Total Sports

Abdur Razzak

2011-12-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

The latest in Bangladesh's seemingly never-ending supply of left-arm spinners, Abdur Razzaq (no relation to the similarly named Pakistan allrounder) made his mark when he helped unheralded Khulna to their first-ever National Cricket League title in 2001-02.
Tall, with a high action, he was also instrumental in Victoria Sporting Club's surprise triumph in the 2002-03 Dhaka Premier Division. He was given his A-team debut during the five-match one-day series against Zimbabwe early in 2004, and took the opportunity well with 15 wickets, including a matchwinning 7 for 17 in the third encounter on the batting paradise of Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium.
He has an uncanny ability to pin batsmen down, although the position of his bowling arm during delivery is a worry, and his action has been reported in the past. Bangladesh's coaching staff are using video technology to help iron out anything suspicious. He took 3 for 17 on his one-day debut against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup in Colombo in 2004, but was reported for a suspect action after the next match, against Pakistan.
Left out of the Champions Trophy in England later that year, "Raj" played just one ODI - against Zimbabwe in January 2005 - before he was recalled for the home series against Sri Lanka in February 2006. He made his Test debut two months later, called up for the second Test against Australia on a turning track at Chittagong (even the Aussies played three spinners), but failed to take a wicket. He has, however, become a regular in the one-day team and his parsimonious left-arm spin was effective in the Champions Trophy in October. Razzak achieved his career-best figures of 5 for 33 against Zimbabwe in December 2006.

In 2008 he was reported for a suspect action again and this time an independent analysis found that he bent his arm up to 28 degrees - 13 more than the permissible limit. He was suspended from bowling in international cricket. The ICC cleared him the following year and soon after, was picked for the World Twenty20 in England.

Ted a'Beckett

2011-12-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

Ted a'Beckett, one of only three surviving members of the Australian side which toured England in 1930 ( Bradman and Ponsford are the others), died on June 2. He was 81. Born in East St. Kilda, Melbourne on Aug. 11, 1907, Edward Lambert a' Beckett, 6 ft tall, came from a distijnguished legal and sporting line, and the needs of his profession (law) restricted his cricket at toplevel. At 21, after only six first-class matches, he was drafted into the Australian XI soon after Jack Gregory's breakdown against England in 1928-29, and distinguished himself on the second day of his Melbourne debut by scoring a confident 41 and adding 86 for the seventh wicket with 20-year-old Bradman (79) and then dismissing 45-year-old Hobbs, who snicked a widish ball, before close of play. It was a'Beckett's only wicket, and he took only Sutcliffe's at Adelaide, where England went four-up after four. His two Tests brought him 2 for 216 and 104 runs (some of them `crude', according to P. G. H. Fender) in four innings, though his catches to remove Hendren and Hammond (200) at Melbourne were brilliant, the first at mid-wicket from a full-blooded pull, the second at mid-on, flinging himself to his left as Hammond rounded a ball from offspinner Blackie. He lost his place for the fifth Test, won by a resurgent Australia, but secured a berth to England with Woodfull's youngsters in 1930, having been first in the national bowling averages in 1929-30, not only alphabetically but statistically: 28 wickets at 14.71. He was also 15th in the batting, helped by an innings of 152 for Victoria at Adelaide. He played in only one Test in England, the third, at Headingley, while Bradman scored in 334: A'Beckett was at the wicket when The Don was caught behind to make Australia 508 for 6, and went on to 29. But his fast-medium bowling, if hard to get away, was unpenetrative. He managed only Duckworth's wicket for 66 off 39 overs in the match, but again attracted praise for his fielding, catching Hobbs at silly mid-on. On the entire tour he scored 454 runs (25.22) and took 23 wickets (28.96) having missed a month through illness. He played in one more Test, against South Africa at Melbourne in 1931-32, before his legal pursuits took the Melbourne University graduate away from big cricket. He made no mark on that much, and finished with figures of 143 runs (20.43) in his four Tests, his three wickets costing 317 runs. In all first-class cricket he scored 1636 runs at 29.21 and took 105 wickets at 29.16 (6 for 119, v NSW, Sydney, 1927-28, his best return). A'Beckett's weightiest batting performance, 113 and 95, was somewhat overshadowed by the world-record 10th-wicket stand of 307 by New South Wales batsmen Kippax and Hooker over Christmas 1928. Not only did he come within a stroke of making twin centuries in that extraordinary Melbourne match, but he ended the amazing last-wicket resistance by having Hooker, the No. 11 caught for 62. Having won his colours at cricket, athletics and Australian Rules football at Melbourne Grammar School, Ted a'Beckett pursued the winter sport as well, until a serious head injury forced him to abandon football.

