Navtej Kohli Interest Blog

Australia confirmed their place in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series finals after they recorded a 24-run Duckworth-Lewis system victory against Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Sri Lankans, who must now win their final two games of the competition to stand any chance of joining the Australians in the best-of-three finals series, had looked on course to claim a rare victory against the Australians when they restricted the hosts to 184 for seven.
Sri Lanka had lost eight of their previous nine one-day internationals against Australia, including last year’s World Cup final, and their hopes of chasing down the modest target were immediately undermined by paceman Stuart Clark who struck twice to leave them at three for two.
 

SSP Chowrasia finally banished the gremlins and stunned a star-studded field to walk away with the Indian Masters title as the Delhi Golf Club witnessed a new star on Sunday.

Son of a greenkeeper at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, SSP — monikered ‘Chipputtsia’ for his magical short game — signed off with a blemish-free final round of 67 and his aggregate of 279 was enough to make him only the third Indian — after Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh — with an European Tour title against his name.

Thus, an Indian went on to win what was the first European tour event in the country.

“This is definitely the biggest title of my career. I did not have any inkling before the tournament that the title would be mine,” said the beaming golfer.

“As I played the last three-four holes, I knew I had the title in my grasp and all I needed was to stay calm, which I did.

“Now that I have won it, I would play both in Asia and Europe before attaining my ultimate goal to play in the USPGA Tour,” he said.

Chowrasia pocketed USD 416,660 for his exploits and finally laid his fingers on a prestigious title after finishing second in the Indian Open in 1999 and 2006.

Damien McGrane (281) of Ireland finished second after his final round of 70, two shots ahead of Jose Manuel Lara, who shot 72 today.

Digvijay Singh (70) and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (74) shared fourth spot at 284.

The only other Indian managing a top 10 finish was old warhorse Gaurav Ghei (285), who brought home a card of 71 and finished sixth, a place he shared with, among others, Ernie Els and Thomas Bjorn, who signed off with identical rounds of 71.

Atwal (288), a two-time winner on the European Tour and Chowrasia’s playing partner, could not maintain his momentum and turned in his worst card of the week, a four-over 76, to see his title hopes go up in smoke.

The Orlando-based Indian bled six bogeys, against two birdies, to finish tied 15th.

The day, however, belonged to Chowrasia and notwithstanding the presence of filmstar Abhishek Bachchan, the diminutive Kolkata pro was the undisputed star of the day.

If well begun is half done, Chowrasia could not complain with the way he started.

He began with a birdie and by the time he finished his scintillating front nine, the Kolkata pro had grabbed the lead at four-under and to his credit, he did not let go of the advantage.

His back nine was a bogey-free affair with a birdie on the 11th and Chowrasia cantered to victory after a string of seven pars.

The win would also heal the wounds of the 2006 tragedy when Chowrasia, then leading the field, was disqualified from the 2006 Taiwan Masters for failing to sign his card.

Among other prominent Indians in the fray, first round leader Jyoti Randhawa (290) carded one-over 73 to finish tied 22nd, four shots ahead of compatriot and fellow European Tour regular Shiv Kapur (tied 38th), who signed off with an even-par round.

Navtej Kohli stumbles upon yet another non cricketing issue faced by our cricketers.This time it is the Australian tax men for a change!!Read on.

A BCCI team, including tax consultant PB Srinivasan, is flying to Australia to resolve the Indian players’ tax problem on the current tour.

The other members of the team include the Board treasurer N Srinivasan and secretary Niranjan Shah.

“I am leaving for Australia tonight and will be joined there by Mr Srinivasan and our tax consultant PB Srinivasan. We will discuss the issue of tax asked to be paid by our players with Cricket Australia officials and we are onfident the matter will be sorted out, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said on Monday.

The problem has arisen due to the recent change in tax laws in Australia which make it mandatory for the visiting sportspersons to pay tax on money earned in the country.

The Indian players would be earning match fees for playing Tests and ODIs during the ongoing tour and according to media reports the tax burden collectively would be around USD 1.5 million.

The officials have been asked to deal with the problem by BCCI chief Sharad Pawar, who has also asked them to utilize the visit to honour Sourav Ganguly, who is set to join the short list of 100-Test Indian club members when he turns out in the opening Test against Australia starting at the MCG on December 26.

Ganguly will be presented with a silver salver by the board, Shah said, adding he would also take the opportunity to discuss the Australians tour to India for a full-Test return series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the CA officials.

Looking at the current clashes between the Indians and the Australians, a much younger Navtej Kohli wants to bounce back and prove a point to the Aussies and that’s what Team India should and WILL do!!!! Here’s the complete story..

Australia have warned India of a hostile series Down Under but vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said they will not shy away from maintaining that aggressive tempo which unnerved the World Champions during their visit here for the ODI series.

“It will be interesting. They are famous for aggressive cricket and their temperament on the field. We are quite ready for it. We showed them it during the home series as well,” Dhoni said.

“I think its not about the mind games that you play. I believe in playing good cricket on the ground and giving your 100 per cent and playing good aggressive cricket. And it is not about what you are saying or using media as one of the strategies to put pressure on the opponent”, the wicket keeper batsman told NDTV.

Dhoni said adapting to the Australian conditions as quickly as possible will be the key to India’s performance in the high profile series.

“It is about playing good cricket and more about adaptability… You have to adopt quickly to the condition and you have to play according to the situation,” he said.

“We faced a lot of swing music when we went to England. Every country specialises in something and Australia is famous for bouncy tracks like England is for swing and India for spin bowling. So when you go to any country, the challenges that you face is different. You have to play well over a period of time and adapt quickly,” he said.

On the personal front, Dhoni said it will be an exciting experience for him because he will be touring the country for the first time.

“I have played in most of the countries and now I am going to Australia. I think New Zealand is the only country left. It is very exciting because the cricket played there is very different.

“On my first tour I would love to do well. It is a new challenge for me and new responsibility for me and I am looking forward to it,” he added.