ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014
SPORTS
51
‘I felt responsible for the string of miserable performances’
Tendulkar almost quit after captaincy debacle: book
NEW DELHI, Nov 2, (AFP): Sachin
Tendulkar felt so “scarred” and “devastated” by the Indian team’s losing
streak under his captaincy that he contemplated leaving the game in the late
1990s, the master batsman has written
in his autobiography.
In the much-awaited book ‘Playing
It My Way’, which will be released on
BCCI demands damages for abandoned Windies tour
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)
stares at financial ruin after its powerful
Indian counterpart demanded nearly $42
million in damages for the Caribbean
team’s abrupt withdrawal from a tour of
India last month.
A spokesman for the WICB confirmed they had received a letter from
the BCCI “outlining what the BCCI estimates as its losses from the premature
end of the West Indies tour of India”.
CRICKET
November 6, Tendulkar has spoken
about his frustrating captaincy tenure
from 1996 to 2000 when he led in 25
Tests, losing nine and winning just
four.
“I hated losing and as captain of the
team I felt responsible for the string of
miserable performances,” Tendulkar
wrote in the book, extracts of which
were released by the Press Trust of
India on Sunday.
“More worryingly, I did not know
how I could turn it around, as I was
already trying my absolute best. I confided in Anjali (his wife) that I feared
In this March 2, 2014 file photo,
India’s cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar
stands near a large steel bat which
has been unveiled as a monument in
his honor, in Mumbai, India. (AP)
there was nothing more that I could do
to stem the tide of defeats. “Losing a
string of very close matches had left me
badly scarred. I had given it everything
and was not sure that I could give even
0.1 per cent more.
“It was hurting me badly and it took
me a long time to come to terms with
these failures. I even contemplated
moving away from the sport completely, as it seemed nothing was going my
way.”
Tendulkar, a national icon who
played at the top level for 24 years,
retired last year as the world’s highest
The spokesman said the WICB had
15 days to respond.
The BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel,
who signed the letter to WICB president
Dave Cameron, did not respond to calls
from Reuters.
The West Indies team returned home
after the fourth of five one-day internationals and before three scheduled tests
due to a pay dispute between the players
and the board.
run-getter in both Test and one-day
cricket and the only batsman so far to
score 100 international centuries.
But it was almost 16 years before he
quit that Tendulkar nursed the idea of
leaving the game. It followed the tour of
West Indies in 1997 when, after drawing the first two Tests, India were shot
out for 81 in the third Test in Barbados
chasing a modest target of 120.
“Monday, 31 March 1997, was a dark
India have already suspended all
planned tours of the Caribbean and
roped in Sri Lanka as a replacement to
play a five-match ODI series, starting
later on Sunday.
“The consequences of cancellation of
a committed home Tour during the
biggest festival season Diwali in India is
a monumental disaster for the BCCI,”
Patel, secretary of the world’s richest
cricket board, wrote in the letter.
day in the history of Indian cricket and
definitely the worst of my captaincy
career,” Tendulkar writes in the book.
“Frankly, there can be no excuses
for such a poor batting effort, even
though it was a difficult track. None of
the batsmen apart from (VVS)
Laxman even reached double figures
in the second innings and it was one of
the worst batting displays I have been
part of.
“It is during this season that our partners derive the most value from their
rights.
“The BCCI holds the WICB responsible and liable for all such consequences
and intends to enforce its rights to seek
compensation from the WICB to the
fullest extent permissible in law.”
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, had not agreed
to a new series but merely advanced its
2015 tour, the BCCI said.
“The defeat left me totally devastated
and I shut myself in my room for two
whole days trying to come to terms with
the loss. I still feel the pangs of that
defeat when I look back at the series.”
The collapse was engineered by fast
bowler Ian Bishop who claimed 4-22,
while Curtly Ambrose and Franklyn
Rose chipped in with three wickets
each. The West Indies won the fivematch series 1-0.
Pakistan sniff series
victory over Australia
Misbah equals fastest Test century record
ABU DHABI, Nov 2,
(AFP): Pakistan were on
the verge of their first
series win over Australia in
20 years and victory in the
second Test after skipper
Misbah-ul Haq rewrote
the record books with his
belligerent batting in Abu
Dhabi on Sunday.
Misbah smashed a 56-ball
hundred, equalling West Indian
legend Viv Richards’s record
made against England at
Antigua in 1986, minutes after
breaking the mark for the fastest
fifty which he made off just 21
balls at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Misbah’s stunning blitz set up
Pakistan to declare their second
innings at 293-3, setting a daunting
603-run target for Australia who
suffered another batting collapse
before reaching 143-4 at stumps on
A rider in action during the first round of the Bahraini Desert Motor Cross Championship. (KUNA)
Al-Ansari takes first place in 250cc categoty
Kuwaitis shine in Bahrain race
MANAMA, Nov 2, (KUNA):
Motocross game director at Basel
Salem Al-Sabah Motor Racing Club
Hamad Al-Saif said Kuwaiti racers
gave a strong performance in the first
round
of
Bahrain
Motocross
Championship that concluded on
Saturday.
