The Indian Panorama

Tag: Cricket

  • SPOT-FIXING: SACHIN TENDULKAR BREAKS SILENCE, SAYS HE IS SHOCKED AND DISAPPOINTED

    SPOT-FIXING: SACHIN TENDULKAR BREAKS SILENCE, SAYS HE IS SHOCKED AND DISAPPOINTED

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Breaking his silence on the raging spot-fixing scandal, Sachin Tendulkar on May 31 said that the developments of the last two weeks were “shocking and disappointing” and the faith reposed by the millions of fans in the game should be justified. Tendulkar said the authorities must take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue and ensure that credibility of the game is restored.

    The champion batsman, who retired from IPL after his side Mumbai Indians won the title recently, said as a cricketer he has always learnt to play in the true spirit of the game. “It has always hurt me when the game of cricket is in the news for the wrong reasons. The developments in the last two weeks have been shocking and disappointing. As cricketers we are always taught to go out, fight hard, give our very best and play in the true spirit of the game,” Tendulkar said in a statement.

    The milestone man of Indian cricket said it was important that the authorities get to the root of the problem. “During this difficult phase, I join every cricketer, from the boys in the maidans across the country to those who represent clubs, states and the country, who trust the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue. “The faith reposed by the millions of fans should be justified and we owe it to them to ensure that Indian cricket is all about pride and joy,” the statement added.

    Tendulkar’s statement on the spotfixing scandal assumes great importance since none of the current Indian cricketers have spoken on the issue, since it broke out about two weeks ago. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has steadfastly refused to speak on the scandal, apparently under a gag order from the BCCI. Dhoni evaded questions on spot-fixing at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday and also did the same at the media interaction in Birmingham on Thursday ahead of the Champions Trophy.

    The only thing Dhoni said at the press conference in Birmingham was that Indian cricket’s reputation was not “gone” and that some people were “slightly mentally weak” compared to others. He said that he will speak when the time was right. With more and more cricket boards and state unit officials coming out in the open against BCCI president N Srinivasan’s continuance over the last few days, it will be interesting to see whether more cricketers also start giving their views, taking a cue from Tendulkar.

  • SPOT-FIXING PROBE REACHES DOORSTEP OF BCCI CHIEF’S FAMILY

    SPOT-FIXING PROBE REACHES DOORSTEP OF BCCI CHIEF’S FAMILY

    CHENNAI/MUMBAI (TIP): The IPL fixing scandal has reached the doorstep of Indian cricket’s powerful boss and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) owner N Srinivasan’s family — quite literally. A day after a report about the police investigating Srinivasan’s son-in-law and CSK CEO Gurunath Meiyappan’s phone conversations with Dara Singh’s son Vindu for possible links with a betting syndicate, a fivemember crime branch team from Mumbai arrived in Chennai on May 23 morning to serve summons on Meiyappan.

    They first went to the headquarters of Srinivasan-controlled India Cements, and on finding no one there, stuck a copy of the summons on the door before going to Meiyappan’s home around 2pm to instruct him to present himself before the CB between 11am and 5pm within 24 hours. But with no member of the family available to meet the team, they were initially not let in by the guard; after several phone calls, they were allowed into the compound.

    Rama Subbu, the chief security officer of India Cements, arrived soon thereafter and was seen signing a paper which the officers handed him. Strangely though, on his way out, he denied having received any summons on behalf of Meiyappan. Later in the evening, the crime branch is reported to have received a one-page fax from Meiyappan saying he was out of town and seeking time till Monday, with the assurance that he would appear in person. A top police officer said night that no decision had been taken on whether to allow him the extra time.

    If the police were to reject such a request, which seems unlikely, Meiyappan could be arrested. The whereabouts of the 35-year-old continued to be shrouded in mystery with speculation placing him variously in Kodaikanal (where he has a holiday home), Kolkata (where CSK plays the IPL finals on Sunday against the winners of the Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals match) and Delhi (to prepare his legal defence with top-flight lawyers).

    Nor is there any word as to where the BCCI chief might be although New Delhi was abuzz with rumours that he would leverage his considerable clout to counter what his supporters consider a “politicallymotivated conspiracy to discredit him”. On May 16, the day Sreesanth and his two Rajasthan Royals were arrested, Srinivasan had said, “One or two bad eggs cannot sully the game,” before stating, on further questioning, “I hope nobody else is involved, but if information comes to BCCI, we will act immediately.”

    I was close to Bhajji, Virat: Vindu Dara Singh MUMBAI (TIP): Vindu Dara Singh has told Mumbai police that he knew several players but was close to Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, and Manpreet Gony. Gony, who now plays for Kings XI Punjab, played one-dayers for India while he was with Chennai Super Kings in 2008. Police said they are yet to come across anything that links the three players to Vindu’s betting racket. Vindu also revealed the names of Bollywood celebrities who bet on IPL matches.

    He acted as a middleman, placing bets on their behalf with bookies. He said he came in contact with the betting syndicate several years ago through a friend, Anand Saxena, who introduced him to Ramesh Vyas and Shobhan Mehta, both big bookies. He got to know Sreesanth through Ajit Chandila and some Delhi-based bookies.

  • Sreesanth confesses to spot-fixing

    Sreesanth confesses to spot-fixing

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Rajasthan Royals pacer S Sreesanth on May 17 confessed to spot-fixing in the domestic T20 league. “Sreesanth has confessed to spot-fixing. He was teary eyed during interrogation,” a Delhi Police official said. Cricketer Ankit Chavan was the first to accept his role in spot-fixing during questioning by the Delhi Police which secured the five-day custody of the players and 11 bookies arrested from various locations on May 16. The third player, Ajit Chandila, is yet to accept the charges. Chandila is also learnt to have approached two more domestic T20 league players to be part of the spot fixing. At a club in Manesar, he had named two players who could be roped in for the betting deal. The bookies had asked him to bring them to a party where the deal could be discussed. And when the two cricketers refused to attend the party, he contacted Ankit Chavan who agreed to be part of the deal.

    The arrest of more players in the spot-fixing racket can’t be ruled out, joint commissioner of Mumbai Police Himanshu Roy told a news channel. He said the involvement of the Dawood Ibrahim network was possible and the investigations will be heading in that direction. Tamil Nadu police meanwhile arrested six more bookies during raids on Thursday night and Friday morning, taking the total number of arrested bookies to 17. Country’s premier cricketing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, suspended Gujarat pacer Amit Singh who, during his stint with Rajasthan Royals, had been allegedly used by the bookies to fix deals with cricketers. BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said its working committee will discuss the arrest of the three cricketers at an emergency meeting on Sunday.

  • Gilani’s son got threats from LeJ, Sipah-e-Sahaba

    Gilani’s son got threats from LeJ, Sipah-e-Sahaba

    MULTAN (TIP): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider, kidnapped by gunmen while campaigning for Pakistan’s landmark elections, had received threats from the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, Mr. Gilani and other members of his family told The Express Tribune that Mr. Ali Haider had been receiving “death and kidnapping threats” from the LeJ and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Mr. Ali Haider, 27, was kidnapped on Thursday while campaigning for the May 11 polls in his hometown of Multan, often considered a stronghold of the Mr. Gilani family.

    The gunmen shot and killed Mr. Ali Haider’s personal secretary and a bodyguard when they resisted. Police arrested five suspects in Multan and officials claimed two of them had “important information” about the kidnapping. While there was no official word on the interrogation of the suspects, the Tribune quoted its sources as saying that Mr. Ali Haider had been taken by his abductors to Kabeerwaala, considered a stronghold of the LeJ. The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan refused to comment on the abduction. “I do not want to comment (on the incident).

