from Harbhajan, pacer Zaheer Khan is also coming back from an injury layoff and it will be interesting to see how he manages in a five-day game.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who has a superb overall average of 54.66, will be eager to better his Test record in India, where he has scored only 438 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 20.85, with only one century.

"I've never mastered batting in Indian conditions and would like to improve my record here," Ponting said, adding, "But there were some positive signs during the 2008 tour, during which I scored my maiden century. Hopefully I will have a good series."

Australia have a relatively raw fast-bowling attack, with only Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watsonhaving had the experience of bowling in Test matches in India prior to this series.

Messi receives Golden Boot as top European scorer

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi was presented with the Golden Boot award on Thursday for being the top scorer across the domestic leagues in Europe last season.

The Argentina forward received the prize for having accumulated 34 goals to help Barcelonaretain its Spanish league title.

"All awards are special, but it is thanks to the help of my teammates that I have won," Messi said. "I just try to play well and do the things as best I can for my team and my coach."

Messi now joins Marco van Basten, Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to have won all three major individual awards: the Golden Boot, FIFA World Player of the Year and the Golden Ball, given to the European footballer of the year.

Chelsea forward Didier Drogba and Udinese striker Antonio di Natale were tied for second place with 29 goals each.

The prize comes after a lackluster Messi had failed to score a single goal at the World Cup in South Africa. Even so, former Argentina coach Diego Maradona said on Wednesday that Messi deserved the award and hoped he would "win many more."

Messi is the second Barcelona player to be honored by European Sports Magazine. Ronaldo earned the club's first Golden Boot by also scoring 34 goals, in the 1996-97 season.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol applauded Messi's ability and character.

"He is the best in the world, but he is humble. He improves everyday," Puyol said before the awards ceremony. "He is the best player in the world and he demonstrated that he deserves this award."

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez scored 35 goals last season for Ajax in the Netherlands, but failed to win due to the points system that compensates for the degree of difficulty posed by the major European leagues (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish).

So far this season, Messi has scored two goals in three games in the Spanish league. 

Queens' baton reaches Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Queen's Baton Relay for theCommonwealth Games reached Delhi on Thursday as over 5,500 athletes and officials of the expected 7,000 for the event beginning October 3 focused their attention on training.

The Baton entered the host city from Haryana after travelling through 71 participating countries and all the Indian states and union territories. Over the next two days it will be taken through Delhi before entering the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue of the opening ceremony.

Among those to arrive at the Village was the entire 52-strong Australian swimming team which had stayed back in Malaysia over concerns about the security situation in India.

The team entered the Village late Wednesday and head coach Leigh Nugent said he was happy that all members had travelled to India.

Though facilities at the Village and the venues are coming in for praise from the athletes and officials after weeks of being slammed, the issue continued to rankle Kalmadi who Thursday said he was not only ready for a probe but wanted it to get to the truth.

"I am ready for any inquiry, post the Games. In fact, an inquiry must be held, to get to the bottom of the truth," he said addressing the inaugural session of the two-day 'FICCI TURF 2010', the second Global Sports Summit - international Convention on the Business of Sports. The summit organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries, began in Delhi Thursday.

"All the infrastructure that has been put up is world class; the Games village is the finest anywhere. All the athletes that have arrived to date have moved in to the village and all the Commonwealth countries are participating in CWG 2010," Kalmadi said.

Apparently referring to criticism that the sporting facilities would be a waste of money after the Games end Oct 14, Kalmadi acknowledged "the challenge, post the Games, would be to utilize optimally the infrastructure that has been created."

Suspended Pak players left to fight ICC on their own

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not providing any financial assistance to the three suspended players in their legal battle against theInternational Cricket Council (ICC).

"The three have hired lawyers who are representing the players in their effort to get the suspensions removed and their names cleared in the spot-fixing allegations," a PCB source said.

Mohammad Asif will be represented by a British lawyer, Elizabeth Robertson, while Salman Butt's lawyers are Khalid Ranjha and Aftab Gul.

"Mohammad Aamer's case is being fought by Shahid Karim who also represented Asif in his doping suspension case two years ago," the source said.

