Virat Kohli, India's ray of hope

COLOMBO: Earlier this week during a warm-up game, India's T20 World Cup hopes were nearly 'smashed' when their best batsman, Virat Kohli, received a beamer from Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami that would have taken the batsman's head off had it connected. Luckily for India, Kohli somehow managed to avoid getting hit. The very next ball, this brightest jewel in the Indian batting crown showed what he is all about, slamming Sami for a six over long off.

In that game, Kohli played several exquisite strokes, including a 'straight hit' that nearly hit bowler Sohail Tanvir even as umpire Nigel Llong was forced to take evasive action. There was a six over cover off Saeed Ajmal that took one's breath away.

Kohli's unbeaten 75 off 47 balls in that match, and his 50 off 39 balls against Afghanistan — his third consecutive fifty in T20 cricket — further drove home the point that he is now the backbone of the batting order. With the openers out of form and the bowling appearing shaky, Kohli offers the brightest ray of hope for Indian cricket.

Kohli has become the first Indian batsman to hit three fifties on the trot in T20s. In ODIs, he hit an 86-ball, unbeaten 133 at Hobart against Sri Lanka, a knock which former Aussie batsman Dean Jones felt was as good as Viv Richards' epic, unforgettable 189.

Kohli then smashed 183 against Pakistan: the highest international score against them. In Tests, he won India a game at Bangalore last month with scores of 103 and 51 not out.

Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar, who introduced Kohli to international cricket during his tenure as the chief selector, back in 2008 for an ODI tour to Sri Lanka, is a proud man today, having seen his 'pick' come a long way now. "I feel glad seeing him now. Everything about him is impressive.

He remained focused on improving his batting. He thinks about his game, and he has done brilliantly in international cricket for himself," Vengsarkar told TOI on Friday from Mumbai. The words of praise don't just stop there. "He has gone from strength to strength and has now become the mainstay of the Indian batting," he adds.

What was it about Kohli that 'clicked' with Vengsarkar? "At the highest level, other than skills and technique, you need mental toughness too. That mental toughness depends from person to person. I saw that toughness in him when he controlled the innings during a game against New Zealand 'A' in the Emerging Players' Tournament Down Under. I had a gut feeling that he would perform well."

Even the Sri Lankans are becoming members of the Kohli fan club. Former Lankan batsman Hashan Tillakaratne, one of the stars of the 1996 World Cup winning team, feels the 23-year-old Delhi lad "is the best young cricketer in world cricket currently." "He looks organized at the crease. He seems hungry and determined for runs," Tillakaratne says.

For a few years at least, the spot at No 3 in ODIs and T20s, and at No 5 (maybe even No 3) in Tests looks secure.

Tiger Woods happy with 2012 season, despite major drought

ATLANTA: Tiger Woods has not won a major title in more than four years but he is delighted with his progress this season, highlighted by three victories on the PGA Tour, after a frustrating 2011 campaign cut short by injury.

The American former world number one missed three months, and two of the four majors, last year after injuring his Achilles during the Masters in April.

"This has been a really good season to come back from last year, not being able to play at all, and then being able to train properly and practise properly," Woods said on Wednesday ahead of this week's Tour Championship.

"Hence I'm producing the results I know I can produce. I've made some great strides this year. I went from probably most of my career not being a very good driver of the ball to now being one of the better ones out here on tour.

"That is exciting for me. That is one of the reasons why my scoring average is where it's at right now. I've been very consistent."

Helped by his three wins on the 2012 PGA Tour, Woods lies second behind Rory McIlroy in the FedExCup points standings coming into this week for the fourth and final playoff event of the season.

He also occupies second place in the scoring average charts, his 68.892 being trumped only by McIlroy's 68.836.

"My short game is finally starting to come around too, which is nice," said Woods. "I made some good changes this summer, and they're finally starting to click in."

'PUTTING IT TOGETHER'

Asked what he still needed to do to clinch a 15th major title, Woods replied: "I think just putting it all together at the right time. I've put it together at three events this year. They just happen to be not the major championships.

"I just need to have those weeks where I put it together and coincide with a major. They're not easy to do. I haven't really done it that often. I've done it 14 times ... so they're a little harder to do."

Woods won the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 US Open before his game went into decline after the 2009 season following assorted leg injuries and the breakdown of his marriage.

However, the American has been in good health since October and he ended a two-year winless streak with victory in December at the limited-field Chevron World Challenge which he hosts in California.

This week, though, Woods is fully focused on trying to land FedExCup honours for a third time, having previously triumphed in 2007 and 2009.

  

"It really would top it off," the world number two said. "I've had a really good season, and to win the Tour Championship, the FedExCup, and then have my fourth win ... all of those are positive things.

