WC team felicitated; Sachin, Durrani honoured

  Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar and former all-rounder Salim Durrani bagged top honours, while the World Cup winning Indian team led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was felicitated by the Cricket Board at it annual awards function this evening.

Tendulkar was bestowed with the `Polly Umrigar Award for India`s best cricketer of 2009-10` and received a trophy and cheque for Rs five lakh, while Durrani was felicitated with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for which he received a trophy, a cheque for Rs 15 lakh and a citation.

Members of the World Cup winning Indian team were felicitated and presented cheques worth Rs two crore each by BCCI president Shashank Manohar and BCCI secretary N Srinivasan.

The support staff of the team too were honoured and presented cheques of Rs 50 lakh each as declared by the Cricket Board earlier.

However, former coach Gary Kirsten, mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton and bowling consultant coach Eric Simmons were absent.

Among those present were members of the 1983 World Cup winning squad, including then skipper Kapil Dev, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma.
On the occasion, Dhoni thanked fans for supporting the team and said that winning the coveted trophy after 28 long years was a proud moment.

"I thank all of you for the support we got throughout the World Cup. Hundred crore people supported us in the country as well as outside. It was a great moment for us.

"When you play for the country, the one thing you want to win is the World Cup. It is a proud moment for all of us. The victory was achieved thanks to the combination of experienced players and youngsters. We exploited the conditions really well. It was a great moment."

After receiving the best Indian cricketer award, Tendulkar thanked his team-members and also lauded the role played by Dhoni and the support staff in India`s second World Cup win.

"Indeed its a great honour to win the Polly Umrigar Trophy once again. I won it few years ago. It wouldn`t have been possible without the support of the Indian team members who are all here. I congratulate the team for becoming number one in Tests which was our dream followed by something
absolutely magical less than two months ago... We won the World Cup.

"It was a combined effort of all the team members and superb leadership exhibited by Dhoni. I also want to thank the support staff. They worked very hard and planned very well. We executed the plans and the results came," he said.

The 38-year-old Tendulkar, who has completed more than two decades in international cricket, scored 1064 runs from 10 Tests at an average of 82 during 2009-10 season. The fine performance included a double hundred and five centuries.

He also scored 695 runs from 12 ODIs at 69.5, inclusive of the first double hundred in ODIs by a male cricketer.

Durrani, who represented India in 29 Tests scoring 1,202 runs at an average of 25 and took 75 wickets, recalled the exploits of Col. Nayudu in a domestic match that he played while representing Rajasthan in 1958.

"I played against Colonel Sahab for Rajasthan. He was representing Uttar Pradesh in the match at Benaras and made 84. In our team we had great bowlers like Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad, and top batmen like Vijay Manjrekar and myself.

"He (Nayudu) hit three sixes, two of them off Mankad over the roof, and the other of Gupte. I still remember that. Its an honour to get the award and I thank the BCCI for it," said Durrani, one of the most popular cricketers of his time who was known to hit a `six on demand`.

After representing Holkar for many years, Col. Nayudu was associated in a coaching role with Uttar Pradesh and had played that match.

In his address, Manohar congratulated Dhoni`s team for becoming the number one Test team in the ICC rankings and for winning the World Cup after 28 years.

"We are all proud of you. It was in 1983 under Kapil Dev that we won the World Cup and proved that India can do it. And it was MSD`s team that did it on April 2nd this year and fulfilled the dream of every Indian," he said.

K Hariharan was named as the `Umpire of the Year` and was presented with a cheque of Rs 50,000.

The other awardees (October 2009-September 2010):

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest Scorer in Ranji Trophy): Manish Pandey.

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy): Abhimanyu Mithun

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best Under-16 cricketer): B Aparajith.

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best Under-19 cricketer): Bhargav Merai.

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best Under-22 cricketer): Nataraj Behera.

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best woman cricketer): M D Thirushkamini.

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best woman cricketer junior): Reva Arora. 

Federer breezes into last four clash with Djokovic

Paris: Third seed Roger Federer sealed an eagerly-awaited French Open semi-final clash with world number two Novak Djokovic after gliding past Gael Monfils 6-4 6-3 7-6 on Tuesday.

The Swiss has not dropped a set at Roland Garros so far this year and although there were a few chinks in his armour, he was ruthless when break points arose and Court Philippe Chatrier had to applaud the 2009 winner rather than Frenchman Monfils.

The ninth seed broke first when Federer double faulted only for the world number three to storm back amid blustery conditions and secure the set when Monfils sent a wild forehand wide.