Butt had earlier approached Pakistan's top lawyer and a former Federal Minister, Aitzaz Ahsan to represent him but they couldn't settle on a fee.

"Since the players have been told they have to pay the lawyers themselves, Butt couldn't afford Ahsan's fee," the source said.

Karim said that his client (Aamer) is yet file a detailed reply to the ICC notice sent to him explaining the suspension.

"We had asked for an extension from the ICC to file the detailed reply and they have given us time until October 5. We are in the process of filing an appeal against the provisional suspension and also against the allegations made against Aamer," Karim said.

The lawyer said that the ICC had, in its notice, said that Aamer had bowled two no-balls on purpose in the fourth Test against England at Lord's, which amounted to fixing and betting under ICC's Anti-Corruption Code of Conduct.

"We will file two appeals to the ICC, one against the suspension and one against the allegations," Karim said.

Butt has already filed an appeal against his suspension while a board official said that Asif's reply would be filed directly in London to the ICC.

Nadal breezes into Thailand Open quarters

NONTHABURI (Thailand): Rafael Nadal finally got on with his main business in Thailand - playing tennis - and dispatched Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday in his first match since winning the US Open.

Making his Thailand Open debut after a first-round bye, top-ranked Nadal wasn't troubled. He lost only eight points on serve.

Nadal has been treated like a royal since he arrived in Thailand nine days ago, receiving a hero's welcome from government and sports officials when he landed in Bangkok.

He holidayed in the beach town of Hua Hin, where he took part in a religious ceremony with Buddhist monks and planted a tree in King Bhumibol Adulyadej's campaign against global warming.

Back in Bangkok he delayed a visit with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Parliament so he could practice.

He showed no rust more than two weeks after completing the career Grand Slam in New York.

In Friday's quarterfinals, Nadal will meet either another Belgian, Olivier Rochus, who spoiled Juan Martin del Potro's comeback, or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, who accepted a wild card to play in Thailand, crashed out in his opening match in the second round after Benjamin Becker of Germany beat him 6-4, 6-4.

A sluggish Verdasco quickly fell behind 4-0. He rallied back but the more disciplined Becker won the set 6-4.

Verdasco dropped the ninth game of the second on a double fault, and Becker served well to set up match point at 40-30, closing it out with an impressive volley.

"It was tough. I was practicing well but the match was different. He played yesterday one match and got more rhythm," Verdasco said. "He played better than me. He adapted better than me, he served well and didn't make many unforced errors. He deserved the victory more than me."

Earlier, seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia - last year's finalist - also was ousted by Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Sehwag remains second in ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: Dashing opener Virender Sehwag is the highest-ranked Indian batsman at the second spot in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Sunday.

ICC Test Batting Rankings 
ICC Test Bowling Rankings
ICC Test All-Rounder Rankings 

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara leads the batting table with Michael Clarke of Australia on the third spot.

In the bowling list, Pakistan's fast bowler Mohammad Amir has rocketed to a career-best 17th after playing a leading role in his side's four-wicket victory over England in The Oval Test which concluded on Saturday.

Man of the match Amir took 1-49 and 5-52 in the Test and was awarded with a jump of 14 places in the rankings, which puts him just behind Paul Harris of South Africa and makes him the thirdPakistan fast bowler in the top 20.

For England, off-spinner Graeme Swann has moved up one place to regain his second position on the bowling chart.

Swann, who had match figures of 7-118, had first climbed to second position in March this year after the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

In the Rankings for batsmen, Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal and Azhar Ali, and England's Alastair Cook and Matt Prior all rose up the rankings.

Yousuf, who scored 56 and 33, has climbed two places to 14th position with India's Gautam Gambhir firmly within his sights. Umar has jumped six places to share 41st position with Australia's Phillip Hughes and Azhar has vaulted 28 places to 55th spot.

There is no change in the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player rankings for Test all-rounders with Jacques Kallis of South Africa leading the field.

Meanwhile, England's four-wicket defeat has ended its chances of moving ahead of fourth-placed Australia in the ICC Test Championship.

