Siddons back to business

Coach Jamie Siddons returned to business on Friday relishing a challenge in next year's tri-nation tourney at home involving two powerhouses India and Sri Lanka.

The Australian flew to his country from Harare after his charges historic triumph in West Indies followed by 4-1 series victory against Zimbabwe in July-August and during his stay the Bangladesh coach had a successful skin cancer operation.

"It has gone and I am now fine" said a smiling Siddons when asked about the condition of his skin cancer during the practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Siddons also returned with another good news as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to extend his job till the 2011 World Cup.

"Yes, I am happy as the board agreed in principle to extend my job. Now I will talk with the board about terms and conditions," he said.

A total of 12 cricketers resumed practice yesterday after Eid vacations to prepare for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe, who will arrive in Dhaka on October 21 to play a five-match one-day series against the Tigers.

Siddons however believes that the tri-nation one-day series in January next would be the big challenge for his side and they can take the opportunity to do the fine- tuning during the five-match series against Zimbabwe before the tough challenge ahead.

"The confidence level is pretty good after the last couple of good series but the hard challenge is coming in the tri-series," he said.

Bangladesh made history when they whitewashed West Indies both in the two-match Test and three-match one-day series in July.

The training has been concentrating on regaining the fitness level of the players in the hot and humid conditions after a month-long break from action.

Vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan, who is nursing his groin injury, joined the camp after returning from Adelaide but injured captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was absent.

Sonali Otit off to UK

A 25-member squad of Sonali Otit Club, an organisation of former footballers, is scheduled to leave here for London today to play four friendly matches to be organised by Sonali Otit Club of UK.

Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu has been appointed as team leader while Abu Noman Nannu will coach the side during their 14-day tour of England.

Sattayjit Das Rupu will captain the former footballers though the former national booter will leave the capital on September 29.

Squad: Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu (team leader), Mossaber Hossain (deputy leader), Nannu (coach), Rupu (captain), Khorshed Alam Babul, Nasiruddin Ahmed, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, Mostafizur Rahman, Sultan Ahmed, Azimul Islam Jibon, Bazlur Rahman Kislu, Sayeed Hasan Kanon, Kazi Fakhrul Islam, Mobinul Islam Khasru, Abdul Mannan, Iqbal Gaffar, Shamsuzzaman Yousuf, Billal Chowdhury, Shafiqul Kader Munna, Kamal Hossain, Mizanur Rahman, Akhtaruzzaman Khan Babu, Syed Golam Gilani, Zabid Hossain Apu, Mahidur Rahman Miraz and Nurul Huda Miru.

Another Indo-Pak clash

Fit-again skipper Younus Khan has returned to bolster Pakistan in a high-pressure match against India in the Champions Trophy on Saturday.

The reliable middle-order batsman missed his team's opening game against the West Indies in Johannesburg on Wednesday due to a finger injury, making way for all-rounder Shahid Afridi to lead the side.

Younus, who suffered a hairline fracture during a warm-up game, has regained fitness at the right time after Pakistan's batsmen struggled against an under-strength West Indies on a lively track.

Little-known paceman Gavin Tonge rattled Pakistan with a four-wicket burst before teenager Umar Akmal (41 not out) and Afridi (17 not out) helped their team win by five wickets.

Pakistan will be looking forward to a vastly-improved performance from their batsmen against India, who have excellent fast bowlers in Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh.

A victory will strengthen Pakistan's chances of making it to the semifinals from the four-team group, which also features defending champions Australia. The top two sides advance to the last-four.

Pakistan will also be keen to improve their record against India in International Cricket Council-conducted tournaments, having lost four matches in the World Cup and two in the Twenty20 World Championships.

Their lone win over India came in the 2004 Champions Trophy in England.

Pakistan had reasons to be pleased with their bowling, with teenage paceman Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul grabbing three wickets apiece against the West Indies. Spinner Saeed Ajaml also impressed, taking two wickets.