They exchanged breaks again early in the second but Monfils, who smashed his racket into the ground, then double faulted to gift Federer the set before the 16-times grand slam champion easily wrapped up victory in the tiebreak. 

Eng to reclaim 2nd spot in ICC Test rating

Dubai: England`s stunning victory against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Cardiff has kept it on course to reclaim second position on the ICC Test Championship table for the first time in more than three years.

Although the Test Championship table will be updated only at the end of the series, a 3-0 series win will put England one ratings point ahead of South Africa. England last occupied the second position in November 2007.

England players Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell, who engineered the stunning an innings and 14 runs victory over Sri Lanka, also achieved their career-best rankings in the list released today.

Swann, who bagged 4-16 in the second innings to finish with figures of 7-94, has strengthened his second position on the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, which is still headed by Dale Steyn of South Africa.

Tremlett, who claimed 4-40 in the second innings to earn match figures of 5-121, has gained seven places and is now on a career-best ranking of 27th.

Among the Test batsmen, man of the match Jonathan Trott, who scored 203, has moved up one place to join former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in third position.

Ian Bell was also rewarded for his innings of 103 not out with a jump of three places to the 18th position for the first time in his career.
Skipper Alastair Cook also earned 15 ratings points for his innings of 133 which has put him on 818 ratings points and just 38 points behind the pair of Trott and Sangakkara.

Sri Lanka opener Tharanga Paranavithana and wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardena moved up one place to 44th spot and six places to 51st position respectively.

Murray battles past Troicki in rolled-over match

Paris: Fourth seed Andy Murray battled into the French Open quarter-finals by beating Viktor Troicki 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 on Tuesday after the pair returned to court for a one-set shootout.

Play was suspended late on Monday due to bad light after Murray, carrying an ankle injury, had fought back superbly to level the match at two sets all.

Troicki was angered at the start of the sixth game of the last set when a ball boy inexplicably ran on to the court right in front of the Serb as he was winning the point with a smash.

The umpire ordered them to replay the point which Murray won, leading to more rage from Troicki and boos from a crowd sympathetic to the blushing boy.

In the end it did not matter as Troicki went on to break the Briton the same game but the 15th seed lost his serve twice, sending a backhand into the net on the key point as Murray sealed a last-eight clash with Juan Ignacio Chela.

Chance for youngsters to step up and perform: Raina

Mumbai: Stand-in India captain Suresh Raina feels that the absence of senior cricketers during the ODI series in the Caribbean will be an ideal opportunity for those who did well in domestic cricket to show their performance at the international level.

"It`s a great opportunity for the youngsters who have done well in domestic cricket. I hope they will do well," said the 25-year-old Raina at the pre-departure media conference of the team on Tuesday sitting alongside newly-appointed chief coach Duncan Fletcher.

The Indian team will be playing in the ODIs without Gautam Gambhir, prolific opener Virender Sehwag, man-of-the-tournament in the World Cup Yuvraj Singh--- all of whom are out with injuries. Regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and senior pacer Zaheer Khan have been rested keeping in mind the gruelling two and a half month tour of England that starts in July.

"I am really honoured to be leading the side. I am happy with the side as we have some very good batsmen in Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, S Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan all of whom have done well in first-class cricket.

"Badrinath especially has done well in first-class cricket and deserves to be in the team. I hope we will do well in the West Indies," said Raina who will hand over the reins to Dhoni when he returns for the three-Test series to be held after the conclusion of the five ODIs.

The Indians start the tour with a lone T20 international at Port of Spain on June 4.

Coach Fletcher said he had followed the rotation system when he was the England coach and received criticism from the authorities.

The burly Zimbabwean wants to go slow about this supposed rotation policy.

"While I was in England, I started the rotation policy resting senior guys. I was heavily criticised by the English authorities. It`s important to do that considering the heavy schedule. We need to look into the matter as we go into the future," said the Zimbabwe-born Fletcher for whom it will be his first assignment as the Indian team`s coach after taking over from his protege Gary Kirsten after the World Cup.

"There is a lot of talent in India and my job is to prepare these youngsters. It`s a pleasure to blood them in ODIs," said Fletcher.

Asked about the club-versus-country debate, Fletcher said it`s not specific to cricket.

"That`s the way it is in modern day sports. We have to ensure that all the players are fit enough," he said.

