Bangladesh’s Mominul looks to emulate South African AB de Villiers in India Test

• With the India series knocking on the door, Bangladesh batsman Mominul Haque has set his sight on South African skipper AB de Villiers’ record of 12 consecutive scores of 50 or above in Test matches.

LATED STORIThe hosts trained at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium for the second straight day on Monday. Mominul spoke to the journalists after the practice.

The Tigers’ top-order batsman went past Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar’r record of 10 half-centuries during the last Test against Pakistan last month.
 
He is sitting beside West Indies legend Sir Viv Richards, Gautum Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.
 
The 23-year old, however, is reluctant to compare himself with de Villiers.
 
“I’m not even near him. You know of his mastery in all formats. I don’t think I am his competitor.”
 
De Villiers built his record from November 2012 to February 2014.
 
Bangladesh will take on India in a one-off Test starting from Wednesday in Fatullah. 
 
Mominul, who averages 60 in 14 matches with four centuries and nine half-centuries, said he wanted to reach the milestone to please the fans.
 
“I am not really thinking about beside whom I’ll sit… I will just try to meet the expectations of the people and my target.”
 
The left-hander has a string of scores of at least 50 since October 2013 in 11 Tests.
 
He has established himself as a ‘Test specialist’ with the fantastic run in the most prestigious form of the game after failing to shine in other formats.
 
Mominul, however, is willing to make amends and show his talent in ODIs and T20Is as well.
 
“I will get better chances if I do well. If I think too much about it, I risk losing everything.”

 So far the classy batsman failed to score a fifty only in his third Test, against Zimbabwe in Harare, when he scored 23 and 29. After that his run-scoring spree began.
 
But Mominul is aware of India’s bowling line-up that includes the world-class attack of spinners Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin. 
 
“They are both quality spinners. One (Harbhajan) has played for a long time. (Ashwin) has been doing well.”
 
The spin attack is backed by a formidable pace unit that consists of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Aaron.
 
Mominul is eager to further his experience by going up against the two-time ODI World Champions’ spinners

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Mashrafe urges Bangladesh to remain ‘realistic’ about chances in the India Test

 

Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has said the home side should first think about a draw against India in the one-off Test and be ‘realistic’.

The match will start on Wednesday at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

“(We) have to bat very well. But just batting well does not win Tests, only helps draw them. Wickets and strategies should be built with that in mind,” Mashrafe told bdnews24.com on Monday.

“I think a draw will be a pretty good result.”

“I keep saying we might face the opposite consequences if we go for too much in Tests right now. As batting is our strength in Test, we should focus on that.”

Mashrafe, who does not feature in the Test, is reluctant to label the mentality of going for a draw as negative.

“We will definitely play to win. But we have to be realistic. When we will have the sure-fire ability to take 20 wickets, we will plan according to that.

“(But) in reality if we can score 450 or 500 and if bowlers can bowl in the right areas to restrict their (India) batsmen, we can manage a draw. If that effort creates an opportunity to win, that will be even better.”

Mashrafe believes Bangladesh will someday start winning Tests on a regular basis. The Tigers’ rise in ODIs has given the 31-year old hope.

“We used to once lose all matches badly in ODIs. We started to fight back a bit and fought harder later.

“Then we started winning some matches. Now we win regularly. We will develop similarly in Tests.

“So I am saying losing by trying to win won’t help now. Rather by drawing regularly we will learn to win some day. And we will keep winning.”

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We have learnt enough to execute plan, deliver: Kohli

 

Even as Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday asserted that one continues to learn with every game, he insisted that his players have acquired enough knowledge to execute plans and deliver results.

"We learn about the game all the time, even when we are watching it on TV. But I don't think we need to play with a mindset of playing to learn. We have played long enough now and know what we want to achieve as a unit," Kohli told mediapersons here on the eve of the team's departure for Bangladesh.
 
India are scheduled to play a one-off Test match and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Bangladesh with the tour beginning with the five-day match on June 10.
 
"We all have played enough to know how to execute plans. So now we really want to achieve rather than go out of a match thinking what we have learnt from it," asserted the stylish batsman.
 
Talking about his own experience as a captain, Kohli said he learnt a lot during his stint as the skipper in Australia after Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from Tests midway in the tour Down Under.
 
"Test match is different ball game where you need to plan for the whole day unlike ODIs or T20 where you plan for short span of time. You need to manage the bowlers, manage the workload along with planning for the batsmen.
 
"I have learnt a lot in different situations in Australia, and then we have guys like Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin who are experienced and that will certainly help us in recognizing what we need to do," added Kohli.