India's depth in batting will be tested, especially in the absence of Yuvraj Singh, a hard-hitting batsman who was ruled out of the tournament due to a finger injury suffered during a practice session on Wednesday.

He has been replaced with Virat Kohli.

The Indian batting still looks solid as Sachin Tendulkar, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir are all capable of playing match-winning roles.

The focus will be on middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid, who has just returned to the one-side after nearly two years. He is known for building an innings under pressure, having already scored more than 10,000 one-day runs.

India will be determined to maintain their consistency, having already clinched five successive bilateral one-day series and a recent tri-series in Sri Lanka.

India coach Gary Kirsten had said before the tournament that one of the goals was to become the best team in the world.

"We are headed that way and are very excited. We know we have to perform well as we continue the quest to be the best. We take pride in our consistency and we'd like to continue that," he had said.

Experienced Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik said it would be "the match" of the tournament.

"It is the most-eagerly awaited match, both for the crowd and for the players because if you perform well and help your team win you become an instant hero," said Shoaib.

India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Rudra Pratap Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar.

Pakistan (from): Younus Khan (captain), Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal.

Players gain holiday weight

After a week-long vacation of Eid-ul-Fitr, most of the clubs including giants Abahani and Mohammedan resumed their Federation Cup camp yesterday. But almost all the coaches were faced with a similar predicament almost everyone was united in their belief that the fitness of the players had suffered during the vacation.

The Bangladesh Football Federation was forced to stop the season's curtain- raising tournament three days before the scheduled Eid vacation due to the steady rain that made the ground of the Bangabandhu National Stadium unplayable and subsequently postponed the tournament till September 28.

Only the coaches of star-studded Mohammedan and popular Abahani professed to be satisfied, the latter albeit reluctantly.

But the other coaches, including title contenders Muktijoddha Sangsad and Sheikh Russel, minnows Farashganj SC and newcomers Beanibazar SC were more or less disappointed with the players' fitness.

The footballers were asked to follow the schedules, given by their respective coaches, during the vacation, but they hardly maintained those charts that virtually deteriorated the fitness they gained before the start of the Federation Cup.

Mohammedan coach Maruful Haq is a bit lucky compared to others as his charges followed his instruction during the vacation.

"I am happy to see the fitness level of the players on the first day of the training after the Eid vacation. It seemed to me that the players followed the charts I had given them before the break," said Maruf.

Maruf informed defender Wali Faisal and midfielder Enamul Haq Sharif have been suffering from fever and did not take part in the training.

However, Abahani manager Sattyajit Das Rupu was not as fortunate as Maruf though Abahani gave only five days break for the players.

"To be truthful, you can't expect hundred percent fitness from the players after a vacation like Eid or Puja and it must deteriorate. But I think it will take the players a few days to retain their fitness," said Rupu.

The Abahani manager also informed that Ghanaian duo Sherif Mohammed and Mohammed Awal will arrive in Dhaka on September 28 or 29 to strengthen their attack and midfield line-up. Defender Rajani Kanta Barman did not turn up yesterday, but he is expected to join the camp today.

"Now I have to give extra attention on the players to regain their fitness as the fitness level of the players seemed poor and I think I will be successful to bring them in a shape within five days," said Muktijoddha Sangsad coach Golam Sarwar Tipu.

Farashganj SC coach Abu Yousuf and Beanibazar SC coach Jasimuddin Ahmed Joshi were most frustrated with the players.

"It seems to me that the players always look for a escape from the training and have to be constantly pursued to keep up their regimen. It is really painful that the players have no interest in maintaining their fitness," said Yousuf adding that he yesterday briefed the players for half-an-hour on fitness.

Jasimuddin Ahmed Joshi, coach of Beanibazar, came hard on the club officials for their reluctance to see whether the players joined the camp on time.

