March 16, 2001
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The CBFS have decided to go ahead with the Sharjah tournament even if the Indian team does not particpate. Bangladesh has been put on a stand-bye in case India decide to withdraw from the tournament. The other team is Sri Lanka.  India's win in the second Test at Kolkata by 171 runs has finally brought to an end Australia's record 16 Tests win in a row. Philosophical in defeat Steve Waugh said he knew the streak would come to an end at some time and it took a remarkable game of cricket to do it. Chairman of selectors Chandu Borde making three changes to the team that won at Kolkata said the need of the hour should be considered while making these changes. The team is as follows. Sourav Ganguly (Bengal/captain), Rahul Dravid (Karnataka), S. Ramesh (Tamil Nadu), VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Hemang Badani (Tamil Nadu), Harbhajan Singh (Punjab), Sarandeep Singh (Punjab), Sairaj Bahutule (Mumbai), Nilesh Kulkarni (Mumbai), Zaheer Khan (Baroda), J. Srinath (Karnataka) and Nayan Mongia (Baroda/wicket-keeper). Debasis Mohanty (Orissa) and Sameer Dighe (Mumbai) are kept as stand-byes for Srinath and Mongia, both are recovering from an injury. The BCCI has announced cash awards to VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid for their individual feats that helped India post a remarkable win at Kollata. Harbhajan became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Tests while Laxman became the highest individual scorer in Tests for India. The Indian cricket team received congratulatory messages of an exciting win over Australia from Union Sports minister Ms Uma Bharati and the Minister of State for Youth Affairs P Radhakrishnan. They expressed satisfaction at the fighting spirit shown by the team and added a special word for Laxman, Dravid and Harbhajan who played major roles in the win. England spinners Robert Croft and Ashley Giles restricted the Sri Lankan batsmen as the home team was reduced to 221-7 on the first day of the third and deciding Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground at Colombo. Middle-order batsman Mahela Jayawardene top-scored with 71 runs. Off-spinner Croft was the most successful bowler with three wickets. After being put into bat, the home team reached a respectable 284-5 against Pakistan at the end the first day of the second Test match at Christchurch. Number three batsman Mathew Sinclair with an exact 100 is still at the crease.
Union Sports minister Ms Uma Barathi said that nothing has been finalised with regard to India's participation in the Sharjah tournament in April. She said it was not a decision to be taken by her own ministry, adding that the external affairs ministry and the prime minister's office will eventually make the final decision. The Pakistan Cricket Board, in the meanwhile has confirmed it will not withdraw from the Sharjah Tournament. The announcement came after a report that appeared in Pakistani newspapers said that CBFS in order to accommodate India has requested Pakistan to withdraw from the tournament. For this deal the CBFS has promised Pakistan money, which is double its guarantee money. Indian bookie Rattan Kumar is reported to be currently based in New Zealand in connection with the on-going tour of Pakistan. There are rumours that he has been seeing some of the Pakistani players during the tour. Favourites Pakistan had incidentally lost the one-day series 3-2. There is a strong possibility of the ICC's Anti-corruption team going to New Zealand to investigate this report and also to question some the Pakistani players. A team consisting of former Australian Test players, who are here in India to re-play the Madras tied Test on Saturday, defeated an Indian team 343 to 225 in a Golf Tournament in Mumbai. For the Indians former Test batsman Yujurvindra Singh emerged as the best player of the day, while Australian Greg Ritchie won the prize for the longest drive with a 285 yard effort. Former Australian batsman Trevor Chappell is all set to take over as Bangladesh's latest cricket coach. His immediate assignment is to prepare the Bangladeshi team for their tour of Zimbabwe, scheduled next month. Chappell hopes to be around till the 2003 World Cup. Former British prime minister and cricket enthusiast John Major will open the new four million pounds West Stand at Headingley, Leeds (Yorkshire) just before the scheduled fourth Ashes Test match in August this year.
AUSTRALIA IN INDIA 2nd Test at Kolkata (5th and final day) Australia: 445 (M Slater 42, M Hayden 97, J Langer 58, SR Waugh 110, JN Gillespie 46; Harbhajan Singh 7-123) 212 (M Hayden 67, M Slater 43; Harbhajan Singh 6-73, S Tendulkar 3-31) India: 171 (VVS Laxman 59; GD McGrath 4-18) (following-on) 657-7 (SS Das 39, S Ramesh 30, VVS Laxman 281, S Ganguly 48, Rahul Dravid 180; G McGrath 3-103, J Gillespie 2-115) Result: India won by 171 runs Man of the match: VVS Laxman PAKISTAN V NEW ZEALAND 2nd Test at Christchrurch (1st day) New Zealand: 284-5 (M Richardson 46, M Bell 75, M Sinclair 100 not out, S Fleming 32; Saqlain Mushtaq 2-64) SRI LANKA V ENGLAND 3rd Test at Colombo (1st day) Sri Lanka: 221-7 (S Jayasuriya 45, K Sangakkara 45, A deSilva 38, M Jayawardene 71; R Croft 3-40, A Giles 2-56) Yesterday's News
Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
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