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Indian U-19 cricket team to visit Pakistan Karachi, June 29: India has agreed to send its Under-19 cricket team to Pakistan to play a four-nation event in September, after years of deadlock in bilateral sporting relations. "The visit is a welcome sign and should be the stepping stone for restoration of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India at the senior level also," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official Samiul Hasan said on Saturday. "We will sit down and prepare the schedule of the event very soon," he said, adding that Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had also confirmed their participation. "We have always been endeavouring to end the impasse and now feel optimistic that ties will be restored at full level," the News reports. The Indian government banned bilateral cricket matches with Pakistan after the 2000 Asia Cup due to political tensions over their dispute on Kashmir, but allowed the teams to play in multi- nation events like the World Cup. Officials of both countries met on the sidelines of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in London earlier this month and decided to resume cricketing activities at the junior level. "A triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in August is also part of that discussion," Hasan said. Pakistan and India played in the semifinal of Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in February last year while their senior teams clashed in a World Cup 2003 match in South Africa in March this year. BCCI is awaiting government clearance to allow the national side to play Pakistan in a two-match, one-day series in September this year and a full tour to Pakistan in February-March next year. Pakistan 'A', a second-string team, is also due to visit India. India last toured Pakistan in 1997-98 for a three-match, one-day series. No immediate prospects of reviving Indo-Pak cricketing ties: PCB (Go To Top) Karachi, June 27: The Pakistan Cricket Board has said it would consider resuming cricketing ties with India only after the latter toured Pakistan for a full Test series early next year. Otherwise, the Board said, resumption of cricketing ties with India would not be possible in the near future. The Board admitted that India had recently expressed willingness to play cricket with Pakistan. "Indians had moved a proposal at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in London for starting an annual triangular one-day tournament for the junior teams of Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka", it said. The News quoted a senior PCB official as saying that India has to first tour Pakistan early next year for a full Test series "so that the Board has a chance of making up lost revenues due to Indians' pulling out of confirmed tours in the last two years." He stated that the Indian side didn't show much interest in resuming the cricketing ties during the ICC meetings held in London early this year. "The Indian Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya had reported no progress on the prospects of resumption of bilateral cricket ties in the near future," he said adding that no discussion took place on the possibility of resuming cricket ties at a neutral venue. But in the same breath he added: "In fact the Indians have now indicated that they would like the resumption of bilateral cricket ties with a two-match event with Pakistan team going to India to play one match and then the Indians coming to Pakistan for the same purpose." Apparently quoting Kirti Azad, a former crickter and a BJP MP, the official said, "he made it clear that he didn't see immediate prospects of the Indian government allowing resumption of cricket ties with Pakistan despite the renewal of contacts between the two governments." According to him, Azad made these remarks in London. Baseball receives tremendous boost in India (Go To Top) Chandigarh, June 25: It's not just cricket the people are crazy about. The game at the centre of attraction is the baseball. Now, it's time to run for the bases than the wickets. This game is being played in India for a long time now. But, not much was done to make it familiar among the people. But the amateur baseball federation in India had held numerous tournaments and gave boost to the game. The federation this time had gone a step further and called two American coaches to come and teach the 80 players drawn out from 15 states about the technical knowhow of the game so that the game can be improved further. "Our aim is to improve the baseball game and overcome our drawbacks in it. For the last 17 years we have held the national championships in the game. And, now we have also received expert opinions from the coaches and have extracted full benefit from it. And I feel happy that the players too feel that it has helped in improving their game," said P.C. Bhardwaj, secretary general, amateur baseball federation. The Amateur Baseball Federation of India has been organising national level tournaments since 1985, and says that by its efforts the game has been included in the sports curriculum of schools. The American coaches feel that the aim with which they had come here has been fulfilled. But, training of coaches is required to achieve better results in the performance of the players in the game. "We have introduced the players to techniques, skills and mentality of the game in all aspects. So, we have achieved what we came here for. in order to improve the standard, you have to keep playing the game. And to have more and more people playing the game. The coaches should be trained on proper techniques, this will filter down to the players. So, it all starts with educating people," said Rick Dell, baseball coach from U.S.A. The players who are playing baseball for the Indian team feel that though they still need to improve upon certain things, they will return victorious one day. Sanjiv Tandon, member of the Indian baseball team, said, "U.S.A. is playing baseball for nearly 150 years. In our country it's been played for the last 14 years. It will take time to improve. but we have made some achievements in the game. We have won the bronze medal in the first Asia Cup and have won a silver medal in the third Asia Cup. With god's blessings we will win a gold medal this time and will qualify for the Olympics too." Baseball can be played by either player of baseball or of cricket. The speed of the latter outdoes the former. But, there are other differences as well, which further attract the players to this game. "Here the ball moves faster than that of cricket. It comes at the speed of 96 miles per hour. We can count on our fingers, as to how many countries play cricket. But baseball is played by numerous countries. Cricket is not included in the Olympics but baseball is included in it," said Ravinder Sirhotra, baseball player from Chandigarh. Some baseball players say that to attract talent to baseball reservation in government jobs is a must. Gurpal S. Garewal, a baseball player from Punjab, said, " The game should be included in the portfolios of various important jobs, so that the players can have more boost in this field and gradation is very important. It should be included in the colleges as well, like other games. The gradation is necessary so that more and more people take up this game." The game is being boosted