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With money in the kitty, India is safe
Self-righteousness is a mask that can get ripped off by the lure of money and comfort. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when India for the western cricket world was a place where naked sadhus and elephants roamed the streets.It was a place where playing cricket was a compulsion and not a necessity and most topnotch players, fearing for their health and physical well-being, preferred to give the "uncivilised world" a miss.
This perception has changed to the extent that the same world now finds India the most beneficial place to be in and would not mind even losing a "limb" for financial gains.
We in India need not be afflicted by any sort of inferiority complex and don't even need to be defensive when it comes to convincing the world that the "white" skin is immune to the bomb blasts that strike terror all around.
The Australians, who never stop giving sermons on ethics, morality and use the need for being "fair" to justify their actions, have decided to go ahead with the Indian tour. The same Australians, who last month said a firm no to Pakistan on the grounds that it is not a safe place to visit, probably did not even take a second to say yes to India.
We are not complaining. Why should we! It only adds strength to the argument that the "civilised" world cares for dollars as much as the "uncivilised" world does. And when comforts, like a wonderful off-the-field life, get added to the menu, anyone will be mad to turn their back on us.
India need not look towards the Nuclear Deal to convince itself that they have arrived on the international scene. That the Australians have said yes to us, without even any persuasion, is a stronger sign that we are now part of the first world.
Poor Pakistan! What does it have to offer to the cricketing world? Neither sponsors flush with money, or mouthwatering prospects to play in a league like IPL and no social life which can tempt the young, fit hulks.
So, terrorism, in such hostile circumstances, becomes a greater danger and a convenient justification to wear the mask of self-righteousness.
PS: Did I hear someone say that the Australians did not want to select Andrew Symonds for the India tour and that disciplining him was just a ruse to justify his omission? The reason given is that the Australians fear that Symonds would be targeted by the Indians - if not the players, surely by the crowds - and the pressure would have been too much to handle, for the player as well as the team.
So, they created a situation where there was a need to discipline him for his "misdeeds" when Bangladesh came calling.
Source: hindustantimes.com more
Well, agreed, this may be too wild a conspiracy theory to be taken seriously. But when we live in a world of masks, reality acquires many faces. -
Australia bank on former India coach to win series
moreJAIPUR, India (AFP) — Ricky Ponting's Australia are looking for inside knowledge from former India coach Greg Chappell to help the tourists win the upcoming four-Test series on Indian soil.
Chappell, an ex-Australian captain and batting legend, coached India from 2005-2007 before taking over as head of Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane this year.
He returns to India as assistant coach of the 15-man Australian squad with the primary aim of guiding the young squad on what is widely regarded as one of the toughest cricketing tours.
Australian pace bowler Brett Lee said he was delighted that the tourists can use Chappell's knowledge of Indian conditions for the series starting in Bangalore on October 9.
"We will definitely be picking his brains for every little bit of knowledge and experience he's gained," Lee told reporters on Tuesday.
"Being a former India coach is one of the reasons he's here, but also for his experience as a past Australian captain and player and what he's achieved.
"Just to have him around is great. We are looking forward to having Greg Chappell help us and the guys with their batting and fielding.
"I think he'll be a very key member of the Australian team.
"He's here and he's wearing Australian colours. What he has done for the Indian players has been brilliant, but he's moved on, taken up a new challenge and that's great for us."
Chappell helped organise the Australian team's week-long training camp in Jaipur, where he spent the past year as coach of Rajasthan state's cricket academy.
Chappell had a difficult two-year reign as India's coach, now remembered mostly for his public spat with Sourav Ganguly that led to the sacking of the country's most successful Test captain.
The Australian resigned from the post after India's unceremonious first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Chappell's experience will benefit the tourists -- only skipper Ponting and batsmen Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich have played a Test in India before.
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Yuvraj to lead in Australia's warm-up match
moreNEW DELHI (AFP) — Test discard Yuvraj Singh gets a chance to return to the Indian team after being picked on Tuesday to lead the hosts in a warm-up match for the touring Australians.
The elegant left-hander will captain the Indian board president's XI in the four-day match beginning in Hyderabad on October 2, said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Singh, a regular in India's one-day and Twenty20 side, has played only 23 Tests since his debut in 2003, scoring 1,050 runs at an average of 32.81 with three centuries.
He was dropped for the recent Test series in Sri Lanka and was not considered for the five-day Irani Cup domestic tie, regarded as a trial match for the Australian series, which begins in Vadodara on Wednesday.
The board president's squad of 15 includes 12 current or former India internationals like Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
The match will be Australia's lone first-class match before the four-Test series opens in Bangalore on October 9. The remaining back-to-back Tests will be played in Mohali, New Delhi and Nagpur.
Indian board president's squad: Yuvraj Singh (capt), Subramaniam Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Irfan Pathan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Manpreet Gony, Yogesh Takawale, Rakesh Dhurv.
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Indian cricketers fumes at top facilities for Aussies - report
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India's cricket chiefs are not pleased the touring Australians are being provided top-grade private training facilities at the start of their Test tour, a report said on Thursday."We won't get these kind of facilities if India went abroad. We would have got the bare minimum," the Cricketnext website quoted Indian cricket board official Ratnakar Shetty as saying.
"The RCA (Rajasthan Cricket Association) is being a little too obliging to the Australian team. They have done more than what a host country will do."
