You and Others Didn't Drop The Catch, Its World Cup 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Pakistan, Younis Khan
posted @ 10:04 AM,
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Best Photo of ICC World Cup 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Labels: Australia, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India
posted @ 10:15 AM,
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There is a Storm Coming and Its Color is Green
Monday, March 28, 2011
The semi final of the world cup between the Pakistan and Indian Cricket team shall take place on 30 March 2011 in Mohali, India.
Considering the excitement and euphoria that surround the Indo-Pak cricket match, the Northern Regional Committee invites you to come and witness the great semifinal faceoff in the history of cricket with fellow members at ICAP House Lahore on Wednesday 30th March 2011 at 1:00 pm on big screen.
The high-energy and high-emotion India-Pakistan semifinal encounter in Mohali shall offer a great spectacle of fine cricket. The emotions will definitely run high during the match which is being termed as mother of all battles and you wont like to miss such a great event.
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Pakistan
posted @ 5:53 PM,
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India Geared for Pakistan Battle
Friday, March 25, 2011
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team was ready to take on bitter rivals Pakistan after surviving a high-pressure game against Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals.Chasing a target of 261, Dhoni's men appeared to be in trouble at 187-5 in the 38th over but Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina carried the team to a five-wicket win with 14 balls to spare at the packed Sardar Patel Stadium.
"We needed 70-odd runs and our last batting pair was at the crease," said Dhoni. "It basically meant if we played 50 overs with Yuvraj and Raina, we would make it."There was pressure but more than the technical or skill part, it was about managing the pressure." With India running into Pakistan in the last-four, Dhoni said the pressure will only go up by several notches on his team.
India v Pakistan in semi-finals it doesn't get better. A World Cup hosted by the sub-continental nations and India and Pakistan making it to the semis. There will be more pressure on the Indian side and it will be from outside. People will say 'win the semis, we don't care about the final'. "But the reality is every game is the same for us irrespective of whether it is Australia or Pakistan. It is a big part and parcel of the game in India. It is a tough job but Indian cricketers have been managing this quite well."
Dhoni said the team opted to go for Raina ahead of the dropped Yusuf Pathan because he was technically more sound. "Yusuf at number seven was going for runs, but Raina is technically more sound and we were keen on batting 50 overs. That's why we went with Raina, but we know Yusuf can be really dangerous." Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who made 104, credited Yuvraj and Raina for the win.
"We needed more wickets in the middle of the innings," he said. "With 15 overs to go, it was touch and go, but Yuvraj and Raina played really well. It's disappointing to bow out, we are a better team than we have played." Yuvraj, named man of the match for the fourth time in the tournament, said he concentrated on playing the balls on merit rather than go for flashy shots. When Dhoni got out, I knew we still had Raina to come, and thought if we can add 40 odd runs it would be good," said the burly left-hander.
I was hitting the ball down the ground. I was batting on instinct. I knew that I have to stay till the end and win the match for the country. I have gone through a tough year, but coming into the World Cup, getting that 50 against England, it was good. "As for today's game, 260 was a good score, Ponting batted outstandingly but we chased well."
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Pakistan
posted @ 10:50 AM,
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Tie Dramatic Match - India and England
Monday, February 28, 2011
India and England tied one of the greatest matches in ICC Cricket World Cup history as both sides recorded 338 on Sunday. The match, which saw the highest match aggregate in the tournament's history, saw England score 13 runs off the final over to finish on 338-8 to tie the game.
Earlier Sachin Tendulkar's 98th international century saw him make a masterful 120 as India hit England's bowlers to every corner off the packed ground in Bengaluru as it smashed 338 all out. Tendulkar received excellent support from Yuvraj Singh who hit 58 and Gautam Gambhir who made 51.
Jimmy Anderson conceded the most runs in World Cup history by an English bowler as he took 1-91, but England was left to thank Tim Bresnan for his best ever ODI performance. The Yorkshire paceman took his first five-wicket haul, capturing three wickets in four balls during the 49th over, as he achieved figures of 5-48.
In reply, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen gave England a lively start, but Pietersen was very unlucky to fall to a caught and bowled chance by Munaf Patel for 31. Strauss and Trott then steadied things for England before Chawla trapped Trott in front for 16 to leave England 111-2. Strauss and Bell then combined for a record-breaking third wicket partnership with the England skipper registering 158, becoming the sixth English player to pass 4,000 ODI runs in the process. Strauss (158) brought up his hundred off just 99 balls and combined with Bell, who made 69, to add 170 for the third wicket, but they fell off consecutive deliveries to Zaheer Khan in the 43rd over to completely change the game.
Collingwood and Prior followed soon after, before Yardy and Bresnan both made useful contributions before getting out. Swann and Shahzad then combined to hit 13 runs off the last over, Shahzad dramatically hitting his first ball for six, but Swann could only manage one off the final ball to tie the match.
Labels: England, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India
posted @ 10:17 AM,
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Loyal fans cop nightmare
Monday, December 13, 2010
Two highlights emerged from the Black Caps' fifth and final one-day series defeat to India early yesterday.
The first was James Franklin's 17 not out as he built on outstanding returns of 72 and 98 in the previous two matches.
It has cemented his place batting at six for now, leading into the World Cup.
The second highlight was that the match finished mercifully early, enabling a decent night's sleep for the ever-dwindling number of New Zealand cricket tragics prepared to put the kettle on and settle in front of the telly until the early hours.
