Sport World
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 9th March 2013
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India's tour of New Zealand next year to be trimmed
England go into their threeTest series against a newlook New Zealand line-up this week as firm favourites, despite slipping to a shock defeat in their final warm-up match. The tourists, second in the Test rankings, are expected to prove too strong for the lowly Black Caps as they gear up for back-to-back Ashes series against Australia, buoyed by a recent series win away to India. The likes of star batsman Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in the three-wicket defeat on Saturday at the hands of a New Zealand XI, England's first loss in a first-class tour game in nearly seven years. But Alastair Cook's men are firm favourites with the bookmakers to come out on top against a Black Caps side destabilised by injury and a recent change of captain in the series starting in Dunedin. New Zealand, ranked eighth in Test cricket, have
not won a series against England since 1999, with their sole series victory on home soil back in 1984. The home side come into the series after a drubbing in South Africa, where they lost both Tests by an innings, and they are still adjusting to the axing of Ross Taylor as captain in favour of Brendon McCullum late last year. New Zealand were competitive in patches as they lost both the one-day and Twenty20 series against England 2-1 but coach Mike
Djokovic claims Dubai title to extend winning streak to 18
Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 18 matches to claim a fourth Dubai Championships in five years on Saturday, underlining his status as the world’s best player after beating Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3 in the final. The Serb is unbeaten since October, did not drop a set in Dubai and he has now won all 13 matches against top-10 opponents since Andy Murray defeated him in last year’s US Open final. His latest Dubai triumph takes him to 36 singles titles. The 25-year-old won because he took his chances, converting three break points out of four, while Berdych only managed to make one of his five count. Berdych stuns Federer to reach final: Earlier, Berdych saved three match points before beating defending champion Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 to set up final against Djokovic. In a back-and-forth tiebreaker, Berdych led 4-2 before needing to save two match points - the second
with a powerful serve. The Czech player then wasted a set point before Federer failed to convert his third match point. Berdych finally clinched the set with a blistering return. Berdych then broke to go up 3-2 in the third set, only for Federer to save two match points before holding for 5-4. But the sixth-ranked Czech finished it off when Federer hit a crosscourt forehand into the net. "It feels really amazing," Berdych said. "It's really just about one single point that I was able to make better than him. For me, it was a celebration of tennis. I like to play him so much because of what he has achieved."
Hesson has acknowledged Test cricket remains his side's weakest form of the game. "We're a long way off the pace in Test cricket at the moment," he said before the touring England party arrived. We have to acknowledge that and we know we've got a lot of work to do. "We don't have the depth that we have in other forms of the game so we have to make sure we select the right people and show faith in them to grow their game. That doesn't happen overnight."
Debutant Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton are expected to open the batting for New Zealand with Martin Guptill injured and Brendon McCullum moving down the order. Taylor will return to the Test arena for the first time since his demotion while Daniel Vettori, Chris Martin and Mitchell McClenaghan join Guptill on the injured list. Paceman Doug Bracewell is also reportedly under an injury cloud after cutting his foot in an offfield incident. England are set to welcome James Anderson and Steven Finn back into the bowling attack after they were rested for the tour match in Queenstown. Coach Andy Flower did not appear perturbed after the loss, describing England's performance as "rusty", and indicating Nick Compton would not be punished for his returns of 21 and one.
Hesh-Llodra duo win doubles title
On a day when their serve shook - India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and France’s Michael Llodra - playing together for the first time, held their nerve to beat the third seeds Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 7-6 (86), 7-6 (8-6) in 1 hour 41minutes to clinch the Dubai Duty Free ATP World Tour event on Saturday. Bhupathi, playing his 96th final with 52 titles to his name, claimed his fifth crown at Dubai. All of them have now come alongside different partners - Mark Knowles, Fabrice Santoro, Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and now Llodra. “It’s like playing at home for me,” Bhupathi said of his Dubai experience, “I’ve got lots of friends and family here, I used to live here many years ago. So it’s always great to comeback. The Indian support is tremendous. The atmosphere is amazing. It’s a full house and we don’t always get to play before that kind of an audience.” Llodra, who came up with some big shots in key
moments, was quick on the button. “Before coming here, I knew that if I have to play doubles it would have to be with an Indian, they have so much support here,” the 32yearold Parisian said. Bhupathi and Llodra took home $1,26,900 and 500 ranking points for their week’s effort. Bhupathi fared poorly in his first service game of the match. A double-fault and two volleying errors saw the IndoFrench pair fall behind 1540. The 38-year-old veteran did well to pull back to deuce, but a Zimonjic forehand sealed the issue in favour of the no.3 seeds. The scratch combine of Bhupathi and Llodra then struck in the ninth game with the Swede serving for the set.