Joshi said, " Ten out of the starting eleven have yet to join the camp till today (Friday) and fitness levels of those who joined the camp are zero and it is painful that I have to start from the beginning."

Ajmal factor worries India

He is just five feet four inches tall but with his ability to extract spin from any surface, Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has become a thorn in the flesh for Indian batsmen ahead of the crucial Group A tie in the ICC Champions Trophy today.

Team India's problems were further compounded after vice-captain Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the elite ICC event following a fracture in his right hand's little finger hat he sustained during practice, thereby leaving a vacuum in the middle-order.

Interestingly, it sounds blasphemy to hear about India's concern for Ajmal as they are famous for their mastery in handling the tweakers. Even the likes of Muttiah Muralidaran and Ajantha Mendis don't quite give them sleepless nights.

But experienced Yuvraj's absence in the middle overs of the innings, where Pakistan invariably employs the spin duo of Shahid Afridi and Ajmal, has raised a few concerns for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men. Ajmal made his debut at the age of 30 but has since then confounded his opponents.

He befuddled the Australians with his big-turning doosras at Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and was the joint second highest wicket-taker in this year's World Twenty20 in England which Pakistan won

Toni remains exiled

Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni faces a second weekend of exile with Bayern Munich's reserves instead of spearheading the German giants' Bundesliga clash against league leaders Hamburg.

The 32-year-old striker had been told by Bayern coach Louis van Gaal that he will play for the reserves against Aue in the German third division, despite having featured for the first team for 30 minutes in the 5-0 midweek German Cup win against Oberhausen.

"He needs to find the rhythm of competition", said Van Gaal.

Parnell repays skipper's faith

Wayne Parnell repaid the faith shown in him by captain Graeme Smith with a five-wicket haul as South Africa defeated New Zealand to get their ICC Champions Trophy challenge back on track.

The 20-year-old who made his one-day international debut last January took three wickets against Sri Lanka in the opening match three days before the second most important ODI tournament after the World Cup.

But they came at enormous expense with 79 runs conceded in eight overs as the co-title favourites with Australia slumped to a surprise 55-run loss in a rain-shortened Centurion Park encounter.

As South African critics sharpened their knives and sought scapegoats, Smith rushed to the defence of the left-arm fast medium bowler from the southern city of Port Elizabeth.

"Wayne is still young and it is inevitable that he is going to have ups and downs at international level," said Smith of the 'baby' of the Proteas team who was a teenager just months ago.

If Sri Lanka was a down, New Zealand was an up with Parnell and 70-run middle-order batsman AB de Villiers sharing the individual glory after South Africa triumphed by five wickets with nearly nine overs to spare.

"I wish to thank my teammates for taking the catches. I was nervous against Sri Lanka and felt a lot more comfortable in the second match," was the typical modest response of Parnell when quizzed about the five wickets.

Another wicket and the rising star they call 'Pigeon' would have equalled the Champions Trophy record of Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof against the West Indies in the last Champions Trophy hosted by India three years ago.

His eight wickets from two games makes him the leading bowler so far in the 2009 edition with three more than teammate Dale Steyn while West Indian Gavin Tonge captured four against Pakistan.

Speedster Steyn and spinner Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets each and Johan Botha one and Smith hailed his attack after South Africa avoided the humiliation of an early exit.

"The bowlers had first go at it again today and set things up beautifully. They bowled with the intensity we have been looking for, they hit the right areas and they created a lot of pressure.

"It was a good clinical performance and that is something we have got used to at this level. It was a credit to them the way they bounced back," said Smith, referring to the 319 runs conceded against Sri Lanka.

New Zealand failed to answer the plea of captain Daniel Vettori for run-rich partnerships and were always struggling after being bowled out for 214 in 47.5 overs with Ross Taylor (72) the sole batsman to shine.

Following the cheap departure of Smith (7), Hashim Amla (38) and Jacques Kallis (36) steadied the Proteas and De Villiers struck nine boundaries in an unbeaten 70 as South Africa reached 217-5 in 41.1 overs.