That's provided they didn't have nightmares afterwards about men in black enacting premeditated shots, playing the wrong line or shuffling timidly about the crease against some vicious subcontinental spin on their way to an 11th straight one-day defeat.
Ironically Kane Williamson, one of New Zealand's best batsmen against spin in the test series, was not selected on a wicket doctored for turn.
Williamson, thrown in at number three to start the series, missed the final two games as the Black Caps shuffled their order in the vain hope of success against India B with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh rested.
The work put in against spin on the specially-prepared wickets of the Sandgate club in Brisbane from June to August for all the team (except Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor) came to little as India unveiled more local talent, notably off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
The wicket was a cruel sign-off from the local Chennai head groundsman against a team in patent disarray. Maybe he wanted to head home early too.
The total of 103 in 27 overs was New Zealand's lowest in the 88-one-day international history between the two countries. It seemed an appropriate climax after a fortnight of Black Caps' cricketing melancholy.
With the customary post-match tour debrief this week, the onus goes on what the team can do ahead of the World Cup to regain some pride. Winning the tournament seems out of the question but New Zealand has a proud history at the event with five semifinal appearances in nine attempts. However, none of those top four finishes have occurred when the World Cup has been held on the subcontinent (1987, 1996).
It was hoped three tours and 14 one-day internationals - to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India - over the last four months would be the perfect build-up to the six-week World Cup running from late February to early April. Instead it has shattered the Black Caps' confidence and they return jaded and lethargic.
Solutions are hard to find. A fit Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder and Daryl Tuffey would be a positive start.
Ryder could join McCullum at the top of the order with Martin Guptill, Taylor, Scott Styris, Franklin and Oram slotting in from there - if Williamson remains out of favour with his struggle to score quickly and Grant Elliott can't rediscover past form in the coming weeks.
Vettori, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills and another pace bowler could fill numbers 8-11. Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Andy McKay or Hamish Bennett could be number 11.
But how about an unfashionable suggestion - if Tuffey's bicep fails to recover, should Chris Martin's experience be backed ahead of youth?
The World Cup is not for experimentation. Choosing Martin means a batsman is lost, but few matches are won on the performance of a number 11 with the willow. Martin is a well-respected team man.
Success in India looks set to be based on spin, subtlety and guile with the ball rather than express pace, so he could provide some glue. Are any of the other pace prospects reliable enough?
The Black Caps' horrendous form now faces the ultimate test of loyalty from fans. Pakistan play the first of their Twenty20 matches in a fortnight.
Is it worth turning up to see a team that sometimes tries to win versus a team that can't win?
It's a hard sell. Yet it is potentially the booster the Black Caps need. It's a chance to play at home in familiar conditions and regain some momentum ahead of the World Cup and break that daunting 11-match streak.
Labels: India
posted @ 9:05 AM,
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Too much cricket will hurt India in World Cup
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wasim Akram put in bluntly: India are playing too much cricket. And that could hurt the team in next year's World Cup. Speaking at the Hindustan Leadership Summit on Friday, Akram said: "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should cut down the number of matches India are playing."
"They are playing New Zealand now and will go to South Africa. They have already played Australia and Sri Lanka. They will come back and play their first match on February 19 in the World Cup. That's too much. They won't get time to recover. They will be tired, especially the bowlers. Too much cricket is another reason for frequent breakdowns of fast bowlers," said the 44-year-old former Pakistan skipper.
Akram said the 50-over World Cup was far ahead of the T20 World Cup in terms of quality. "Your skill is not tested in T20. You just have to whack the ball. In the 50-over format, you can slip in bouncers and your batting skill is tested."
For Akram, Test cricket is the ultimate thing. "It's here where all your skill is tested," he said. "The International Cricket Council must do something to save Tests."
Asked for a solution, he said: "Preparing sporting wickets is the only way we can bring crowds back to Tests." He also said that ICC should cut down the number of T20 matches and play more Tests.
Akram said cricket's lost ground in Pakistan due to match-fixing controversies. "It's sad. But the PCB must act. If some players have been accused, they should not be playing for the country. I have seen players against whom action has been taken playing for the country again in six months. That should not happen. The team managers and coaches too must play a crucial role in grooming young players."
As for Pakistan not hosting any World Cup match, Akram said, "It is sad. We were not hosting cricket for a while. This way the new generation will not get to see star cricketers in action, which will motivate them to take up the sport. The sport will lose its popularity."
posted @ 2:40 PM,
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Tax searches on Games contractors widen to 60 premises
Friday, October 29, 2010
Officers of the Income Tax department Thursday widened their search operations, and visited some 60 premises across cities of individuals and firms who won lucrative contracts for the Commonwealth Games, officials said.
'Today we launched our search operations at the premises of some more Commonwealth Games contractors -- around 60 or so. This is a part of our ongoing probe. We are examining if there was any tax evasion while executing contracts,' a senior tax official said here.
He said the cities where the search operations took place included the national capital, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and some in Jharkhand.
'Our probe is specifically looking at the contracts awarded by the Organising Committee and the role played by its officials and contractors. There are also charges of bribery. We will seize documents and books of accounts if needed,' the official added.
Income tax officials had conducted similar search operations Oct 19 on some 30 premises of those who had won Games contracts. Among the premises visited by the tax sleuths was that of Sudhanshu Mittal, a leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mittal's close relatives had won some contracts, a senior official said.
