Is Cong smiling?

B D Narayankar

KARNATAKA: Even as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has been making strides to solve the differences among Karanataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) members, the news of Assembly elections by May end has jolted the party which is making a bid to come back to power.

Congress, in fact, had petitioned the Election Commission (EC) not to hold the polls unless electoral rolls were corrected as per the new re-drawn constituencies.

A little probe into the Congress’ reluctance to face election by May end is something to do with the internecine differences within the party. The party is heading towards a major crisis after former chief minister S M Krishna re-entered Karnataka politics after quitting the post of Maharashtra Governor recently.

The differences came out in the open when the supporters of KPCC president and a prominent Dalit leader from North Karanataka Mallaikarjun Kharge met AICC president Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi and sought an assurance on the future prospects of their esteemed leader in the event of Krishna’s re-entry into Karnataka politics.

Infact, the Kharge camp had been resisting Krishna’s re-entry into the state’s politics for quite some time. Kharge has been at the helm of KPCC affairs for nearly three years now and though there has been no official word, he is touted to be the chief ministerial candidate.

The internecine differences came to the fore once again when a section of KPCC brass and senior Congress leaders chose to stay away from the reception accorded to Krishna by his loyalists.

Kharge, who was very much present in the city, chose to interact with party workers from Koppal district, instead of giving a warm welcome to Krishna. C K Jaffer Sherief, Margaret Alva and Veerappa Moily among others.

The differences in the party are community based. The dominant Vokkaliga community is rallying behind. Krishna, while senior Congress leaders such as M Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandes, B K Hariprasad, M V Rajasekharan, R L Jalappa, Tejaswini Gowda, C K Jaffer Sharief and N Dharam Singh are rallying behind Kharge who is a Dalit.

There are three groups in the State Congress: the pro-Krishna group (Vokkaliga), old Congressmen (Kharge, Sharief, Moily, Dharam Singh and others) and Siddaramaiah group (comprising former JD members).

PHOTO: S M KRISHNA (COURTESY GOOGLE IMAGES)

Remove Shivraj Patil, demands JDU

B D Narayankar
New Delhi: JDU demanded removal of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil over the killing of 14 Hindi-speaking workers in Manipur in Parliament here on Wednesday.
Raising the issue during zero hour, JDU member Prabhunath Singh said: “First thing that needs to be done is the removal of home minister.” There had been a series of attacks on Nortth Indian populace in several states including Maharashtra and Manipur.
Using the occasion to embarrass Union Railways Minister Lalu Yadav, BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain asked why RJD why it was not withdrawing its support to the Congress-led coalition at the Centre in the wake of attacks.
RJD's Devendra Prasad Yadav sought for joint operations to be carried out with the state government to suppress insurgents carrying out the killings in Assam and Manipur.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi assured the house to convey the anguish of the members over the "selective targeting" of North Indians to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and would take strict action against the perpetrators.
Patil said there was a design to create problems in the name of language and region in various parts of the country.
Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said the unity of the country would be in peril if the forces of regionalism have their sway. Mohd Salim (CPI-M) echoed similar sentiments.

Khadiwale is the lad to watch: Bhave

B D Narayankar

PUNE: The present Maharashtra coach Surendra Bhave appears to be under pressure after taking over the mantle of Coach Maharashtra from Chandrakant Pandit, but sounds confident of facing the challenge thrown at him. He pins hopes on crafting Team Maharashtra to reach cricketing pinnacles in coming years.
Though Team Maharashtra had a poor showing in this year’s Ranji session, he chose to talk about the positives. “The prospects of Team Maharashtra in coming years looks bright as there are many young players who had performed exceedingly well in U-15 Polly Umrigar Trophy and U-17 Plate division of Vijay Merchant Trophy,” Bhave told this correspondent at PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Saturday after a veterans’ match.
At senior level too Maharashtra has been gifted with good promising youngsters in the form of left-arm pacer Samad Fallah, right-hand quickie Shrikant Mundhe, all-rounder Harshad Khadiwale and Kedar Jadhav, he said.
“I am very much impressed by opener Harshad and Fallah. Harshad put up an impressive show against U-19 South Africa in South Africa. Though he failed to impress in his first and third match, he scored a brilliant 75 runs at Chatsworth Oval where the Indian team pulled off a 7-wicket victory. He is the batsman to watch out for,” Bhave said.
“I am also impressed by Fallah. He has a good pace and swings the ball in the air. What I like about this lad his confidence. Also there is Shrikant Mundhe. The wicket of VVS Laxman, which he took, in a Ranji match stunned even the stylish Hyderabad batsman. The ball beat his bat and rattled his stumps with a beautiful inswinger,” he said.
The emerging talent in Maharashtra, Bhave says is due to the new league format Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) had framed last year. “We formed 20 cricket districts and conducted 440 matches last year that gave us ample room to identify talents and picked up the probables,” he said.
MCA also has launched a programme of improving the infrastructure and standards of umpring at the district level since a lot of talents were emerging from these places. “We are pleased to prepare hard and bouncy pitches in Nashik and Ratnagiri where Munaf Patel started his pace journey and eventually selected for India. We want to prepare good pitches to hone the skills of both batsmen and bowlers,” Bhave observed.