MS Dhoni rages against the UDRS

2011-02-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

The Times of India
BANGALORE: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit out at the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) after a key decision went against his side in their dramatic World Cup tie with England.
England, replying to India's 338 all out after Sachin Tendulkar's record-breaking fifth hundred in World Cup cricket,finished on 338 for eight following a magnificent career-best 158 from captain Andrew Strauss.
Left-handed opener Strauss shared a vital third-wicket partnership of 170 with Ian Bell(69).
But their stand was worth just 52 when left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh thought he had Bell lbw on review for 17, with replays showing the ball would have hit the stumps.
Bell had started to walk off but because New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden's verdict was not out, the decision was returned to him by Australian replay official Rod Tucker and the Kiwi deemed Bell to be too far down the pitch.
However, a capacity crowd of mainly passionate India fans were left bemused having seen Bell 'dismissed' on the Chinnaswamy Stadium's giant replay screens.
Bell himself clearly thought he was out, walking off the pitch before his clearly unexpected reprieve and Dhoni too couldn't understand why he was allowed to continue his innings.
India have stood alone amongst major nations in refusing to use UDRS in Tests after getting on the wrong side of the system during a series away to Sri Lanka in 2008 where several reviews went against them.
"The adulteration of technology with human thinking meant we didn't get that (Bell) wicket," said Dhoni.
He was unhappy with the instruction to umpires at this World Cup that says if a batsman is more than 2.5 metres down the pitch he should be given not out, unless the ball would have hit middle stump.
It was not certain if Bell's middle stump would have been knocked over but Dhoni said: "If Hawkeye says it's good and going to hit middle stump, I see no reason why the distance matters.
"Simon (Taufel) once gave me out (like that) in the Champions Trophy. If I can be given out, why not any other batsman? It is pretty difficult for me, what I saw was ball hitting the stumps."
Dhoni praised left-arm quick Zaheer Khan for a burst of three wickets for one run in six balls, including two in two to get rid of Bell and Strauss, that swung the match back India's way when England were on course for victory.
"Well you know the way they were going, I think they got off to a very good start, I think Andrew (Strauss) batted really well. There was a time I think where it seemed they were going to chase the score in 48, 49 overs," he said.
He added: "We could not win the match, but England too could not finish the game, both teams were facing defeat or victory at some point."
England needed 14 off the last over, from seamer Munaf Patel, but managed just 13 despite a third ball six from tailender Ajmal Shahzad.
But Dhoni said it was India's fielding, long their Achilles heel, that had cost them a second victory of this tournament to set alongside their 87-run opening win over fellow co-hosts Bangladesh.
"We could have fielded better. With this tie, everyone in the team will realise that even one run is important," said the captain.

Tendulkar scores record fifth World Cup Hundred

2011-02-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Times of India
BANGALORE:Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday reached another milestone as he became the highest century-maker in World Cup history by scoring his fifth hundred in the prestigious event.
The 37-year-old Tendulkar reached the landmark during the group B clash against England when he glanced burly paceman Tim Bresnan for a boundary towards the fine leg region in the first ball of the 35th over.It was his 47th ODI century and his 98th overall.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly,current Australia captainRicky Ponting and his former teammate Mark Waugh have all scored four World Cup hundreds.
With Ganguly and Waugh retired, it is only Ponting who has a chance to match or surpass Tendulkar.
Tendulkar scored 120 runs from 115 balls and the knock was adorned with five sixes and 10 fours.
Tendulkar, playing his sixth World Cup, also holds the records for most runs and most half-centuries in the flagship event of the ICC.
He has accumulated 1944 runs in 38 matches and has scored 13 fifties so far, followed by Ponting with 1577 runs in 41 matches.
Ganguly is the only other Indian who has managed to score more than one thousand runs in World Cup matches.
He scored 1006 runs in 21 matches and stands 11th in the list of highest run scorers in World Cup.
During the course of his innings, Tendukar shared a magnificent 134-run partnership with for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir, who scored 51 runs.