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DAMBULLA: India's cricketers are not known for upholding high standards of professionalism when it comes to media commitments. But even going by the usual, what transpired at the Rangiri International Stadium after one of their worst ODI defeats would constitute as peculiar.

The team kept the media waiting for one-and-a-half hours at the mandatory post-match press conference, opting instead for a game of soccer, although it is compulsory for either the captain or any other team member to turn up for a briefing after the presentation ceremony which follows a match.

Counterpart Sangakkara had finished his bit and frantic calls from Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) media manager, who conducts the post-match proceedings, were treated dismissively. India's shambolic performance ensured the match got over at 7.15 pm, and eventually Dhoni turned up at 8.45 pm, ten minutes after the international print media had got tired of waiting and walked out.

Sangakkara, incidentally, came in at 7.42 pm, immediately after the presentation.

In between, everyone from the ICC to the BCCI was contacted. Indian team manager Ranjeeb Biswal, who was also playing soccer as a goalkeeper, told media persons over phone at about 8.20 pm: "We have time till 10.15 pm (when the match was supposed to be over officially). Dhoni will be there in five minutes."

An ICC spokesman clarified: "In ICC events, it is compulsory for the losing captain to turn up for these briefings first, immediately after the presentation ceremony. In other series, it's an agreement between the host board and the participating board."

Hassled SLC members clarified there was an understanding that the post-match briefing would be got over within half-an-hour of the presentation, adding: "Dhoni said he wanted to play soccer, so we sent Sangakkara. There are no hard and fast rules, and it's more a reflection of the team's attitude," said an SLC member.

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Sri Lankan Thissara Perera (second right) celebrates with his teammates after he dismissed unseen Indian Ishant Sharma during the fifth ODI of the tri-series in Dambulla. (AFP Photo)

DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka): A spineless India crashed to their biggest ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining as Sri Lanka stormed into the final of the tri-series with a resounding eight wicket victory on Sunday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics 

Thisara Perera produced a devastating spell of seam bowling to record his maiden five-wicket haul and play a big role in Sri Lanka's comprehensive victory.

The 21-year-old Perera (5/28) ripped through the Indian middle order with a fine exhibition of swing bowling to skittle out the visitors for a paltry 103 in just 33.4 overs, their third lowest total against the Sri Lankans, in what turned out to be a totally lop-sided contest.

The fired-up Sri Lankans rattled up the required runs of 104 in just 15.1 overs to gain a bonus point and become the first team to move into the final.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (35) and Mahela Jayawardene (33) virtually toyed with the Indian bowlers as they plundered runs at will to set up the chase brilliantly.

Paceman Ishant Sharma dismissed both the openers Dilshan and Jayawardene in two consecutive deliveries but it came too late in the day as the islanders overhauled the target with 209 balls to spare.

Till now, India's biggest defeat in terms of balls remaining was 174 against Australia at Sydney in 1981. In that match, India had scored 63 and Australia responded with 64 for one.

It was an abject surrender by the lacklustre Indians who were outplayed in all departments of the game.

The hosts completed their league engagements with 11 points and India will have to now win their last match against New Zealand on Wednesday to secure a berth in the final. New Zealand have seven points and India five points.

Pacemen Lasith Malinga (2/21) and Nuwan Kulasekara (2/31) also chipped in with wickets to compound India's misery on a day when nothing seemed to go right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men.

Only Yuvraj Singh provided a semblance of resistance with a gritty 38 as the the Indian batsmen succumbed tamely on what appeared to be a spongy two-paced track at the Rangiri Dambulla International stadium.

Yuvraj was a victim of a dubious leg before decision and there were a couple of dodgy decisions during the Indian innings but that was no excuse for the pathetic display.

After the furore of the no-ball incident in the past few days, the Sri Lankans seemed all charged up for the must-win game and Dhoni's decision to bat first after winning the toss completely backfired.

The Indians never really recovered from a poor start as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals with the hosts exploiting the overcast conditions well.

Paceman Kulasekara struck the first blow by getting rid of dangerman Virender Sehwag, who was stranded on 99 in the last match after Suraj Randiv deliberately bowled a no- ball to spark off a major controversy.

