e_Paper 1-12-2016

DT
28
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016
Cook and Co to unwind
before fourth Test
• AFP, Mohali
England captain Alastair Cook is
looking forward to a rare week-long
break in a hectic playing schedule
after the heavy third Test defeat
against India in Mohali Tuesday.
Virat Kohli’s side won by eight
wickets to take an unassailable 2-0
lead in the five-Test series.
But England’s players are looking
to unwind with some welcome
down time in Dubai before making
the short trip from the Gulf resort
city to Mumbai for the fourth Test,
which begins on December 8.
England add
Jennings, Dawson
Uncapped opener Keaton Jennings
and all-rounder Liam Dawson
will join the England squad as
replacements for the remaining
two Test matches against India, the
team management said yesterday.
Jennings, 24, will replace
Haseeb Hameed, who has been
ruled out of the remainder of the
series after fracturing a finger
during the third Mohali Test which
England lost by eight wickets to trail
the five-match rubber 2-0.•
Pakistan to host
first Davis Cup
match in 12 years
• AFP, Karachi
Pakistan said yesterday it has received
the green light to host its
first Davis Cup tennis tie at home
for 12 years, after being forced to
play at neutral venues due to security
fears.
International sporting events
have been rarely held in the country
which has fought a homegrown
Islamist insurgency for years, with
foreign teams citing security fears
ever since the 9/11 attacks on the
United States.
A 2009 militant attack on the
Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore
effectively sealed Pakistan’s
fate, with no international cricket
fixtures played in the country for
a further six years until Zimbabwe
visited in 2015 for a low-profile tour
that failed to create a breakthrough.
Instead, Pakistan has been playing
all major sports at neutral venues,
with cricket in United Arab
Emirates and tennis in their opponent’s
countries.
“We welcome the decision
which will help tennis in the country,”
said PTF secretary Khalid Rehmani.•
“The break comes at a very good
time, obviously, after three backto-back
Test matches,” Cook told
reporters after the defeat.
Some of the England squad have
been on duty since landing in Bangladesh
on September 30 for three
one-day internationals followed by
the 1-1 draw in the Test series there.
Cook himself has spent just 18
hours with his new-born daughter
after dashing home from the Bangladesh
tour for her birth.
“We have this week off and I
think, most people going to Dubai,”
said Cook. “Mentally it will be
break from cricket. We will come
back little bit more refreshed.”
Cook’s team has endured tough
couple of months after losing a Test
to Bangladesh for the first time and
are now staring at a series defeat
against top-ranked India.
But Cook remembered that four
years ago in India England came
back from 1-0 down to win the
four-Test series 2-1 and said that if
they show greater consistency they
can still save the series.
“The challenge is try and put in
that performance in which consistently,
over five days, we play well.
“We have done it in one game (the
first Test in Rajkot), we haven’t done
it in the other two,” said Cook. •
Sport
Liverpool’s Ben Woodburn celebrates scoring their second goal against Leeds
United during their EFL Cup quarter-final at Anfield on Tuesday
REUTERS
Klopp to keep
record-breaker
Woodburn
under wraps
• AFP, London
Jurgen Klopp says he will do his
best to protect starlet Ben Woodburn
from the media spotlight after
he became the youngest scorer in
Liverpool’s history in their League
Cup victory over Leeds.
Woodburn, aged 17 years and 45
days, edged out Liverpool legend
Michael Owen by 98 days when he
struck in the 81st minute of Tuesday’s
quarter-final with the previous
record holder sitting in the
stands.
He shared the backpage headlines
with the air crash tragedy in
Colombia that all but wiped out the
Brazilian team Chapecoense.
Klopp also praised other youngsters
who played in the 2-0 win and
said he thought the club would be
able to control the situation.
“The only problem is I’m afraid
about all you in the media. That’s
why I’m so quiet,” said Klopp after
the victory. “We know how to handle
the situation.”
Klopp, who has engineered a revival
in Liverpool’s fortunes since
he took over late last year and guided
them to second in the Premier
League table, said Woodburn was
not the finished article.•
Pakistan’s Hafeez clears bowling action test
• AFP, Karachi
Pakistani allrounder Mohammad
Hafeez was cleared to bowl at the
international level yesterday, more
than a year after his ban, cricket’s
world governing body said as tests
found his action was within allowed
limits.
The 36-year-old was banned
from bowling for one year in July
2015 after his action was deemed illegal
in a Test in Sri Lanka a month
earlier.
But yesterday the International
Cricket Council said Hafeez is now
eligible to bowl in international
matches.
“Following remedial work and
reassessment (in Brisbane in November),
the bowling action of Hafeez
has been found to be legal, and
the player can now resume bowling
in international cricket,” the body
Argentina’s players pose with the trophy after winning the Davis Cup final in
Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday. Argentina defeated Croatia 3-2 in the Davis
AP
said in a statement.
Hafeez told AFP he was “very
happy” with the decision.
“I was missing my bowling in international
matches and this clearance
was very important for me as I
can now contribute as an allrounder,”
he said.
ICC regulations allow bowlers to
bend their bowling arm by 15 degrees,
but anything beyond that is
deemed illegal.
Argentina’s Davis Cup
winners return
• Reuters, Buenos Aires
Argentina’s Davis Cup champions
returned to a heroes’ welcome
in Buenos Aires on Tuesday after
clinching their maiden title with a
stunning 3-2 win over Croatia at the
weekend.
Injury-prone 2009 U.S. Open
champion Juan Martin Del Potro
led a spectacular final day comeback
against the hosts that delighted
the massed ranks of Argentine
fans, including soccer legend Diego
Hafeez was first reported for illegal
action in November 2014 and
was suspended after a bowling test.
He was cleared in April last year,
but despite remedial measures his
action was reported for a second
time in June 2015. Under ICC rules if
a bowler is reported twice within two
years he is banned for 12 months. Pakistan’s
one-day performance slid after
Hafeez and fellow spinner Saeed
Ajmal were reported in 2014. •
Maradona, who witnessed the final
at Arena Zagreb.
“I have achieved things throughout
my career that have filled me
with pride and my dreams came true
but with this beautiful cup, I will
sleep well,” Del Potro told a news
conference in the Argentine capital.
Del Potro won a silver medal at
the Rio Olympics in August and
played through the pain barrier as
he rallied from two sets down with
a broken finger to level the tie in
Zagreb on Sunday.•