PHOTO: COURTESY, CRIC INFO

We will bounce back: Gus Logie

B D Narayankar

The world has already written off West Indies as a competitive team, but not as yet by the gutsy West Indian – Gus Logie. He brushes aside the view that the West Indies have been in the dumps, particularly after the series loss against South Africa, both in the Tests and One Day Internationals recently.
The defeat, Gus believes, has not exposed the impoverishment in fast bowling and batting. He is of the opinion that the West Indies cricket has good days ahead in the wake of young promising players coming up on the scene. He speaks volumes of young talents.
“There is Darren Bravo, a Brian Lara lookalike, who is ready to take the bulls by their horns,” Gus says.

In the course of an exclusive interview with Gus Logie, who was in Pune this week for a practice match between his U-19 Bermuda and Maharashtra Cricket Association at PYC Grounds, said all is not lost for West Indies cricket, it would soon assume the garb of world beaters. Excerpts:

What is the future of West Indies cricket?

Nothing is lost as of yet. West Indies cricket is not impoverished. We have some good players in the side. They are young and inexperienced. We have to give them atleast some time for winning. Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarawan, John Taylor, Dwayne Bravo and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul have been on the scene for quite a sometime and they had been doing exceptionally well. I am confident West Indies would soon bounce back to No. 1 position which their predecessors had held for more than 18 years.

We have known all these players. Can you speak about youngsters which the world hardly knows.

There are lots of them. There is Jacobs, who has adapted Sarawan’s style. We have left-handed Kieron Powell. Trinidadian Adrian Barret is a real star. Darren Bravo, brother of Dwayne Bravo and Lara lookalike, is another star in the making. So we have a good crop of youngsters emerging.


Many attribute the West Indies' dismal performance in cricket to the advent of basketball. Would you buy this theory?

I don’t buy this theory at all. Cricket is still the most sought-after and popular game in West Indies. Since we get to see a lot of basketball games on television, people believe that the sport is catching youngsters’ imagination. However, I do believe passion for cricket has been on the wane a bit because of the West Indies’ dismal performance.
We don’t see the likes of Malcom Marshall, Andy Roberts and Michel Holding anymore. Why the West Indies is not producing fast bowlers?

We have had a legacy of fast bowlers. Except Marshall, all our fast bowlers were huge and well-built (Michel Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts and Courtney Walsh to name a few). We, presently have short-statured bowlers. And there is a huge difference when they deliver the ball. More than anything else, pitches have played a spoilsport for not producing quick bowlers. There are similar type of pitches all West Indies which assists spinners and batsmen. In my days, there were different pitches. Barbados and Jamaica wickets were famous for bounce and Trinidad for spin. There was variety that encouraged fast and slow bowlers. Moreover, our fast bowlers are hardly get any chance to play county cricket in England. Nevertheless, we have some good young fast bowlers coming up. Lionel Baker is a promising lad.

Going by your team's record of the last three years, one gets the feeling that there is something terribly wrong with West Indian cricket. How would you respond?

We have forgotten the art of winning. We are just competing. And that is not enough. We have been telling our players to set higher standards and work hard for improved results. Anyway, we have not been beaten at home in the past 21 years, except once.

Has ICC helped to improve cricket in West Indies?

We have certainly gained from the ICC. It allowed us to conduct the World Cup. This has borne us good fruits. I believe the West Indies Cricket Board has enough money to improve the sport. And I believe they can do it.

What about the sponsorship? Has it been satisfactory?

Yeah, when you compare to Indian cricket team. We don't have wealth like India, but we get fairly good sponsorship. It is up to the different governments in the West Indies to improve cricket by providing state-of-the-art facilities like floodlights, bouncy pitches and indoor amenities.

Thunderkatz fend off Invaders

Photo: Mukund Bhute

A Thunderkatz player unleashes a somersault kick


B D Narayankar

bapu_narayankar@rediffmail.com

PUNE: Thunderkatz ‘B’ authored a hard-earned 1-0 win over Invaders in the 10th Srikant Lingayat Memorial football tournament being organised by Kanaujia Pardeshi Football Club at Ghorpadi Military ground here on September 3.

Vinay Katyal stole the thunder for Thunderkatz, scoring the all-important match-winner. He was a livewire on the field. Apart from setting up attacks, he was penetrating the opponent’s citadel with alarming regularity.

