JAMMU | THURSDAY | JULY 8, 2021 JB SPORTS JAMMU BULLETIN 9 History of controversial selections: Easwaran New Zealand to stage nation-wide again pits alpha male against selectors Mace tour to celebrate WTC victory NEW DELHI, JUL 7: national selector. “At first, we thought the The breakdown in communication Banerjee recollected how he was lit- time-out in managed isolation between national selectors, led by erally told that he was going to and the length of time since chairman Chetan Sharma, and the England (1977-78) in 1979 along with the win would dampen enthu- team management comprising skipper Surinder Khanna, but it was Tamil siasm for a public celebration, over Bengal opener Nadu’s Bharat Reddy (career average but we have been persuaded Abhimanyu Easwaran’s contentious of under 18), who eventually got the to think again,” he said. selection, is not the first such instance. nod. Coincidentally, then India skip- The nationwide tour will And it is certainly not going to be per S Venkataraghavan also hailed involve selected players and the last in Indian which is from Tamil Nadu. support staff assembling at replete with incidents when alpha “We knew Kiri (Syed Kirmani) each of the cities on the route, male captains have locked horns with would be dropped. A day before the starting with a small group the wise men of “authoritarian reputa- team selection, few players came up including Tim Southee at his tion”. and said, ‘Sambaran we know you are home town of Whangarei. It’s not a bad time to revisit a few in the squad, we need a treat. “It’s a great way to give selection conundrums that had gained “I must have spent around 400 AUCKLAND, JUL 7: Wellington, Christchurch, back to the fans that’ve sup- legendary status over the years. bucks (quite a sum in those days) to The victorious Black Caps Dunedin and Invercargill ported us – not only the last In the late 1960s till early 70s, take a few boys out for dinner and squad will carry its ICC throughout the week so that couple of years through the Bengal had a wicketkeeper of Parsi supposed to keep. They were playing a his sharp sense of humour, to joke: “I next day, the list had Reddy’s name. I World Test Championship members of the public have Test Championship but for a origin named Rusi Jeejebhoy, a hand- Duleep Trophy game at the Brabourne only knew about Batliboi think he scored 30 odd runs in 4 Tests Mace on a week-long, nation- an opportunity to be pho- long time,” Southee said. some man born and brought up in Stadium sometime in 1970. (Engineering company), now I am (38),” one could gauge the hurt in wide tour of the country, tographed with the unique “For some of these smaller Kolkata. He played 46 first-class “The chairman of selection commit- hearing about Jeejeebhoy!” Banerjee’s voice as he spoke. starting July 26, New Zealand trophy and collect autographs places that don’t get a lot of games and ended with a “horrifying” tee, late Vijay Merchant (an icon of Jeejeebhoy kept and was Banerjee claims that while South Cricket (NZC) said on and a team poster. international cricket or see a batting average of 10.46. Parsee community) just before the toss selected for his first and last tour of Zone selector M L Jaisimha and Wednesday. “It’s quickly become appar- lot of cricketers, it’s a great Even if one considers that batting summoned Ramesh bhai, a nice gen- West Indies and when he retired, his North’s Vijay Mehra was in his sup- Kane Williamson and com- ent that Kiwis want an oppor- chance to go back to those wasn’t a primary skill for keepers port, Dattu Phadkar, the East Zone tleman. highest score was a mere 39 in 46 pany won the inaugural WTC tunity to be part of, and to smaller town…I know grow- back then, Farokh Engineer was in a selector, kept quiet and “He instructed Ramesh bhai to play games. New skipper Ait Wadekar final, beating India by eight share in this historic achieve- ing up in a small town, any- different league. Daljeet as a batsman and pick Rusi as couldn’t have argued with a living leg- Venkataraghavan apparently got his wickets in Southampton in a ment,” NZC chief executive time there’s something spe- There was a slot for the third wick- a keeper. If someone of Mr Merchant’s end like Merchant. choice of keeper. thrilling contest last month. David White said. cial like that, it’s always a etkeeper for the historic 1971 tour of stature would request, what could Sambaran Banerjee, the only Bengal In 1986, Manoj Prabhakar was in The tour is set to start in “We’ve been inundated great occasion. West Indies and there was a Duleep have Ramesh bhai done,” an old-timer captain to win Ranji Trophy post inde- the Indian team and before the Leeds Whangarei on July 26 and with requests to do something “Hopefully, we can give Trophy match where East was led by who was part of that match told pendence, is