London: England captain Alastair Cook today said it will be “incredibly tough” to beat India in their own backyard but feels his players have the ability to do the job.

An injury-ravaged India were hammered by England in both the Test and the One-day series but Cook says it is different ball game when India play on home soil.

“I certainly think we can beat India. It will be incredibly tough. We need everyone to be playing very well,” Cook told reporters at the Heathrow Airport, ahead of his side’s departure for India.

The five-match series will begin in Hyderabad on October 14. England will also play a one-off Twenty20 against India on October 29.

Cook said India would enjoy the crowd support but his players have it in them to down India.

“We all know what the one-day crowds are like over there. They love their cricket. Delivering our skills when 50,000 or 60,000 people are screaming and when balls are flying all over the place will also be a key factor, but certainly with this squad I think we can do something really special,” he said.

England will be without pace duo of James Anderson, who has been rested, and Stuart Broad, who is injured.

Cook rubbishes Gul’s claims

England’s ODI captain Alastair Cook today rubbished Pakistan pacer Umar Gul’s claim that English pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were involved in ball tampering.

Gul had claimed yesterday that he saw Anderson tampering with the ball during Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England and that Broad did the same in the last Ashes series in Australia.

Cook put up a stout defence of his bowlers and said Gul should have approached the authorities, if he had seen such a thing.

“We certainly haven’t tampered with the ball and if he did have any complaints he should have gone to the ICC over that,” Cook told reporters at Heathrow Airport before his team’s departure for India where they are scheduled to play five one-dayers and a T20 game.

“I saw Anderson do it last year when we went to England. Then in the Ashes series Stuart Broad was seen roughing up the ball with his boots. All these methods are part and parcel of the game to obtain reverse swing with the old ball,” Gul had said.

Gul, reportedly, later tried to play down his remarks.

“I was explaining that the ball gets scratched when it is thrown against the rough surface or hits the advertisement boards along the boundary rope. In this manner, I said, every bowler can be accused of doing it,” he told the media in Pakistan.

Cook felt that matter should end now.

“I think he has almost said himself that it has been a bit of a mountain out of a molehill,” the England captain said.

Gul’s comments came barely a few days after Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar wrote in his autobiography that he had regularly tampered with the ball during his career. (PTI)

London: Three Pakistan Test players go on trial in London tomorrow charged with spot-fixing during a match against England last year, allegations which rocked the world of cricket.

Former captain Salman Butt, prodigal talent Mohammad Aamer and star bowler Mohammad Asif are due to appear at Southwark Crown Court charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat.

The players’ agent Mazhar Majeed will go on trial alongside them charged with the same offences, which carry maximum sentences of seven years and two years in prison respectively.

The charges relate to allegations of deliberately bowling no-balls during England’s fourth Test against Pakistan at Lord’s in London in August 2010.

The allegations were made by the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid, which was closed down in July this year when it became engulfed in the phone hacking scandal.

At the time of the alleged offences, Butt, 26, was captain of Pakistan’s Test side and had won plaudits for his leadership.

Asif, 28, was the team’s senior pace bowler, while teenage left-arm swing bowler Aamer, 19, was regarded as one of the hottest properties in world cricket. Majeed, from south London, is a sports agent with a history of working with Pakistan players.

Detectives raided the Pakistan team hotel in London as part of their investigations following the News of the World story.

The cricketers were outside Britain when summons were issued and they returned voluntarily.

A separate and independent International Cricket Council anti-corruption tribunal, sitting in Doha in February, banned the three players for a minimum of five years each.

Butt was banned for 10 years, with five suspended. Asif was banned for seven years, two of which were suspended, with Aamer handed a five-year penalty.

All three have filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Prior knowledge of when no-balls will occur could be exploited in what is known as ‘spot-betting’, hugely popular in South Asia, whereby gamblers bet on various possible incidents in a match rather than the final outcome.