Al-Saif told KUNA on Sunday that
the racer, Mu’ath Al-Ansari, won the
first place in the 250cc category, while
Mohammad Jafar came in second place
in the 450cc category and Abdullah Al-
MOTORCROSS
Shatti at the fourth place in the same
group.
Al-Shatti and Jafar had an accident
in the second stage, affecting their
results, which had been expected to be
better, he added.
Al-Saif, who headed the Kuwaiti
delegation to the championship
praised, skills of the Kuwaiti racers
performed well in the tournament,
which involved best racers in the
region.
The contestants “were able despite
the difficulties they faced to achieve a
positive result and raise the name of
Kuwait in this large regional forum in
the sport of motorcycles,” he added.
He also praised support given by the
club director, Sheikh Ali Al-Fawaz AlSabah, motocross committee director
Sheikh Athbi Nayef Al-Sabah and
other club officials to raise players’
capacities and achieve high scores.
Winners with their trophies
ICSK Amman Branch lifts KQ Matters trophy
KQ Matters 2014, an eventful event,
was hosted by IES Kuwait (Bharathiya
Vidhya Bhavan) on Friday 31st October,
2014. The grand finale of the mega
quizzing was blessed by the gracious
presence of the excellently exceptional
chief guest Ms Samera Al Rayes
Director American International School,
Kuwait and the august gathering of the
parents, the teachers and the well-wishers. Around 65 teams consisting of 130
students from all Indian Schools in
Kuwait participated in this year preliminary round.
Out of six teams qualified for the
grand final round, ICSK Amman Branch
emerged as the champions by clinching
the winner’s trophy KQ Matters of the
year. ICSK Amman Branch students
once again showed their exemplary talents.
Rajesh Nair. C Principal congratulated Master Vivek Prasad Dalbehera of
Class IX G and Master Shaein Malamel
Samuel of Class VIII F, who represented
the school, for their hard work and stunning performance; the parents for their
staunch support and the teachers in
making the school achieve such a
remarkable feat.
CRICKET
the fourth day.
Misbah said it was an honour to
be bracketted with Richards.
“I think it’s the biggest honour
for me,” said Misbah. “I am no
where near him (Richards) and
scoring a hundred in as many deliveries as he did is something I will
always remember in my life.
“I didn’t know about the record
of fastest hundred but someone
from the team told me and I got to
know it, its great to have this
record.”
Steven Smith (38) and Mitchell
Marsh (26) were at the crease as
Australia still need another 460
runs for an unlikely win or bat out
three sessions on the final day to
avoid a 2-0 whitewash, their first
series defeat against the Pakistanis
since a 1-0 loss in Pakistan in 1994.
Australia’s woes with the bat
continued as left-arm spinner
Zulfiqar Babar (3-65) struck regular blows by dismissing Chris
Rogers (two), Glenn Maxwell
(four) and Michael Clarke (five) in
19 balls to leave Australia tottering
at 43-3.
Clarke was beaten by a beautiful
turner as the Australian captain
pushed on the backfoot only to see
his stumps disturbed.
That summed up Clarke’s miser-
Rahim warns of backlash from Zimbabwe
Bangladesh eye rare Test series win
KHULNA, Bangladesh, Nov 2, (AFP):
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim
warned of a backlash from Zimbabwe in
the second Test in Khulna from Monday
as his side hunted for only their third
series win in Test cricket.
The hosts have the lead in the threematch series following a tense threewicket win in the opening Test in Dhaka
when they struggled to surpass a modest
target of 101 on the spin-friendly wicket.
It was only the fifth win in 86 matches
for Bangladesh since earning Test status
in 2000 and the second on home soil after
the 226-run win against the same opponents in Chittagong in 2005.
Bangladesh’s two series victories so
far were the 1-0 win against Zimbabwe at
home in 2005 and a 2-0 success over a
boycott-hit West Indies in the Caribbean
in 2009. Rahim said his team could not
afford to take victory for granted despite
playing on what is expected to be another slow pitch.
“The last Test ended in three days, but
if we expect the same to happen here it
will be a mistake,” the captain said.
“I think they (Zimbabwe) are better
prepared. In the last Test, they had only
101 runs to defend and yet gave us a good
fight.” Rahim sought an improved batting
display to gain the upper hand in the contest between the two lowest-ranked teams
in Test cricket — Zimbabwe at number
nine and Bangladesh at 10.
