ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Champions League Twenty 20 cricket, T20 World Cup Teams list

Sri Lanka sets India 237 to win

2012-02-14T00:40:00.000-08:00

Sachin Tendulkar will continue his pursuit of a 100th international century as India chases a victory target of 237 against Sri Lanka in a tri-series limited-overs international.

Sri Lanka recovered from two early setbacks to reach 236-9 in Tuesday’s tri-series match, with No. 4 Dinesh Chandimal run out for 81 after sharing important partnerships of 51 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (31) and 94 for the fourth with skipper Mahela Jayawardene (43).

Vinay Kumar took a wicket in the last over and returned the best bowling figures of 3-46 for India. Ravichandran Ashwin took 2-30.

Tendulkar was recalled after being rested for Sunday’s four-wicket win over Australia. The leading batsman in cricket hasn’t posted a century since March.

Sri Lanka hasn’t won a match yet in the series and, after winning the toss and electing to bat, didn’t get away to a positive start.

Vinay Kumar had Upul Tharanga caught behind off the second ball and recalled paceman Irfan Pathan had Tillekeratne Dilshan (16) also caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Sri Lanka struggled to 28-2 in the eight over.

Chandimal and Sangakkara set about slowly recovering the innings and took the total to 79 before Sangakkara got a leading edge as he charged at Ashwin in the 20th over and was caught at point.

Chandimal and Jayawardene both made important contributions before falling within seven deliveries as Sri Lanka lost three wickets for 11 runs. Kumar broke the partnership when he trapped Jayawardene lbw as he returned to the attack in the 37th over. The 22-year-old Chandimal stroked six fours and a six before he was run out to make the total 178-5.

Two overs and only six runs later, Ashwin had Thisara Perera (5) caught at deep mid-off attempting to hit out.

Angelo Mathews (17), whose attempted quick single resulted in Chandimal’s dismissal, was run out himself after guiding Sri Lanka to 210—7 in the 47th over. Sachithra Senanayake scored 22 from 14 balls and was unbeaten at the end of the innings.

Ind vs SL: Angelo Mathews strikes as Sachin Tendulkar misses ton again

2012-02-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

Sachin Tendulkar, who was playing well and looked destine for 100th ton, was bowled by Angelo Mathews for 48 in the second ODI of the tri-series against Sri Lanka at the WACA in Perth.

The master blaster played a sensible knock of 48 off 63 balls, which included five hits to the fence, before Mathews got better of him in the 19th over.

Tendulkar added valuable 75-run for the second wicket with Virat Kohli to revive India run chase after they lost Virender Sehwag (10) early.

Chasing a modest 234-run target, India lost opener Sehwag in the third over to be reduced to 14/1 in 2.3 overs.

Sehwag started in a typical aggressive style as he hit two fours in his short 8-ball stay on the crease before Kulasekara took a running catch at the third man area off the bowling of Lasith Malinga.

Asked to field first, Ravichandran Ashwin (3-32) and Zaheer Khan (2-44) led a fine bowling display by India as they restricted Sri Lanka to 233/8 on Wednesday.

Ashwin dismissed three crucial Sri Lankan middle-order batsmen as the Islanders failed to increase their tempo in the entire match and set a modest 234-run target for the Indians. Ashwin finished his ten overs spell with impressive figure of 3 for 32 runs.

Zaheer started Indian attack on the right note as he took two early wickets after Sri Lanka decided to bat at the bouncy WACA pitch.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-australia/top-stories/Ind-vs-SL-Angelo-Mathews-strikes-as-Sachin-Tendulkar-misses-ton-again/articleshow/11803427.cms

Yuvraj Singh will receive help from government

2012-02-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

Yuvraj Singh, who is undergoing cancer treatment in the United States, has received wishes from Indian Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Sunday.

Maken said the government will help Yuvraj, as the nation prays for his speedy recovery. "Wish Yuvraj a speedy recovery! Asking officials to find the quantum and nature of help required. Government shld & will help him," Maken tweeted last night.

Yuvraj, who played a stellar role in India's ODI World Cup triumph last year, has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the US. (Read)

The 30-year-old left-hander has been in US since last month being treated for what was earlier claimed to be a tumour in the lungs by his family. But it has now been diagnosed as malignant and Yuvraj is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the Cancer Research Institute in Boston.

His physiotherapist Dr Jatin Chaudhary, however, assured that the ailment is curable and the batsman would be fit to resume cricket in May.

"It is a rare tumour and is cancerous but it has been detected in stage one itself. Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy but since parts of the tumour are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running it could burst. But it is 100 per cent curable," Chaudhary said.

"The doctors decided that he would have to undergo chemotherapy and he travelled to the US on January 26. End of March, he would undergo a CT scan and should recover by then. After that it is just some rehabilitation in April before he is fit to be back on the field in May," he added.

"Thankfully no surgery is required, he is already a lot better than what he was and can't wait to be back on the cricket field," he said.

Chaudhary said the detection of cancer was delayed by wrong diagnosis by an Indian hospital.

"His first biopsy report was stolen from his car and the second from a hospital, I don't want to name, did not give the correct diagnosis. It was a Russian doctor who detected the cancer and after consultations with doctors in US, it was decided that Yuvraj would undergo chemotherapy," he said.

"Once he is done with chemo in March, his rehabilitation would be complete by April end and he would be perfectly fit to play in May," he added.

Yuvraj has played 37 Tests, scoring 1775 runs at an average of 34.80.

He has 8051 runs at an average of 37.62 from his 274-match ODI career, the highlight of which was his stellar role in India's World Cup triumph last year.

In 23 Twenty20s, Yuvraj has scored 567 runs at 31.50.

news: http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/item/184992-yuvraj-singh-will-receive-help-from-government-sports-minister

Tendulkar, Dravid & Laxman must retire, feels Reid

2012-01-31T00:40:00.000-08:00

Former Australian pacer Bruce Reid has opined that India’s legendary batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman should retire in the interest of Indian cricket.

Reid was quoted in MiD Day as saying, “India definitely need to blood some new batsmen. There's no doubt that Sachin, Laxman and Dravid have been champion players. But they need to realise that you can't play forever.

“There comes a time, when you reach a certain age, you starting losing your reflexes, eye sight, and so on -- especially if the opposition is bowling as well as the Australians are. I have the utmost respect for the trio -- but they should go out before Indian cricket plunges even further -- not that you can plunge further than the rock bottom it has already hit.

Reid, India’s former bowling coach feels India’s downfall can be attributed to the emphatic bowling performance by the new-look Australian pace-attack.

He said, "I am not saying India didn't bat appallingly (in the just-concluded Test series), but this has been one of the best bowling performances by Australia. They pitched the ball up, swung it and bowled fast. I think after England and South Africa, Australia now has the best up-and-coming attack."

Reid feels he has been disappointed with the way Indian team management have treated talented left-handed pacer Irfan Pathan.

He said, "When I first met Irfan (Pathan) in 2003, I was so impressed with what he had to offer. But I was a bit amazed that he was put up in the batting order.

Source: http://www.cricketcountry.com/cricket-articles/Tendulkar-Dravid-Laxman-must-retire-feels-Reid/10933

IPL auction: Kochi players top pruned list

2012-01-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

Brendon McCullum, VVS Laxman and Sreesanth are the most valued names among several former Kochi Tuskers Kerala players to have been added to a trimmed 144-man list for the upcoming IPL auction in Bangalore on February 4.

The IPL's Governing Council, after releasing a 183-man shortlist to the franchises earlier this month, had said that Kochi players would be added at a later date.

Laxman, the embattled Test batsman, discarded pace bowler Sreesanth and New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum have fetched the highest reserve price of $400,000. The Sri Lankan pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan – who retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup – have been valued at $300,000 followed by RP Singh and Parthiv Patel ($200,000) and Ravindra Jadeja, Vinay Kumar, Ramesh Powar and VRV Singh ($100,000).

Each of these players played for Kochi in IPL-4 before the franchise was terminated by the IPL's Governing Council.

"The shortlist comprises some outstanding cricket talent. Given that it was prepared on the basis of the feedback of the franchises themselves, the stage is set for an exciting and eventful Player Auction, this Saturday," Rajeev Shukla, the IPL chairman, said on the list announced.

There are several new additions to the list, which did not feature on the initial 183-player list. Those to fetch reserve prices of $200,000 are discarded Australian allrounder Steven Smith, former Australia bastman Brad Hodge, England's Ian Bell and Owais Shah and former South African allrounder Nicky Boje.

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/ipl-auction-kochi-players-top-pruned-list/63465-13.html

George Bailey named Australia Twenty20 captain

2012-01-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

Uncapped batsman George Bailey has been named as Australia's new Twenty20 captain after previous skipper Cameron White was dropped from the squad to face India.

White will not feature in the two upcoming matches against India after managing just 55 runs at an average of 7.85 in the Big Bash League.

Bailey, 29, has hit 114 runs at an average of 19 in the BBL.

Brad Hogg, 40, and Brett Lee, 35, have been recalled to face India.

Hogg turns 41 in February but has been outstanding in the BBL, taking 12 wickets for the Perth Scorchers.

Bailey impressed selectors with his captaincy for Australia A against New Zealand in November and replaces White, who took the role when Michael Clarke retired from the format in January last year.

National selection panel chairman John Inverarity said: "George is a very good T20 player with a sound record.

"He is widely respected and regarded as an outstanding captain, having had sustained success in this role.

"Brad Hogg's bowling has been outstanding and his case for inclusion was compelling."

Australia face India on 1 and 3 February.

How to choose the online sports equipment

2012-01-18T00:52:00.000-08:00

Taking pleasure in sports is amazing that millions, if not billions, of folks around the globe do on a regular basis. Despite the fact that most people will by no means intend to be enhanced than they presently are, there will always be those who crave to perk up their routine, and the right quality sports equipments can be of enormous help in attaining this.

If you are one such person who looks for quality in what all you acquire then you should just extend your thought to sports equipment as well. The search for your quality equipment stops at tracknfieldgear as we are establish in offering you the best quality sports equipment that will help you out to do a good ethics over the sports activities conjointly standing for its durability. Here in this article you will be able to find as of how to select the quality sports equipment.

Apart from using it as an athlete it also benefits us to stay fit so it is a complete need that you acquire for the beat quality equipment. Discus is one such leading game and when it comes to Discus all that matters is the speediness, power and techniques are the chief phases to be enclosed as it engages various course of action which are to be well thought-out a lot than others.

When it comes to sports equipment all that matters is the quality because they stand long way to go also helps us in several ways to make us fit. Tracknfieldgear.com is one such online sporting goods store which will help you find the best greater equipment. When you look out for sporting goods all that you must look is the standard of the product.

The advantage of most sports equipment will be declared by the target market of each product. As the gear planned at the greater part of those taking part in sports will be off-the-rack in order to be able to sell them at an inexpensive price, you will normally find that you have to make some compromises. But in terms of these sports equipment, you will find that the superior the class of equipment you use, the better the development in your performance will be. There may be several online sports equipment store but, the need for your quality centered sporting stuffs will end only when you reach tracknfieldgear.

At track and field gear you will be able to find the best superior products and we are one such chief Athletic gear suppliers as well as the most valued sports instruction equipment suppliers in Texas. You will be able to find in hurdles, discus throw, starting blocks, weight lifting equipment, shot put, track equipments and many others.

We believe in long term customer satisfaction so we sell only quality goods.

India need tough security in upcoming tests

2012-01-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Hassled by crowd behaviour during the second cricket Test in Sydney last week, the Indian team management is planning to demand higher security around the boundary rope for the remainder of the series.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Indian team managers are expected to
approach Cricket Australia officials to tighten security around the boundary rope for the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series.

"Upset about remarks made by crowd members to players in the Indian team during the second Test in Sydney last week, officials want extra security to monitor crowd behaviour at the WACA Ground, where the third Test starts on Friday," the paper reported.

Indian middle-order batsman Virat Kohli had displayed his middle finger to the spectators at the SCG, claiming that his mother and sister were verbally abused. Video

"Agree cricketers don't have to retaliate. What when the crowd says the worst things about your mother and sister? The worst I've heard," Kohli had tweeted.

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma also found himself in the middle of a controversy when he flipped a finger after being taunted during the Indian team's day out at a go-karting track here on Monday night. Video

The controversies related to Kohli and Sharma are the latest in a series of incidents that happened between the two countries.

In 2008, the Indian team had threatened to quit the tour after off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with calling Australian player Andrew Symonds a "monkey" during the Sydney Test.

Tendulkar should take counselling: Latif

2012-01-09T02:40:00.000-08:00

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif on Monday suggested that Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar should take counselling from a sports psychologist to get over the "mental block" caused by the continuing wait for his elusive 100th international century.

"He is under pressure no doubt about it. He might not admit it but he is facing a mental block because of this hype over his milestone. It would not be a bad idea for him to get some counselling from a sports psychologist," Latif suggested.

"He is batting well and he is looking good out in the middle. It is just a mental block and pressure that has prevented him from reaching this milestone earlier," he said.

India lost the first two Tests after batting collapses with Tendulkar scoring a half century in each match but failing to get to his elusive 100th international hundred.

Latif said he had a feeling that Sachin would get the hundred in the final Test and definitely in the series. He said the world's top athletes at some time in their career required counselling to get over mental blocks.

"It can happen to anyone," he added. The Indian maestro's last international century came against South Africa in March last year.

Read More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-australia/top-stories/Tendulkar-should-take-counselling-Latif/articleshow/11421689.cms

Indian batting stars under fire after MCG debacle

2011-12-30T22:54:00.000-08:00

The Indian media on Friday lashed out at the country's famed batting line-up for letting the team down in the opening Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Chasing a 292-run target on Thursday, India failed to cope with Australia's pace attack as they were shot out for 169 despite the batting experience of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.

"Melbourne Meltdown" said a Times of India headline after the tourists' 122-run defeat. "Those expecting India's much-vaunted batting line-up to give Australia a run for their money were disappointed when Dhoni and Co surrendered without even putting up a semblance of a fight," the paper wrote.

Australian fast bowlers James Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle all struck it rich on a seamer-friendly track, grabbing 19 of the 20 Indian wickets to lead their side to a crushing victory.

"'Foreign fever' returned to grip the Indian team as Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle tormented them - much like the English bowlers had done in England - with a heady cocktail of pace, bounce and movement served with relentless consistency," said the paper.

It was India's fifth successive Test defeat away from home after a 4-0 loss in England.

"Mauled in Melbourne" the Hindustan Times said on its front page and "Bat-erred India fall apart" on its sports page.

"The chase was always going to be an uphill task, considering the recent barren run which has seen the famed batting line-up not cross the 300-run mark in the last 10 away innings," said the paper.

The Hindu newspaper also blamed the batsmen for defeat, saying the "famed batting line-up fails to deliver".

Ravi Shastri, former India all-rounder and now a noted TV commentator, said the Indian batsmen needed to show grit to bounce back in the four-Test series.

"India need runs from all their main batsmen. Now that bowlers look the part, batters have no business to let them down," he wrote in the Times of India.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this completely turns out to be a bowlers' series. If so, then every run saved or made would count. India have the skills. All they need is resolve," he wrote.

Former India paceman Javagal Srinath said the tourists could fight back.

"Saddled with the reputation of being poor starters overseas, India did precious little to rectify the anomaly in the Melbourne Test," he wrote in the Hindustan Times.

"Barring England, where nothing went right for them, India have bounced back after first-Test losses. There is no reason, given the experience and quality of the India batting, why they can't do so again in Sydney."

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com

Bangladesh v Pakistan - second test scoreboard

2011-12-19T05:10:00.001-08:00

Scoreboard at the close on the third day of the second and final test between Bangladesh and Pakistan on Monday.

Bangladesh first innings 338 (Shakib Al Hasan 144, Shahriar Nafees 97)

Pakistan first innings (overnight 87-1)

Mohammad Hafeez c Rahim b Nazmul Hossain 14

Taufiq Umar c Nafees b Nazmul Hossain 130

Azhar Ali c Rahim b Shakib Al Hasan 57

Younus Khan not out 48

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 26

Extras: (lb-1, nb-15) 17

Total: (three wickets; 96 overs) 292

Fall of wicket: 1-23, 2-150, 3-245

To bat: Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema.

Bowling (to date): Shahadat Hossain 13-1-63-0 (nb-6), Robiul Islam 18-3-65-0 (nb-6), Nazmul Hossain 20-4-51-2 , Mahmudullah 12-2-29-0, Shakib Al Hasan 18-5-28-1, Elias Sunny 8-0-36-0, Nasir Hossain 7-0-19-0

Cricket-Australia board hits back at 'outlandish' fixing claims

2011-10-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

Oct 11 (Reuters) - Cricket Australia (CA) has hit back at allegations Australian players are involved in match-fixing, saying the claims made by a sports agent were "baseless and outlandish".

Sports agent Mazhar Majeed, accused of taking bribes to fix matches, had said Australian cricketers were "the biggest" culprits of fixing and they fixed "brackets", a set period of a match on which punters bet, a London court heard on Monday.

In response, CA Chief Executive James Sutherland told reporters that the allegations appeared to be "outlandish".

"The sweeping statements unfairly malign Australian cricketers," Sutherland said on Tuesday. "We haven't been able to speak to the International Cricket Council overnight ... but we will definitely make contact with them very quickly."

Sutherland said the world governing body of the sport had a very sophisticated anti-corruption unit and he would have been tipped off by the ICC if an Australian cricketer was on the radar.

"The ICC attend every single international cricket match with their anti-corruption unit and there is nothing I have heard to suggest that there are Australian players who are of interest to them," he added.

Agent Majeed, 36, told an undercover journalist that match-fixing had been going on "for centuries" and named celebrated former Pakistan fast-bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as alleged participants, the court heard.

The CA chief said it would work with the ICC to investigate a player if any credible evidence was uncovered.

"If we charge players and we find them guilty we will have no qualms about issuing a life sentence on players who are found guilty of match fixing," he added.

New cricket rules start this weekend

2011-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

Two new balls will be used by a fielding side from each end in one-day cricket when revised rules for the international game come into force on Saturday.

The changes were approved by the International Cricket Council's Executive Board in May, following proposals from its Cricket Committee.

Besides two new balls, to be used in alternate overs, there will also be a change in powerplays in ODIs.

The total number of powerplay overs will remain at 20 per innings with the first block of 10 being at the start of the innings.

"The remaining second and third block of (five) powerplay overs may not be taken so as to commence earlier than the 16th over nor be completed later than the 40th over," the ICC said Thursday in a statement.

The restrictions will not apply for reduced innings of a scheduled duration of less than 40 overs.

A runner will not be allowed for an injured player during Test, ODI or Twenty20. However, the injured or ill batsman will have the option of retiring hurt and returning to bat at the fall of ninth wicket.

In another development, if an umpire feels that a batsman, while running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction and obstructed a fielder's attempt to run him out, the batsman should be given out for obstructing the field.

"It shall not be relevant whether the run out would have been affected or not," the ICC said, adding that "the on-field umpires are entitled to consult the third umpire in deciding whether the obstruction was willful or not."

Other changes provide extra time to complete a Test match and affect a bowler's attempt to run out a non-striker before delivery.

Umpires can decide to play 15 minutes - a minimum of four overs - of extra time at a scheduled lunch or tea interval if requested by a captain and if, "in the umpires' opinion, it would bring about a definite result in that session," the amended rule states.

KKR hope to leave Redbacks red-faced

2011-09-27T00:56:00.000-07:00

Is the South Australian Redbacks' ploy of playing three specialist spinners in the Champions League backfiring on them? The strategy may have worked well from them in the Big Bash competition where the matches were played on bigger grounds. But here the smaller grounds make it more difficult for the bowlers as even a mishit may go for a six.

On Sunday, against a rampaging Jon-Jon Smuts, the Redbacks were at the receiving end of his willow as the Warriors tore the spin attack to shreds. Skipper Michael Klinger and coach Darren Berry will have to give a rethink on their strategy as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Group B match at the RJIC Stadium, on Tuesday night.

The way Yusuf Pathan smashed four consecutive sixes off part-time spinner Arul Suppiah will undoubtedly play on the mind of the Redbacks. The Knight Riders have a strong batting line-up and containing them will not be that easy.

Klinger admitted that his side didn't bowl well. "We gave loose deliveries too often," he said. "We normally execute very well with the kind of deliveries we want to bowl, but today they were hitting them," he said after his side suffered an embarrassing 50-run loss to the Warriors.

He, however, did not lay the entire blame on the bowlers. "They played better than us. There are no excuses. We did not execute our basic skills well and lost wickets regularly. The run rate was high and they did well to contain us," Klinger said.

IPL franchise caught short

2011-09-20T01:55:00.000-07:00

Dubai: It was a day of dramatic events and intrigue at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday. The BCCI's annual general body meeting in Mumbai on Monday decided to terminate the contract of the Kerala franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over non-payment of bank guarantees.

The Kochi Tuskers team which had never quite overcome a controversial start in the lucrative league is said to have defaulted on Rs1.56 billion (Dh117.96 million) in annual payments. The franchise had repeatedly ignored reminders from IPL authorities.

Incidentally the franchise had been bought for Rs15.50 billion and was supposed to make annual payments over a ten-year period.

New office-bearers of the BCCI were also elected during the meeting, with N. Srinivasan formally taking over as the new BCCI president after Sashank Manohar served out two terms.

Source:

Kochi Tuskers threaten BCCI with legal action

2011-09-19T05:38:00.001-07:00

Kochi Tuskers have threatened legal action after the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise's contract was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its Annual General Meeting here on Monday.

The BCCI terminated Kochi Tuskers' contract after the franchise, despite repeated reminders, defaulted on a Rs. 156 crore annual payment it was to make as bank guarantee.

"Because of the irremedial breach committed by the Kochi franchise, the BCCI has decided to encash the bank guarantee in their possession and also terminate the franchise. We have terminated the franchise because the breach is not capable of being remedied," said new BCCI president N.Srinivasan in Mumbai.

But Kochi Tuskers director Mukesh Patel told IANS that they don't have any dues outstanding and in fact the BCCI owes them Rs. 12-15 crore next month as a share in the central revenue.

"We don't have any outstanding dues with the BCCI. The termination is illegal. We will take them (BCCI) to court. In fact, the BCCI will be paying us Rs. 12-15 crore next month as a part of our central revenue," said Patel.

The franchise was bought by a consortium, comprising some Gujarat-based businessmen, last year for a whopping Rs. 1,550 crore. According to rules, franchises have to pay the amount in 10 equal instalments.

It has been in the news right from the start due to rift between the owners, who also wanted to shift the team's base to Ahmedabad.

The BCCI in the past had also turned down Kochi Tuskers' request to cut down their franchise fees. Kochi owners were promised 18 games in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document but it was cut down to 14 as the fourth edition was reduced to a 74-game tournament.

The IPL was earlier planned to be a 94-match tournament but due to hectic international calendar it was cut down to 74 matches.

India vs England: Statistical highlights, fifth ODI

2011-09-17T01:53:00.000-07:00

The Statistical highlights from the fifth and final ODI between England and India in Cardiff.

# England's 3-0 series triumph is their biggest in a bilateral series against India without losing a single game.

# England have won 33 and lost 38 out of the 76 matches contested against India - winning % 46.57 (NR 3 and Tied 2).

# India (304/6) have recorded their fifth total of 300 or more against England in England in ODIs.

# India have registered their highest total in international games against England in 2011, eclipsing their 300 in The Oval Test.

# Alastair Cook became the first England skipper to win all five tosses in a bilateral series and the second English captain overall. Alec Stewart had won all five tosses as England skipper in the 1999 World Cup.