Cricket is potentially extremely vulnerable to ‘spot-fixing’. Betting can be planned around specific incidents without the need to manipulate the final result of the match. The most infamous recent case of proven fixing in cricket came a decade ago when former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was revealed to have accepted money from bookmakers in a bid to influence the course of games. (AFP)

NEW DELHI: India’s pace spearhead Zaheer Khan on Monday said that his recovery post-ankle surgery has been “slow but positive” and he has not set any timeframe for making his international comeback.

“The first phase of my rehab programme went off pretty well. I have started with the second phase of my rehab. I will be soon going to the National Cricket Academy. My progress has been slow but a positive one,” Zaheer told media persons after receiving the Arjuna Award from sports minister Ajay Maken at latter’s residence.

The Indian speedster could not attend the awards function at the Rashtrapathi Bhawan on August 29 as he was recuperating from his ankle surgery.

Zaheer, who will turn 33 this Saturday, said that he is taking one day at a time and not trying to rush his comeback.

“To start bowling, I have to get back the full strength in my ankle. Then I might play a few club matches or first-class matches. I am taking one day at a time and not setting any targets.”

Zaheer did not want to commit on any specified date when asked whether he was eyeing India’s cricket tour of Australia for making a comeback.

“I have not decided on any date but I will be back very soon. It’s frustrating not to play at the highest level. But you can only control the controllables and be patient.”

He is not getting any younger but the over dependance on him by the team management atleast in the longer versions has always spurred him to do well.

“It always acts as a motivation that your team needs you. I don’t think the over-dependance on me adds to any pressure rather it feels good to go to sleep with this kind of expectation. Hopefully, I will be back soon to play that role again.”

Having played alongside Harbhajan Singh for the past decade, Zaheer reckoned that the out-of-form off-spinner will come back with a bang.

“Harbhajan has had great performances for the country. I am sure that he will be back soon as he is too good a player to be left out. He has a lot of fire in him and he is a strong character,” he said.

He was all praise for India’s new crop of bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Sreenath Aravind who have been selected in the team for the first two one-dayers against England.

“I haven’t seen a lot of them but I have worked with Umesh when he was with the Indian team in South Africa. He is talented. Sreenath Aravind has had a great IPL and will only improve.” (PTI)

JOHANNESBURG: Hashim Amla will captain South Africa in this month’s limited-overs series against Australia, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Monday.

Opening batsman Amla, who will lead South Africa in two Twenty20 internationals and three one-dayers against the touring Australians, will deputise for AB de Villiers who misses the series due to a fractured finger.

Veteran wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, left out of the Proteas cricket World Cup squad this year, returns to the one-day squad and 23-year-old batsman Richard Levi was the only uncapped player included.

“With the ICC’s World Twenty20 less than a year away we need to keep a solid core of experience around the side,” CSA selection convener Andrew Hudson said in a statement. Amla, 28, has only played three T20 internationals and he will have to make do without experienced all-rounder Jacques Kallis and fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Boucher’s one-day career looked to be over when he was omitted from the World Cup squad but the injury to De Villiers, who was set to keep wicket, has given the 34-year-old another opportunity.

The selectors have kept faith with opening batsman Graeme Smith who stepped down as limited-overs captain after the World Cup.

The series against Australia will be the first under new coach Gary Kirsten. The limited-overs portion of Australia’s tour starts with a T20 international in Cape Town on Oct. 13 and ends with an ODI in Durban on Oct. 28.

Squads ODI : Hashim Amla (capt), Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, JP Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

T20 squad: Hashim Amla (capt), Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Heino Kuhn, Richard Levi, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Juan Theron, L Tsotsobe. (Agencies)

Madrid: Defending champions Barcelona went top of La Liga with a laboured 1-0 win at rock-bottom Sporting Gijon while Gonzalo Higuain blasted a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 4-0 cruise at Espanyol.

An injury-plagued Barcelona moved into first place with 14 points as Adriano gave them their first away win of the season yesterday.

Unfashionable Levante are tucked just behind on goal difference after a 1-0 win against Real Betis, while Real are a point further back in third spot ahead of Malaga and Valencia who also have 13 points.

