EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU 20 SPORT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Qatar result has changed everything for us, says Chhetri Gurpreet Sandhu, who led from the front, thrilled with keeping a clean sheet for the national team this year

TALKING FOOTBALL are capable of...it just gives the kind of guy who will do you so much confidence.” his job perfectly and by see­ Shreedutta Chidananda & ing him perform others N. Sudarshan Nice feeling would try and replicate it,” BENGALURU “After the 80th minute, they Gurpreet said. Sunil Chhetri watched on were desperate and we had “That is what I try to do from his hotel room in Doha three or four counter­at­ whenever I get the responsi­ as his teammates battled Qa­ tacks. If the game had gone bility. I had to do my job well tar at the Jassim Bin Hamad on for 10 more minutes, trust first. It won’t help the other Stadium. He was not, he ad­ me, we would have scored. I players if a senior player is mitted, the calmest of sup­ saw Xavi (former Spain and not performing up to the porters. Barcelona midfield legend mark.” With every save, every and current Al Sadd coach) Personally, the perfor­ blocked Qatari shot, every biting his fingernails. And I mance brought great relief Indian counter­attack, and was thinking, ‘Wow, this is and was deeply satisfying, every additional second on really nice.’” Gurpreet said. “I wanted to the clock, his nerves were Chhetri had stayed away get a clean sheet. It had been fraying. When the final whis­ from sugar for a long time a while and this was my first tle went, he simply erupted. but that evening, he just let clean sheet with the national “I was screaming. I lost my go. “I had two big pieces of team this year. So very happy voice. The hotel people came cake, some kheer,” he says. about that.” up to ask what happened. I “I just devoured everything.” “But it wasn’t just me on said, ‘Get lost.’ I didn’t know The man central to this re­ the pitch. There were ten what I was saying. I didn’t sult was goalkeeper Gurpreet other people who gave their know what I was doing. I was Sandhu, who took over cap­ hearts out. I watched the just so happy and proud to taincy duties from Chhetri game again twice over. I be a part of that team. Some­ and led by example with a could see the amount of ef­ body asked me who played Just reward: Stand­in skipper Gurpreet Sandhu says the draw against Qatar was apt for the Charged up: Sunil Chhetri said he could not control his string of high­class saves to fort every single player put. well, and I took 14 names. effort his teammates put in for 90­95 minutes. * K. MURALI KUMAR emotions as he watched India tackle Qatar. * K. MURALI KUMAR deny Qatar. To get rewarded like that was They were all so good,” he very very satisfying. My said as Bengaluru FC began Laid low by a virus, Chhe­ FIFA World Cup qualifiers ly a single point, but it was “We’ve got only one point we return to the camp, we’re Take responsibility teammates deserved it for training for the new season tri sat out India’s gallant earlier this week. The result worth a whole lot more to In­ to show. But it has changed a different team. When you “What I have learnt in Chhe­ the kind of effort they put for here on Friday. draw with Qatar in the 2022 may have earned the side on­ dian football, he felt. everything for us. Now when know that is how much you tri in these years is that he is 90­95 minutes.” India, SA in quest for the ‘perfect’ team Archer’s six­for gives England the advantage SA IN INDIA Prolific Smith conjures up another masterclass SCOREBOARD England — 1st innings: Rory RAKESH RAO tive Ashes fifty with a six ov­ for 19 as Austra­ Burns c Marsh b Hazlewood 47, DHARAMSHALA THE ASHES er midwicket off left­arm lia slipped to 118 for four but Joe Denly c Smith b Cummins 14, With just around 13 months Agence France-Presse spinner Jack Leach. the unruffled Smith eased to Joe Root b Cummins 57, Ben to go for the World T20 in LONDON his half­century off 91 balls. Stokes c Lyon b Marsh 20, Jonny Australia, many strong con­ Jofra Archer took six for 62 Warner’s woes continue tumbled after tea, Bairstow lbw b Marsh 22, Jos tenders have begun their as England bowled Australia Earlier, Warner was dismis­ with Archer removing Mitch­ Buttler b Cummins 70, Sam Cur­ quest for getting their out for 225 to gain the upper sed for five by Archer, his ell Marsh and Curran dismis­ ran c Smith b Marsh 15, Chris squads right. hand on the second day of eighth score of less than 10 in sing and Pat Cum­ Woakes lbw b Marsh 2, Jofra India is already in prepa­ the fifth Ashes Test on Friday the series. Archer then mins in successive balls. Archer c Paine b Hazlewood 9, Jack Leach b Marsh 21, Stuart ratory mode after testing out despite another struck again with a 90­miles­ Smith’s dismissal left Aus­ Broad () 0; Extras (nb­2, a few new names in the West masterclass. per­hour thunderbolt, with tralia 187 for eight but Peter b­3, lb­7, w­5): 17; Total (in 87.1 Indies. An almost un­ Joe Root’s team is desper­ holding onto a Siddle and overs): 294. changed squad takes on ate to level the series at 2­2 to sharp chance from Harris at played enterprisingly to add Fall of wickets: 1­27, 2­103, 3­ South Africa in the three­ end its historic World Cup­ second slip. 37 for the ninth . 