"These are the 30 of the hottest players this year, so you're beating a really good field," Woods said of the elite field at East Lake. "The guys are all playing well. I've done it twice, and hopefully I can do it again."

As the leading two players in the FedExCup standings, McIlroy and Woods have been paired together in a marquee grouping for Thursday's opening round at East Lake.

Kamran Akmal special floors Indians in warm-up game

COLOMBO: In March last year, Kamran Akmal was the villain of the whole of Pakistan, as he dropped Ross Taylor twice behind the wickets, allowing the Kiwi to smash a brilliant hundred that caused the South Asian giants to lose to the unfancied Kiwis in a World Cup game at Pallekele.

Scorecard| Match in Pics

Akmal was eventually shunted out of the national team, and to make it worse for him, there were allegations of corruption against his name too. Last month, the Pakistan selectors, however, decided to give him one last lifeline by recalling him for the series against Australia and the World T20 in Sri Lanka.

Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who was overlooked for Akmal, even alleged that he would expose the latter's misdeeds in front of the entire world.


On Monday, Akmal put perhaps the most gloomy phase of his life behind by smashing a brilliant, unbeaten 92 (50b, 5x4, 6x6) at the Premadasa to shape a five-wicket win over arch-rivals India in a warm-up game ahead of the World T20.


Choosing to bat first, India raced to a massive 185 for three, in which Virat Kohli, continuing his hot streak, smashed an unbeaten 75 (40b, 7x4,2x6),while the other explosive talent in the side, Rohit Sharma, who had endured a miserable run on the same shores a couple of months back, scored 56 (40b, 6x4, 2x6).


However, despite a four-wicket haul by off-spinner R Ashwin, India withered against Kamran and Shoaib Malik's magnificent onslaught as the duo added 95 runs off 46 balls for the sixth wicket.

Despite the loss coming in a warm-up match, Indian skipper MS Dhoni will go into the tournament a worried man, considering the meagre and mediocre bowling resources at his disposal.

Dhoni helps India reach respectable total in warm-up game

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored an unbeaten half-century as India overcame early jitters to post a respectable 146 for five against Sri Lanka in their opening warm-up match of the World Twenty20 at the P Sara Oval In Colombo on Saturday.

Dhoni’s unbeaten 42-ball 55, including four fours and three sixes, revived India’s fortunes after Sri Lankan bowlers had initially pushed the visitors on to the backfoot with early wickets.


Reeling at 51 for four at one stage, Dhoni, in the able company of Rohit Sharma (37), put up a 78-run stand for the sixth wicket to take India to a decent total.

Opting to bat, India not only lost Gautam Gamhir, who retired hurt in the very first over, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina also failed to lay a strong foundation.

It was Nuwan Kulasekara who provided the Lankans the early breakthroughs by sending back both Sehwag (12) and Raina (13) cheaply in the fifth over.


Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh were expected to steady the boat but Angelo Mathews spoilt the Indians’ plan by dismissing the former for eight.


Yuvraj, who made an emotional return to international cricket scoring a 26-ball 34 against New Zealand in a T20 match, also could not put up any resistance as Rangana Herath struck in the very next over to leave India struggling at 51 for four in 8.3 overs.


Yuvraj fell for a 12-ball 11, that included two fours.

However, Dhoni and Rohit managed to consolidate the team’s position and take the score past 100.

In the last over, Rohit fell for a 26-ball 37 with four hits to the fence and a six.

Scoreboard:

India:

G Gambhir retired hurt 5
V Sehwag c Eranga b Kulasekara 12
S Raina c Munaweera b Kulasekara 12
V Kohli c Munaweera b Mathews 8
Yuvraj Singh c Sangakkara b Herath 11
R Sharma c Jayawardene b Malinga 37
MS Dhoni not out 55
I Pathan not out 2

Extras: (LB-1, W-2, NB-1) 4
Total: (For 5 wickets; 20 overs) 146
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-32, 3-46, 4-51, 5-129.

Bowling: Lasith Malinga 4-0-50-1, Nuwan Kulasekara 4-0-39-2, Shaminda Eranga 2-0-10-0, Thisara Perera 3-0-17-0, Angelo Mathewa 2-0-6-1, Rangana Herath 3-1-8-1, Jeevan Mendis 2-0-15-0.

The youngsters are hungry for more: Dhoni

India lies in the bottom half of the ICC Twenty20 rankings table, but captain M.S. Dhoni feels this hardly matters in the shortest format of the game.

“It’s a very different format. You have to be innovative. You have to play smart and, at the same time, bold cricket,” Dhoni said.