Sehwag was trapped leg before wicket to Kulasekara's sharp inswinger and umpire Kumar Dharmasena had no hesitation in giving him out. The Indian opener was not too happy with the decision as he walked back to the pavillion.

Dinesh Karthik, who has struggled to find form right through the series, was the next man to be dismissed with Kulasekara doing the damage again.

Karthik edged the ball to captain and wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara who was standing close to the stumps to prevent the batsman from walking down and negating the swing.

With India struggling at 26 for two, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh tried to steady the innings by playing cautiously against the Sri Lankan speedsters who bowled a disciplined line and length.

Rohit Sharma, who has also been struggling to find form, could not hang around for long, asAngelo Mathews plotted his dismissal with a gem of an inswinger which trapped the batsman plumb in front of the wicket.

Soon Suresh Raina joined him in the pavilion as he fell prey to Perera and the Indians were in the doldrums at a precarious 61 for four in the 18th over.

Perera struck again a few overs later by removing Dhoni who edged the ball to Sangakkara behind the stumps. The ball held its line enough to get the edge and Sangakkara made no mistake.

Perera then removed Ravindra Jadeja for a nine-ball duck and dismissed Praveen Kumar in the very first ball with Tharanga latching on to a simple catch at mid-off.

Yuvraj, who returned to the team after being laid low by a mild dengue, was the only batsmen who seemed comfortable in the middle as wickets kept falling at the other end.

Running out of partners, the stylish left hander picked up Perera for special treatment clobbering him for a boundary and a six to take India close to the hundred-run mark.

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LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board(ECB) is planning to ban English cricketers from social networking sites such as Twitter andFacebook while on national duty.

"England's cricketers are facing a ban from social networking websites Twitter and Facebook," a 'Daily Mail' report said on Sunday.

England players such as Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Kevin Pietersen and Steven Finn have been very active on social networking site Twitter.com and share nearly 150,000 followers among them.

Although the cricketers consider it as a harmless diversion, this of-field activity has not gone down well with the team management, which fears that the players may slip dressing room secrets to the public.

"The England management, supported by captain Andrew Strauss, seem determined to write a clause in the new ECB contracts for 2010-11 banning players from tweeting while on England duty," the report said.

The England team management was left red-faced when former under-19 captain Azeem Rafiq was found guilty of injudicious messaging after he called coach John Abrahams a 'useless ******' in one of his tweets on being axed from the side against Sri Lanka.

He was soon fined and banned for one month from all cricket.

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LONDON: A tournament for declaring the world's best team in Test cricket may finally become reality. The International cricket Council will decide on a two-yearly tournament-like world Test championship - as opposed to the current rolling format - at a meeting of chief executives of cricket boards at Cape Town next month.

England in the summer of 2013 is among the leading candidates to host the inaugural competition.

ICC spokesperson Colin Gibson said more details would be revealed after the mid-September meeting. If the championship is held in England, the final will be at Lord's.

The world Test championship is intended to breathe new life into the traditional format and maintain it as the ultimate battle for supremacy. But its marketing and the quantum of prize money, which needs to be much higher than in a World Cup or World Twenty20, will be crucial to attract public and players' interest.

How high a Test championship can be pitched will depend on revenues derived by ICC from broadcasting and commercial partners. A source said cricket bosses are looking at Tata Motors'Jaguar - now experiencing record sales - as a potential partner. This UK-based Indian-owned company has been sponsoring TV coverage of this season's Test cricket in England on Sky Sport.

A five-member committee, which includes BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, will submit its recommendation next month to the chief executives, who are then expected to arrive at their choices.

The matter will, therefore, have to be ratified by the ICC's board, before it's cast in stone. The committee is said to have debated whether the top four teams or the top eight teams should constitute the actual play-off. Martin Crowe, former New Zealand captain, has publicly favoured the latter, although he is not a member of the empowered committee.

Either way, there will be a cut-off point several months before the actual contest to determine the final participants. There is a possibility that up to six days will be allotted to a world Test championship match to ensure an outcome in the final and knock-out phase.

At present, India lead the Test rankings, with South Africa second, Sri Lanka third and Australiafourth.