MVP: Yuvraj Singh establishes a big lead

Yuvraj Singh is now India’s most valuable ODI player by a long mile (see Table 1). Two 70+ knocks (at lightning speed) have ensured that he’s over 100 points ahead of Sachin Tendulkar.

Sourav Ganguly is fifth after his splendid allround performance at Headingley. 

After Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s superlative wicketkeeping in the fifth ODI, his fielding points have gone up to 131.

Table 1: India’s most valuable players after the 2007 World Cup (12 matches)

Player

Runs

Balls

Bat-pts

Rc

Bb

W

Bowl-pts

Ct|St

Run outs

Field-pts

M

Total

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points)  = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | *Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.

Table 2 lists the most valuable players in the ongoing NatWest series.

Table 2: The most valuable players so far in the India-England series

Rank

Player

Runs

Balls

Bat-pts

Rc

Bb

W

Bowl-pts

Ct|St

Run outs

Field-pts

M

Total

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points)  = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | *Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.

These lists will be updated after every ODI game.

Federer and Roddick to light up New York

Three-time defending champion Roger Federer will meet his predecessor as U.S. Open champion when he takes on American Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday.

• Images from day 9 | US Open coverage

Federer, bidding to become the first man in the Open Era to win the title in four straight years, has not lost to Roddick in four years, a run stretching to 10 matches.

The top seed beat Roddick in the final last year, has won 13 of their 14 meetings overall and will go into the match as the overwhelming favourite as he looks to take a step closer to his 12th grand-slam title.

“I know the danger of Andy,” Federer said.

“He’s got an incredible serve, maybe the best in the game. There’s not much sometimes you can do about that.

“I pretty much know his game. He’s tried everything (against me), so I hope I won’t get surprised next match.”

Roddick, whose only grand-slam title to date came here in 2003, said he was looking forward to the challenge, even though he won only six games in their last match, a semi-final at this year’s Australian Open.

“I’m excited to play him, the crowd will be electric,” Roddick said.

“(In Australia) I was playing well, it was pretty even until 4-4, then he got on a hot streak. But (that) is in the past. I’m excited about the opportunity.”

Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko and 10th seed Tommy Haas meet in the day’s other quarter-final, a repeat of their clash at the same stage last year, when the Russian came from two sets down for victory.

The women’s semi-final line-up will be completed as Wimbledon champion Venus Williams takes on third seed Jelena Jankovic, a semi-finalist here last year.

Former champion and fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia meets unseeded Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay, while Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze plays Israeli 18th seed Shahar Peer in the remaining match.

Sorry Serena lost for words after Henin defeat

September 05, 2007 10:16 IST
A despondent Serena Williams grudgingly faced reporters after her 7-6 6-1 defeat to top seed Justine Henin in Tuesday’s quarter-finals of the U.S. Open, tears staining her cheeks after the bitter result.

Williams was reluctant to give the Belgian any credit despite being mauled in a one-sided, 36-minute second set.

• Images from day 8 | US Open 2007

“I just think she made a lot of lucky shots, and I made a lot of errors,” said Williams, who was eliminated in a grand slam quarter-final for the third time this year by Henin, who also ousted the American at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Asked if she felt she had lost the match rather than Henin winning it, the two-times Open champion said: “I think that’s usually the case with me, that it’s for me to win or lose.

“I really don’t feel like talking about it, to be honest. I don’t want to get fined,” the eighth seed said, referring to penalties imposed for missing post-match news conferences.

“That’s the only reason I came. I can’t afford to pay the fines because I keep losing.”

Williams had a set point at 6-5 in the first set, but Henin claimed the set on a tiebreak, 7-3, and then ripped through the second to set up a clash with either third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia or American 12th seed Venus Williams.

 

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Williams, the 2002 and 1999 champion, came into the U.S. Open having not played since Wimbledon because of a thumb injury, but she said conditioning and her lack of tournament play was not a factor.

“I’m very fit. I can run for hours,” she said.

Williams said she had a positive attitude going into the match. “I was really excited to go into it. I was ready. I was really ready to play,” she said.

The win was Henin’s first against Williams on a hard court.

“I can’t explain that right now. I just don’t know, so I can’t help you there,” Williams said.

Williams said she would have to watch the match to understand why she had failed against French Open champion Henin, who leveled their career head-to-head series 6-6.

“I got to go back and study and figure out how to beat her. That’s it. Bottom line.”

New India coach before Australia ODIs

Once bitten ever shy seems to be the policy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India vis-a-vis its selection of the national coach in the aftermath of the disastrous Graham Ford episode a few months ago.

“We have been receiving applications from candidates and the deadline is September 15 after which they will be scrutinised, a short resume of each candidate prepared and sent to the members of the special committee formed to select the coach,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said on Tuesday.

“We will then convene a meeting of the committee. All these are subject to us getting applications from the right candidates,” the BCCI official said.

