Just finish the race, Karun's target on F1 debut

BAHRAIN: Handicapped by limited resources, India's latest Formula One driver Karun Chandhok has set himself a modest target of just finishing the race when he makes his F1 debut on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Chennai lad landed a driver's seat with Hispania Racing barely a week ago and the outfit, bailed out of a financial morass by Spanish businessman Jose Ramon Carabante, arrived here without any pre-season tests which has already triggered safety fears.

Away from all these, Karun is focusing hard on the race alone and has no illusions about his Formula One debut.

"I am really looking forward to my F1 debut this weekend. Finishing the race will be a fantastic achievement for a team put together so late and the objective here will be to get as many miles under my belt as possible," said the Chennai lad.

Lack of test miles under his belt handicaps the youngster but Karun is relieved that at least the Sakhir layout is not alien to him.

"Fortunately I have driven here before in GP2 so that will help the learning process a bit. I was on the front row in 2008 and was very competitive when I was back here in 2009, so I've got pretty good knowledge of the circuit," he said.

"However, F1 is a completely different ballgame and we will have a tough challenge in front of us. I have spent time back in Europe with the guys in the factory and it is great to see that the whole team is very motivated about our first race together," added Karun.

ICC rejects PCB complaint against IPL

KARACHI: The ICC has rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board's complaint against the Indian Premier League for snubbing Pakistani players, saying that it cannot act against a domestic event.

Well-placed sources in the PCB said that Pakistan had written to the ICC complaining about the treatment meted out to the players.

"Unfortunately for the PCB the ICC response was not very positive and the PCB officials are not very happy at the response from the ICC," a source disclosed.

The source said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has written to the PCB informing that the governing body could not interfere in what was primarily a domestic event.

"The ICC told the PCB that since the IPL was primarily a domestic tournament of the Indian cricket Board it couldn't do anything," the source said.

"The ICC also took the same stance as the IPL that the franchises which bid for the players were also private enterprises and the ICC had no control over them," the source added.

He disclosed that after getting this response from the ICC the PCB decided to let the matter go and adopt a policy of not allowing its players to appear in the IPL or Champions League this year or next year.

A lot of hue and cry was raised in Pakistan after no Pakistani player found a buyer in the IPL auction with the government also slamming the franchises and the Indian board.

"The fact is that some IPL franchises had wanted to sign on Pakistani players but were getting threats from extremist elements of dire consequences if they took Pakistani players in their team," one source disclosed.

"The franchises approached the IPL governing council to provide security for the Pakistani players but were told that security for players was not the direct responsibility of the organisers.

"The franchises then also wrote to the Indian government but it responded that it was responsible for providing security for only national teams not for individual players taking part in a private tournament," the source said.

He said when the IPL franchises were told they would have to arrange for the security of the players themselves, they decided against bidding for the Pakistani cricketers at the auction.

India need to institutionalise hockey: FIH coaching director

NEW DELHI: Hockey may be the country's national sport but for India to revive its past glory, the game must be institutionalised to create "proper environment" for improvement, feels International Hockey Federation's Director of Coaching Tayyab Ikram.

Ikram said the FIH considers India as a very important destination for the game but the nation can't rise to the top again until and unless there is a structured set up in place.

"Hockey is not an institution in India. All the players, coaches, umpires and administrators should be under one system. Until and unless there is an institution, the game cannot be well equipped," Ikram said on the sidelines of the FIH World Cup.

"In India the game needs a proper environment and time. Look at other top countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, they have a proper system in place, where the top caliber coaches are working in top environments," he said.

"We have discussed India many a times and are still discussing India but we couldn't find a solution. We have to make hockey an institution in India," he added.

The FIH Master Coach, who is in the capital to conduct a coaches' seminar on the sidelines of the World Cup, said it was mandatory for India to revive its domestic structure in order to create a big pool of players.

