Run to send girl to class – Half Marathon from Red Road on Sunday
Aavirash Mitra, a Class XI student of La Martiniere for Boys, will put on his running shoes this Sunday so that some less fortunate youngster can go to school.
Thousands of Calcuttans are gearing up to forsake their Sunday nap to join the Amity Calcutta Half Marathon 2012, The Royal Bengal Run, in association with The Telegraph, on February 5.
The 14km run (see map above) will start from Red Road at 7am and participants will return to the same spot at the end.
With over 7,500 registrations already received and more pouring in from companies, NGOs, schools and colleges, the event is tipped to beat last year’s success run. “Last year, we had over 8,000 participants and this year we are expecting a footfall of over 15,000 with people registering online as well as through campaigns in malls and forms available at NIIT and Amity,” says Ankita Chakravarty Bhattacharya, the associate dean, Amity, Calcutta.
“The likes of Tata Interactive Services and BPCL and over 20 NGOs like Hope Foundation and Smile Foundation have made bulk bookings. More are looking to join hands with us. Colleges like Scottish Church, St. Xavier’s and Loreto are also taking part,” the Amity dean said.
With the registration fee only Rs 100 and no age limit for participants, the aim, feels Ankita, is to “reunite Calcuttans from all walks, across all ages to spread awareness for an important cause”.
It is for this cause — highlighting the importance of empowering and educating needy girl children through Amitasha, a chain of schools for the underprivileged — that Aavirash and his friend Darpan will join the run. “We were told about the Half Marathon by our principal. It is not an easy distance, but the fact that every Rs 100 will make a difference to a needy person’s life will make it easier. I know a lot of students from my school are also gearing up,” Aavirash said.
Non-athletes and non-participants can take part in the Dream Run — a 4km stretch that will ensure easy participation for even the most unfit enthusiast!
Veteran footballer Prasun Banerjee, who will be running alongside Maidan mates past (Manas Bhattacharya) and present (Mehtab Hossain), said: “Calcutta supports cricket, football, hockey and every other sport. We should support the marathon with equal enthusiasm. The cause is excellent and I feel every Calcuttan should take part. I am proud to be a part of it.”
EB fans see red and go on a rampage
Calcutta: Kingfisher East Bengal fans went berserk after their team’s 0-1 loss to Prayag United, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday. ‘Disappointed’ over not being able to vandalise the swanky team bus, the crowd vented their ire on the exhibition venue that was on inside the stadium complex.
They broke the flower pots, hurled whatever they could lay their hands on, as the delegates and private securitymen scurried for cover.
The crowd was obviously upset by the way East Bengal conceded the goal in injury-time and waited for ‘villain’ Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Gurpreet though got coach Trevor James Morgan’s backing at the post-match media conference. “I take full responsibility for the bungle. I asked him to move upfront. But strangely no defender saw Gurpreet moving up.
“I screamed and screamed but they never bothered to listen. Our defenders should have been there to thwart Vincent.
“They are saying that they never saw Gurpreet moving up. How can you miss someone who is seven feet tall?” Morgan said.
Morgan said his defenders were playing “Sunday football”. “It was shambolic defending. My defenders were playing Sunday football. It’s frustrating.”
Morgan said he would persist with Gurpreet. “Why not? He will play against Mohun Bagan on Saturday” he shot back.
Prayag United coach Shankar Sen praised his team’s discipline and never-say-die attitude.
“Hats off to my players. They played splendidly. We are back in the reckoning for the title, Sen said.
“Our strength is our reserve bench. Monday morning we came to know Denson (Devadas) and Arnab (Mondal) would not be available.
“But I had faith in my reserve bench. And look how (Mohammed) Rafique and others performed.”
And man of the moment Kayne Vincent was over the moon. “Most memorable goal of my career. Never ran 90 yards and scored a goal. I think I was lucky today,” Vincent said.
He added that first thing that came to his mind after he got the ball was never to lose it.
“I told myself ‘I am not going to lose this ball… Come what may. Had I missed this goal, I do not know what I would have done to myself.”
Odafe brace in Bagan win
Kochi: Striker Okolie Odafe scored twice to help McDowell Mohun Bagan beat Chirag United 3-1 in the 18th round I-League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Tuesday.
Odafe scored both the goals from penalty in 35th and 84th minute, while Jose Ramirez Barreto scored in the 86th minute. Anil Kumar scored the solitary goal for United in 47th minute.
Bagan were playing without Sunil Chhetri and Syed Rahim Nabi but Odafe and Barreto proved enough to rattle the home side.
