Bangladesh to ‘go for the kill’ against Pakistan in Dhaka Test D H A K A —Bangladesh hope to build on their new-found confidence by securing their first-ever Test victory over Pakistan when the second and final match starts in Dhaka on Wednesday. The Tigers are buoyed by a remarkable fightback in the drawn first Test in Khulna where they avoided defeat for the first time in nine matches against Pakistan despite trailing by 296 runs on the first innings. The gallant display followed their dominant form against the struggling Pakistanis in the limitedovers contests where the hosts swept the one-day series 3-0 and easily won the lone Twenty20 International. In Khulna, Bangladesh showed their batting prowess as Tamim Iqbal hit his nation’s highest score of 206 and shared a 312-run opening stand with Imrul Kayes (150) in the crucial second innings. Bangladesh’s only series wins so far since gaining Test status in 2000 have come against fellow wooden-spooners Zimbabwe and against an under-strength West Indies. But former Test captain Habibul Bashar felt the time had arrived for Bangladesh to take a major step forward and win the series against Pakistan, who are placed third in the official rankings. “We can surely go for the kill,” Bashar said ahead of the Test at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. “We have a positive mindset which can help us gain an edge over the opponents.
Manny Pacquiao: Surgery follows loss to Floyd Mayweather
“Our comeback in Khulna raised the team’s confidence to a new level. Not many teams can do what we did against a side like Pakistan who have such a versatile bowling attack. “After such a performance, the boys will naturally look for a win in Dhaka.” Bangladesh are worried about the fitness of captain and wicket-
keeper Mushfiqur Rahim, having already lost strike seam bowler Rubel Hossain for the Test due to a side strain. Rahim hurt a finger on the right hand while attempting a catch in Khulna and left the field. He batted in the second innings but was dismissed without scoring. Bashar, a selector, said that Rahim could be replaced behind the stumps by the uncapped Litton
Das, who was a wicketkeeper at under-19 level. “Rahim can play as a batsman alone, but if he is unable to keep, we may include Litton,” he said. On the other hand, Rubel will be replaced by paceman Abul Hasan, who has played three Tests for Bangladesh, the last more than two years ago against Sri Lanka. Rubel injured himself during
the fourth day of the first Test in Khulna, which ended in a draw, and a scan confirmed a Grade 1 left side strain. “It takes about three to four weeks to recover from such injuries. He will begin his rehab in the next couple of days,” Bangladesh physiotherapist Bayjedul Islam said in a statement. Pakistan have brought in allrounder Bilawal Bhatti to replace
seamer Rahat Ali, who had been ruled out of the tour ahead of the first Test due to a hamstring injury. It was uncertain if star off-spinner Saeed Ajmal will be recalled after being ignored for the third onedayer and the Khulna Test. Ajmal, who returned to international cricket with a remodelled action in the preceding limitedovers series, failed to impress with just one wicket in three games on the tour. Ajmal told the Cricinfo website that he needed time to regain confidence and return to his best. “I knew it will be tough moving forward,” said Ajmal. “I’d said prior to coming here that I need time and I am disappointed that I am not able to fulfill the expectations of the nation. “But I spoke to the captain and the coach and they have a plan for me. I need time to regain my confidence. It does not come overnight.” Teams: Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Sakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Abul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Shahid. Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhatti.—AFP
Indian cricketers doubt rebel league could threaten ICC N EW D ELHI —Indian cricket leaders are what is established is very difficult,”
LONDON—Manny Pacquiao could be out of action for a year as he prepares to have surgery on his injured shoulder. The 36-year-old blamed the injury for Saturday’s points defeat by Floyd Mayweather, claiming it stopped him using his right hand during the bout. Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, denied claims the Filipino’s camp deliberately did not declare the injury to the Nevada Athletic Commission. Surgeon Neal ElAttrache told ESPN that Pacquiao had a “significant tear”.—Agencies
not convinced that a rival league could drive a wedge through the sport’s global competition or threaten the power of the International Cricket Council. After all, they say, this has been tried before in India — and didn’t succeed. Recent reports that billionaire businessman Subhash Chandra is planning to set up a rival cricket system seems far-fetched to most who follow cricket in India, largely because a Twenty20 league launched by his Essel Group several years ago collapsed with millions of dollars reportedly owed to players. According to news reports in Britain and Australia, the Essel Group has recently registered company names in some Testplaying countries, however, in preparation for what could be a move to sign top players and establish a new global Twenty20 league. “No one can stop someone from setting it up [a new system], but to dislodge