Ind vs Eng: Strauss leads England run chase

2011-02-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Captain Andrew Strauss hit a run-a-ball half-century to keep England in the hunt in pursuit of 339 in their World Cup clash at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.
Strauss and Pietersen had brought up England's 50 in the eighth over before Munaf struck.
Pietersen hit a smashing straight drive towards Munaf who took evasive action but the ball hit his hands and lobbed up and a smiling Munaf completed the catch.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar's 120 and half-centuries by Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh powered India to 338.
India could have got more but lost Yuvraj and captain MS Dhoni in successive overs to be at 305/5 in 46.1 overs.
On the last ball of the 46th over,Michael Yardy had Yuvraj caught by Ian Bell at deep mid-wicket after the dashing southpaw scored 58 off 50 balls with the help of 9 fours.
On the first ball of the next over,Tim Bresnan had Dhoni caught by susbtitute Luke Wright at deep mid-wicket. Dhoni hit a six and 3 fours in his 25-ball 31.
Bresnan then dismissed Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli and Harbhajan Singh in one over to place India at 328/8 in 48.4 overs to register his maiden five-wicket haul.
James Anderson had Sachin Tendulkar caught by Yardy in the covers as India lost their third wicket with 236 runs on the board.
Tendulkar's 120-run knock came off 115 balls and was studded with 5 sixes and 10 fours.
Tendulkar hit his 47th century off 103 balls as India crossed the 200-run mark in the 35th over.
This is Tendulkar's fifth World Cup century - the most by any player in the world. Tendulkar achieved the landmark with a boundary to fine leg off Tim Bresnan.
This was after England off-spinner Graeme Swann clean bowled Gautam Gambhir (51) to place India at 180/2 in 29.4 overs.
Tendulkar and Gambhir added 134 runs for the second wicket as they got hold of the proceedings in the middle.
Tendulkar reached his fifty in style with a big heave over mid-wicket and once again it was Collingwood at the bowling end.
Tendulkar took India past 100-run mark with a fine lofty six, the first of the match, over mid-off on Collingwood's delivery.
Paceman Tim Bresnan provided England crucial breakthrough as he got rid of dangerous looking Indian opener Virender Sehwag in his first over of the day.
Sehwag was sent back to the pavilion with a fine diving one-handed catch by wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Sehwag, who scored a quickfire 35 off 26 balls, slammed six boundaries during his short stay at the crease. Sehwag also became the third Indian to score 1000 ODI runs against England.
Opting to bat, Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar got off to a fine start against England.
Dashing opener Sehwag got a few close calls in the first over itself but he was lucky enough to survive.
Sehwag slashed the very first ball of the innings, which kissed Graeme Swann's hand at the third slip on its way to the boundary. Sehwag got another leading edge on James Anderson's delivery but it landed safely.
The explosive Sehwag continued his attack as he welcomed seamer Ajmal Shahzad with two more boundaries in the second over.
Earlier in the day, England seamer Stuart Broad was ruled out of the World Cup clash against India after being confined to bed for two days.
Seamer Ajmal Shahzad has been pencilled into the playing XI in pacer Stuart Broad's place while in the batting line-up, Michael Yardy has come in for Ravi Bopara.
On the other hand Piyush Chawla replaced S Sreesanth in India's playing XI, with Indian team going into the match with two specialist seamers and spinners.
"Good luck lads, gutted I'm not there. Will be watching from the bed I've not left for 2 days.. Never felt worse," Broad wrote on his Twitter account.

Sportspersons welcome National Sports Bill

2011-02-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Former and current sportspersons on Tuesday welcomed the government's National Sports Bill which provides for a "fair and transparent" election process and limitation to age and tenure for their office bearers, saying the proposed measures were long overdue.

Welcoming the draft bill, put up in the sports ministry website, former Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh hoped that the new measures take sport in the country to a new era.

"I have not read entire provisions in the bill. But, as can be read from what have been in the media, I wholeheartedly welcome the measures. The country now needs a new direction in sports and I hope the initiative by the sports ministry would lead to a new era in sports in the country," Pargat said.

Pargat welcomed the age and tenure limitation provisions in the bill, saying that they should put an end to the long reigns of some of heads of National Sports Federations.

"I am happy about that. We need to change administration of the NSFs. So many heads (of NSFs) are there for so long," said the former national hockey team centre-back.

Asked about the participation of former and current athletes in the decision making process of the NSFs, Pargat said, "That is good but the athletes themselves will also have to be clean and the process transparent."

Former sprinter and Clean Sports India vice-president, Ashwini Nachappa, said the measures in the bill were long overdue.

"The measures in the bill, which I can understand from what have been already in the public domain, are long overdue. India now needs to clean up sports and we completely support any move to bring transparency in the functioning of NSFs and the IOA," she said.

"I think the heads and top officials of some sports bodies have remained far too long in their positions, doing their own work and nothing for sports and country. It is high time that the changes are brought in and they are removed. So, we in Clean Sports India support the measures totally," said the Olympian.

She said Clean Sports India would send its views and suggestions to the sports ministry which today sought a debate on the draft bill.