an amazing raconteur. Test match, skipper Kapil Dev felt that will cover Auckland, so that New Zealanders can back and hopefully give kids stylish Bihar batsman Ramesh Saxena Jeejeebhoy’s inclusion forced a for- With an elephant’s memory, he can he wasn’t measuring up in the nets Tauranga, Hamilton, New join in with the team and a bit of future hope of future and Daljit Singh (famous for being mer India and Mumbai great (his son just rattle off incidents both from his (years later it happened with Karun Plymouth, Palmerston North, share the moment. cricketers,” he added. BCCI chief curator in later years) was was also a Test cricketer), known for playing days and during his times as a Nair in 2018). Virat Kohli retains 5th spot, KL Rahul Angelo Mathews opts out of India Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana nominated climbs to 6th in ICC T20I rankings series as players sign tour contracts for ‘ICC player of the month’ award wickets in two matches, COLOMBO, JUL 7: DUBAI,JUL 7: including a haul of four for 18 Senior batsman Angelo Mathews on Wednesday pulled out of India’s teen batting sensa- in the first ODI, has advanced the upcoming limited-overs series against India citing personal tion Shafali Verma and all- four slots in the list led by reasons as Sri Lanka Cricket announced that 29 of the 30 play- rounder Sneh Rana were on New Zealand’s Trent Boult ers short-listed for the assignment have signed their contracts. Wednesday nominated for for with Bangladesh’s Mehidy The 34-year-old Mathews was not a part of the squad that ICC women’s ‘Player of the Hasan Miraz in second place. toured England recently and last played the Test series against Month’ award for June fol- Woakes’ previous best was Bangladesh in April. The India series comprising three ODIs lowing their standout per- fourth position attained in and as many T20s begins here on July 13. “Sri Lanka Cricket formances in the ongoing wishes to announce that 29 players, out of the 30 members September last year. He is series against England. nominated by the Cricket Selectors to be considered for the also up one place to third Besides the Indian duo, White-Ball Series against India, have signed the Tour among all-rounders after Contract,” said the SLC in a statement. “Angelo Mathews, who England’s left-arm spinner overtaking team-mate, Ben was included in the respective 30-member squad, requested Sri Sophie Ecclestone has also Stokes. Lanka Cricket to relieve him from National Duties, owing to been nominated for the hon- Other England fast bowlers personal reasons, until further notice.” Sources, however, that our in the women’s category. DUBAI, JUL 7: 10 among bowlers and all- David Willey and Tom Mathews, the seniormost among the current crop of players, The nominees among the Indian skipper Virat Kohli rounders in the latest T20I Curran, too, have gained in and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne were excluded from the men are New Zealand bats- retained his fifth position rankings. the latest men’s weekly rank- contracts that were offered on Wednesday morning. An unhap- man Devon Conway and while wicketkeeper-batsman In the ODI rankings, Kohli ings update. py Mathews has reportedly written to the SLC administration pacer Kyle Jamieson along KL Rahul gained one spot to and vice-captain Rohit Willey has moved up 13 stating that he is considering retirement. He is expected to with South Africa - be in sixth place in the latest Sharma remained in the top places to 37th position after a make a formal announcement of his intentions in a few days. keeper Quinton de Kock. rate of 85.50. All-rounder 206 for an average of 25.75. ICC T20I rankings. five, occupying the second ‘Player of the Series’ effort of What the SLC did on Wednesday was to offer contracts on the The 17-year-old Shafali, Rana also had a memorable The 22-year-old snared With 762 points, Kohli is and third spots respectively, nine wickets that included a basis of each tour, a source said. “There will be no annual con- who had already impressed Test debut at Bristol with her four wickets in each innings everyone in the shortest for- behind England’s David behind Azam. haul of four for 64 in the sec- tracts as the immediate need was to sign players for the series unbeaten 80 off 154 deliver- of the Test match. She also mat of the game, made a stun- ies helping India stave off had three in each of the two Malan (888 points), Australia Indian pace ace Japrit ond match, while Curran’s against India,” he said. The source said that all players who had ning Test debut against defeat against England after ODIs which followed during white-ball skipper Aaron Bumrah, the lone bowler four wickets in two matches previously refused to sign contracts did sign them on England and was named they were made to follow on. the