    We do not know as to who has kidnapped him, and why and how he was kidnapped,” said Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan. Sources in Punjab Police told PTI on Thursday that they believed Mr. Ali Haider was kidnapped by a faction of the Punjabi Taliban based in Mian Chanu, 80 km from Multan district. The Punjabi Taliban largely comprises members of the LeJ, which also has links with al-Qaeda. The LeJ has been linked to a series of high-profile terrorist acts, including the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and two deadly bomb attacks in Quetta earlier this year that killed nearly 200 people, a majority of them Hazara Shias.

  • Hopes And Fears Ahead Of Pakistan Polls

    Hopes And Fears Ahead Of Pakistan Polls

    LAHORE (TIP): All was quiet on the streets of Lahore on Friday as people geared up for the elections. The provincial government announced a holiday across Punjab around noon on Thursday, shutting down local businesses and giving people one extra day to get home to their villages to cast their vote in what appears to be the first historic elections since Zulfiquar Bhutto’s party, the PPP won the elections in 1977 by a wide margin. There are more than 200 parties in the electoral process, 86 million voters and 5,000 candidates.

    Yet across the country there are only two names being bandied about: Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif. The third hidden voice of the PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari is expected to emerge with news of the election results. Across social media, in cafes and on the roadside, there is a sense that Imran Khan – whether or not you support him – has roused election fever in everyone, not just the youth. The young, the middle aged and the youth are repeating the mantra “This is the first time I’m going to vote”.

    Even those cynical about the elections process admit that the energy on ground is palpable. “Benazir Bhutto was the last charismatic leader we had,” said Shahvaar Ali Khan, a musician whose ad company, Farigh Four launched PTI’s media campaign for change with the slogan, “Naya Pakistan’ or a New Pakistan. “Now (the leader) is Imran despite his simplistic, yet sincere and honest political analysis.”

    Indeed, in the urban centres of Pakistan many people, across the age spectrum are expressing their support for this reality. Some have read the PTI’s manifesto, many haven’t. But they’re hoping that Imran Khan will deliver guidance in governance, just as he did on the cricket field. This means that Sharif is finding a deep challenge in his stomping grounds. Across Lahore there is evidence that longtime former supporters of the PML-N aren’t going to vote for him. “I’m going to vote for Imran Khan,” said a businessman who didn’t want to be named.

    “But I’m going to walk into my polling station announcing that I’m voting for Nawaz Sharif.” In Lahore on Thursday evening, the last day for rallying before today’s elections, people thronged on Mall Road, and around Liberty Market, the city’s commercial areas. Mothers came with their children dressed in their preferred party colours, many of them showing off the PTI’s red, white and green.

    “I’m so excited. It was so much fun to see so many people all looking forward to a change,” said Moosa Baksh, a 21-year-old architecture student who joined the Liberty Market crowd with his friends. Asked what he’d feel if Imran Khan didn’t win. “I’ll be really sad,” he said. There is also a sense that Imran Khan’s superstar status is helping get women out of their homes and into the polling stations.

    “In a lot of our families many of the husbands are voting for Nawaz Sharif and our wives are voting for Imran Khan,” said Mian Raza Mansha, a prominent Pakistani businessman. “I’ve heard a lot of men saying they’re going to try and prevent their wives from going to the polling stations,” he laughed. With so much focus on Pakistan’s big cities, it is unclear what the mood in Pakistan’s rural areas is, where a majority of the electorate lives.

    Voters tied as serfs to their landowners have traditionally voted for their caste and biradari. PTI, with no links to the biradari system has promised to break that hold. In the cities there a sense of a newly mobilized voting class that has long been enfranchised to vote but has not felt compelled to make it to a polling station on elections day. Outside a polling station where workers were setting up the booths, three men sat outside discussing the potential election results.

    “It’s going to be a hung parliament,” said Omar Farooq, 48, an electrician. “I’ve been listening to the radio all morning. ” “Nonsense,” said his friend, Asif Ali, 36. “It’s going to be an Imran Khan sweep. He’s going to take the entire country.”

  • Pakistan Votes In Landmark Election, Coalition Govt Likely

    Pakistan Votes In Landmark Election, Coalition Govt Likely

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Despite a bloody campaign marred by Taliban attacks, Pakistan was holding historic elections on Saturday pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister once exiled by the army and an incumbent blamed for power blackouts and inflation. Polls opened on Saturday morning across the nation in what is a closely watched race to determine the fate of this nuclear-armed country crucial to stability in the region.

    The vote marks the first time in Pakistan’s 65-year history that a civilian government has completed its full term and handed over power in democratic elections. Previous governments have been toppled by military coups or sacked by presidents allied with the powerful army. Deadly violence struck again on Friday, with a pair of bombings against election offices in northwest Pakistan that killed three people and a shooting that killed a candidate in the southern city of Karachi.

    More than 130 people have been killed in the run-up to the vote, mostly secular party candidates and workers. Most attacks have been traced to Taliban militants, who have vowed to disrupt a democratic process they say runs counter to Islam. The vote is being watched closely by Washington since the US relies on the country of 180 million people for help in fighting Islamic militants and negotiating an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

    The rise of former cricket star Imran Khan, who has almost mythical status in Pakistan, has challenged the dominance of the country’s two main political parties, making the outcome of the election very hard to call. “I think it is the most unpredictable election Pakistan has ever had,” said Moeed Yusuf, South Asia adviser at the United States Institute of Peace.

    “The two-party dominance has broken down, and now you have a real third force challenging these parties.” The election of both the national and provincial assemblies comes at a time of widespread despair in Pakistan, as the country suffers from weak economic growth, rampant electricity and gas shortages, and a deadly Taliban insurgency. The bombings that killed three people on Friday occurred in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, a major sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban.

    The blasts also wounded 15 people, said intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The candidate who was gunned down in Karachi, Shakil Ahmed, was running as an independent for the provincial assembly, said police officer Mirza Ahmed Baig.

    There is concern that the violence could benefit Islamist parties and those who take a softer line toward the militants, including Khan and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, because they were able to campaign more freely. The government said it would deploy 600,000 security personnel on election day.

    After more than a decade in the political wilderness, the Oxford-educated Khan has emerged as a force in the last two years with the simple message of “change.” He has tapped into the frustrations of millions of Pakistanis – especially urban middle class youth – who believe the traditional politicians have been more interested in enriching themselves through corruption than governing.

    The two main parties that have dominated politics – the Pakistan People’s Party, which led the most recent government, and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N – have ruled the country a total of five times in the past 25 years. Khan has also struck a chord by criticizing Pakistan’s unpopular alliance with the US and controversial American drone attacks against Islamic militants in the country’s northwest tribal region.

    “I am happy to vote for the person of my choice,” said Mohammed Ayub, who was the first man to vote at a polling station in Islamabad. “I am voting for Imran as he is a strong voice against wrongs.” Support for the 60-year-old Khan may have increased out of sympathy following a freak accident this week at a political rally in which he fell 15 feet (4.5 meters) off a forklift, fracturing three vertebrae and a rib. He is expected to make a full recovery and seems to be making the most of the accident.

    The party has repeatedly aired an interview he did from his hospital bed hours after the fall as a paid advertisement on TV. Nobody is sure how effective he will be in translating his widespread popularity into votes, especially considering he boycotted the 2008 election and only got one seat in 2002. Turnout will be critical, especially among the youth.

    Almost half of Pakistan’s more than 80 million registered voters are under the age of 35, but young people have often stayed away from the polls in the past. Khan faces a stiff challenge from the two main parties, which have spent decades honing vote-getting systems based on feudal ties and political patronage, such as granting supporters government jobs. Because of the strength of this old-style politics and unhappiness with the outgoing government, many analysts see the Pakistan Muslim League-N as the front-runner in the election.