The developments followed a host of measures announced by the government since the 12-day Games drew to a close Oct 14 to look into allegations of misappropriation of funds and questionable procedures followed for award of contracts for various projects.
Among them, the tenure of officials associated with the Games was extended, even as the country's top auditor said a report on its accounts and financial activities would be presented to parliament in three months.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also set up the high-level committee headed by former comptroller and auditor general V.K. Shunglu to look into all matters relating to the conduct and organisation of the Games.
The prime minister had also directed the ministries concerned to conduct thorough investigations into all complaints received of procedural and other irregularities and said those found guilty should face severe and exemplary punishment.
The agencies conducting investigations include the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Directorate of Enforcement, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 9:52 AM,
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What Now for Games Venues?
Hosting an international sporting event is as much about theatricality as it is about sport and the run up to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi was certainly filled with its own share of circus acts.
While evaluating the success of the Games, inevitably the question of their cost arises, and a battery of commissions has already been formed to look into potential financial wrongdoing. The initial budget of a few hundred million dollars escalated exponentially in the last seven years, with figures as high as $15 billion doing the rounds. Whether the city will ever be able to recover this investment is yet to be seen. However, if precedent is anything to go by, it could take the city anywhere from 20 to 30 years to pay for it.
A good deal of money was spent on upgrading the city’s infrastructure, something the Games have undoubtedly been a catalyst for. The new airport terminal, the metro, an expanded road network system are some of the more apparent infrastructural improvements in the city that will make it a more attractive destination. But the question begging to be asked is: How can the vast amounts of money spent on the sports stadiums and associated infrastructure be recovered?
Cities from developing nations may not benefit that much by hosting mega-sporting events. High infrastructure and development costs, the inability to attract a large number of tourists and spectators and the fact that the facilities languish after the event all make compelling arguments for not hosting events like the Commonwealth Games.
Stadiums, like skyscrapers and museums, follow an economic model unique to themselves. Often touted as citadels of modernity, the expression of human will over a landscape, these structures contribute to the making of national pride. But for New Delhi to fully exploit its spanking new sports facilities and indeed re-invent itself through the Games, it now needs to re-envision the stadiums as public or semi-public spaces and open them up to public-private participation.
The twin objectives of public architecture is that it is socially engaging and uplifting while creating cultural markers in a physical landscape. Together, both of these instill civic pride, something self-deprecating Delhi urgently needs.
So far, many in the city have only experienced these edifices through reports in the media, while for the street vendors and others who were displaced in the name of a larger cause, the two weeks of the Commonwealth Games represent institutionalized marginalization. It is imperative that the city transfers ownership of these structures back to its populace through an active engagement with it.
The hosting of events that define and engage with popular culture such as concerts could be one such way. Tapping into India’s love for all things Bollywood would provide the star power required to draw crowds in once again and locate these stadiums back within the public realm.
Sports stadiums are used to accommodate thousands of people with their attention focused on a select few— like concert halls. Located across the road from both the large exhibition grounds of Pragati Maidan and the National Museum, in the heart of the city, the Dhyan Chand National Stadium is ideally located for an adaptive re-use project. Its transformation into a hybrid building, one that houses both a modern-day opera house or concert hall and a convention facility would exploit its potent location while contributing to the cultural and economic development of the city.
In the winter of 2005, the conductor Zubin Mehta brought the Bavarian State Orchestra to New Delhi. They played to a sold-out audience at the nearby Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, which was also host to a number of Commonwealth events earlier this month. The Delhi government at the time recognized the need for such a venue and made the otherwise under-utilized stadium available. Undoubtedly, the need for such a facility does exist and merits a location as prominent as the termination of the ceremonial Rajpath axis.
The continuation and establishment of a worthy legacy for Commonwealth 2010 hinges on the successful engagement with communities that reside within the vicinity of the stadiums as well as those that are spread across the city. Just as Barcelona in 1992 used the Olympics as a means of transforming itself from a manufacturing city, New Delhi too needs to seize the opportunity it has now and tap into the same spirit that transformed the Games Village from near-disaster in a week.
On another level, just as Bollywood has the means to capture the imagination of a people, the stitching together of a geographically disparate Delhi (something that the metro has made a tremendous contribution towards), the creation of civic pride and a sense of urban connectedness is best achieved through collective community engagement.
“Come Out and Play, New Delhi,” a league of street-level sports with neighborhood teams could be a worthy legacy of the Games. A citywide government effort to give structure to street cricket or any sport for that matter would benefit tremendously from the spaces created for the Commonwealth Games.
Do let us know your ideas on how the staging area can be used in the comments section below.
–Rahoul Singh is an award winning architect and principal of the design firm RSDA. He is a columnist for various magazines and newspapers and author of the book, “Gardens of Delight”.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 9:51 AM,
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Tendulkar - The First Man To Score 14,000 Runs
Monday, October 11, 2010
India’s Sachin Tendulkar passed another major milestone but a dogged century from Australian Marcus North put the touring side in control of the second test on Sunday.
North’s career-best 128 was the cornerstone of the Australian first innings which folded for 478 at tea on day two, but not before their lower half had added 193 runs to their overnight score of 285 for five wickets.
In reply, India made a feeble start, losing the explosive Virender Sehwag (30) and bail-out specialist Rahul Dravid (one) in quick succession. Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 44 with opener Murali Vijay (42) at the other end with India still trailing Australia by 350 runs.
