Dhoni blames defeat on cramped schedule

Dhoni blames defeat on cramped schedule
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Faced with the prospect of losing the number one tag after conceding a 0-2 lead to England in the ongoing Test series, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed a cramped schedule for his team's poor performance so far.
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He, however, hoped that with considerable rest before the next Test of the four-match series, India will stage a turnaround.
"Somebody said time is of essence here. We came straight from the Caribbean and didn't have time to play more than one (practice) game. So we are playing seven and not four matches back-to-back," said Dhoni after India suffered a crushing 319-run defeat at the hands of England in the second Test at Trent Bridge on Monday.
"It (this series) is a continuation of the West Indies tour and we haven't really had a gap. You need to prepare differently (for England tour). In this respect the next 10 days are very important," he added.
With Virender Sehwag set to join the squad, and Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan likely to be fit for the third Test at Edgbaston on August 10, Dhoni expressed hope of a comeback.
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The series so far has been hard on India and Dhoni admitted that his famed batting line up needs to fire to give the visitors any hope of a turnaround.
"It is important to score and put runs on the board. We have been slightly lacking in this respect. Even in the West Indies, we didn't score runs consistently. We do need improvement in the batting," he said.
"In all the three innings, we haven't been able to see the second new ball through. In conditions such as these, it is vital. We don't want our batters from number eight onwards to be exposed to the second new ball."
Dhoni also seemed concerned about his own form in the series.
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"My form is a bit of concern but my preparation and process is alright and when it's so, you don't really need to worry. It takes only 15 deliveries to strike form," he said.
The Indian skipper said injuries to key players such as Zaheer, Gambhir and Sehwag hampered India.
"We missed Zaheer in the middle of the (first) Test and that too in the first innings. We missed Harbhajan in this game. The openers were missing. Conditions really have been tough for us," Dhoni said.
Dhoni conceded England's batting runs too deep but insisted that it can be managed if he has the services of his top four bowlers.
"Their batting runs quite deep. Only (James) Anderson to some extent doesn't bat. We had them down to 124 for 8 in the first innings and yet they were able to score 100 more runs

Civilian killed in air strikes in Sudan's Darfur UNAMID

Civilian killed in air strikes in Sudan's Darfur UNAMID

At least one civilian was killed and two others injured in recent air strikes in Sudan's Darfur region, which has been witnessing a civil war since 2003, said the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Wednesday.

"A UNAMID patrol investigating reports of recent air strikes in the vicinity of Abu Hamara, located approximately 20 kilometers west of Khor Abeche in South Darfur, has confirmed that such strikes took place, resulting in the death of one civilian and two wounded," UNAMID said in a statement.

A number of villagers have fled their homes in the aftermath of the strikes, according to the statement.

No comment could be immediately obtained from the Sudanese Armed Forces regarding the UNAMID statement.

This is the first such incident reported since the Sudanese government signed a peace agreement with the Darfur Liberation and Justice Movement on July 14 in Doha, Qatar.

However, two major Darfur rebel movements, the Justice and Equality Movement led by Khalil Ibrahim and the alliance of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)/Minni Minnawi faction and SLA/Abdul- Wahid Nur faction, have rejected to sign the agreement and insisted that it was "a partial agreement" that did not fulfill the demands of the Darfur people.

The official Xinhua news agency

The official Xinhua news agency, in a rare piece of criticism from mainstream state media, said the ministry's handling of the crash's aftermath had "done nothing to reassure the public of its professionalism."

"The ministry, as it monopolizes the country's rail transport, has long been dubbed ... 'big rail brother' for its indifference to passengers' needs," it said in the English language commentary.

"The ministry promised to refund passengers whose rail service was canceled after the collision. However, many have found it outrageous that they were told to go back to the exact booth they purchased the ticket, which may be hundreds or thousands of kilometers away."

"ONLY DEVILS COULD BELIEVE"

Comments on China's popular Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo suggested the government will have to work very hard to subdue broad public anger at the crash.

In one online Weibo survey, 98 percent of more than 5,000 respondents answered "only devils could believe" the official death toll of 39.

"We've seen the kind-heartedness of the Chinese people (during this disaster) and the shameless avarice of those who govern us," wrote one person who goes by the name "well-behaved partition 57." "Those who lie to the great Chinese people should be made to pay the price."

The government has now begun paying compensation to the victims' families, with the first family accepting 500,000 yuan ($77,500), according to Xinhua.

Police also released for the first time the names of 28 of the dead along with their places of residence and identity card numbers, Xinhua said. The list included two foreigners -- an Italian and a U.S. citizen.

The Global Times, a widely read tabloid published by the People's Daily, wondered in an editorial why China was able to develop so fast economically yet ignore safety standards taken for granted in the West.