Spirited Mumbai face off against disciplined Somerset

Chennai: Decimated by injuries but spirited nonetheless, Mumbai Indians will bank on their familiarity with the conditions to fight through another tough challenge when they take on England`s Somerset in the semifinal of the Champions League Twenty20 at the M A Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.

Despite being an injury-ravaged side, the chances of Mumbai Indians -- without eight key players such as skipper Sachin Tendulkar, pacers Zaheer Khan Munaf Patel and batsman Rohit Sharma -- are brighter than Somerset who reached the Champions League group stage through Qualification.

Mumbai faced some anxious moments when Kieron Pollard hurt himself during the nets but the team management indicated that the West Indian all-rounder will take part in the semi-final.

Both these teams were written off before the tournament, but both have defied skeptics to gatecrash their way into the semi-finals.

However, the Harbhajan Singh-led Mumbai have a slight edge since they are better equipped to handle the conditions having played two of their matches on the slow pitch here.

On the other hand, Somerset, having played their qualifying rounds in Hyderabad and then their Group-B league ties in Bangalore and Hyderabad, will find it difficult to adapt.

Mumbai have ridden on a dash of audacity and chance, be it overhauling imposing totals they looked certain to fall short of or winning narrow encounters they should have closed out comfortably.

A late blitz by Lasith Malinga took Mumbai past a tottering Chennai Super Kings who until then had the game under control and the Harbhajan-led side barely survived to beat Trinidad and Tobago chasing a target of 99 for their two victories in Group A.

Somerset, led by veteran South African Alfonso Thomas, kept one IPL side out of the last four stage (Kolkata Knight Riders) and qualified on top of the other (Royal Challengers Bangalore) for the semifinals.

Mumbai`s chief concern at the moment is the total lack of form of two of their key foreign players, Andrew Symonds, who is woefully short of match fitness, and Pollard who, barring a top score of 58 in the washed out game against Nashua Cape Cobras, seems to have left his heavy bat back home.

It has obviously put a lot of pressure on the team that, in the process, has not consistently excelled with the bat or the ball in the manner of a champion side, but profited on some timely breaks to progress thus far.

Considering that Somerset had to get through the qualifying competition, reaching the semifinals of the main draw is certainly a fine achievement and a tribute to their all-round strength besides the smart, if not spectacular, cricket they have played so far.

In fact, though short on collective international experience, Thomas, apart from his restrictive but effective seam-up bowling, has marshaled his resources quite well, to somewhat compensate for the lack of aura around the team.

MI coach Shaun Pollock has already claimed that the advantage of having played on the new wicket will aid his side in tomorrow`s tie.

"We`ve played two games and managed to experience what the conditions are all about. We know what to expect," he had said yesterday.

Though Somerset don`t have a varied spin attack like Trinidad and Tobago to excel on the Chennai pitch, Rafael van der Merwe`s left arm orthodox and Thomas` fast medium has done the job for them this year.

They also have an in-house expert on Indian conditions in Murali Karthik, the India international who turns out for Somerset these days. Karthik, a Chennai native will certainly help the team with his knowhow of local conditions.

For Somerset, the batting threat will chiefly come from van der Merwe, Peter Trego and Craig Kieswetter. Van der Merwe, in particular, has excelled with both bat and ball, taking 169 runs and five wickets.

Trego has slammed two half centuries, while Kieswetter has played knocks belying his years, including an unbeaten 56 against Warriors in their crucial final group match.

Mumbai coach Pollock has said his side has a separate plan for each of the Somerset batsmen, including the in-form Craig Kieswetter and van der Merwe.

But he will also be concerned about the failure of his team`s top order. Except the rain-marred match in Bangalore against Cape Cobras, where they made 176/5, the team has struggled to put runs on the board.

PTI

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Azhar to campaign against superbikes?

Zeenews Sports Bureau

New Delhi: Former Indian captain Mohammad Azahruddin is reportedly considering joining an NGO for a campaign targeted at discouraging the youngsters from riding superbikes.

It was a superbike gifted by him on the occasion of Eid that claimed the life of his younger son Ayazuddin and nephew on September 11 in Hyderabad.

Azhar’s nephew, Ajmal died few hours after the accident while Ayazuddin succumbed to the injuries five days later.

According to the sources close to Azhar’s family, his relatives have been constantly insisting him to be the face of a campaign that would discourage the use of superbikes by youngsters. He may join hands with a group of social activists or an NGO for the cause. Azhar’s headache may start at home when he might face resistance to convince his elder son Asaduddin to give up his own superbike.

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Shoe problem for India ahead of the final against Pakistan

Ordos (China): The India hockey team is facing an acute shortage of shoes ahead of the summit clash against Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy on Sunday as most of the players have only one pair of shoes for warm-up sessions as well as for matches.

Manjit Kullu, the left half back in the Indian team, has been playing with warm-up shoes in the tournament after his only pair of hockey turf shoes had split into two.

Playing with warm-up shoes is akin to running on ice wearing normal shoes and Manjit is lucky that he has not injured himself till now.

The other Indian player who is without turf shoes is Harpreet Singh. The turf is slippery here at Ordos and both the players are at constant risk of slipping, which can cause serious injury to them.

Both Manjit and Harpreet have just made it to the senior national team and it is difficult for them to afford shoes as a good pair costs around Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000.

Sources in the team say that the pair provided by the Sports Authority of India are not of good quality and so they don`t last long. On an average, a player uses 3-4 pairs every year.

PTI

First Published: Saturday, September 10, 2011, 14:52

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‘Pakistan should play aggressively against India in Asian Champions Trophy final’

Lahore: Former Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Secretary and Olympian Khalid Mahmood, and ex-captain Zeeshan Ashraf have urged the national team to play an attacking game against India in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy.

“My prayers are with the Pakistan team to win the final to maintain its supremacy in Asia, and the best technique to beat India is to play aggressive hockey with a solid defence, too,” Zeeshan said.

Pakistan had drawn with archrivals India in their final group stage match in Ordos, China, and now both will clash against each other on Sunday for the trophy.

“It is a good news that Pakistan is in the final, and though the coach is in a better position to adopt a strategy for the final, the previous record shows an attacking game against India could lead Pakistan to win the final,” ex-Olympian Khalid Mahmood said.

Khalid said that the national team should avoid inconsistency, and must take each match seriously since every team is a threat at the international level.

“The defeat at hands of low-ranked Japan (in the ongoing event) and earlier losing to France (during the last tour of Europe) showed the team is having the problem of inconsistency, and with that kind of shortcoming, they can not be a real threat for the European teams,” he remarked.

Zeeshan urged the Asian Hockey Federation to introduce more tournaments in the region if it wants the Asian players to give tough time to European teams.

“The Europeans are having a good number of competitions, but in Asia, only the Azlan Shah Cup and now the newly-introduced Champions Trophy are the two major competitions, which are not enough to make the Asian teams stronger,” he argued.

Bureau Report

First Published: Saturday, September 10, 2011, 11:00

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