    Sharif has twice served as prime minister and is best known for testing Pakistan’s first nuclear weapon in 1998. Sharif was toppled in a military coup by then-army chief General Pervez Musharraf in 1999 and spent years in exile in Saudi Arabia before returning to the country in 2007. His party, known for its pro-business policies, came in second in the 2008 elections and is seen as more religiously conservative than the Pakistan People’s Party

  • Terror Strikes Bangalore; 16 Injured

    Terror Strikes Bangalore; 16 Injured

    BANGALORE (TIP): At least 16 persons, including 11 policemen, were injured in a bomb blast near the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s state office in the Malleswaram area of the city on April 17. The blast later triggered a mudslinging fest among politicians in the poll-bound Karnataka.

    Police personnel bore the brunt of the blast triggered by an IED mounted on a two-wheeler. Five civilians, including three women and two teenagers, were among the injured. Fire tenders rushed to the scene to douse the fire and the police combed the area with sniffer dogs. National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials and forensic teams were also present at the scene to look for clues. The explosion comes on the anniversary of a series of blasts outside the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in 2010 that forced the shifting of IPL matches from Bangalore to Mumbai. Describing the blast as a “clear act of terror”, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R Ashok said it was targeted at the party workers and its leaders. “It is a clear act of terror… It is targeted at the BJP, our senior leaders and workers,” Ashoka said. “State and central-level leaders keep coming to the party office for meetings in connection with the Assembly elections.

    The bomb was meant for them,” he said. Ashok said the date of the blast coincided with the Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts three years ago. The police would study this angle too during its investigations, he added. Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah said the blast could be the handiwork of the BJP to attract the sympathy of voters. This charge was furiously refuted by Bangalore (South) MP and former union minister Anantha Kumar and other BJP functionaries. “A bomb-like material on a motorbike exploded around 10.30 am, injuring 16 persons, including 11 policemen, near the BJP office at Malleswaram,” state DGP Lalrokhuma Pachau said. “The injuries are not serious.

    The injured are being treated in a nearby government hospital,” Pachau added. “We do not know the type of material or bomb used in the blast. It is under investigation. The NIA and forensic experts are examining the charred vehicles,” he said. The motorcycle suspected to have been used in the blast bore a Tamil Nadu registration number and was parked between two cars. The explosion ripped through the twowheeler and charred both cars. The explosion also shattered the windowpanes of houses in the vicinity. BJP spokesperson Prakash, who was at the party office when the bomb went off, said they heard a loud noise. No senior leader of the BJP was in the office at the time of the blast, he added. The BJP used the incident to target the Election Commission of India, which had transferred senior police officers, including the police commissioner, of the city recently

  • Clinical Super Kings Thump Delhi

    Clinical Super Kings Thump Delhi

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In the school of Chennai Super Kings cricket, they swear by a formula. Ten times six plus ten times 10 equals a winning total on a slow pitch. The corollary is, ten times six often begets ten times ten. On April 17, Super Kings followed that formula like frontbenching geeks. They reached 60 for 1 in 10 overs, then switched gears to score 109 in the last 10 with Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni turning it on like only they can. The chase was killed by the time Virender Sehwag joined David Warner and Mahela Jayawardene back in the dugout. Delhi Daredevils have lost all of their six matches in this year’s IPL.

    It was an all too familiar sight with Hussey back in the side and Super Kings biding their time at the start of the match, sizing up their prey. Suresh Raina seemed to struggle to find his touch a bit, but they reached that preliminary 60 in 10 without much drama. Just like that Raina drove Umesh Yadav over cover in the 11th over, and Super Kings were on their way. In the next over, when Hussey pulled Ajit Agarkar over midwicket for a six, his strike rate finally crossed a run a ball. Despite Raina’s wicket, the five overs immediately after the 10th went for 9, 14, 11, 10 and 12. A bit of it had to do with Dhoni, who not only finally came out to bat at four, but came with the switch flicked on that told him he didn’t need to block at the start of the innings. The first ball Dhoni faced he pulled disdainfully through midwicket for four, and you knew bad things were going to happen to bowlers. And then, horror of horrors, Agarkar, one of the best fielders among Indian quicks, dropped him at long-off.

    Dhoni would have gone for 17 off 10 had it been taken. That was also a period when Daredevils were trying to play games with that formula of ten times 10. That Yadav over brought only seven, and in the next over Irfan Pathan conceded just four of the first five balls. Hussey, though, drilled the last one through long-off to reopen the flood gates. He went from 24 off 27 to 65 not out off 50. And Dhoni, by the time he played a dot ball he had reached 32 off 15, and would go on to add 12 off eight more.

    The thing with Daredevils, though, is you can’t count them out lest one of their big three has a crazy day with the bat. Haryana quick Mohit Sharma, coming back like Hussey, quickly put paid to that. First he got a bottom edge from Warner, and then had Sehwag holing out to deep midwicket. In between, Chris Morris got Jayawardene lbw. After that Dwayne Bravo kept taking catches and danced into the night.

  • Gavaskar, Not Sachin Tendulkar, In Dickie Bird’s Test Xi

    Gavaskar, Not Sachin Tendulkar, In Dickie Bird’s Test Xi

    BANGALORE (TIP): Umpiring legend Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird is someone who believes respect cannot be bought, but earned. While some of the cricketing world’s greatest stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara surely have his respect, gaining entry into his all-time greatest Test XI is a tougher feat than they would have imagined. Picking the side for a British daily ahead of his 80th birthday on Friday, Bird suggested he has no issues leaving out Aussie legend Donald Bradman too. Curiously, the top-10 run makers in Tests don’t figure in Bird’s line-up. His team is captained by Pakistani pacer Imran Khan, whose knowledge of the game “was outstanding”.

    Sunil Gavaskar is the only Indian in the XI as he “was one of the two best opening bats I saw”. The list has South African batting great Barry Richards and his countryman Graeme Pollock, three Australians in Greg Chappell, Shane Warne and Dennis Lillee, as many West Indians in Garfield Sobers, Viv Richards and Lance Gibbs and a lone Englishman – wicketkeeper Alan Knott. Apparently, Bird gave Barry and Pollock the benefit of the doubt, stating that both careers were cruelly curtailed by the apartheid.

    Having said that, Barry’s stint with Hampshire in county cricket would have given Bird enough reason to pick him for his playing XI. That he has chosen to give the famed West Indies pace quartet – Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts – the miss too, is interesting, as is his choice of captain at the expense of Clive Lloyd or his own countryman Mike Brearley. His spinners – Shane Warne and Lance Gibbs – are doubtless world class but then his picks may lead to furrowed brows among Indians as the spin quartet of the 70s – Bishan Bedi, BS Chandrashekar, EAS Prasanna and Venkataraghavan – had held the world in a thrall.

    Close to two decades after he hung up his famous white coat, the cricketing world can’t help but talk fondly of the Englishman who became the game’s first superstar umpire. His quirky antics as a “not-outer” and strong values while playing the “benefit of the doubt” card made Bird one of the most respected invigilators of the game’s laws. “You can’t buy respect, you have to earn it,” Bird was quoted as saying. “And I can honestly tell you I had not one problem with any professional cricketer. If I go to Pakistan, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad invite me round for a meal at their place. If I go to Australia the first man to ring me is Dennis Lillee. If I go to West Indies, the first man on the phone will be Garfield Sobers, the greatest that’s ever lived.

    You’ll never see another like him, not in your lifetime,” the newspaper quoted Bird as saying. A former batsman who made only two hundreds in 93 first-class appearances thanks to his anxiety issues, Bird always fancied himself as a player and compared his skills with that of Geoffrey Boycott. Bird lamented in the interview the end of cricket’s glory days with technological invasion putting paid to decisions going unchallenged and players not having a bit of a laugh on the ground. “The characters have gone out of all sports haven’t they?” he was quoted as saying. Bird, however, admitted that his heart still belonged to the game. “It’s still the greatest game in the world, cricket,” he said.