“In a Test match, one usually sees only
a couple of soft dismissals, but in our
case there were about five or six in Dhaka
which is alarming,” he said.
“We need to concentrate better and
focus on our batting in a way that if
someone gets a 50, he should go on to
make another 50. The team benefits when
a batsman gets a 100.”
Pakistani batsman Misbah Ul Haq
jubilates after scoring a one century
(100 runs) during the fourth day of the
second Test cricket match between
Pakistan and Australia at the Zayed
International Cricket Stadium in Abu
Dhabi on Nov 2. (AFP)
Pakistani batsman Azhar Ali plays a shot during the fourth day of the second Test
cricket match between Pakistan and Australia at the Zayed International Cricket
Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Nov 2. (AFP)
Pakistan vs Australia Scoreboard
ABU DHABI, Nov 2, (AFP): Scoreboard at
stumps on the fourth day of the second Test
between Pakistan and Australia played at
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on
Sunday:
PAKISTAN 1st innings 570-6 dec (Younis
Khan 213, Azhar Ali 109, Misbah-ul Haq 101;
M. Starc 2-86)
AUSTRALIA 1st innings 261 (M. Marsh
87; M. Clarke 47; Imran Khan 3-60)
PAKISTAN 2nd innings (overnight 61-2)
Ahmed Shehzad b Johnson ......................14
Mohammad Hafeez c Starc b Johnson .......3
Azhar Ali not out ......................................100
Younis Khan lbw b Smith...........................46
Misbah-ul Haq not out .............................101
Extras: (b23, lb4, nb1, w1) ........................29
Total: (for three wkts; 60.4 overs dec) .....293
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Shehzad), 2-21
(Hafeez), 3-152 (Younis)
Bowling: Johnson 7-1-45-2, Lyon 18-3-480, Starc 11.4-2-56-0 (1w), Siddle 14-4-48-0,
Smith 6-0-54-1, Marsh 4-1-15-0
able series with only 57 runs.
David Warner had held on end
intact, reaching his 13th half-century before miscuing a drive off
Mohammad Hafeez and was caught
for 58.
Earlier Misbah, notorious for his
slow batting in one-day internationals, removed all doubts about his
credentials.
In all Misbah hit 11 boundaries
and five sixes off 57 balls during
his two centuries in the match, a
blitz which overshadowed Azhar
Ali’s feat of 100 not out, making
this only the second occasion in
Test cricket’s history when two
batsmen scored a century in each
innings in the same match.
Australian brothers Ian and Greg
Chappell scored centuries in each
innings against New Zealand at
Wellington in 1973.
Misbah beat the previous record
of the fastest half-century held by
South Africa’s Jacques Kallis
scored against Zimbabwe at Cape
Town in 2004.
Misbah hit two boundaries off
paceman Mitchell Starc to reach his
hundred, punched the air in delight
and waved his bat to team-mates.
AUSTRALIA 2nd innings
C. Rogers c Shafiq b Babar ........................2
D. Warner c Shah b Hafeez ......................58
G. Maxwell lbw b Babar...............................4
M. Clarke b Babar .......................................5
S. Smith not out.........................................38
M. Marsh not out .......................................26
Extras: (b4, nb1, pen5)..............................10
Total: (for four wkts; 48 overs).................143
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Rogers), 2-31
(Maxwell), 3-43 (Clarke), 4-101 (Warner)
Bowling: Rahat 5-4-1-0, Khan 5-1-13-0,
Hafeez 12-1-33-1, Babar 17-1-65-3, Shah 80-21-0 (1nb), Ali 1-0-1-0
Note: Pakistan were penalised five runs
after the ball hit the helmet placed behind the
wicket-keeper
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
This is also the second fastest
hundred in terms of time, behind
Australia’s Jack Gregory who
reached a hundred in 70 minutes
against
South
Africa
at
Johannesburg in 1921.
Misbah took 74 minutes to reach
the mark. Misbah cut loose after
Younis Khan fell for 46, hitting
three sixes and a four off one Steven
Smith over and then hit the spinner
for his fourth six an over later.
In all he hit four boundaries and
as many sixes in his fifty. Misbah
pushed Starc for three to complete
the fastest Test fifty ever which
took only 24 minutes.
The previous fastest fifty in terms
of time was held by Bangladesh’s
Mohammad Ashraful who took 27
minutes for his fifty against India at
Dhaka in 2007.
The previous fastest Test halfcentury by a Pakistani batsman was
by Shahid Afridi who took 26 balls
to reach the mark, against India at
Bangalore in 2005.
Majid Khan previously held the
record for the fastest hundred by a
Pakistani, scored off 74 balls
against New Zealand in Karachi in
1976.