Ricky Ponting's men are in the midst of a week-long training schedule at the RCA's cricket academy in Jaipur before the official part of the tour begins on October 2.
The Australians, who were not due in India till September 29, arrived a week early to acclimatize following the postponement of the Champions Trophy one-day tournament in Pakistan due to security concerns.
Former India coach and ex-Australia captain Greg Chappell, who is closely associated with the Rajasthan academy, ensured that excellent facilities were provided for his compatriots ahead of the four-Test series.
Local officials are only too happy to obey Chappell's commands in his capacity as the touring team's assistant coach.
"Looking at Indian conditions, we have given Australia everything they wanted for practice," said RCA's chief pitch curator Taposh Chatterjee.
"We have prepared 10 wickets for the Australians."
The different playing surfaces include a few that take spin, others which help seam bowlers and the rest are easy-paced batting wickets so typical of South Asia.
RCA officials defended their unusual hospitality for the Australians.
"This is the first time a team has arrived a week ahead of schedule, so why not give them the best facilities," said RCA official Bimal Soni.
"We are fair players."
The tourists will train in Jaipur until Sunday before flying to southern Hyderabad for a four-day match against the Indian board president's XI from October 2.
That will be the final warm-up for the Australians ahead of the first Test starting in Bangalore from October 9.
The remaining back-to-back Tests will be played in Mohali, New Delhi and Nagpur.
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Tendulkar misses record as India save first cricket Test
moreBANGALORE, India (AFP) — Sachin Tendulkar scored a match-saving 49 to help India avert defeat in the first Test against Australia on Monday, but himself fell short of a world record.
India, set a victory target of 299 runs in 83 overs, finished with 177-4 before bad light forced the match to be abandoned as a draw after tea on the fifth day at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Tendulkar was caught in the covers off debutant spinner Cameron White just 15 short of surpassing retired West Indian Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 runs as Test cricket's leading run-getter.
Even as he neared the record, the 35-year-old vehemently protested to the umpires about allowing play to continue in fading light and walked away in disgust after becoming White's first Test victim.
Umpires Rudi Koertzen of South Africa and Asad Rauf of Pakistan suspended play six overs after Tendulkar's dismissal, only to return 40 minutes later when the light improved marginally.
Tendulkar ended the game with a career tally of 11,939 runs and is expected to overtake Lara when the second of four Tests opens in Mohali on Friday.
Tendulkar, who walked in to bat with India struggling at 24-2 before lunch, put on 53 for the third wicket with Gautam Gambhir and 61 for the fourth with Venkatsai Laxman.
Some 15,000 home fans cheered every run by the 151-Test veteran, who defied the Australians for three hours to take India to safety.
Laxman (42 not out) and Sourav Ganguly (26 not out) saw out the remaining session which was marked by frequent interruptions for poor light before the match was called off with 10 overs remaining.
Australia, who resumed at the overnight score of 193-5, declared their second innings at 228-6 half-an-hour after the start to give their bowlers a minimum of 83 overs to dismiss India.
Shane Watson had made 41 when he was bowled by seamer Ishant Sharma, who claimed three of the six Australian wickets to fall.
Wicket-keeper Brad Haddin hit an unbeaten 35, while White was on 18 when skipper Ricky Ponting declared.
India lost in-form opener Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid as they slipped to 24-2 by the ninth over.
Sehwag was caught by Matthew Hayden at first slip off Stuart Clark for six, one run after being missed by Haddin off the same bowler.
Ponting then dived to his right at mid-wicket to remove Dravid for five with a spectacular catch as the batsman played an on-drive to an overpitched ball from Brett Lee.
Gambhir, who made 29, failed to take advantage of surviving two close appeals off a single delivery in the morning session.
As umpire Rauf turned down Clark's leg-before shout, Haddin threw down the stumps and the appeal was referred to the TV umpire.
Replays showed Gambhir had just made his ground as the bails went off.
But the Delhi opener was bowled by left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson in the post-lunch session.
SCOREBOARD
Bowling:
Overs: 73
India 2nd innings:
Bowling:
Overs: 73
Match drawn
Toss: Australia
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Asad Rauf (PAK)
Third umpire: Amish Saheba (IND)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
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Tension simmers as Zaheer, Ponting wage war of words
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Bangalore: Tempers flew at the post match Press Conference today, with Ponting slamming the Indians for playing for a draw. He said: “ The result is good for the Indians. They play a lot of drawn games. We thought that they would go for a win.” His tone of mockery was pretty evident when he went on to add: “We are the ones who played attacking cricket.”
Zaheer Khan, India’s star performer in this match, retorted: “I have never seen such a pessimistic Australian side before.”
When queried on the Aussie allegation that India played defensive cricket, he fumed, “They should stop saying all this. They talk of run-rates when they themselves weren’t able to score four runs per over.”
He went on to add: “We are certainly in with a chance in this series and they are the ones who are on the back-foot.” His aggression didn’t end there and he went on to add: “All their allegations of us being defensive is because they don’t have the resources to scalp our 20 wickets. The quality of their spinners were evident today as they failed completely on cracked, fifth day pitch. Their pacer’s are no good either.”
Earlier Ponting admitted that it was the Zaheer-Harbhajan partenership that took away the match from them. He also said: “ Lack of a quality spinner did us in.”
He was pretty surprised with the track though as it didn’t turn out to be as dangerous as it looked, except for the occasional ball.