The home side started on a positive note with Anil and David Sunday, who played in the front in absence of Ajayan. But their dominance lasted only for first 30 minutes as Mohun Bagan took control of the game soon after.
Odafe made no mistake in converting a penalty to give his side the lead. The scoreline remained unchanged till the half-time.
United equalised after the break when Anil Kumar scored from Asif’s lofted pass.
The home side upped their game after scoring the goal and managed to create a couple of chances.
But Odafe again gave mariners the lead, when Jimshad U handled the ball on the goalline, prompting referee Rowan to show the second red card and award a penalty.
Barreto increased the margin for the visitors in the 86th minute.
Odafe was adjudged man of the match. Mohun Bagan now have 33 points from 18 matches, one point behind East Bengal and four behind table-topper Dempo. United remained on 11 points from 17 matches.
IN THE CITY
Saha for Duleep
Wriddhiman Saha, who kept wickets for India in the Adelaide Test, will join the East Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North, to be held at the Kotla from February 4-7. Saha is expected to lead the team.
Benaud to sign
Participants at the Frank Worrell Day blood donation camp this year, to be held on Friday, will get certificates signed by the legendary Richie Benaud. The day is also observed as Cricket Association of Bengal’s Foundation Day.
U-22 final
The final of the BCCI Associate Members Under-22 tournament between Manipur and Meghalaya will be played at the Eden, on Thursday.
Three named
Sandipan Das, Aloke Pratap Singh and Ravi Kant Singh have been named in the India under-19 probables list for the tour of Australia.
Saurav shines
Second Seed Saurav Sukul outclassed Vikram Naidu BS 6-0, 6-1, while Rupesh Roy blanked Vishwanath Savadi of Karnataka 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the Central Excise Grass Court Tennis Championship, at the club courts, on Tuesday.
Seventh seed Amrita Mukherjee beat Victoria Chahal of National Tennis Academy 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Other Winners (1st round)
Men’s (1st Round): Rakshay Thakkar, Sagar Manjanna, Tejas Chaukalkar, Ajay Selvaraj, Farid Alam, Shahbaaz Khan, Siddharth Rawat, Saurabh Singh, Abhijeet Tiwari.
Women’s: Ankita Raina, Shreya Pasricha, Sadgi Rajani, Sansitha Nandakumar, Shweta Rana, R Vijayalakshmi, Shruti Archita, Nehel Sahni, Amrita Mukherjee, Sahan Shetty, Treta Bhattacharya, Namita Bal, Riya Bhatia, Vaniya Dangwal, S Vaishnavi Reddy.
Crespo’s the costliest
Calcutta: Former Argentina star Hernan Crespo attracted the highest price among the icon players in the Premier League Soccer (PLS) auctions, which was held at a city hotel, on Monday.
Crespo, the former Inter Milan and Chelsea player, was sold at his base price of $840,000 to Uro Infra Reality India Ltd, who had bid a whopping Rs 25.12 crore to bag the Barasat franchisee.
After the auctions, Deshopriyo Giri of Uro Infra Reality said: “We planned to bid for Crespo and we are happy to have got him at his base price.”
He also revealed that they have signed Bhaichung Bhutia among the Indian players. “Bhaichung will also be the brand ambassador of the team. It was our dream to have both the strikers in our team. Now, we can proudly say that we have the finest striking pair in the competition. We have planned to name our team Uro Musketeers,” said Giri.
While the Barasat franchise pulled off a coup by netting both Bhaichung and Crespo, others were not left far behind in their bid to purchase the icon players.
Fabio Cannavaro, the former World Cup-winning captain of Italy, was sold at $830,000 against his base price of $780,000 to Aajay Consultants, the owners of Siliguri franchisee. Syncsys Infotech (P) Ltd, the owner of the Howrah franchisee, bought former French World Cupper Robert Pires at $800,000. Pires’ base price was $7,15,000.
Though Nigerian Jay Jay Okocha didn’t find any buyer in the first bidding, he went to the Durgapur franchise by default as the Calcutta franchisee bought Robbie Fowler at his base price of $450,000.
‘Test cricket has to be the priority, not T20’ – India need to overhaul domestic structure: Imran
Calcutta: The iconic Imran Khan has blamed India’s over-emphasis on Twenty20 cricket for the disaster Down Under and says the focus should shift to Tests.
Speaking at the inaugural Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture — a joint initiative of The Telegraph and Bengal Club, presented by Nokia and powered by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group — Pakistan’s World Cup-winning captain stressed on the need to overhaul the domestic structure.