Sri Lanka rebuild

Sri Lankan middle-order did the repair work after English pacers James Anderson and Graham Onions had rattled the top-order within half an hour of play at the Wanderers in Johannesburg yesterday.

Having won the toss on a cloud-covered day in Johannesburg, England skipper Andrew Strauss didn't have to give a second thought as he put the Lankans in to bat. And it paid off immediately as Onions extracted the out-of-form Sanath Jayasuriya with his fifth delivery, caught behind nibbling outside off for a second-ball duck. Four balls later, Anderson extracted the prize scalp of Tillakaratne Dilshan. He fell to a scything slash to point off the fullest delivery of Anderson's spell after scoring just 2, whereupon Mahela Jayawardene was pinned lbw for 9 as he attempted an over-ambitious flick across the line.

From a precarious position at 4 for 20, Sri Lankan innings resurrected to 5 for 157, thanks to two well-made partnerships involving Samaraweera, Kandamby and Mathews in the middle-order that resuscitated their prospects of a defendable score.

Trezeguet rescues Juve

Frenchman David Trezeguet came off the bench to score a late leveller as Juventus narrowly avoided slumping to a first defeat this season in a 2-2 draw at Genoa on Thursday.

Hernan Crespo looked to have given Genoa a victory that would have moved them to within a point of the summit, but dreadful defending at a free-kick allowed Trezeguet to snatch the equaliser and ensure Juve boss Ciro Ferrara's unbeaten run as club coach continued.

The result, however, represented the end of the team's 100-per cent Serie A record.

Since taking over two games before the end of last season, Ferrara has led the Old Lady of Turin to six wins and two draws. Now they sit behind champions and leaders Inter Milan only on goal difference.

Ferrara said his team had deserved the three points and complained about two disallowed goals when close offside decisions went against his side.

"It's clear they weren't offside. I'm disappointed because games can change on these decisions and straight after we conceded a goal," he said.

"We played really well and today we deserved to win but even if it's a bad result it shows how we're on the right path."

Juve were off to a flying start as Vincenzo Iquinta gave them the lead in their first attack of the game.

Claudio Marchisio got down the wing and played a low ball towards the edge of the box where Mauro Camoranesi ran over it leaving Iaquninta in space to shoot home into the bottom corner.

On 20 minutes Genoa opened up Juve in much the same manner, but Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo threw himself in front of the ball to block Giandomenico Mesto's shot.

The Turin giants should have gone further ahead on the half hour mark when Fabio Grosso's free-kick found Juve's strike pairing both free, but Amauri took the ball off the better-placed Iaquinta's head and put his effort wide of the upright.

Juve were immediately made to pay as Mesto rose above his marker to head Giuseppe Sculli's left wing cross beyond Gianluigi Buffon.

The visitors also started well after the break and twice came close in the opening minutes.

Marchisio tricked his way into the area but shot straight at Marco Aurelia, who then came to the rescue, rushing out to crowd Iaquinta and block his shot after the Italy forward had beaten the offside trap.

It was an entertaining game with both sides pushing forward for a winner and Sculli brought a fingertip save out of Buffon.

Iaquinta had the ball in the net 17 minutes from time when he headed home a Grosso free-kick but it was ruled out for the most marginal of offside decisions.

And just as in the first half, Juve were made to pay soon afterwards as Crespo got between centre-backs Giorgio Chiellini and Nicola Legrottaglie to head home Mesto's cross at the near post with a quarter of an hour to play.

Juve had the ball in the net again on 84 minutes through Chiellini but substitute David Trezeguet was penalised for offside in the build-up.

But moments later Juve finally made one stick from a free-kick as Genoa's woeful defence stood and watched a Grosso chip into the box for the third time as Chiellini headed across goal for Trezeguet to nod home from barely a yard out.