Legendary athlete P T Usha though said she would first see the entire draft bill before commenting on it. "I will read what are there in the draft bill and then only will be able to comment," she said when contacted.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist discus thrower Krishna Poonia also welcomed the measures, especially participation of athletes in decision-making process and guidelines to prevent sexual harassment of women sportspersons.

"I welcomed the new initiatives of the sports ministry. A clean and transparent administration is always welcomed. These should help India move ahead in sports at the international arena," she said.

"I am particularly happy for the participation of athletes in the decision-making process and rules against sexual harassment. The athletes should be looked after well," said Poonia, the only track and field athlete to have won an individual gold medal in Commonwealth Games.

Hockey Olympian Viren Rasquinha also supported the new sports minister's initiative, saying the bill would go a long way in taking Indian sports forward.

"I totally support the new initiative. I hope these measures take Indian sports forward," he said.

Tendulkar first man out at World Cup 2011

2011-02-19T04:54:00.000-08:00

Record-breaking Sachin Tendulkar was the first wicket to fall at the 2011 World Cup on Saturday when he was run-out following a crazy mix-up with opening partner Virender Sehwag against Bangladesh. Tendulkar, on 28, pushed the ball to mid-on and went for a quick single off the fifth ball of the 11th over of the tournament opener but Sehwag failed to respond leaving both men at the non-striker's end. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan threw in for wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim to remove the bails.
India had reached to 69 without loss at the time.

Kohli slams century, India set target of 371

2011-02-19T04:47:00.000-08:00

Not lagging behind Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli too hit a century off 83 balls to take India's score at 370 during the World Cup opener today at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Earlier, stylish Virender Sehwag completed his century, first against Bangladesh and in 2011 World Cup, in 94 balls to propel India towards a big total during the World Cup opener today at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.Sehwag reached the century, his 14th in one-day internationals, with a single behind square off off-spinner Mahmudullah, in front of a stadium packed with 25,000 spectators. He hit nine fours and a six on his way to notch his second hundred in the World Cup.
Record-breaking Sachin Tendulkar was the first wicket to fall at the 2011 World Cup today when he was run-out following a crazy mix-up with opening partner Virender Sehwag against Bangladesh. Tendulkar, on 28,pushed the ball to mid-on and went for a quick single off the fifth ball of the 11th over of the tournament opener but Sehwag failed to respond leaving both men at the non-striker's end.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan threw in for wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim to remove the bails. Bangladesh's Mahmudullah got bowled Gautam Gambhir out on 39 runs to get India's second wicket.
Earlier, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bowl against India. For India, pacer Ashish Nehra are not playing in the Group B encounter due to a back injury.
The others who have failed to make the final playing XI for India are spinners R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla and batsman Suresh Raina.
In Bangladesh team, veteran batsman Mohammad Ashraful has been left out.
Teams:
India:Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c&wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.
Bangladesh:Shakib Al Hasan (c), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain.

World Cup 2011: Spin is much in demand

2011-02-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Teams at the World Cup appear to have reached a broad consensus that the best way to dismantle a rival batting order is to tie them in tangles, rather than subjecting them to a battery of bouncers.
Martin Crowe, captaining New Zealand in the 1992 World Cup, pulled off a masterstroke when he opened bowling with off-spinner Dipak Patel for what turned out to be a potent antidote to the prevailing tactic of hitting over the in-field in the first 15 overs.
Nearly two decades since that sensational improvisation, at least one team, Zimbabwe, has already decided to follow suit.
"For us, definitely it will be an option," Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher said in Chennai where off-spinner Prosper Utseya opened the bowling with paceman Chris Mpofu in the warm-up match against South Africa.
"That has been part of our strategy last year or so, or probably before that. This is something we are used to. I will be surprised if before the end of the tournament other sides are not doing it," Butcher added.
"It has been used before in previous World Cups. The conditions would be suitable for that.”
"I`m not discounting the fact that we might open with two seamers and try and take advantage of the new ball. But our strategy has been to use at least one spinner with the new ball for some time. At the moment the conditions suggest, I probably won`t change that."
Besides, Zimbabwe do not have a pace attack that can give opponent batsmen sleepless nights, the burly coach argued.
"Over the last year, our spinners have been our best bowlers and I have seen they are improving. In any conditions, your best bowlers are your best options," he said.
Spinning Army
Like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh will also bank on their army of spinners to pull off upsets and see if that can take them to the knockout stage.
But it is not only the minnows who appear to prefer the guile of spin over the glamour of pace in subcontinental dustbowls.
India picked a third frontline spinner in Piyush Chawla, preferring the baby-faced leg-spinner to a second wicketkeeper in Parthiv Patel.
Even South Africa, which always looked at spin bowling with some amount of suspicion, have flown in three specialist tweakers -- Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and the Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir.
Unleashing the uncapped Tahir at one-day cricket`s greatest stage might seem like a huge gamble but South Africa skipper Graeme Smith is confident the strategy will pay off.
"For me, it was his opportunity and he handled it well. He gave himself a great platform to hold on to," Smith said after the warm-up match against Zimbabwe in which Tahir claimed three wickets.
"In fact, all our spinners bowled well. It`s a very good thing, it`s a very good competition in the squad. It must be seen as a positive.”
"Tactically we have got a lot of options available for us, especially in spinning front."
The remaining doubts have also been erased by the Indian spinners who exposed Australia and New Zealand`s feet of clay against turning deliveries in the warm-up matches.
Against Australia, the Indian spinners claimed all but one wicket, while removing seven of the 10 New Zealand batsmen in the second warm-up match.