# Virat Kohli (107) has become the second Indian player to register a hundred against England in England.

# Kohli's innings is the highest by an Indian batsman against England in England, bettering Sachin Tendulkar's 105 not out off 108 balls at Chester-le-Street on July 4, 2002.

# Kohli has become the sixth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar (three), Rahul Dravid (twice), Sourav Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja and Kapil Dev to register a hundred in ODIs in England.

# Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli were involved in a stand of 170 - India's highest against England in England for the third wicket, oovertaking the 104 between Dravid and Sourav Ganguly at Birmingham on August 27, 2007.

# The aforesaid partnership is India's second highest for the third wicket against England, next only to the 175 between Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin at Gwalior on March 4, 1993.

# The above stand is the highest for any wicket at Sophia Gardens, surpassing the 154 for the first wicket between Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith for South Africa against Zimbabwe on July 5, 2003.

# The 170-run stand is the highest put on by Dravid against England for any wicket, obliterating the 169-run partnership for the fourth wicket at Chester-le-Street on July 4, 2002.

# Virat Kohli (107) has posted his highest innings against England, obliterating the 55 at Chester-le-Street on September 3, 2011.

# Kohli's aforesaid innings is his (highest away from home) joint second highest in ODIs - his highest being 118 against Australia at Visakhapatnam on October 20, 2010.

# Kohli has registered six centuries in ODIs - two against Bangladesh and one each against England, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka.

# Kohli has recorded three hundreds each in India and away from home.

# Kohli's strike rate of 115.05 is his second highest amongst his centuries in ODIs, next only to the 100 not out off 83 balls (SR 120.48) against Bangladesh at Dhaka on February 19, 2011.

# Rahul Dravid (648 at an average of 38.11 in 20 matches) has become the leading Indian run-getter against England in England, overtaking Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 639 at an average of 39.93 in 17 matches.

# Mahendra Singh Dhoni (236 at an average of 78.66 in five matches) has equalled an Indian record as captain in a bilateral series against England. Sourav Ganguly had the same tally - 236 in five matches at an average of 47.20 in 2001-02.

# Dhoni has recorded three fifties in succession for the first time against England - 69 at The Oval, 78 not out at Lord's and 50 not out at Cardiff.

# Dhoni has recorded a strike rate of 192.30 while posting a fifty - 50 not out off 26 balls - the highest by an Indian against England in ODIs (minimum 50), surpassing Yuvraj Singh's 176.92 at Rajkot on November 14, 2008 during his innings of 138 not out off 78 balls.

# Ravindra Jadeja has recorded his fourth duck in ODIs - his first against England.

# Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer for India in ODIs in 2011 - 868 at an average of 39.45 in 24 matches.

# Kohli's 107 is the highest individual innings at Cardiff, obliterating the 100 by Mohammad Ashraful against Australia on June 18, 2005.

# Dhoni's sixth fifty against England is his 41st in ODIs.

# Among the captains with 1500 runs or more as captain in ODIs, Dhoni's average of 53.63 (3808 runs in 107 matches) is the highest.

# Rahul Dravid has signed off his ODI career with an excellent innings - 69 off 79 balls.

# Dravid's 83rd fifty in ODIs is his eleventh against England.

# Dravid has completed his 1,000 runs against England in ODIs - 1012 (ave.38.92) in 30 matches. He has become the fourth Indian to do so against England, joining Tendulkar (1455), Yuvraj (1187) and Virender Sehwag (1008).

Source:

IPL to get new chairman at BCCI AGM

2011-09-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

The BCCI is set to elect a new chairman for the cash-rich Indian Premier League at its 82nd Annual General Meeting scheduled here on September 19.

The need to elect a new person to head the IPL arose after incumbent Chirayu Amin expressed his desire to step down from the post.

"Chirayu Amin wants to step down from the chairmanship of IPL because of his commitments. So a new chairman would have to be elected at the AGM. This is one of the items listed on the agenda of the meeting," sources said.

Amin took over the reins when the IPL was rocked by the Lalit Modi fracas that saw the then prime mover of the league being sacked at the end of the third season in 2010.

The indications are that Rajiv Shukla, currently vice president from the Central Zone, would become the new chief of this important sub-committee of the BCCI.

Sources, however, said that the appointment of a CEO, as speculated in the media, to run the Board's affairs is not a listed item on the agenda of the meeting which would pass the annual accounts and annual report of the secretary.

President-elect N Srinivasan, who would complete his term as the Secretary of the Board, is poised to take over as the new chief from incumbent Shashank Manohar who would step down after the completion of his term at the helm.

The appointment of the new selection committees including the senior panel, is also one of the important items on the agenda of the meeting along with the election of various office bearers.

Among the senior panel members, North Zone's Yashpal Sharma has completed his tenure and would be replaced but it is still not clear whether there would be other changes, including that of the Chairman -- a post currently occupied by Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

The selectors were under fire from various quarters outside the Board for the poor display of the Indian team in England so soon after winning the coveted World Cup on April 2.

The team was whitewashed 0-4 in the Test rubber, clearly outplayed in all departments and beset by a spate of injuries to several key players, to lose its top ranking in the most important format of the game.

Later it was beaten in the ODI series too by hosts England who are not among the top teams in the 50-over format for quite some time.

There are also clear indications Orissa Cricket Association Chief, Ranjib Biswal could become the new secretary as he, apparently, has the backing of both Manohar and Srinivasan.

Former Joint Secretary and incumbent treasurer M P Pandove's name is also doing the rounds.

But it remains to be seen whether he has sufficient support among the members as he is the secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association headed by I S Bindra who is close to the Board's persona non grata, Modi.

Things would become clear on September 18 evening when the nominations for the various posts are filed and the withdrawals too, if necessary, are gone through on the same day.

More trouble heading BCCI's way

2011-09-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Major trouble seems to be heading the Board of Cricket Control in India's way with the Parliament Standing Committee slamming the cricketing body. Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken is sure to use the revelations from the Standing Committee to push for greater government control over cricket.

The committee had said, "Cricket & IPL's economic & financial wrong-doings must be examined. The game's image must not be tarnished due to off-field events."

The Parliament Standing Committee investigating the tax exemptions given to the BCCI also stated that the Indian board needs to get its house in order.

The report also adds that BCCI President elect N Srinivasan admitted that the board cannot shift all blame on the exiled Former Chairman Lalit Modi.

The Committee has noted that the Board had been enjoying questionable tax benefits having got exemption to the tune of Rs 225 cr before 2007 & having submitted only Rs 92 crore out of the Rs 118 crore that was demanded in 2007.

Moreover out of the Rs 375 crore Tax that that was demanded in 2 years from 2007 to 09, the BCCI has paid only Rs 249 crore.

The Committee said it's astonished that the Income Tax Department could not finalise the assessment of income of BCCI for the last three years.

The IPL finances have been severely critised. The BCCI & IPL have paid only Rs 5 crore as service tax out of the demanded Rs 160 crore payable from franchisee fees & sale of advertisement space etc.

With the tax evasion net now exposed, the committee maintains that current BCCI bosses cannot pass the buck on one person.

Committee would like the investigating agencies to look into all matters relating to breach of law and identify and punish all those persons responsible for the same without further loss of time.

Parliamentary committee has now asked the investigating agencies to look into matters relating to breach of law, & punish those responsible, without any further loss of time.

The investigations are to be completed in 6 months and top BCCI bosses seem to have a tough road ahead.

When Ponting urged Dravid not to retire

2011-08-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting claims that he persuaded Rahul Dravid against retiring when the Indian batsman was written off after a string of low scores last year. Ponting also said that Dravid reciprocated the support by inspiring him during his lean patch.

Dravid, the lone Indian batsman to perform well in the team’s recent 0-4 Test whitewash at the hands of England with 461 runs, was woefully out of form last year and Ponting said he encouraged the veteran right-hander to carry on despite the criticism.

“I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished,” Ponting told ‘ESPNcricinfo’. “I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said ‘don’t you even think about retiring’ because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player.

“I just said ‘don’t let them wear you down, don’t let them get you down’. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well,” he added.

The 36-year-old Ponting has not scored a Test century since January last year but he is confident of regaining his touch and he is looking upto Dravid for inspiration.

“There are a few (who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years). Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Jacques) Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now.

“It’s not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it’s good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you’ve got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game,” he said.

Speaking about the state of the game in general, Ponting said he is worried about the impact of Twenty20 on youngsters. “The big worry I’ve had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids’ careers is that it won’t teach them the art of concentration.

“Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that’s how long it took them,” he said.

Source:

Cricket: KP wants victory after record stand

2011-08-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

KEVIN Pietersen and Ian Bell ground India down at The Oval – but their record triple-century stand will take on extra significance only if it underpins a fourth successive npower Test victory.

Pietersen at least felt that way as he assessed his 175 – and Bell’s unbeaten 181 – in a stumps total of 457 for three.

England are in position to bat India further out of this fourth Test today, and then hope to bowl them out twice on a very good pitch in pursuit of a 4-0 whitewash at some point over the next three days.

Pietersen recalls from his own experience, as a 2006-07 Ashes tourist, the misery of a whitewash.

Asked if he takes extra pleasure in demoralising opposition, he said: “As long as we make that count and win the Test match, then yes.

“If we don’t win the Test match, then no.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of a whitewash, but it’s not for us to worry about what’s happening in the Indian rooms; it’s for us to make sure we win the first hour tomorrow and over the next three days we get the 20 Indian wickets.”

While Bell can hope for a maiden double-century in the morning, Pietersen has 19 Test hundreds – alongside team-mates Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, and just three short of England’s all-time best.

He said: “It would be nice to get a record, but I think there are a lot of players in this team who are going to get more than 22 hundreds.

“They will do.

“It’s be amazing to be part of a team where you’ve got guys who are hitting hundreds like this.

“It’s not a competition; it’s not a race. It’s just a case of winning games for England, getting us into position where we can win games.”

He fell short of a second double-hundred in this series, but added: “Nicking my first two balls for four this morning off (Shantha) Sreesanth, if somebody had said to me ‘you can have 175 and that’s it’ I would have said ’thank you, goodbye.’”

The former skipper could still reflect on his fourth hundred at a venue where he memorably made his first to help England clinch the 2005 Ashes, and which is now his home ground as a Surrey batsman.

Of his other Oval centuries, he said: “South Africa in 2008 was special, because it was the first Test of only three or four I captained.

“Getting Test hundreds is something you dream about when you’re a kid and then trying to make a profession as a cricketer – so any Test hundred is amazing.

“To score four here now is pretty cool.”

Sreesanth was one of four frontline India bowlers to suffer against Pietersen and Bell.

But he was happy to voice his admiration for England’s third-wicket pair.

“After lunch they took charge again, and credit to them,” he said. “It was not really bad bowling, but they took charge and just kept going.”

India batsmen collapse in England cricket Test

2011-08-10T05:50:00.001-07:00

Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan inflicted fresh misery upon India as the tourists collapsed to 75 for four at lunch on the first day of the third Test at Edgbaston here on Wednesday.

The recalled Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar managed just one run between them while Rahul Dravid was out for 22 to what turned out to be the last ball before lunch.

It all left England, already 2-0 up, in command of a match where a victory would not only see them win this four-match series but also replace India at the top of the ICC's Test Championship table.

Bresnan, who starred with both bat and ball in England's crushing 319-run second Test win at Trent Bridge, had lunch figures of two for 13 in 7.2 overs, including a spell of two for five in 10 balls.

Meanwhile Broad, who took a hat-trick on his Nottinghamshire home ground last time out and scored valuable runs, had two for 32 in nine overs.

England, who saw captain Andrew Strauss elect to field after winning the toss in overcast, seam-bowler friendly conditions saw Broad strike first ball to remove Sehwag for a golden duck.

Sehwag, playing his first match of the series after shoulder surgery and one of the world's most dynamic opening batsman, tried to sway out of the way of a short ball from Broad but gloved through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Steve Davis initially said not out but England immediately asked for a review and third umpire Rod Tucker, Davis's fellow Australian, correctly ruled in their favour.

Dravid, back in his familar number three spot after making a century while opening in Gambhir's injury absence at Trent Bridge, drove Broad for two fours in successive balls.

But first-change Bresnan ended a stand worth 51 when left-hander Gambhir inside-edged onto his stumps for a 38 featuring seven boundaries.

Gambhir's exit brought in Tendulkar who, as he has done all series, received a standing ovation as he walked to the crease in pursuit of an unprecedented 100th international hundred.

But Tendulkar made just one who before he was lured into playing a Broad delivery outside off-stump he might have left and edged to third slip Anderson.

Dravid, nicknamed 'the Wall' for his resilience was then bowled off-stump by a superb Bresnan delivery, having hit eight fours.

Cricket Australia likely to send their players to SLPL

2011-06-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Cricket Australia (CA) is likely to allow its players to participate in next month's inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament.

CA's stand is in stark contrast to the one of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which banned its players from taking part in SLPL, leaving the island nation "surprised and hurt".

BCCI said the involvement of the Singapore-based private firm Somerset Entertainment Ventures in the running of SLPL was the reason for it denying permission to play for Indian cricketers.

CA acting chief executive Michael Brown said he would discuss details of the tournament, which runs from July 19 to Aug 4, with Sri Lanka Cricket officials at the International Cricket Council's annual conference in Hong Kong next week, but indicated it had CA's "in principle" support.

"We've got a number of CA camps during July, so our players will be training in preparation for the tour (of Sri Lanka) two days after the SLPL finishes - they'll be locked into camps," Brown was quoted as saying in The Telegraph. "For the other guys, we just need to find out what the comp is, who's involved.

"We want to support Sri Lanka Cricket, like we want them to support us. We want their players to play in our Big Bash."

The SLPL will be played in Colombo and feature seven teams, each with up to five international players.

The fact that Australia's tour of Sri Lanka begins with limited-overs matches should preclude any CA-contracted players from participating.

But some state players, such as Victoria's Brad Hodge and Dirk Nannes, and South Australia's Aiden Blizzard and Daniel Christian, are already confirmed participants.

Bhopal to have international cricket stadium

2011-06-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

With Bhopal fast emerging as a major sports centre in the country, the city will soon get a state-of-the-art cricket stadium as announced by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"As per the announcement by the chief minister we have identified land at four places near Bhopal for the construction of the international level cricket stadium," Bhopal Collector, Nikunj Shrivastava told PTI.

"We have identified nearly 50 acre of land each at Mugalia Chaap, Mugalia Kot, Barkheda Nathu and Fatehpur Dogra villages for the construction of the stadium and a proposal in this regard has been sent to the Sports Directorate for selecting the suitable land at any of the above places," the Collector said.

"Once they identify the suitable land, the district administration will allot it to the concerned agency for the development of the international level cricket stadium," he said.

After India's World Cup final victory over Sri Lanka in April this year, Chouhan had announced to build a world class cricket stadium in Bhopal soon.

At present, international level cricket matches in the state are held at Indore and Gwalior.

Bhopal also boasts of having National Sailing School at the famous Upper Lake where national level sailing and other water sports have become a regular feature.

Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Uddhav Das Mehta Central Regional Centre is also located in the city at Gora Bishankhedi village, spread across 100 acres.

The Centre has world-class sports infrastructure and hosts the conditioning camp for national men's and women's hockey teams.

Bhopal is also known as the nursery of hockey in the country and the city regularly holds Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup tournament.

MP's sports director, Sanjay Choudhry told PTI that keeping in mind the state's sports potential, the government has raised the sports budget to Rs 32 crore which is six crore more than the previous year.

Not only Bhopal, but Indore and Gwalior too have emerged as major sports centres in the state.

Indore not only hosts international level cricket tournaments, but also national and international level tennis, basketball, table tennis and shooting championships.

Gwalior also boasts of major sports facilities which included Captain Roop Singh Stadium for cricket matches and Laxmibai National University of Physical Education.

India aim to strengthen hold, WI aim revival

2011-06-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

It was not the most comprehensive of wins but having taken a morale-boosting 1-0 lead in the series, India would look to press home the advantage against a nervy West Indies in the second one-dayer, on Wednesday.

The four-wicket win in the first one-dayer came after a wobbly start and the second-string Indian team would be aiming to plug the loopholes as the series progresses.

Missing key players Sachin Tendulkar and regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the young team led by Suresh Raina benefited from the West Indians' follies in the lung-opener.

The Caribbeans, on the other hand, would hope to tilt the scale in their favour by picking up on the few positives they gained from the four-wicket loss at the Queen's Park Oval here on Monday night.

The hosts might have lost the first game by four wickets but they were probably 30 runs and a wicket away from walking away as winners.

Even though the pitch was sluggish, West Indies could have tested India with a score of 250-plus. That score was a possibility till key men Ramnaresh Sarwan (56) and Marlon Samuels (55), after an 82-run fourth wicket stand, departed in the final overs.

And when the Indians batted, another wicket around the midway stage with the visitors struggling at 104 for 4, could have brought them to their knees.

None of it happened and West Indies went down with five overs to spare.

Encouragingly for the hosts though, experienced batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan showed signs of returning to his best and there was much heart to be drawn in the performance of young spinners Devendra Bishoo and Anthony Martin.

West Indies could do with a little more firepower at their command in the second match and it wouldn't be a surprise if Kieron Pollard figures in the starting XI.

The all-rounder, without a fail, is an asset on the field and on his day, can win a game for the side with either bat or ball.

Pollard was left out of the game probably as a slap on his wrist for not preferring regional competition over the Indian Premier League (IPL). Now that the point has been made, he could be asked to bolster the side.

West Indies would also be encouraged by the lack of firepower at the Indians' command.

Even though the visiting spinners are difficult to get away, they are more economical than destructive in their spells.

Only if West Indies could rotate the strike - they played no less than 29.2 overs as dot balls on Monday - they could yet push Indians into disarray.

For Indians, the worry is the apparent lack of class among openers. Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan have been pitch-forked to fill in for the injured duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and their start was not too impressive.

But India's strength lies in its middle-order which has a talented bunch of batsmen including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In fact, both of them came good in the opening match with half-centuries.

Only if West Indies could get into India's middle order quickly and strike one or two fortuitous blows, they could still get the Indians in a spot.

Even though spinners are a strength for the Indians and the hosts are playing into their hands, the visitors would be happy if openers could inspire faith and there is more firepower in their bowling attack.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, preferred ahead of R Ashwin, was impressive and so was Harbhajan Singh but there was little to suggest the visitors have the necessary edge to their attack.

The pace department is missing Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel would have to produce a special effort to prove himself a worthy replacement.

But given that the West Indians are desperately missing a certain Chris Gayle, the odds still favour the Suresh Raina and his men.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Carlton Baugh (wk), Andre Russell, Anthony Martin, Devendra Bishoo, Ravi Rampaul.

India: Suresh Raina (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ramachandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma.

Ganguly hopeful of playing in IPL 2012

2011-06-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

After an ordinary showing in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly Thursday said he hoped to feature in the next season of the cash-rich league as well.

"A lot of players moved in to new teams. I have moved to Pune Warriors in the late stage of the tournament. Hopefully, I will feature in the next season as well," Ganguly said.

The 38-year-old, who was not picked by his old IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders this season, failed to find a team when the players went under the hammer for the tourney in January.

However, the window to the IPL opened for the charismatic left hander when he was included in the Pune Warriors side in the later stages of the tournament, replacing an injured Ashish Nehra.

However, Ganguly could score only 50 runs in three innings at an average of 25.00.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme, Ganguly predicted that the Indian team would win the West Indies series.

"India will surely win the West Indies tour. I am also backing them against England but beating them would be tough," he said.

India take on West Indies in June followed by a long tour of England in July.

The man regarded as one of the best Indian captains ever was all praise for the incumbent skipper M.S. Dhoni. "He is the main man. He has won us the World Cup and straight after that he led his team to IPL glory. He is a wonderful captain and a player."

Asked about India going into the tour without seasoned campaigners like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, Ganguly replied: "It's a very good chance for youngsters."

He said youngsters like Wriddhiman Saha should make the best of any opportunity.

"For me, what's more important is opportunity. So if Parthiv (Patel) is there, I don't know how many chances he (Saha) will get. He should make the best of any opportunity," he added.

Indian cricket team arrives in West Indies

2011-06-02T04:05:00.001-07:00

A depleted Indian cricket team, sans Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, arrived here for a one-off T-20 and an ODI series against the West Indies, starting on Saturday.

Smartly dressed in a tee and trousers, the Indian players landed at around 20.30 Hrs (local time) on Wednesday at the Piarco International Airport here and were received by officials of Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) and sponsors Digicel.

The Suresh Raina-led Indian side looked tired and exhausted after their long flight from Mumbai via London and Barbados.

Stand-in skipper Raina’s eyes were blood-shot from lack of sleep and a few team members looked dishevelled from the exertions of a long, trans-Atlantic flight.

Even though he looked tired and sleepless, Raina exuded confidence that his young team will do whatever it takes to win the lone T-20 game and the five-match ODI series against the Caribbeans.

“It’s a young side. The players want to do well for the country and themselves. They are extremely motivated,” said Raina after arriving here last evening.

Vice-captain Harbhajan Singh too opined that the starless Indian team would not be short of motivation in the upcoming series, irrespective of their relentless cricket schedule.

“These are young boys who are looking to build a career for itself. I don’t think tiredness or fatigue would be a factor,” said the off-spinner.

Sachin laughs off 'emphatic 100th ton' theory

2011-05-31T01:50:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar stated the reason for him opting out of June-July's three-Test series in the West Indies.

"I just want to spend some time with my family. I have not had time with my children. If I don't spend time with them now (during their school holidays), I would have to wait for one more year to do so. The kids (daughter Sara and son Arjun) are very thrilled because we hadn't discussed this with them, so they didn't know anything. It was a surprise for them," he said on Monday. (Also Read: Durani tells Sachin to go for 400 )

"I could make out that they wanted me to be with them because of their school holidays coinciding."

Tendulkar was rested for the one-day series against the West Indies, but when it came to the Test series, he requested the Board to leave him out. He will be available for the tour of England involving four Tests and a one-day series.

No one can stop the theories though. The batting genius laughed at one about him not going to the West Indies because he wants to get his 100th international century at Lord's, a venue that will host the 100th India vs England Test (July 21-25) and the 2000th game in the history of Test cricket. "How can you plan such things?" he asked.

Respected West Indies writer Fazeer Mohammed connected Tendulkar's Caribbean absence to the state of the game in the region. "But there was obviously something missing that made India's batting maestro determine that a month in the Caribbean and the prospect of a couple really big innings was worth passing up. Maybe it was the challenge. Maybe it was the sense of occasion. Maybe it was both.

"To put it bluntly: milking our bowlers on the way to a 100th senior international hundred in a near-empty stadium would have been the equivalent of Barcelona defeating Manchester United on a Sunday morning at the Aranjuez Savannah with ten men and two dogs in attendance and two vagrants sleeping at the back of the pavilion," Mohammed wrote in the Trinidad Express.

Earlier, Tendulkar stated: "As I have been playing continuous cricket over the last 10 months which started during the Sri Lankan series in July 2010, I had requested the Cricket Board to allow me to spend some quality time with the family as it coincides with my children's holidays and hence will not be available for the series in the West Indies. I would appreciate everyone's understanding of my decision and look forward to be back shortly post the series."

Post 2000, Tendulkar has been part of Test series wins in England, Pakistan and New Zealand but when it came to the 2005-06 Test series victory in the West Indies, he was injured. So, in all probability, he will end his career without experiencing a Test series triumph in the Caribbean.

