CUTTACK: The edge-of-the-seat one-wicket victory in the first ODI against the West Indies was too close for comfort for the thousands at the Barabati stadium and millions more watching on television.

Admitting that he was “a bit tense in the end when we needed 11 runs with our last pair out in the middle,” Virender Sehwag was quick to add that they didn’t panic at any stage.

“No, there was no panic. That has been the quality of this Indian dressing room for the past couple of years. We don’t really panic, whatever may be the situation. We all stay calm and cool, and believe in ourselves,” the Indian skipper said at the post-match press conference.

Sehwag was all praise for his young guns who fought bravely when the chips were down. “I am happy with the way Rohit (Sharma), (Ravinder) Jadeja and R Vinay Kumar shaped up. They all played very responsibly,” said Sehwag, standing in for MS Dhoni, who has taken a break.

India were far from convincing en route to going one-up in the five-match series, but Sehwag was not perturbed by the narrow margin of victory.

“A win is always a win… It doesn’t matter if it is by one wicket or ten wickets. It was important for us to start well and we are 1-0 up now and I’m happy about it,” he said.

The opener, who expected the West Indies to score around 270-275, praised his bowlers for limiting the opposition to 211. But he felt the loss of quick wickets at the start of the Indian innings chase made the chase difficult.

“There can be no excuse for the batsmen not scoring runs on this track,” said the straightforward Sehwag.

He didn’t regret the decision to bowl first. “My decision was correct. We were chasing just 212 runs, you can’t really ask for an easier target. It was because of the mistakes committed by our batsmen that the target got difficult.”

West Indies pacer Kemar Roach, who picked up three wickets on Tuesday, heaped praise on Rohit. “He (Rohit) played a very responsible innings. I am a great fan of his batting. We have played together in the IPL. But today I should have picked him up early, but failed,” Roach said.

He felt the side did not have enough runs. “We certainly needed more runs on the board to be in the comfort zone,” he commented.

LONDON: England coach Andy Flower said there were no “mysterious answers” to success after twice being honoured at the 2011 UK Coaching Awards.

The former Zimbabwe batsman was named UK Coach of the Year and High Performance Coach of the Year having led England to their first Ashes triumph in Australia since the winter of 1986/87 at the start of this year.

He then guided the team to the top of the world Test rankings with a 4-0 whitewash of India.

A modest Flower said experience had taught him there are no “mysterious answers”, adding “simplicity is the best place to start”.

But England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB) chief executive David Collier was happy to sing Flower’s praises.

“Andy has been an outstanding coach to the England cricket team and I am delighted that his dedication, knowledge and all-round leadership skills have been recognised within the wider sporting world.

“The last 12 months have been momentous ones for the England cricket team and this is in no small part due to Andy’s personal drive and determination to bring the best out of his players and ensure that our preparation and performance are second to none.”

A lifetime achievement award was awarded to veteran athletics coach Malcolm Arnold, who this year guided fellow Welshman Dai Greene to for 400 metres hurdles gold at the World Championships in Daegu.

Meanwhile a special lifetime achievement award for coaching went to the late former England fast bowler Graham Dilley, who died in October.

MELBOURNE: Describing Ricky Ponting as the “elephant in the room”, former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns has said that Cricket Australia (CA) needs to end his 16-year long Test career in order to move forward.

“I don’t think you can have two years averaging 27 as a No. 3. I think it’s his time (to retire),” Cairns said.

“And when you look at the likes of Mark Taylor, (Ian) Healy, Mark Waugh – they were told it was their time. And there’s an elephant in the room at the moment in Ricky Ponting that nobody is really addressing,” he was quoted as saying by ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

The former Kiwi all-rounder, who retired from Test cricket at the age of 34, also felt that Ponting should himself call it a day after the Hobart Test against New Zealand.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got the utmost respect for Ricky Ponting but there’s a time and a place. And for me, his time and place is Hobart in the second Test against New Zealand. That’s to say, ‘Thanks very much’,” insisted Cairns.

He felt that the Australian selectors need to take the hard call on the soon-to-be 37-year-old Ponting.

“Australia for me was an uncompromising cricket nation, but I’ve felt there’s been decisions they make that have been compromising (in) the last couple of years.

“They’ve allowed Ricky to keep going because of his stature in the game and who he is. But why should he have to make the call? At the end of the day, for me, Australia has always been about the team and what’s best. He is behind Bradman, Australia’s greatest batsman, so they’re managing it,” Cairns said.

“But I just think it’s an elephant in the room. I really do. Australia has got rebuilding to do.”

Even former Australia batsman Mark Waugh also feels that Ponting should be included in the playing XI only on merit and not stature.

“Ricky Ponting is a great player, he’s got a few credits in the bank. But, he’ll know he has got to score runs. Like any player, you’ve got to perform,” Waugh told the newspaper.

“I think he’s invaluable with his experience for the other guys in the team, I think Michael Clarke has said that. But his bottom line is, his job is to score runs. The experience he brings, you can’t really count that. He’s got to score runs,” Waugh added.

Waugh, however, said that Ponting could go on playing for as long as he likes if he starts scoring runs for his team again.

“He hasn’t been at his best. I thought there were very good signs in the last Test in Johannesburg that he was getting back to somewhere near his best. But it’s going to be up to him – if he makes runs, he can play for as long as he likes. You don’t lose your ability overnight.

“I think he’s still got a fair bit to give…I think he’s just happy he’s in the 11,” said Waugh.

Ponting’s numbers aren’t great

Over the last three years, Ricky Ponting has ceased to be the player he was in Tests. For a man who scored hundreds out of habit, he has scored only 7 in the last 43 Tests.