“It’s about playing good cricket that day for three-and-a-half hours… actually it is not even three-and-a-half hours. One good innings from an individual can take the game away from the opposition. Anything can happen.

“You just hope to be consistent and good throughout the tournament, especially in the knockout stages. Maybe, in the league stages, you can have a bad game. But, in the knockout stages if you have a bad game, you will be going home,” he said.

The ICC T20 World Cup is quite different to the Indian Premier League (IPL) since most of the teams which take part in it are much more balanced sides. “Apart from the format, the IPL and T20 World Cup are slightly different… playing in the IPL does help.

  

The good thing is that most of our batsmen and bowlers have played a lot of T20 cricket. Which means they know how to execute a plan well,” said Dhoni.

   

What else is left to achieve for Dhoni, who has led India to the world T20 title as well as the ICC World Cup (50-over format)?

  

“I don’t mind repeating it,” quipped Dhoni. “We have a very good side. That’s a big positive for us. I feel the youngsters who have come into the side are really hungry for more. They want to do well for the country,” added the Indian skipper.

  

Practice game

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said he was looking forward to the practice match against India ahead of the tournament.

   

In his opinion, playing against India was always a high-pressure game and it would be good if the team got the experience beforehand.

The Pakistan players were part of the Sri Lanka Premier League in August and the experience would come in handy, he added.

   

Asked about Pakistan’s chances in Group D, the Group of Death which also has New Zealand and Bangladesh, Hafeez said his team would play hard and hope for the best. 

Volleyballer Arunima Sinha who lost leg climbs 21,000ft

JAMSHEDPUR: A national-level volleyball player who lost her left leg after being thrown out of a moving train in Bareilly in April last year doesn't appear to have lost her spirit and determination. Arunima Sinha has scaled Chamser Kangri mountain in Ladakh, becoming an inspiration for differently-abled sportspeople.

The 24-year-old climbed 21,110 feet with three other teammates on September 3 after training for months with Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to conquer Mt Everest.

"Incessant rain, snowfall and poor light prevented me from climbing another 600ft to reach the peak of Chamser Kangri but I successfully scaled 21,110ft which no other disabled woman has climbed so far in history," said Arunima speaking over phone from Lucknow on her way to Jamshedpur on Tuesday.

Bachendri Pal said she was awed by Arunima's passion and perseverance. "She is a spirited girl and I am sure if she continues in this manner, she will soon climb Mt Everest," said Pal who accompanied Arunima to the base camp on her expedition to Kangri peak.

"I have not come across any person, particularly a woman, who has scaled 21,000ft with artificial limbs," said Pal, the chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, (TSAF).

Arunima was pushed out of the general compartment of a moving Padmawati Express for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some hoodlums, while travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on April 12, 2011. She was hit by a passing train and was seriously injured. She was hospitalized with serious leg and pelvic injuries and in a bid to save her life, doctors had to amputate her left leg below the knee. Arunima joined the TSAF-run training camp in Uttarkashi early this year. .

"My ultimate aim is to scale Mt Everest and I will do it one day. I look forward to the guidance of 'madam' for my dream expedition," said Arunima who did her basic course in mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.

Serena Williams beats Victoria Azarenka to win fourth US Open title

NEW YORK: Serena Williams captured her 15th Grand Slam title and fourth career US Open crown with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory Sunday over World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.

In the first three-set final at the US Open since 1995, American fourth seed Williams joined her sister Venus and Steffi Graf as the only women to win Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open in the same year.


Pushed to her limit for the only time in the Flushing Meadows fortnight, Williams was down a break twice in the third set but battled back to win after two hours and 18 minutes when Azarenka swatted a backhand long. "I honestly can't believe I won," Williams said. "I was preparing my runner-up speech. I'm so shocked. It's remarkable."

Williams, who turns 31 on September 26, became the second-oldest US Open women's champion in the Open era. Australian Margaret Court was one month past her 31st birthday when she won the 1973 title.

Not since Martina Navratilova in 1987 had a woman won the US Open title past her 30th birthday.


Taking home a top prize of $1.9 million, Williams won her 45th career title after finishing second to Australia's Samantha Stosur in 2011 following a year of health problems that included blood clots on her lungs. Williams won prior US Open titles in 1999, 2002 and 2008 and added Grand Slam crowns at the 2002 French Open, the 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 Australian Opens and Wimbledon in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2012.


Olympic bronze medalist Azaranka, whose 1-9 record against Williams in prior matches included losses in this year's Olympic and Wimbledon semifinals, won her first Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open.