Raina said the Indian team had done very well over the last three years, having climbed to the top among Test nations and winning the World Cup after 28 years.
"There`s always pressure and we have done well under pressure. We have done well over the last three years and have won the World Cup. It`s for us as players to execute the plans of the coach well. We have to play our natural game," he said.

Fletcher did not see the trip as an easy outing though the West Indies are not the same force they were in 70`s and 80`s.

"Any team playing at home is difficult to beat. We should not be complacent," said the new coach who said he intended not to look too far ahead in his job.

Fletcher admitted that beating England and Australia in their den will be the biggest challenge but as of now the focus is on the Caribbean tour.

"Yes, we would like to beat England in England and Australia in Australia. But the first job is the tour of West Indies. It`s very important not to look too far down the road. India have a plan to stay at the top. The young players have the potential and this tour will show the depth of talent we have," he said.

Raina said the West Indies had some good all-rounders in Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.

Asked about the likely return of Chris Gayle after the first two ODIs for which he had been left out, the southpaw said his team has Ravichandran Ashwin to counter the threat from the West Indian opener.

"We have Ashwin. It`s a good challenge for us," said Raina about his Chennai Super Kings teammate`s success-rate in the just-concluded IPL against Gayle.

He credited Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Dhoni for learning the ropes of captaincy.

"I learnt a lot about captaincy from Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Dhoni. They have captained with a lot of honesty," he said.

Bartoli fights past Kuznestova to reach French open semis

Paris: Eleventh seed Marion Bartoli, an emotional jumping jack of nervous energy, clinched the tie break when 13th seed Kuznetsova misdirected a forehand off a deep approach.

The Frenchwoman, a Wimbledon runner-up in 2007, was a break ahead in the opening game of the second set and backed it up with another break to lead 5-2.

But the experienced Russian clawed a break back in the eighth game as Bartoli served for the match.

Kuznetsova held for 4-5 but Bartoli claimed victory on her first match point when Kuznetova ballooned a forehand into the stands.

"Thanks to the fans and to my father (Walter, her coach). We won it together," said Bartoli

"I prepared well for this match with my dad. I am very happy and proud." 

Battling Schiavone reaches French Open semi-finals

Paris: Defending champion Francesca Schiavone battled from a set and 4-1 down to defeat Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and reach the French Open semi-finals on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old, who became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title when she triumphed last year, clinched a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 win in a mistake-strewn quarter-final that featured 13 breaks of serve and 79 unforced errors.

Fifth seed Schiavone will face either Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, or 11th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France for a place in the final.

Despite being 11 years older than the Russian, Schiavone said her experience had paid off in a tense finale.

"On 6-1, 4-1, I said 'keep going'. The key is to hit three, four, five, six, seven balls, but I couldn't hit three, four. So at 4-1, I played two really good games.

"Then she went a little bit down, and when I caught her. I say 'keep going. I am here. If I have to lose, I have to lose in the right way'."

Pavyluchenkova, playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, said she had paid for not applying the killer blow when she was ahead in the second set.

"I lost my concentration at 4-1 in the second. I was dictating the game but then I wasn't aggressive enough, and I just didn't serve well," she said.

"She was putting a lot of balls in. It was really tough for me to attack them because they were high. I didn't feel power anymore. She had courage, and it was tough to stop her."

Schiavone struggled in the chilly, blustery conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier in the first set.

She was broken twice on her way to a 4-0 deficit in the opener before 19-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, the 2006 world junior champion, clinched a third break in the key seventh game to take the set 6-1.

The Italian managed to win just two points on the teenage Russian's serve in a woefully under-par first-set performance.

But her greater experience paid off in the second set when she overturned a 4-1 deficit to win six of the next seven games to level the tie as the Russian's game fell apart.

A running backhand pass gave Schiavone a break in the opening game of the decider and she was soon 3-0 ahead as Pavlyuchenkova's game was made to look increasingly one-dimensional.

The sturdy Russian retrieved one of the breaks to go to 1-3, but Schiavone hit straight back to stretch to 4-1.

In a topsy-turvy final set, which featured seven breaks of serve, the Italian went to 5-1 before squandering a chance to serve for the match at 5-2 when she was broken to love.

Pavlyuchenkova held for 4-5 and broke to level at 5-5 before lazily handing the initiative back to Schiavone in the 11th game.

The Russian saved one match point with a wrong-footing forehand off a short approach and another with a forehand off a weak second serve.

A deft drop shot took the Italian to a third match point, however, and she celebrated victory when Pavlyuchenkova batted back a tame backhand that was eagerly gobbled up by the champion.