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Cricket Special
Melbourne February 3:
A victory must have seldom tasted sweeter. A sense of relief in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and opener Gautam Gambhir – the two men in the middle – and the rest of the team in the dugout was palpable.
When Gambhir whipped paceman Clint McKay through widish mid-on in the final over, India had won its first game overseas in 16 matches (including all formats) after suffering defeats in 13 of them. The Indians, lifting their game and successfully chasing 132, had finally broken a spell of setbacks. Vibrant fielding – the mercurial Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged Man-of-the-Match - and steady bowling set up India's convincing eight-wicket win in the second KFC Twenty20 international at the MCG here on Friday before a mammoth crowd. The two-match series ended in a 1-1 draw.
The left-handed Gambhir made the right moves with his unbeaten 60-ball 56. He worked the ball around, found the gaps, and displayed the footwork and finesse of an accomplished stroke-maker. He was also involved in partnerships. The opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag put on 43 in 6.3 overs before the latter was picked up at cover off a full toss from left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg.
Then, Gambhir and the positive Virat Kohli added 54 when Kohli edged a Mitchell Marsh delivery that seamed away. 'Keeper Matthew Wade dived to his right to come up with the ball. Crucially, India continued to have a left-right combination in the middle with Gambhir rotating the strike effectively; the threat from Lee and Hogg was negated effectively. Then, Gambhir and Dhoni closed out the match with an unbeaten 38-run association.
The Indians had buzzed on the field earlier. There was plenty of energy on view as the men in blue chased hard, dived to stop powerful drives crossing them, cut down the angles smartly and threw with speed and accuracy. Symbolic of India's elevated levels of fielding was Jadeja at backward point. He was electric as he swooped and released the sphere in a flash. Indeed, Jadeja's precise throws led to the run-outs of Aaron Finch (36 of 26 balls) and Australia skipper George Bailey during a critical phase. India's fielding made a difference and the mercurial Jadeja was at the heart of it all.
And a direct hit from cover by Rohit Sharma sent back the dangerous Wade (32 0ff 29 balls). The Indian fielding complemented the bowling as the visitor created the pressure after the host had elected to bat. On a surface offering the pacemen a fair measure of carry, India's three-spinner ploy represent a risk but the team management stuck to its game-plan. Ravichandran Ashwin did not operate with the new ball this time around but the pace pair of Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar performed a fair job for India early on. Although the two strayed down leg-side on a couple of occasions, they hit the right areas more often than not and managed to move the ball.
Praveen, in particular, achieved telling deviation. The Australians decided to give Finch an opportunity at the top of the order, which meant it was he and not first game hero Matthew Wade who walked out with David Warner. The impressive Finch whipped Vinay over mid-wicket and square-cut Praveen for boundaries but the explosive Warner fell early; the southpaw was held well by Gambhir running back at deep square-leg off Praveen. Then, the hopelessly out-of-form Shaun Marsh dabbled at a delivery darting across him by Praveen. Sehwag struggled to hold the edge from the southpaw but managed to keep the ball in the air long enough for 'keeper Dhoni to pouch the catch.
The Indians had done a reasonable job in restricting the Aussies to 42 for two in the first six power-play overs. Then, the spin trio held centrestage. Ashwin – bowling wicket-to-wicket and varying his speed – did not provide the batsmen either room or width. Rahul Sharma, releasing the sphere from a lovely high-arm action, varied his trajectory intelligently. And Jadeja revealed the tightness of an orthodox left-arm spinner in control. The Aussies failed to build sizable partnerships. David Hussey (24) threatened briefly before he succumbed to Jadeja's change of pace.
The in-form Wade surfaced at No. 6 and struck a six of brute power off Rahul over squarish mid-wicket but Rohit's sizzling throw took him out. There was also a gripping piece of action when Rahul had Mitchell Marsh stretching out and Dhoni pulled off a lightning-quick stumping. The Indian bowling and fielding created the opportunity. For once, the batsmen did not miss out.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Dubai February 3:
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) are requesting proposals from companies interested in becoming the accreditation services provider for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 scheduled to take place from 18 September to 7 October.