The Ballroom at the Oberoi Grand was overflowing on Monday evening as Imran kept the audience spellbound for close to 30 minutes dealing with a wide range of topics. From the impact education had on his success as a cricketer and captain to admiring Javed Burki and the late Tiger Pataudi in his early days to the current state of Indian cricket, he delivered an extempore — no notes, no jottings.
“I can only use one word to describe India’s form… Consistent!” Imran said, amid peels of laughter from the audience. “To lose eight Test matches in a row overseas is an achievement! It’s a wake up call for Indian cricket.
“You need to analyse the causes… A team that won the World Cup and was No.1 in Tests a few months back is in the doldrums… If you want to be the leaders you can’t keep losing. If you pay so much emphasis on Twenty20 cricket, you’ve got to pay hugely.
“The connoisseurs will rate a player by his Test record and not what he’s done in T20s. Test cricket is the ultimate test of a player and that’s the reason Test records carry value. Talent can excel in one-dayers, but in Test cricket, your temperament and technique is tested besides the talent.
“India has to decide soon whether it prefers glamour, Bollywood and money to Test cricket. In my 20 years of cricket, I never made so much money as a mediocre player in T20 does today… I’ve nothing against players making money but cricket shouldn’t suffer… You’ve got to balance the two.
“A youngster can easily get swayed by the frenzy that T20 cricket has developed… Bollywood, packed stands when compared to the empty stands and toil of Test cricket. Little does he realise then that the way you prepare for T20 is hugely different to Test cricket.
“The problem with India is you can’t take 20 wickets in Tests. If a batsman lacks the defensive ability then… The balance has to be got right. Youngsters should remember that world cricket is judged on Test cricket and not T20.
[Earlier in the day, Imran told this newspaper: “Dhoni must find match-winning bowlers… I’d always focus on unearthing them… Being a bowler myself, I could understand their psyche. Am not sure if Dhoni, being a ’keeper, understands bowlers.”]
Stressing that his success as a captain was “mainly because of his quality education”, the Oxford-educated Imran said: “Education structures your mind… The reason I was successful because I knew how to handle failures. I became my worst critic.”
Imran recalled an anecdote from their 1979-80 tour to India when they lost the series 0-2. “Zaheer Abbas had been in terrific form in the previous series in 1978-79… But he failed in the first three Tests because of the pressure and his bad form… I was sharing the room with Zaheer and he blamed it on various factors… Finally one day he said, I know the reason, it’s black magic! He was dropped for the next Test…”
Imran also paid rich tributes to the late Tiger Pataudi. “If Tiger hadn’t lost an eye, he would have broken all records. His quality of strokes was amazing… Mere mortals couldn’t play them.”
Imran suggested an overhauling of India’s domestic structure. “Reduce the number of teams and the top-six teams should compete against each other.
“In Australia, the top-six teams compete with such aggression in their domestic set-up that it instils tremendous competitiveness among the players. I know it for sure, having played Shield cricket there. Anyone excelling in that format will be good for Test cricket.
“In India and Pakistan, there’s a huge jump from first-class cricket to international cricket. But if you have the Australia model in Ranji Trophy, the results will show… You can also get overseas stars to play… ”
T20 cannot produce Test cricketers, says Khan
KOLKATA: Team India’s dismal show Down Under, adding up to an eight-Test losing streak abroad, has sent the cricket fraternity scurrying for answers . Imran Khan has some sound advice for the administrators of the game in the country ; he began by reminding everyone that Twenty20 cricket can’t produce Test players.
“It’s not easy to lose eight Test matches in a row. This is a wake-up call for Indian cricket,” he reminded.
Ironically, the former Pakistan pacer went on to suggest that BCCI take a leaf out of the Indian Premier League, the cash-rich T20 competition that has taken the cricket world by storm. “Domestic first-class tournaments like the Ranji Trophy need to be made more competitive. Have fewer teams in the top tier if needed and, as in IPL, bring in top foreign players to raise the level,” said Imran during a lecture dedicated to ‘Tiger’ Pataudi. “If Australia has been such a consistently strong outfit over the years, it’s because of their domestic cricket. I know because I’ve played (Sheffield) Shield cricket. It may have just six teams but it’s very competitive and aggressive,” he added.
