Woolmer warns, Balaji fined and Kaneria 'spurred' to take wickets by AFP

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Ground:	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
Scorecard:	India v Pakistan
Player:	L Balaji, Danish Kaneria
Event:	Pakistan in India 2004/05

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DateLine: 13th March 2005

 

Woolmer warns about complacency
Bob Woolmer has warned his team of complacency after their unlikely fightback to earn a creditable draw in the first Test against India.
"I have told our players not to get complacent. After all it was a draw and we are here to win the series," Woolmer told AFP on Sunday.
"It's the first step in the right direction and to grow as a team we need to take such steps on a regular basis.
"When we reached the ground there was a mood of determination to save the Test and the way Akmal and Razzaq played was tremendous.
"I am on record saying that Akmal can bat and he got an opportunity and made the most of it. "The state of the pitch also helped them bat with ease but their efforts should not be undermined by that."
Woolmer said he hoped Pakistan's bowlers would work hard to find a way to deal with the SG (Sanpareil Greenland) balls used in India.
"I am not making any excuses but the ball used in India doesn't seem to swing and the advantage of a new ball was not there. "It neither swung for the Indian bowlers nor for us. But having said that we need to find a way to get it to swing."

 

Woolmer said dropping Virendar Sehwag four times was crucial rather than not getting Sachin Tendulkar out cheaply.
"We dropped Sehwag four or five times and it proved more costly than not getting Tendulkar out cheaply," he said.

 

Sehwag, who made a punishing 173 in the first innings, was floored on 15 and then on 83 while Tendulkar was adjudged not out early in his innings after he seemed to have edged the ball on to his pad for a catch at silly point.

 

Balaji fined for excessive appealing
Indian seamer Laxmipathy Balaji has been fined for excessive appealing in the first Test against Pakistan which ended in a draw at Mohali.
Match referee Chris Broad fined Balaji 30 percent of his match fee after umpires Darrell Hair and Rudi Koertzen reported him for the offence during the Test which ended on Saturday.
"There is no place for this sort of appealing in international cricket. The player has apologised for his actions and I hope that will be the end of the matter," Broad said in an International Cricket Council media release.

 

Danish Kaneria said he was spurred on after being deprived of Tendulkar wicket
Danish Kaneria said he was determined to raise his bowling performance after being denied the wicket of star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar in the first Test here.
Tendulkar got the benefit of the doubt from South African umpire Rudi Koertzen on Thursday when silly-point fielder Asim Kamal appealed for a bat-pad catch off Kaneria.
The Indian was then on eight and went on to make 94, narrowly missing a world record 35th Test century.
TV replays, however, showed the ball had hit the bat and pad on way to the fielder.
"It is part of the game that I did not get Tendulkar out cheaply and that spurred me on to take six wickets," said Kaneria who finished with 6-150, his ninth haul of five or more wickets in a Test innings.
"I became aggressive after that and it motivated me to work hard and get more wickets," said the 24-year-old.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)