The successful company will be responsible for managing all event specific accreditation requirements, ICC said. The ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 will be the fourth edition of the tournament, the first to be staged in Asia following the successful hosting of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. A proven track record in running accreditation programmes, particularly world-class sporting events in the subcontinent, is essential.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Sydney February 2:
The change of format and infusion of young blood failed to bring about a turnaround for India as Australia thrashed the lacklustre visitors by 31 runs in the first T20 International in Sydney today.
Australia rode on wicketkeeper-batsman Mathew Wade’s blistering 43-ball 72 to score an imposing 171 for four and then bowled well to restrict India to 140 for six in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest. After the 0-4 drubbing in the Test series, the induction of the limited overs specialists didn’t bring about any change in the script as neither the batsmen nor the bowlers could create any sort of impact. The game was as good as over when India lost their first four wickets for 53 runs inside the first eight overs.
Virender Sehwag (4), Gautam Gambhir (20), Virat Kohli (22) and Rohit Sharma (0) were cooling their heels in the pavilion within a blink, giving the hosts the advantage. It only got worse when Suresh Raina (14), after a hit or two, was clean bowled by the highly regarded Daniel Christian. Only skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni held his ground and struck 48 off 43 balls with a boundary and three sixes. His late flourish was eye-catching but it was too late by then. There was a brief sparkle when Gambhir and Kohli put on 41 runs off 30 balls but the disaster was round the corner.
Kohli holed out in the deep off Brad Hogg’s bowling. Gambhir lofted a catch inside the ring as he failed to read the off-break from David Hussey. Kohli, a redeeming feature of Test series, was claimed by 40-year-old chinaman bowler Hogg off the fourth ball of his first over. Hussey was the surprise packet for Australia, who claimed two wickets for only four runs in his first two overs. Hussey claimed Gambhir and Rohit Sharma with his part-time off-spin. For Sharma, who had waited all this summer for his first representative game, it was a dismal start as he was bowled off the first ball he faced.
Sehwag was the first one to begin it all in a rather characteristic dismissal this summer—looking to play on the onside, closing the face of his bat too early and edging a catch, off the side of his bat to lone slip Hussey. Besides his catch and wickets, Hussey played a smart innings of 42 off 30 balls when Australia batted first in the evening. Hussey shared a 56-run third wicket stand with Matthew Wade whose 72 off 43 balls with five fours and three sixes was the talking point of the evening. Wade, playing his third Twenty20 international, after two unsuccessful ones against South Africa last year, struck cleanly and powerfully to flatten up the largely spin-oriented Indian bowling.
Left-handed opener David Warner (25) led an early charge and then Wade took over as India were once again made to look inadequate in the middle. Indians opted to field first and sensing a slow wicket, relied almost exclusively on its spinners but still found the home batsmen come out strongly at them. Ravichandran Ashwin was brought in first up at the sight of Warner, knowing the off-spinner had scalped him twice in the final Test in Adelaide last month. Ashwin was allowed to get away in his first over but in the next, Warner slammed 6,4 and 6 off successive balls to break the spell over him. The first of this hit for the maximum took everyone’s breath away as it was a switch hit and still carried the ball beyond ropes at widish long on.
Warner didn’t last long but his 25 off 14 balls with two sixes and a four had given Australia the early momentum. Wade, his partner and replacement for Brad Haddin, showcased his talent with brilliant hits around the park. He didn’t begin well enough, his first boundary was a streaky edge past slip cordon off Praveen Kumar but then he opened up. Wade really shifted gear in the eight over when Ashwin was brought in from the other end. He smote him straight down the ground for a six and later really took a liking for Ravindra Jadeja, smacking his third delivery over covers for a four.