and has pulled the interests of the players who wish to go far in the game, supported by few initiatives from the government. Harbhajan cancels US trip (Go To Top) Mumbai, June 23: Off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was to get his finger operated upon in the US, has now decided to go to Australia for the operation on Saturday from Delhi. Harbhajan changed his mind after his talks last week with Aussie leg spinner Shane Warne who himself had got operated successfully for a similar injury four years ago. Harbhajan had also spoken to Tendulkar during his visit here last week to get an MRI scan and X-Rays done on his finger at the Leelavati Hospital and was almost certain to go to the US for the operation but changed his mind after speaking to Warne. Manipur favourites in women's soccer final (Go To Top) Chennai, June 23: Manipur and West Bengal are in the final of the 11th Senior National Women's Football Championship. The two are expected to play a do-or-die match on Tuesday Manipur girls are supreme as far as football is concerned. They lifted the trophy eight times in the past and figured in the summit clash on 10 occasions, twice losing to West Bengal. No other team has won the title so far and this time again, it will be either of the two which will be honoured. The Manipuris are known for their speed but their star striker 14-year old NG Bala Devi cannot play in the final because of an act of indiscretion in the semi-finals. But for them there still is the experienced Lokeshori Devi and goalkeeper Binashori, the inspiration of their young colleagues. On the other hand, West Bengal, despite the absence of three main players, who are part of the Bangkok squad, had been solidly organised. It has a strong midfield and attack line, with Swapna Guria and Rinku Ghosh upfront and Sharmila Sapoui, Nausaba and Alpana Seal guarding the midfield. Kashmir cricket bat makers stumped (Go To Top) Pulwama (J-K), June 22: Willow plantation in Jammu and Kashmir has come in the grip of an acute infection threatening the livelihood of thousands of cricket bat makers. The 250-million rupees worth willow industry contributes significantly to the state's economy and provides cheaper and durable bats to the cricket crazy country. The most severely affected are the Pulwama and the Anantnag districts, the hub of willow plantation in the northern state. The willow trees have been found heavily infected with insects like leaf blight, lymantria and blue beatles. Scientists say the insect is characterised by small irregular patches which cover the whole of the leaf making it vulnerable to infection. The infection leads to blackening of leaves and makes the tree hollow from inside. The wood obtained from an infected willow tree produces inferior quality cricket bats which are not durable. Bat manufacturers say this year has seen an unprecedented rise in the disease. "If we go by the present condition of wood, I think our business of making bats by using Kashmir willows will close down within the next two years. We are employing around 7-8 thousand labourers also. So this will render them jobless also. The government has also not shown any interest in our problems," said Zayyed Khan, a bat manufacturer. Scientists say rising temperatures and lack of rainfall in the Himalayan region have increased the susceptibility of willow wood to infestation. "Since the last few years, the temperatures have risen and the atmosphere is also very dry mainly due to lack of rainfall. These conditions have led to increasing the number of these insects over the last few years," said Farooq Ahmed Zaki, Head of Entomology department at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, which has been entrusted with the task to tackle the plant disease. The Forest Research Institute has also been approached by the state government to suggest measures. The insects or the beatles complete their life cycle by the end of June, thus the farmers have been asked to collect the leaves, beetle eggs and pupae and destroy them so that the insect cycle is not allowed to complete. However, scientists have not recommended the use of insecticides. Once famed for its excellent bats made of the same family of willows as the internationally acclaimed English willow, the natural phenomenon comes as a new setback to the cricket bat industry in Jammu and Kashmir still recouping from 14 years of militancy. But the manufacturers say the Cricket World Cup held this year in South Africa refuelled the local interest in cricket and that helped them find a good market inside the state as well. Bindra qualifies for Athens Olympics (Go To Top) Chandigarh, June 22: Abhinav Bindra has become first Indian male athlete to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004. Bindra has qualified on the basis of his performance in the recently concluded World Cup in Munich, Germany. He is now focussing on ironing his techniques for the mega event. He said ,"I want my technique to be solid so that it works in any condition. It's all right to have a technique which works in a low pressure situation, but in a high pressure event like Olympics, I have to have the technique as well as mental resolve which can withstand that kind of pressure.That would enable me to perform at the highest level." Bindra is training under a psychologist in the USA to improve upon his mental resolve. Pakistan, India to discuss revival of hockey series (Go To Top) Karachi, June 22: Pakistan and Indian hockey officials will meet in the South Korean city of Busan later this month in a bid to revive the much-awaited Test series following a positive statement given by the Indian sports minister recently, the News daily reports. "The issue of reviving the Pakistan-India series will be discussed now that the Indian government has said it has no reservations about it," said Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Secretary Brig Musarratullah Khan from Lahore on Saturday. The PHF had been making efforts to revive the home-and-away series since 2000 before finally shelving the plans earlier this year after the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) failed to get the green signal from its government. But recently Indian Sports Minister Vikram Verma told the media that the government had no objection to their team playing against Pakistan. He said the IHF had never given any proposal of a hockey series against Pakistan and added that the government would certainly consider the idea if put forward to the ministry by the IHF. "It is certainly a positive statement as it gives us reasons to believe that the series can be resumed," said Musarrat. He pointed out that after having made several unsuccessful attempts he was not very positive about the chances of the series taking place, but since New Delhi had softened its stance things appeared to be much better. Pakistan and India last met in a Test series in 1999. Since then they've only met each other in multi-nation tournaments. Their last clash came in Sydney in the Hockey Australia Men's Challenge Tournament earlier this month. The two arch-rivals are scheduled to cross swords again in the 2003 Champions Trophy to be held in Amsterdam in August. The PHF have also invited India to compete in a nine-nation tournament that is scheduled to be held in Lahore in December this year. -ANI |
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