"A strong domestic structure is the need of the hour. A country should have at least a pool of 300 to 400 top players and select them in the team in preference to the demand of top level tournaments.

"If you have only 30-40 players at hands, then there are slim chances of the game's development in a country," Ikram said.

He heads the FIH's coaching department that recommended Jose Brasa to India and Ikram feels the Spaniard has made good improvement with the team during his seven-month association but needs more time.

"If you look at the result they (India) have improved but performance wise Brasa certainly needs more time. The development of any team is related to time factor. We, the FIH respect all our high performance coaches," said Ikram, who originally hails from Lahore, Pakistan.

"India have showed very good control in the World Cup. They have made some very good fast breaks," he added.

Talking about Pakistan, Ikram feels the country was on the right track irrespective of their dismal performance in the ongoing mega-event.

"Pakistan is working on a long-term project. The new set up is working very hard to develop the game at the grass-root level. They are going to have much more foreign expertise in near future," he said.

Asked whether the 1-4 defeat in the first match against arch-rivals India had anything to do with Pakistan's unimpressive performance in the tournament, he said, "The result of the first game can have elementary effect because a positive start is always important for any team."

"But at this level when the world's 12 best teams are playing, these sort of things should not be a factor," Ikram added.

Demand in Rajya Sabha to confer Bharat Ratna on Sachin

NEW DELHI: A strong demand was made in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday for conferring the country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna on cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for his unparalleled feat in the game.

"We all agree, a person who defended the honour of the country is to be honoured. Sachin has been continuously doing so," Ranjitsinh Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil (NCP) said in his Special Mention.

Urging the government to bestow Bharat Ratna on Sachin, he said such an honour would inspire the youth of the nation.

He said ever since his debut at the age of 16 at Karachi, Sachin has played with exemplary skill without disappointing anyone.

Sachin recently scored a double century in one-day international against South Africa, becoming the only player in the world to achieve the feat.

India have to learn the art of winning

NEW DELHI: The group stage is over, India are in line to finish seventh and there is little excitement about that. Hockey has come home after years and that surely has got something to do about this despondency.

Well, fans are fans and they were probably hoping for a miracle but even the critics are itching to dip their pens in vitriol. Is it fair to pan this Indian hockey team? Was the team really good enough to have made the top six?

Well, the reality is they are not as good as the top European teams. They can match them at times, even play with more flair, but the Indians have yet to learn the art of winning games. They still have to learn some nuances of modern hockey, which is constantly changing with new rules and interpretations.

The expectations arose after the Pakistan game. The Indians moved like a team and like a dream. The obvious edge to the rivalry added to the excitement. After that it was a ride through a difficult, at times uncharted, terrain. In almost all the other games, India woke up late. First, Australia punctured their bubble of enthusiasm with a ruthless display and after that the team was always playing catch-up with ground reality.

They were below par against Spain and were then surprised by England's clinical, workmanlike approach. From there, their story of the World Cup became a story of fightbacks. They fought with their backs to the wall against England and almost held them. And then, they managed to hold South Africa in a game which was theirs. But that was a very valuable draw - which brings us to the key point - Has it gone so wrong for India?

Not really. The No. 12 team has already made the top-eight grade. India has not done that since Sydney 1994 when they finished fifth. Sure, they had the home advantage and fans packed the stands in support. But the resolve to move up was there. The team has rarely shown the mental strength that it has here. And that can make a lot of difference in the future.

Coach Jose Brasa was in fact happy about the fighting spirit when he said on Monday night: "We have conceded early goals but not late goals, which was a problem in the past."

Beyond this, many problems do exist. The biggest disappointment for India has been the defensive errors and their inability to score through penalty corners. Packed with three drag flickers, India were hoping to surprise the rivals. They were forced to look for field goals midway through the match against England. A lot of work needs to be done on the defence, more so with the game becoming faster due to the new self-pass rule. You blink and you are dead.

