India start-off with winning note , beat Ireland by nine wickets
India beat Ireland by nine wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-affected one-day international at Stormont here yesterday.
Chasing a target of 171 in 39 over set by the Irish team, Gambhir made an unbeaten 80 while Ganguly scored 75 not out as India reached 172 runs for one wicket in 35 overs after more that two and half hours of the play were lost due to rain. Put into bat first Ireland made 193 but the target for India was revised to 171, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Though Ireland kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but a determined 52 by wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O'Brien helped the team to manage a respectable score after half the side fell with just 83 on the board at one point.
India's decision to field first wasn't the least bit surprising, considering the leaden skies that greeted Rahul Dravid when he walked out to toss. India were to soon go into the game without their most experienced bowler, Zaheer Khan, as well as their newly-appointed vice-captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but Dravid didn't hesitate at the toss, neither did the new-ball bowlers hesitate to pitch it up soon after.
Once Sreesanth had removed both Kenneth Carroll and Dominick Joyce and Agarkar slipped a yorker through William Porterfield's defences, Ireland found their backs pressed firmly against the wall. Piyush Chawla, the rookie legspinner who was so impressive in Bangladesh, then exposed Ireland's lack of exposure to genuine wrist-spin bowling. Unveiling the full extent of his armoury, Chawla's topspinner bowled Gary Wilson, while a top-edged googly was to be the end for Kevin O?Brien; the 18-year-old ended with figures of 10-2-29-3.
The only real resistance for Ireland came through Niall O'Brien, one of the few World Cup heroes on show. Just as he had done against Pakistan in the memorable Sabina Park giant killing, O'Brien dropped anchor and showed the application which brought him so many plaudits in the World Cup, yet he could only watch as the wickets tumbled around him. From 83-5, Ireland's total of 193 was something of a recovery, made possible largely thanks to O'Brien, who eventually gave Rohit Sharma his first ODI catch after a 79-ball 52. Captain Trent Johnson's 34, full of lusty blows, was the only other significant contribution as Sachin Tendulkar finished off the innings with his 150th wicket in ODI cricket.
India will now take on South Africa in a three-match one-day series here starting Tuesday and then will play a one-off one-day match against Pakistan July 3. Hopefully, they keep up this momentum for the rest of series to come..."All the Best"
posted by Rishil Babu @ 11:51 PM,
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Sunita Williams's return may delayed due to computer failure.
The return of shuttle
Atlantis, which will bring back Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams home after her six month space sojourn has been delayed by two days to help astronauts fix a problem on the body of the spacecraft.A crippling flaw in the crucial Russian computers on board the International Space Station has added to the problems of Atlantis space shuttle whose return to earth with Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and six others is likely to be delayed further. The failure of the computers, which control the International Space Station's positioning have NASA managers considering another extension of space shuttle Atlantis' voyage to the orbiting outpost, officials said.
Since the failure of the computers, thrusters on the docked space shuttle have been fired periodically to help maintain the space station's positioning. NASA managers hoped to have the computers back up before Atlantis and its seven crew members undock from the 16-nation space station.
But if the computers are not functioning, NASA may look into extending the space shuttle's stay a day or two. The extension is being considered since the shuttle's altitude-control jets and life support could be used to supplement the station while engineers work on the problem.
Space station programme manager Mike Suffredini said on Wednesday he expected the problem to be fixed in the next couple of days.
In a worst-case scenario, if at least one of the computers was not operating after the shuttle left, the space station's three crew members could return to Earth, he said.
"We always have an option to depart," Suffredini said. On Wednesday, two astronauts went on a spacewalk to complete two tasks.
They helped fold up a solar wing and tried to bring to life a rotating joint that will allow a new pair of solar arrays to track the sun.
The spacewalk began at 2358 IST as the astronauts were 332 kilometres above eastern Europe and ended more than seven hours later.
Space shuttle Atlantis astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steve Swanson spent the first two hours helping to put the 35-metre solar wing away in its storage box
posted by Rishil Babu @ 9:52 AM,
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India may get the right coach soon: Ford is prime contender
Former South Africa coach Graham Ford remains the front-runner for Indian team coach's role but ex-England off-spinner John Emburey isn't looking that bad either.