130, 4­170, 5­176, 6­199, 7­205, match series beginning here winning season on a high but Smith and Marcus Labus­ At the start of the day En­ 8­226, 9­294. on Sunday. have been consistently chagne repaired the dam­ gland added just 23 runs to Australia : Cummins dogged by the peerless age, putting on 69 before its overnight score, with Jos 25.5­6­84­3, Hazlewood 21­7­ Rookie attack Smith. Archer struck again, trap­ Buttler out for 70. Marsh 76­2, Siddle 17­1­61­0, Marsh At home, India has never ex­ The former Australian ping Labuschagne lbw for took five wickets on his re­ 18.2­4­46­5, Lyon 4­0­12­0, Labuschagne 1­0­5­0. perimented with inexpe­ skipper has now amassed 751 48. turn to the Test side while Australia — 1st innings: David rience like the one seen in Bracing up: The South Africans practise at an overcast HPCA Stadium, ahead of the first T20I runs in just six innings — was lbw to took three. Warner c Bairstow b Archer 5, the present bunch of spe­ on Sunday. * AKHILESH KUMAR more than double the tally of Marcus Harris c Stokes b Archer cialist bowlers. Leggie Rahul the next highest runscorer 3, lbw b Chahar, cousin Deepak and be used in this series are not South Africa, too, is in re­ injury. on either side. Archer 48, Steve Smith lbw b Navdeep Saini have played a likely to offer the Indian building mode. But what brings balance But he was forced to settle Woakes 80, Matthew Wade lbw total of six matches. bowlers the kind of assis­ Apart from speedster Ka­ to the South African bow­ for his lowest score of the se­ b Curran 19, c Left­arm pacer Khaleel tance that the ones in the giso Rabada and chinaman ling, despite this apparently ries — 80 — when Chris Leach b Archer 17, Tim Paine c Ahmed, who is yet to firm West Indies did. bowler , the inexperienced set of special­ Woakes trapped him leg­be­ Bairstow b Curran 1, Pat Cum­ up his place among the T20 Given a longer run and other specialist bowlers in ists, is the presence of bow­ fore in the evening session, mins lbw b Curran 0, c Burns b Archer 18, Nathan Lyon regulars, has figured in 11. backed by performances, at the squad are those trying to ling allrounders Dwaine Pre­ leaving the sun­drenched b Archer 25, The venues of the first least a couple of these bow­ establish themselves in the torius and Andile Oval crowd dumbfounded. (not out) 1; Extras (b­1, lb­2, two matches — here and Mo­ lers could be in the reckon­ game’s shortest format. Phehlukwayo, both part of Despite a late flurry of w­5):8; Total (in 68.5 overs): hali — should help the faster ing when the selectors meet Left­arm fast­medium South Africa’s forgettable runs, Australia had to settle 225. bowlers get into the groove to choose the squad for the (10 World Cup campaign in for a first­innings deficit of Fall of wickets: 1­5, 2­14, 3­83, before travelling to T20 World Cup. matches) and medium­pac­ England. 69. 4­118, 5­160, 6­166, 7­166, 8­ Bengaluru. Like , all­ er Junior Dala (9) are accom­ The duo, along with Raba­ Smith came to the crease 187, 9­224. Though heavy rain late on rounder spin­options Wash­ panied by left­arm spinner da and Shamsi, gives wicket­ with Australia in trouble at 14 England bowling: Broad 12­3­ Thursday night should leave ington Sundar and Krunal Bjorn Fortuin and fast bow­ keeper­ Quinton de for two in reply to England’s 45­0, Archer 23.5­9­62­6, Cur­ some moisture under the Pandya are also the benefici­ ler , who are Kock quite a few options. first­innings total of 294 after ran 17­6­46­3, Woakes 10­2­ 51­1, Leach 6­1­18­0. covers, a 7 p.m.­start consid­ aries of the selectors’ rota­ looking to make their T20I Meanwhile, the South Archer had removed open­ England — 2nd innings: Rory erably brings down the ad­ tion policy. debut. African squad had a three­ ers and Mar­ Burns () 4, Joe Denly vantage offered by the con­ What gives the selectors, Nortje, regarded as one hour practice session at the cus Harris. (batting) 1; Extras (lb­4): 4; Total ditions at this hilly captain and coach the confi­ among the best from South HPCA ground. The Indian Smith, who was watchful (for no loss, in 4 overs): 9. destination. dence to try out such a com­ Africa, missed this year’s side arrived in the city in the at the start of his innings, Fast and furious: The fiery Jofra Archer helped England take Australia bowling: Cummins 2­ Moreover, the surfaces to bination is the fact that World Cup owing to a thumb evening. brought up his 10th consecu­ the bragging rights in the first innings. * REUTERS 2­0­0, Hazlewood 2­1­5­0. Teenager Afif delivers ‘Many factors count for white­ball rest’ Nihal crushes Safarli for Bangladesh Bumrah