  • Navjot Sidhu suffocated by politics, says wife

    Navjot Sidhu suffocated by politics, says wife

    AMRITSAR (TIP): Amritsar BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, on April 11 said her cricketer-turned-politician husband feels “suffocated in the system for his honesty and this has led to his alienation within the party”. She said Sidhu isn’t even allowed to select his own people in BJP’s Amritsar unit.

    Kaur, who is a BJP MLA, said, “Being in a system, you need to be given liberty to choose your people, and if you don’t get that then the system suffocates you.” Earlier in the day she had posted a Facebook comment saying, “Sidhu has returned to the profession where he is respected”; in other words cricket – triggering speculation that he was ending his political career. Asked whether Sidhu would quit politics, Kaur said, “A person lives where he gets respect; we are in politics for respect and we don’t need anything more than that.” Kaur said she was reacting to messages on Facebook saying, ‘Sidhu gum gaya, gayab ho gaya’ (Sidhu has disappeared). “That was the trigger. I wanted to convey that he has not disappeared, he felt suffocated and has gone back to cricket and television,” she said. “He was suffocated because he couldn’t adjust his own trusted people even in the Amritsar BJP,” said Kaur.

    For the past six months, Sidhu has remained largely out of Amritsar. Recalling how Sidhu was pulled out of a TV reality show and asked to campaign in Gujarat, she said, “He suffered a loss of Rs 6 crore for the party. He wanted to live in Amritsar, serve the people of his constituency and make his own team… If he has gone away, there must be some strong reason. He is not an irresponsible man.” Asked how long Sidhu would remain away from politics, she replied that it was for the party to decide. If he gets honour, it’s alright. Else he is happy with his cricketing career. Rejecting the possibility of switching political parties, Kaur said, “We both are not politicians. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who brought Sidhu into politics. We are not going to forget that.” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the party had nothing to say in light of her “clarification”. When TOI contacted Kaur, she said she stood by her day’s statements.

  • Deepika To Be Cynosure Of All Eyes This Cricket Season

    Deepika To Be Cynosure Of All Eyes This Cricket Season

    Deepika Padukone, who was once a hot favourite with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, will be the cynosure of all eyes this cricket season. She is likely to be seen with Shah Rukh Khan, when he makes an appearance with his IPL team at the beginning of the tournament. DP is expected to be with Ranbir Kapoor at the closing ceremony because her Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani releases on May 31 and high visibility at that point will be a good thing for her and the film.

  • IPL Player Jesse Ryder In Coma After Bar Brawl

    IPL Player Jesse Ryder In Coma After Bar Brawl

    WELLINGTON (TIP): New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder lies in coma after being badly beaten up by a group of men near a bar in Christchurch early March 28, police said. “Four men” attacked Ryder as he left Aikman’s Bar in Merivale shortly after midnight (around 12.30 a.m. local) after having “a few drinks” with Wellington Firebirds teammates, The New Zealand Herald reported. The “brutal assault” has left Ryder in an induced coma with a fractured skull and multiple injuries. The left-hand batsman, who has been involved in alcohol related incidents in the past, was due to leave for India to represent Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League beginning April 3.

    An eyewitness described the attack on the cricketer as “sickening”. “Just around 12.30 a.m., I look up and three or four guys were attacking Jesse,” Emma- Louise Ferguson was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “There didn’t seem to be any argument or anything. They were just punching him, they had him on the ground and they were kicking him hard. It was unbelievably brutal. It was literally right outside the door of the bar,” she said. “When he was on the ground, I couldn’t actually see him but I could hear the they were kicking him as hard as they could. I know about impact, I’ve seen fights and been in (charity boxing) fights and this was sickening.

    I can’t understand what could have caused them to attack him in such a way,” she added. Aikman’s Bar has handed over the CCTV footage of the incident to the police, who are trying to find who the assailants were, the report said. The attackers ran away when emergency services were called. Heath Mills of New Zealand Cricket Players Association wished Ryder a speedy recovery and said the assault was not “alcohol fuelled” even though the southpaw has had related problems in the past.

  • Building his dreams: Mihir Patel

    Building his dreams: Mihir Patel

    “Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities”.
    Very few people truly love their jobs let it alone be a passion. But the just sworn in new President of the prestigious Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA), Mihir Patel not only loves his job but works everyday with a burning passion. He is the President of Monpat Constructions Ltd., and a prominent member of the Indian American community. He spoke to The Indian Panorama correspondent Pooja Premchandran in an exclusive interview at his office in Flushing, New York. Mihir B. Patel is perhaps one of the wellestablished engineers in the Indian American community. A firm believer in the philosophy of ‘one life-live well’, Mihir Patel bats away the problems of his life and work. After a bit of struggling start, Patel has come a long way. “I am one of the founding members of Monpat Construction. The start to that hasn’t been easy but I sure am happy now. I came here and started working at a construction group. Currently we work on many New York City projects. Now I am the 15th President at SIAEA and that’s additional responsibility.


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    But I am more than happy to take up this responsibility,” says a smiling Patel. Born in Mehsana, Gujarat, Mihir was always inclined towards doing Engineering. He set out to complete his Bachelors in Engineering from Birla Vishwakarma Mahvidyala in 1982. In 1986, he married Bhavana Patel and he now has a son, Priyank Patel, who is also an architect. Mohan Jetwani founded the Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects or SIAEA in 1981. The Association immediately gained popularity among the Indian American engineers and architects who were continually looking for a larger umbrella to share their common goals. Patel is ready to further the valor of the organization. “They sowed the seed for this Association.

    Although it has blossomed already, my task is to make sure it remains that way. I need to carry its name and glory much further,” says Patel. Mihir also plans to get the Indian-American youth on board with SIAEA. He adds, “We plan to get many youngsters also inducted to our organization. We plan to provide them with scholarships to Engineering schools and once they graduate we will orient them to our organization.” Unlike many who see the seat of power as just another feather in their caps, Mihir resolves to change a few things within the SIAEA. He vows to accomplish a few of his own personal ambitions by using all the Presidential power that he is allotted to use. “My personal goal under this Presidency would be to open new chapters, facilitate grassroot level meetings, get more young engineers and architects involved. That would be priority. This was also the dream of Nayan Parikh, so now my task is to fulfill them,” Mihir stresses.

    In the midst of a housing crisis where the prices are sky-rocketing, Mihir has not lost all hope to provide housing for all. His personal ambition is to provide housing options to all sectors of the society. “My biggest ambition is to provide housing options for the society and not just specifically the Indian community. I think housing or shelter is a basic need for us all. I, along with the SIAEA have been trying to work on this need for the past six years. But we require continual monetary support for this. I am hoping that in these two years as the SIAEA President I will be able to bring us closer to fulfilling that dream,” says Mihir. He explains that he is relentlessly pursuing this aspiration and he hopes that it gets fulfilled. While most of us cannot handle just one job, Mihir eases through his role as President to two organizations. He attributes the successful organizing of his office and work projects to his brother. He explains, “Well my company is well organized and its very well established. I have my brother also helping me out and my staff does a wonderful job to settle things in a good way. So it gives me the motivation to come to a hassle free environment. As far as SIAEA is concerned, just being part of this group is an honor.

    I get all the respect and admiration I could ask for from SIAEA and in turn I strive to live up to the organizations dreams and valor.” Mihir also learnt long ago that all work and no play is not the way to go. He still remains a lively and active man despite the mounting economic crisis and additional work pressure. He explains that that he takes ‘the edge off’ by playing various sports. “I am most passionate about sports. I play cricket, tennis, golf and other active sports.