Imran sees a role for T20
KOLKATA: “I’ve earned far less in 22 years than what a mediocre cricketer makes in one season in the IPL,” said Imran Khan to drive home the danger the shortest version of the game poses to Test cricket. “There now is the lurking threat of players choosing cash-rich Twenty20 to five days of slogging on the field when they begin their career,” he reminded .
Even as he stressed that the means and methods in Test cricket and the shorter versions were very different, the former Pakistan skipper did see a role for T20. “Once, during an exhibition match in the United States, rain reduced it to a 20-20 affair. I saw spectators actually enjoying and realised that this was a great format to attract spectators in non-cricket playing nations. But it won’t work when it comes to producing Test cricketers,” he said. “And Test cricket is the real test. In Test cricket, not only talent but technique and temperament are tested.”
Calling for moves to usher in more competitiveness in domestic first-class competitions, he reminded that a player doing well in Sheffield Shield slips into Test cricket with ease “but here the jump from first-class to Test cricket is huge” .
“I’ve been saying this for 30 years in Pakistan. I stopped telling them for the last five years as I was convinced they wouldn’t listen,” he went on. “I am asking India to do this because at the next general elections , a tsunami called the Tehreeke-Insaf will sweep across Pakistan. We will then fix our (cricket) structure and India will get a thrashing,” he added with an impish smile and a twinkle in the eyes.
He drew Sunil Gavaskar as example . “His mind worked like a computer . He had everything worked out,” Imran said in obvious admiration . “Test cricket is also about guts. It takes guts to face a fast bowler. When I used to run up to the wicket, I would look into the eyes of the batsman to judge his state of mind and see the fear if there was any. A Test match tests the character of a player,” the former Pakistan captain said.
He stressed on the need for cricketers to get a good education, saying that it would have been his biggest blunder had he not continued with his studies. “International sport requires complete focus but a good education gives a cricketer great advantage over the others. My education was my biggest advantage during my days as a captain. The power of analysis is sharpened by quality education. Education and cricket are actually complementary to each other,” he said. “For Tiger Pataudi, cricket was not a profession . Cricketers can never take risks to reach great heights if they make the game their profession. Then it becomes a mere job. Tiger treated it like a challenge,” Khan said.
IN THE CITY
Md.Sp. drub Bhukailash
Mohammedan Sporting beat Bhukailash SC by a mammoth 260 runs in the two-day 1st division league match, on Sunday. Shamsed Hossain scalped five for 44 to help his team dismiss Bhukailash SC for 164 runs.
Summarised scores
Md. Sporting Club 424/8. Bhukailash SC 164 (Bikramaditya Majumdar 56, Shamsed Hossain 5/44). Md. Sporting Club won by 260 runs.
Mohun Bagan 390/9. Suburban Club 190 (Arka Saha 62, Shankhadeep Chatterjee 56). Mohun Bagan won by 200 runs.
Tapan Memorial 333. Police AC 317 (Tapan Koiri 96, Sultan Ansari 59, Subham Dey 54, Pradip Parashar 5/90). Tapan Memorial won by 16 runs.
Young Bengal SA 297. East Bengal 298/4 (Writam Porel 110 not out, Bidyut Adhikary 84, Jitendra Shaw 3/50). East Bengal won by 6 wickets.
Belgachia United Club 260. Town Club 265/4 (Naved Ahmed 89, Abhishek Banerjee 61). Town Club won by 6 wickets.
Wari AC 454/9. Taltala Ekata Sangha 189 (Rakesh Sharma 5/64). Wari AC won by 265 runs.
Barisha SC 196. YMCA 201/4 (Mirza Danish Alam 91). YMCA won by 6 wickets.
Paikpara SC 372. Kumartuli Institute 273 (Anurag Tiwari 4/66). Paikpara SC won by 99 runs.
Rajasthan 209. Aikya Sammilani 210/3 (Ritwik Roy Choudhury 83). Aikya Sammilani won by 7 wickets.
Dalhousie AC 380. George Telegraph SC 264 (Sunil Upadhyay 80, Deepalok Chatterjee 76, Pappu Roy 3/41). Dalhousie AC won by 116 runs.
Eastern Railway SA 272/9. Bhowanipore Club 181/3 (Abhishek Das 50). Bhowanipore Club won by 7 wickets. (Due to bad light target was rescheduled to 181 runs in 56 overs)
ABP SC 334. NSI 315 (Anup Samaddar 132, Ranabir Nath 60). ABP SC won by 19 runs.
PLS teams
The Camellia Group, with a bid of Rs 11.50 crore, will own the Calcutta franchise of the Premier League Soccer (PLS).
The other franchisee holders are Uro Infra Reality India Ltd (Barasat franchise), Tulip Infonet (India) Pvt. Ltd (Durgapur franchise), Aajay Consultants (Siliguri franchise) and Syncsys Infotech (P) Ltd (Howrah franchise). However, the Haldia franchise went unsold and so the players’ auction, on Monday, will be between the five franchisee owners.
Eden rookie on Oz burning deck
Manoj Tiwari will not be the only Eden Gardens thoroughbred trying to turn things around for Team India in the two t20s and the ODI tri-series to follow the Adelaide Test Down Under. The joint secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Biswarup Dey, too will pitch in with selection inputs and words of encouragement on his maiden tour as the manager of the Indian cricket team.
Dey, the first cricket administrator from Bengal to be appointed manager of the Indian team since Jagmohan Dalmiya lost control of the national cricket board in 2005, was gung-ho before leaving for Australia via Singapore on Monday.
“We must remember that the one-day team is very different from the Test team. It’s a lot younger and fitter and that will obviously make a lot of difference in the shorter formats,” he said.
Is the Test team too old?
Dey did not duck the bouncer. “Yes, isn’t that evident,” pat came the answer from the man who will replace Shivlal Yadav.
“The final team selection is done by the captain, coach and the manager. It will obviously help that the captain (M.S. Dhoni) is from my (east) zone and knows me well,” said the 45-year-old from Bhowanipore about his responsibilities as manager.
The presence of the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir, and Manoj Tiwari in the team is another bonus.
Tiwari, the Bengal skipper, has it in him to succeed in Australia, believes the new manager. “I was listening to Sourav (Ganguly) the other day saying on commentary that it is important to stay at the wicket and weather the storm to succeed in Australia. Manoj has that kind of grit.”
Guided by his mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya, Dey has been gaining prominence in the Board of Control for Cricket in India over the last few years. He made it to the umpiring committee last year and the special coaching committee this year. He has also been seen in the presentation panel at the end of crucial matches in recent times.
Ever since the “assignment of a lifetime” became public last week, Dey had been flooded with calls and messages. But he was not overwhelmed. “I have faith in Thakur Ramakrishna and visited his birthplace Kamarpukur after getting the news. I have also been reading Swami Vivekananda’s books as usual,” said the representative of the Central Calcutta Sporting Club in the CAB.
His mentor also briefed him on how to conduct himself as manager abroad, Dey added with a smile.
His first job will be to boost the morale of the team. “I will ask Dhoni and others what they think went wrong. I will work on the basis of the inputs. They must be dying to make amends because they realise how disappointed people back home are,” said Dey.
Md. Sp. held by Police AC
Calcutta: EMTA Mohammedan Sporting Club effectively ended their title hopes as they settled for a goalless draw against Police Athletic Club in a Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division match, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday.
Sporting are now in second place with 15 points from eight matches, three points behind Kingfisher East Bengal with just two games remaining.
Sporting began well and could have sealed the match in the first half itself, but were denied by Police goalkeeper Joy Dhar.
Phoolchand Hemron impressed with his work-rate down the right flank and kept asking serious questions of the Police defence.
The first significant opportunity came in the in the 39th minute, when Stanley Cyprian, who has been in fine form, missed a sitter as he failed to latch on to a Hemron pass.
In the 44th minute Alfred Jaryan headed Hemron’s cross from the right flank inches wide.
In the very next minute, Hemron went for glory but his blistering shot, from outside the penalty box, was saved brilliantly by Dhar.
While the first half was played at a frenetic pace, chances were few and far between in an uneventful second half.
Meanwhile, Prayag United SC were held to a 1-1 draw by Peerless at the Barasat stadium after Joshimar scored from the spot in the second half to cancel out Abhidhan’s first half goal.
Teams
Mohammedan SC: Arnab Das Sharma (Sukdeb Ghosh 53), Sk. Azim, Phoolchand Hemron, Lucky Imran, Safar Sardar, Suman Chandra Dey, Adeola Hassan, Mohammed Mukhtar (Sorabuddin Mallick 71), Monirul Mondal, Alfred Jaryan, Stanley Cyprian.
Police AC: Joy Dhar, Sukanta Banerjee, Rahul Bhattacharjee, Debashish Debnath, Biswajit Dasgupta, Nilkanta Paria, Amit Kumar Das (Swapan Munda 83), Madhab Das, Ratan Das, Ola Goke Isiah, Ujjal Ghosh.
Referee: Jayanta Sarkar.