Niranjan Shah, the former secretary for the Indian cricket board (BCCI), said. The Essel Group said in a statement last week that it wants to build a sports business with a focus on cricket and promote the game as a global sport. It has not commented on reports about setting up a rival league with huge salaries to star players. The ICC said late last week it was investigating the registration of company names in various countries. But BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur was among those saying he was not worried about any possible plans by the group. “The ICC is cricket’s only world [governing] body,” Thakur told India’s Hindi Aaj Tak news channel. “There have been attempts before but everyone has seen how they collapsed whether in India [the Indian Cricket League from 2007-09], Australia [World Series Cricket in the late 1970s] or anywhere else.”—AP
Sharapova advances to 3rd round of Madrid Open M
A D R I D — M a r i a Sharapova advanced to the third round of the Madrid Open by beating Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. The third-seeded Russian broke Duque-Marino’s serve four times while saving three break points on her own serve. ‘’She is someone who if you give her time creates angles, slices and usually drop-shots a lot more than she did in this match because she has the hands and the ability to do so,’’ Sharapova said. Fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic also advanced, beating Coco Vandeweghe of the United States 6-4, 26, 6-3. Also, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic beat Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-4, 6-2, and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 63, 6-3. In the men’s tournament, 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria advanced after Donald Young of the United States had to retire from the match because of injury.
The 25-year-old Young received treatment for back pain while trailing 6-4, 3-0 and was unable to resume
play. Dimitrov will next face Fabio Fognini of Italy. Also advancing was
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Leonardo Mayer and Alberto RamosVinolas.—AP
Guardiola doesn’t leave anything to chance: Messi BARCELONA—Lionel Messi believes former Barca boss Pep Guardiola will not leave anything to chance when he takes his Bayern Munich side to the Camp Nou for the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday. However, despite winning 14 trophies in a stunning four-year spell in charge of Barca between 2008 and 2012, the four-time World Player of the Year doesn’t think his inside knowledge of the Catalans will be a big advantage to the German champions over the two legs. “He was with us for a long time and we had the luck to win many title and experience important moments. He is a coach that studies everything,” said the Argentine on Tuesday. “It is the same for both sides. Pep knows us very well and we know what he asks of his players. It is 5050, we both know each other very well.”
Rugby: Abendanon elected European Player of the Year
L ONDON —Clermont’s English full-back Nick Abendanon has been elected European Player of the Year for 2015, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) announced on Tuesday. Abendanon, 28, has excelled since joining Clermont from Bath last year and scored a fine try in the French club’s 24-18 loss to Top 14 rivals Toulon at Twickenham in the European Champions Cup final on Saturday. He overcame competition from 2014 winner Steffon Armitage (Toulon), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Fritz Lee (Clermont) and Billy Vunipola (Saracens) to win the award. “It’s obviously a huge honour to receive this accolade, especially with the great players who have reMADRID: Maria Sharapova of Russia plays a forehand against Mariana Duque-Marino ceived it in years past,” of Colombia in their second round match during day four of the Mutua Madrid Open Abendanon said in an EPCR tennis tournament at the Caja Magica. press release.—Agencies
Afridi for London on May 11 to play in Blast T20 cricket KARACHI—Dynamic all-rounder Shahid English cricket’s 2015 T20 Blast competi-
Afridi is due to leave for London on May 11 to play for Northamptonshire in the
tion. Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Afridi has signed a short-term contract with the county to play in six league matches. After playing a couple of games, Shahid Afridi will return home to lead the team in the two match T20 International series against Zimbabwe. Due to his contract with Northampton, Afridi will also miss the Pakistan Super Eight T20 Championship starting in Faisalabad from May 11. Afridi’s absence in Super Eight T20 will be big blow as he is the most popular player in shorter version of cricket. Shahid Afridi, who has also played county cricket for Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Kent and Hampshire has retired from One- Day Internationals after Pakistan’s World Cup quarter-final loss against Australia in Adelaide on March 20. Afridi will play his team’s away opening game for Northamptonshire, who won English county cricket’s T20 title in 2013, against Durham on May 15.—APP