Sunil Gavaskar has thrown his weight behind Emburey while among Ford's backers, Ravi Shastri is the most prominent name.A few Indian players are bewildered at Emburey's
choice as he didn't make mark as coach in the county circuit. He was removed by Northamptonshire and then Middlesex. The general feeling initially was that Emburey got the call simply to project a semblance of competition for the slot.The BCCI has invited Graham Ford and John Emburey to come to Chennai and make a presentation to the Special Committee on 9th June, after which a final decision on the next coach of Indian team will be made," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.
Emburey was quoted by AFP as saying that he felt honoured to be considered for "one of the biggest jobs of the world game and one of the most difficult" and he would attend the June 9 meeting in Chennai.
He termed Indian cricket team as a "sleeping giant" and said "with the quality of players they've got and young players coming through, I'd really like to be a part of their development"."At this stage of my career, it is a way of moving forward onto the international stage", he said.
Emburey said Middlesex has received the news of his being considered for the Indian coach's post "very well"."They (Middlesex) see it as a move forward in my career. But it's not a foregone conclusion. There is another candidate and they have said the Middlesex job remains open for me", Embury said.
Emburey played in 64 Tests and took 147 wickets. He was also a capable batsman for an off-spinner, scoring 1713 runs at an average of 22.53 between 1978 and 1995. He took 76 wickets from 61 ODIs. Besides he also captained England in two Tests in 1988.After his playing career, Emburey coached Northamptonshire and Middlesex, two other teams he played for in first-class cricket.
Ford, who coached South Africa between 1999 and 2001 and currently Director of Coaching with Kent County Club, emerged as the front runner after the BCCI Search Committee meeting in Bangalore last evening, displacing Australian Dav Whatmore to succeed fellow Aussie Greg Chappell as India's coach.
Ford said he felt "very honoured" and "excited" to be considered for the job. "Anybody involved with cricket would like to be associated with Indian cricket", he told Times Now TV news channel.
"I am considering the position but I have a contract with Kent. I need to sort that out", Ford said. Asked if his removal as South African coach in 2001 in the wake of the match-fixing scam would go against him in the race for the Indian coach's post, he said "I don't think that should be held against in anyway.
Ford claimed his coaching will be successful with the team for its work ethics and long hours he spends with each individual."I will do a supporting act to get the players out there to give their best, empowering them and giving them the confidence to perform at the big stage", said Ford who had worked as assistant to late Bob Woolmer with the South African team before taking over from him after the 1999 World Cup. (Agencies)
Sidhu said that Ravi Shastri, who was the manager of the team during the Bangladesh tour, was the right candidate to fill the post of a 'professional man manager'.
"In the light of present circumstances, there was no dire need to appoint coach for the Indian team but BCCI must put emphasis on role of captain of team as captain always play an important role to get better performance," Sidhu told reporters.
Sidhu said that presently the presence of coach in the team is not keeping much importance as there are experienced and matured players in the side."Moreover well-matured and well-experienced players did not need coaching. Teams always need good and proper direction during the match and that could only be given by the captain and a proper management and not by the coach," he said.
Labels: Cricket
posted by Rishil Babu @ 9:56 PM,
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Indian Economy at its best growth in last 18 years.
The government of India says the 9.4 percent growth in the fiscal year that ended in March is higher than earlier expectations. It is also the fastest growth since 1989, and was fueled by robust growth
in manufacturing, exports, and the services sector.Finance Minister P. Chidambaram says growth rates of over eight percent for a fifth straight year show that the time has come to "shed skepticism about the sustainability of high growth" in India.
Indian economy grew 9.4 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in March, its fastest rate in 18 years and second only to China among major global economies, data showed yesterday.
It was the economy's strongest performance since 1988-89, when it grew 10.5 per cent, and beat a government estimate of 9.2.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram says growth rates of over eight percent for a fifth straight year show that the time has come to "shed skepticism about the sustainability of high growth" in India."With the demand being so high, the existing capacity was not able to service the demand, so a lot of investments were taking plac," said DK Joshi. "So now investment has become the driver of growth."
High growth helped lower the federal fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2006-07, from 4.1 per cent a year earlier.
They also point out that India is unlikely to be able to match the more than ten percent growth that has been taking place in the world's other big economy - China.
Agriculture, which generates almost a quarter of economic activity, grew 3.8 per cent in January-March from a year earlier, compared with 1.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
In contrast, manufacturing grew 12.4 per cent from a year earlier, its strongest annual pace since quarterly data was first published in 1997.
Services grew 9.9 per cent from a year earlier, matching similar growth in the previous period.
posted by Rishil Babu @ 6:59 AM,
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