month, her six wickets Finch (830), Pakistan captain from the country in the top saw him advance 20 places to Wednesday after they were given a July 8 deadline. Under the 10, dropped a spot to sixth SLC’s performance based pay plan, 24 of the leading players Player of the Match in the Earlier in the match, she coming at an average of 12.16 Babar Azam (828) and New 68th position. Zealand opener Devon place, while Ravindra Jadeja had been offered contracts under four categories. In the cate- Bristol match. The flamboy- finished with four for 131, and an economy rate of 3.65. England’s 2-0 series win, Conway (774). remained in the ninth position gories released, only six players were in category A and their ant teenager became the first accounting for well-set open- Among the male nominees, which helped them to the top Rahul, who has 743 points, in the all-rounders’ list. annual pay ranged between USD 70,000 to 100,000. Reports Indian woman and fourth er Tammy Beaumont and Conway smashed a double and Australia all-rounder England all-rounder Chris of the CWC Super League said all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva and wicket-keeper from any country to score Amy Jones among others. century on Test debut at have climbed Woakes reached a career-best Standings also sees Test cap- Niroshan Dickwella were offered the highest pay grade of USD half-centuries in both innings She also took one for 43 in an Lord’s in June . He followed a rung each to be placed sixth third position among bowlers tain Joe Root move up two 100,000 each. Players felt the plan lacked transparency and the of a debut Test, notching 96 ODI against the same side. it up with half-centuries in his and seventh respectively. after a fine show against Sri places to 13th position with a proposed pay would be much lower than the approved scales of and 63. Her first innings score England’s left-arm spinner next two Tests, including the Rahul and Kohli are the Lanka in the three-match ICC series-topping aggregate of the Federation of International Cricket Association (FICA). was the highest by an Indian Ecclestone was the most suc- ICC World Test only two Indians to feature in Men’s ricket World Cup 147 runs and white-ball skip- The players had flown to England for the limited-overs tour woman on debut. She also cessful bowler in the one-off Championship Final, to the top-10 among batsmen. Super League series. per Eoin Morgan inching up without signing national contracts. Sri Lanka lost all their aggregated 59 runs in two Test against India, finishing aggregate 379 runs at an aver- No Indian features in the top- Woakes, who grabbed six from 26th to 25th. matches in England barring a rained out game. ODIs against India at a strike with a match haul of eight for age of 63.16. No relay: Banned sprinter Sha-Carri Euro 2020: Italy reach final to continue Richardson left off Olympic team storming comeback from World Cup failure WASHINGTON, JUL 7: should be reevaluated. LONDON,JUL 7: with a crucial goal in the 5-3 Banned sprinter Sha’Carri “So while our heartfelt Italy reached the Euro 2020 win over Croatia. Richardson was not on the understanding lies with final after edging Spain 4-2 But his tournament ended Olympic roster released Sha’Carri, we must also on penalties following a com- in dismay as his tame spot- Tuesday by USA Track and maintain fairness for all of the pelling 1-1 draw after extra kick allowed Jorginho to Field, a decision that means athletes who attempted to time on Tuesday, completing clinch the win for Italy, con- the American champion’s realize their dreams by secur- a remarkable revival after tinuing their sensational run, positive test for marijuana ing a place on the U.S. failing to qualify for the last having earned a clean sweep will cost her a chance at run- Olympic Track & Field World Cup. of victories in the group stage ning on the relay team in Team,” the statement read. Jorginho coolly rolled the and knocked out top-ranked Tokyo, in addition to her spot In this case, that meant decisive kick past Spain Belgium in the quarter-finals. in the 100-meter individual offering the remaining relay keeper Unai Simon in the “Spain were great, they race. Richardson’s positive spots to the sixth- and sev- semi-final at Wembley after have star players but we test nullified her win at enth-place finishers, each of Alvaro Morata had been fought until the end and we Olympic trials in Eugene, whom moved up in the peck- thwarted by a fine save from Denmark. Roberto Mancini’s equalised with 10 minutes did it,” said Italy’s Chiesa. Oregon, last month and the USATF sent out. The federa- Nehemiah, responded: “We ing order after Richardson’s Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Dani Olmo side took the lead on the hour left, calmly slotting into the “When (Manuel) Locatelli