That could be a regret, but only just, considering what he said a few years ago: "Getting married and having kids nothing matches that."

England vs Sri Lanka (Eng vs Sl) 1st Test Live Highlights

2011-05-27T01:49:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka vs England Live Cricket Highlights: The first test match between England Vs Sri Lanka scheduled will be happen on 26th,Thursday-May-2011, and kickoff time at 14:30 G.M.T, 20:00 I.S.T.

England vs Sri Lanka first Test match cricket is exciting, because they face each other at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff today.

It is thought that this England team is one of the best English cricket teams of all time. Over the next three months we'll see where they stand as they face Sri Lanka and then India.

In this test series in England, may find it difficult dislodge the powerful batting lineup of Sri Lanka which includes Sangakarra, Jayawardene, Dilshan, Samaweera, and Paranavitana.

Head-to-head: England has won 8 matches and Sri Lanka won 6 matches out of 21, while the remaining 7 matches were draws.

England vs Sri Lanks 1st Teams:

England 1st Test Team: AJ Strauss (c), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior (wk), SC Broad, GP Swann, JM Anderson, CT Tremlett.

Sri Lanka 1st Test Team: T Dilshan (c), NT Paranavitana, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samareewa, HAPW Jayawardene (wk), MF Maharoof, NLTC Perera, HMRKB Herath, UWMBCA Welegedara, CRD Fernando.

Umpires: BR Doctrove (West Indies) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Third umpire: RJ Tucker (Australia). Fourth umpire: DJ Millns (England).

Sri Lanka vs England Live Match Details:

Fight Against: England Vs Sri Lanka,

Date: 26th, Thursday-May-2011,

Time: 14:30 G.M.T, 20:00 I.S.T,

Venue: Sophia Gardens at Cardiff, Wales.

Chennai back in IPL final with a bang

2011-05-25T02:15:00.000-07:00

Super batting by Suresh Raina (73, 50b; 4x4, 6x6) and Albie Morkel (28, 10b; 1x4, 3x6) helped Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in the 1st qualifier at Wankhede stadium and enter the IPL final for the second successive year on Tuesday. Chasing 176 for victory, CSK were in a spot of bother when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was out in the 17th over but Raina and Morkel changed the script with an undefeated 46-run stand off 18 balls.

The turning point of the match came in the 19th over when Morkel clobbered Sreenath Aravind for two successive sixes and Raina hit the third over mid-wicket. The left arm seamer conceded 21 runs and the fifth wicket pair completed the formalities by knocking off the required 12 in the 20th over. Morkel signalled CSK’s stunning win by hitting left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori over mid-wicket for a six. It was billed as Super Kings versus Super Gayle. But the law of averages caught up with the big-hitting Gayle. However, Virat Kohli resurrected RCB with a 44-ball 70 (5x4, 3x6) to take them to a formidable 175 for 4 in 20 overs.

When CSK began their chase, the asking rate was a little over eight but they lost the first two wickets in the first two overs. Zaheer Khan dismissed Mike Hussey with his sixth delivery having the Aussie plumb in front and in the next over Aravind removed Murali Vijay in similar fashion as CSK stuttered to 7-2. S Badrinath (34) and Raina added 63 off 58 balls to weather the early storm. But Badrinath’s attempt to hit Abhimanyu Mithun over extra-cover failed and was caught by a running Aravind. But Raina kept CSK in the hunt with amazing shots. He hit Mithun for 23 runs in his third over, which included two sixes and one four.

But Gayle’s fastish off-spin and the guile of skipper Vettori put the brakes on Raina’s aggressive batting ploy to leave CSK gasping for breath. The run-rate mounted to over 13. Raina slammed his fourth sixth to reach his 50 off 41 balls and Dhoni, too, joined the party. He hoisted Zaheer for a six but was out the next ball. However, Raina hit Zaheer over mid-wicket for a six, as the bowler leaked as many as 20 runs. Although Dhoni departed, man of the match Raina and Morkel destroyed RCB’s hopes. Earlier, the near empty stadium saw the early departure of Gayle as the left-hander’s run-spree came to a halt. He lasted only nine deliveries. Off-spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin had the big opener trapped in front with his third delivery. Going for a sweep shot, Gayle missed and umpire Simon Taufel had no hesitation in declaring him out. Gayle had struck Ashwin for a six in the previous delivery.

RCB had the best period of batting when Kohli and left-hander Luke Pomersbach (18-ball 29) were involved in a 48-run fourth-wicket partnership off 29 balls. It gave some momentum to the faltering RCB innings. Pomersbach slammed two fours and one six in Bravo’s third over. This partnership changed the course of RCB’s innings.

Sakshi Dhoni enjoys cricket, not attention

2011-05-23T03:13:00.000-07:00

So what exactly does it mean to be Indian cricket's first lady? Ask Sakshi Dhoni and she'd perhaps be unaware.

Sakshi and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's love story that began in March 2008 was India's best-kept secret for two years before the duo tied the knot last July. Just like Dhoni's personal life has been aloof since his onset eight years back, his wife appears to be just as guarded.

Sakshi was spotted at P2 Pavilion here at Chinnaswamy Stadium during Sunday's game. She was sitting by herself, enjoying the cricket, not the types who grab attention. There was a bodyguard of sorts who was with her the whole time, but Sakshi seemed to be totally unaware of his presence. Even when she went to serve herself dinner during the mid-innings break, Sakshi was uncomfortable having a bodyguard around her, and may have gestured that she needn't be followed around.

Hailing from a typical middle-class household, Sakshi is said to be a simple girl who happened to floor the Indian skipper during their meeting at Taj Bengal in December 2007. A hotel management student, she was interning at the hotel where India and Pakistan were put up ahead of their clash at Eden Gardens.

When MiD DAY asked her how she was enjoying travelling with the Chennai Super Kings this IPL season, Sakshi said: "I am really sorry, I don't mean to be rude. But, I am not comfortable talking to any media at the moment."

That reaction from the Dehradun girl summed up her approach towards fame, and everything associated with being the wife of perhaps the most influential Indian cricketer of this generation.

Warne ends polarising career as a loser

2011-05-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

Unusual in his soap opera existence, there will be no fairytale finish when Shane Warne draws the closing curtain.

Warne will end one of cricket's most successful and controversial playing careers as a loser.

The legspinner bows out in Mumbai early Saturday (NZT) when his Rajasthan Royals play their final match of the 2011 Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Royals can't make the IPL finals, so it's the end for Warne - more than four years after quitting Test cricket and nearly four years since his last first-class outing.

Aged 41, Warne completes a playing road with bumps, twists and turns beyond the imagination of the most fanciful Hollywood script writer. Or Hollywood starlet.

Warne, who once described his life as a soap opera, farewells as an undisputed genius of his sport, his influence on Australian cricket second only to Sir Donald Bradman.

But he also farewells as among the most polarising of sportsmen.

His mastery of the difficult craft of legspin returned 708 Test wickets. Toss in 293 one-day international victims, and more than 1300 first-class scalps.

Even the largesse of such figures somehow don't do justice to the guile of Warne, who was revered for his `cricket brain'.

Some say the magnitude of his `cricket brain' left little grey matter for other purposes.

Think extra-marital affairs. Saucy text messages. Saucy baked beans. Diuretics. Crass celebrations. Sledging. Smoking.

Warne was a gifted bowler, but also a wrong'un.

English sportswriter and senior university lecturer Rob Steen succinctly summed him up.

"To some he's been the Messiah of spin, a rebel with a hell of a cause - the personification of competitive artistry," Steen wrote on cricket website, Cricinfo.

"Others, especially older Australians, see a larrikin, a beach bum, a source of embarrassment and even disgust, the very embodiment of insufferable cockiness."

The cross-over nowadays between Warne the flamboyant cricketer and Warne the flamboyant celebrity is minimal.

Warne was paid some $US1.8 million for his last stint as a player in this year's IPL.

He opened the tournament denying he had a facelift, and was frequently pictured canoodling with British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley.

On the field, Warne's powers waned.

He started well enough, initially foxing batsmen with customary turn and flight.

But gradually Warne lost rhythm and even inexperienced youngsters began hitting him for sixes with regular ease.

His returns from the tournament have been unimpressive - 12 wickets from as many games, while conceding 267 runs, for an average of 22.25.

Warne once always wanted the ball, believing he could conjure sporting miracles. And often he did.

But he didn't even bowl himself in the Royals' last start loss, a sign of a dwindling competitive fire.

Indeed, Warne was more fiery off-field when he berated the secretary of the Rajasthan Cricket Association over the choice of pitches.

Warne was fined $US50,000 for the row, destined to become a final footnote of an amazing career.

Chennai aim for perfect home run, take on Kochi

2011-05-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

Out of reckoning for the playoffs, IPL debutants Kochi Tuskers Kerala would aim to sign off on a positive note but that looks easier said than done as they take on the unbeaten-at-home defending champions Chennai Super Kings in an IPL match in Chennai on Wednesday.

It is an unequal battle given the fine form Chennai are in but Kochi have sprung a few surprises in the event.

Chennai have kept a clean slate at home, winning all the six matches in their backyard. Placed second in the league table, Chennai have won eight matches out of the 12 they have played.

Kochi have no chance of making the qualifiers as they don't just have to win big against Chennai, they also have to pray that Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab lose their remaining two matches.

This is Tuskers last league outing, while Chennai have their last match against Royal Challengers slated for May 22 in Bangalore.

Interestingly, Kochi had beaten Chennai in their earlier match through the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain reduced the game to a 17-overs-a-side affair.

Things have turned around dramatically for Chennai after that but the same cannot be said about Kochi as they have not shown consistency in the tournament so far.

Kochi's regular captain Mahela Jayawardene would not be at the helm for the team's final IPL game this season as he has left for England to join the Sri Lankan national team for an upcoming Test series.

In his absence, Parthiv Patel, who has been selected for next month's tour of the West Indies, is expected to lead the side.

The problem with Kochi has been the lack of consistent performance from the team's star players such as Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Owais Shah. Hodge, however, did come good in their previous match against the Rajasthan Royals.

Even with such inconsistent performances, Jayawardene had brought about victories against top three teams on the points table - Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Considering their knack for upsets, Kochi cannot be completely counted out of Wednesday's contest.

Kochi's bowling lacks in many respects as Rudra Pratap Singh, the wily left-arm seamer, has been a letdown and the temperamental Sreesanth has been more of his usual tantrum-throwing self rather than a disciplined performer.

As for Chennai, revenge would be high on the agenda. Apart from the home advantage, Chennai players have gelled very well on the field and the bowlers have won quite a few matches for them besides the already strong batting line up.

Nasa, JPL, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Galileo mission

2011-05-16T04:09:00.000-07:00

Cricket Victoria are trying to rope in Australian spin wizard Shane Warne as the brand ambassador for the two Victoria-based teams of the Twenty20 Big Bash competition.

Warne, who will be retiring from professional cricket after the ongoing fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), would be involved in creating the membership bases for the two new franchises, Melbourne Renegades, which will play out of Docklands, and the Melbourne Stars, which will be based at the MCG.

The Herald Sun reported that Warne, who is leading Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, would play an active role in marketing the competition, if available.

Cricket Victoria chairman Geoff Tamblyn confirmed that they are trying to lure Warne for the competition.

"We certainly will be looking to have Shane becoming involved, provided he is available. He would drive interest in the new competition, where one of the initial main tasks is to drive membership, which begins at zero," Tamblyn was quoted as saying by the daily.

Royals now say no issues with the pitch

2011-05-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

The Rajasthan Royals have finally taken what appears as a conciliatory tone in the pitch debacle issue that erupted after their loss against the Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Monday.

In a statement released to the press on Wednesday, it was clarified that the management and the players have no complaints either against the ground-staff or the playing conditions at the stadium in Jaipur. "RR are happy with the quality of the conditions we play under in Jaipur and at all other grounds we have visited in the IPL. At no time have we attributed our results to the conditions of the pitch at any ground."

The Royals' skipper Shane Warne had earlier ridiculed the 'instruction' given for a new pitch for the tie against Chennai. Read the report here.

Wednesday's statement though contradicts the report and clarifies that the players have constantly admitted that they were beaten by a better side. "On Monday, our captain and players have consistently stated that we were outplayed by a very strong CSK side and credit must go to them for their performance."

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India also took a grim view of the comments made by Warne against the pitch conditions. Read the report on BCCI's reaction here.

I will always back Zaheer, says Vettori

2011-05-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

Zaheer Khan has been Royal Challengers Bangalore's leading wicket-taker (seven wickets) in this Indian Premier League (IPL) season, but at a price. The left-arm seamer has conceded 8.64 runs per over, when compared to skipper Daniel Vettori's 5.82. (Also Read: Bangalore keen to improve position with win over Punjab)

In seven games thus far, Zaheer has finished his quota of four overs on all occasions, but has been too expensive.

There is an opinion among the local cricket community that Zaheer hasn't given his 100 per cent probably due to fatigue.

However, Vettori rebutted the charges, and said that Zaheer would remain his 'go-to man' during the competition.

Asked if he was contemplating resting Zaheer for Friday's game against Kings XI Punjab, Vettori said: "I don't think so. He might have been expensive, but his bowling has been crucial in our last two wins, especially in the game against Delhi.

"He took the important wicket of (David) Warner. And during the win against Pune, he got the crucial wicket of Yuvraj (Singh). He bowls during the hardest times the start of the innings and the death overs. Hence, there are more chances that he will go for runs. But, I still look to him every time I want a wicket. That won't change for the rest of the IPL."

The hosts go into the contest on the back of three consecutive wins, and look to be in a good position to seal a spot in the play-offs. However, Kings XI Punjab are on the opposite end of the spectrum, lying low at ninth place in the points table, and that's the reason Vettori is wary of of Punjab, who are in a must-win scenario.

"They (Punjab) have an explosive top five batting line-up with (Paul) Valthaty, (Adam) Gilchrist, (Dinesh) Karthik, (David) Hussey and (Shaun) Marsh and we are wary of that," he said.

Mumbai, Kochi register impressive wins in IPL

2011-05-03T03:48:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by 23 runs to return to the top of the IPL table yesterday; and Kochi Tuskers thrashed Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets.

Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar and in-form batsman Ambati Rayudu each scored 51 in the team's total of 159-5 at Wankhede Stadium. A combined bowling effort then helped restrict Punjab to 136-8.

The win took Mumbai to 12 points from eight games, ahead of the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals, with 11 points from nine matches. Punjab remained on six from seven.

SCORES: Mumbai Indians 159-5 in 20 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 51, Ambati Rayudu 51; Ryan Harris 2-33), def. Kings XI Punjab 136-8 in 20 overs (Shaun Marsh 61; Munaf Patel 2-18, Lasith Malinga 2-19).

At New Delhi, Delhi Daredevils' 140-6 was overhauled with ease by Kochi, which made 141-3 in only 15 overs.

Kochi reached eight points from nine games, while Delhi remained on six from nine.

ICC refuses to act on PCB complaint against Sutherland

2011-05-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

The ICC has refused to act on a PCB complaint against Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland for stating that Pakistan was not doing enough to curb corruption in cricket, saying that it was matter between the two boards.

Last week, a PCB official said it was still waiting for a reply from the ICC on the letter it had sent to them asking them to inquire into the statement made by Sutherland recently.

But sources said the ICC had, on April 27, sent a letter to PCB Chairman, Ijaz Butt informing him the ICC could not interfere in the matter.

“The ICC, in its reply, has said that this is a matter between the Pakistan and Australian cricket boards,” a source said.

“It has advised the PCB to take up their grievances directly with Cricket Australia,” he added.

Sutherland, in a recent interview to the ‘Age’, said that he didn’t believe that the PCB had done enough to implement the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum report into match-fixing that was given in 2000.

Sutherland said if the PCB had done enough, the spot-fixing scandal involving Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir could have been avoided.

The source said the ICC had told the PCB it could not become a party in this case as it was an issue that needed to be dealt with by the two boards.

The source said the PCB was now likely to take up the matter directly from cricket Australia and ask for a response from them.

The Cost of Watching Cricket in Comfort

2011-04-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

During the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, television cameras zoomed in to capture the rare-but-fleeting expressions of Reliance Industries' Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his companions, including actor Aamir Khan, cheering from corporate boxes.

As images of Bollywood stars and CEOs of India's business houses become common during cricket matches, their comfortable perches have become a prized commodity for India's top-tier cricket stadiums and owners of league cricket franchises, selling for as much as $1.25 million per corporate box for a 10-year period.

These boxes or luxury suites carve out an enclosure with spacious and comfortable seating for those willing to pay a hefty premium. Typically, companies pick up a box, which has a dozen or more seats, and consider it a cost of doing business. Companies use the boxes to wine and dine clients and reward top-performing employees.

In India, the trend is taking off just now as India Inc. deepens its bonds with cricket via sponsorship of local teams and cricket matches, and contracts with players who become brand ambassadors.

An Indian asset-management company, for example, which asked not to be named, used box seats as a reward for top distributors of their products. Investment banks find it a great way to network. Several banks took at least one box, and some several boxes, at the recent cricket World Cup final in Mumbai that the Indian team won.

"Indian cricket is really the only thing that's gone well this year when you think about it," said one investment banker, reflecting on a year marred by volatile capital markets.

Cricket stadiums, including the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Mumbai's Wankhede stadiums, have recently renovated these boxes into suites and swanky seating areas in a bid to cash in on the demand. For a long time, stadiums didn't have the infrastructure to accommodate many corporate boxes and the facilities to support them. These done-up boxes now offer everything from fine dining to a special welcome.

Eden Gardens -- the home ground of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders – recently, more than doubled its corporate boxes to 32 from 12, previously.

The Cricket Association of Bengal, which owns the stadium, auctioned 10-year leases on the boxes for national and international cricket tournaments. The cost can go up to seven million rupees ($158,445) per box for the entire period.

Some stadiums like Mumbai's Wankhede, which hosted the cricket World Cup final, charge a lot more. Each of the 57 boxes at that stadium were auctioned for up to 55 million rupees ($1.25 million) for a 10-year contract, the price of 24 of these boxes included that of the annual league games.

Companies, stadiums and team owners were unwilling to talk about who buys these corporate boxes.

But income for the stadiums doesn't stop there. The cricket league, which is playing its fourth season in April and May, has been a big draw to businesses, offering them a chance to get even more directly and closely linked to cricket as team owners and sponsors. Local franchises also pay the cricket associations, which own these stadiums, lease for the home ground during the season. In turn, the franchise owners sell stadium tickets and boxes to fans.

The Kolkata Knight Riders, for instance, sells passes for the Knights Pavilion, their special seating section, at prices starting from 200,000 rupees ($4,498) per box of 16 seats for a match to 1.8 million rupees ($40,743) for the entire season at its Platinum Lounge. The seats at the high-end Platinum Lounge, the owners claim, offer the best view and a visit from the team's owners, Hollywood actors Shah Ruche Khan and Judi Chula.

"We are getting a great response for these corporate boxes," said Joy Bhattacharya, a spokesman for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The details of the pricing and process of buying tickets for corporate boxes at various stadiums differ, depending on how the state cricket associations decide to sell these seats during cricket tournaments. However, during the league matches, the owners of the franchises decide how the seats are sold in their respective home grounds. Each franchise prices tickets based on local demand.

A Rajasthan Royals league team official confirmed that corporate boxes are an important source of revenue and strategically benefits them as a business. The Delhi Daredevils, the local team of the National Capital Region, says corporate box sales make up 15% of their total revenue.

Other teams like the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils have expanded the idea to include luxury suites for corporations willing to spare the extra dime. These boxes cost more than two times the regular corporate boxes. The Rajasthan Royals offers, as part of its package, passes for exclusive after parties that the players may attend.

The Delhi Daredevils prices its uber-hospitality areas up at 25,000 rupees ($564) per seat for a match. Each box can hold between 23 and 57 seats.

Banks, other financial institutions, consumer goods makers, and auto manufacturers have bought corporate boxes and super hospitality areas at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium for this league season, said P. Phaneendra, general manager of marketing for the Delhi Daredevils, who didn't want to disclose any names.

"While there is no way to definitely know what is discussed inside the corporate boxes, we know people do talk beyond cricket, sometimes it is business, politics or something else," he said.

Pune in dire need of a win against Chennai

2011-04-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

Pune Warriors India would need to lift themselves up when they clash with Chennai Super Kings at their home venue, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, on Wednesday, less than 48 hours after being beaten by them at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The Warriors, led by Yuvraj Singh, began their debut season on a high with back-to-back victories over Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers Kerala earlier this month, both at the DY Patil Stadium.

But the defeat against Delhi Daredevils at home, despite scoring an imposing 187 for five started the Warriors' slide and they lost successive ties to the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, and to the Super Kings.

On a sluggish pitch, Warriors allowed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings to score 140-plus on Monday through less-than-perfect work on the field and their batsmen failed to get going in the run- chase.

Two big defeats in the space of five days would be a dampener and the task in front of Warriors is to put the past behind and regroup as a winning combination in home conditions which suit their style of play.

In fact, their home track has so far brought out the best in them as it helps the pacers get movement and allows batsmen like Yuvraj, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa to play shots more freely because the ball comes on to the bat nicely.

The return to the DY Patil Stadium could result in a call-up for Wayne Parnell at the cost of Nathan McCullum, who played in Chennai. With Jerome Taylor performing very well, the new ball bowling looks meatier, but the same cannot be said about the slow bowling as Murali Kartik has been below par.

The Super Kings, on the other hand, would be happy to get their title hunt firmly back on track.

They have won all their three matches at home but are yet to win an away game.

Michael Hussey's form at the top of the order must be a very pleasing aspect for the team's think tank and though Murali Vijay has not converted his starts to big scores, he has done his bit.

But the indifferent form of key batsman Suresh Raina, who flopped in their last two games, must be a cause for some concern as he is an impact player for the defending champions with his flamboyant batting, outstanding fielding and effective bowling in this format.

Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said his team's brilliant fielding performance made all the difference in Monday's win and the side would look to replicate the effort in the coming matches as well.

"We would look to replicate this standard of fielding in our coming matches.

Today, we were desperate to win. This kind of fielding helps the bowler to be a bit more confident and gives the skipper much more confidence to dictate the game. We need to keep improving in that area. We were embarrassed with our fielding in the last game and we were desperate to make the difference," Fleming said.

The former New Zealand captain is reportedly the leading contender to replace Gary Kirsten as India coach, but he did not want to discuss the prospect.

"I enjoy my relationship with all the Indian players and Dhoni is a special player I am involved with.

He is a captain with free space. I have been working with Suresh Raina and others as well. Just about time that I do not want to be talked about as a potential Indian coach," Fleming said.

Yuvraj's Warriors have lost three games in a row, including a defeat to Dhoni's Super Kings in Chennai on Monday, and need to build momentum to keep their hopes alive

Daredevils keen to fire again

2011-04-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

This season, things could have been better for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils. Though the RCB has played one more game, the teams have just two wins to show ahead of their battle at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Tuesday.

RCB, parading one of the strongest batting line-ups in the Indian Premier League, is yet to play to its potential.

It started with an impressive win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala, lost three matches on the trot, managed a point from the rain-forced washout against Rajasthan Royals before riding on Chris Gayle's century to get past Kolkata Knight Riders.

Likewise, Daredevils, too, won its last outing after losing thrice in the previous four games.

Going by the league-performances in the last three seasons, a team needs a minimum of seven victories from 14 matches to be in contention for a place in the semifinals.

Last year, RCB and Daredevils tied at 14 points but the Bangalore team, based on superior net run-rate, was placed fourth, one above Delhi, after four teams finished with seven wins each.

