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The Times of India, New , Wednesday,November 12, 2003

Ronaldinho to miss qualifiers Rossi joins Yamaha Agassi for commissioner FC Barcelona forward Ronaldinho will be out for MotoGP world champion Valentino Andre Agassi has said tennis will suffer up to five weeks with a leg muscle tear, and Rossi has signed a two-year deal with unless a single ruling body is brought in to looks certain to miss Brazil’s two upcoming Yamaha. Rossi clinched three titles in a govern the game. Speaking at the Masters World Cup qualifying matches. Ronaldinho suf- row with Honda but announced that he Cup, Agassi said that there are too many fered a rupture in his right leg while chasing the would be leaving them after winning the people looking after their “own agendas. The ball against Betis on Sunday last race of the season in Valencia game could stand a commissioner,” said Agassi Mahesh Bhupathi-Max Mirnyi register first victory in ATP Masters Doubles

He (Dravid) is a perfect role model for youngsters. He has set a great example for all of History against Aussies, form against India us to follow. We are all trying to follow that path UPDATE — Hosts back at full strength; Nehra likely to play, says Ganguly AP Sachin releases SPORTS DIGEST By Ikram Khan final.’’ TIMES NEWS NETWORK Now with Sehwag and Anil Ajit Ninan Dravid’s biography Bangalore: It may not be a Kumble back in the side, India TIMES NEWS NETWORK daunting task for Ricky Ponting have virtually the World Cup but the fact is that Australia have side at their disposal, Dinesh Bangalore: Sachin Ten- lost all three one-dayers in Ban- Mongia and Javagal Srinath, dulkar released Rahul galore. The Chinnaswamy stadi- who announced his retirement Dravid’s biography um has remained a happy hunt- today,the only two players not in ‘-A biogra- ing ground for the Indians, the the squad. “ has a phy’, penned by cricket biggest victory coming when good chance of playing here, but writer Vedam Jaishankar. they overwhelmed the Pakista- we will finalise the team on After releasing the book nis in the 1995-96 World Cup Wednesday,’’ said Ganguly. Tendulkar said, “Rahul Coach John Wright, while ad- has been one of the great mitting that a couple of players batsmen in the world. And have performed below par, said: he is there right on top of TRI-SERIES “It is an important week for us my list. All this he has and we need to get the act right.’’ achieved due to hard work ONE-DAYER “The track will play true and and discipline. I am privi- the stroke-makers will enjoy leged to release his biog- quarterfinal clash. their stint,’’ curator Nagesh said. raphy.” But, if Ponting was worried, The Indians are hoping to Zia calls for truce he showed no sign. “We can’t re- maintain their winning streak in ally predict a one-day game. We this city and despite the fact that Islamabad: Pakistan will play as well as we can. In this form points to Australia the Cricket Board chief series we have identified certain many cricket bookies operating Tauqir Zia has stepped Pak keen to host Asia Cup: areas which we should improve from various hide-outs have, into the row between chief Eyeing huge profits following India’s on and we are working on that,’’ however, made India the cricket selector Aamir So- decision to revive bilateral cricket said the Aussie skipper. favourites. hail and coach Javed ties, Pakistan wants to win back the Ponting said his bowlers, espe- The teams Miandad and called for a rights to host the six-nation Asia Cup cially Nathan Bracken and Brad meeting between the two next year. But Pakistan Cricket Board (From): India: (capt), Williams, had performed cred- Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,Virender former cricketers to sort (PCB) would have to convince the out the issue amicably. Asian Cricket Council and its itably and looked good to contin- Sehwag, VVS Laxman, , ue the good work against the In- Mohd. Kaif, , , Pakistan cricket was Bangladesh counterpart to let it host thrown into turmoil this the Asia Cup after it forfeited the dians. “Most of the Indian play- , , Zaheer week after Sohail an- rights for hosting the tournament to ers are world class. We will have Khan, Ashish Nehra, Hemang Badani, Bangladesh. to bowl well to contain them.’’ Murali Kartik. nounced probables for the Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam five-match one-day series Junior boxing: Balbir Singh of Del- Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Mar- against New Zealand re- hi outclassed Pawan Singh of Sikkim tyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Bevan, portedly without consult- in the 51kg category of the 2nd All- Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg,Andy Bichel, Brad ing either Miandad or India BD Chandiwala-SAI junior Williams, Nathan Bracken, Jimmy Ma- Inzamam-ul Haq. men’s boxing championship in the FIELDERS ON HIGH ALERT: Indian team during practice in Bangalore on the eve of their Tri-series ODI her, Michael Kasprowicz, Michael Miandad and Sohail Capital on Monday. against Australia on Wednesday. Results: 51kg:Balbir Singh (Del) bt Pawan Singh Clarke. clashed in the open mak- (Skm) RSC (OC), Bhavesh (Guj) bt Tarun Kumar It was cold and chilly when the a row, Ponting fancies his ly, back after the thigh surgery, Umpires: Neil Mallendar (Eng), AV ing harsh comments (Chd) RSC (OC), S Satish (AP) bt C Robert (Goa) 23- Jayprakash (Ind). against each other in the 9, Bijendera (Mah) bt Swapnil (SSCB) 16-11; 54kg) Aussies arrived here late on chances. The Aussie skipper was positive that his team had A Nayak (SSCB) bt Vijendera (Skm) RSC (OC), Monday night and the Aussie made it clear that they would not the required potential to stop the Third umpire: K Hariharan (Ind). media. Zia reportedly Raghveer Singh (Raj) bt Harihar (Ori) RSC (OC), S think-tank contends that batting hold back any punches while Aussie juggernaut. “We beat Match-referee: . spoke to Sohail on Sunday Nathan (TN) bt Neeraj (Pun) 23-10; 60kg: Rakesh and heard out his argu- Kumar (Pun) bt N Deoskar (Goa) RSC (OC), Mukesh under lights could pose a few guarding against the ‘sucker them in Gwalior and there is no MORE ON OUR WEBSITE (Del) bt Shyam (Chd) 19-1; Jonsan (SSCB) bt I.G. problems. The dew factor, they punch’ the home team is plan- reason, why we can’t do it here,’’ ments before telling him Singh (SSCB) 10-6, Pawan (MP) bt Swroop (Ori) reckon will play a decisive role. ning to deliver before India take Ganguly said. “The toss in not a to accommodate former 64kg Sawan Kumar (Har) bt Nepal Singh (UP) RSC TVS Cup: India vs Australia After winning four straight on the Black Caps on November vital factor. We have to bat and Live Scorecard and Commentary skipper Moin Khan in the (OC), P Nagesh (SSCB) bt Surendera (Ori) RSC (OC). probables for the time be- games and up against the home 15 in Hyderabad. bowl well to win. We are looking visit www.timesofindia.com Delhi triumph: Delhi beat J&K by side which has lost two games in Indian skipper Sourav Gangu- to win both matches before the ing in the camp . PTI an and 151 runs in the Cooch Behar U-19 North Zone cricket tour- nament and got five points. J&K: 1st inngs: 105 in 80 overs (Ubaid Bashir 25, Wilkins Victor 5/38, Abhishek Sharma 3/18); 2nd in- Why Scotty’s on toast diet ngs: 104 all out in 52.3 overs (Mayank Goswami 23, Deepak Rai 5/18, Wilkins Victor 2/24, Abhishek By encyclopaedia on things to do in India. Sharma 2/41); Delhi: 1st inng: 360/8 dec in 90 ell, it has been an interesting Unfortunately because of the fanatical overs (A. Bali 119, S. Dhawan 73, Mayank Tehlan 58, Sumit Salwal 3/50, Mayank Goswami 3/61). week on the field riding the fans and tight security we have had to re- Wtroughs and crests of interna- main in the hotel where we have been tional cricket. We had a hard-fought loss catching up on the latest movies and TOP 10 RANKINGS against the Australians, where we let the GOLF games. At Guwahati, it is the first time game slip through our hands and then a that we have stayed in a hotel that - Pos Player Pts comfortable win against the Indians in looks the ground. It has proven very ad- 1 Tiger Woods US 16.82 Cuttack, where Scott Styris and Brian vantageous for some of the players who 2 Vijay Singh Fiji 10.37 McMillian steered us home. have taken the opportunity to get in as 3 Ernie Els RSA 9.01 Unfortunately,Scotty was fined his en- 4 Davis Love III US 8.14 many net sessions as possible. Our in- tire match fee, which has thrown his trepid fisherman, Paul Hitchcock was 5 Jim Furyk US 7.6 yearly budget into disarray.He is now on 6 Mike Weir Can 7.13 eager to get up to north-eastern India as a strict diet of toast and noodles in an at- 7 Retief Goosen RSA 6.22 with the high-rainfall he was expecting tempt to recuperate his loss. In Guwa- 8 Kenny Perry 5.73 some good fishing holes. TCM 9 David Toms 5.65 hati, we were a lit- 10 Padraig Harrington Ire 5.40 tle on source: pgatour.com what we can do for fun. However, we BETTING