Mithun, Saha named in India’s Test squad

Ravaged by injuries to key players, India today infused fresh blood into its Test squad by naming Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha for the first Test against South Africa beginning in Nagpur on 6th February.

With experienced batsman like Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh ruled out of the series because of injuries, the selectors recalled Tamil Nadu middle-order batsman S Badrinath in the team and dropped wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik.

While 20-year-old Mithun was rewarded for his splendid show in the domestic circuit by emerging as the highest wicket taker in the Ranji Trophy season, the inclusion of the diminutive Saha came as a surprise.

Apart from Mithun and Saha’s inclusion, there were no other suprises in the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee in Mumbai.

Dravid, who sustained a face injury in the second Test against Bangladesh, has been advised rest for three weeks while Yuvraj Singh has also been ruled out of the Test series due to an injury to his left wrist.

Stylish batsman VVS Laxman, who had also suffered a finger injury during the Test series against Bangladesh, has recovered sufficiently to be drafted into the squad.

Uttar Pradesh paceman Sudeep Tyagi, who also featured in the squad that toured Bangladesh, has retained his place largely because S Sreesanth’s injury

India will eye T20 revenge in ODI series: Gayle

Bested in the World Twenty20, revenge-thirsty India would come down hard on West Indies in the forthcoming ODI series, believes home side captain Chris Gayle.

West Indies not only beat India in the Super Eight stage of the World Twenty20 but also laid bare their frailty against rising deliveries which was exploited well by England. Gayle believes the side under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, however depleted, would seek to settle score in the four-match ODI series starting here on Friday.

“We have a big game on Friday against India. We’re all looking forward to it,” Gayle said.

“India is always a good One Day team and they will be looking to beat us based on their Twenty20 disappointment,” he added.

Gayle said even though India would be without star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the bunch is still good enough to make life miserable for the hosts. “Sehwag and Tendulkar are two world class players but they still have quality players to step up and they have a lot of experience in one day cricket.

“They still have quality players in Yuvraj (Singh), Harbhajan Singh, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, (Ishant) Sharma and a lot of guys to give us a lot of trouble,” Gayle said.

“So it’s not a situation where we will say it’s a walkover. It’s never a walkover against India,” he added. Having led the side to the semifinals of the World Twenty20, Gayle said he was happy with the support from all quarters.

“The support has been brilliant. The guys gave me their full support and I gave them the same sort of support and respect which they deserve. It’s been enjoyable.

“Captaining the West Indies has done a lot for me individually and I’m really happy and grateful to be captaining West Indies and the entire region,” Gayle said.

“It’s a privilege and hopefully I can continue from strength to strength and give everyone something to cheer about. Hopefully we can wrap up this series and am looking forward for a lot of things,” Gayle said.

West Indies can sting like bee, Gayle warns Dhoni

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle has warned India that his side could “sting like a bee” in the one-day series starting next week in the Caribbean following their agonising World Twenty20 semifinal defeat to Sri Lanka.

“We might fly like butterflies but we can sting like a bee,” said Gayle, mocking at Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s assertion that his side would look to compensate for their World T20 debacle with series-win in the Caribbean.

Dhoni, before he left for the Caribbean, had vowed to bring cheer back to the Indian fans and triumph in the four-match one-day series, the first one starting at Kingston, Jamaica on June 26.

Dhoni has more or less reiterated his desire in Kingston after his arrival at the Norman Mailey airport on Thursday. “In 20/20, once you lose the initiative at the start, it’s very difficult to come back… so that’s one big difference when it comes to T20 and 50-over cricket,” said Dhoni.

“The team that plays consistent cricket over the series will come out as winners. We have to play consistent cricket and I think that will be the key for us,” he said. The one point though on which both Gayle and Dhoni appeared to be sharing the same platform was the reaction of the fans.

“I hope this place in the semi-finals would bring the smile back on the face of our fans. Though let me tell you they are very hard to please and want us to win at all times. I can only say to our fans: keep supporting and stop cursing,” said Gayle.

Dhoni too has more than once pointed to the emotional nature of millions of Indian cricket fans.

“Our fans are very emotional…they don’t take to defeat lightly. (After defeat), if they don’t boo then that would be abnormal. When we lost the 2007 World Cup, they even did my antim sanskar (last rites),” the Indian had said.

Indians are missing four of their key players in the series - Sachin Tendulkar has opted out owing to finger injury while Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina are also missing for injury reasons.

The West Indies would be sweating over the fitness of fast bowler Fidel Edwards who pulled out of the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka with a back injury at the Oval on Friday.

After the opening match on June 26, the two team will play in Jamaica (June 28) and St. Lucia (July 3 and 5).

Live: Johnston rips off B’desh top-order

Ireland pacer Trent Johnston’s triple strike has sent three Bangladesh batsmen - Zunaed Siddique, Mohd Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan - back in the hut during their World T20 match at Trent Bridge.

* Live Scorecard   |   Match Report   |   Head 2 Head
* Player records   |   Venue   |   Ask Jadeja
* When Bangladeshis failed to redeem their pride

Australia gear for must-win Sri Lanka clash
Ricky Ponting’s Australia must perform or face an embarrassing early exit from the World Twenty20 when they take on emotionally-charged Sri Lanka on Monday.

* Head 2 Head   |   Player Records   |   Venue
* Ponting tells Australia to sharpen up   |   Gayle force too much for Oz

Pakistan Chief Selector Qadir quits
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Selection Committee Abdul Qadir on Monday tendered his resignation to PCB and Chairman PCB accepted the same.