If the past is any pointer to the future, at present, both the teams can afford to drop only a couple of games but win more.

RCB's quality comes from the presence of skipper Daniel Vettori, Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers — all ex-Daredevils — apart from Delhi-based Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan. They are all capable of turning the match on their own.

With Gayle marking his arrival with a bang, the RCB assumes the look of a team difficult to deal with. In fact, after Tuesday's match, RCB will be keen to make a statement through three successive home games — against Pune, Punjab and Kochi — and improve its prospects of making the semifinals.

Cricket fraternity wish Sachin happy birthday

2011-04-25T02:28:00.000-07:00

The cricket fraternity saluted Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 38 on Sunday, for the joy and happiness he gave to the countrymen with his achievements and wished him a long innings in his career and life.

His national teammates, colleagues from different IPL sides and former cricketers paid tribute to his longetivity and the passion for the game.

"As a kid, I have always looked up to him. I have grown up watching him play cricket. He is a great player and great human being. He always helps his teammates with his vast knowledge of the game. I want to wish him a very very happy birthday and hope he plays for a long long time to come," said Team India member Virat Kohli.

"You are the very very very best ... keep going strong paaji ... we all love u ... happy birthday ... may God be with u and ur family ... love always," tweeted fast bowler S Sreesanth, another Team India team-mate and member of the IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Left-handed batsman Saurabh Tiwary, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, said, "I just hope that Sachin gets the Bharat Ratan award for all the hard work he has done for the country. I think an award should be named after him so that every young player gets it whenever he achieves some cricketing excellence."

Hard-hitting Australian and Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians teammate Andrew Symonds said, "I wish him a very happy birthday and all the success in future."

Kolkata Knight Riders' pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji wished the champion batsman achieve many more glorious fates in his career.

"Sachin Bhai, I wish you a very happy birthday and we are all proud of you for whatever you did for the country so far. It's magnanimous. You will definitely play for many many years to come," he said.

KKR's wicketkeeper-batsman Manvinder Bisla said, "He is an inspirational figure to me and I respect him a lot. He is a great player. I wish him all luck in the future."

Describing Tendulkar as legend, former India batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu said, "He has given so much to the country with the World Cup triumph being the most memorable high. Look at the piles of runs he has scored in both Tests and ODI cricket. He is a legend."

Tendulkar, who is leading Mumbai Indians against Deccan Chargers in an IPL match here on Sunday, did not celebrate his birthday because of the death of the spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba, of whom the champion batsman is a devotee.

Lankan players to participate in IPL till May 18

2011-04-22T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) Board on Thursday relented to the request made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and gave the nod to its players to participate in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament till May 18.

The Lankan players will now leave for London from here on May 18.

The BCCI earlier on Thursday termed the decision of the SLC Board to recall its players from the ongoing IPL tournament as inappropriate, saying it is making all attempts to sort out the crisis.

"England tour, most probably is going to start from May 28 or 29, so what we have suggested that even if you (Sri Lankan players) go on May 21, you can easily attend your England tour, but they are reluctant. So, we are trying to find out a solution and resolve the issue," said BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla.

"This matter needs a policy change. This matter can only be discussed at a governing council," he added.

SRK to show abs if KKR reaches IPL final

2011-04-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan says he will take off his shirt, a'la Sourav Ganguly, to show his six-pack abs if his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team reaches the Indian Premier League (IPL) final this year.

"If we reach the final at Chennai, I will take off my shirt, fluff it in the air, and show off my six pack abs... or may be eight pack abs," Shah Rukh said at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, after KKR won their third match on the trot with an eight-wicket decimation of Rajasthan Royals.

The final is slated to be played at the Chepauk Ground in Chennai.

In 2002, after winning the Natwest Trophy final against England, then Indian skipper Ganguly had celebrated by taking off his shirt and waving it in the air from the Lords balcony.

Ganguly was criticised by the English, but he retorted saying he was only returning the same act performed by English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during a series in India.

Ganguly, who has featured in the KKR side in all the past three editions of IPL, was not considered for the team this year.

We are playing IPL not to compete, but to win

2011-04-16T01:41:00.000-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders ( KKR )) skipper Gautam Gambhir has said that his team is playing in the IPL to win matches with the combination of world-class players.

After beating Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League , Gambhir said that the nine wicket win over the RR had been a moral boost up for the team and has brought a lot of positivity in the players.

"Look we are not here to compete, we are her to win. Honestly speaking we have got some world class players and once we are there we want to finish it off on a higher note and this kind of win only gives us more confidence.

"I think we will be high on confidence but hopefully we are not over confident and we want to take a lot of positive out of this win and then the mistakes which we made in this game I think we don't want to repeat that and hopefully we can learn a lot of things from this game and we can take a lot of confidence as well in the next one," he said.

Gambhir, who shared a blistering 152-run second wicket stand with teammate Jacques Kallis , praised the bowlers for their effort in restricting RR to 159 runs.

"I think we did a very good job by containing them to 160 and the bowlers bowled really well. They stuck to their task and we always that one good partnership and we can chase down this total. The wicket was pretty similar in both the innings because I don't think a lot changes in the 40 overs," added Gambhir.

Shane Warne , captain of the Rajasthan Royals team, said the team needed to work hard and was gearing up for the next match.

"20-20 as I say you can play well and still get beaten. I think we quite didn't quite get a couple of things right. We improve in those areas and in next game we can beat them in Eden Gardens," said Warne.

It was Rajasthan's first loss in three matches and KKR's second win in the three matches in the ongoing tournament.

Gambhir was named as the man of the match for his unbeaten 75 runs off 44 balls.

CSK, RCB keen to get back to winning ways

2011-04-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will like to shrug off their disappointing loss against the Kings XI Punjab as they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their third IPL match.

After winning a thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening encounter of IPL by two runs, the CSK were in for a rude shock after having scored 188 when little known KXIP opener Paul Valthaty single-handedly guided his team to a six-wicket in Mohali last Wednesday.

Even their opponents RCB who started their campaign with convincing victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala have somewhat lost the plot with back-to-back defeats against Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers respectively. Both teams will be desperate to get back on winning track in the match that will be played at the Chepauk.

While batting isn't concern for CSK as most of the top-order batsmen barring Suresh Raina have had one decent knock in the last two games, it's the bowling that will be a concern for the defending champions.

Skipper Dhoni will surely find it as a relief that Australian seamer Doug Bollinger who was nursing an ankle injury is back in the competitive circuit and is available for selection.

Bollinger's left-arm seamers have been one of the primary reason for CSK's success in the IPL. The fact that Dhoni missed a potent weapon at the death during the KXIP match makes Bollinger's case even stronger.

The addition of Michael Hussey who has joined the team after a successful ODI series in Bangladesh will be a bog boost for the 'Men in Yellow'.

Ravichandran Ashwin, inarguably CSK's best bowler in the shortest format was punished during the initial overs. The CSK team had a gruelling three-hour session at the Chepauk today.

The RCB on the otherhand have some catching upto do in both departments of the game. Against Mumbai Indians, there batsmen failed to up the ante even in the slog overs while against Chargers, their bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Bharath Chipli. Skipper Daniel Vettori will have to think seriously about their batting combination.

Their decision to promote Zaheer Khan up the order backfired badly against the Chargers and one would expect that the RCB team management doesn't take any frivolous decision against a formidable side like the CSK.

However it is Zaheer's bowling that has been a concern for the RCB during the first three matches as India's highest wicket-taker in the World Cup looks tired. Also the rhythm bowler that he is, Zaheer has been punished a bit by the likes Ambati Rayudu and Davy Jacobs.

India's pace spearhead will certainly be itching to get back with bang. It is still not clear whether Australian speedster Dirk Nannes, who missed the last match due to injury will be making a comeback for this tie.

RCB's biggest problem has been two of their star players in this format, Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers haven't yet fired as they are expected to.

One thing is for sure though. Cameron White is all but certain to get a look-in as RCB will surely need someone who provides them a bit of momentum while batting. Virat Kohli's form however has been reassuring as the youngster scored 71 in the last match against Chargers.

Here come the Australian reinforcements

2011-04-14T03:20:00.001-07:00

Australia's limited-overs tour of Bangladesh deprived the IPL of a handful of its brightest stars at the start of the tournament. However now most franchises will receive valuable reinforcements, two matches into the competition. Some, like Shane Watson, have brought themselves to peak explosiveness during the week in Dhaka. Others, like Cameron White, will hope the change of colours brings a change of fortunes.

Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals): If Rajasthan needed any more reminders of Watson's value, a record tally of 15 sixes in an ODI duly arrived in boldface type during the Bangladesh series. Having been as much a part of Rajasthan's development as Shane Warne, Watson enthuses over the IPL as much as any Australia player, and seemed to use the preceding ODI series as a chance to find his range with the bat.

Brad Haddin (Kolkata Knight Riders): A debutant in the IPL, Haddin's recent knack for flashy starts will be useful if he is squeezed into the Kolkata top order. Less attractive are his two low scores against Bangladesh and a wicketkeeping technique that has seldom adapted well to the subcontinent's low bounce, meaning Haddin has a task ahead of him to provide genuine allrounder value to his franchise.

Michael Hussey (Chennai Super Kings): Having been a key player in Chennai's success in 2010 (both in the IPL and Champions League), Hussey was nonetheless miffed about being forced to stay with his franchise until the conclusion of the Champions League, rather than preparing for a Test series in India. With a pair of handy scores against Bangladesh to his name, Hussey appears in decent touch, and has avoided a relapse of the hamstring tear that almost kept him out of the World Cup.

Callum Ferguson (Pune Warriors): Ferguson has visited India numerous times, most recently as the reserve batsman in the Australia World Cup squad. His two most recent innings, in a World Cup warm-up against India and the third limited-overs match against Bangladesh, did not suggest subcontinental comfort however. He will need to find the right mindset for his time in the middle, after countless hours in the nets in between.

Cameron White (Deccan Chargers): A six-month struggle with the bat in the Australia ODI side eventually saw White left out of the XI after the first match against Bangladesh. And coach Tim Nielsen's view that he was not hitting the ball as hard as he should, would not make for pleasant reading at Deccan. However the time constraints of Twenty20 may be White's best path back to his big-hitting best, removing the mental barrier often created by having balls to spare.

Tim Paine (Pune): A neat batsman and tidy gloveman, Paine is among the most technically correct of Australia's young crop, and showcased his fierce determination during the 2010 Test series in India. He has gradually developed an ability to switch between the power-hitting mode of T20 and the poise required for longer formats, a quality that will aid his performance as much as blond locks push his marketability.

Shakib Al Hasan (Kolkata): Shakib bowled tightly against a rampant Australia batting line-up but found momentum less easy to come by with the bat, while juggling the captaincy of a team that looked a little lost after the World Cup. Still ranked the world's leading limited-overs allrounder - at least until Watson overtook him with his stunning efforts in Dhaka - Shakib's spin should prove awkward to manoeuvre at Eden Gardens.

Steven Smith (Kochi Tuskers Kerala): Smith did not make the most of a batting promotion in the third ODI against Bangladesh, but bowled some of his best deliveries in quite some time - including a sharp legbreak to bowl Shakib between bat and pad - in the second match. His unorthodox technique still needs work if he is to prosper in Tests, but it should be good enough to contribute handily for Kochi if his confidence and fitness are satisfactory.

John Hastings (Kochi): A hat-trick in Australia's warm-up match at Fatullah was perhaps the highlight of Hastings' tour of Bangladesh. He was frugal in the ODIs, but without the same success. A modest batting record for Australia does not quite convey the skill and hitting-power contained within his 6'5'' frame.

Brett Lee (Kolkata): Lee's best moments on a cricket field in India arrived during the Champions League in 2009, when he guided New South Wales to victory and was named Player of the Tournament. He will hope to be similarly influential with the consistently under-performing Kolkata, needing to mentor a bowling attack that lags behind the franchise's batting in both experience and accomplishment.

James Pattinson (Kolkata): Likened to Peter Siddle, but with a little more swing and subtlety, Pattinson made his international debut in the third match against Bangladesh. He likely to form a decent pace partnership with Lee, and can prosper if he maintains spotless lengths and lines.

IPL 2011 Match Preview: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

2011-04-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

On 15 April, 2011 two teams with three years of contrasting IPL history will collide. While the Kolkatta Knight Riders entered the Indian Premier League's inaugural season as one of the favourites to go all the way, the Rajashthan Royals entered as one of the weakest teams in the tournament on paper. All the hype, all the sponsors seemed to be surrounding KKR, while RR could not earn even a fraction of the pie.

But gradually as the tournament progressed and results arrived, a drastic change in fortunes was witnessed with KKR not qualifying for the knock-out rounds and Rajastan Royals crowned champions. For the next two years the Royals have been battling the demon of exceeding expections and with the bar set so ridiculously high, they have struggled to keep up with themselves. Kolkata on the other hand is controversy's favourite child and has managed to continue to shy away from results and stay attracted to everything that is wrong with the IPL.

The Royals have started the season on a winning note picking up 2 straight wins to go top of the table where they are tied on points with the powerful Mumbai Indians. Kolkata on the other hand suffered a narrow defeat to defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener, but have since bounced back to defeat the Deccan Chargers. The match between KKR and the Royals will take place in Sawai Mansingh stadium, Jaipur. Rajasthan enjoy a near flawless home record here and with the fan support behind them, it’ll be an uphill task for Kolkata.

Rajashtan Royals

The Royals made a fabulous start to their campaign by defeating the Chargers comfortably. Their batting looked solid but seemed to lack the firepower until Ross Taylor walked out in the middle. They kept the same batting unit for game 2 against the Delhi Daredevils and recorded a similar win with Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha playing steady hands while the rest of the strokemakers went in search of quick runs. The dilemma facing Shane Warne is who to drop in order to accomodate powerful Aussie allrounder Shane Watson. Ross Taylor is vital to the middle order, while Warne himself has been in spectacular bowling form. That leaves him the option of either axeing the expensive Shaun Tait or the man who has been winning him the matches Johan Botha. Tait's pace and ability to take wickets with the new ball should see him prevail, though Warne could well toss the new ball to Watson too and reward Botha for his performances with a place in the side.

The Indian talent has excelled for the Royals with both bat and ball. The young willow-wielders have not been scared to have a dash, while the bowling unit has been a revelation. In fact the meticulous planning that goes into knowing exactly where to bowl to each batsman has been a hallmark of the Shane Warne's leadership right through the IPL. It seems as if the very presence of Shane Warne in their ranks instigates bowlers like Siddharth Trivedi and Amit Singh to give their 100%. And when they do that, the success is theirs to reap as was evident in the first match when their 8 overs fetched 6 wickets at the expense of just 50 runs. Shane Warne has been the leading wicket taker for the Royals having picked up a total of 27 wickets in the last two seasons. And the veteran leggie, Trivedi and Singh with 4 wickets each are leading the wicket-taking charts at this early stage of the tournament.

Kolkatta Knight Riders

On paper, KKR is one of the strongest batting outfits in the IPL. If it weren’t for two disastrous run-outs in the match against Chennai, KKR was well on its way to victory. Jacques Kallis is in terrific form having hit superbly paced 50’s in the last two matches. Bisla has played a respectable helping hand, though his strike rate and his place will be under scrutiny with the arrival of Brad Haddin. Gambhir who would want to stay at no. 3 , might also give a thought to coming lower down the order if Warne starts his spell late. Pathan's form has been a worry, coming into this tournament, but someone with his brute force is always one hit away from a quick 30 or 40. Manoj Tiwary has outdone his image of a calm and composed campaigner, with the last two knocks at strike rates of 180 and 142. And even though Morgan hasn’t had too many opportunities to showcase his skills, he should retain his place in the team.

The bowling squad comprising largely of Indian players should feature the same faces. The only change will be the arrival of Brett Lee into the playing XI. He should replace Ryan ten Doeschate, thus giving a huge boost to the bowling line up of KKR. In their last match, Jaidev Unadkat bowled a superb final over to seal the victory for KKR, hence he should retain his place. Among the other bowlers, Iqbal Abdullah made good use of the conditions to once again become the standout bowler for his team with an economy rate hovering close to six in both the matches. Balaji has also maintained a decent economy rate with good spells with the new ball.

Having played only three foreigners in the last game, Kolkata could well bring in Brett Lee without toppling the applecart. Logically speaking though Brad Haddin should also replace Bisla at the top of the order despite the wicketkeeper batsman forging two half-century partnerships with Kallis and that could well mean some time on the bench for Dutch allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate.

Head to Head: Rajasthan Royals 4 – 2 Kolkata Knight Riders

May 1, 2008: Rajasthan won by 45 runs.
May 20, 2008: Rajasthan won by 6 wickets.
Apr 23, 2009: Rajasthan won in the superover.
May 20, 2009: Kolkata won by 4 wickets.
Mar 20, 2010: Rajasthan won by 34 runs.
Apr 17, 2010: Kolkata won by 8 wickets.

Playing XI:

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, AG Paunikar(wk), R Dravid, AL Menaria, LRPL Taylor, AM Rahane, AS Raut, SK Warne(c), A Singh, SK Trivedi, SW Tait

Kolkata Knight Riders: B Haddin (wk), JH Kallis, G Gambhir(c), MK Tiwary, EJG Morgan, YK Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla, R Bhatia, Brett Lee, L Balaji, JD Unadkat

Watch out for

Shane Watson - An enthralling contest is in store for cricket fans when an in-form Watson will take on Brett Lee. After clobbering 15 sixes against Bangladesh early in the week, the Royals' will be salivating at the prospect of their favourite Australian son being unleashed on a semi-suspecting Kolkata attack.

Yusuf Pathan - In most matches, Pathan seems in a state of comatose; he’ll start slowly, hit an occasional six to justify his price and then depart. However, once in every three to four matches, he gets going and then it is a treat to watch him. The stage is set for him to prove his loyalty to his new team and he might have the support of the local fans too, having played for the Royals for 3 years. He’ll be aware of the weakness of bowlers like Trivedi and Singh and will be looking to exploit them to the fullest.

Prediction: The match should be a close affair with the better mentally prepared side emerging victorious. Both sides have their list of match winners with Kolkatta having an edge in this department. The higher scorer between Watson and Pathan may well turn the tide in his side’s favour. With the crowd support behind them and a shrewd leader like Warne backing his players, the Royals might just keep their unbeaten start to the season intact.

'India, Pakistan working out for ODI series this year'

2011-04-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

India and Pakistan may play a three-match ODI series this year as the cricket boards of both countries are trying to find a window in their tight international schedule in the wake of the resumption of the bilateral peace process.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who visited Mohali last month to watch the India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal, said the Boards of the two countries are holding negotiations for renewing cricket ties.

"We want to restart cricket ties with India. Negotiations are underway and nothing has been finalised as yet," Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of a reception he hosted on Monday for members of the Pakistani cricket team.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad told 'The News' daily that efforts were on to arrange a three-match ODI series despite the hectic schedule of the two countries this year.

He said there was a possibility that the two boards might be able to arrange an ODI series sometime this year.

"Taking time out from the hectic ICC Future Tour Programme would not be easy. However, all efforts are being made to adjust the series this year," he said.

"We are working on it but I don't think we can manage more than 10-12 days and in such a case, only three ODIs can be arranged. However, all these talks are in an early stage," Ahmad said.

He was not sure when or where the series would be organised.

"That is a million dollar question," he said. India were scheduled to tour Pakistan in early 2009 but the visit was cancelled in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group.

Since then, the two countries have played against each other twice in One-Day Internationals -- at the Champions Trophy in South Africa and the World Cup last month.

Under the ICC's Future Tour Programme, Pakistan is scheduled to tour India for a Test series in March next year.

"Yes, Pakistan is scheduled to tour India early next year to play Test and One-Day series. That tour is part of the Future Tour Programme. Since we have announced the restart of bilateral series, the tour to India is a possibility," Ahmad said.

India and Pakistan recently agreed to resume their peace process, which was stalled in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

The cricket diplomacy initiated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by inviting his Pakistani counterpart to watch the World Cup semifinal at Mohali has given a boost to the process to normalise relations.

Allow Pakistan players back into IPL: Afridi

2011-04-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, has said called on the IPL to include Pakistan players with relations between the two countries steadily improving. Pakistan played India in the World Cup semi-final in Mohali, a game watched by Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani on the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, who was also present.

"It is high time the Pakistani cricketers also get a place in the IPL. For three seasons, including the current one, we haven't been a part of the IPL. We have no problems playing in India as we have just played a World Cup semi-final there," Afridi told PTI.

Players from Pakistan featured in the inaugural version of the IPL but, following the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008 and its diplomatic fallout, they weren't picked by any of the franchises for the subsequent two editions, and will also not be part of the tournament that starts on Friday.

"I am not saying I want to play the IPL but it could be a great platform for youngsters. They could make a mark for themselves," Afridi said.

Afridi added the inclusion of Pakistan players in the IPL was an opportunity for both countries to improve relations. "Our PM responded positively to that invitation. Now IPL can be a platform to further ease the tension," he said. "We should play more against each other. This will not only ease the pressure but will also reduce the unwanted media hype surrounded with Indo-Pak matches."

Yuvi and the rest bat for Sachin's Bharat Ratna

2011-04-07T03:24:00.000-07:00

Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday advocated Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar. "Sachin Tendulkar should get Bharat Ratna for his services to the game. He deserves it the most," he said, after reaching Chandigarh, his hometown.

His captain MS Dhoni, teammate Harbhajan Singh and former hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay also joined the chorus for awarding the Bharat Ratna to Tendulkar.

On his Test form, the stylish southpaw said, "In two days time IPL is beginning. I really haven't found time to think about anything else. When Tests will come, we will see."

On his mature performance, he said, "I have always played according to the situation. Hitting sixes and taking singles is all part of the game."

When asked to pick the moment to cherish during this World Cup, he said, "It has to Dhoni's winning six."

What Afridi said was wrong: Adnan Sami

2011-04-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

After Pakistan Cricket captain Shahid Afridi's tactless remark, where he stated that `Indians are not large hearted', there's a furore across.'

We spoke to Pakistan born singer Adnan Sami, who is `surprised' at such an uncalled for and wrong statement from a cultural ambassador of sports like Shahid Afridi.

"I would be really surprised if Afridi meant what he said. And if we have to take it on face value than I don't agree and support a thing of this sort. It's an extremely sensitive issue and this kind of statement is not needed. It's wrong", says the singer who feels he himself is a classic testimony of people's love and respect for a cultural ambassador in India.

"When people love you for your cultural contributions, geographical boundaries become non existent. I still find hard to believe that somebody like Afridi, especially who is a sports ambassador of a country and responsible for contributing to the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process, can make such a blatant statement. There's so much responsibility on them."

Adnan harps on the fact that negative statements are outcome of a confused mind. In case of the Pakistan's ODI cricket captain, Adnan attributes the statement to Afridi's frame of mind, "We do not know on what context he may have said, and how much of it is misinterpreted. However, cricket lovers will always love cricketers. They are loved for their art," concludes Adnan.

We too wonder what made Afridi sing an unpleasant tune in his home ground especially when Indians loved him here. You need a large heart Afridi!

Irish chief in Cricket World Cup rage

2011-04-05T02:14:00.000-07:00

Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom has described the International Cricket Council’s decision to limit the next World Cup to the 10 Full Member countries as “disgraceful.”

The formal decision, taken just 33 days after Ireland stunned the cricket world with the greatest ever run chase in World Cup history to beat England in Bangalore, means there will be no chance of an upset in Australasia in 2015.