But no women's top seed has won a US Open title since Justine Henin in 2007 and none has won a Grand Slam title since Serena Williams in 2010 at Wimbledon. "Serena deserves to win. She showed how true a champion she is," Azarenka said. "I definitely gave it all today. Stepping off this court I will have no regrets." Williams, in a third set at the US Open for the first time since 2006, exchanged early breaks with Azarenka in the final set.


Azarenka, unbeaten in 12 prior three-set matches this year, broke Williams at love for a 4-3 lead, but was broken back when she served for the match in the 10th game, netting a forehand to pull Williams level at 5-5. The American held serve and then watched as Azarenka twice hit errant shots when she was a point from forcing the first third-set tie-breaker in a US Open women's final since 1985. Williams then won on her first match-point chance.


The 13-year gap between Williams winning her first Slam title at age 17 at the US Open and now marks the longest span between first and most recent titles in US Open history and for any Grand Slam in the Open era that began in 1968.


No US Open women's final had gone to a third set since Steffi Graf went the distance to defeat Monica Seles 7-6 (8/6), 0-6, 6-3 some 17 years ago.


Williams stretched her match-win streak against World No. 1 players to five in a row, last losing to a rankings leader in 2007 when Justine Henin beat her, and 15 for her career, three shy of Navratilova's all-time record.


It was the fourth time Williams defeated a World No. 1 in a Grand Slam final after Martina Hingis in the 1999 US Open, Venus Williams in 2002 Wimbledon and Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open.

We gave it everything: Leander Paes

 

NEW YORK: He missed out on a third US Open men's doubles title but Indian tennis star Leander Paes was far from dejected as he insisted that he and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek gave all that they had in the final clash against champions Mike and Bob Bryan.

Fifth seeds Paes and Stepanek lost 6-3 6-4 to the second-seeded Bryan brothers in the summit clash on Friday.

Paes was equally complimentary of both his partner and his opponent.


"Even though we got beaten today by one of the greatest teams of all time, my team and Radek's team came out and brought everything they had to this tournament," Paes said.


"I can guarantee you we will be giving it everything we have every single day for the rest of the year," he added.

Paes felt the Bryans produced a magical performance to clinch the title.


"These guys always bring magic to the court," said 39-year-old. "But we put it on the line today and we will come back and keep doing it."


Paes has won two US Open men's doubles title in 2006 (with Martin Damm) and 2009 (with Lukas Dlouhy), as well as a mixed doubles title in 2008 (with Cara Black).


The win was a measure of revenge for the Bryans who lost to Paes-Stepanek in the finals of the Australian Open earlier this year.

"I think they started really well," Stepanek said. "They were all over our serve from the beginning and making life very difficult for us out there. They were the better team today, so they deserve the win."

The Bryan brothers won their previous US Open titles together in 2005, 2008 and 2010. In addition, Bob has won four US Open mixed doubles title while Mike has one to his name.


The brothers will now head to Spain with the rest of the US Davis Cup team to do battle next weekend against David Ferrer and the rest of the Spanish Cup team in a semifinal tie.

All eyes on Yuvraj Singh as India take on Kiwis in first T20I

VISAKHAPATNAM: A battered and bruised New Zealand will seek to revive their fortunes in the first T20 International against India on Saturday evening.

The match itself, however, looks likely to be overshadowed by the overwhelming focus on comeback man Yuvraj Singh, who will play his first game for India after a successful battle with cancer. The southpaw will be keen on getting his career back on track.

Yuvraj has not played competitive cricket since the two home Tests against the West Indies last November, and it has been an emotional choice to recall him as soon as he was declared fit by doctors at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, where he began light training in July.

"It is hard to believe that I will be playing for India again," Yuvraj said. "A few months back I had trouble climbing four steps, now I can't wait to take the field. It is like starting a new life."

Yuvraj, however, isn't the only one making a comeback. The other player to look out for is Harbhajan Singh, who has been out of the Indian team for some time now and will have a point or two to prove. With Tamil Nadu's R Ashwin successfully filling in the place left by Harbhajan, the Punjab player will be eager to show his detractors that he is far from finished.

With the T20 World Cup round the corner, the two-match series gives the teams an opportunity to score some brownie points and get into shape.

After their pathetic show in the Caribbean, the beleaguered Kiwis landed in India with the hope of giving the hosts a run for their money. But the Indian team, which had subdued the Sri Lankans in the ODI series earlier, was in no mood to give the Kiwis any leeway.

In the two-Test series, the Indians stamped their authority in no uncertain terms as they won both the matches with relative ease.

However, it is going to be a different game altogether on Saturday as the teams face off in the shortest version of the game. The visitors can take heart from the fact that they have an unenviable record in T20 against India - they have won all three overseas games.

However, India are yet to lose a game on this ground.