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Sharapova knocked out of French Open

 

Defending champion Maria Sharapova was sent packing from the French Open at the fourth-round stage on Monday, losing in straight sets to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

Safarova, the 13th seed, won 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 to progress to a first ever quarter-final at Roland Garros, where she will face Garbine Muguruza after the Spaniard saw off Flavia Pennetta.
Sharapova, who also won the clay-court Grand Slam event in 2012 and was the beaten finalist in 2013, had been forced to wait until Monday morning for her clash with Safarova, which had been postponed on Sunday due to the rain in the French capital.
But on a bright Paris morning the Russian second seed, who was looking to become the first woman to successfully defend the French Open title since Justine Henin in 2007, was punished for an erratic display from beginning to end.
Sharapova was broken in her second service game, and although she soon broke back, Safarova claimed the opening set in the tiebreak on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Breaks were again exchanged in the second set but Sharapova found herself serving to stay in the match at 5-4 down, and while she saved one match point she could not save the second that came her opponent's way.
"I had a few small openings but I wasn't able to keep up my level. She was more consistent and aggressive, created the angles and that was the difference," said Sharapova who had been battling a heavy cold all week.
"It was a tough day at the office."
The Czech had not won any of her last four meetings with Sharapova since triumphing in their first ever clash in Madrid in 2010 and will now face Muguruza on Tuesday after the Spanish 21st seed breezed past Pennetta.
Muguruza won 6-3, 6-4 on Court Suzanne Lenglen to reach the last eight at Roland Garros for the second year in succession.
Twelve months ago Muguruza was knocked out in three sets by Sharapova having defeated Serena Williams in the second round.
The exit of the reigning champion leaves just two of the top six seeds left going into the quarter-finals.
Number one seed Williams, who is looking for a 20th Grand Slam crown at the event she won in 2002 and 2013, was due in action later on Monday against compatriot Sloane Stephens.
Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova, last year's Wimbledon champion, was due to meet Swiss 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky with the winner going on to meet either Andreea Mitu of Romania or Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck.

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Sepp Blatter faces bigger challenge at divided Fifa

 

It was like time had stood still.

As Sepp Blatter was re-elected Fifa president on Friday he made almost exactly the same speech he did in 2011 about the need to pull together and root out corruption.

 
The reputation of football's world governing body had been dragged through the mud and had to be restored, said the Swiss.
 
The trust of the football family had to be won back and words had to be turned into action.
 
Even the metaphor was the same as he talked about guiding the Fifa ship out of troubled waters and into a placid harbour.
 
But this time Blatter's challenge, as he enters a fifth term that which will take him to the ripe old age of 83, is considerably greater than four years ago.
 
Not only has Fifa failed to change its scandal-plagued image, it faces an even bigger credibility crisis after United States prosecutors unveiled the gory details of alleged corruption in football, some involving top Fifa officials.
 
To complicate matters Fifa is also showing the first signs of a dangerous split in its ranks.
 
It is a combination that will even test a survivor like Blatter who has spent much of his 17 years in office fighting one crisis after another.
 
In 2011 Blatter received the backing of 186 of the 208- member associations at the time as he was returned unopposed.
 
Bitter opposition
 
This time round he faced bitter opposition from Europe, home of the world's most powerful clubs, the last three world champions and the continent where nearly all of the globe's top players ply their trade.
 
Blatter secured 133 votes and challenger Prince Ali bin Al Hussein got 73.
 
It was not enough to win in the first round of voting but Prince Ali withdrew and the Swiss was re-elected.
 
"There is so much pressure on that man. If I were him I should reconsider continuing, that is my advice to him," Dutch FA president Michael van Praag told reporters.
 
"I already told him many times, whatever he does from now on, even if he takes good decisions, nobody in the world will buy that anymore," said Van Praag, a Fifa presidential candidate before withdrawing his bid.
 
European football's governing body UEFA fell out with Blatter last year when he backtracked on a promise that his fourth term would be his last.
 
UEFA president Michel Platini said his federation would no longer support Blatter and the Frenchman was even more emphatic on the eve of Friday's election.
 
Platini explained that he had laid it on the line to Blatter in a frank and personal encounter in the president's room at Fifa headquarters.
 
"I have affection for Mr Blatter and he always said he was like an uncle to me," said Platini. "But enough is enough.
 
"If I cannot tell him it is time to stop then who can? A true friend can tell another friend the reality. I said it with a tear in my eye," added Platini, a one-time ally of the Fifa president.
 
World Cup boycott
 
There was even talk of European teams leading a World Cup boycott, something previously considered unthinkable by many football fans.
 