looks forward to the new experience of playing Test matches at home Hari Krishna overcomes Fedoseev CHESS WC his opportunities in the Ruy Agence France-Presse ers­per­side match. G. Viswanath I will just rest from white­ball again and all of that plays a bruary and has not played Lopez game. The Azerbaija­ DHAKA The 19­year­old’s perfor­ Mumbai cricket; a lot of preparation massive role for you to be fit an ODI after the World Cup Sports Bureau ni, who battled hard and Youngster Afif Hossain mance overshadowed an ex­ India has been shrewd to goes on during this time. You and fresh. So all of that is ta­ semifinal against New KHANTY MANSIYSK long to reach the second struck 52 off 26 balls as Ban­ cellent effort by Ryan Burl keep fast bowler Jasprit cannot keep playing all three ken into consideration and Zealand. Teen sensation Nihal Sarin round, looked jaded and a gladesh survived a scare to who hit an unbeaten 57 Bumrah away from the thick formats. then the decision is taken to In these two formats also continued his dream run sharp Nihal made him pay. beat Zimbabwe by three (32b, 5x4, 4x6) to help Zim­ of action in white­ball cricket “You need to be fresh as rest.” Bumrah has been very im­ crushing Azerbaijan’s Eltaj Following his planned as­ wickets in the opening babwe recover from 63 for in recent times and thus well. So when you come Bumrah has not played a pressive, taking 51 wickets at Safarli in 37 moves, while P. sault on black’s castled king, match of the tri­nation five to post a competitive make him raring to go for the back after a break, you are T20I after a match against 20.18 and 103 at 21.88. Hari Krishna ended Vladi­ Nihal unleashed a precise international score. Zimbabwe plays Af­ traditional . hungry; you want to do well Australia in Chennai last Fe­ mir Fedoseev’s resistance in knight­sacrifice and broke tournament on Friday. ghanistan on Saturday. With the ICC’s World Test First Test at home 54 moves in the first game of open Safarli’s defence. Afif, batting at number The scores: Championship having got off After what has been a splen­ the second round of the With the black queen and eight, hit eight fours and a Zimbabwe 144 for five in 18 the ground immediately af­ did demonstration of speed World Cup chess champion­ rook­pair far from the on­ six in his maiden interna­ overs (Hamilton Masakadza 34, ter the World Cup in En­ and skill in 12 overseas Tests, ship here on Friday. the­run king, Nihal’s rook Ryan Burl 57, Tinotenda Mu­ tional fifty that guided Ban­ gland, captain , Bumrah is all set to play his On a day when all five In­ and queen were poised to tombodzi 27 n.o.) lost to Ban­ gladesh to 148 for seven in coach Ravi Shastri and the first Test in India against land the knockout punch. At gladesh 148 for seven in 17.4 dians played white, B. Adhi­ 17.4 overs after the host had overs (Mosaddek Hossain 30 five selectors believe that the South Africa at Visakhapat­ ban held formidable Chi­ this stage, Safarli gave up. restricted the visitor to 144 n.o., Afif Hossain 52). speed merchant with a un­ nam from Oct. 2. nese Yu Yangyi to a 55­move The results (involving In- for five in the rain­hit 18­ov­ ique action needs to be pre­ Aware of the excitement draw. Vidit Gujrathi forced a dians): Round two game one: served for the tough multi­ around his debut­Test ap­ similar result against lower­ P. Hari Krishna bt Vladimir Fe­ doseev (Rus); Nihal Sarin bt El­ day campaigns and have pearance in India, Bumrah rated Russian Aleksandr taj Safarli (Aze); Vidit Gujrathi rested the 25­year­old for said: “I have played all my Rakhmonov in 31 moves. drew with Aleksandr Rakhma­ white­ball cricket. cricket in India before play­ However, Aravindh nov (Rus); B. Adhiban drew Bumrah did not figure in ing for the country; so these Chithambaram lost to Rus­ with Yu Yangyi (Chn); Aravindh the T20I and ODI series in are not alien conditions to sia's Evgeny Tomashevsky in Chithambaram lost to Evgeny the West Indies that India me. 37 moves. Nihal, 15, seized Tomashevsky (Rus). won hands down and the “But playing Test matches lithe pacer has also not been will be a different experience chosen for the T20I home se­ and I am looking forward to ries against South Africa. it. The preparations have al­ ready started. Measured answers “And as soon as I join (the After joining Seagram’s team) we will discuss with Royal Stag dream team as the team management and brand ambassador, Bumrah the senior players who have answered in a measured played a lot of cricket over tone when asked about him here as to what works and being kept away from white­ what doesn’t. So I will take ball cricket. everything into considera­ “A lot of thought­process Revelation: Bumrah’s astonishing success in Test cricket tion and let’s see how it Staying on course: P. Hari Krishna had the measure of goes behind this. It’s not that means his workload has to be managed judiciously. * AFP goes.” Vladimir Fedoseev. * PHOTO: FIDE.COM

CM A ND-NDE YK