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SHAMI: THE NEW SPEARHEAD ON THE BLOCK
SPORTS
MUMBAI | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
Pietersen axed over Cook concerns - ECB
LONDON: Kevin Pietersen's England career was brought to an end due to concerns about his support for captain Alastair Cook, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) revealed. Pietersen confirmed that he would no longer play for England last Tuesday after the South Africa-born batsman was left out of the England squads for the tour of the Caribbean and the ICC World Twenty20. At the time, the ECB would only cite the need for a new "team ethic and philosophy" in the wake of the 50 Test series defeat in Australia. However, following calls for an explanation from players including former England captains Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan, the ECB issued a joint statement with the Professional Cricketers' Association. "The ECB recognises the significant contribution Kevin has made to England teams over the last decade," the statement read yesterday. "He has played some of the finest innings ever produced by an England batsman. However, the England team needs to rebuild after the whitewash in Australia. To do that we must invest in our captain Alastair Cook and we must support him in creating a culture in which we can be confident he will have the full support of all players, with everyone pulling in the same direction and able to trust each other.�
Mohammed Shami leaps after dismissing Corey Anderson during the first test.
By Chetan Narula
A
UCKLAND: In five Tests since his debut against the West Indies in November 2013, Mohammad Shami has shown complete control of line and length and while the rest of the Indian bowlers have been faltering in the ongoing tour of New Zealand, he is fast emerging as the bowling spearhead. Shami was the star of the Indian bowling in the second innings of the recently-concluded first Test against New Zealand here, which ended in a 40-run de-
feat for the visitors. But Shami made an impression taking three for 37, rattling the top-order of the Black Caps in the second innings, and set his team on a comeback path in the match after their first-innings performance had more or less closed that door. At the start of play on day one, he bowled with fire, using the bounce in the Eden Park pitch to good effect. During the ODI series, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had impressed upon the 'need to aim the bouncers well'. And Shami did so, making both
Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford jump around. He should have picked up more wickets than the one he did in the first innings. But throughout that innings, he beat the bat regularly and was the toughest Indian bowler on display in best batting conditions. Even as Brendon McCullum hit a double hundred and the Kiwis crossed the 500-run mark, it goes to show that among the four frontline bowlers deployed by Dhoni, Shami was the only one not to concede 100 runs. More so, considering that he gave runs at only 3.39 per over, in his complete spell of 1-95 in 28 overs. In comparison, Zaheer Khan (2-132 in 30 overs) gave away runs at 4.40 per over, Ravindra Jadeja (1120 in 26 overs) at 4.61 per over and despite his six-wicket haul, Ishant Sharma (6-134 in 33.4 overs) went at 3.98 per over. At the end of the first innings, McCullum pointed out that "some days you just cannot get wickets. Shami bowled very well and didn't get the rewards". The New Zealand skipper had talked about Ishant as well, given his superior wicket-tally. But it was obvious that the seamer had bowled shorter lengths throughout. Dhoni stressed that the Indian bowling in the first innings had been very poor. "We gave away too many deliveries to score off (as a bowling unit)," he had said. But the captain was all praise for Shami, saying, "In the first innings, he was very consistent and did not give too many runs, (even when he wasn't getting any wickets). He will have to make sure that it becomes part of his bowling and he does not try too many things when he is not getting wickets.
Luger Keshavan finishes 37th S
Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch passes a gate in the slalom portion of the women's supercombined to win the gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on Monday.
OCHI (RUSSIA): India's Shiva Keshavan finished a disappointing 37th in the men's singles luge competition of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games here. The 32-year-old Indian, who is competing in his fifth Winter Olympics, clocked a combined time of 3:37.149 over four rounds to end the event at 37th out of 39 lugers in the competition at the Sanki Sliding Center here. Keshavan, who was competing under the IOC flag as an Independent Olympic Participant due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association, finished 37th and 34th in the third and fourth rounds held yesterday. He was also 37th after two rounds on Saturday. The medal winners were decided according to the combined timings of the four rounds. Felix Loch of Germany won the gold with a combined time of 3:27.526 while Russia's Albert Demchenko (3:28.002) and Italy's Armin Zoeggeler (3:28.797) bagged the silver and bronze respectively. This was Keshavan's worst performance in the Winter Olympics.
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IN BRIEF Yuvraj launches cancer awareness programme
Yuvraj Singh with his mother Shabnam Singh during a cancer awareness program in New Delhi on Monday.
NEW DELHI: India cricketer Yuvraj Singh's cancer foundation 'YouWeCan' today joined hands with an NGO Navbharat Sewa Samiti to roll out a campaign named "Cancer Mukt Purvi Dilli" focussing on awareness, education and early detection of the disease. At the launch of the programme, Yuvraj highlighted the need for an early detection of the dangerous disease to save more lives. "People are scared of meeting patients suffering from cancer. They think they should not touch or eat with the cancer patients. People need to be educated about these misconceptions. There is a stigma attached to it. Many lives can be saved if people have the right knowledge about the disease and are diagnosed at an early stage," said Yuvraj. "Our foundation's focus is to facilitate more and more detections at early stages, so that lives can be saved. This disease can happen to anyone. The patient and his family need to be strong to successfully tackle cancer," he added.
Defiant Ashraf says he is still PCB Chairman
KARACHI: A defiant Zaka Ashraf said that he was still the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) despite a notification by the government, saying he would consult his lawyers as the decision to sack him violates the High Court order. "I don't think this notification by the government has any bearing on me being chairman. I am still chairman of the board," Ashraf told reporters at a function in Lahore. "I will be consulting my legal advisers on this matter. But apparently it looks as if this notification violates the court orders that restored me as Chairman of the board," he said. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is also the PCB patron-in-chief, today removed Ashraf as the head and constituted an 11-member adhoc committee to run the cricket affairs.
Other sporting bodies should learn from BCCI: Abhinav Bindra
NEW DELHI: Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra lauded BCCI's efforts in bringing in professionalism in sporting arena which is a key ingredient in achieving international success urging the other associations to follow the suit. "BCCI has done a good job in creating the professional environment in the sporting arena. All other associations needs to follow this. This is the first and significant step, rest will follow," Bindra said during a seminar related to National Conference on Sports and Sports Infrastructure. He had finished 28th in Nagano (Japan) in 1998, 33rd in Salt Lake City (USA) in 2002, 25th in Torino (Italy) in 2006 and 29th in Vancouver (Canada) in 2010. Two other Indians are also competing in the Games. Cross Country skier Nadeem Iqbal will start his competition in 15km Classic run on February 14 while Alpine skier Himanshu Thakur's Giant Slalom event begins on February 19.
CSI hopes for India’s re-entry in Olympic movement soon
NEW DELHI: Clean Sports India (CSI) applauded the International Olympic Council for bringing about reforms in the IOA and expressed hope that India will return to the Olympic fold soon. "CSI applauds the efforts of IOC and its members in bringing about most of the reforms that CSI has been demanding since 2010," CSI said in a statement.