    I have made a small cricket pitch in my backyard. I had the fortune of having Mr. Kapil Dev come there and play once. It’s simple. With all the work you do, you need to find something that relaxes you. I need that relaxation after its 5 in the evening.” Mihir draws all his inspiration from his father. He recalls his father’s debacle when he was told that he couldn’t be an engineer. Since, then his father resolved to make Mihir an engineer.

    Mihir says, “My father easily is my mentor. When he was young, he aspired to be an engineer and run his own company in America. But sadly, my grandfather did not have the means to support him. So he always willed me to be an engineer and I did just that. Even today, I stress on the value of education. I always believe that education is the only way you can succeed in today’s world.” It usually takes a life changing experience for us to transform our manner of thinking and living.

    On being asked about Mihir’s life changing experience, he jokingly tells us, “I think ever since the 2009 recession I have been having life changing experiences. But seriously, initially we used to get regular work orders from agencies, but now we need to dig a little deeper to find work. Sadly though, the situation does not seem to be improving.” The 2009 recession has stunted many companies growth and many have given up. But Mihir Patel carries on due to his loving support from his family and friends. “See, problems will always come.

    It is never going to stop. I find that a good support from friends who are loyal and committed to you, it is easier to solve your problems,” he advises. In the last 20 years, Monpat Constructions have completed work worth $100 million. All his projects are close to his heart but two are very distinctive. “Currently, I am working on a project at the Otisville Correction facility. Although there are many other projects we are currently undertaking, the Otisville prison project or any other project that you do at the prison, deserves a special mention. Working at a prison is completely different.

    You get a bare minimum of 5 hours to work every day and you need to somehow complete your project by deadline. Also, there are strict rules on how many tools you can carry inside and how you can carry them. Even our Super’s presence and absence must be notified to authorities. So, construction around the prison is definitely a more challenging job for me,” Mihir adds.

    He also tell us about a second project called “Challenge America’ where the debris from the 9/11 tragedy was used to make the Houston park near FDR. Mihir explains, “This project was a joint effort of Erin Brokovich and Mayor Giuliani. We provided the roofing to this project. I decided to contribute to this project mainly because we all were overcome with the sense of needing to do something after the harsh 9/11 tragedy.” Like many other prominent members of our Indian American community, Mihir Patel also urges our community to grow stronger and stand united from within. “I find that the Gujarati community is very active and very well behaved. This is a group comprising of very well educated and very well established people. This is also true about the other Indian communities we have in the US. However, there is a problem with unity in our Indian society.

    Not only are we disunited but we also have the nature of being displeased when others succeed. I wish we could change that aspect.” But like any other Indian, family is the most important thing to him. “I only pray that in good or bad times, I have the support and presence of family and close friends. For me, family is of utmost importance. Everything else is secondary,” he concluded.

  • Delhi Police Arrest Suspected Hizbul Operative, Foil Terror Attack In National Capital

    Delhi Police Arrest Suspected Hizbul Operative, Foil Terror Attack In National Capital

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The special cell of Delhi Police foiled a terror attack in the national capital after apprehending a suspected Hizbul Mujahideen operative from Gorakhpur, near Nepal border, in Uttar Pradesh. The suspect has been identified as Liaqat Ali who ‘came’ to Delhi by Kosi Express, a source in Delhi Police said. Liaqat Ali is considered a hardcore terrorist, who initially underwent rigorous training in Pakistan, and has been associated with Hizbul Mujahideen for the last 15 years, the source added.

    He has been involved in several operations. Based on inputs provided by him, the cops raided a guest house in Jama Masjid area on March 21 night. Special police teams and bomb squads reached the Hazi Arafat guest house in Jama Masjid area of central Delhi at 10.30pm and cordoned it off. They recovered assault rifles, hand grenades and more than 2kg of explosives from room number 304 of the guest house. The room was later sealed.

    The ammunition was delivered in the room by a third person and was reportedly to be used by Liaqat Ali, cops say. Two of the guest house staff were taken into custody for questioning but were let off later after the sleuths found nothing against them. They provided information about the identity of the accused who visited the guest house. The cops suspect that the terrorists had planned a huge strike in the national capital to avenge the executions of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Mumbai terror attack convict Azmal Kasab.

    The officers, though, have not confirmed if the cricket Test match between India and Austrailia at Ferozeshah Kotla was the target of the terrorists. The stadium is barely 4 km away from the hotel. Liaqat Ali has told the cops about the presence of his associates in the national capital after which a manhunt has been launched to nab them.

  • India Clinch Series After Winning Third Test By Six Wickets

    India Clinch Series After Winning Third Test By Six Wickets

    MOHALI (TIP): India clinched the Test series against a spirited Australia with their biggest-ever margin after recording a nervewracking six-wicket victory in the third cricket Test to take a 3-0 lead in the four-match series on March 18. Never in their 81-year-old Test history, have India won more than two matches against Australia in a single series.

    After bowling out Australia for 223 in their second innings, India chased down the target of 133 with 15 balls remaining before close of play in a match which saw a nail-biting finish.

    The hosts encountered some tense moments in their run chase before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed three fours off Mitchell Starc in a row to seal the match in India’s favour much to the delight of the home crowd. Earlier, it was a defiant 65-minute last-wicket stand between Starc and Xavier Doherty, during which they consumed 18.1 overs for 44 runs to ensure the Indians, at least, don’t run away with the game before the start of the 15 mandatory overs.

    When the final hour started, India required 45 runs from a minimum of 15 overs. They completed the chase losing the wickets of Murali Vijay (26), Cheteshwar Pujara (28), Virat Kohli (34) and Sachin Tendulkar (21). Dhoni (18) and Ravindra Jadeja (8) were at the crease when the winning runs were scored. In the process, India reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy, which they relinquished after a 0-4 drubbing in Australia last year. The victory was achieved on the back of some fine batting by debutant Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, both of them scoring big centuries in India’s first innings. Dhawan smashed 187, his 100 coming off a mere 85 balls making him the quickest-ever debutant to reach the three-figure mark.

  • Shikhar Dhawan delight at dashing debut century

    Shikhar Dhawan delight at dashing debut century

    MOHALI (TIP): Shikhar Dhawan has described his record Test debut innings as a dream come true after smashing an unbeaten 185. Dhawan, who replaced his statemate Virender Sehwag in the side, scored the fastest century by a Test match debutant, reaching three figures in just 85 balls as the tourists toiled.

    He hit 33 fours and two sixes in his 168-ball knock and is now just 15 short of becoming the first Indian to score a double century on debut. Alongside him, Murali Vijay was quietly progressing towards his second consecutive Test hundred and was not out on 83 overnight. The 283-run unbeaten first-wicket stand between Dhawan and Vijay was the highest by an Indian pair against Australia. After the day’s play, Dhawan said: “It feels very good. It was a dream for me to score so well on my debut.

    I’ve been working hard since I was dropped after I played my last one-day international for India. I worked really hard and changed myself and became a more mature player. “I was waiting for a chance. I did very well in the domestic circuit and was waiting for a chance to play in international cricket. I guess that went my way. “I wasn’t really playing in a hurry. The fours were going on their own after the ball hit the bat. But I guess I was in a good flow today. I felt my shot selection was good and I played according to how I’d assessed the wicket. I didn’t feel that I rushed things. “I still remember when I debuted for India in ODIs and got out on zero against Australia.

    And then [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni and [Suresh] Raina told me that the players who’ve got out on zero for India on debut, they went really big. This time I was nervous that it was again Australia on my Test debut, because I’d scored zero then. So I was a bit nervous. But everything went well and I was really happy that I grabbed this opportunity and scored a century.” Dhawan made the most of the generosity shown by the Australian team since he was technically run out even before the first ball was bowled. As Starc ran down for the opening delivery, the ball slipped from his grip and the hit the stumps and Dhawan was short of the crease.