• Wanted: Coach for Team India

“Hopefully the process [of coach selection] will get over before the start of the seven-match ODI series against Australia,” Shah added.

The BCCI had issued a media statement on August 27 detailing the requirements for the new India coach, a post that has been lying vacant since the departure of Greg Chappell in the aftermath of the World Cup fiasco.

The Board’s endeavour to appoint a successor to the former Aussie captain ended in a disaster when South African Ford came to Chennai to meet the members of the BCCI’s coach appointment committee in June.

Ford, coach of English county Kent, seemingly accepted the offer, but then did an about turn once he returned to England that left BCCI, which had already announced him as its new coach, totally embarrassed.

The Board had to fall back on India’s former Test captain Chandu Borde to be the cricket manager as a stop-gap arrangement on the ongoing tour of England.

Borde is to be replaced by another former Test batsman Lalchand Rajput for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa later this month.

The BCCI wants the new coach to possess Level III coaching credentials, be media and computer savvy, and also have the ability to motivate the players and optimize their performance at all times.

The BCCI wants the candidate to have played at least at first class level and have prior experience of coaching an international or national team or should have been a coach at an elite coaching centre of international repute.

It also wants the applicant to be capable of building positive relations with the public and the media.

BCCI has listed that the coach needs to work closely with the selection committee and interact periodically with the Review Committee to be set up by it as among its other requirements.

The Board also wants the aspiring candidate to possess excellent communication skills to deal at different levels like players, team management, selectors and the BCCI.

Hockey: India rout Bangladesh

Holders India shrugged off a lethargic start to post a 6-0 win over Bangladesh for their fourth straight victory in the six-team Pool B of the seventh BSNL Asia Cup hockey tournament in Chennai on Tuesday.

In an inconsequential Group-A tie, Hong Kong wiped off their deficit twice before getting the better of Singapore 3-2. Both Hong Kong, who completed their engagements with a win and three losses and Singapore, losing all their three matches so far, went out of the reckoning.

Raghunath (2 goals), Prabhjot Singh (2), Tushar Khandekar and Shivendra Singh were the scorers for India.

India huffed and puffed to gain the advantage against a fighting Bangladesh to maintain a clean slate. Each half in the 70-minute regulation time had a different story to tell.

The Indians, having made the semi-final grade on Monday with a fine 3-2 win over Doha Asian Games champions Korea, played a relaxed game in the first half. Despite slipping through the Bangladeshi defence on many occasions, the hosts failed to score in the first half an hour. After squandering four penalty corners, India went into the lead through Raghunath.

In the 32nd minute, Sardar Singh, one of the talented players in the Indian ranks, passed to Shivendra Singh on the right. Shivendra’s centre was shot home with alacrity by Raghunath (1-0). The Indians had two more goal scoring chances later but failed to capitalize on them and had to be content with the 1-0 lead at the break.

Bangladesh goalkeeper Mohammad Zahid Hossain stood out, saving a minimum of five sure goals and was rightly adjudged man of the match.

Crossing over, the Indians were a transformed lot with the players apparently been pulled up by chief coach Joaquim Carvalho during the break for their pathetic display in the first half.

The very first minute of the second half saw Rajpal Singh lacking the finish to score a goal. Following a combined move, hardworking Sardar Singh put Shivendra in possession and the latter crossed towards the goalmouth. But with only goalkeeper Zahid Hossain to beat, Rajpal failed to connect the ball.

India increased the lead (2-0) in the 37th minute with Ignace Tirkey being instrumental in a delicate and superb cross from the 25 yard line to Shivendra after hoodwinking two defenders. Shivendra’s pass from the right was accepted by Tushar Khandekar in front of the goal, who made no mistake.

Before the celebrations could die down, Shivendra made it 3-0, thanks to a combined effort by William Xalxo and Prabhjot Singh. India increased the lead to 4-0 in the 52nd minute with a goal scored by Prabhjot Singh after Shivendra showed opportunism in trapping a rebound from the goalkeeper’s pads.

India’s fifth goal was netted by Prabhjot Singh in the 60th minute. Accepting a long clearance by William Xalxo from the right, Prabhjot reverse flicked the ball into the netting with the goalkeeper rooted to the right side of the goal.

Raghunath too got into the act, scoring the sixth goal, converting the seventh penalty corner.

India play their last match against Thailand on Thursday.

Chris Harris turns down Canterbury Cricket contract

The former Black Cap Chris Harris has told Canterbury Cricket he won’t be taking up his contract this year.

Harris has been linked with the rebel Indian League but Canterbury’s chief executive Richard Reid says he hasn’t indicated whether he’ll be taking up other playing opportunities.

Reid says Harris has been an outstanding player and leader for Canterbury and has had a distinguished international career.

He says Harris’s experienced will be missed as Canterbury has a very young team.

Canterbury will now decide who’ll be offered a contract in his place, in consultation with the Players Association.