spot that went with it for tion had two discretionary haven’t spoken about it at all. DQ. They are English missed the first penalty, picks beyond the top four fin- It was actually not a topic we had blasted his effort over the through a sensational curler bottom corner after bursting Tokyo in the 100. Her 30-day Gardner and Aleia Hobbs. from Federico Chiesa to com- forward and exchanging a everyone was calm saying we ishers in the 100-meter final focused on.” bar. suspension will end before Richardson tested positive Italy’s substitutes and plete a sweeping counter- one-two with Olmo. The goal can do it and at the end our at trials but chose not to offer In a statement, USATF said the start of the relays on for a chemical found in mari- coaching staff poured on to attack which began with was the latest twist in an group helped us in the August 5, which left open the a spot to the 21-year-old it was “incredibly sympathet- juana after her victory on the pitch celebrate in front of keeper Donnarumma catch- eventful few weeks for moment.” Mancini’s side are possibility she could win a sprinter, who was expected to ic toward Sha’Carri June 19. She said the stress of their jubilant supporters ing a Spain cross and rolling Morata, who has been booed looking to win the European medal as part of the 4×100 challenge for Olympic gold. Richardson’s extenuating cir- her biological mother’s recent behind the goal after the ball out. Morata, who had and even faced death threats Championship for the first relay team. Asked about how cumstances” and “fully death combined with the pres- Jorginho’s kick booked their been dropped from the start- from Spain supporters after a time since 1968 and secure But her name was missing Richardson was taking the agrees” that international sure of preparing for trials led place in Sunday’s final ing lineup after beginning all couple of poor showings, their first major trophy since from the 130-person roster news, her agent, Renaldo rules regarding marijuana her to use the drug. against either England or Spain’s previous games, before redeeming himself winning the 2006 World Cup. Argentina advances on penalties to Wimbledon: Hubert Hurkacz faces idol Roger Playing for Pakistan has become Copa America final against Brazil Federer in 1st Grand Slam quarterfinal too easy, laments Shahid Afridi against Colombia 3-2 on in a first Grand Slam quarter- KARACHI,JUL 7: penalties after three saves by final wasn’t special enough, Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi feels playing for the national team has become way too easy and the players should goalkeeper Emiliano Hurkacz will be on Centre only be picked after spending at least a couple of seasons in Martinez. Regular time ended Court going up against the 1-1 at the Mane Garrincha domestic cricket. player that he — and a gener- Speaking at a function, Afridi hit out at the selection policy Stadium in Brasilia on ation of tennis players like Tuesday. “Emi is a phenome- adopted for the national team for red and white-ball formats. him — grew up idolizing. He was particularly critical of the way players were changed non. We trusted him,” Messi “Roger, what he does, the said after the match. and debuted in the Pakistan white balls squads. way he plays, the titles he has “It has become so easy to play for the national team whereas “It was an objective to play won — he has inspired so in the past playing for the Pakistan team was the ultimate for all the matches and now we many people,” Hurkacz said. any professional cricketer,” Afridi said. will try to win this final.” “Being out there playing He said the pathway into the Pakistan team had become so Argentina hasn’t captured a quarterfinals against him, it’s easy that even players with little domestic cricket exposure major title since 1993 when it really amazing.” The Polish were rushed into the side and then dropped and shunned in the won Copa America. On that player earned that matchup same way.“That is why our performances are not consistent BRASILIA, JUL 7: final on Saturday at the his- occasion, the team eliminated WIMBLEDON, JUL 7: On Wednesday, at the age by coming from behind to with the amount of cricket we play in Pakistan.” The popular It will be Lionel Messi’s toric Maracana Stadium in Colombia on penalties 6-5 in Hubert Hurkacz was 6 of 24, Hurkacz will try to foil beat No. 2-seeded Daniil all-rounder felt that each player must be given at least two or Argentina against Neymar’s Rio de Janeiro. the semifinal after a goalless years old when Roger Federer Federer’s latest attempt at Medvedev 2-6, 7-6 (2), 3-6, three years exposure in the domestic circuit before he is con- Brazil in the Copa America Argentina won its semifinal draw. won his first Wimbledon title. winning a ninth. As if playing 6-3, 6-3. sidered for the national squad.