    The Australians, however, preferred to have a laugh instead of appealing. Dhawan was severe on Moises Henriques, Lyon and left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who leaked 18 runs in the 23rd over. Dhawan completed his century in just 85 balls with an almost suicidal single and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

  • The NRIs: A Life of Dilemma

    The NRIs: A Life of Dilemma

    Ihave been living abroad for almost half of my 24 years of existence. Being an NRI for a substantial amount of time, I know the kind of lifestyle’s that most of them lead.Well, to start with, they are just a bunch of normal people who live abroad (not necessarily “developed” in the holistic sense).They can be split broadly into two distinct categories: The Never Return to India and The Now Return to India.

    The Never Return is a unique breed of people. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that they think they are the most fortunate people in this world. For them India is a third world country which is confined to those once-in-afew- years visits for the sake of completing the formality of seeing their loved ones. For them India is a chaotic, unhygienic and polluted place where they can’t live for a second without Bisleri water and where the sound of honking is noise pollution. Having said this, they don’t take the Indianness out of them because it will make them look out of sync with their identity – with their colonial masters – once they go back to their “holy” land. As such, anything to do with Indian “culture” needs to be imbibed – oops culture which suits their convenience, not culture in its purest form.

    Essentially, for this bunch of people being Indian is an opportunistic tool to sustain and increase their economic and social status in the land of the colonial masters. Now, let’s come to the Now Return category. This constitutes a considerable proportion of people. They are actually in love with their homeland so much that they want to come back as soon as possible (or that’s what they say!!) They enroll their kids in Indian international schools so that they are in line with the Indian schooling system. They make sure that the kids learn Carnatic music, dance, cricket, etc.

    For this bunch of guys, the Indianness factor imbibed within their families is not a formality but something that they yearn for immensely. Stuck in the vicious cycle of money and social pressures, they are not able to break away from the social barriers to return back home. As such, they look for ways to imbibe these qualities within their kin and tell people back home that their kids are more culturally inclined than any Indian kid could be.While in some cases this might be true, in most of the cases these are statements to satisfy the self from the guilt of not being able to return to their roots. So what is the big deal? The big deal is that despite their vast difference in approach to living they share some common, pertinent issues.

    One among the many issues is excessive academic expectations confronting the children – courtesy their NRI parents.Whether it is getting into Harvard or being the top in the school, there is no dearth of obsessive competition. The poor second generation kid is subject to immense pressure and his/her talents is more or less confined to the narrow path of engineering and not other streams of study. Not only does this reduce the appetite for the children, it makes their options and mindset for the future narrow. It is more of the NRI parent imposing what “they” want to be rather than what the “children” want to be. The main issue is the massive expectation they have from their children and therein lies the crux of the next issue confronting the NRIs. The default thinking in most of the parents’ mindset is that since they have invested immensely in inculcating the “Indianness” in them, the children would in turn be the “goody goody” souls in the decisions they make in their adult life. While it is fair enough to argue that the Indianness inculcated would make the children more in sync with the Indian lifestyle, the fact of the matter is they are growing up in a completely different country.

    In today’s world, the social thinking of the younger generation is made up by the attitudes of their friends around them and not by the “default” tutorial classes of Indian culture. Of course, there are exceptions but they are just exceptions. For example, there is no point in the NRI parent living in a country for 20 years and then expecting the children to grow up the way “they want” and marry the person whom they think is good enough. Expectations such as marital affairs are a crucial part of the illusion that is confronting the NRIs.

    It is very crucial that they come to terms with the reality and set their priorities straight in life. One needs to set their priorities and take a call on such issues. If they feel their culture and their way of thinking needs to be followed, then they should pack off and head back home. In an era of blossoming growth back home in India, heading back home is an economically practical solution and if one throws away the obsession with the foreign social “status”, I do not see any hindrance in coming back. You cannot expect to have the cake and the cherry, can you? If one is interested in staying abroad, then one should be prepared and be ready for the consequences (irrespective of its merit) with regards to the choice made by their children.

    While it is a duty for the children to keep the family in confidence on such issues, the realityof life is that a majority of the younger generation rarely looks beyond the self while taking such decisions. Essentially, the crux of the issue confronting all NRIs is the weight of expectation one thrusts on the younger generation and the illusion with which they subject themselves oblivious of the practical consequences of the choices that they have made in their lives. Whether one is in the Never Return or Now Return category, the NRIs need to confront issues head on rather than live in a illusion of their own!

  • Terrorists attack CRPF camp in Srinagar

    Terrorists attack CRPF camp in Srinagar

    5 jawans, two militants killed; 7 injured
    SRINAGAR (TIP): In the first suicide attack in Kashmir in three years, militants on March 13 stormed a CRPF camp in Bemina area of Srinagar, killing five jawans and injuring seven others. The two militants, who carried out the attack, were also killed. “Five jawans have been martyred and seven have been injured,” a senior police officer told reporters at the spot. He said it was not clear whether there were two or three militants who hurled grenades and opened indiscriminate firing at the CRPF camp. “Two fidayeen (suicide militants) were neutralized and searches are going on,” the officer said. He said the group affiliation and identity of the militants killed in the incident was a matter of investigation. The CRPF camp at Bemina is surrounded by the Police Public School and many government buildings. However, the school was closed due to strike called by separatists in support of their demand for return of mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. This is the first suicide attack in Kashmir in the last three years with the last such incident taking place in January 2010. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. On March 2, militants had shot dead two policemen in Handwara area of Kupwara district. “Initial reports say that five CRPF men have lost their lives.

    The two attackers were also killed in the attack,” Sheeri said. The official said that it was yet to be confirmed whether it was a suicide attack, or gunmen directly stormed the camp firing bullets and grenades. The chief minister said four to five CRPF jawans were injured in the attack. “Besides three civilians were also injured– they had splinter injuries and they have been hospitalised”, he said, replying to the issue raised by members Balwant Singh Mankotia and Irfan Shah in the Legislative Assembly. “It was a fidayeen attack– both the militants involved in the attack have been killed — the attack has been neutralised”, Omar said.

    Militants disguised as cricketers
    Militants disguised as cricketers killed five paramilitary police in an ambush in Srinagar on Wednesday, senior officers said.

    Two gunmen, suspected to be from one of the pro-Pakistan or separatist groups active locally, were shot dead at the scene, an open area of land in the Bemina district of Srinagar where children were playing cricket.

    A senior police officer, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the militants pretended to be coming for a game but then took out weapons from a cricket bag, opened fire and threw a grenade at a group of unarmed officers. “They first mixed up with the children playing cricket,” said the officer, who was not authorised to speak to the media.

    Hizbul Mujahideen claims responsibility
    Militants disguised as cricketers killed five paramilitary police in an ambush in Srinagar on Wednesday, officials said, in the deadliest attack for nearly five years. Two gunmen from the local pro-Pakistan group Hizbul Mujahideen, which claimed the attack, were shot dead after the assault on a playing field in the Bemina district of Srinagar that is home to a police school and barracks.

  • Can The Australians Regroup And Rise?

    Can The Australians Regroup And Rise?

    Suspension has hit the visitors hard; new opening pair to take guard for India
    MOHALI (TIP): Transition period for both the teams but hour of realisation for one as India and Australia enter the decisive phase of the Test series. India has dominated the two Tests thus far against an opposition that has looked short of confidence and woefully bereft of substance on challenging pitches.

