Showing posts with label India says. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India says. Show all posts

Sunday, June 14, 2009

England knock champions India out of World Cup

England knocked defending champions India out of the Twenty20 World Cup with a three-run victory in their second-round match at Lord's on Sunday.

India needed 19 off the last over to stay in the tournament but, despite a one-handed six by Yusuf Pathan over long-off, the task was too much and they finished on 150 for five.

The England victory silenced the large contingent of noisy Indian fans packed into Lord's and India failed to make the semi-finals after also losing their first Super Eight match against West Indies on Friday.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann captured the crucial wicket of Yuvraj Singh for 17, including two sixes, stumped neatly by James Foster.

Left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom, returning to the side in place of leg-spinner Adil Rashid, bowled the final over and was given the man-of-the-match award after capturing two for 31 from his four overs.

England lost Luke Wright for one in the second over after losing the toss and being asked to bat.

Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen added 71 for the second wicket with Bopara hooking the first six of the match off Ishant Sharma.

Pietersen whipped Sharma through mid-wicket for four and moved down the pitch to left-arm paceman RP Singh as if he were playing a spinner to off-drive a four.

The introduction of Ravindra Jadeja's left-arm spin seemed to turn the match India's way. Jadeja bowled Bopara for 37 and dismissed Pietersen lbw for 46, trying to sweep a full delivery.

But five wides from Harbhajan Singh in the final over allowed to England to creep to 153 for seven, a defendable total on a pitch offering variable bounce.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

India says Pakistan attitude unchanged on militants


India's defence minister said on Friday Pakistan was still failing to crack down on militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks, and that New Delhi had not deployed troops despite tension with its neighbour.

India has been mobilising support across the world to press Pakistan to crack down on militant networks there which have been blamed for November attacks in Mumbai that left 179 people dead.

New Delhi says it has repeatedly provided Islamabad with evidence of use of Pakistani soil by militants, but Pakistani authorities have rejected those claims, saying the proof was not credible.

"I don't think (there is) any noticeable change in the attitude of Pakistan," Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters in New Delhi.

"Statements are not important, actions are important. They have to prove by their action."

"When more than 30 terrorist outfits are still operating in Pakistan, how can I say there is a real improvement or real change in attitude?" Antony added.

Pakistan launched raids on militants on its soil after the Mumbai attacks and detained several Islamist leaders wanted by India. But India said it was not satisfied and Pakistan needed to do more to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism.

Pakistan, which has in the past used militants to further foreign policy objectives, said it was taking all requisite steps to counter terrorism and was awaiting a response to its offer to work with India in the investigation.

"There is no terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Terrorism is a global issue. Terrorist elements are found in every society," the Foreign Ministry said in a release.

Asked about Indian accusations that Pakistan was in a state of denial over its links to the attack, the ministry said it did not want to indulge in a "blame-game".

"The two countries need to demonstrate restraint and responsibility," it said.

"JUST A RUMOUR"

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a leader of the banned Pakistani militant group that India has blamed for the Mumbai attack, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), had confessed to Pakistani interrogators that he was a main planner.

The government has rejected the report saying its investigation was not finished.

"It's just rumour. Our investigation hasn't been finalised so how could its finding be shared?" said Interior Ministry official Kamal Shah.

The LeT was set up by Pakistani security agencies in the late 1980s to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region but officially banned in 2002, after Pakistan signed up to the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.

Tension between the nuclear-armed rivals has mounted with near-daily exchanges of tough words and flexing of military muscles.

Pakistan has cancelled army leave and moved a "limited number" of soldiers off the Afghan border "for defensive measures", urging India to stand down its troops and deactivate forward air bases.

But India has said it was not making any war-time deployment.

Asked if India had given any deadline by which Pakistan has to act, Antony said: "There is no time limit ... Only thing is they must act. Action is important."

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and came to the brink of a fourth after gunmen attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001.