Next T20 Battle in West Indies

The West Indies will mass the World Twenty20 battle in 2010, the International Cricket Council announced this news.

The event will be apprehended in place of the Champions Trophy that was to be hosted by West Indies in 2010, ICC head executive Haroon Lorgat said at a press meeting.

"With the Champions Trophy set to be hosted by Pakistan in 2009 after its abandonment this year, we determined to have a Twenty20 World Championship instead in April-May 2010 in West Indies," he said.

"Even though World Twenty20 is to be held every second year, we decided to hold it on the trot to set the schedule right and ensure a better stretch of tournaments."

The event, slated to be held from April 23 to May 9, will be staged at three venues to be selected by the ICC in January 2009 following nominations from the West Indies Cricket Board.

"With the ICC Champions Trophy being the closing major ICC event of 2009, and the ICC Cricket World Cup being the 50 over occasion in 2011, it makes just right judgment to have a competition of a dissimilar format in between," Lorgat said.

"It means we will avoid staging the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Cricket World Cup close together, as happened in 2002-03 and 2006-07.

Younus Khan announced his retirement from T20 internationals

Pakistan skipper Younus Khan announced his departure from T20 internationals subsequent to leading his side to a success in the 2009 Twenty20 final in opposition to Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Sunday.

Captain’s Talk after the Match :

‘This is my very last Twenty20 game for Pakistan, so I am retiring from T20 internationals.
‘I am now 34, I am aged for this kind of cricket. The good thing is we have a pair of good youngsters like Shahzaib Hasan and Ahmad Shahzad.’

However, talented batsman Younus who has played in 60 Tests and 186 one-day internationals.

So he is set to continue his international career in the longer formats of the game.

Second battle in T2o World Cup 2009

Second Semi Final of World Twenty20 will be played at Oval between Sri Lanka and West Indies. The team get through of this game will join Pakistan for the Final cricket battle to be played on 21st June at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

We previously saw some shocking results in the competition so far with India, Australia and last night competition solid favourites South Africa Pakistan by 7 runs, so no body can tell who is going to succeed this World Cup. One bad day of good team can cost them badly and one brilliant performance from individuals can lift their team.

So far West Indies adore the Oval wicket on which second semi final will take place. They have played two games in this tournament at same venue and on both matches debatably created their two best results, defeating Australia by seven wickets in the group stage and defeating England by five wickets.

Sri Lanka reached the semifinal with the unbeaten tag and now they are the favourites to lift the twenty20 title after South African exit from twenty20 world cup. Sri Lanka will be eager to continue their winning form.

Sri Lanka who played some gleaming cricket in the tournament won their most of their matches’ because of their bowling performance. From Malinga to Mendis all came good when it matter most. South Africa's unbeaten record is the one that has caught the eye for its efficiency but Sri Lanka are also unbeaten in five games out of five, with their only minor scare coming in a spirited display from the Irish.

Battle Between South Africa and Pakistan

Pakistan and South Africa are going to crash each other in the first semi final of twenty20 world cup 2009 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham 18 June. Cricket fans are now ahead to watch a highly-competitive match between two cricket giants. South Africa is the only semi finalists who have not lost any game so far in the tournament, while Pakistan has gone through many ups and downs over the last five games they have played so far in the tournament. It is going to be a great feast for cricket fans all over the world. Indian cricket fans also keen to watch the cricket battle between these teams because of Pakistan’s participant in the match. So it is going to be a nice match.

Business for theaters after exit of India in T20 World Cup 2009

India thrashes out of the Twenty20 World Cup, movie theater complex operators are expecting a boost in footfalls over the coming few weeks.

“The T20 matches starts after 10 p.m., and concerning India in particular, affected late evening and night shows. A Senior Vice-President of a theater told However, he was hopeful that from Monday onwards, night shows would pick energy.

Most multiplex chains generated an unexcited response for the first weekend after the argument between producers and multiplexes was resolved. The Big Pictures-promoted Kal Kissne Dekha, which on the rampage in 510 screens worldwide, did not have a remarkable box office opening. However, Big hopes that the movie would pick up and may even add additional prints from Friday.

“Over the weekend we had occupancies of 30-40 per cent. Now, we think business will pick up over the week,” said Mr Alok Tandon, COO, Inox Leisure.