METER are lucky enough to have one of the CRICKET NZ journalists TVS Tri-Series, Bangalore: travelling with us India 6/5; Australia 8/13 who is a walking Srinath calls it a day on his home turf... TIMES NEWS NETWORK last year, but came out of retirement at Wright, Saurav Ganguly and Dalmiya) the request of Indian skipper Saurav were discussing how to prepare him Bangalore: India’s premier fast Ganguly and played for India in the for the Tour of Australia. We need him bowler in recent times, Javagal Srinath World Cup in Southern Africa in there, especially since there a lot of announced his retirement from inter- March this year. younger bowlers in the side. We need national cricket on Tuesday. It was Srinath’s third World Cup fi- an experienced campaigner like him to The speedster, who nal and he rates the World Cup victo- earned the sobriquet ‘Mysore Express’ guide the younger lot.” ries over Pakistan as the high points in Ganguly,asked if he would again try in the course of a glittering career his career. “When you play against to persuade Srinath to revoke his deci- spanning 13 years, said: “It’s an emo- Pakistan, it always is a pressure game, sion said: “It’s his personal decision. tional decision. I wanted to go to Aus- but it’s more so in the World Cup,” Sri- tralia, but my knees are degenerating nath said. Perhaps his body is not keeping up and and it is irreparable. The desire is still Also present at the conference to an- the motivation is not there. On the pre- there, but desire alone cannot power nounce his retirement was Board of vious occasion he was fit. We are grate- your body.A sound body is essential for Control for Cricket in India president ful to him for having served the team playing cricket at the highest level. It’s Jagmohan Dalmiya, secretary S.K. with great distinction.” been 13 years and when you are around Nair and president of the Karnataka Srinath said: “I have no plans right that long injuries become chronic and State Cricket Association Ram Prasad. now. Perhaps somewhere down the take longer to heal.” Said Dalmiya: “I was shocked when I line, I would think about an academy Srinath had made a decision to late heard his decision. We (coach John for fast bowlers.” India will miss leading light vs Aussies By Bobbilli Vijay Kumar Till yesterday,the Men in Blue had an It’s just incidental that his body had TIMES NEWS NETWORK outside chance; today, even that has been groaning and protesting too; in his been smashed to pieces. mind, he had retired a long time before New Delhi: The mystery behind Java- The ongoing Tri-Series has already that. As the Australian tour inched clos- gal Srinath’s enigmatic smile has final- exposed India’s mounting problems. er,there was glimmer of a fight. That he ly been cracked. As it made way for a Right on top of that scary list is their would re-ignite his weary mind and try hint of a tear on Tuesday, before a : Nehra is strug- and take one last shot at history and packed press gathering, he an- gling to regain fitness greatness. nounced his retirement from while Zaheer to regain his Alas, it hasn’t happened. India will international cricket. One TODAY’S rhythm; Harbhajan might have to wage a lonely battle. Just like he more time for the last time. be wondering where his had done most of his life. When he The little boy from a little SPECIAL magic has vanished while burst on the scene, he was all alone on town, who flirted with great- Kumble doesn’t even know the fast bowlers’ bench, waiting for ness but was satisfied with much less, where to find it on overseas pitches. to retire; when he finally got would be happy that he could lay down Balaji, Salvi and Munaf are all raw his chance, he was left to fend for him- his arms at home. pace bowlers. More raw perhaps than self again. But many others, including his per- pace bowlers at the moment. Srinath Srinath liked to bowl fast; but he did- suasive captain Sourav Ganguly, would could have reassured them with his n’t enjoy life on the fast lane. He bowled not feel the same way: India are now al- smile and helping hand. He loved play- well most of the times; but luck was most certain to sink into the vacuum ing the guiding light, rather than lead- hardly ever with him. Maybe, it was all created by his exit during the tour ing strike bowler, during the World Cup in the mind; maybe, he could have tried Down Under later this month. in South Africa anyway. harder. Or maybe, he will come back.

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