“There was an opportunity to do what was right for the sport and not to do something based purely on the satisfaction of the Full Members,” said Deutrom.

“The decision taken today satisfies no reasonable sporting principle. It is absolutely disgraceful and I’m ashamed to be part of the ICC mechanism today.

“I have already been in contact with my other Associate chief executives and it is not a question of if we are going to do something but what we are going to do.”

Against the might of the Full Members — who are only interested in money and not the promotion of the sport — it is certain to be a futile protest and the ICC’s ‘promise’ of a qualifying tournament ahead of the 2019 World Cup finals in England and 16-team World Twenty20 tournaments from next year onwards, will be little consolation.

Sonia Gandhi joins cricket revellers at midnight

2011-04-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

It was something of a public relations coup for the Congress, when party president Sonia Gandhi, in a surprise appearance, joined revellers on the streets of the national capital a little after midnight on Saturday to celebrate India's magnificent World Cup victory. She was quite clearly in sync with the public mood.

Cheering cricket fans crowding Bahadurshah Zafar Marg couldn't believe their eyes when they spotted Ms. Gandhi, beaming and waving at them excitedly from her Tata Safari. Traffic came to a standstill and people surged up to her to shake hands, as she shouted out: “Congratulations to everybody. We have won!” And, surprisingly, the usually oppressive security that rings her was absent.

Ms. Gandhi has, as party colleagues stress, been known to break protocol and reach out spontaneously to people. But this has usually been when she has been out campaigning — as she did during her Jansampark yatras — or when she when visiting the victims of a calamity. “Spontaneity is very much a part of her make up,” Union Information Minister Ambika Soni tells The Hindu. “I have seen her during the Jansampark yatras reaching out, shaking hands with people, giving the security a scare. But this is also what recharges her batteries and gives her the energy to work for the people.”

But choosing the World Cup victory for a public appearance, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh says on the telephone from Assam, “shows that she has inculcated the sense of being part and parcel of this nation completely. She looked more excited than when we formed the government! She totally reflected the people's mood in the country.”

Spontaneity is a word that crops up again in party's media chairman Janardan Dwivedi description: “This must be the spontaneous reflection of her inner feelings on India winning the World Cup.” Ms. Gandhi was, of course, also captured on film, cheering when India defeated Pakistan in the World Cup semi finals at Mohali last Wednesday, and last year when she was witness to India's sporting triumphs during the Commonwealth Games.

For senior party leaders who have accompanied Ms. Gandhi on her travels, her capacity to reach out, mingle and identify with ordinary people is not surprising. It is just that in Delhi it is very rare — the most she has been known to do is to come up to the barrier outside her 10 Janpath residence.

“But yesterday,” Ms. Soni points out, “she let her inner instincts decide her course of action; she identified herself with more than a billion people watching cricket on wayside screens across the nation, not just those watching the game from VIP boxes in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. And the newspaper reports suggest it was very much appreciated. She was thrilled with the Indian victory and she wanted to share her joy.”

Party colleagues said they had no idea that Ms. Gandhi would venture out on the streets.

But whatever the case, instinctive or planned, Ms. Gandhi's gesture worked because it had an element of spontaneity in it.

Given the bad news the party and the government has been dealing with in the last few months — from corruption to food inflation — Ms. Gandhi's identifying with a moment of total national joy on Saturday night demonstrated that when the occasion demands, her instincts are very sure. Just as it was when she renounced the Prime Ministership offer in 2004.

Ind vs SL: India are favourites, but we are not underdogs: Sangakkara

2011-04-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

While conceding that India were the favourites to lift the World Cup on Saturday, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara refused to term his own band of men as the underdogs in the mega event's summit clash at the Wankhede Stadium.

"They (India) are a very good side and they have always been the favourites to win this tournament. They've got to the finals and everyone will be looking for them to keep going," he told a media conference on the eve of the match.

"We are very confident of the fact that we have been one of the best sides in the tournament. At the same time India are playing great cricket. As I said before, they have always been favourites. They have the best batting side in the world and everyone in the world expects them to turn up tomorrow and win the game.

"I don't think we are underdogs as such. We are a pretty good unit. We have to understand the fact that India for the last two years have been the favourites to win the World Cup. I am sure they will be looking at themselves as favourites too. We have just come here to play as well as we can tomorrow," said Sangakkara.

Admitting his team is battling injuries to key players - Muttiah Muralitharan and Angelo Mathews - Sangakkara, without mentioning their names, said a final decision on their availability for the winners-take-all clash would be taken on Friday night.

"We have got few injury worries. We have flown in people for those who are injured as cover. We will make assessments as the day goes along and then make a final decision this evening as to who is fit enough to play and what's our combination is going to be," he said.

The visitors have added Chaminda Vaas and Suraj Randiv as cover for the two injured players.

Murali, for whom the game is his Swan Song in international cricket, is struggling with a knee injury while Mathews has a quadriceps injury.

Sangakkara was happy with the track prepared for the match by curator Sudhir Naik.

"The wicket looks fantastic. It looks a great wicket. Conditions here are lot more different to conditions at home. Sri Lankan wickets are a bit tougher. Here the wickets are even throughout the game. We are going to try and adapt to the conditions. It looks a very decent wicket and it looks pretty flat and we need to adapt accordingly," he said.

Sangakkara hoped there would not be a repeat of the sort of assault that their bowling got from Australian swashbuckler Adam Gilchrist four years ago in the final at Bridgetown, Barbados.

"Well four years ago we were outdone by a fantastic innings by Adam Gilchrist. Hopefully we won't allow a repeat of that. Even if that does happen we've got to have the mental attitude to adjust and get back into the game."

According to Sangakkara it was important to produce controlled aggression.

"The World Cup brings the best out of players and sometimes the worst. For us tomorrow is going to be about controlled aggression. Not to be too emotional about anything. Being clinical and stay grounded. Take things as they come. You can plan as much as possible, but things can change out there in the middle.

"Everyone's excited. But it's nice to see that it's a controlled excitement. Everyone's relaxed and having a laugh. But also you can see that steely determination behind all that, knowing what a big job is at our hands tomorrow. World Cup finals are huge occasions, so it's pretty tough," he said.

The skipper said not playing at home had both advantage and disadvantage.

"It cuts both ways, I think. Playing in front of your home crowd adds to the excitement and passion and the pride that you feel. But it also adds to the weight of expectations when you feel that the entire crowd is looking at you to do everything right. That's also tough.

"We would have loved to play at home. But that's not the way it is. We have accepted that and we will take whatever the conditions are there for us and I am sure the Indian crowd is always appreciative of a good game of cricket," he remarked.

Sangakkara said winning the World Cup was a huge thing for his nation in the background of the lengthy internal conflict that has ended recently.

"It means everything for us. We have come through a very tough period. A lot of people have laid down their lives for our country. In this new future, hopefully we can take the World Cup home and it will be another occasion for celebrations," he said.

On Sachin Tendulkar's quest to reach the landmark of 100 international centuries, Sangakkara said his team's job was to curtail the Indian score and prevent them from lifting the coveted Cup for the second time in the tournament's history.

"I don't think we are here to spoil anything. I guess everyone knows the importance of scoring runs in a final whether it's Sachin or anyone else. He is going to be the first player to get there (100 international tons). It all adds to the expectations of a World Cup final. Our job is to ensure that the Indian team doesn't score too many runs," he said.

More than a game as India, Pakistan clash

2011-03-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

Anyone who believes cricket is just a game is likely to have their opinion altered when India and Pakistan meet for a World Cup semifinal in the border state of Punjab on Wednesday.

Fixtures between the two nations always engender huge passion amongst both sets of supporters.

With the prize of a place in the World Cup final at stake, a fever-pitch mood is expected with the 30,000 capacity Punjab Cricket Assoiation (PCA) Stadium sold out days ago for the crunch clash.

The match will be a clash between Pakistan's well-balanced bowling attack and India's star-studded top order, including opener Sachin Tendulkar who needs just one more century for a hundred international hundreds.

"We believe we have the strongest bowling attack in the world," said Pakistan opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez, who took the new ball with his off-spin in the quarterfinal win over the West Indies. "That's the key."

Pakistan's Umar Gul is arguably the best reverse-swing bowler at this tournament while Saaed Ajmal's off-spin a potent weapon.

And then there is the leg-spin of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi who is the tournament's top bowler with 21 wickets at an average of just 10.71 apiece.

Meanwhile fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who will retire after the World Cup, waits in the wings.

Akhtar has played just three games at this tournament but the suspicion remains that India's batsmen can be troubled by high-class fast bowling.

India did manage to overcome champions Australia's three-pronged pace attack in a five-wicket quarterfinal win in Ahmedabad but that was on a pitch favouring spin.

Even then, India collapsed to 187 for five chasing 261 for victory, and it needed a composed 57 not out from the in-form Yuvraj Singh, now back on his home ground, to see the co-hosts to victory.

Traditionally, the Mohali pitch has always offered plenty of pace and bounce and that could yet see Pakistan give Akhtar one last shot at India.

"I always enjoy my bowling especially against India. I'm in my peak form. I hope that when Shoaib plays it will be very good for me," said Gul.

Pakistan's ability to make early inroads into a top order featuring Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir could be decisive.

"I think definitely the first three wickets are crucial, the top order. I'm looking for these three batsmen," added Gul.

India's bowlers, notably left-arm quick Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, did a good containing job against Australia.

India will look for similar results in a bid to book a place in the April 2 Mumbai final against either Sri Lanka or New Zealand.

The hosts were giving little away ahead of a match that has witnessed "cricket diplomacy" with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani accepting an invitation from India counterpart Manmohan Singh to attend the game.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is set to be the lone home player to address the media on Tuesday.

A jovial Yuvraj, speaking after his Man-of-the-Match effort against Australia, said: "I'm sure whatever plans we have for Pakistan, MS will tell you at the next press conference."

Pakistan, who've yet to register an individual hundred at this event, have lost all four of their World Cup matches against India but go into the semifinal buoyed by a 10-wicket mauling of West Indies in the quarterfinal.

But Hafeez countered: "Pakistan has not defeated India in the World Cup but in the last 12 years, Australia also had not lost a single World Cup game. But then they lost to us (by four wickets) and to India.

"There is no point thinking about the past. We think about the day; whoever the opponent is, we try to win the day."

India knocks Aussies out of WC

2011-03-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said he is devastated as India ended Australia's remarkable 12-year reign as World Cup champions with a five-wicket win in the quarterfinals in Gujarat on Thursday.

Addressing a post-match news conference in Ahmedabad, Ponting said that he had great expectations from his side. Chasing 261 for victory, India fumbled and faltered but half-centuries from Sachin Tendulkar (53), Gautam Gambhir (50) and Yuvraj Singh (57 not out) eventually helped them to overwhelm the target with 14 balls to spare and set up a much-awaited semi-final with Pakistan.

Ind vs Aus: Australia elect to bat against India

2011-03-24T01:44:00.000-07:00

Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first against India in their World Cup quarterfinal match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.

India will have to tighten their game, and the batting in particular, if they harbour any hopes of avenging their 2003 final loss to the defending champions.

The one area the four-time champions score over the 1983 champions is in the fielding - the Aussies can convert ones into twos and cutoff the possibilities of the Indians taking a second run. It is one for the throw when Australia are batting and none when they are fielding.

The one big psychological factor in India's favour is that they had beaten Australia in the only game played in last year's three-match series, the other two being rained off.

Australia's 34-match unbeaten run in the World Cup ended last week when Pakistan beat them and the news that the Australian cricket establishment is divided over Ricky Ponting's continuance as skipper after the World Cup has not helped matters. Ponting, however, cleared the air saying he is not retiring and is looking forward to the "toughest challenge of his career as an Australian captain".

For India, too, it doesn't look all hunky dory. Their bowling has not been able to bowl top sides out and the middle and lower-order batsmen have failed to cash in on the good starts.

The availability of Virender Sehwag, who sat out the last match with a troublesome knee, is still unsure.

Overall, Australia have an impressive record against India in the World Cup. They have won their last five games against India - one each in 1992, 1996, 1999 and twice in 2003, including the battering they gave the Indians in the final.

Ponting knows India will be tough to beat at home and said his boys will be treating the tie as a "mini grand final". He believes his pace battery led by Brett Lee has the ability to stop the Indian top-order.

Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have set the platform for the middle-order to dominate. Powerplay has been India's major problem. Yuvraj, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli have shown their individual brilliance, but it is time the Indians put up a collective performance with the bat.

All eyes will be on Tendulkar as fans are eagerly waiting for him to get his 100th international century.

Teams (from): India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Ashish Nehra.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Cameron White, Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine, David Hussey, John Hastings

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Ian Gould (England)

Third umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle ( Sri Lanka)

West Indies win toss, elect to bat vs Pakistan

2011-03-23T01:37:00.000-07:00

West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in their World Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

Pakistan made one change to the team who beat Australia last weekend, bringing in off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for left-armer Abdur Rehman. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who will be retiring after the World Cup, was again left out.

West Indies made three changes to the side who were beaten by India on Sunday. Opener Chris Gayle, fast bowler Kemar Roach and batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul were recalled. Kirk Edwards, Sulieman Benn and Andre Russell were left out.

The winners will face either India or Australia in the semi-finals.

Teams:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi (captain), Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal

India should play three spinners against Australia, feels Akram

2011-03-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni should use three specialist spinners in the quarterfinal against Australia in order to exploit the weakness of Ricky Ponting's men against slow bowlers.

"If the wicket in Ahmedabad offers turn, then MS Dhoni should definitely opt for three spinners since the Aussies don't play spin that well," Akram told said in an interview.

Sri Lanka had adopted a similar strategy during their clash against the Aussies on a turning track at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo on March 5. However the Lankan spin-trio of Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath did not get a chance to showcase their skills as the match got washed out.

However, Akram added that in case the pitch at Ahmedabad is a flat one, then the ploy to stack the side with spinners may backfire on India.

"Playing so many spinners on a batting track may spell doom for India since the slower bowlers will not get much assistance from the surface," Akram said.

India have played with two specialist spinners in four out of the six league games in this tournament. However they haven't played a single match yet with all three spinners ( Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla) in the eleven.

One major worry for Team India, going ahead into the knockout stages, will be the back-to-back batting collapses against South Africa and the West Indies. While they lost nine wickets for only 29 runs against the Proteas in Nagpur, Dhoni and company performed marginally better on Sunday losing their last seven wickets for the addition of only 51 runs.

Akram mentioned that despite this recklessness by the most-famed batting line-up in the world, there is not much reason to worry for the fans.

"Yes, the India batting has collapsed badly twice. But I don't think there is any major reason to worry as these things happen by chance. At the same time, you have to plan your innings and cannot afford to slog every delivery. I am quite sure the experienced Indian middle-order will learn a lot out of their mistakes," concluded Akram.

England wait to learn World Cup fate

2011-03-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

England face a nervous weekend sweating on their World Cup fate after dramatically keeping their hopes alive as Sri Lanka and New Zealand, already qualified, jostle Friday for Group A finishing spots.

The Ashes victors, facing a must-win match against the West Indies in Chennai on Thursday, looked to be heading home when the Caribbean side were 222 for six chasing 244 for victory.

But off-spinner James Tredwell, man-of-the-match with 4-48, had all-rounder Andre Russell lbw for 49 to spark a collapse that saw the West Indies lose their last four wickets for three runs as they were bowled out for 225.

It was yet another nail-biting finish in England's rollercoaster campaign, which has seen them tie with India, lose to both Ireland and Bangladesh but beat the Netherlands and powerful South Africa.

However, England still have to rely on other results going their way in Group B to seal their place in the last eight.

"I was buoyed by the thought we had one more opportunity to show what we could actually do in this World Cup," Strauss said.

"None of us wanted to go home tomorrow morning, and we were very motivated to not let that happen."

"We've been through some pretty tough times together this winter as a group - and we didn't want to be leaving the World Cup at this stage," Strauss added, saying the team needed to improve.

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson was upbeat despite the shattering defeat.

"We are starting to show the resilience we are going to need to beat teams like England and India on Sunday and the big boys."

West Indies will be into the last eight if South Africa beat Bangladesh on Saturday, even if they lose their final Group B match against co-hosts India on Sunday.

Should the Tigers pull off an upset win, West Indies would still go through to the knockout stages if they beat India.

All four teams in Group A - Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - are already assured of quarter-final berths but the battle is on for positions which could be crucial as it determines opponents in the knockout round.

New Zealand were without captain Daniel Vettori and key fast bowler Kyle Mills, both ruled out through injury.

The Black Caps have emerged as the tournament's dark horses, winning their past three matches, including an emphatic 110-run victory against the talent-packed but unpredictable Pakistan.

Sri Lanka vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team could not take the Kiwis lightly despite the loss of two key players for the day-night clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

"Those two guys (Vettori and Kyle) probably are the senior-most bowlers in their line-up," said Jayawardene. "But we can't take things lightly. What I have seen of New Zealand is that they always play as a unit."

New Zealand stand-in captain Ross Taylor tried to play down the absences.

"It's disappointing not to have them for the match but their absence gives an opportunity for someone else to step up and perform their role," said Taylor.

In the early match on Friday, Ryan ten Doeschate cracked a second World Cup century as the Netherlands recovered from early setbacks to post a challenging 306 against Ireland in Kolkata.

The Dutch were struggling at 53-3 after being put in to bat, but the South Africa-born ten Doeschate helped his side record their highest total of the tournament with 106 in 108 balls, with one six and 13 fours.

Ireland's left-arm spinner George Dockrell dislocated his shoulder while fielding off his own bowling and went to hospital for a check-up.

Shoaib Akhtar career timeline

2011-03-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

Shoaib Akhtar's career timeline after the Pakistan pace bowler on Thursday announced his retirement from international cricket after the World Cup.

1996: Removed from the team for the Sahara Cup against India in Canada on grounds of indiscipline.

1997: Akhtar makes his Test debut against the West Indies in November at his home ground in Rawalpindi, taking two wickets.

February 1999: Akhtar dismisses Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries in the Calcutta Test, which Pakistan win to lift the Asian Test championship. Earns nickname of " Rawalpindi Express"

December 1999: Akhtar's action called for the first time, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) allows him to carry as only his bouncer causes concerns.

March 2000: Banned for one ODI and fined for reaching team hotel late in Pakistan

2001: Akhtar's action called for second time after taking five wickets in New Zealand.

November 2001: Action called for third time in Sharjah, after which Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) carries out examination at University of Western Australia which concludes his action is result of "unique physical characteristics" which form basis of him being cleared to continue.

November 2002: Reprimanded for ball-tampering and banned for one ODI after throwing water bottle at a spectator in Zimbabwe.

May 2003: Banned for two ODIs and fined 75 percent of match fee for ball-tampering during a tri-series in Sri Lanka

March 2003: Akhtar bowled at 100mph in Pakistan's match against England at Cape Town, becoming the first bowler in the history of the game to break the 100mph barrier.

October 2003: Banned for one Test and two ODIs for abusing Paul Adams in the first Test against South Africa, after taking eight wickets in the match to help Pakistan win. In second Test against New Zealand, helps Pakistan win with seven-wicket burst (11 in the match).

March 2004: Akhtar accused of feigning injury after Pakistan lost Test series to archrivals India 2-1.

October 2006: Akhtar and Mohammad Asif test positive for banned steroid nandrolone. Akhtar banned for two years and Asif for one year, bans which were lifted on appeal.

September 2007: Akhtar hits Asif with a bat, two days before the World Twenty20 in South Africa. A month later the PCB fine and ban him for 13 one-day matches

January 2008: Excluded from list of central contracts. A fuming Akhtar criticises the PCB. A disciplinary committee bans him for five years. Punishment reduced to 18 months on appeal, but fine imposed

May 2009: PCB drop him from World Twenty20 squad.

January 2011: Selected in Pakistan's World Cup squad, despite coach Waqar Younis saying he is not 100 percent fit.

March 2011: Akhtar announces he will retire after the World Cup

England in must-win match to avert early World Cup exit

2011-03-16T03:34:00.001-07:00

Their morale low after a shock loss to Bangladesh, an injury-hit England take on the West Indies in a crucial Group B match on Thursday requiring an outright win to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

England have endured a roller-coaster World Cup so far having won two games, including the humdinger against South Africa, holding India to a tie but their loss to minnows Ireland and Bangladesh have made this one a must-win bout even to be able to think of quarterfinal qualification.

Presently they are in the fifth position with just five points.

With four teams competing for the three quarterfinal places from the group after South Africa booked their berth with a clinical win over the Ireland on Tuesday, even a win will not suffice for England and they have to await the results of the match between India and West Indies and then pray South Africa defeat Bangladesh.

India, with seven points, are in the second place while the West Indies and Bangladesh have six points apiece.

But English cricketers are insisting that the team always brings out the best in crunch games and can still win the World Cup.

Coming into the tournament as underdogs, the West Indies, led by Darren Sammy, have a slight edge having won all their last three games after the loss to South Africa, but they have not yet been fully tested in the ties having played against lowly-ranked opponents.

They have their last big match against India here on Sunday.

Inconsistency has been the hallmark of England's campaign so far as is evident from their bouncy journey and their woes have only compounded with doubts over the fitness of Strauss and key strike bowler Graeme Swann, who kept away from practice yesterday after recovering from a stomach bug.

Batsman Jonathan Trott, however, has expressed hope that they will be fit for the vital match tomorrow. Any setback on that front will badly hit the English as the side has already suffered two pull outs (hernia-hit Kevin Pieterson and Stuart Broad) midway.

Though the English players, including Strauss, have been discounting fatigue of a long season as a reason for their inconsistency so far, but it does seem to have impacted them.

The current World Twenty20 champions' hopes to lift the elusive ODI World Cup suffered a severe a jolt when they lost to Bangladesh in a closely-fought encounter in Chittagong.

The humiliating defeat came after England showed remarkable resilience to bounce back from the jaws of defeat against South Africa in a thrilling match here, which also raised questions about the team's ability to tackle slow tracks where the ball does not come on to the bat.

This was clearly evident in their last match against South Africa here when Robin Peterson opened the attack for the Proteas and England were reduced to 3 for 15.

But, Broad and Anderson, who have otherwise had a horrendous outing in the tournament, came to the rescue to bowl out South Africa in the low-scoring tie.

The West Indies have in their ranks three spinners including Sulieman Benn, who shares the second spot in the highest wicket-takers list with 12 scalps, and he could torment the English batsmen on the Chepauk wicket.

Their second left-arm spinner Nikita Miller and all-rounder Chris Gayle, who bowls off-breaks and is said to be fit for tomorrow's tie, add more zing to their spin attack.

However, the England batsmen have done well in other matches with Strauss and Trott, who has four half centuries in five games, leading from the front.

Eoin Morgan, who replaced Pieterson, has straightaway found his form hitting a fluent 63 against Bangladesh bringing intensity in the middle order.

Bowling has been a major worry for Strauss as the team has conceded 1,351 runs, second-highest after Canada's 1,370 in its five matches, with James Anderson bearing the brunt.

Tim Bresnan shone against India, but the English have to be more accurate to stop the likes of big-hitting Kieron Pollard and Gayle.

England might be tempted to go with two spinners and drop Anderson, who has given away 282 runs in 43 overs for an uneconomical 6.55, taking just four wickets at an average of 70.50 in the five games.

However, the composition of the playing eleven on the morrow would depend on fitness of Strauss and Swann.

The West Indies also have an advantage with Ottis Gibson, a former bowling coach for England, joining their side as the head coach and Pollard has said it was for the players to expose the weaknesses of Englishmen.

But England can take some heart from their head-to-head record against West Indies with the Caribbeans just managing to win once in their five World Cup encounters so far.

The solitary success came way back in 1979 at Lords when the Clive Loyd men scored a 92-run win. With the pitch is said to be assisting spin as the match progresses, it would be a daunting task for the team that bats second.

Teams (from):

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Eoin Morgan, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Michael Yardy, Ajmal Shahzad, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Chris Tremlett.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Devon Thomas, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Kirk Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Devendra Bishoo.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SRI) and Steve Davis (AUS)
TV umpire: Shavir Tarapore (IND)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

South Africa snatches victory from India

2011-03-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

South Africa stunned India to win a thrilling World Cup match played at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur, (VCA) on March 12. VCA was transformed into a virtual coliseum as thousands of home fans and a host of celebrities urged their men on to pluck their archrivals, the Proteas, off their guts.

The crowd got their money worth, or so they thought, until the last over of match when Robin Peterson punished Ashish Nehra to guide the South Africans home, after surpassing the required 13 runs off the last over by three runs with two balls remaining. The crowd was heartbroken but the two South African men at the crease were ecstatic. They had every reason to rejoice after pulling off a dramatic win, a win that started taking shape when India moved from 267-1 in 39.3 overs to 296 all out in 48.4 overs.

India had a great start. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar treated the crowd to a runs carnivore. The two raced to 87 runs in the mandatory powerplays of the first 10 overs. South Africa was desperate for a wicket after trying all tricks but having to watch the ball run past the covers now and then. They were relieved in the eighteenth over when Faf du Plesis castled the dangerous Sehwag (73).

The Proteas thought the situation could change with the coming of the new man Gautam Gambhir but runs frenzy continued. And Indians couldn't have asked for more especially after reaching 267-1 with more than 10 overs to go. With their hitting squad still flexing their muscles in the dressing room, a score close to 400 was in cards. The situation just right, and India opted to go for batting powerplay. That's when hell broke loose.

The master blaster departed a few balls into the powerplay when he attempted to get a maximum from Morne Morkel's delivery but it ran out of power at point where J.P. Duminy accepted a precious catch. In the following over, Gambhir perished, caught by Jacques Kallis, bowled by Steyn. And that was the beginning of Indian collapse and Steyn's bonanza. Out of nowhere, Steyn went on to get a 5 wicket haul, his other victims being Yusuf Pathan (0), Harbhajan Singh (3), Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel, both who departed for ducks.

The crowd watched in disbelief as Indian inning folded in a heap with captain M. S. Dhoni holed up at non strikers end. But chasing 297 was still a massive challenge and it was up to South Africa to try and wrestle the initiative.

Their chase was rather shaky. Their run rate was on the slow side and suffered a blow when Smith (16) was dismissed in the ninth over. Hashim Amla and Kallis then embarked on pace setting, both adding 86 runs for the second wicket until Amla was caught behind by Dhoni off Harbhajan in the twenty-eight over. AB de Villiers then joined Kallis at the crease when the run rate was steadily climbing and India holding the key to the match. Kallis was run out in the thirty-sixth over thanks to a great piece of work from Dhoni.

De Villiers lasted only 39 balls but he made a valuable 52 before. His successors JP Duminy (23) and Morne van Wyk (5) didn't last as long as South Africa could have wished. Duminy had a tough time dealing with Harbhajan's spin, and he was Harbhajan's third wicket of the day.

India were still in command especially after Johan (25) perished in the forty-eighth over but it was Peterson who held his nerve to get two valuable boundaries off the last over and give his team a sensational victory.

Brief Scores: South Africa 300-8 (Kallis 69, Amla 61, De Villiers 52, Harbhajan 3-53) beat India 296 all-out in 48.4 overs (Tendulkar 111, Sehwag 73, Gambhir 69, Steyn 5-50) by three wickets with two balls remaining.

Ban vs Eng: England three down, Bangladesh on top

2011-03-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

Mohammad Mahmudullah gave Bangladesh their third breakthrough when he had Ian Bell caught by Naeem Islam at mid-wicket in their World Cup clash at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong on Friday.

Scorecard

England got off to a poor start as they lost Matt Prior and captain Andrew Strauss early.

England lost their makeshift opener Matt Prior in the eighth over as he was stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim off Abdur Razzak.

Naeem Islam then struck to have Strauss caught by Junaid Siddique in the slips to place England at 39/2 in 10.3 overs.

Earlier, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and chose to bowl.

For England, Paul Collingwood, Ajmal Shahzad and Eoin Morgan come in place of Michael Yardy, Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen.

For Bangladesh, Mohammad Mahmudullah replaces Mohammad Ashraful.

It is a typical sub-continent wicket, good for batting but will get slower as the game progresses. Dew might play a factor later on in the evening.

The sun is beating down at Chittagong with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees Celsius and humidity is in the mid-40s.

England were floored by the departure of star batsman Kevin Pietersen and fast bowler Stuart Broad on successive days due to injuries as they prepared for the Bangladesh game.

Pietersen flew home on Monday for hernia surgery, while Broad was ruled out for the rest of the tournament on Tuesday due to a side strain suffered during the six-run win over South Africa.

A win on Friday should be enough for England to advance to the knock-out rounds as they have five points from four Group B matches.

Bangladesh, facing an early exit from the tournament after just one win in three games, will look to resurrect their campaign.

Bangladesh must not only beat England, but also defeat the Netherlands and South Africa to cement a place in the quarterfinals.

Two more wins could also see them through, provided other results go in their favour.

Andrew Strauss' men will be buoyed by their impressive run against Bangladesh, having lost just one of their 14 one-day internationals so far.

Significantly, England have also won all their six contests on Bangladeshi soil, the last three in March, 2010.

Bangladesh have been let down by their inconsistent batsmen, who began the tournament well by making 283/9 while chasing India's mammoth 370/4.

The Tigers were shot out for 205 by Ireland, fought back to restrict the non-Test nation for 178, before hitting a new low against the West Indies.

Opener Tamim Iqbal and skipper Shakib Al Hasan are the only batsmen to score half-centuries in the tournament, both against India. The next best is Raqibul Hasan's 38 against Ireland.

Spin spearhead Abdur Razzak has managed just one wicket in three games at a cost of 112 runs. Shakib has three wickets with his left-arm spin and off-break bowler Naeem Islam two.

Cricket's hands-on man

2011-03-10T01:09:00.001-08:00

Never one to shy away when trouble looms, Srinath, a JP Nagar resident, faced the recent ticket controversy with panache

Javagal Srinath has always remained true to his inner self. He loved to bowl fast and did not hesitate to speak his mind. The former Indian spearhead, who adroitly led the Indian pace attack in the post-Kapil Dev phase and also proved to be an able mentor to Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra has now made a smooth transition to administration without any sweat.

Besides being on the International Cricket Council's panel of match referees, Srinath is also the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), a post that virtually turned into a hot seat following the unruly scenes outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of the match between India and England on February 27.

Never the one to shy away when trouble looms, Srinath recently said: “As a youngster in 1987, I stood in queue outside the ticket counter for five hours, yet failed to get a ticket. The system has not changed. I apologise to the fans who were injured recently, but we tried our best to give as much as we could to the public.” Srinath, then, with all humility added: “If any of you have any suggestions on how to improve the ticketing system, please let me know. I want the common man to gain access, but the demand far outstrips supply.”

Though Srinath and KSCA president Anil Kumble have had to counter innumerable barbs in the past fortnight, it is a fact that the two former cricketers have been hands on at the KSCA. “There is no tokenism involved here and we are not merely lending our names,” Srinath had said prior to the KSCA elections, and in a sense he has lived up to his word. “Improving the cricketing structure in the State remains our primary goal.”

The flurry of World Cup matches and the resultant scrutiny may have extracted a toll on his time and energy, but Srinath is keen to help Karnataka grow as a cricketing power.

Sadly, the Indian World Cup team has no player from the State and he is aware of this. But right now, he has to satiate the appetite for match tickets, and as he said, “It is not easy to satisfy everyone.”

Ind vs Ned: Piyush Chawla gives India first breakthrough

2011-03-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla dismissed Eric Szwarczynski (28) to give India their first breakthrough against the Netherlands in their World Cup clash at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Szwarczynski hit four boundaries in his patient 42 balls inning and put on 56-run opening stand with Wesley Barresi for the Netherlands. He was foxed by Chawla's wrong one and was clean bowled in the 16th over.

Even though the runs were hard to come by for the Dutch, both Szwarczynski and Barresi negotiated the hosts' bowlers well as the Indian captain MS Dhoni tried as many as four bowlers in the first ten overs without success.

Earlier, Netherlands captain Peter Borren won the toss and chose to bat.

India have rested Munaf Patel and brought in Ashish Nehra.

Indian captain MS Dhoni said they would have batted first as the track is expected to go slow. But quickly added it is nice to get exposure for chasing runs. Regarding team change, he informed Nehra is back in the side in place of Munaf. Further he said that they would look to improve on their fielding and also added that they have to bowl well initially and in the Powerplay overs.

Dutch skipper Borren said that chasing has not been good for them and they will try to do the same thing that they did against England. Added they need to be disciplined in their bowling against the powerful Indian batting.

This match affords India just about the last chance to hammer out strategies and gameplans before big battles become the order of the day. After this tie, India play South Africa and West Indies, two formidable opponents, in their final group matches before the knock-outs begin.

India, who have eyes firmly fixed on the quarterfinal spot, would like to finish on top of the group to facilitate an 'easy' outing in the last eight. A victory over the Dutch, the underdogs, will serve that purpose nicely.

India are the only team who have yet to taste defeat in their group and that record is unlikely to be broken against the under-performing Dutch who have still to register a win.

A strong performance against the Dutch will not only give India a strong net run rate but also pave their way to the knockout round.

The only weak link for the Indians has been their bowling which has been exposed time and again.

India's frontline bowlers failed to find much success against a spirited Ireland and had it not been for a five-wicket haul by part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh, they could have been in trouble.

The home side are unlikely to be tested against the Netherlands, who ran England close in their opener, thanks to a sparkling 119 from Ryan ten Doeschate, but have since struggled.

The Dutch scored an impressive 292 against England but slumped to a huge 215-run defeat to the West Indies and lost by 231 runs against South Africa.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Netherlands: Peter Borren (Capt.), Eric Szwarczynski, Wesley Barresi, Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Bradley Kruger, Mudassar Bukhari, Pieter Seelaar.

Cricket World Cup 2011: India v Ireland report

2011-03-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

India (210-5 in 46 overs) beat Ireland (207 in 47.5 overs) by five wickets in World Cup Group B match in Bangalore.

The jolly green giant-killers of Ireland went searching for a second major scalp on Sunday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium – the venue of their astonishing three-wicket win over England last Wednesday.

Sadly for the romantics, India were ungenerous hosts. They wobbled a couple of times, but still turned in a far more professional performance than Andrew Strauss and company managed on this ground. Complacency, after what happened last week, was not an option.

Even so, Irish optimists will note that Sunday’s match was far from being a landslide, and that their team continues to resemble a full nation more than an associate one.

With the West Indies and Holland yet to come, Ireland still have it in them to snatch the two further wins they need to qualify for the quarter-finals.

In a reversal of the pattern against England, Ireland were well-placed at the halfway point of each innings, only to fade away in the later stages.

Their captain, William Porterfield, gave them a positive start with his punchy 75, scoring heavily from Yusuf Pathan’s part-time off spin. The six he swept off Piyush Chawla was the 100th of the tournament to date.

Porterfield’s partnership with Niall O’Brien carried the score 122 for three in the 27th over, before they were separated by a wasteful run out.

The erosion continued when Andrew White edged a catch behind, and then Kevin O’Brien, Wednesday’s hero, strode to the crease.

With India fielding only four specialist bowlers, the stage was set for another almighty assault. But after one lusty thump through the offside, O’Brien mistimed a drive at a ball from Yuvraj Singh, and offered an easy catch back to the bowler.

The cricket gods rarely allow one man to dominate two matches in succession.

Yuvraj turned out to be India’s matchwinner with both bat and ball. His innocuous-looking left-arm spinners found some turn in a dusty surface – enough turn, in fact, to bring him figures of five for 31, the best in any one-day international on this ground.

When India batted, Trent Johnston, the evergreen 36-year-old, kept things interesting by ripping out Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the space of six overs.

The home side were then 24 for two and found it difficult to gain momentum under the close examination of Ireland’s spin attack.

Sachin Tendulkar soon found himself undone by 18-year-old slow left-armer George Dockrell, aiming a huge hoick across the line.

Even Dockrell, normally a model of restraint, couldn’t resist a fist pump as he claimed the most famous victim of what promises to be a stellar career.

Then Yuvraj committed his one howler of the match, selling Virat Kohli short on a possible single to third man. That made it 100 for four, and brought a touch of suspense to what had been a pretty straightforward equation.

Now Yuvraj needed to make his error good. He did so with an innings of total poise. Mahendra Singh Dhoni offered steady support as these two noted hitters tapped the singles and ran the twos.

If any further evidence were needed of Ireland’s resourcefulness and razor-sharp outcricket, it was written here, in the respectful manner of this partnership.

Dockrell did eventually snare Dhoni with another stone-dead lbw, leaving himself with a second celebrated name in his scrapbook.

But the new batsman, Pathan, had an entirely different approach to the run-chase, crashing 16 runs from the remainder of that same over.

By finishing on an unbeaten 50, Yuvraj became only the 13th man – and the first in a World Cup – to combine a half-century and a five-wicket haul in the same match.

He has the capacity to be a dangerous force in this tournament. But then so do Ireland, notwithstanding the disappointment of this result.

Cricket-Sri Lanka elect to bat v Australia

2011-03-05T00:55:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia in their World Cup Group A match at on Saturday.

Holders Australia, who have not lost a World Cup match since 1999, are seeking their third straight win in the tournament but the co-hosts Sri Lanka are aiming for their third victory in four matches.

Sri Lanka opted to play all three front-line spinners Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath. They made one change from the team that beat Kenya by nine wickets on Tuesday as Mendis replaced fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara.

Australia named an unchanged side from that which beat New Zealand by seven wickets in their last match played eight days ago.

Teams:

Sri Lanka - Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

Australia - Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, David Hussey, Cameron White, Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Jason Krejza.

Cricket World Cup: New Zealand thrash sorry Zimbabw

2011-03-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

New Zealand recorded their second 10-wicket triumph of the World Cup with an emphatic victory over Zimbabwe.

Opener Brendan Taylor top-scored with 44 for Zimbabwe but when he was out, they were in trouble at 86-6.

Prosper Utseya (36) and Graeme Cremer (22) added useful runs but Tim Southee, who finished with 3-29, bowled Utseya to close the innings on 162.

Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum both hit half centuries as New Zealand cantered home with 99 balls to spare.

The Africans chose to bat first in the Group A match at the Sardar Patel Stadium and were quickly in trouble when Hamish Bennett ran out Charles Coventry for a duck with a direct hit in the second over.

Tatenda Taibu (eight) was dropped at cover by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori but he fell next delivery, trapped leg before by Southee.

Vettori made amends by removing Elton Chigumbura (one) and Regis Chakabva (nought) in his first over as Zimbabwe slumped to 46-5.

Taylor added 40 for the sixth wicket with Greg Lamb before he was adjudged lbw to Scott Styris six short of his half century.

And Greg Lamb followed soon after, run out by Guptill for 18 to leave the score 89-7.

Utseya and Cremer's resistance took Zimbabwe past 100 but Kyle Mills ended their 33-run partnership with his second wicket of the match before Southee cleaned up Ray Price (11) and Utseya.

Guptill began New Zealand's reply in explosive fashion, hitting two boundaries and a six in the first over.

The duo's partnership was New Zealand's highest opening stand in World Cup matches and the highest of any team in this tournament, with Guptill contributing 86 runs and McCullum 76.

They shared four sixes and hit 13 boundaries between them as they swatted Zimbabwe's bowlers to all corners of the pitch.

England elect to bat against Ireland in World Cup

2011-03-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat in their World Cup Group B match against Ireland at M Chinnaswamy stadium here today.

England have replaced Ajmal Shahzad with Stuart Broad, who had to sit out of the pulsating encounter against India due to an upset stomach.

Ireland made two changes in the team. Andre Botha, who bowled well against Bangladesh, was dropped at the last moment as he injured his groin during the pre-match practice. Gary Wilson has replaced him in the side, while Alex Cusack replaced Andrew White.

Teams:

England: Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan, Greame Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

Ireland: William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien, Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin.

Tuesday's Cricket World Cup gossip

2011-03-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

England's Ian Bell has hailed the influence of batting coach Graham Gooch, saying he'd wished he'd worked with the former Test opener earlier in his career. "He is just an incredible guy who adds a lot of experience and knowledge into our group and the way he played in World Cups in the past in the sub-continent, the experience he passes on to us is really important," said Bell.

Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan - Test cricket's record wicket taker - has pulled out of plans to mentor young spin bowlers in Australia. The 38-year-old had been due to coach at the Brisbane-based Australia Centre of Excellence in June but has now decided to play Twenty20 cricket in India and England.

Ireland's World Cup cricketers have agreed to undergo a charity makeover ahead of tomorrow's group B match with England. Members of the Irish squad will take part in 'Shave or Dye 2011', a campaign in aid of Irish Cancer Society which is bidding to raise one million euros through a number of similar events in the coming weeks. Players can choose to either shave their head or dye their hair green.

The Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) may have its critics but Bangladesh players say it helps in winning mind games even if the appeal is rejected. "You can always make the batsman nervous," said seam bowler Shafiul Islam.

Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar says the "hurt" suffered by his side during the last year due to the spot-fixing controversy can spur them on in the World Cup. "We are a hurt side," said Shoaib. "Now, we are here to hurt others."

West Indies bowler Kemar Roach - who took a hat-trick in the 215-run win over the Netherlands on Monday - says his side have nothing to fear when they face Bangladesh on Friday, despite the Tigers being above them in the current one-day rankings. "We'll go there on a high," said Roach. "Bangladesh are an improving team but we are better than them."

England, India tie in World Cup cricket classic

2011-02-28T01:39:00.000-08:00

England stole the show, despite Sachin Tendulkar’s century in his home country, and Sunday’s high-profile World Cup cricket clash ended in a thrilling tie.

The sides served up one of the best World Cup matches ever as Andrew Strauss bettered Tendulkar’s sparkling innings and England matched India’s daunting 338 with a single by Graeme Swann off the final ball.

The pulsating finish was the fourth tie in World Cup history and brought the event roaring to life in front of 50,000 disbelieving fans at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The crowd could hardly have asked for a better batting effort than Tendulkar’s sublime 120, but Strauss replied in stunning fashion with an ODI career-best 158. The England captain’s 145-ball effort inspired his team to 338-8 off 50 overs and, incredibly, a share of the spoils.

“In some ways we’re happy; in some ways we’re distraught,” Strauss said, “but a great game of cricket.”

Although it will probably do little to affect either country’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals, it will provide a timely warning to India of its bowling frailties. Here, England proved that the co-host may need more than the world’s most powerful batting lineup if it is to end a nearly 30-year wait for a World Cup triumph.

Among a host of records, Tendulkar became the first man to score five centuries at the World Cup, Strauss hit the highest World Cup score by an Englishman and the game provided the highest run aggregate — 676 — in a World Cup match, bettering the 671 runs Australia and South Africa produced in 2007.

Above all, it was World Cup cricket at its dramatic best as Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh (58) and Gautam Gambhir (51) put India well ahead before Strauss and Ian Bell (69) hit back with a 170-run stand.

The game see-sawed again when fast bowler Zaheer Khan removed both batsmen, in successive balls, before a flurry of sixes from tailenders Swann, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad set up the chance for England to scramble a tie off the very last ball. Swann poked it to the offside and raced down to the other end.

Unaware of what the game had in store, the crowd had earlier celebrated another record in a seemingly eternal list of milestones for the 37-year-old Tendulkar, whose hundred moved him ahead of Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Sourav Ganguly in the list of World Cup century-makers.

Tendulkar reached three figures with an effortless flick to fine leg for four off Bresnan (5-48), then raised his bat to acknowledge 100 for the 47th time in one-day internationals — also a record.

The only achievement missing for India’s batting master, now in his sixth World Cup, is a World Cup title.

ICC raps BCCI on WC ticket sale

2011-02-24T00:41:00.000-08:00

After facing flak from the ICC over the delay in the completion of some of the World Cup venues, the Indian cricket board is now facing heat over ticket sales.

The ICC has sent an angry letter to the BCCI over the issue after thousands of cricket fans were left in the lurch when the World Cup's official ticketing website crashing because of overload.

The official site had started selling tickets for the finals and semi-finals on Monday, but within a matter of ten minutes, the website crashed as it received hits of close to ten million. The fans are upset that there are few tickets available to the general public at a venue with a very small capacity.

In his letter David Becker, legal head of the ICC, says, "The chief executive (Haroon Lorgat) has asked me to express ICC's serious concern regarding the sale and distribution of tickets. The success of the cricket World Cup depends, to a large extent, on the orderly and efficient production and distribution of tickets. The ICC is being seriously challenged and is therefore bitterly disappointed at the state of affairs, which threatens to undermine everything."

Cricket World Cup: Ricky Ponting faces ICC charge

2011-02-23T01:47:00.001-08:00

Australia captain Ricky Ponting will be charged for allegedly damaging a television set in the dressing room after being dismissed against Zimbabwe.

Ponting, 36, was run out for 28 runs as Australia began the World Cup with a 91-run win over Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) acted after receiving a report from the Indian Cricket Board.

An ICC spokesman confirmed: "Ricky Ponting is being charged... there will be a charge."

The report relating to the alleged incident was sent to the Indian Cricket Board by the Gujarat Cricket Association, which oversees the sport in Ahmedabad.

"Ponting did throw his gloves at the television. You can't see any damage from outside but when you switch it on, there is no picture on three-fourths of the screen," said Gujarat Cricket Association secretary Rajesh Patel.

"We had to replace the television set."

The ICC spokesman said the governing body would wait until the Australian team arrived in Nagpur on Wednesday for Friday's match against New Zealand before informing Ponting.

"We need to talk to him... because we don't know what he's going to say to it," added the spokesman.

Sangakkara, Malinga Star In World Cup Warm-Up Win

2011-02-22T01:28:00.000-08:00

Kumar Sangakkara with the bat and Lasith Malinga with the ball played key roles in Sri Lanka's four-wicket victory over the West Indies in an ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 warm-up match in Colombo.

Batting first, the West Indies reached 281 for nine with both Malinga and Rangana Herath taking three wickets and Sri Lanka - tournament co-hosts along with Bangladesh and India - then reached 282 for six in 47.3 overs to complete victory.

Left-hander Sangakkara stroked 71 in 89 balls, hitting three fours and a six, joining forces with Tillakratne Dilshan, who hammered 62 in 50 balls, being particularly brutal on Darren Sammy when he opened the bowling.

Dilshan had added 67 with Upul Tharanga (18) for the first wicket and Sri Lanka's charge was continued by Thilan Samaraweera, who made 55 in 56 balls.

Despite left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn picking up three for 40, Sri Lanka got home with 15 balls to spare, Chamara Kapugedera sealing the win by hitting a quickfire unbeaten 18 in 14 balls.

Earlier, Chris Gayle (58 in 38 balls) and Darren Bravo (54 in 78 balls) hit entertaining half-centuries to set up West Indies' innings - Gayle hitting eight fours and a six.

After Ramnaresh Sarwan made 39, their innings faded somewhat as fast bowler Malinga and left-arm spinner Herath pegged them back while Ajantha Mendis also took two wickets.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (16), Dwayne Bravo (20), Sammy (19) and Carlton Baugh (29) all made starts but were unable to go on and set the Sri Lankans a stiffer target.

Sri Lanka are now 4/1 second favourites to win the World Cup with bet365, while the West Indies are available at 20/1.

India's Tendulkar in injury scare

2011-02-21T01:48:00.000-08:00

Batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar handed India a World Cup injury scare when he underwent scans of his left knee, barely two days after the start of the tournament.

Tendulkar, 37, had only recently recovered from a hamstring strain which forced him to miss three games of the recent five-match one-day series against South Africa.

He made 28 in India's opening World Cup match against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday which the visitors went on to win by 87 runs.

"The MRI scan is clear. There is no problem," the Press Trust of India quoted sources at the hospital as saying.

The scan was done as a precautionary measure after the batsman complained of discomfort in the knee.

Tendulkar is slated to fly to Bangalore Monday evening to join the rest of the squad ahead of their Group B clash against England on February 27.

The opening batsman is the leading run-getter in both Test (14,692) and one-dayers (17,657).

ICC World Cup 2011 highlights: Sri Lanka vs Canada

2011-02-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

Following are the statistical highlights of the World Cup match against Sri Lanka and Canada in Hambantota on Sunday.

# Sri Lanka's 210-run triumph is their second biggest by runs margin in the history of the World Cup. Overall, the said win is the seventh largest in terms of runs in the World Cup.

# Sri Lanka (332/7) have posted their second highest total in ODIs in Sri Lanka - their highest being 398 for five against Kenya at Kandy on March 6, 1996. These are Sri Lanka's top two totals in the World Cup as well.

# Tillakaratne Dilshan has completed his 5,000 runs in ODIs - 5006 (ave.35.25) in 195 matches. His run-aggregate includes 8 centuries and 21 fifties.

# Dilshan is the eighth Sri Lankan to aggregate 5,000 runs or more in ODIs, joining Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Vilva, Mahela Jayawardene, Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakara, Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama.

# Dilshan (50 off 59 balls) has recorded his second fifty in the World Cup. His highest is 58 against South Africa at Providence on March 28, 2007.

# Dilshan has become the only player since January 2009 to aggregate 2000 runs apart from maintaining a batting average of 50 in ODIs - 2012 in 43 innings at an average of 51.58, including seven centuries and seven fifties.

# Dilshan's seven centuries during the above period is the highest. Four other batsmen have recorded five or more hundreds - South Africa's Hashim Amla and Abraham de Villiers - six hundreds each and India's Virender Sehwag and Hashim Amla - five centuries each.

# Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga were involved in stand of 63 - Sri Lanka's highest for the first wicket against Canada, eclipsing the 23 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya at Paarl on February 19, 2003

# Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have recorded the first century stand for any wicket for Sri Lanka
against Canada.

# Tharanga's record in the World Cup is not at all impressive, aggregating 317 in twelve games at an average of 26.41, including three fifties. He has recorded one fifty each against New Zealand, India and England.

# Mahela Jayawardene (100 off 81 balls) has registered his second century in the World Cup - his 13th in ODIs. He had first recorded a world cup hundred against New Zealand - 115 not out off 109 balls at Kingston on April 24, 2007.

# Jayawardene took 80 balls to reach his hundred - the fastest by a Sri Lankan in the World Cup, obliterating Sanath Jayasuriya's 85-ball hundred (109 off 87 balls)
against Bangladesh at Port of Spain on March 21, 2007

# Jayawardene's 80-ball hundred is the fourth fastest in the history of the World Cup, next only to Matthew Hayden (66 balls for Australia against South Africa at Basseterre on March 24, 2007), John Davison (67 balls for Canada against West Indies at Centurion on February 23, 2003 and Adam Gilchrist (72 for Australia against Sri Lanka at Bridgetown on April 28, 2007). Kapil's 72-ball hundred against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in 1983 is wrongly mentioned in most of the publications and websites.

# Jayawardene has become the second player to post a world cup hundred in Sri Lanka. Aravinda de Silva was the first to do so - 145 off 115 balls against Kenya at Kandy on March 6, 1996.

# Jayawardene has completed his 3,000 runs in Sri Lanka during his century knock - 3014 (ave.36.75) in 108 matches, including four centuries and 20 fifties. He is the second batsman to do so in Sri Lanka in ODIs, next only to Sanath Jayasuriya - 3880 (ave.33.73) in 128 matches.

# Kumar Sangakkara's 92 off 87 balls is the highest by a captain in a world cup game in Sri Lanka, eclipsing the 75 not out by Arjuna Ranatunga against Kenya at Kandy on March 6, 1996.

# Sangakkara's above knock is his highest as captain in ODIs, eclipsing the 90 against India at Rajkot on December 15, 2009,

# Sangakkara's 60th fifty in ODIs is his 12th as captain in 36 innings.

# Sangakkara's 92 is also his highest in the World Cup, bettering the 76 off 83 balls against Bermuda at Port of Spain on March 15, 2007.

# Sangakkara has been dismissed in the nervous nineties twice - both times as captain.

# Sangakkara and Jayawardene put on 179 for the third wicket, Sri Lanka's third best in the World Cup. The top two stands have also been recorded for the third wicket for Sri Lanka - 183 between Aravinda de Silva and Asanka Gurusinha against Kenya at Kandy on March 6, 1996 and 183 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene against West Indies at Providence on April 1,2007.

# The 179-run stand is the highest by any pair against Canada in a world cup game, obliterating the 142 for the first wicket between Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent for New Zealand at Gros Islet on March 22, 2007.

# The above partnership is the highest by any pair for the third wicket in ODIs against Canada.

# Jayawardene has been adjudged the Man of the Match for the16th time - his first against Canada.

# Jayawardene has received three MOM awards in the World Cup - one each against New Zealand, Bermuda and Canada.

# Sangakkara, for the third time, has effected four dismissals in a World Cup innings.

# Thisara Perera (3/24) has recorded his third best bowling performance in ODIs - his best in the World Cup.

# Canada (122) have recorded their highest total against Sri Lanka in ODIs, surpassing the 36 at Paarl on February 19, 2003.

# Rizwan Cheema's 37 off 35 balls is the highest individual score for Canada against Sri Lanka in ODIs.

# Nuwan Kulasekara (3/16) has recorded his best bowling performance in the World Cup. In the 2007 World Cup, he had failed to take a single wicket against Australia and Ireland.

# Sangakkara has completed his 350 dismissals - 279 catches and 71 stumpings. His tally includes 260 catches as a wicketkeeper and 19 as a fielder.

# Muttiah Muralitharan (19.67 in 32 matches) has emulated Wasim Akram's world cup tally of 55 at 23.83 runs apiece in 38 matches. Only Glenn McGrath (71 at 18.19 in 39 matches) has claimed more wickets than Akram and Muralitharan in the World Cup.

World Cup: City off to crackling start

2011-02-18T00:43:00.000-08:00

The World Cup 2011 fever has gripped the city, with residents thronging markets to buy anything and everything associated with cricket.

Various stores, like Lifestyle and Nike, among others, are offering related merchandise, including jerseys and caps, to cater to the rising demand. Randhir, store manager of Nike at MBD Mall, said, ''Nike being the sponsor of official jerseys of Indian cricket team, people are eager to buy these as well as caps.

The response of Ludhianvis is overwhelming. Usually multi-brand stores have the franchise to sell the merchandise, but in the city, there is no such outlet.''

Jatin, sales executive, Nike, Westend Mall, said, ''We have jerseys of Indian cricket team in two colours ' blue and grey. Grey jersey is worn during the practice time and when players are taking rest. Demand for jerseys is more than caps'.''

Rajan, customer representative officer, Puma, MBD Mall, said, ''Our showroom will have jerseys by February 22, though demand has already started pouring in.'' Gurinder Singh, a resident of Model Town, said, ''I usually go to resto-bars to enjoy the World Cup, wearing the Indian cricket team jersey.''

World Cup fever: No threat for entertainment channels

2011-02-16T00:40:00.000-08:00

The World Cup begins on Saturday but entertainment channels are not fretting about losing too many viewers or advertising. They are safely banking on their dedicated female viewership that is hooked on to their daily dose of soaps and cricket lovers who would only be watching select matches this year.

Channels' spokespersons say that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which starts Saturday, won't affect their business much because cricket has become an all-year phenomenon, and Indians at large watch only selected matches involving the home team.

"Cricket is now a 365-day phenomenon and so there is no point in planning life around the cricket calendar. Also during the World Cup it's primarily the India matches that get the high ratings. Otherwise the loyal GEC (general entertainment channel) audiences pretty much stay with us - cricket or no cricket," Nikhil Madhok, senior director (Marketing and Communication) with Imagine TV, told IANS.

Madhok asserted that cricket affects ratings of GECs by "only 10-15 percent in prime time".

"Usually genres like news, movies, regional and cable are affected much more than GECs," he added.

A Zee TV spokesperson said: "Some India matches may affect ratings but good storylines and loyal viewership to fiction shows stand their own stead."

That holds true as many women find their daily dose of drama only through cranky soaps, comedy or reality shows.

"My husband and son are crazy about cricket, but there are very few times when they have their way with the remote. So I watch the TV shows I love uninterrupted," said Madhavi Mishra, a 45-year-old housewife.

It is thanks to such dedicated audiences that the viewership chart doesn't skew too much even during World Cup.

According to a presentation by TAM Media Research, during World Cup 2007, female viewership of GECs declined by just six percent.

The advertising expenditure on entertainment channels also remains unaffected to an extent, said Ajit Thakur, business head, Sony Entertainment Television.

"Advertisers invest on GECs for 12 months, so it's not in the best of their interest to withdraw their money temporarily for the sake of spending it on a niche genre like sports," said Thakur.

Industry estimates indicate that channels like STAR Plus, Colors, Zee TV and Sony charge anything around Rs.150,000 for a 10-second advertisement to be aired during prime time.

For sports channels, an ad has varied costs depending on the scale of the sports event. During the T20 cricket tournament, an ad could cost Rs.200,000-Rs.250,000 for 10 seconds.

During the upcoming World Cup, ad rates on sports channels are expected to be around Rs.225,000-Rs.250,000, which might escalate to Rs.350,000-Rs.400,000 towards the finals.

This time the World Cup is returning to India after 15 years. So, many cricket aficionados will be catching the action live.

But ESPN STAR Sports, the broadcaster for the World Cup, is confident of good viewership.

"There is nothing bigger in the world of cricket than the ICC Cricket World Cup and an event as big as this, especially when it is held in the subcontinent, evokes passion and excitement like none other," said Manu Sawhney, managing director, ESPN STAR Sports.

"We are committed to bringing alive this passion for the game to fans all across the globe in the most engaging manner. We are therefore launching many first of its kind initiatives during this edition, including a special Hindi feed for select matches, HD production and live match coverage through 3G mobile streaming," he added.

The ESPN STAR Sports' bouquet of networks, including ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket, will telecast 49 matches of the World Cup and in addition, 37 matches will be simultaneously telecast in Hindi on STAR Sports.

Entertainment channels like Colors, Star Plus, Imagine and Sony have also recently launched new reality as well as fiction shows to grab eyeballs.

Imagine TV, in fact, will launch its big ticket show "Shaadi 3 Crore Ki" during the World Cup, while Zee TV plans to offer high points in its shows.

"We will schedule high points and recaps of shows in such a manner that audiences don't miss out on their favourite shows. We believe fiction rules among television households in India. During weekends, good movie titles and events will be placed to counter it (the World Cup)," said a Zee TV spokesperson.

Bangladesh catch World Cup ticket cheats

2011-02-15T00:42:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh's elite security force has jailed four people for two years each for printing fake tickets for the cricket World Cup, an official said on Tuesday.

The Rapid Action Battalion raided a printing press in Dhaka late Monday and caught the four printing fake tickets for Thursday's opening ceremony, RAB spokesman Commander Mohammad Sohail told AFP.

"All four were handed out two-year jail terms by a magistrate who accompanied us in the raid," he said. "The printing press and computers attached to it have been sealed and will be auctioned."

Sohail said the culprits had mastered the art of printing fake tickets for special events like concerts and football and cricket matches.

"They have a sophisticated machine and software," he said. "We have also seized a genuine ticket for the opening ceremony from which they copied the fakes."

The fake tickets were priced at 1,000 taka (14 dollars) each, according to Sohail.

Bangladesh has been gripped by cricket fever in the run-up to the World Cup which it co-hosts for the first time with India and Sri Lanka.

After Thursday's opening ceremony, Bangladesh will host eight matches including two quarter-finals.

Bangladesh is due to meet India in the tournament's opening match in Dhaka on Saturday.

Warm Up Match : India Vs Australia – The Spin Win

2011-02-14T00:35:00.000-08:00

Team India won their first warm-up match against Australia by 38 runs. It was very tough situation for Indians when their on paper strong batting line-up was struggling in front of strong fast bowling attack by Australians.

India lost their first wicket when the score was 12 runs and everybody who was expecting Gautam Gambhir to perform well in WC disappoint due his early departure.

After winning the toss captain cool Dhoni choose to bat first which once again showed the much more reliance and faith on batting side which proved wrong atleast in the warm up game.

It was a bad condition when India scored 138 runs and lost their 8 wickets. Except from Sehwag and Pathan other batsman failed to play their natural game.

Pathan who played his game with patience and combination of techniques took India towards the total of 214 runs. But still it was low scoring match despite of favorable conditions.

But thanks to our bowlers who put their efforts and played the major role in the 38 runs victory over the Australians.

Initially pacers were struggling and opening pair from Australia took the advantage of the situation and capitalized on it. Due to this scenario Dhoni introduced spin bowling in the 9th over itself to reduce the damage. This decision turns the situation. Australians who were playing good cricket against fast bowlers failed to do same against spinners.

Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh played the crucial role. Chawla took 4 wickets and Harbhajan took 3 wickets. Other bowlers played good supportive role which gave chance to India to win the match.

Cricket's wicked turn

2011-02-11T02:55:00.000-08:00

'For once it has shown b**ls,' a former player I met at a promotional event last week in Mumbai said of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to ban Pakistan's tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer. Allowing for the mild profanity, the statement expresses the anguish over the malaise of match-fixing.

Whether the ICC's current tough stance is a deterrent to cheats, however, is open to question. Its Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) has been largely perfunctory, if not ceremonial. Moreover, as a loose federal structure, the ICC is often at odds with some of the more powerful cricket boards, and fails to be truly effective in its governance, especially in matters of corruption.

Indeed, major detection of match-fixing in cricket has come either fortuitously — Hansie Cronje was trapped in 2000 when the Delhi police were tapping the phone of a bookie — or through media vigilantism, as in the sting operation carried out by News of The World in the case of Butt, Asif and Aamer last year.

Incidentally, the aforementioned promotional event was a corporate initiative, deploying six former World Cup winning captains — Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh — with 'Keep Cricket Clean' as its charter. This was laudable, but Imran Khan was candid enough to confess that spot-fixing is almost impossible to control, if not self-willed.

"Even I cannot say whether a player is up to any hanky-panky," said Khan. If those who have played the game at the highest level are so befuddled, if the ACU, usually headed by a former top sleuth from Scotland Yard remains clueless, what is the scope for anybody else?

The need for an integrated approach in which detection is facilitated and punishment swiftly delivered is becoming cricket's biggest challenge, more so in these vexing times of spot-fixing. The best way would seem that the systems of detection are efficiently structured and operational at the glocal — global and local — rather than just global level.

Local and junior levels become crucial in this endeavour. It is now evident that the malaise of fixing and spot-betting in Pakistan cricket is perhaps institutionalised, even at the domestic level. The namby-pamby governance of the Pakistan board for several years has only aggravated matters.

However, it is also well-known that this problem is not peculiar to any one team or country. It is also true that corruption at the highest level is helped by bad practices that go unchecked at the formative stages. It could be as harmless as fudging age, which is commonplace in the subcontinent.

Cheating in sport is hardly new and can find various expressions, but always with greed — for fame, glory or money — at its core. It is an extravagant rationalisation to believe that only those from underprivileged backgrounds are susceptible to corruption, as has been said in the (weak) defence of Mohammed Aamer.

Last year, John Higgins, the world's top snooker player and a multi-millionaire, was alleged to have agreed to fix a game in a World Series event in Ukraine for a relatively paltry sum of £261,000. Cronje, who became the face of match-fixing in cricket, belonged to the upper-middle class and from a strong religious background.

Sport today is big business and integrates the good and evil of other businesses. The corporate world is replete with stories of millionaire promoters and executives who will risk everything for a few dollars more for themselves or their corporations by breaking laws. So sport must be treated similarly where checks, balances, detection and punishment of mala fide action is concerned. It might seem alarmist but robust vigilantism from federations, coaches, the media, watchdog bodies — indeed all quarters — are needed.

India must ignore Sachin and coach speculation

2011-02-10T01:32:00.000-08:00

Speculation over the future of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and coach Gary Kirsten are more distractions India will have to ignore if they are to lift the World Cup on home soil, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Thursday.

The Feb. 19-April 2 showpiece event represents, in all probability, Indian batting maestro Tendulkar's last World Cup, and it has hogged a major share of the limelight in the build-up to the event.

Local media reports have also claimed that India's highly successful South African coach Kirsten will not renew his contract at the end of the tournament for personal reasons.

"The feeling is the same (in the team). What is important for the team is to concentrate more on the process and the preparation rather than think about all the other things," Dhoni told reporters.

"There are plenty of issues that always surround the Indian cricket team. We are quite good at distracting ourselves from all the issues.

"But the fact remains that it will be the last World Cup for Sachin and most likely it will be the last tournament for Gary Kirsten as India's coach."

The wicket-keeper batsman rued the absence of paceman Praveen Kumar due to injury and said India will miss the "street-smart" cricketer.

"It is unfortunate that Praveen had to miss the World Cup. He has featured consistently in the ODI format for us," Dhoni said.

"He has done very well for us in all formats. We will miss him. He has been a street-smart cricketer for us.

Praveen’s injury won’t hurt India’s chances: Bedi

2011-02-09T00:48:00.000-08:00

India’s pace attack might have weakened a bit after losing seamer Praveen Kumar due to injury, but former spinner Bishen Singh Bedi feels it would not have any negative impact on India’s campaign at the soon—to—start cricket World Cup.

Praveen failed to recover from an elbow injury and was replaced by S Sreesanth in the 15—man Indian squad.

“One person cannot affect a team’s chances. In fact, it is good that Praveen has been replaced before the start of the World Cup because rather than having played in just a couple of games and then spending rest of the tournament on bench, it is always better to have a fit player becoming a part of the team from the very first match,” Bedi said.

The former India cricketer was speaking at the launch of book - Women’s Cricket World, co-authored by former India captain Anjum Chopra along with cricket writer Sunil Kalra.

When the 64-year-old was asked what was the weakest point of the Indian team going into the World Cup, starting from February 19, Bedi replied ‘the huge burden of expectations’.

“Don’t make the expectations too high. It seems the expectations could prove the only hindrance in India’s path to lifting the Cup,” warned the former bowler.

He also emphasised that Sachin Tendulkar will have to play a crucial role if India wish to win its second trophy.

“Everybody wants India to win the World Cup and so do I.

I want it more so because this would be Sachin’s last World Cup and I hope India win it. And I am sure Sachin will lead the team to that final victory,” Bedi said.

The former cricketer added that all these talks may put extra pressure on Tendulkar but expressed confidence that the Mumbaikar would handle it with ease.

“All these might mean a lot of pressure on Sachin but it is nothing new for him. He has been handling pressure for the last 21 years so I don’t think it would affect him at all. In fact, his game is beyond such trivialities.”

Comparing the 1983 World Cup winning side with that of the 2011 World Cup squad, he said the Kapil Dev—led team had nothing to lose, but the current unit has.

“In 1975 and 1979 editions of the World Cups, India were just participating in the mega-event with no hopes attached to it. But after the 1983 triumph, we actually started to compete at the international arena. And since then the expectations only mounted,” said Bedi.

He further explained that when 1987 World Cup was co-hosted by India and Pakistan, people had great hopes that India, being the defending champions, would bag the Cup again.

“Ever since, the expectations have been only growing and now it has almost reached its peak. I feel we have a peculiar tendency of either putting the team on a pedestal or throw it to ground, which is not good,” said Bedi.

Besides the weight of expectations, the former spinner also raised concerns about the bowling department of the Indian team, saying that it was not up to the mark.

“India’s bowling is not as penetrating as it is required to win the matches on its own. The bowling would require a brilliant fielding effort. Moreover, even batsmen will have to score at least 50 more runs than an expected good total to give some margin to the bowlers,” said Bedi.

He also criticised the inclusion of three spinners in the 15-member squad, saying, “We have an extra spinner in our side. I feel two would have been enough on these sub-continent pitches. Instead, I think Rohit Sharma should have been included in the team.”

Bryan Adams to open ICC Cricket World Cup

2011-02-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

The biggest event of the year, the ICC Cricket World Cup, is bound to get bigger, this time around. Pop icon Bryan Adams who is scheduled to tour India around the same time will perform at the opening ceremony on February 17, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Says Sunil D’Sa, vice president marketing, Universal Music India, “Bryan Adams was always going to be part of the opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup. The decision hadn’t been confirmed because of his dates and busy schedule. Since he had other commitments, his performance hadn’t fallen in place all this while. But it’s finally confirmed that the Canadian singer will perform at the opening ceremony.”

Though Adams is likely to perform three songs along with his band, D’Sa wasn’t forthcoming on the setlist. “We would like to keep the three songs he will play as a surprise. I don’t want to ruin the surprise. He knows how popular Summer of ’69… is in India and the rest of the subcontinent. He and his management have been very clear about not disclosing any names, but he will surely play his three most popular songs. So you know what to expect,” he hints.

His first time It’s also been revealed that on the following day, February 18, Adams will host his first-ever concert in the Bangladeshi capital. “Adams has also lined up an hour-long acoustic concert where he will promote his Bare Bones album,” says D’Sa.

This year, Adams’s home country Canada is also part of the World Cup. “Adams is aware that his country is part of the tournament. I am assuming he will cheer for Canada, but since he’s on the road so much, I don’t know how much time he will get to watch the World Cup,” he adds.

Cricket bosses face big decisions

2011-02-07T00:43:00.000-08:00

Australian cricket is at a crossroads - now the game's bosses must decide which route to take.

The Cricket Australia (CA) board meeting on Tuesday in Melbourne will have far-reaching consequences for how the game is run in this country.

The review of the summer's disastrous Ashes campaign, the revamped domestic Twenty20 competition and how CA runs itself will all be critical topics of discussion.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Balancing the traditional importance of Test cricket with the explosion of Twenty20 continues to be a tricky and pivotal problem for the governing body.

CA will decide details of the expanded Twenty20 Big Bash domestic competition, which will change from six state sides to eight geographic or city-based teams.

Victoria and NSW will have two teams each, while WA, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland will host the other four.

CA must decide whether Geelong will be home to one of the Victorian teams, while the Australian Cricketers' Association is also pushing for free agency for players.

Other options for how the Big Bash teams recruit their players are an AFL-style draft or the sort of auction used in the Indian Premier League.

While Twenty20 is cricket's brave new world, the Test form also demands major attention after the 3-1 Ashes series loss to England.

It was the first time since 1987-87 that Australia had lost a home Ashes series.

There has been speculation that respected businessman Don Argus might head the review, which will be far-reaching and look at crucial areas such as player development.