Few multiplexes even screened the T20 matches to keep the cash catalog ticking. Mr Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Cinemas, which screened the tourney said, “We clocked over 50 per cent tenancy for both matches – India vs England and India vs West Indies — in almost all six properties we screened.”

Depending on India’s play, Fun Cinemas had kept the options open to show remaining matches. “Now with the Indian team crashing out and a few big-ticket releases in the pipeline, we expect things to be better,” Mr Kapur added.

In the meantime, Hollywood movies such as Bride Wars, 17 Again and Angels and Demons have fared much better than Indian releases. “English movies are doing well as they are released across limited screens. Angels and Demons is doing extremely well in Tier-II cities,”

Pakistan gets through to Semi Finals

Pakistan rubbed the harsh reminiscences of the 2007 World Cup beating Ireland contentedly by 39 runs to make sure passage into the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 Cup at The Oval on Monday. Two year ago in the West Indies, the Pakistanis were knocked out of the quadrennial global event by the unfancied Irish, a devastating happening that led to the death of their coach Bob Woolmer.

However, this afternoon, Pakistani cricketers ensured no repeat of that disaster and batting first on winning the toss piled up a decent total of 159 for 9 in which the major man was wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal with 59 runs with shots of five fours and a six.

Then off-spinner Saeed Ajmal spun his web of trick and controlled Ireland to 120 for 9 claiming his tournament’s first four wickets drag for 39 with only captain William Porterfield providing fight with top score of 40.

Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an competent performance. The margin was also sufficient to lift their net run-rate to 1.19, ensuring there’s no way both New Zealand and Sri Lanka can finish with as many points and a higher rate.

Apart from Akmal, none of the other Pakistan batsmen got huge scores, but there were sensible partnerships for almost every wicket, ensuring there was no repeat of the collapse which had knocked Pakistan out of the 2007 World Cup.

Akmal held the innings jointly with a measured knock. The self-confidence of having scored runs in the earlier games was clearly on display, and he was decisive with his footwork and generally sound with his shot selection.

Shahzaib Hasan (23) and Shahid Afridi ( 24) promoted up the order to No.3, did not get big scores but they provided the early impetus. Shahzaib kept lofting the pitched-up deliveries over the infield, hitting three fours and six while Afridi had three hits to the ropes as he thrashed Cusack and West through the off side before Kyle McCallan removed him with an off break.

Misbahul Haq made 20 while Razzaq was unbeaten on 15 as Pakistan reached a challenging total.

New ball bowler Trent Johnston had a nightmare game, conceding 20 in his second over and 12 in his third, as the Pakistani batsmen picked him off their legs quite effortlessly. However, he managed to dismiss Akmal with an excellent fourth over, picking up the batsman with a yorker and conceding only four runs.

Target of 160 was always beyond Ireland though Porterfield fought gustily for his 36-ball 40, but hit his first four in the tenth over of the innings, by which time the asking rate had already climbed to nine and a half.

Pakistan struck 13 fours and four sixes; Ireland only managed six fours.
Pakistan’s bowlers were all disciplined, with Mohammad Aamer getting rid of the dangerous Niall O’Brien early. Afridi and Saeed Ajmal offered few scoring opportunities, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, claiming two for 19 and took his tally of wickets to 12 .

India Ruled out off

The India captains, Mahendra Singh Dhoni worn out the force of fan and media rage back home after the defending champions were rudely neglected out of the World Twenty20 on Sunday.

Security was increased around Dhoni's home in the eastern city of Ranchi on Monday after scores of fans burnt his model, shouted slogans and accused the captain of underestimating England in a must-win situation.

India, winners two years ago, were installed as one of the favourites this time but a three-run loss to England consigned them to a second straight Super Eights defeat, leaving them with no possibility of reaching the semi-finals.

"Dhoni took the match carelessly, he adopted a casual attitude," Arun Kumar, a young protester in Ranchi, said. "He is captivated by the glamour world more than cricket."

The Indian media also singled out Dhoni who captained the team to victory in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. Dhoni was liable for shuffling the order and failing to shake off his own subdued batting form when a captain's innings was badly needed.

His promotion of young all-rounder Ravinder Jadeja to No 4 in the batting line-up in the place of the explosive Yuvraj Singh was also seen as a strategic disaster after the 20-year-old failed to force the pace and left his team-mates with too much to do in the final overs.