	Matches	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100	50	0
Overall	156	257	28	12557	257	52.53	39	57	16
Till December 2007	113	188	26	9515	257	58.73	33	8	8
Since January 2008	43	79	2	3042	209	39.50	6	19	8
Home	18	33	2	1273	209	41.66	3	8	4
Away	23	42	–	1671	158	39.78	3	10	3
Neutral	2	4	–	98	66	24.50	–	1	1
2008	14	25	–	1182	158	47.28	4	5	1
2009	13	23	1	853	150	38.77	1	7	2
2010	12	23	1	813	209	36.95	1	6	3
2011	4	8	–	194	62	24.25	–	1	2

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi’s dispute with former coach Waqar Younis which cost him the captaincy of Pakistan’s cricket team has been resolved after the two met up during the recent series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.

Waqar confirmed that he met Afridi during the one-day series against Sri Lanka in Dubai and had a discussion on the differences between them.

The dispute between the two star players erupted into the open after the Pakistan team’s tour to the West Indies this year.

Afridi, who was captain of the one-day side, on returning home lambasted Waqar for interfering in his domain and making his job more difficult.

Later it was confirmed that the differences between the two had led to Afridi walking out twice from team meetings during the ODI series in the West Indies.

Afridi’s comments led to him being stripped as captain of the one-day side and his subsequent announcement of retirement in protest.

The all-rounder returned to the side for the series in the UAE after Zaka Ashraf took over as Chairman of the board and gave a hearing to the former captain.

Although Waqar had stepped down as head coach of the team in September due to personal and health reasons, he was in the UAE for commentary work with the broadcasters of the series.

“Look when you work together like I and Shahid did you have such difference of opinions and disagreements and that is exactly what happened with us. But in the end what is important is that both of us just wanted to see Pakistan cricket do well,” Waqar said.

“The differences were mirrored because Shahid gave some statements in the press and I responded. But now it is normal between us.”

Waqar also made it clear that he stepped down because of his health problem.

“It is a wrong impression that I made any excuse to step down and the real reason was that I was not happy with the board. The truth is doctors have advised me to stay away from jobs and work that carries lot of pressure as I am suffering from a liver ailment. That is why I resigned as coach.

“I am doing commentary now because it is not a pressure job and I can manage my health properly,” the former pacer said.

The former captain said he was absolutely delighted with the performance of the Pakistan team.

“I think the hard work we put into rebuilding the side and encouraging the new players is now paying dividends.

“Imagine we are without Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal or Danish Kaneria and yet the team is doing well. It just highlights the depth of talent we have in our cricket,” he noted.

Two handsome wins and a thrilling draw against West Indies later, MS Dhoni and company seem to have left the nightmares of the England tour behind. Here is the review of the performances of each Indian player during the current series…

R Ashwin (9/10): Player of the series and find of the year. A century and two five wicket hauls with a total of 22 wickets in three Tests. What more could one ask from a rookie off-spinner playing his first Test series.

Pragyan Ojha (8/10): Bowled with cunning and confidence. It’s a pleasure watching him flight the ball and beating batsmen sometimes in the air, sometimes off the pitch. His superb spell of six for 72 in the first innings at Kotla put India on the winning track. Overall haul 20 wickets. And yes, don’t forget the 14 balls he defended to help Ashwin get his ton.

Virat Kohli (8/10): The Delhi youngster earned his spurs, especially with that wonderful 63 that almost won India the Test. Not a finished article yet but his temperament is proven.

Umesh Yadav (8/10): Deserved to win the man of the match in second Test for bowling his heart out and ending up with a match figure of seven for 103 in placid Eden Gardens. Whips up decent pace with his fluent, clean action. Could be a long distance horse if he keeps improving.

VVS Laxman (7.5/10): His unbeaten 58 was a valuable assist in India’s victory at Kotla. And his monumental 176 was pivotal to India’s formidable total at Eden.

Rahul Dravid (7.5/10): Solid as a rock and good as gold. With scores of 54, 31, 119, 82 and 33 – he continues to be India’s batsman No.1. One only hopes he continues in the same vein in Australia.

Virender Sehwag (7/10): In five innings, the Nawab of Najafgarh’s highest score is 60, the lowest being 37. In between he has 55, 55 and 38 to his name. Which means he has recovered form but is not concentrating hard enough. His half-centuries in the Kotla Test, though, was crucial to the team’s hard-fought win. The good news is that he is completely fit after the shoulder surgery.

Sachin Tendulkar (7/10): Kept the nation waiting for that elusive 100th ton again. His dismissal at 94 was one of the saddest moments of the series. His classy 76 in the second innings at Kotla was key to India’s win.

MS Dhoni (7/10): Failed with the bat barring a powerpacked 144 off 175 balls which ensured that India had plenty of time to bowl out the oppositiontwice in the second Test. More importantly, rediscovered wicket-keeping form and effected a couple of smart stumpings. Led calmly and admirably from the front.

Varun Aaron (6.5/10): Nice to see a young Indian pacer bowl regular at 140 kph even at heartless Wankhede. Will be a decent back-up in Australia.

Gautam Gambhir (6/10): The other Delhi opener too showcased a range of middling knocks that promised much more than they finally delivered. Was unlucky to be given out on 55 when he was looking good in the first innings at Wankhede. Should resist tendency to be over-aggressive.

Ishant Sharma (5.5/10): Gets full mark for effort with the ball, and for his gritty lower-order batting act. Now he needs to bowl more often at the stumps and get some wickets too. Five wickets in 109 overs isn’t good enough.

Yuvraj Singh (3/10): Looked out of sorts: short of confidence. Scores of 23, 18 and 25 could have got him another chance in 1970s, not these days. The tumour in his left lung perhaps played on his mind.