"If the whole of UEFA said that, and all of the countries were willing to do it, I think that is right," said English FA chairman Greg Dyke.
 
Platini warned Fifa that cutting the number of slots allocated to Europe at the World Cup was a "red line not to be crossed".
 
Fifa may quite reasonably think Europe is over-represented after seven of its 13 teams went out in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.
 
But Platini was adamant, saying: "Europe will not lose a slot in 2018, we will stick to 13. That will not be changed, we are not going to allow that".
 
Platini did not elaborate about would happen if Fifa crossed the line but the idea of a UEFA boycott hung in the air.
 
Football is generally free of the breakaway and splinter groups that have plagued other sports and media pundits say such a move by UEFA would be a calamity for the World Cup.
 
Europe threw its weight on Friday behind Blatter's challenger, Prince Ali of Jordan, and there were noises that national associations from other regions were prepared to join them.
 
However, Blatter has mastered the electoral system where the 209-member associations each hold one vote, meaning that tiny Sao Tome e Principe hold the same polling rights as football superpowers like Argentina and Germany.
 
Fifa distributes revenue equally among its 209 members and, away from the wealth and glamour of the big European leagues, such handouts are a lifeline for smaller federations.
 
There was a perfect example before the election as this week's Congress delegates were shown a film highlighting Fifa development projects in the Comoros Islands, Costa Rica and Guam.
 
Around Africa, South America, Asia and the Caribbean, federations see Blatter as the force keeping the game truly global in the face of growing financial power from a handful of elite European clubs and leagues.
 
When Blatter made his 15-minute electoral address to Congress it was clear he would be re-elected as applause rung round the auditorium before he had finished.
 
"It's a question of confidence, a matter of trust, trust on your side," he said. "I am at your disposal and if you want me I thank you for it.

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Fifa's Blatter comes out fighting despite scandal and divisions

 

Fifa President Sepp Blatter came out fighting on Saturday as he began his fifth term in charge of soccer's governing body, implying that the United States timed the announcement of a major corruption probe to try to scupper his re-election bid.

The 79-year-old Swiss comfortably won Friday's vote at a Fifa congress in Zurich, having secured the support of blocks of votes from Asia and Africa which outweighed dissenters including Europe's powerful soccer body UEFA.
 
He now faces the daunting task of restoring public faith in an organisation tainted by allegations of graft and deeply divided over his leadership.
 
In an interview late on Friday, he showed few signs of wanting to unite one of the world's most powerful sports bodies that takes in billions of dollars in revenue from television marketing rights and sponsorships.
 
"No one is going to take it off me that it was a simple coincidence (that) this American attack (happened) two days before the elections of Fifa," Blatter told the RTS Swiss television channel in an interview.
 
"Why didn't they (the police) do this in March when we had the same meeting? At that time, we had less journalists."
 
In a dawn swoop on a Zurich hotel on Wednesday, Swiss police arrested seven leading soccer officials, including Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb.
 
The arrests were connected to a bribery scandal being investigated by US, Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged Fifa into the worst crisis in its 111-year history.
 
Blatter also singled out UEFA, whose president Michel Platini had called for his resignation.
 
"It is a hate not only by one person of UEFA but by the organisation of UEFA that has not understood that I have been president since 1998," Blatter said. "I forgive everyone but I don't forget."
 
Blatter's expanding power base
 
Blatter has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, but having ruled Fifa for nearly 20 years during which it has regularly been subject to suspicions of graft, his critics have argued it was time for him to step down.
 
His supporters welcomed the outcome of a vote that pitted the veteran incumbent against a sole challenger, 39-year-old Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
 
"The AFC (Asian Football Confederation) has always supported the Fifa President and we are happy to continue working with him and Fifa to further develop Asian and world football into the future," Asian football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on Saturday.
 
That support reflects Blatter's success in expanding Fifa's membership away from soccer's heartlands and in exploiting resentment in Africa and Asia over the perceived arrogance of the game's powerhouse nations in Europe and South America.
 
Despite Blatter's re-election, the scandal surrounding the investigations into corruption looks set to rumble on.
 
Platini has raised the possibility, albeit slim, of Europe boycotting the World Cup tournament, soccer's showcase played every four years.
 
There has also been talk of UEFA breaking away from Fifa, although that is also seen as unlikely.
 
England's Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, another vocal critic of Blatter, said the row within Fifa was unlikely to end with Friday's vote.
 
His vice-chairman David Gill confirmed on Saturday he would not take up his post on Fifa's executive committee.
 
"The terribly damaging events of the last three days have convinced me it is not appropriate to be a member of the Fifa executive committee under the current leadership," he said.
 
