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.