India's full tour of New Zealand early next year could be trimmed to two Tests, two ODIs and two T20 internationals to accommodate the Asia Cup cricket tournament, according to a report. The ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP) has India scheduled to play three Tests, five ODIs and a single T20 international in February-March, but the BCCI wanted to trim down the tour to host the Asia Cup around that time. According to a website, the new trimmed schedule will have a maximum of 14 days of international cricket against the 21 originally planned in the FTP, though no formal agreement has been reached between the two Boards yet. The report said that Nimbus, the owners of NEO, which has bagged the broadcast rights of the tour, was made aware of a possible change in the original itinerary for the New Zealand tour. The Asia Cup will also be broadcast by NEO. Nimbus announced two days ago that it would broadcast to India all international cricket from New Zealand till 2020.
Nadal lifts Mexican Open crown
A dominant Rafael Nadal dismantled fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 on Saturday to win his second Mexican Open title and continue his successful come back from a long injury layoff. The world No.5 needed just over an hour to dispatch top seed Ferrer and was delighted with his form. “For me, I played almost perfectly,” said Nadal following the match. “My knee responded well all week.” Nadal also confirmed he would play in next week's Indian Wells hard-court tournament, despite speculation he might skip the event to spare his knee. “My heart tells me I should continue competing, that I need to move on to the next tournament,” said Nadal, who pocketed $291,800 in prize money for the win. The former world number one charged out of the blocks and won the first eight games against three-time defending champion Ferrer, who saw his 19-match winning streak at the clay-court event come to an end. “Rafa was just better than me today,” said Ferrer.
ICC World Cup chief organiser passes away
James Strong, the chairman of the Organising Committee of the ICC World Cup 2015 to be held in Australia and New Zealand, has passed away. The 68-year-old Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) passed away on Sunday night. "James possessed a passion and vision for the tournament that set the tone for the entire organisation. The staff of the Organising Committee are profoundly saddened by the death of their chairman," an International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said. "A world-class leader, he was always friendly and approachable, taking the time to get to know the staff and listen to their views." ICC World Cup chief executive John Harnden knew and worked with Strong for almost 20 years. "James has been a friend and a mentor to me over a long period and I will miss his company and advice," said Harnden.
BCCI sitting over proposal to host Asia Cup The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is sitting over a proposal to host the Asia Cup. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which organises the biannual tournament, is waiting for the Indian nod to make an announcement. India has not staged the event since 1991. At an ACC meeting in Dubai last month, BCCI president N Srinivasan, who also happens to be the president of the continental body, apparently agreed with the proposal but stopped short of declaring India’s readiness. A source, who attended the
meeting, said the BCCI chief was persuaded to review the proposal by an aide as the tournament will be close on the heels of World Twenty20 and the IPL. The ACC has identified a small window in February-March 2014. The Asia Cup will be followed by World Twenty20 in March and the IPL in April-May. “The ACC executive board will meet next month and we’re hoping to announce the dates and venue then,” Syed Ashraful Huq, ACC’s chief executive officer. “We hope India will agree as it has not hosted the event for
N Srinivasan
over 20 years,” he pointed out. It is actually India’s turn as the four-nation championship was hosted by the other three countries – Pakistan in 2008, Sri Lanka in 2010 and Bangladesh in 2012. If the BCCI were to say no, the tournament could go to Sri Lanka as Pakistan is out of bounds for international teams and Bangladesh would be preparing to stage the World Twenty20 tournament. Apparently other ACC members like UAE are interested in hosting the championship but the broadcasters are not too excited
about the likelihood of the tournament being held at a neutral country. “Who will be interested to see a match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at a neutral venue,” said source associated with Nimbus which will be telecasting the tournament on Neo Cricket. If the tournament were to come to India, as is expected, then there will be a scramble between the state associations to host the matches, particularly the big one – between India and Pakistan. There will be seven games in the championship. Pakistan are the defending champions.