In the left-arm spinner’s next over, he smashed a four and followed it up with a six to bring up his half century off 34 balls. There was another four off the next to celebrate his maiden landmark in international cricket. Australia were now rattling along and Praveen, returning for his third spell, was hammered for 18 runs with Wade smashing his first and final delivery for a four and a six. Hussey was an excellent presence at the other end and had just hit leg-spinner Rahul Sharma for a six when rain intervened with Australia on 131 for 2 in the 15th over. Wade left the centre-stage as soon as the game resumed after a 20-minute rain hold up. He went back to cut the off-spin of Suresh Raina which went straight and hit his leg-stump.
The break appeared to have done good to the Indians who conceded only 40 runs from the remaining five-odd overs. The lanky leg-spinner got a scare in his first over itself when he tried to take a return catch off Travis Birt but the shot had been so fiercely struck that it split the webbing of his bowling hand. Indeed, Sharma bowled the final over of the innings, dropping another return catch, but cleaning up David Hussey for 42 runs, made off 30 balls with a four and three sixes. Besides Wade and Hussey, Warner (25) and Birt (17) were the other two wickets to fall, both falling to catches by Suresh Raina at the edge of the ring off Vinay Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Dubai February 2:
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board passed a unanimous resolution that the presidency will become an "ambassadorial" role on a one-year rotational basis from 2014 while a chairman would lead the Board.
In a statement after the two-day meeting, the board said its recommendation regarding the presidency was "consistent with recommendations in the Woolf Report". The necessary amendments to the Articles of Association will be discussed at the next ICC Board meeting before being submitted for approval by the ICC Annual Conference in June. The Board will also consider the position and role, if any, of the ICC Vice President between 2012 and 2014. Accordingly, the nomination received of Mustafa Kamal, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president, for the ICC Vice-Presidency from 2012-14 will be considered as part of this process.
India's Sharad Pawar is the ICC president and after the end of his tenure in June 2012, he would be succeeded by Alan Isaac, the ICC vice-president nominated by New Zealand and Australia. The recommendations, if approved, could strike out the role of president-elect (vice-president) and shatter Kamal's ambitions to head the ICC. The ICC Board also received from Lord Woolf of Barnes and PricewaterhouseCoopers a 60-page report containing 65 recommendations and a transitional plan. Woolf, a former chief justice of England and Wales, was appointed chairman of the ICC's Independent Governance Review Committee and submitted a report containing 65 recommendations and a transitional plan.
"This has to be the most important exercise that the ICC Board will take responsibility for in seeking to grow the game for future generations," ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. The document will be published Thursday, with the ICC board due to review the report and discuss it before fully considering the recommendations at the next Board meeting in April 2012. The board also approved a proposal to substantially increase incentives, in the form of prize money, to promote Test cricket in the period before the ICC Test Championship, scheduled for 2017.
From 2013 the top team in the ICC Test rankings will receive a minimum of USD 450,000, a substantial jump from the present USD 175,000. From 2015, the prize will be increased to USD 500,000 in 2015 and from 2016 there will be a further increase in Test prize money.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Sydney February 2:
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his decision to field in the first T20 International against Australia backfired, leading to a 31-run defeat at the ANZ Stadium here.
"There is always a tomorrow. We started well with the bat but could not capitalise. Matthew Wade batted really well for Australia," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation. On choosing to field first, Dhoni said: "I feel so (that he erred in his decision), especially the way the wicket behaved in the second innings. It was worse to bat in the second innings."
Australia captain George Bailey, who played his first match for Australia in any format, hoped to continue the winning run in second T20 at Melbourne Friday. "It was an all-round performance. I am very excited to win the game. Our fielding and bowling was outstanding," Bailey said. "There is a great feeling around Australian cricket at the moment. We hope to continue the same performance in Melbourne." Australia's win was set up by wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Wade, who hit a sublime 72 off 43 balls. The man of the match said came up with his "best".
"That is probably the best I have played for quite a while. "(Coach) Mickey Arthur told me yesterday that I would be opening. And I thought there was no point competing with (David) Warner, he is the best hitter in the game. So I played to my strengths."
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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New Delhi February 1:
Reacting to Indian skipper MS Dhoni's pre-match press conference comments that he is willing to quit Test captaincy if there is any suitable candidate, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) made it clear that picking the new Test captain or retaining the current captain is the job of the selectors, and that suggesting names of candidates to the selectors was the job of the working committee.
The bigwigs of board - who have already endorsed their views on split captaincy in Test and ODIs - are ready to have a detailed discussion in the working committee meeting if the members raise the issue. A section of the working committee was even of the view that Dhoni's utterances felt that the skipper may have given up the fight to try and hang on to his position.
Dhoni reportedly said that the selectors seldom gave him the team he wanted. If that was the case, a section of the selectors felt that the Indian skipper should have given the selectors credit after the World Cup win, which Dhoni didn't. Clearly, it's a war out in the open and it may just go out of hand.
"If Dhoni gives credit to the selectors for the World Cup win, then even the selectors are ready to share the blame," a selector told TOI, adding that the chairman of the committee Krish Srikkanth has already taken the blame for the disastrous series. There are also members in the board who feel that Virat Kohli is the future captain. "Even Dhoni was made captain at a very early age," a BCCI official said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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New Delhi February 1:
Sunil Gavaskar feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni is still the best bet for India's captaincy and wants the BCCI to wait for some time before zeroing in on the candidate who might take over from him in future.
Criticised for his unimpressive captaincy and performance in Test cricket, Dhoni has offered to quit the leadership role in the longer format of the game if the BCCI feels there is a better replacement waiting in the wings.
However, Gavaskar feels there is nothing to hurry and Dhoni is still the best bet for the job. "Dhoni obviously must have felt deeply the 4-0 loss of India. So what he wanted to say is that he is ready to play under a captain if the BCCI can get one, and that is exactly what you expect from a team man like him," Gavaskar told a news channel.
"In my view he is still the best bet for the job, there are of course a couple of candidates but BCCI should wait for a couple of seasons as Mahi himself said may be till 2013 so that we can have a better idea of the candidates who are likely to take over from him in future," he added. Asked if India should opt for three different captains for three different formats, Gavaskar said: "If you have somebody to captain all three formats, nothing like it, really because there would be no division of command.
"If you have a captain for each format of the game then the common players in all the formats will get confused because of the division of command," he said. Asked if the 0-4 Test loss against Australia will be forgotten if India do well in the ODIs, Gavaskar said: "No, I don't think it's likely to happen. Every team and player is rated by how they do in Test, which is the highest level. It is a Test victory which matters to real cricket lovers."
However, Gavaskar said if India fare well in the ODIs, it will give selectors a fair idea of players who have the right temperament and who could be looked at for future. "If India do well, it will give us an idea about players who can be looked at for future. Because in 50 overs, one can have a better look of players who can play under pressure and have a good temperament," he said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Sydney January 31:
Under-fire Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said he is willing to give up the Test captaincy and be replaced by someone else if the BCCI feels there is a better option waiting.
Dhoni is facing severe criticism for his unimpressive captaincy and performances in the longer format of the game after India suffered their second successive whitewash on an overseas tour when they were wiped out 4-0 by Australia in the recently concluded Test series.
'It's an added responsibility and not a position that belongs to anyone,' Dhoni was quoted as saying. 'Am trying to do well, it's not a position I want to hold or stick on to. If there is a better replacement, it's an open job, he can come in and the place should be given to him.' Team India led by Dhoni now has lost seven straight Test matches abroad as captain and as a batsman.
He scored 220 at 31.43 from four Tests in England and made 102 from six innings of three Tests at 20.40 on the present tour Down Under. 'The responsibility was given to me three-and-a-half years ago. I am trying to fit into the shoes, get along with the team and perform well.' However, Dhoni made it clear that his journey as a Test cricketer was far from over but believed the decision was not entirely in his hands.
'I am still on my way (through the journey). I haven't reached anywhere. But it's not an individual who decides, it's others who decide whether you are good enough or not,' he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 31
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Sydney January 31:
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is excited about facing off with new Australian Twenty20 captain George Bailey at ANZ Stadium here tomorrow.
Dhoni, who played alongside Bailey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Chennai Super Kings, said the Australian selectors have made the right choice by handing the 29-year-old the captaincy for the T20 series against India. 'He (Bailey) is an interesting character, he plays good cricket, he's someone who can play his strokes, he's very intelligent and understands the game well,' Dhoni was quoted as saying by 'AAP'.
'He is a really good character to have.' Dhoni also said his team's younger players were relishing the opportunity of taking on evergreen left-arm spinner Brad Hogg after the 40-year-old's recall to the T20 line-up. 'Brad's an experienced guy and what we have seen is spinners are wily, the more they age the better they get,' Dhoni said. 'He's also someone who has done well in the T20 locally over here so it will be a nice contest between the youngsters and him.'
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 31
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Mumbai January 30:
The Cricket Board's big wigs are likely to deliberate on the Indian team's Test series debacle in Australia and the future of some senior batsmen after their listless display there when its all-powerful Working Committee meets in Chennai next month. "The BCCI's Working Committee is to meet at Chennai on February 13," informed Board's Chief Administrative Officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty today.
Shetty, however, did not spell out whether the Indian team's pathetic display in the four-Test series in Australia will be discussed by the committee members. "The agenda is not ready," Shetty said when asked specifically about this matter. With one of its vice presidents Shivlal Yadav, who had accompanied the team in the Test series as the administrative manager, expected to attend the meeting, the other members would have the opportunity to have a first hand understanding of the reasons of the debacle.
The former India off-spinner has returned to his home town after the Test series. The Working Committee is virtually the general body of the Board as it comprises most of the units affiliated to the BCCI as its members and any decision taken by it will be final.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Jalandhar January 30:
Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed the vanquished Indian cricket team to bounce back strongly from the Test whitewash in Australia, saying that there is "nothing to worry" as such a setback can happen to any side in the world.
"It happens in some series but there is nothing to worry about. We are world champions after all and we will be back in our elements soon," said Harbhajan after the inauguration of his cricket academy. "It is true that we have not performed well but it happens in cricket. I am sure the team will be back to form soon and give a tough fight to all its opponents," he added.
India were humiliated 0-4 by Australia in one of most lopsided Test series in recent memory, barely six months after England handed them a similar thrashing. The 31-year-old Harbhajan, who was not picked for the just-concluded series, said he is hoping to make a comeback very soon.
"I am doing what I am supposed to do. I am hopeful of playing in the national team as I am ready for a comeback. I have worked very hard to improve my game," he said. Harbhajan is a veteran of 98 Tests in which he has taken 406 wickets but was dropped from the team due to indifferent form last year.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Dubai January 29:
Veteran Sachin Tendulkar dropped out of the batting top-10 to be 13th, while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan slipped a spot to 10th in the bowling chart as India's misery in the Test series against Australia reflected in the latest ICC rankings issued today.
Outplayed 0-4 in the series that concluded yesterday, Indian players saw their individual standing take a beating in the ICC charts. While Tendulkar slipped to 13th, another senior batsman Rahul Dravid went down three spots to 18th. VVS Laxman was down a couple of positions at 23rd while Virender Sehwag was spot behind him after losing a rung.
Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir also dropped two places to 34th. However, Virat Kohli, the only Indian to score a hundred in the series, gained 17 places to be 50th in the latest list. Among the bowlers, Zaheer was the only Indian in not just top-10 but also the top-20. On the other hand, there was good news for Australian players, who made upward movements.
Pacers Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and off-spinner Nathan Lyon moved up the charts. Siddle, who won the man of the match award for his six for 96 in the Adelaide Test, gained two places and is now in fourth position with a career-best rating. Harris's match figures of four for 112 lifted him four places to 22nd spot, while Lyon's five for 111 earned him nine places, putting him in 43rd position. Mainstays of their sides' batting orders -- Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting -- have made big strides in the Rankings for Test batsmen.
Clarke, who ended up as the player of the series against India, has moved up seven places and now occupies third position. Ponting is the next highest-ranked Australia batsman in 14th position after he climbed eight places following his scores of 221 and 60 not out in Adelaide. Meanwhile, England must win the Dubai Test to be guaranteed number-one spot at the April 1 cut-off date while Pakistan's 3-0 series win will bring it three points closer to India and Australia.
Crafty off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has risen one more place and his spin partner Abdur Rehman has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in the rankings for bowlers. Saeed followed up his 10-97 in the Dubai Test with seven for 130 in the Abu Dhabi Test which was enough to put him ahead of England's fast bowler James Anderson in second position.
The 34-year-old has earned 50 ratings points for this achievement giving him a career-best rating, and he now leads Anderson by 25 ratings points but still trails number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa by 84 ratings points. Rehman, who had figures of two for 67 and six for 25 to win the man of the match award, has jumped five places to ninth spot. This is after 23 years year that two Pakistan spinners figure inside the top 10 of the Test player rankings. Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul Haq has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in eighth position by rising six places following his contributions of 84 and 12.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Melbourne January 29:
Australia's woefully out of form wicketkeeper Brad Haddin could be replaced by Matthew Wade behind the stumps in the first three one-dayers of the tri-series against India and Sri Lanka starting on February 5.
Haddin, retired from T20 cricket, was criticised for a below-par show in the Test series against India that Australia won 4-0. He did show some good work in the final Test but that may not be enough. Wade will keep in the two T20 matches against India in Sydney and Melbourne this week and is expected to be picked for the first three ODIs when the squad is announced tomorrow.
Australia's performance manager Pat Howard said performance would be sole criteria for picking the squad. "You need sufficient skills to be within the frame, obviously. No one is picked if they don't perform to be recognised for their core skills," Howard was quoted as saying by 'ESPN Cricinfo' "But then the selection panel (also) considers their contribution to the team, the effect those players are having on the team - are they coming from winning teams?
"All those things are important to assess what impact those players are having. And obviously John (Inverarity) being able to sit down with the players to hear about who the good leaders are in other teams and getting feedback can add so much to your selection decisions," he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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New Delhi January 29:
India's whitewash in Australia - the second in a row overseas for the cricket team - has triggered a big debate in the cricket establishment, throwing up several ideas, some radical, many cosmetic.
An idea finding favour with the BCCI bosses is that MS Dhoni should be stripped of Test captaincy. The current front runner for the captain's position is Virender Sehwag. This doesn't mean Dhoni would be stripped of all captaincy - he's expected to remain captain for the limited-overs versions of the game, ODI and T20.
For Test matches, though, his captaincy has been found wanting. Meanwhile, Sehwag has made plain that he hasn't got his due (and has begun to view Dhoni as the reason for that) and the cricket bosses think that perhaps he should be given a chance. It's another matter that Sehwag's record as captain, either of India or of Delhi Daredevils, hasn't been great.
While all the senior players, including VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, have clarified that they won't be retiring from cricket as yet, it doesn't mean that both or either will be selected to play Tests. Did 'ego clash' with Sehwag affect MSD? However, what is really disturbing is the talk of "an ego clash" between Dhoni and Sehwag. It's said that this affected Dhoni's captaincy and he couldn't quite assert his authority with Sehwag and a few others. Dhoni also feels that Sehwag could have done better in Australia if had shown greater discipline while batting. The authorities are examining to what extent this dissension within the team contributed to its debacle in Australia.
Senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman don't have had a problem playing under Dhoni (or under Sehwag, for that matter), but Sehwag has apparently made his opinions clear: he doesn't like Dhoni's way of handling things, be it in selecting the playing XI, field placements during Test matches or the issue of bringing in younger players. He feels that his views have not been heard. Dhoni's emotional outburst that he was contemplating quitting Tests after 2013 has also not gone down well with BCCI bosses. "There is no point talking about 2013 in the middle of a Test series," an official said.
Incidentally, two senior pros who are under pressure to quit, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, may have decide not to call it a day yet but BCCI officials say that it's apparent that both are past their prime, and it would be wise to blood some youngsters in their place. The names of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara were mentioned in this context. It was also said that once Yuvraj Singh gets fit to play, he will be an "automatic choice".
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Adelaide January 29:
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said there is no rush to decide on the future of the senior players despite their poor performances in the Test series against Australia in which his team was given a 0-4 thrashing.
With India scheduled to play its next Test series in September, Dhoni said there was lot of time to decide. "We will have to wait and watch (if there are changes). Our next Test series is only in September, there is plenty of time, we don't want to take decisions quickly," said Dhoni after India's a massive 298-run loss in the fourth Test here that was also their eighth successive overseas loss.
Dhoni said Australia were the deserving winners. Australia regained the Border Gavaskar Trophy by winning the series 4-0. India also suffered a similar whitewash in England seven months back. "They have played consistent cricket. Whenever a partnership was needed, their batsmen stepped up and put par-plus runs on the board. Their bowlers were also consistent. They always stepped up when needed," Dhoni said.
"There comes a phase in Australia when once you are set it is difficult for bowlers. That is when you have to be consistent with line and length. They (Australia) never gave us boundaries easily," he added. Dhoni hoped the team would put up a better performance in the ODIs. "We have the ODI series coming up and there will be a completely different side. It (the tour) is a learning experience for the youngsters. Once you play 100-odd ODIs, it is always good to have that experience when you make your Test debut," he said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Colombo January 29:
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board president Upali Dharmadasa Saturday backed the board's decision to sack Geoff Marsh as coach of the national team.
Dharmadasa said that some changes were required to take Sri Lanka cricket forward. The Sri Lankan cricket team and management underwent a major overhaul this week after the team lost consecutive Test and One-Day International matches in South Africa and against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
Among the changes was the removal of Australian coach Marsh which drew criticism as he had been on the job only for a few months. "We realize it is no easy task to take over and produce results overnight. Sri Lanka cricket has to move on. We need to reach Cricketing Excellence, sooner rather than later," Dharmadasa was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
He said that former South African cricketer Graham Ford was later selected as the replacement based on the fact that he can cope with the demand that a 21st century coach has to cope with in the international arena. "He has had an excellent track record not only as a coach but also in management. Very similar to Australia's most successful coach of the 21st Century John Buchanan, Graham too has had limited exposure in the International arena as a player. However, the track record of both these gentlemen in their coaching capabilities is far beyond compare," he said.
Apart from the coach, Sri Lanka also appointed a new captain, selection committee and team manager, as the Sri Lankans prepared to head to Australia for a tri-series also involving India. "Many seem to criticize Sri Lanka cricket for the changes we implemented by appointing a new captain, coach, team manager and the selection committee. We would like to assure the cricket loving public in Sri Lanka and to our numerous fans that support Sri Lanka cricket globally that we will reap the benefits of these changes in the fullness of time," Dharmadasa said.
He added that experienced batsman Mahela Jayewardene was appointed as the new captain considering his capabilities, skill level and authoritative and modest personality as a leader to guide the younger players in the team and take the entire side to greater heights.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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