    How strongly Michael Clarke and his band of novices react to the situation here would mean a lot for the Australian camp. This is a bizarre state for the Australian cricket. The team is hardly playing cricket… The Test series, touted as a hugely competitive fixture in the international calendar, has not really lived up to its hype and should have a bearing on the popularity of the longer format of the game. Australia winning 4-0 at home and India threatening to pay back by the same coin cannot be the best advertisement for Test cricket.

    Disturbing trend
    The Indians can’t play seam and bounce and the Aussies have come a cropper against spin. It effectively conveys a disturbing trend that most teams, with the exception of South Africa and England, have forgotten the art of winning away from home. “Good teams win overseas,” Australia coach Micky Arthur said the other day. True. But modern cricket teams have shown a perceptible slide in quality when playing overseas. Clive Lloyd and Steve Waugh have led from the front, registering memorable wins away.

    Sourav Ganguly, too, had a decent record but Clarke and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have not been able to match their home performances with those overseas. The key to survival, as obviously believed by most captains, is to order favourable pitches at home.

    Defining knocks
    Australia has played ordinary cricket on this tour against some motivated stuff from India where Dhoni and Pujara have produced defining knocks to swing the match India’s way at Chennai and Hyderabad. Australia has prepared poorly. Such a contrast from the Alastair Cook-led English team which taught India a few lessons in playing the slow ball! With the exception of Clarke, the Australian batting has appeared clueless against the Indian bowlers on dry and doctored pitches. Mediocrity has been rampant in the Australian ranks as their batsmen have danced to the tune of Indian spinners. The lack of grit and class was so pronounced in the Australian approach.

    Acts of indiscipline, costing four players a place in this match, have hit the Australian camp hard. If it manages to regroup and rise, the series could come alive. On the eve of the third Test match, though, India looks set to savage the opposition as ruthlessly as in the last two encounters.

    A new opening pair, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, will take guard on Thursday at the PCA Stadium against an attack minus James Pattinson. Even if Dhoni may not be inclined to disturb the winning combination, a toss up between Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha can’t be ruled out.

    The pitch, with cracks distinctly visible, is likely to break and a two-paced nature could well prove lethal for the batsmen to survive. Australia may leave out off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty in case Mathew Wade reports fit. Brad Haddin had a batting stint in the ‘nets’ since he is expected to bolster the batting with a possible inclusion of Steve Smith.

    Rains predicted
    Cloudy day and showers in the afternoon have been predicted but one can look forward to some intense cricket provided Australia lives up to the gritty image that signified Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, in whose name the series trophy is named.

    The teams
    India: M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Pragyan Ojha and Ashoke Dinda.

    Australia: Michael Clarke (capt.), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Matthew Wade, Brad Haddin, Moises Henriques, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Xavier Doherty, Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith.

  • Movie Review-Kai Po Che!

    Movie Review-Kai Po Che!

    Cast: Raj Kumar, Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh, Amrita Puri
    Direction: Abhishek Kapoor
    Genre: Drama
    Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes

    STORY: Three close friends – Govind, Ishaan and Omi — seem inseparable. But can they overcome the odds to stay together for life?

    Movie Review: Welcome to another sensitive and superlative friendship film. Like other memorable cinema in this category, Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Rang De Basanti(2006), Rock On!! (from the same director, Abhishek Kapoor, in 2008) and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Kai Po Che, too, is a story of male bonding in the time of the devastating Gujarat earthquake and the disturbing Godhra riots. Based on Chetan Bhagat’s The 3 Mistakes of My Life, in his second outing,Abhishek Kapoor raises the bar by giving us a thoroughly enjoyable film that showcases the strong emotions between the three protagonists who are boisterous, ballistic and at times plain bored. The film captures their trials and tribulations in the post-college, pre-what-career-to-pursue period.

    They have two passions — cricket and their camaraderie. And two of them (Ishaan and Omi) also have concerned parents who want them to find direction quickly. They find temporary succour when they turn their passion for the sport into a business venture; opening a store selling sports equipment.

    The rebellious Ishaan (whose raison d’etre is cricket) sobers down a bit as he lands an opportunity to impart cricket coaching to the neighbourhood Muslim boy, Ali. But the screenplay gathers momentum when tragedy strikes in the form of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2002 Godhra riots.

    Both these calamities expose the chinks in the armour of the friendship between the boys. They also throw open the can of worms that brought to light the tainted Hindu-Muslim hatred, one of the darkest chapters in the history of Gujarat.

    There is also a nicely handled romantic track between Amrita Puri (Vidya) and Govind that adds a lovely touch to the proceedings. The performances of the three boys – – Sushant Singh Rajput (Ishaan), Raj Kumar Yadav (Govind) and Amit Sadh (Omi) — are the finest one has seen. A special mention for Sushant who has the best role and manages to do full justice to it. Amrita Puri is very likeable. Amit Trivedi’s music is soulful, leaving you mesmerised.

    Despite the disturbing backdrop of death, destruction and politics, Kai Po Che is very likeable. Between tears, you find yourself smiling, because it’s the story of friendship and human triumph above all else.

  • Chennai Knock Dhoni’s Best: Chappell

    Chennai Knock Dhoni’s Best: Chappell

    CHENNAI (TIP): Former Australia captain Greg Chappell has rated MS Dhoni’s double-century in Chennai as his best in Tests. Dhoni’s knock of 224 tilted the scales in India’s favour, according to Chappell, and helped them to a 1-0 lead in the four-match series against Australia. “He has played several memorable knocks in one-day cricket, but this was the best I have seen him play in Test matches,” Chappell told The Times of India. “I have seen him smack a yorker-length delivery from James Anderson for a six. It requires special talent. His success on a crumbling Chennai track stems from his ability to strike the ball hard on pitches where the ball tends to keep low. Had he scored just 124, the match would still have been in the balance. The manner in which he attacked a tiring Australian attack, shielding the tailenders, truly makes him a match-winner.” This was India’s seventh win in the last 21 Tests, five of which have come against West Indies and New Zealand. India lost eight consecutive overseas Tests, and conceded a series at home to England for the first time in 28 years.

    Chappell accepted that the Indian team looked average on their tour of Australia last summer but maintained that Dhoni’s captaincy shouldn’t be under doubt. “It is true that the Indian team under Dhoni looked below par during their tour Down Under, but he has answered his critics in the best possible way. In my book he remains the best man to lead India in all forms of the game. “At a time when players all over the world are struggling to cope with their workload, it is amazing how Dhoni manages to play every game with the same intensity. That he has done it successfully now for five years speaks volumes about Dhoni’s fitness, mental strength as well as his commitment. India are lucky to have him.” Although Australia crumbled under Dhoni’s onslaught to eventually lose by eight wickets, a few of their players had impressed.

    One of them was the debutant Moises Henriques, who scored halfcenturies in both innings, finishing with an unbeaten 81 in the second dig to help prevent an innings defeat. In Henriques, Chappell saw the makings of a long-term allrounder. “It was good to see Henriques coming good at last. He has been on the fringe for a while. I hope he can be the allrounder that Australia have been looking for, particularly after a question mark over Shane Watson’s ability to contribute with the ball.” Regardless of the result of the first Test, Chappell felt the series wouldn’t be onesided. “It will be a close series, but thanks to Dhoni, India do have a significant advantage.”

  • I’ve Made Mistakes, Have Learnt From Them: Harbhajan Singh

    I’ve Made Mistakes, Have Learnt From Them: Harbhajan Singh

    CHENNAI (TIP): The little Sardar whohad Greg Blewett’s off bail flying high 15years ago in Bangalore with a doosra hascome a long way.Harbhajan Singh still remembers hisfirst wicket in Test cricket, as if ithappened yesterday, but there’s no time forhim to delve into nostalgia. The Turbanatoris finally playing his 100th Test match andhe knows if he is not firing straight away,he might not be playing his 101st.