"Why did Dhoni throw Jadeja to the lions," asked one TV channel, while another said: "Dhoni could not hit the ball, got it all wrong with his strategy. Nasty captaining by Dhoni cost us dear."

Dhoni has enjoyed a smooth ride as Test captain since the 2007 triumph but has come under scrutiny at this tournament after parading the entire team in an attempt to quash media reports of disharmony between him and Virender Sehwag.

His relationship with the media worsened after Sehwag was ruled out due to a shoulder injury and Dhoni and his team management were attacked for being less than forthcoming over the nature of the explosive batsman's problem.

Cricket-mad Indian fans are well known for displaying extreme emotions. Angry fans threw stones the homes of some players after the team suffered a shock first round exit in the one-day World Cup two years ago.

However, thousands lined up on both sides of the road from Mumbai airport to the stadium when the victorious Twenty20 team took out a victory parade months later.

Gayle attacks to Australian bowlers

Chris Gayle played a blinder of an innings, a kind of innings that most teams will fret about now, an innings that eluded him in the IPL. His innings of 88 (50b 6×4 6×6) preserved the match for West Indies, leaving Australia in a must win situation against Sri Lanka.

The most special instant of the innings came in Lee’s 3rd over, the 5th over of the West Indies innings. The over read 6,0,6,0,4+nb,4,6. That made it 27 runs from the over, Lee’s figures at this time were not appealing, 3-0-51-0, 17 runs an over is not something you would expect from a leading fast bowler.

Latest Super 8 Match Schedule of T20 World Cup 2009

The Date and Time details of the Super 8 matches:

Date	Lord's	Trent Bridge	The Oval
Thu, 11 June		Ireland v New Zealand (18:00 IST) England v South Africa (22:00 IST)
Fri, 12 June	Pakistan v Sri Lanka (18:00 IST) India v West Indies (22:00 IST)
Sat, 13 June			South Africa v West Indies (18:00 IST) New Zealand v Pakistan (22:00 IST)
Sun, 14 June	Ireland v Sri Lanka (18:00 IST) England v India (22:00 IST)
Mon, 15 June			England v West Indies (18:00 IST) Ireland v Pakistan (22:00 IST)
Tues, 16 June		New Zealand v Sri Lanka (18:00 IST) India v South Africa (22:00 IST)

Collingwood Talks

Playing with a apparent head and without fear helped England to beat Pakistan and enter the super eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup, believes the team’s captain, Paul Collingwood.

In an article for The Sun, Collingwood said: “In the space of 48 hours, we went from the depths of losing to Holland to the thrill and total relief of beating Pakistan. The key was playing with a clear head and without fear. We vowed to enjoy ourselves and not think about the consequences of losing and going out of the World Twenty20. Then there was the small matter of gettin Kevin Pietersen back into the team and a meal of burger and chips on Saturday evening!”

He additionally goes on to say that while playing for England, there can be both highs and lows, and that he had plenty of time to reflect on what in his view was an unbelievable weekend.”The game against Holland on Friday was outrageous. By ridiculous, I mean I still can’t get my head round how they knocked off the runs. But the way we bounced back on Sunday was fantastic. It proved we can play under huge pressure and that should hold us in good stead later in the tournament,”

Shoaib Akhtar's struggle for T20 World cup 2009 England

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar could be skipped from Pakistan's team for the World Twenty20 Championships if he failed to appear for the practice games in Lahore later this week.

A resource in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told IANS that Shoaib will have to play in the three practice games to be played between Patron's XI and Chairman's XI May 20-22. The matches are being set in preparation for the June 5-21 World Twenty20 Championships in England.

Shoaib, 33, is part of Pakistan's 15-man squad for the England but there is a question mark about his chances of featuring in the biennial spectacle as he skipped a five-day conditioning camp held in the hill resort of Bhurban due to a skin problem.

Shoaib has been named in the Patrons XI to be led by Younus Khan but it remains to be seen whether he will feature in the matches.

A source close to Shoaib said that the fast bowler has improved from his skin problem and has resumed his training for the World Twenty20 Championship.

But the bowler could face corrective action from the PCB after opting to get his skin disease treated by a private doctor rather than going to a specialist suggested by the Board.