Vinay struck the decisive goal, slamming the ball past the diving goalkeeper in a spectacular fashion in the 10th minute. In the second half, the battle assumed exciting proportions as both teams weaved some fantastic counter-attacks.

They, however, failed to translate them into goals.In another match, Chetak ‘C’ edged out KP ‘B’ by a solitary goal. Ravi Daitankar found the target for Chetak in the 20th minute. Stallion Football Club also chalked up a 2-0 victory over Poona Socials ‘B’. Piyush Ingle and Akash Kudu bloated the net in the 24th and 27th minutes respectively.

In yet another match, Vilson’s Old Boys’ Association put it across Extreme Warriors 1-0 thanks to an exhilarating 6th minute goal from Ryan Godinho.

RESULTS: Thunderkatz ‘B’ 1 (Vinay Katyal) bt Invaders 0; Vilson’s Old Boys’ Association 1 (Ryan Godinho) bt Extreme Warriors 0; Stallion Football Club 2 (Piyush Ingle, Akash Kudu) bt Poona Socials ‘B’ 0; Chetak ‘C’ 1 (Ravi Daitankar) bt KP ‘B’

Manasi stuns top seed down under

B D Narayankar

bapu_narayankar@rediffmail.com

PUNE: Instead of watching a wretched Ram Gopal Varma’s Aag, it would have been better to have witnessed an exciting finale between Manasi Munj and Devika Bhide in the cadet girls’ district-ranking table tennis tournament at Sharada Centre here on Saturday.

The Devika-Manasi final was the most thrilling match of the tournament till date. It was so intriguing that second seed Manasi came back from 0-2 down to stun top seed Devika 9-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 to claim the cadet girl’s title in grand style.

Manasi began her campaign by losing first two games 9-11, 8-11. Capitalising on Manasi’s diffidence, Devika throttled her opponent by her intelligent shot selections, breaking her rhythm. These losses made Manasi a determined player as she knew she had not lost them by a huge margin.

Manasi fought her way back confidently in the third game, hardly compromising on her attacking shots, forcing Devika to scurry for some vital points. The evenly-poised game kept both spectators and players at tenterhooks till the last minute. Manasi, in a phoenix-like performance, prevailed over Devika by winning 14-12.

Making full use of the virtual come back, Manasi scripted next two wins, playing with gusto.

In other matches, Shubhankar Renavikar, Nitish Sapre, Shubhankar Ranade and Aniket Gulwani thrashed Neeraj Sane, Nitish Purandare, Swanand Limaye and Rushikesh Kukarni respectively, and raced into semi-finals.

RESULTS: Cadet girls’ final: Manasi Munj bt Devika Bhide 9-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9; Cadet boys’ quarter-final: Shubhankar Renavikar bt Neeraj Sane 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3; Nitish Sapre bt Nitish Purandare 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10; Shubhankar Ranade bt Swanand Limaye 11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 13-11; Aniket Gulwani bt Rushikesh Kukarni 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6

Amol sends Anish to the cleaners

B D Narayankar

bapu_narayankar@rediffmail.com

PUNE: Fourth seed Amol Soman had it easy pipping Anish Pathak in the junior boy singles second round of the district-ranking table tennis tournament at Sharada Centre here on Wednesday.

Disappointed at having conceded the opening game to Anish, Amol rallied brilliantly from a game down to outlast his opponent 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 with an array of delectable strokes.

If Anish smashed out Amol in the first game, the latter wormed his way up to exert pressure, earning vital points at crucial junctures. Amol broke away to pocket the second game at 11-6 and then rubbed it in, winning the third at 11-5. Retaining his poise, Amol made a fantastic effort to win the fourth game at 11-9. It was a shattering blow to Anish, who could only present a picture of sombre disappointment.

RESULTS: Second round: Junior boy’s singles: Amol Soman bt Anish Pathak 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9; Neeraj Sane bt Saurabh Kesari 11-7, 11-9, 11-5; Pranav Renavikar bt Neel Joshi 11-5, 11-5, 11-7; Umesh Khopade bt Shaunakh Juvekar 11-9, 11-8, 11-3; Shubhankar Ranade bt Shardul Rautmore 11-4, 11-7, 11-4; Amol Kolhatkar bt Sameer Kulkarni 11-5, 11-2, 11-3; Richard Serrao bt Yash Gowankar 11-8, 11-4, 11-3; Nitish Sapre bt Siddhant Bhide 6-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-9; Tejas Mirajkar bt Vinay Modak 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; Adwait Brahme bt Swapnil Joshi 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11; Archit Chepe bt Dheeraj Kumavat 11-2, 11-7, 11-4; Arnav Phadnis bt Rohit Mhaskar 11-5, 11-7, 14-12; Anish Pathak bt Sujit Pingale 11-5, 11-9, 12-10.