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Desperate India to play for pride against Bermuda
18th Mar 2007 18:41 IST
Agencies

Licking the wounds of a shock defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, a jittery India have their tasks cut out when they take on minnows Bermuda in a must-win Group-B World Cup league match at Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Monday.

The stunning five-wicket loss has pushed the Indians, who were regarded as one of the front runners by some former cricketers, on the brink of an early exit and is bound to put Rahul Dravid and his men under enormous pressure.

After weeks of preparations and claims of having acclimatised to the Caribbean conditions, it turned out to be an agonising start to India's World Cup campaign with a pathetic performance against a team, which largely comprises youngsters with very little experience in one-day internationals.

But unlike another Asian giant Pakistan, who have crashed out of the tournament with a stunning defeat against minnows Ireland, the Indians hopes are hanging by a thin thread.

The Indians not only have to win both their matches against Bermuda and Sri Lanka comprehensively but also hope that results of other matches in Group B go in their favour.

The Indians had themselves to blame for the debacle against Bangladesh as they not only misread the pitch, but came up with a horrendous batting and bowling performance to slump to a new low which has thrown their campaign in disarray.

The persistent failures of Virender Sehwag can no longer be accepted.

Sehwag opened the innings with Ganguly against Bangladesh but perished for just 2 playing an atrocious shot, which has now become a routine feature for the Delhi opener.

Instead of trying to repay the faith shown on him by skipper Dravid, a cavelier Sehwag does not seem inclined to learn from his mistakes.

The Indians badly need a good start to the innings to lay the foundation for the middle order batsmen but the continued form slump of Sehwag has not allowed that to happen.

The team management may also toy with the idea of going in with two specialist spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, an option which appears quite possible considering the performance of the three Bangladeshi spinners.

Bermuda, the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup, have the only professional cricketer in David Hemp, the Glamorgan county captain.

They were out for a paltry 78 against Sri Lanka in their opening match.

Coach Gus Logie said "we've have set ourselves little goals. If we can bat out 50 overs against these teams, then that's a plus for us."

Teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.

Bermuda: Irvine Romaine (Capt.), Dean Minors, Delyone Borden, Lionel Cann, David Hemp, Kevin Hurdle, Malachi Jones, Stefan Kelly, Dwayne Leverock, Saleem Mukuddem, Steven Outerbridge, Oliver Pitcher, Clay Smith, Janeiro Tucker, Kwame Tucker.

http://www.cricketzone.com/news/news_archive/2007-03-18-166. html

Jalandhar jail inmates watch India-Bangladesh WC match

From our Correspondent

Jalandhar, Mar 18: Cricket fever has also gripped the jail inmates of Jalandhar jail who spent almost the entire night watching India and Bangladesh match in the ICC World Cup within the jail premises in the wee hours of Sunday.

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The Jail authorities have made necessary arrangements and provided a television for all prisoners to watch the World Cup. They also permitted the prisoners to stay awake until the early morning hours.

"They are praying for the Indian team to win and enjoying watching the match. We have given them permission to watch match throughout the night," said Balbir Singh, Superintendent of Jalandhar Jail.

Prisoners enjoyed the match and were grateful to jail authorities.

"The jail administration is co-operating with us and they have provided us with television. So, we are watching the TV and hope that India wins the World Cup," said Arvinder Singh, a jail inmate.

The India team suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in its opening match. After winning the toss, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid opted to bat and the side managed to score mere 191 runs.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/126452.php/Jalandhar-jail-inm ates-watch-India-Bangladesh-WC-match

Sunday, March 18, 2007
The sixes have just started – Gilchrist

AFP

Adam Gilchrist believes the ICC CWC six-hitting show, so spectacularly headlined by record-breaking Herschelle Gibbs, will reach even greater heights as the tournament progresses.

The Australian vice-captain says that a combination of small grounds, short boundaries and the power game of the world's leading teams, will see totals get bigger and bigger.

"Most of the top teams have got power hitters in one-day cricket," said Gilchrist.

"Most of the grounds in this region are pretty small. Such is the way that batsmen approach the closing overs in one-day cricket, there are going to be a lot of sixes hit."