According to a statement in the Jang newspaper senior PCB officials including the Board chairman Ijaz Butt are miserable with Shoaib's conclusion to consult a private doctor before taking permission from the PCB's medical commission.

According to the central contract that Shoaib has signed with the board, he has to take permission from the PCB before consulting a doctor for any kind of medical condition.

Sri Lankan Team for T20 World Cup 2009

Sri Lanka named uncapped all-rounder Isuru Udana in a 15-man squad for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in England.

The competition will be the first tour since the team came under a terrorist attack in Pakistan while playing in a test series in March.

Seven cricketers and one coach were injured when their bus was ambushed by gunmen as the team traveled to a match against Pakistan at Lahore. Six police officers and the driver of a van taking match officials were killed in the attack.

Kumar Sangakkara will go in front the Sri Lanka team for the first time as captain in England, which is hosting the Twenty20 World Cup from June 5 2009 to June 21 2009.

Sri Lanka team: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain ), Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Isuru Udana, Farveez Maharoof, Jehan Mubarak, Indika de Seram.

Spinner's Role In T20 World Cup 2009 England

Spinners will play a vital role in the forthcoming World T20 in England as they did in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where they were inventive and did not allow freebies to batsmen, feels former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, He said Twenty20 requires a different set of skills and is a big test of a cricketer’s capability.

“In a short span of time, T20 cricket has become a different ball game. Now batsmen have realized that they cannot play big shots right through the innings. They have to plan their innings. They need to have different skills to make it in T20. Both the batsmen and the bowlers have to be inventive,” Akram said on the sidelines of an ESPN Sports event related to the T20 World Cup starting June 5.

“Spinners are going to play an important role as we saw in IPL, where they have been successful. Batsmen will find them difficult to handle,” said the former Pakistan captain.

Sanjay Manjerekar, who was also present on the occasion, seconded Akram’s view.

The former India player said that the skills required in Twenty20 format were closer to Test cricket.

“IPL in South Africa has tested the skills of a player like Test cricket. The opening edition was played in India where the pitches change only after 50 overs, so it made little difference. In South Africa it was different. With little bit of help from the surface, the spinners were unbeaten. Also you need certain amount of skills to slog a spinner. Good footwork and perception is necessary to attack spinners,” he said.

“When the Twenty20 World Cup was held last time, it was not as big as the 50 over World Cup. India were a hesitant participant. But two years later it has completely changed. Suddenly the importance of T20 has leapfrogged. It is the pinnacle of the game now.

“The unpredictability of T20 makes it exciting. Captains are still learning how to play. They are still working out their strategies,” said Manjerekar.

Manjerekar also said that the tournament will be more aggressive than IPL.

“There will be 11 international players and nation challenging against nation.”

Twenty-20 World Cup 2009 groups and its teams

There are Four Groups in the T20 World Cup 2009 England .Each group contains three teams. The teams shown below:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
India	Pakistan	Australia	New Zealand
Bangladesh	England	Sri Lanka	South Africa
Ireland	Netherlands	West Indies	Scotland

The second level groups are Group E and Group F these groups contains the teama which clears the first level of league matches played with in their groupmets.The qulification for this second level is that a team should be in 1st or 2nd position in their group points tabel.

Group E	Group F
A1	B1
B2	A2
C1	C2
D2	D1

ICC T20 World Cup 2009 Schedule

The first level of league matches's Date and Time details:

Date	Lord's	Trent Bridge	The Oval
Fri, 5 June	Opening ceremony England v Netherlands 22:00 IST
Sat, 6 June		India v Bangladesh 22:00 IST	New Zealand v Scotland 14:30 IST Australia v West Indies 18:00 IST
Sun, 7 June			South Africa v Scotland 18:00 IST England v Pakistan 22:00 IST
Mon, 8 June		Ireland v Bangladesh 18:00 IST Australia v Sri Lanka 22:00 IST
Tues, 9 June	Pakistan v Netherlands 18:00 IST New Zealand v South Africa 22:00 IST
Wed, 10 June		Sri Lanka v West Indies 18:00 IST India v Ireland 22:00 IST

The Date and Time details of the Super 8 matches:

Date	Lord's	Trent Bridge	The Oval
Thu, 11 June		D1 v A2 (18:00 IST) B2 v D2 (22:00 IST)
Fri, 12 June	B1 v C2 (18:00 IST) A1 v C1 (22:00 IST)
Sat, 13 June			C1 v D2 (18:00 IST) D1 v B1 (22:00 IST)
Sun, 14 June	A2 v C2 (18:00 IST) A1 v B2 (22:00 IST)
Mon, 15 June			B1 v A2 (18:00 IST) B2 v C1 (22:00 IST)
Tues, 16 June		D1 v C2 (18:00 IST) D2 v A1 (22:00 IST)

The Date and Time details of Semi-Final and Final matches:

Date	Lord's	Trent Bridge	The Oval
Thu, 18 June		Semi-final 1 E1 v F2 (22:00 IST)
Fri, 19 June			Semi-final 2 F1 v E2 (22:00 IST)
Sun, 21 June	Final Match 19:30 IST Closing ceremony

Indian Cricket Squade for Twenty-20 World cup 2009

Batsmen in Indian T20 World Cup squad:

• MS Dhoni (Captain)


• Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain)


• Gautam Gambhir


• Suresh Raina


• Yuvraj Singh


• Yusuf Pathan


• Rohit Sharma


• Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers in Indian T20 World Cup squad:

• Harbhajan Singh


• Zaheer Khan


• Ishant Sharma


• Praveen Kumar


• Rudhara Pradap Singh


• Pragyan Ojha


• Irfan Pathan

History of India

The people of India have had a continuous civilization since 2500 B.C., when the inhabitants of the Indus River valley developed an urban culture based on commerce and sustained by agricultural trade. This civilization declined around 1500 B.C., probably due to ecological changes.

During the second millennium B.C., pastoral, Aryan-speaking tribes migrated from the northwest into the subcontinent. As they settled in the middle Ganges River valley, they adapted to antecedent cultures.

The political map of ancient and medieval India was made up of myriad kingdoms with fluctuating boundaries. In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. During this period, known as India's Golden Age, Hindu culture and political administration reached new heights.

Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems--the prevailing Hindu and Muslim--mingled, leaving lasting cultural influences on each other.

The first British outpost in South Asia was established in 1619 at Surat on the northwestern coast. Later in the century, the East India Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers.

Is India poor, who says? Ask Swiss banks:

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $ 1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them.

Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. “Obviously, these people won’t be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,” believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn’t referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who’ve been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country’s wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:

Top five

India---- $1456 billion
Russia---$ 470 billion
UK-------$390 billion
Ukraine- $100 billion
China-----$ 96 billion

Drugs-Amphetamines:

The term amphetamines covers several similar substances including amphetamine sulphate, dexamphetamine and methamphetamine.

Amphetamines are produced from an oil base but may be found in a number of forms. The most common is for the oil to be converted into a powder. The powder may be made into capsules or tablets. Methamphetamine may appear as rock-like crystals or as a liquid. Methamphetamine, although structurally similar to amphetamine, is more pure and longer lasting. Occasionally a very high purity gel or putty like substance can be produced. Amphetamine is often "cut" with adulterants such as sugar, glucose or ephedrine.

Effects:

Amphetamines are psychostimulant drugs and their primary effect is to speed up the activity of the brain and nervous system. The user's heart and breathing rate increase and they may experience increased energy, alertness and confidence. Appetite may be suppressed and they may become talkative and excited.

The less sought after effects include heart palpitations, anxiety and irritability. At higher doses, amphetamine can cause irregular heartbeat, headaches, dizziness and panic attacks.

Long term, heavy amphetamine use can lead to insomnia and malnutrition. Psychological and emotional problems such as depression, paranoia and extreme aggressiveness can develop. In some cases, users may experience amphetamine psychosis - a psychological state, similar to schizophrenia - characterised by paranoid delusions. Amphetamine overdose can cause stroke, heart attack, seizure, coma or death.

Method of use:

Amphetamines can be injected, snorted, smoked or taken orally.

Nasa

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, pronounced /ˈnæsə/) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established on July 29, 1958, by the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

In addition to the space program, it is also responsible for long-term civilian and military aerospace research. Since February 2006 NASA's self-described mission statement is to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research."

NASA's motto is "For the benefit of all". The motto of NASA's Office of Education is: Shaping the Future: Launching New Endeavors to Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers.