Vijender asked to show proof he won medals

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government which awarded its meritorious athletes with the highest state award - Bhim Award - with much fanfare on Thursday cast aspersions on Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh's claim to the cash award meant for Asian Championships and World Championships medals.

The sports department asked Vijender to produce certificates proving that he indeed had won medals in the mega events. Vijender had won a silver in the Asian Championships in Guangzhou (2010) and a bronze - the first ever by an Indian - in the 2009 World Amateur Championships.

Haryana sports director OP Singh said, "Shukr manaye ki unko itne paise mile hai Commonwealth Games me kharab pradarshan karne ke bavjood. Ye jo paisa hai public money hai, main inhe aise nahi de sakta. There are set government procedures I've to follow like proper documentation. Bring the certificates and I'll give the money."

Vijender said, "For past sometime they have been asking about the certificates. For World Championships we do not get certificates, so how can I prove it. I have the medal which they do not accept. I lost the Asian Championships certificate during transit. Though I have given a letter from the federation confirming that I have indeed won the medal, but that does not satisfies them."

The cash prize does not amount to more than Rs one lakh each for both events. Vijender's father said, "My son deserves the cash prize but do we need to run after them."

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Sachin is the greatest role model: Kirsten

BANGALORE: Indian coach Gary Kirsten on Thursday termed batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as the "...greatest sporting role model" he has ever met.

"I have played fair amount of cricket with Sachin and it has been a humble privilege to have worked with him and the rest of the Indian team," Kirsten said.

Kirsten, by far the most popular among the foreign coaches is on the last leg of his tenure as India coach admitted that he was apprehensive in the beginning when offered the role of coaching India.

"When I got the offer of coaching the Indian team. I was little bit nervous and apprehensive as to how I will start the proceedings.

"I still remember in Adelaide (tour of Australia 2007-08), Sachin came up to me and said "Can you throw a few balls at me? I said to myself, I need to impress him. I threw from 16-17 yards and he missed a few balls. Next moment, he came to me and said, "Gary do you mind going a few yards back?" Kirsten recollected during the release of journalist Gautam Bhattacharya's book 'Sach'.

"After that, lovely cover drives flowed from Sachin's bat. It was a good learning experience for me. I am fortunate to have had many net sessions with him and played alongside him," one could gauge the admiration in the former South African opener's voice.

Kirsten feels that it's his humility towards the game that makes Sachin the true champion that he is.

"Whenever Sachin comes out to bat, he treats his batting with absolute humility."

While the legend himself was present on the occasion of the release of his biography, also present were current Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, along with former India captains Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

"I have never really got tired of watching Sachin bat. He inspired so many generation of kids," Dravid said.

For Kumble, Sachin is someone whom is not just followed by Indians but also by the entire sub-continent.

"He has touched the lives of more people than anyone in the world. It's been a privilege that I have been a witness to Sachin's achievements. World Cup is one tournament which requires team effort. I wish Sachin, MS (Dhoni) and the rest of the boys in their endeavour to win the Cup," Kumble said.


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Dropped Tanvir says he is fit to play in World Cup

KARACHI: He has been dropped from Pakistan's World Cup squad due to injury but pacer Sohail Tanvir insists he is fit to play and should have been retained in the side for the quadrennial event starting February 19 in the sub-continent.

The Pakistan cricket Board on Wednesday dropped the unorthodox bowler from the 15-member squad on the recommendations of the national team management, a medical panel and the selection committee and replaced him with rookie left arm pacer Junaid Khan.

Tanvir, who has so far claimed 48 wickets in 36 ODIs, said, "I don't know why they dropped me and the selectors should tell me the reason because I was fit and getting better in bowling and fielding.

"It is hugely disappointing to be dropped from a major event like the World Cup at the last moment," Tanvir told The Express.

Tanvir was dropped after playing in five of the six one-day internationals in New Zealand.

Justifying its decision to omit Tanvir, the PCB said the medical panel had examined the 26-year-old bowler and decided he was not 100 percent fit to play at the top level.

"He still requires time to make a complete recovery from his knee problem for which he had an operation sometime back," PCB said in a statement.

Chief selector, Mohsin Khan said that it was on the recommendations of the team management that the pacer was dropped from the squad.

"The team management spoke to the board Chairman expressing its concerns over Tanvir's fitness. Subsequently the medical panel examined him and declared he was not fully fit.

"The team management felt that Tanvir was struggling while fielding because of his knee problem.

"Junaid Khan was called up because of his fine performances in domestic cricket," Mohsin revealed.

Meanwhile former test batsman, Basit Ali cautioned that Junaid was too raw and not ready for the international cricket.

"It would have been better if they had included Muhammad Yousuf in place of Tanvir. They already have too many pacers in the side and on the pitches in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh you don't need so many pacers," Basit said.

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Kirsten pays special attention to Pathan on second day of WC camp

BANGALORE: On his last assignment with the Indian team, coach Gary Kirsten focussed on all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and pacer Ashish Nehra on the second day of the four-day preparatory camp for the World Cup at the National Cricket Academy on Thursday.

Kirsten was one of the first members of the team to take the field and left the ground last along with colleagues Eric Simmons (bowling consultant) and Paddy Upton (mental conditioning coach).

Kirsten supervised the net sessions of not only the batsmen but even attended to left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra and threw a few balls at him at the fag end of the three-hour long practice session.

Realising Pathan's weakness against short-pitched stuff, Kirsten threw some bouncy balls at him and was also seen giving tips to him on how to counter the fast bowlers.

After Wednesday's optional practice session, it was more serious business on Thursday. Soon after arriving at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the entire Indian team went through fielding drills for nearly 45 minutes before shifting base to the NCA nets.

The trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who returned to the squad after a short injury lay-off, were the first to hit the nets and batted for about 40 minutes during which middled the ball from the word go.

Young Virat Kohli also spent a considerable amount of time at the nets and looked at ease but Yuvraj looked little out of sort with his timing.

After completing his session at the net, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined Harbhajan Singh at the other end of the NCA ground and the duo smacked Karnataka Cricket Academy bowlers to all parts of the park.

All the bowlers, meanwhile, rolled their arms in turns with Munaf Patel extracting considerable amount of pace and bounce from the pitch.

After the camp, India will be put to their first test when they play Australia in their first warm-up match on Sunday and then round off their preparation with a practice game against New Zealand in Chennai on February 16.

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