Gilchrist, one of the game's most destructive batsmen and who was relishing taking on the hapless Dutch attack on the compact Warner Park ground here on Sunday, insists that he and those like him still have to adapt to conditions.

"We've got be able to hit a good yorker, try not to be predictable in what we're delivering. I guess that's what all teams are doing.

"Batsmen are being innovative. Try not to be predictable and then whatever it is you are trying to do, do it well."

Gilchrist admitted that the slow pitches in the Caribbean are giving teams plenty to think about and that taking the pace off the ball can put pressure on batsmen.

"Some of the wickets here are going to provide assistance to slower bowling, and that brings everyone into the game a bit more than an absolute flat track does where batsmen can swing freely, so it's evening up the contest."

Australia are already looking beyond Sunday's Group A game against the Netherlands who were crushed by 221 runs by South Africa on Friday, the game in which Gibbs smashed his six sixes in an over.

The big match in Group A comes next Saturday when the defending champions play South Africa for top spot and the two extra points which will be carried through to the second round Super Eights.

Gilchrist, whose Australian team brushed aside Scotland by 202 runs in their first game, said South Africa's brutal destruction of the Netherlands was not surprising.

"To be honest it was expected. They got a lot of runs and like our first game their batsmen got good hits and the bowlers got to bowl a few," said the 35-year-old Gilchrist who has 8,631 runs in 258 one-day internationals and 14 centuries.

He also has 423 dismissals behind the stumps -- the most in limited overs cricket.

India reacts with disgust to team's loss at cricket World Cup

NEW DELHI (AP): Angry Indian cricket fans took to the streets across India on Sunday to protest their team's poor performance in its upset loss to Bangladesh at the cricket World Cup. Protesters in several cities burned effigies of Indian cricket players and chanted slogans against the team. Others threw shoes at posters of the players. In Ranchi in eastern India, an angry mob attacked a home being built by wicket keeper Mahendra Dhoni. Television footage showed the crowd destroying the outer wall of the house and knocking down half-built structures inside. India lost to Bangladesh by five wickets in their opening game Saturday in the tournament in the Caribbean, endangering their chances of progressing to the next round. "Such a poor performance by the Indian team in its first match, against a weak team like Bangladesh, has broken our hearts,'' Parampreet Singh Bitty was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. Bitty was among dozens of fans who burned pictures of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in the northern city of Jalandhar, PTI said. Newspapers were equally scathing of India's poor performance, particularly after all the hype and build up to the World Cup, in which the Indian team was touted as one of the favorites to win the trophy. "Campaign starts with a collapse,'' said the headline in the Hindustan Times . http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/3/18/apworld /20070318213401&sec=apworld

"Mighty minnows put Asian powers on the mat, " read the headline in the Sunday Times, referring to India's loss and their only consolation -- that arch rival Pakistan had been knocked out of the tournament by Ireland.

India joins Bangladesh to mourn cricketer's death Port of Spain, March. 17 (PTI): Indian cricketers today joined their Bangladeshi counterparts and observed two minute's silence to mourn the accidental death of Bangla spinner Manjural Islam. Before kicking off their Group B campaign in the World Cup, both the teams stood in silence near the boundary rope at the Queen's Park Oval in memory of Manjural, 22, who died in a road accident in southwestern Bangladesh yesterday. Bangladesh cricketers were wearing a black armband to mourn the death. Incidentally, Manjural was among Bangladesh's 30 World Cup probables but he failed to make the cut when the list was pruned to 15. Apart from Manjural, his friend and local cricketer Sajjadul Islam was also killed in the accident.

Left-arm spinner Manjural had played six Test matches besides 25 one dayers. He made his ODI debut in November 2003 at the age of 19 and later his Test debut in the same season against Zimbabwe.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/007200703172025.htm

Team India In Crisis, Could Face Up The Possibility Of Early Exit Like Their Sub-Continent Rivals Pakistan

Sunday, March 18, 2007
England faces first hurdle

By Simon Wilde

Well, you cannot accuse England of abandoning the script. If it is an ICC Cricket World Cup, it has to be muddle and mishap, with survival a precarious business. An England ICC Cricket World Cup campaign would not be the same if it didn't face a journey more hazardous than Frodo's quest to destroy the ring.