After draws against Real Sociedad and Valencia, Barcelona went into their game at Sporting with a lengthy injury list.

Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta were among the midfielders in the treatment room while neither Carlos Puyol nor Gerard Pique started in defence.

Adriano grabbed the only goal after 11 minutes, knocking in a rebound after a Xavi Hernandez shot came back off a post.

Eric Abidal went off injured after the break to add to Barca’s defensive worries but they never looked likely to concede.

“We played a strong Sporting who were very deep and worked together well. There was no space because they closed it down,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

“Always when we play after a Champions League game it is difficult but I think we did well in the first half and then faded after that.”

Real Madrid have had a stuttering start to the season but have now bounced back from one point in two games with back-to-back wins.

Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post after just three minutes at Espanyol but Real went ahead after 17 minutes with Ronaldo setting up Higuain.

Kaka should have added to their lead before keeper Iker Casillas also blocked shots from Thievy Bifouma and Sergio Garcia for Espanyol.

Midway through the second half Higuain hit a powerful drive into the top corner while Vladimir Weiss missed a good opportunity to reduce the deficit.

Substitute Jose Callejon slotted in a third against his former club and Higuain completed his hat-trick a minute from time as Real condemned Espanyol to their first defeat at home.

“I was happy with the way all of my players performed and also that of the opposition,” said Real coach Jose Mourinho, who has complained in recent weeks that rivals have sought simply to defend against his team.

“The 4-0 scoreline was a result of our first two goals as they then had to attack and this extra space allowed us to score more. We are now only a point off the lead which is not a big problem.”

Levante had Juanlu Gomez to thank for their 1-0 win over former leaders Real Betis, their fourth successive victory.

Promoted Betis won their first four games on the trot, but yesterday succumbed to their second straight defeat. Arouna Kone had a couple of excellent chances to score either side of Juanlu’s volley from a Valdo Lopes cross which broke the deadlock after 33 minutes.

Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 with Sevilla in a match between two sides who are expected to be fighting for a Champions League place by the end of the season. (AFP)

NewDelhI: Common-wealth Games bronze medal winner Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and rookie teen L Devendro Singh (49kg) inched closer to Olympic qualification by advancing to the pre-quarterfinals with thumping wins in their respective second-round bouts of the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan today.

The 19-year-old Devendro pummelled Joselito Velazquez of Mexico 40-19 in what was biggest points win of the ongoing event till now. Jai, on the other hand, got the better of Miroslav Serban of the Czech Republic 14-6 in his bout.

The duo joined Manoj Kumar (64kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Vikas Krishan in the pre-quarters as the Indian boxers continued to pack a powerful punch at the mega-event from where quarter-finalists (from 49kg to 81kg division) will qualify for the London Olympics.

While Devendro will take on Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo, who defeated Turkey’s Ferhat Pehlivan 17-10, Jai would be up against seventh seeded Irishman David Joyce, who thrashed Afghanistan’s Mohammad Khaiber 26-13.

Devendro opened the proceedings for India and the diminutive Manipuri, playing his maiden senior international event, was off to a flier of a start.

Opening up a massive 19-7 lead in the opening round itself, Devendro was up 31-14 by the end of the second round.

The Indian slowed down a bit in the final three minutes, notching up nine points to total 40 against opponent’s 19 in final analysis.

“It was a sensational performance. He used a combination of right straights and left hooks besides the occasional uppercuts. His punches were landing so perfectly that it was just amazing to watch,” national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said

Jai was the next man in for India and he was also in the lead from the very start against Serban.

Leading 3-1 in the opening three minutes, he went on offensive in the next round to make it 9-3.

The Commonwealth Championships gold-medallist continued his domination in the final three minutes to clinch the issue with ease.

But there was disappointment for India in the heavyweight 91kg category as Asian Games silver-medallist Manpreet Singh crashed out of the event.

Manpreet lost 17-9 to Dzhakon Qurbanov in his second round bout. (PTI)