Time needed for regaining confidence: Saeed Ajmal KARACHI —Pakistan’s premier off-spinner Since 2011, he has taken a third of the team’s Saeed Ajmal has said that he needed some time to regain confidence. “For me it’s been a tough last eight months and I knew it will be tough moving forward also,” he told a leading website cricinfo.com the other day. “I’d said prior to coming here that I need time and I am disappointed that I am not able to fulfil the expectations of the nation. But I spoke to the captain and the coach and they have a plan for me. I need time to regain my confidence. It doesn’t come in overnight.” Saeed Ajmal has struggled on his return to international cricket with a remodelled action. He has played only two ODIs and a T20, produced only one wicket in 22.3 overs and conceded runs at 6.57 per over. He was dropped for the final ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh, and subsequently sat out of the Khulna Test as well. Ajmal, however, said there was a plan in place and he needed time to regain his confidence as a bowler. Dazzling Saeed Ajmal has been an important wicket-taker in the past and Pakistan may have banked on that reputation while picking him on the tour. That he was then dropped indicates the management may have lost some faith in him and he is eager to set that right. “I don’t want to play cricket on the basis of reputation,” he said. “I want to play with my head held high and with the same confidence level I had in the past. Things are not going well presently, but you will see in coming days that I have improved. “If I am benched, that is the plan and the players playing in place of me are the best and performing well,” he added. “It’s true that you can go from bad to good and it’s also true that you can go from good to bad,” he added. “I don’t think I have changed my action significantly, only minor tweaks. “I know my doosra is not being effective which is reflecting in my performance. But I am doing my best to get myself back on track as soon as possible. I am bowling with different angles from top and from side and things are improving and I am optimistic that I will be same Ajmal as I was.” Faisalabad-born veteran Saeed Ajmal has been a vital part of Pakistan’s success.
wickets - 145 off 570. In his absence, however, Zulfiqar and Yasir have picked up the slack. They had contributed 14 wickets apiece during the team’s series win over Australia in the UAE and were again trusted to lead the slowbowling threat in the drawn Khulna Test. “I think it’s their right to play ahead of me,” Ajmal said. “They have done great without me and spare a thought about Khulna Test where pitch was slow enough to kill the spin, otherwise they are good
and have proved their ability.” “Bangladesh are at the top of their form,” Ajmal said. “There is no weakness in their combination; their batting, bowling and fielding is clicking at the moment. “They are a developing team and at the moment they can give any team a tough time. We underestimated them. We never thought they will play like that and that’s the reason we are shocked. Yes, in Test cricket we could have done better but the pitch was the main difference. I hardly saw the ball spin on the track but Pakistan is a better side in Tests and we have a plan this time and I don’t see any reason why we can’t beat them.”—APP
Solitary Test ‘not enough’ to test tigers’ skill, says Bangladesh chief selector Bipin Dani OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI—Faruk Ahmed, the chief selector of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is “not happy” with the Indian cricket board’s decision to accommodate only one Test in the forthcoming series against Bangladesh. The BCB has announced a tour program where Dhonis and Kohlis are scheduled to play one Test and three ODIs’ in June. “Our team is doing exceedingly well in all formats of the game and to test the skill of tigers, one Test is not enough. India could have thought of playing at least three Test matches. Normally three ODIs are played in the series but we would have loved to play five ODIs in this series’, the chief selector Faruk Ahmed, speaking exclusveily over telephone from Dhaka on Tuesday morning, said. When pointed out that India’s series will be played in Bangladesh during peak rainy season and that possibly may be the reason for the shortened tour, the selector insists, “my point is Bangladesh
team should be given enough opportunity to play against India. Our team has never been invited to play in India. It is high time now that we play our matches in India soon. Our boys want more exposures to get promoted at international level”. India is scheduled to play a Test in Fatullah which is hosting the Test match after nine years. “Fatullah has a good built up Stadium and has good wicket and is a good ground. The facilities here are improved in recent years”. “Absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Test should not be a concern. Team India is capable of producing good lot. India has enough good players and any player in Indian team can easily be replaced. Will watch out Virat Kohli in Test”, Faruk added. Bangladesh Cricket Board will continue to appoint different captains for different formats of the game. “We (the selectors) are likely to persist with Mushfiqur Rahim for the Test and Mashrafe Mortaza for the ODIs’ against India. At present we are appointing the captains series by series. The performance of captain is thus monitored”, the chairman of selectors signed off.