    When somebody asked whether he islooking to recreate the magic of 2001, Bhajjismiled. “There’s no point thinking about itanymore. It was a once-in-a-lifetime series.But yes, I will give my best, but whether Iget 32 wickets or 23, it’s another matter,”Harbhajan said.The off-spinner has seen quite a few upsand downs in his career and is now wiserfor that. “I had made a few mistakes in lifebut I learnt a lot from this roller-coasterride that I had. I have played with so manygreat players — Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid -and they taught me never to give up,” Bhajjisaid, talking about the journey.

    Kumble, too came up for discussionand the offie, with 408 Test wickets, said:”Obviously it was great to have Kumbleon the other side. One thing about himwhich really stood out was his intensity.Even if he was bowling the 30th over, heused to come with the same gusto andthat’s what pushed me as well.”The conversation veered back to his100th Test and the feisty sardar didn’t mindsaying that he would be a bit nervous tostart with.”But once it starts, I think I will befine and look to enjoy the occasion.”He is no longer an automatic choicein the team and does that bother him?Harbhajan smiled again. “Why third? Idon’t mind being the fourth spinnereither, as long as I am playing forIndia.”

    BCCI congrats offie, wants 2001 encore

    The BCCI wants Harbhajan to regain the form of the 2001 series when he bamboozled the Aussies with a bagful of wickets. “Congratulations @harbhajan_singh on playing his 100th Test tomorrow. Let this series be an encore of 2001. Good luck!” BCCI tweeted on February 22, confirming the news of his selection in the playing XI.

  • Sahara Wants Pune Warriors India To Be Based Out Of Kanpur

    Sahara Wants Pune Warriors India To Be Based Out Of Kanpur

    CHENNAI (TIP): Sahara has expressed its desire to the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to move its Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Pune Warriors India, out of the western city due to ongoing tensions between franchise bosses and the Maharashtra Cricket Association. It is understood that members of the PWI management, who were in Chennai during the IPL auctions on Feb 3, have asked the BCCI mandarins that they want their franchise to be based out of Kanpur.

    According to Sahara sources, it is 80% certain that they “won’t play their matches in Pune”. There are, however, some logistical problems regarding Kanpur. Even though a section of the Sahara management is confident that the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur can become their new venue, the fact that it doesn’t have an airport might make things a little difficult. “The nearest airport is in Lucknow and it’s two hours away from Kanpur.

    So, it will be difficult even for the TV crew,” a source said. Therefore, a few other names like Nagpur, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and DY Patil are also being discussed. It is learnt that the name of the franchise might not be changed right away. “It’s not easy to build a brand.

    So they might go slow on the renaming of the franchise,” the source added. There has been a long-standing problem between Sahara and the MCA with the former moving Bombay HC against MCA for “wrongful termination of agreements” with regards to the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

    Pune sign J&K’s Rasool
    Pune have signed J&K off-spinner Parvez Rasool for the forthcoming IPL season. Rasool took 7-45 for Board President’s XI against Australia and has been snapped up by the franchise in an effort to boost its spin attack. “He is a bowling allrounder and we feel he can play an important role for us,” a Pune source said. Rasool will be the first player from J&K to play in the IPL.

  • Is Rest Doing Virat Kohli Any Good?

    Is Rest Doing Virat Kohli Any Good?

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Has the BCCI missed a trick by not including Virat Kohli in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup, or even the India A and Board President’s XI teams which play warm-up matches against Australia? Kohli, arguably India’s brightest new-generation batting hope, hasn’t exactly been in sparkling form this season and a stint in either of these teams could have served him well ahead of the crucial Tests against Australia. Denied match practice by the Indian cricket board, Kohli is now simulating match situations and making crucial technical adjustments ahead of the Tests by training here under long time coach Rajkumar Sharma.

    Although his ODI career so far has been spectacular – he won the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012 – Kohli is aware that doubts remain about his ability to replicate that success in the longer format. Worryingly, his consistency has dipped across formats in recent times: since the unbeaten 128 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2012, he has only two scores above 30 from nine ODIs, including the 77 not out against England in Ranchi.

    In Tests, he got a hundred against England in Nagpur but that knock came after a string of low scores. After a good series against the Kiwis last August, his sequence of scores against England read 19, 14 not out, 19, 7, 6, 20 and finally the 103 in the fourth Test. “It would have been good if he had played in some of the warm-up matches. It was BCCI’s choice. That decision had nothing to do with us,” Sharma told TOI. “Maybe the rest will do him good. Here in the academy, we are simulating Test-match situations.

    I tell Kohli about field placements, like three slips, a gully, even a forward short-leg and he has to adjust his shots accordingly. “We are also working on him leaving a lot of deliveries. Virat tends to push at the ball in ODIs but for the Tests, he has to get rid of the habit. He is a tough guy and a hard worker. He knows he needs a slight temperamentshift for Tests.

    He is focusing on staying longer at the crease, yet scoring briskly.” Former India opener Aakash Chopra, Kohli’s former teammate in the Delhi Ranji team, says the batsman must learn to deal with patches of indifferent form. “He has some technical glitches and there will be stages in his career when Kohli will go through bad form. For example, he has a short, back-andacross forward stride which makes him susceptible to balls that are pitched fuller and moving. More than the Irani Cup, where the quality of Mumbai’s bowling isn’t very good, Kohli and Gautam Gambhir both should have been played in the warmup matches.” Former India all-rounder Madan Lal agrees the BCCI didn’t give this too much thought but is hopeful Kohli will hit form against Australia. “Kohli has the right ideas. I don’t know if he needed rest.

    People groomed on the longer format find it less difficult to adjust to shorter formats. But with so much ODIs and T20 being played, younger international batsmen these days have to consciously make changes for Tests, which is not easy. So the more you play, the better it is.” Every batsman goes through bad form, but the very best can shrug it off sooner than the others. Can Kohli afford another patchy series against Australia?

  • Twenty20 Boom No Threat To Test Cricket, Says Brian Lara

    Twenty20 Boom No Threat To Test Cricket, Says Brian Lara

    DHAKA (TIP): The growing popularity of Twenty20 internationals will not harm Test cricket because the two formats of the game can thrive together, former West Indies captain Brian Lara said on Thursday. “I believe now with T20 cricket a lot more people are watching the game,” Lara told reporters in Bangladesh where he is an ambassador for the country’s T20 Premier League. “Just remember, we are all entertainers.

    And if this kind of cricket brings interest to the people, cricketers will be happy to indulge in it. “Test cricket is still important, so are ODIs (one-day internationals) but T20 should be there too because of the crowd factor,” Lara added. Lara, who played 131 Tests and 299 onedayers, never had the opportunity to play Twenty20 cricket at which West Indies are the current world champions.

    Lara believes the growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket will help West Indies generate more interest in the game among the younger generation. “In the Caribbean we found it difficult to encourage teenagers to take up the game,” said Lara. “We are now launching our own domestic T20 competition.

    We will try to seek more youngsters play the game in the Caribbean.” “You look at (David) Warner from Australia, (Chris) Gayle and (Virender) Sehwag. They are strong players in the T20 format. They bring a lot more excitement. “You look at Warner bat in a Test match. He can easily score 150 before tea. That’s what people want to see. And I think the effect will be a positive one,” he said.

    Lara, who scored more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, added that it was unfair to blame the format for bowlers losing interest in Test cricket. “What I think is that the bowlers are pulling away from Test cricket probably due to the amount of work. The money on offer in T20 cricket is an attractive proposition for players,” he said. “You’ll find a lot more players making themselves available for T20s.

    But all in all I think Test cricket is still very strong. “This kind of competition (BPL) will make cricket more exciting I believe. Both can go on simultaneously.”