More indictments to come?
 
Blatter's future could yet depend on the reaction of Fifa's major sponsors and stakeholders such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's who have been dismayed by the arrests and US prosecutors announcing indictments of officials and companies.
 
A senior US Internal Revenue Service official said on Friday he thought there would be further indictments, the New York Times reported, although he declined to identify the remaining targets of the investigation.
 
Swiss prosecutors are investigating the award of the World Cup finals to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, decisions that have deepened rifts within Fifa.
 
The choice of Qatar, a small desert state where summer daytime temperatures rarely fall below 40 degrees Celsius, was especially contentious and went against the advice of Fifa's own technical committee.
 
Russia and Qatar deny wrongdoing in their bids to host the prestigious tournament, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of meddling in an effort to force Blatter out.
 
When asked after the vote if he could guarantee the next World Cup would still be staged in Russia, Fifa's secretary general Jerome Valcke told reporters: "Yes, yes. I mean now today, if you ask me the question at twenty to eight, yes the World Cup will be played in Russia and Qatar."
 
Away from the crisis engulfing soccer's administration, the under-20 World Cup got underway in New Zealand, and more than 25,000 people turned up in Auckland for the opening game.
 
And preparations for the Women's World Cup, which opens in Canada on June 6, continued with a friendly between the hosts and England before a sellout crowd in Hamilton, Ontario.

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Barca coach Luis Enrique sets sights on treble

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique allowed himself a brief moment to savour Saturday's King's Cup triumph over Athletic Bilbao before quickly turning his attention to the Champions League final against Juventus, the last leg of their treble tilt.

Another magical performance from Lionel Messi helped set up a 3-1 win over the Basque side and, with the La Liga title already in the bag, they now face the Italian champions on June 6 aiming to repeat their 2009 treble success.

"We are almost there and it would only be the second time that a club like this, with so much history at a high level, has been able to do it," Luis Enrique told a news conference.

"It will be difficult but that is what we are working for now. It really would be superb if we could do that. We were better than Athletic in our play and now we have to beat Juventus."

Messi unlocked the Bilbao defence with a clinical strike after a run that left four players in his wake and then added another in the second half.

Neymar scored in between while there was a late consolation for Inaki Williams.

"We are fortunate as we see Messi all the time in training," said Luis Enrique. "In training he actually does things more difficult and I am looking forward to watching this one on the television."

Luis Enrique did have words of criticism for Neymar, who prompted some pushing and shoving from both sets of players after he showboated by flicking the ball over an opponent.
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Arsenal rout Villa in final to claim FA Cup record

Holders Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 12th time on Saturday, outclassing Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley with stunning goals from Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez setting up their one-sided victory.

Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud were also on target, once the match was effectively over as a contest, as the Londoners sealed their biggest winning margin in a final of the world's oldest knockout competition.
 
Arsene Wenger also became the most successful FA Cup manager of modern times, guiding his side to a sixth triumph in their 19th final, another record.
 
Arsenal, who came from two goals down to beat Hull City 3-2 a year ago, were never in trouble against Villa and should have been ahead even before Walcott put them in front with a sizzling left-foot volley after 40 minutes.
 
Sanchez made it 2-0 against a hugely disappointing Villa, who hardly had a serious effort on goal, five minutes into the second half with a glorious dipping shot.
 
Mertesacker then converted a close-range header when he was left unmarked at a set-piece and Giroud, who came on as a late substitute, side-footed the ball home with the last kick of the game.
 
Arsenal's victory was cheered by Southampton fans as it means they will now take the last remaining place in next season's Europa League after finishing seventh in the Premier League.
 
Seven-times FA Cup winners Villa would have qualified for the Europa League with another victory.
 
Rebuilding job
 
However, all they have to look forward to now is a rebuilding job under new manager Tim Sherwood who saved them from relegation but could not mastermind their first FA Cup triumph since 1957.
 
Arsenal dominated the match as Villa fan Prince William looked on from the Royal Box.
 
The Gunners almost took the lead after 14 minutes but Villa's 39-year-old keeper Shay Given, who also played in the final for Newcastle United 17 years ago, made a brilliant save from a Laurent Koscielny header.
 
They went close again through Aaron Ramsey, last season's Wembley match-winner, and the midfielder had another chance to put Arsenal ahead with a shot that flew over the bar.
 
Walcott, preferred in the starting lineup to Giroud, justified Wenger's faith with the opening goal, an effort that gave Given no chance.
 
The keeper could also do little about Sanchez's superb strike as Arsenal retained the FA Cup for the second time in their history, after achieving back-to-back wins in 2002 and 2003.

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