The midfielders, led by playmaker Sardar Singh, one of the very few world class players in the team, have not fared badly, though one wishes they could learn to attack through the middle more often. They kept running into walls and were forced to open up flanks. The forwards have been good only in patches. But more on the players later as India still have a match to go.

And yes, a word on the controversy over TV referrals during the match against South Africa: It's a grey area and has to be sorted out. Brasa decided not to attack the technical officials on this. "I don't think the Indian team has been victimized. Nothing has been done on purpose. Our boys are nice players... nobody would have anything against them."

Surely, nobody would but what Brasa did not say was that his players need to be meaner and smarter on the field. Nice guys don't always win.

PCB imposes lifetime ban on Yousuf and Younis

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday with the country's Board putting an end to the international careers of former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan besides imposing a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik in the wake of the team's disastrous tour of Australia.

Pakistan were whitewashed in all three formats of the game in Australia and the PCB had set up an inquiry committee headed by Wasim Bari to probe the reasons for the debacle.

As recommended by the committee, former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were handed one-year bans.

The inquiry committee had recommended that Yousuf and Younis should no longer be part of the national team in any format because of their bad influence on the team and that Malik and Rana be banned for 12 months and fined 2 million rupees each.

The Akmal brothers -- Kamran and Umar -- and Afridi have been put on probation for six months besides being fined between Rs 2-3 million for indiscipline on the tour, the PCB statement said.

The punishments are set to impact the composition of Pakistan's World Twenty20 Championship. The team is the defending champion in this format and the 15-man squad for the event is due to be out by the end of this month.

According to sources, the report was discussed by the PCB chairman Ejaz Butt with the national selection committee on Monday as part of the selection process for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

"Apparently at the meeting, there were mixed reactions to the strong recommendations keeping in mind that upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies where Pakistan defends its title," the source stated.

The inquiry committee apparently had serious reservations over the attitude and commitment shown by Malik and Rana in Australia where they are accused of not cooperating with the management.

He said the captain, coach and manager on the Australian tour had reported Malik and Rana for misbehaviour and not cooperating with the management a fact confirmed by some other players who appeared before the probe committee.

This is the first time in Pakistan cricket history that the Board has taken such strong disciplinary action against so many players at one time.

All set for a successful IPL: Lalit Modi

MUMBAI: The continuing TV news channels boycott notwithstanding, Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi expects a successful third edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 event starting March 12.

"The preparations are in full swing and there are no hiccups. We all are ready to go. We have planned a very good opening night as well as opening ceremony with a spectacular laser and fireworks show," Modi said at a media conference to announce IPL's latest tie-up with Karbonn Mobiles.

Modi said the boycott by the TV news channels is continuing though they had accepted a new set of proposals two nights ago.

"Nantional Broadcasters' Association's is a strange case. The IPL Governing Council and their representatives had a meeting two nights ago and we had agreed to allow certain amount of flexibility in their programming and amount of video footage that can be shown," the IPL chief said.

But Modi explained that there was a change of heart on the broadcasters' end within 24 hours and last night a few of them came to ask for more concessions which, he said, cannot be granted.

"They agreed then but last night came back to say they needed more concessions which the Governing Council cannot agree. The boycott continues though I would like them to cover the event but not on the new terms," he said.

Modi said the bone of contention was post-match programmes with IPL footage rights of which were with official broadcasters Sony only.

But Modi was not too worried about IPL's stand-off with NBA and said he expected the TRP ratings of the IPL action to get boosted.

"People can see IPL action on Sony and YouTube (with whom the League has struck a deal to show complete 'live' action with a five-minute delay for India)," he said.

Modi said the cricket fans in India were eager to see action inside the stadium after missing it last year when the tournament had to be staged in South Africa because of security concerns as it was clashing with the general elections.

"People are waiting for IPL to start. We are going to stage it with lot of innovations. IPL will take a new avatar," he declared.

Modi also said that the central revenue pool will be doubled as compared to last year with so many new deals having been struck by the IPL.