Pakistan's Akhtar dope tested, fined for late night

2011-02-17T07:22:00.000-08:00

DHAKA: Pakistan's mercurial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was among three team-mates who were taken for random dope testing ahead of the World Cup, a official confirmed on Thursday.
Akhtar, 35, wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal,29,and seamer Umar Gul,26,were tested after a practice session on Wednesday by the International Cricket Council's drug inspectors, team manager Intikhab Alam said.
"These are normal procedures and players from every team will be tested," Alam said.
Akhtar, recalled for the World Cup after being out of action for a major part of the last three years due to a spate of injuries, tested positive for a banned drug nandrolone in 2006.
There was further trouble for Akhtar after he and fellow paceman Wahab Riaz were fined 3,000 Bangladeshi taka (42 dollars) each for returning late from a private dinner on Wednesday night.
"We want players to follow team rules," said Alam. "The two have been warned not to keep late nights in future."
Pakistan face England in a practice match in the Bangladeshi town of Fatullah on Friday, a game the ageing Akhtar needs to perform in to make the team for their World Cup opener against Kenya on February 23.
Akhtar did not bowl against Bangladesh on Tuesday with coach Waqar Younis admitting the fast bowler had yet to regain full fitness.
Akhtar, who last played a Test match in 2007, has claimed 244 one-day wickets in 160 matches at an average of 24.78.
He was picked for the recent tour of New Zealand where he "improved in patches," according to Waqar.
"Shoaib is not in touch at the moment," the fast bowling great said. "It is important he gets into full throttle before we get him into the side."

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina declares 2011 World Cup open

2011-02-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

DHAKA: Captains of the 14 competing teams at the World Cup paraded through Dhaka's historic Bangabandhu Stadium on Thursday in brightly coloured rickshaws, the transport of choice in the teeming city of Dhaka.
Protected by a sheet of bullet-proof glass, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina watched as home skipper Shakib Al Hasan brought up the rear of the unusual, three-wheeled parade that kick-started a two-hour opening ceremony.
Ricky Ponting,captain of defending champions Australia, headed the sparkling procession before 3,500 performers put on a show reflecting Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi culture.
Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Bangladesh-based Runa Laila as well as veteran Canadian rocker Bryan Adams were the headline acts.
"I hope that the games will be memorable and exciting," said Sheikh Hasina, who was joined at the ceremony by Sharad Pawar, the president of the International Cricket Council(ICC).
"It gives me great pleasure to declare the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup open."
Around 25,000 people squeezed inside the much-loved Bangabandhu, which has been renovated at a cost of $5 million.
But despite its history it staged the Test debuts of Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1955 and in 2000 respectively the ground will not be staging any of the country's eight matches.
That honour falls to the more modern Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka as well as the port city of Chittagong.
Dhaka has been spruced up for the World Cup as it seeks to take advantage of a prime opportunity to rebrand a country often known only for devastating floods and cyclones.
The impoverished South Asian nation has spent more than $100 million to tidy up for the tournament it co hosts with India and Sri Lanka, looking at the showpiece as the biggest event since independence in 1971.
Beggars have been paid to stay off roads, hawkers have been evicted from overcrowded pavements and buildings given a new coat of paint. Efforts have even been made to reduce the infamous traffic jams in the bustling capital.
Even though Bangladesh hosts just eight of the 49 matches, the entire nation is in the grip of cricket fever.
"The World Cup has given us a great opportunity to show the world, particularly the global press, that we are not only a country of floods, cyclones or natural disasters," said Ramendu Majumdar, a top branding expert.
The 10th World Cup, which runs for six weeks, starts on Saturday when Bangladesh tackle favourites India.