“It’s going to be extremely important tomorrow that we have a very big partnership,” Tendulkar told Neo Cricket channel after the second day’s play which ended with India on 128-2. “A couple of partnerships will bring us back in the game and put us in a decent position. Right now it’s one of those challenging phases.”
Playing his 171st test, Tendulkar became the first batsman to amass 14,000 test runs in the 27th over of the Indian innings, hitting off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for a boundary. Earlier, North’s 149-run sixth wicket stand with fellow overnight batsman Tim Paine (59) defied the Indian bowlers in the morning session and took the visitors past the 400-run mark.
North mixed caution with occasional aggression, slog-sweeping Pragyan Ojha for the first six of the innings before retreating into his defensive shell. Paine’s was a more eventful knock in which he was caught behind off a Shanthakumaran Sreesanth no-ball and was dropped by Suresh Raina off Ojha before the left-arm spinner returned to settle the score.
North completed his fifth test century in the next over and eventually fell to Harbhajan Singh after a resolute 240-ball knock with 17 boundaries and a six in it. “I got a start last night, so I needed a big score,” North said. “It’s a very good batting wicket, so it will be nice to get a couple of early wickets tomorrow. They have got a partnership in Vijay and Sachin but we will come out very hard tomorrow.”
Labels: Australia, India, Sachin Tendulkar
posted @ 3:04 PM,
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Swimmers fall ill at Commonwealth Games in India
Friday, October 8, 2010
By DENNIS PASSA
More than a dozen swimmers from Australia and England have fallen ill at the Commonwealth Games in the latest setback for trouble-plagued organizers in New Delhi.
British media reported Thursday that 20 percent of the England team's swimmers — about eight to 10 competitors — had been struck down with a stomach virus. The Australian team confirmed at least six of its swimmers had been sick, including Andrew Lauterstein, who had to withdraw from the 50-meter butterfly.
Organizers rejected speculation that the water quality at the aquatics complex was to blame.
Craig Hunter, the head of England's delegation, issued a statement saying he had received assurances from the games' organizing committee that water was safe. The England team said only 8 percent of its 541-member delegation had experienced any kind of stomach virus in the previous 28 days, which was lower than expected. That's 43 people from one team in a month.
Whether it was the water or just a case of "Delhi Belly," which isn't uncommon for visitors to India, it was yet another problem to plague an event that has been seen construction delays, pre-games complaints about filthy conditions in the athletes' village, allegations of corruption and concerns about security and outbreaks of mosquito-borne dengue fever.
In another development, police confirmed Thursday that three Ugandan officials were injured by a malfunctioning security barrier at the games' village, and a senior official from that country raised allegations of discrimination by Indian officials.
Late Thursday, a scoreboard crashed to the ground when a chain support snapped at the rugby venue, where competition does not begin until next week.
Competition manager Kevin Culliver told the games news service that the board was lifted into place two days ago by the company responsible for results and scores at the games. He said it was lucky that the crash came when no spectators were around.
For the fourth consecutive day, computer and technical problems meant there was no way to centrally process results from individual venues.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell said officials would conduct tests on both the main pool and the warmup pool at the Dr. S.P. Makherjee Aquatic Complex.
Fennell was asked if the swimming competition, which on Thursday was in its fourth of six days of events, might be canceled or moved if tests showed the pools to be unsafe.
"I would not like to speculate about this immediately," Fennell said. "If there is something unsafe, you cannot swim in that water. It is a matter we have to deal with a great deal of urgency."
The synchronized swimming event proceeded on schedule, while the main pool was idle ahead of the evening's session of finals.
Just before the finals program began, pool announcer Kurt Hanson, brother of former Australian Olympic swimmer Brooke Hanson, told spectators: "Let us assure you there is nothing wrong with the water here."
"The way these athletes train, their immune system is so low that they tend to pick up any bug that is going around," he said.
Hunter had earlier said England had asked organizers for safety assurances Thursday, despite regular testing of the pool.
"If they tell us the water is fit, it's fit," Hunter said.
Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe said he didn't think the swimming pool was the cause of the illness.
"I'd be surprised if it was the pool because chlorine has an amazing ability to kill just about anything that we have ever created," said Thorpe, who has retired from swimming and is working here as a TV commentator for the BBC.
Australian swim team spokesman Lachlan Searle said Lauterstein could not take part in training on Thursday morning and that Hayden Stoeckel, who won a silver medal Tuesday in the men's 50-meter backstroke, also could not train.
"Our doctors are looking into it ," he said.
England swim team spokesman Dave Richards said reports of the sickness had been wildly exaggerated, saying none of his country's swimmers "has missed a competition at all."
The questions over the pool came as Uganda's sports minister lashed out Indian officials and demanded an apology for an accident at the athlete's village.
Three Ugandan officials were injured Tuesday night when a spiked security barrier, which normally recedes into the ground to allow authorized vehicles to pass safely, malfunction, shot up and slammed into their car as they drove, New Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.
The officials, including the Ugandan chef de mission William Tumwine, were thrown about the car as it braked sharply and sustained injuries ranging from cuts on the head to abrasions around their eyes, said Dora Kutesan, a Ugandan diplomat.
They were treated at a hospital and kept overnight for observation, and the Ugandan high commission filed a complaint with the Indian government, she said.
Ugandan Sports Minister Charles Bakkabulindi said he was furious that he had not received an apology from India.
"If they had seen their mistake quickly and shown sympathy that they have done a mistake, we wouldn't have been annoyed. We would have said, 'OK that's an accident,'" he told India's Times Now television. "But our concern is why is it that they are not coming out to say sorry to us, to make an apology. Should we take it that they are discriminating (against) some of the African countries to that extent?"
The games, which run until Oct. 14, have also been plagued this week by sparse attendance at many events. Organizing committee chief Suresh Kalmadi said 125,000 tickets had been sold Wednesday for future events, allaying concerns about the empty seats at some of the venues.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 9:07 AM,
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India cheers wildly for Pakistan
Thursday, October 7, 2010
When teams entered the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony Sunday in New Delhi, the biggest cheer of the night – after India – was reserved for Pakistan.
As sustained applause rang out across the stadium, with much of the 50,000-strong audience on their feet, at least a few spectators on both sides of the border wondered: Could this be a sign that it's time to end the conflict that has plagued relations since the birth of both countries, for once and for all?
"It was a spontaneous cheer that no one expected, and shows that a bond exists," says Suhasini Haidar, anchor and deputy foreign editor with India's CNN subsidiary, CNN-IBN.
Many stumbling blocks remain in their volatile bilateral relationship, not least of all the recent admission by former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that Pakistani authorities trained militants to fight in India in the disputed Kashmir region. Still, athletes and sports spectators alike have recently spoken of goodwill during the Commonwealth Games highlighting a possible reason to step toward a new, improved relationship.
"Whenever I have come here, people have showered me with love and support. Playing here is like playing at home for me," Pakistani tennis player Aqeel Khan told a local newsagency on Monday.
His teammate Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi is perhaps Pakistan’s strongest medal hope, after reaching the final of the US Open tennis men's doubles this year. In an indication of just how positive cross-border ties can yield results, Mr. Qureshi's partner at the September tournament in New York was India's Rohan Bopanna.
"People seem to think that bad relations at a government level means bad relations across the board," says Ms. Haidar, the news anchor. "But as someone who travels often to Pakistan and lives here, it's not something I see translating on the ground. In fact it's quite the opposite."
Tensions run deep
However, Suba Chandran, the deputy director of Delhi's Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, is somewhat more cynical. He points out that the same goodwill was shown a few years ago in Karachi during a cricket match between India and Pakistan, when local spectators gave the Indian team a standing ovation after its win.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India, Pakistan
posted @ 9:22 AM,
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Can India Pull Off The Commonwealth Games?
Monday, September 27, 2010
The folks at Commonwealth Games Committee were targeting sponsorship of Rs. 1,200 crore. Till now they have sold sponsorships worth Rs. 342 crore. The huge negative publicity campaign seems to have done some damage. Many large corporate houses have not signed on as yet. As we go to press it appears that most of the sponsors were large public sector undertakings like NTPC, Air India and Central Bank of India. On the broadcast right front, the situation is only a little better. The official target was to get Rs. 211 crore. What they have is Rs. 156 crore.
Will They Come and Watch?
One key area of audience participation will be people who buy tickets to see the events live. On this front too the results have been fairly downbeat. A total 1.7 million tickets are on sale; till now about 200,000 have been sold. Only about one-tenth of the revenue target from ticket sales has been achieved. The good news is that our eternal hope — hockey — continues to be the big crowd puller and more than 60,000 tickets have been sold. Games authorities believe that once foreign tourists start arriving the sales should increase.
Drop Outs
A huge disappointment for the Games has been the large list of drop-outs. Topping the list is the fastest man on the planet: Usain Bolt of Jamaica. If he had turned up the athletics section would have become the most watched event. Olympic track cyclist Victoria Pendleton is another big name gone. She was a gold medal winner at the Beijing Olympics. The 800 metres record holder David Rudisha and world heptathlon champion Jessica Enis too have decided to give the Games a miss. Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player, who had a great French Open and turned in a very good performance at the US Open, has also decided to not come to India. The Australians continue to be unkind to India because the winner of four gold medals, Stephanie Rice, has opted out. Hers is an injury-related case but even so the commonwealth Games lose their sheen a bit.
Tourist Arrivals
Hotel occupancy right now in the Delhi market is around 40 to 70 percent. It is expected to be between 50 and 80 percent during the Games. Hoteliers who spoke to Forbes India were anticipating occupancies running close to 100 percent. The tariff too is expected to be 5 to 10 percent more than the present rates during the Games. No patch on the doubling of rate that was expected. Of course, hotels are not built just for the Games.
But the Games can be an important fillip for the hospitality industry. “Other than the tame response in hotel bookings, what has hurt most is that the whole business community is moving away from the city. For the whole period of the Games, there are no conferences, seminars and no tourists are coming in. And weddings are also not happening,” says Manav Thadani, MD, HVS India, a hospitality consulting firm. According to HVS, in the last two years, around 6,000 new rooms have been added in Delhi and NCR. This includes around 4,500 rooms in the last one year. But this is nothing compared to the original projections of a few years ago that was more than 20,000 rooms. Now everyone is talking about too much competition and too low occupancies.
Sports Infrastructure
The good news is that almost all venues, at least the interiors, are ready now. Of course, work outside many games venues, such as clearing rubble, beautification, landscaping etc. is still pending. The Games Organising Committee is spending Rs. 20 crore on covering the dilapidated buildings, bridges, subways, underpasses, slum clusters, etc. The work has been contracted to four private firms that have been assigned different areas to work on. These wall wraps will also create a buzz for the Games and have been put up in Connaught Place (CP) to hide the incomplete subways.
The bad news is that many major works going on around the city are unlikely to be completed. For instance, a flyover over the Delhi-Noida-Delhi expressway on the Noida link road that leads to the Games Village from the east is unlikely to be completed. Only three subways at CP will be completed. The rest were half dug but are now being filled up again. At CP, merchant establishments have been working without credit card machines because of disruptions due to digging. The entire parking lot at Shanker Market and the shops’ interiors will not be completed in time, Palika Bazaar will not be getting the elevators installed as was the initial plan.
Delhiites Upset
Unlike during the Asian Games of 1982, the people of Delhi appear to see it as a disruption of their normal life. The Asian Games mascot Appu was an immensely popular figure across the country but Shera has hardly created a buzz. Appu was ubiquitous with tremendous merchandising support. Shera is hardly visible.
During the games, Delhiites are likely to face quite a bit of difficulty around the Games venues and approaches. In several places, one lane, sometimes half of an entire carriageway, has been exclusively designated for CWG traffic.
Mosquito threat to the Games Village is very real because it is on the Yamuna’s bank and is surrounded by fields and marshes that are currently flooded. Japanese encephalitis, viral fever and dengue are widespread in the city.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 8:56 AM,
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Scary and chaotic, but India's Commonwealth Games will go ahead
By Jonathan McEvoy in Delhi
Just one jammed, horn-honking road away from the Commonwealth Games stadium, the smoke of burning bodies blew high into the air above the cemetery fence.
In the eyes of the world it could have symbolised how India is piling up a funeral pyre for the old, wilting sporting event it is meant to be staging nine days from now.
The evidence to support that proposition — not least in yesterday's pictures showing the grime-infested athletes' village — is vast.
Commonwealth fever: A worker sprays chemicals in rain water outside the Athlete's Village to prevent the spread of dengue fever
Commonwealth fever: A worker sprays chemicals in rain water outside the Athlete's Village to prevent the spread of dengue fever
No nation aspiring to a serious place on the world stage can have gone about its business with less organised guile.
But my first-hand, if snapshot, experience after arriving here yesterday morning is that the Games will probably go ahead, in one diminished form or another.
As JK Galbraith, U.S. ambassador to India observed of this diverse nation in the 1960s, it amounts to 'functioning anarchy'.
One reason for my mild optimism is the sheer manpower at India’s disposal.
Only yesterday, with the carrot of perhaps 200 rupees, or nearly £3, they managed to enlist an extra 1,000 workers to undertake last-minute remedial work on the village alone.
There were others laying tarmac, grouting, sanding and sweeping throughout the other sites.
It helps when you have one billion people, most of them desperate for a folding note, to call upon.
There is also, I detected, a desire among those here to prove the world wrong.
On my arrival in Delhi — at an airport recently built to a high standard, thanks to private rather than government money — the staff were unfailingly polite.
It was a trait discernible in everyone I met.
There were special queue-avoiding routes for those of us with Commonwealth Games accreditation.
The special counter must have had 20 staff. I was the only arrival. Had they not heard that next to nobody was coming?
On to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the proposed centrepiece of the Games.
The blue seats were all in, bar one or two. There was the odd rough edge, but it was an impressive bowl worthy of any sporting occasion.
‘Some of the work started in 2007 rather than 2003,’ said one German employee brought in for his expertise on such events.
‘Everything is behind schedule. This is an Indian speciality — to get it finished at the last minute.
'When they say it is ready, they mean something different from what we in the West think it means.
‘We will deliver, though. We can be quite sure of that.’
Can we be that certain?
It was only on Tuesday that the footbridge connecting the car park to the stadium collapsed, injuring 20 workers.
Part of the weight-lifting ceiling fell down the next day. And as for the athlete’s village, more of that vile cesspit to come.
The broken bridge is visible from the window of the German’s office. Only the arch remains.
What if the stadium falls down mid-competition?
‘I am sure it will be OK,’ he said.
‘The outer walls of this stadium were built for the Asian Games in 1982. They are still standing.’
An army of soldiers marched through the stadium area. They carried guns that went from their waists to their shoulders. Some ambled and lolled on the fence.
The Grenadier Guards outside Buckingham Palace they weren’t, but they were there in profusion and security checks were just about stringent enough.
A few miles away, the TV cameras were lined up at the entrance to the village. Yellow barriers with ‘Delhi Police’ on them stopped each car and pedestrian for the right accreditation.
I asked if a bribe could get me in. I was told that a week or so ago it would have done.
But now, in light of the furore over the conditions inside and the fact that the first athletes were arriving, it was impossible.
If you can’t corrupt an official in India, where can you?
Two street dogs swaggered in. Perhaps they were looking for a bed for the night, based on the paw marks, captured in pictures, on the linen meant for athletes to sleep on.
Those images, revealed yesterday, are vile.
But it is hardly surprising when in the streets outside there needs to be a sign next to a grapefruit stall imploring: ‘Do not urinate here.’
Someone I spoke to said workers had used a lavatory on the site for weeks despite the water not running.
‘What the West thinks as of as acceptable is not the same as what India thinks,’ said another Games’ employee.
‘They are sufficient unto themselves.’
The roads — the worst for crazy, lane jig-jagging I have witnessed, with the possible exception of Shanghai — were teeming.
A designated Games lane was intermittently closed yesterday. The backlogs were severe, although not worse in density than High Holborn at rush hour.
The inconvenience to the locals is one reason why The Times of India, who have been laudably independent in their coverage, carried a poll declaring that 97 per cent of the country believe the Games have tarnished India’s image.
They also can’t be pleased about the expense. Costs have gone up 525 per cent since the city won the bid. That is the official estimate.
Unofficially, it is up 1,575 per cent, or 15 times the original estimate. Apparently that equates to £2billion-plus.
What is certain is that the unusually severe monsoon has caused the Yamuna river to disgorge its worst flooding for 32 years. Its surplus water is all around the village.
In those still pools, mosquito-borne dengue fever thrives.
Three have died of it in Delhi this year, according to official figures. It has briefly indisposed several more, including the man from the Sydney Morning Herald, whose hand I shook warily.
Personally, I’m happy to apply the Jungle Formula, cover up and hope for the best. Not that the authorities were taking chances. They were fogging — flushing away the mosquitos with a giant jet-wash style hose — as I left for my hotel.
By then, the lights were going on at the Nehru stadium, named after India’s first Prime Minister, who ushered in post-British India with the beguiling phrase: ‘At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.’
The Games look like they will go on, in their own, scatty way. Pride depends on it.
But with athletes withdrawn, deadlines fumbled and security and safety concerns all too real, it will be the most chaotic and scary edition in Commonwealth history.
Labels: Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 8:34 AM,
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India's $10m 'bribe' to win Commonwealth Games
Friday, September 24, 2010
Australia received a $125,000 kickback after India won the Commonwealth Games in a $10 million palm-greasing exercise that has spectacularly backfired.
Delhi sealed the right to host the Games when their delegates emerged at the final presentation in Jamaica and offered all 72 nations $US100,000 (then about $140,000) each for athlete training schemes if they were the successful bidders.
The money, subsequently paid to all nations, was not significant to Australia because it had already decided to vote for India and the payment was not an exceptionally large one.
But for small nations who have minimal interest in the Games, it clinched their vote and India went on to beat Canadian city Hamilton 46-22 in the final poll. Hamilton had offered the nations about $70,000 each.
Hamilton's bid organisers, and many of the nations who voted for them, fired off angry protests about India buying votes and the bad blood generated between several feuding nations still exists.
The Commonwealth Games Association has decided to ban 11th-hour inducements as a consequence of the outrage over India's tactics.
The revelation comes as photos and video footage taken secretly inside the Games compound show just how squalid the athletes' village is.
Undercover reporters from The Australian and The Daily Telegraph reported seeing filthy toilets, widespread flooding and children defecating in the street.
The images raise more questions about India's ability to bring the Games facilities up to scratch before the opening ceremony on October 3.
The India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency meeting of his ministers last night to deal with the crisis and Commonwealth Games chief Mike Fennell was flying into Delhi early today to meet Singh and Games officials.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met national team leaders from 25 countries to discuss their concerns about the athletes' village
Australian team general manager Perry Crosswhite said the workforce of cleaners and maintenance staff had increased "ten-fold" in the village yesterday.
"They have elevated their response and brought in people who have the power to make it happen," Crosswhite said.
As well as an army of cleaners, bomb squad officers and dogs have been deployed outside the village as security forces took control, weeks after the original scheduled lockdown deadline.
Labels: Bribe, Commonwealth Games, India
posted @ 8:46 PM,
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India's Team For World Cup 2011 Revealed!
Friday, September 10, 2010
posted @ 1:10 PM,
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India Have Lost WC Home Advantage Due to IPL - SA Coach
Thursday, August 26, 2010
South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl feels India will not have much of a home advantage at next year's World cup as foreign players have adapted themselves to the conditions there, courtesy the Indian Premier League.
van Zyl thinks that the experience the world's top players have gained in terms of getting used to the playing conditions and dealing with the intensity of crowds, means that India's home advantage has been negated.
"India has traditionally been a difficult place to tour but more recently teams have learnt to win in Indian and sub-continent conditions," he said.
"India in particular, where most of our preliminary matches will be played, is a wonderful place to play cricket as the people love the game and the support is phenomenal.
Teams have learnt to embrace the atmosphere rather than be wary of it and we are looking forward to playing in these packed stadiums," he said.
This is also the first major ICC event in the subcontinent since the IPL was launched. Players from around the world have now played a lot of limited overs cricket in India. This may reduce India's home ground advantage. Delhi, for example, is like a second home to AB de Villiers.
South Africa will prepare for the tournament with ODI series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India and van Zyl wants his side to carry the winning form from these matches into the event.
"We will prepare and use the upcoming series that we have to play on the ICC calendar as preparation but at the same time not lose the focus on taking each series as a campaign on its own," he said.
South Africa will begin their World Cup campaign against the West Indies and speaking six months ahead of the match on February 24, van Zyl said it was vital that his team get off to a winning start.
"Playing the West Indies in Delhi means that we have to do our home work regarding the ground and its history and how this will affect our play against the West Indies. We obviously need to see how Delhi suits them and how we need to use our strengths to have the advantage in these conditions," he said.
The 50-overs cricket World Cup will be co-hosted by India, Sri lanka and Bangladesh in February-April next year.
Labels: India
posted @ 12:57 PM,
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Team to beat at World Cup 2011
Friday, July 16, 2010
New Zealand bowler-turned-commentator Danny Morrison predicts that India will be the side to beat at next year's ICC Cricket World Cup.
"I think India has the best opportunity to lift the World Cup this time round," says the 44-year-old from Auckland. "It has to be good for them playing on home turf. It adds pressure but that's part of hosting.
"Sachin Tendulkar, the master, deserves to have some sort of winners' medal hanging round his neck but it's not all about him. Cricket is a tough game and it's also about whether Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni can deliver for India. Can they do it for Sachin?
"You feel that India want something special to happen and this year I think you've got to go with the India team to emulate the 1983 side led by Kapil Dev ," says the former fast bowler who claimed 126 ODI wickets and 160 at Test level.
Also on this week's show, Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons talks about his side's progress, including its recent first-ever ODI win over England.
"It was a long time before we got our first victory, the boys have played fantastic cricket and when we were in Bristol we were confident of our abilities and our bowling and fielding worked well. The bowling changes reaped rewards for us for that match at Bristol against England," says Siddons.
"I talk to the side about improving their skills and working from day to day, the side need to keep going and getting better and better. We can beat teams we just need to keep backing up the skills we have and improving on all aspects," continues Siddons.
The show can be used in whole or part by radio stations that want cricket content, while the public can also download it straight from the ICC website at http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/media_interactive_zone/podcast.php.
Also on this week's show there is a full preview of the upcoming Test series between Kumar Sangakkara's Sri Lanka and MS Dhoni's India that gets underway on Sunday 18 July.
Apart from the above interviews, the show has the usual round up of cricketing news and an update of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test and ODI cricket.
The weekly ICC Cricket World audio show runs for 15 minutes and has been put together by the ICC's global broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports.(ANI)
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, ODI, Teams
posted @ 12:29 PM,
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India Could Lose World Cup
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Delhi is in danger of losing the right to host any matches in the 2011 cricket World Cup, scheduled for February-March next year.
Why? Because the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) has not followed the rehabilitation plan set in place for the Ferozeshah Kotla pitch by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
In his latest inspection, Andy Atkinson, the ICC pitch consultant responsible for certifying World Cup venues, has given the Kotla a 'red' rating — the worst of four possible colour categories. A copy of the report, circulated among top ICC officials, is with HT.
Ferozeshah Kotla narrowly escaped a total ICC ban after the last One Day International held there -- against Sri Lanka in December 2009 –had to be called off because the pitch proved positively dangerous, the rising ball injuring several batsmen.
The ICC thereafter suggested several measures to improve the pitch, none of which have been taken seriously.
For one, the DDCA pushed back the start of the renovation work from April 19, as advised by the ICC, by almost a month to May 16. There were many other transgressions.
In his report Atkinson leaves no doubt as to the consequences of the DDCA's actions.
"The delay in the start of work was completely avoidable and the loss of a complete month could have significant implications for the completion of the scheduled work to the accepted standards and the reinstatement of the venue for International cricket and for use during the World Cup 2011," he wrote.
Labels: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India
posted @ 10:57 AM,
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Asia Cup to World Cup
Friday, June 25, 2010
M.S Dhoni said “Asia cup will be a great preparation opportunity for India’s 2011 cricket world cup campaign” at the outset of Asia Cup 2010. Seems as if the Indian brigade have taken it rather seriously as they made the most of this opportunity & given nation a faint hope of 2011 Cricket World Cup. The manner in which they crushed Srilanka to reclaim their lost authority in last league game was relieving to say the least.
Having pulled off easy victory over Bangladesh & a cliffhanger with Pakistan, Indian team displayed great show with bat & bowl to such an extent that even the lankan tigers failed to make any mark. The Indian team made all the right moves & srilankans who until now were looking dangerous surrendered meekly in final of Asia Cup 2010. Having lent an embarrassing defeat to the Indians just two days ago, Srilankans seem to got complacent & lost the plot very badly in the final.
India posting 268/6 in 50 overs challenged Srilanka to conquer it under the flood-lights. Srilanka in reply was never allowed to even a decent start as M.S Dhoni filled the inner ring with strategic field placements. Even singles were dried as the young Indian put an impressive & one of their best fielding effort in recent times. The bowlers kept bowling a tight line & took the advantage of strong breeze sweeping through the ground. Srilankan chase tottered as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals & no substantial partnerships building whatsoever in their innings. Nuwan Kulasekara & Chamara Kapugedera gave a tiny shimmering hope to the srilankan camp during batting powerplay but Ravindra Jadega eventually struck gold by getting Kulasekera stumped by M.S Dhoni. Eventually Srilanka were bowled out in the 45th over as India went to win by 81 runs.
Smiles spread across the Indian camps as they won deservedly the Asia Cup 2010 in 15 years. With Sachin Tendulkar, Virendar Sehwag & Yuvraj Singh set to return to the Indian camp, the 2011 cricket world cup seems a possible dream for team India now. They do have a few chinks in their armor but with still time to go they would be looking to plug them up & give the nation a more bigger occasion to celebrate in the coming year. #
Labels: Asia Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Sri Lanka
posted @ 11:42 AM,
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