Defeat to a more experienced, cannier New Zealand side in St Lucia on Friday was predictable, especially after Stephen Fleming won an important toss. His side read the conditions better and adapted their game better. Now a palpably tense England face a week of banana-skin hopping to ensure a place in the Super Eight stage. Expect alarms.

First today come Canada, whose cricket history is among the more colourful. They should not cause problems, but Kenya next Saturday promises to be an altogether tougher proposition. A Kenyan victory on a pitch being used for the second time in the tournament cannot be discounted. England's batsmen can be frustrated in such conditions and Kenya possess a trio of slow bowlers to exploit them. If Kenya do pull off an upset, it will set the seal on Duncan Fletcher's fate.

What needs to be done against Canada and Kenya is for the openers to bat deep into the 50 overs. When Australia won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1987 on the sub-continent, in conditions akin to those now, openers Geoff Marsh and David Boon scored more than 400 runs apiece in eight matches.

Here, Michael Vaughan has three times thrown away good starts, while Ed Joyce has yet to make double figures. Accumulators such as Scott Styris, who batted through 40 overs to see New Zealand home, may do better than accelerators such as Kevin Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff, who overreach themselves working their way up through the gears.

Vaughan must set his bowlers to hunt for 10 wickets in both games and not be content with containment, of which England sides are far too fond. Styris and Jacob Oram were not yet 50 runs into their stand of 138 when Oram edged James Anderson through a vacant slip area when taking wickets was the only way of England avoiding defeat.

Today's game will only be the second time a full England team has met Canada, who will be hoping to fare better than they did over two damp days in Manchester at the 1979 ICC Cricket World Cup, when their batsmen were tormented for 41 overs by an attack containing Ian Botham, Bob Willis and Chris Old. They scraped just 45 runs, the lowest World Cup score until Canada themselves were routed for 36 by Sri Lanka four years ago, and England coasted to an eight-wicket win.

Canada's improvement owes much to the involvement of immigrants from the Caribbean, Uganda and Asia. Even in 1979, seven players had been born in the West Indies, but now all but three of the squad originate from outside Canada, and one of those, captain John Davison, developed his game in Australia.

Bob Woolmer, whose Pakistan team faced Canada in a warm-up, said they had improved "no end" in the last four years. Woolmer should know as he helped Canada prepare for the last ICC Cricket World Cup, when they pulled off a famous win over Bangladesh largely thanks to the bowling of Jamaican plumber Austin Codrington.

Codrington is in the mix to face England as back-up to a useful new-ball partnership of Umar Bhatti and Henry Osinde. Frustratingly for Andy Pick — the former Nottinghamshire bowler who is coaching the team on a year's secondment from the ECB — Canada were disappointing in their ICC Cricket World Cup opener against Kenya. Davison was scathing of his team's errors, losing three wickets to run outs and conceding 20 wides and no-balls.

Pick's coaching ambitions would be furthered by a respectable performance, but an upset is unthinkable. Pick has already helped Alastair Cook develop his batting as coach at Bedford School and guided the England Under19s to two World Cup semi-finals.

In such a cold country a major problem has been the scarcity of turf pitches and until recently many games were played on shale. Historically, Toronto has been the centre of cricket activity. In 1840 a group of cricketers arrived in Toronto from the St George's club in New York in the belief that they had been invited to play a match. It turned out they had been the victims of a hoax but Toronto rustled up a team anyway. Four years later a return fixture was held, but this time it was billed as the United States against Canada, making it the first-ever international long before England and Australia first met in 1877. The American Civil War led to a suspension but the fixture has been held on and off ever since. Davison took 17 wickets when the sides played at Fort Lauderdale in 2004.

Toronto also witnessed Eastern Canada beating Ian Chappell's mighty Australians when they stopped off en route to the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup in England in 1975.

Canada's place in cricket lore

- The longest rivalry in international sport is between Canada and the United States at cricket. They first met in 1844, pictured, 33 years before England first played Australia

- In 1880 a Canadian tour of England was abandoned after their captain was identified as a deserter from the British army and arrested

- Don Bradman scored 18 centuries when Australia won 30 out of 31 matches on a tour of Canada in 1932

www.timesonline.co.uk