National coach Tim Nielsen said there had already been some talk about what should come out of the review.

"I wouldn't expect it to be about chopping everyone at the knees, it's about trying to identify the areas we weren't up to speed with or as good as we would like to be or be better in and finding ways of improving that," he said.

"If that means changes to responsibilities and roles or changing to styles of play then we'll talk about those.

"I can promise you we've been thinking about some of those things over the last couple of weeks anyway and probably only taken the focus off it by the fact we've played so much one-day cricket in the last three weeks."

Another sensitive subject is CA's governance structure, with the calls for an end to the traditional state-based voting and the creation of an AFL-style independent commission to run the game.

Eco friendly printing, Printing Irvine, Green Printing, FSC Printing, California Printing

Afridi retained as Pakistan captain for World Cup

2011-02-04T02:44:00.000-08:00

Ending weeks of speculations, Pakistan on Friday named experienced all-rounder, Shahid Afridi as the captain of the national team for the ICC cricket World Cup to begin in Dhaka on February 19.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said that Afridi would lead the team while Test captain and another front-runner for the job, Misbah-ul-Haq would be his deputy in the mega-event to be jointly co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"The board has retained Afridi as captain for the World Cup. Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed will also continue as head coach and bowling consultant in the competition," PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar said.

The PCB also appointed a security advisor, Wasim Ahmed to accompany the team in the World Cup after the post was lying vacant following the resignation of Khawaja Naeem.

The PCB also announced that vice-captain Misbah would be part of the tour selection committee for the World Cup, which also includes manager (Intikhan Alam), coach and the captain.

Interestingly, the board has named Alam as the chairman of the tour selection committee.

Afridi's appointment as World Cup captain was a formality after he led Pakistan to its first ODI series win since 2008, when it defeated New Zealand in the fifth one-day international in Hamilton yesterday.

Former captain Moin Khan hailed Afridi's reinstatement as Pakistan skipper but said PCB created an "unnecessary controversy" by delaying the captaincy announcement.

"It was logical to retain Afridi as captain for this big event after the way he inspired the team to its first ODI series win in New Zealand in 17 years," Moin said.

"I think the board only created unnecessary controversy and speculations by delaying the decision. The World Cup team was already announced last month and it was high time, the board announced the captain. Afridi is a good choice," he added.

He pointed out that Afridi had been leading Pakistan in ODIs and Twenty20 matches since last year and so far did a good job.

"This talk about Misbah being considered as a captaincy candidate for the World Cup started because of the board's indecision," Moin noted.

Former captain and wicket-keeper Rashid Latif, who is in Dubai these days with the Afghanistan team, also agreed with Moin.

"Afridi was always the logical choice because he has been leading the team since last year and now the players are also responding to him. He also understand his captaincy style well now. The biggest thing is that Afridi has shown lot of commitment for his job," Latif said.

Cricket World Cup organisers ask government to reduce security fees

2011-02-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

The home department is considering International Cricket Council’s (ICC) demand for concession in charges levied for security provided by the state police for the upcoming World Cup cricket matches. The government has assured the organisers that it will not treat these matches on a par with IPL games.

In a meeting held at Mantralaya on Wednesday to discuss security measures during the World Cup matches scheduled to be played in Mumbai and Nagpur, ICC officials requested home minister RR Patil to reduce the fees for security provided inside the stadium. They requested the department to not charge for bandobast along the approach roads.

Mumbai Police had billed Rs11 lakh to Mumbai Cricket Association for a one-day match held at Wankhede stadium two years ago, before it was closed for a makeover. With revised rates, the charges are expected to go up for security provided within the stadium, prompting ICC to make the request. “World Cup matches cannot be treated on a par with the other one-day matches played with commercial interests in mind. We have requested the government for concessions,” said Ratnakar Shetty, tournament director, ICC.

The other major issue discussed at the meeting was the shortage of parking space near Wankhede.

The home department has suggested making an alternative arrangement at Azad Maidan or of using the parking lots at Inox theatre and other places in Nariman Point. Since parking is banned on the main road parallel to Queen’s Necklace after beautification of the coastal promenade, the other option being thought of is parking on the service roads attached to the gymkhanas on Marine Drive. More than 5,000 vehicles are expected to be driven to the stadium by spectators.

Three matches are scheduled to be played at Wankhede, including the final match on April 2, while Vidarbha Cricket Association is hosting four matches at its stadium in Nagpur.

Minister of state for home Satej Patil said, “International matches are a matter of pride for the state. We can provide adequate security, and there will be no need of deputing central forces.”

Cricket lovers support Afridi as captain for the WC

2011-02-01T02:07:00.000-08:00

The die-heart cricket lovers of Rawalpindi, Islamabad have also joined the debate of who will be Pakistan cricket team captain for the World Cup supporting Shahid Afridi as there all time favourite as the best contender for the mega event.

Pakistan squad for the mega event includes Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Muhammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umer Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umer Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir and Ahmad Shehzad.

In a causal talk with APP, a local taxi driver, Jahan Sher said, “I just cannot understand why the Pakistan Cricket Board has delayed to announce the captain on February 4. By not announcing the captain, the board has split the players into Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul Haq groups. In such circumstances I believe Afridi is the best possible choice to lead the team for the world cup.”

A local traveler at the bus stop, Rahim Khan said that “If PCB chairman Ijaz Butt is waiting till February 4 to see how Afridi performs as captain in the one-day series in New Zealand then I don’t think that it is a wise move because this is not the time to change the captain. For the World Cup they should continue with Afridi.
A government employee, Mir Shah said, “The team selected is good but I am stunned to understand the reason naming a captain has been delayed so much. No team in the world of cricket is named without a captain.”

A private telecom company employee, Yasir Ali Khan said that I don’t know about who will be the captain but Pakistan will surely miss Muhammad Yousuf. He said that our team’s chances of reaching even the quarter-finals are dull.

A government employee, Faisal Shah said, “I am happy they did not include Muhammad Yousuf this time. We need young blood. You can’t bet on the same horse to win your races for 20 years.” “Wishing good luck to Pakistani team, he said, “even if they lose, I hope they will put a fight till the end because you cannot win every match but you can put up a fight and at least try to win. I think the team is quite capable to give a tough time to any opponent.”

An optics shopkeeper at Aabpara, Salman Hadyat, said Pakistan cricket’s team is over confident and they lack respect towards the opponents’ abilities. I just wish that a miracle happens and Muhammed Aamir get clears on February 5 from the International Cricket Council and gets included in the squad.

An employee in a marketing company, Khurram Qasim told APP, “I think Afridi should be kept as team captain for this event. This is a mega event and we all know that he the best possible choice for the event.”

A commuter at the zero point bus stop, Ali Zahid said, “I support the squad, as it is the best possible we can have in the given circumstances. No doubt Misbah’s recent form makes him contender for the captainship.”

India hopes Sachin Tendulkar can cap phenomenal career with World Cup win

2011-01-31T01:14:00.000-08:00

As Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar heads into his record sixth cricket World Cup, a nation of 1.2 billion are hoping he can cap a phenomenal career with a win for host India.

Tendulkar is the holder of virtually every major batting record in test and one-day cricket, including most runs and most centuries in either form, and most believe a World Cup win will complete his career of achievements.

Former West Indian batsman Vivian Richards said during a World Cup promotional event here last month that "the World Cup would be the icing on the cake for Sachin Tendulkar."

Just as Tendulkar's consistency has been credited with India's superb recent form, runs from the Mumbai player's bat have had a direct bearing on the team's fortunes in the World Cup.

Cricket tourney in Israel to mark India R'Day

2011-01-27T01:58:00.000-08:00

A cricket tournament for people of Indian origin was launched in Israel to mark India's 62nd Republic Day.

The Republic Day was celebrated at the India House in Herzliya Pituah Jan 26.

After unfurling the national flag and singing of the national anthem, Ambassador Navtej Sarna read out excerpts from Indian President Pratibha Patil's address that was delivered on the eve of the Republic Day.

This was followed by a short cultural programme.

Sarna felicitated Indian Hospice director Sheikh Mohammed Munir Ansari, who was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2011 for his contribution in maintaining the hospice as a symbol of India's heritage in Jerusalem.

The embassy also launched the 'India Trophy', a cricket tournament for the Indian-origin community in Israel.

A large number of Indians and friends of India attended the event.

There are approximately 70,000 Jews of Indian origin in Israel, most of who are Israeli nationals. The main waves of immigration into Israel from India took place in the fifties and sixties. The majority are from Maharashtra and smaller numbers are from Kerala and Kolkata.

Test cricket is here to stay

2011-01-25T00:40:00.000-08:00

Gentleman dressed in white wielding their willows or shining the red cherries always earned the respect of cricket enthusiasts. Test cricket has been trying to hold its own, with tough competition from ODI cricket and the even shorter format, Twenty20 cricket in its recent years.

Twenty20, introduced by England initially, began to extract large revenues from ticket sales and endorsements. It was started in order to attract the crowds towards the stadiums and was successful in doing so. People found this format entertaining, as the result was decided in a short span of 3 hours.

With the rise of Twenty20; test cricket took a back seat. Test cricket played during the calendar year began to decrease as twenty20 matches became a permanent fixture in any tour. The world began to witness how the Gentlemen's game fell into the nexus of the commercialized version of the game. Then the Indian Premier League and the Stanford League came into existence to capitalize on the growing popularity.

Test cricket began to lose its luster as crowds began to find the 5 day game longer and boring. Due to this fact, the International Cricket Council has come up with plans to make Test cricket exciting-there are even talks of staging a test cricket world cup! Test cricket still remains to be a top priority among international renowned cricketers.

Test cricket gets the best out of a player-it's an ultimate test for any cricketer. Playing for 5 days in a row demands immaculate concentration, determination, and temperament. So the hard-fought earned victory of over 5 days is much sweeter than any other victory.

One of the most thrilling aspects of test cricket is the 22 yards pitch where cricket is to be played over 5 days. These days the pitches are tailor made according to the wishes of the home team. The best cricket is played on those sporting wickets which have something for batsmen, faster bowlers and spinners too. Test cricket does not give batsmen the chance to score free and easy runs with strong fielding arrangements.

The vanishing art of Reverse swing bowling can be seen only in test cricket, where the same ball is used for a minimum of 80 overs. Its master exponent was Wasim Akram. Only good batsmen can handle these deliveries with perfection, else they will look totally helpless and lost. Three players who immediately spring in our minds are Malinga, Anderson and Zaheer Khan from the current list of players who are near to mastering it.

Test cricket is here to stay. Twenty20 cricket is like a baby, who will be loved by everyone initially. The 50 over game has to be nurtured and monitored regularly. Why do players first get a chance to represent their countries in the shorter format of the game, and then later the longest format of the game? It is because the players need to pass the "Test" of a Twenty and a Fifty over game before being declared fit to play the purest form of cricket-Test cricket.

Four arrested for betting on cricket match

2011-01-24T00:47:00.000-08:00

The crime branch made a swoop on a hideout at Malad and arrested four bookies who were allegedly accepting bets on the one-day cricket match between Australia and England on Saturday.

Sources in the Unit 8 crime branch, which conducted the raid, told Hindustan Times that they had received a tip-off about bets being accepted on the third one-day match between Australia and England.

The police raided a flat in Bhagran Nagar in Malad (W) from where they arrested the four men. A laptop, an internet modem, 16 cellphones and Rs3.65 lakh in cash were seized from the flat by the police.

The police are investigating the case and the records of the four arrested accused to check if they are linked to notorious bookie Junior Bandra in any way.

Muttiah Muralitharan plans to retire after World Cup

2011-01-21T02:01:00.000-08:00

Legendary Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has confirmed that he will retire from international cricket after the forthcoming World Cup in Asia.

The 38-year-old quit Test cricket last July after taking a record 800 wickets.

But he has remained in his country's limited-overs side and will bow out after the World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka, which begins on 19 February.

However, he will continue to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League after signing for new franchise Kochi.

Muralitharan, who helped Sri Lanka win the 1996 World Cup and was a losing finalist in 2007, has taken 517 wickets in 339 one-day internationals in a career which has spanned nearly two decades at the top level and left him as the world's leading wicket-taker in both the major formats of the game.

"I'm going to retire from international cricket, totally, after this World Cup," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

Sri Lanka host West Indies in three one-day internationals before the World Cup, when they will face Canada, Pakistan, Kenya, Australia, Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Group A.

"Our preparation has been good, but I think we have a good chance because we're playing in Sri Lanka," said Muralitharan.

"There won't be a huge [home] advantage, but it will have a little bit of impact

"It's very difficult to compare the 1996 team to this team, as it's two different generations.

"We have experienced players and young players, and our side has done very well for the last two years in one-day cricket.

"England are a very good side, but it depends on how they play in sub-continent conditions, which are very different to Australia or England as it favours spin bowling.

"Graeme Swann has done really well for England, I think he's one of the best spinners in the world."

Meanwhile, he told reporters at a training session in Colombo that as well as signing to play in the IPL for the next two years, he was "also looking at similar work in New Zealand and perhaps England."

But he ruled out an immediate move into coaching, adding: "There are plenty of coaches and lots of talented people out there.

"I will take things as they come. For the moment, no coaching stints."

Born in Kandy, Muralitharan's unique bent-arm bowling action, caused by a deformity from birth, has meant that he has courted controversy at times during his career.

Some umpires and former players have questioned his action's legality - notably in Australia, where umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson no-balled him for throwing.

The mechanics of his bowling action have been investigated and cleared on more than one occasion by the International Cricket Council, although in 2005 the ICC amended its rules to allow bowlers to straighten their arms by up to 15 degrees.

Throughout much of his career, he battled with Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne for the title of the world's leading wicket-taker, but Warne retired from internationals in 2007 with 708 wickets from 145 Tests, and 293 victims from 194 ODIs - although he, too, continues to play in the IPL.

World Cup victory in 1983 and all that

2011-01-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

The contrast between the India of 2011 and the 1983 side is stark. Yet they won it 28 years ago. So they can do it again. But the deal is that I shall not be eating any unsavoury paper and ink.

It’s time to check out old memories, for another cricket World Cup is approaching. This inevitably brings back some electrifying thoughts of the 1983 event, which will forever stand very high in India’s collective memory.

And not just that. On a personal note, I was vilified for something I wrote about India’s prospects before that tournament, and then subsequently thanked for spurring them to victory.What a conflict of opinion.

So let me state the precise facts. Most people know that in the first two World Cups (1975 and 1979) the approach and the performance by India were dire.

It seemed clear that most of their players objected to the principle of having to hurry things along, in contrast to the measured pace of Test cricket, where time is often of less concern.

This was what actually made batsmen such as Sunil Gavaskar so very difficult to dislodge, and India so difficult to beat over five days.

In the lead-up period to the 1983 World Cup, my preview in Wisden Cricket Monthly included these words: “India can only hope to redeem their dismal record of past World Cup performances. They plodded against England in the most bloody-minded fashion in 1975 and managed to lose to the then-humble Sri Lanka in 1979.

If their pride is not important enough to spur them to whole-hearted effort this time, they might as well give way to other would-be participants in 1987.”

Reel forward three months. India have won the World Cup, to the surprise and delight of much of the cricket world.

The might of West Indies was tossed aside by Kapil Dev’s boys. Today’s chairman of selectors Srikkanth top-scored with a bold 38, “Jimmy” Amarnath (spinal innings of 26 off 81 balls and 3 for 12 off seven overs) received the Man-of-the-Match award.

Kapil’s outfield catch to dismiss Viv Richards (33 top score) was seen as the decisive moment, and that night the hotel across from Lord’s trembled from the rhythm of the dancing in the foyer as Indian fans mobbed their heroes.

The captain did a sinuous bhangra, and I stood in the corner, smiling and tingling with pleasure. What happened next?I received a letter from a mildly irate fandemanding that I now eat my words.

It was alleged that I was “one-sided” in my preview.(Of course, I preferred to see it as an impartial judgment which, if anything, had served as a spur to push the boys to greater effort.)

My correspondent very reasonably pointed out that “this one-day cricket, an English invention, took time to take root in India”. He therefore relished India’s “demolishing” of England in the 1983 semifinal.

But now he demanded that I “be a good sport and swallow the lousy paragraph you wrote”.

Being (I hope) a gentleman (Canterbury Boys’ High School, MCC member and all that), I set about meeting this man’s requirement.In the press-box at Lord’s, having carefully acquired some good wine to wash it down, I duly chewed up and swallowed that paragraph. It was a satisfying experience, though not without a lingering fear of the consequences of downing so much inked paper.

There is no longer any need to goad India into applying themselves to the task ahead.MS Dhoni’s team have won their share of limited-over matches in recent years and now approach the 2011 World Cup among the favourites.

To have beaten South Africa in South Africa is no mean feat, and must push India upwards in the forecasts. The impression given to one so far away is that India now have so many estimable players — for Test and for one-day demands — that they will hold their own against any opposition. And if spin bowling plays a big part in their success, cricket is the winner.

Cricket’s charm is based not only upon its visual appeal and its rhythms. It is one of the most unpredictable of sports.One recent surprise has been the batsmanship of Harbhajan Singh.India’s tail now seems fortified, always important in the shorter game.

Piyush Chawla’s leg-spin is a delight to behold.The fast attack seems in good order, with Zaheer Khan doubtless determined to make amends for India’s defeat in the World Cup final before last, when Australia beat India as well as the rain in the Johannesburg final.

I wrote only a few years back that India’s top six in the batting order was probably as good as any in cricket history.Now Virender Sehwag has added his powers to it. Captain Dhoni has drive and flair, and the contrast between the India of 2011 and the 1983 side is stark.

Yet they won it 28 years ago.So they can do it again. But the deal is that if my prediction (so very different to the 1983 version) fails to materialise, I shall not be eating any unsavoury paper and ink.

Tendulkar is a genius, says Lara

2011-01-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

A “rusty” Brian Lara gifted the sprightly youngster the moment of his life. The ball sneaked past the bat and grazed the pads before disturbing the stumps. Lara was bowled!

Many bowlers have treasured such moments on the cricket field in international cricket. But this was a non-descript under-19 seamer, part of the group of youngsters attending the hour-long cricket clinic organised at the Ferozeshah Kotla by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) in conjunction with the Trinidad Tourism here on Tuesday.

Lara, who is the Ambassador of Sport for Trinidad and Tobago, remained a cricketer to the hilt. “I enjoyed batting but I was a little rusty. I must say I saw quite a few good players today and was very impressed.”

Better pitches needed

And then he spoke of India's weakness when faced with quality fast bowling. “I wish the practice pitches could be a little more enterprising, conducive to pace.” Bounce was the reason, he said, why the Indian batsmen failed in the Test at the Centurion recently against South Africa.

Even as former Test opener Chetan Chauhan, as part of the organisers, requested “no questions on IPL (Indian Premier League)”, Lara was forthcoming. “I was not overly disappointed,” he said on being unsold at the auction.

“It (auction) is not the greatest situation any player would like himself to find in. I can understand the reservations the owners and the managers must have had but they missed the broader picture.

“I would have made a difference with my knowledge. Private ownership is a good idea like club football. It would have given me an opportunity to continue my love with India but maybe some other time.”

Comforting message

Lara, 11953 runs in 131 Tests and 10405 in 299 ODIs, had a comforting message for Sourav Ganguly, who also remained unsold at the IPL auction.

“It didn't tarnish his message. He has been a great leader (of Indian cricket) and a good friend of mine.”

On Sachin Tendulkar's longevity in the game and the benchmarks set by his “dear friend”, Lara was generous in his praise. “It would be almost impossible for anyone to break his records. I feel great to referred to in the same breath but he is a genius and outstanding in all parts of the world. I didn't see Sir Don Bradman but I respect his averages.”

Hailing the great run by the West Indies in the 1970s and 80s and Australia thereafter, Lara observed that the trend of invincibility was not possible to return. “Can't really tell which team is the number one in the world! Each team has its time.”

Picks India, S.Africa

Lara rated India and South Africa as favourites to win the forthcoming World Cup. “India would counter home pressure but will be hard to beat. In the sub-continent, it is important to build a momentum.”

About South Africa, he said, “they have a bogey as far as World Cup was concerned.”

He picked Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Michael Clarke, Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen as the batsmen to watch.

He also picked Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gayle to overhaul his Test record of 400 not out. He also noted that the score of 200 was more likely to be scaled because, “T20 has changed the shape of the game.”

Looking ahead, Lara, 41, smiled, “I am still travelling, involved with the Zimbabwe team, coaching and mentoring, playing more golf, still being busy. The shine is not off the ball yet.”

Misting Nozzles | Shade Sail | Misting Tent | Aluminum Patio Umbrella

Tendulkar named as World Cup squad

2011-01-18T02:11:00.000-08:00

Injured Tendulkar named in India's cricket World Cup squad.

Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar has been included in his country's 15-man World Cup squad, despite doubts over the opener's fitness ahead of next month's competition.

Tendulkar was forced to withdraw from India's ongoing tour of South Africa on Saturday after straining his right hamstring.

The 37-year-old has scored a record 17,629 runs in 444 one-day internationals, but has played just four over the last 12 months in order to focus on Test cricket.

However, the world's leading one-day and Test batsman was named in the squad for the February 19 to April 2 tournament, which is to be jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Cook not hopeful of England World Cup place

The south east Asian nation's one-day side -- currently level with South Africa at one game a piece in the best-of-five match series -- have also been missing batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir as well as fast bowler Praveen Kumar through injury.

"I am not worried at all about the injuries, these are part of the game," Krishnamachari Srikkanth, India's chairman of selectors told reporters in Chennai following the team announcement on Monday.

"I am confident the team will be fully fit when the World Cup starts," he added.

India hold second place behind Australia in the official one-day rankings, ahead of co-hosts Sri Lanka, England and South Africa.

Led by captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India have been drawn with England, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa in group B of cricket's 10th World Cup.

Defending champions Australia head group A with Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya completing the line up for the tournament.

Following the round-robin stages, four teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

Cricket is more than just a game in India

2011-01-13T02:16:00.001-08:00

Guess who's taken their shirts off to wear their passion on their bodies!

Led by their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leading Indian superstars, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli will sport a never-seen-before painted body look for Pepsi's path-breaking World Cup 2011 campaign to be launched soon.

Pepsi is one of the global sponsors for the World Cup and the body paint campaign is an attempt to bring alive the passion that these cricketers have for their game, says Sandeep Singh Arora, executive vice-president (Marketing), Cola, PepsiCo India.

"Cricket is more than just a game in India, it is like a faith and its followers include millions of passionate Youngistaanis. With our innovative Cricket World Cup campaign we wanted to reflect the same fervor and energy that the fans and the players have and what can be more passionate than wearing it on your body," he said in a media release.

The new body painted look is youthful, fresh and symbolic of the individual player's passion for the game. Covered only with a layer of colourful body paint, the cricketers' images reflect their energetic and unique persona on the field. Each design and choice of colour palette has a story behind it which mirrors the athlete's character.

The creator of these looks, Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Taproot India, comments on the individual designs:

Cricket bosses back cricket Fridays

2011-01-11T03:10:00.000-08:00

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday gave Lead SA’s Cricket Friday initiative the thumbs up, urging all South Africans to back the Proteas and wear their cricket shirts on Fridays.

It comes ahead of the Cricket World Cup which begins on the February 19.

“We support the initiative taken by Lead SA and we hope that all South Africans support it. I will also be wearing my Proteas shirt every Friday,” said Cricket SA’s CEO Gerald Majola.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and SuperSport have also endorsed cricket Fridays.