* Younis, Intikhab at loggerheads: Reports   |   England beat Pakistan by 48 runs
* Schedule   |   Player Records

Ruthless Proteas please Smith
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said his side had “sent a message” after their crushing 130-run win over Scotland at the ICC World Twenty20.

* South Africa maul Scotland, win by 130 runs   |   Scorecard   |   Head 2 Head
* Statistical highlights   |   Merwe, Botha shine in SA vs Pak warm-up tie

Superb India overwhelm Pakistan

India secured an impressive nine-wicket victory over fierce rivals Pakistan at the Oval in their final warm-up match for the ICC World Twenty20.

Pakistan posted 158 for six but India cruised home with 18 balls to spare thanks to openers Rohit Sharma (80) and Gautum Gambhir (52 not out).

Earlier, South Africa continued their positive build-up to the tournament with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka.

And Scotland were beaten by the Netherlands by seven wickets.

A large, excitable Oval crowd were treated to a scintillating game of cricket, played out between rivals India and Pakistan.

Despite the early loss of Shazaib Hasan, Pakistan hammered the Indian bowlers for 45 in the first four overs thanks to 25 from Ahmed Shahzad and 19 from Kamran Akmal.

India hit back though with three wickets in five balls to temporarily halt the Pakistan momentum - the next boundary did not come for another 42 deliveries.
partnership of 50 between Misbah-ul-Haq and Younus Khan steered Pakistan past the 100-mark before the latter was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh for 32.

A useful and unbeaten 25 was added by next man Yasir Arafat, with Misbah finishing on 37 not out as Pakistan posted 158 for six.

India’s run chase was measured but ruthless as openers Gambhir and Sharma efficiently took the game away from Pakistan.

Without ever resorting to unnecessarily forceful shot-playing the two moved along at roughly nine an over until their partnership was broken, nineteen runs short of victory when Sharma was caught by Shahzad off Mohammad Aamir for 80.

Dhoni joined Gambhir and the two saw India to a comfortable nine-wicket win with three overs remaining, the winning run coming courtesy of a wide.

Sri Lanka were unconvincing in Tuesday’s four-wicket victory over Bangladesh and were made to look distinctly ordinary at Lords by an excellent South Africa, who fully justified their tag as one of the favourites for the upcoming tournament.

Dale Steyn led the initial destruction of the Sri Lankan order, claiming two early wickets before Herschelle Gibbs ran out Jehan Mubarak to leave them in disarray at 16 for three.
Any momentum Sri Lanka hoped to build following these early blows were scuppered by the regular surrendering of wickets as they stumbled to 44 for seven; with only three boundaries in a score of 17 from Kumar Sangakkara worthy of note.

Late order runs, primarily from Angelo Mathews (28) and Nuwan Kulasekara (24 not out), enabled Sri Lanka to limp to 109 for nine.

The South African chase got off to a poor start with powerful duo Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis falling cheaply in the first two overs.

A.B. De Villiers, so impressive in the recently concluded IPL, steadied the ship along with Gibbs but with only two boundaries in the first ten overs their progress was steady at best.

When Sri Lanka did finally hold a catch - Lasith Malinga holding onto a lofted drive from De Villiers at long on off the bowling of Isuru Udana - it was too late to rescue the game.

Malinga bowled Gibbs two short of his half-century, before JP Duminy struck a boundary to seal a comfortable six-wicket victory.

The match attracted protests outside Lords regarding the Sri Lankan side’s participation in the tournament in light of events in the country, where intense fighting has been taking place between government forces and the Tamil Tigers.
“We are here for cricket, not politics. Cricket unifies all races and religions and we are a united team,” said Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu.

At the Oval, Scotland made a bright start to their innings - they were 48 for one after seven overs - but were unable to maintain the momentum.

Kyle Coetzer looked in good form at the crease, making 39 from 28 balls, but struggled to find a good batting partner with Fraser Watts the only other man to make 20.

Netherlands’ opening bowler Dirk Nannes bowled 16 dot balls in his four overs, providing the platform for Edgar Schiferli (three for 33), Pieter Seelaar (three for 25) and Mudassar Bukhari (two for 27) to limit Scotland to 128 for nine.

After the early loss of Darren Reekers, Alexei Kervezee and Bas Zuiderent quickly regained the initiative for the Netherlands, bringing them to within 18 runs of victory with four overs remaining.

The wicket of Kervezee (for 62) followed quickly by Zuiderent (for 46), gave Scotland hope but Daan van Bunge struck a victory-sealing boundary with half an over to go.

“It can only be described as a lacklustre display,” said Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton. “The most disappointing point was that we made the same mistakes as yesterday.”

The Netherlands have called 17-year-old Tim Gruijters into their World Twenty20 squad as a replacement for Ruud Nijman, who suffered back and leg injuries during a previous warm-up game against Bangladesh.

New Zealand beat India in warm-up tie

India squandered a rollicking start and lost the plot towards the end to concede a nine-run defeat against New Zealand in their warm-up match of the ICC World Twenty20 here.

Chasing 171 for a win, India rode on sterling knocks from Rohit Sharma (36), Suresh Raina (45) and Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to cruise to what seemed an imminent win before they were restricted to 161 for six last night.

Earlier, New Zealand survived Ishant Sharma’s four-wicket haul to post 170 for seven with useful cameos from Ross Taylor (41), Brendon McCullum (31), Scott Styris (29) and James Franklin (27 not out off 10 balls).

India were off to a flying start with Rohit wasting precious little time to assert his class even in his uncharacteristic opener’s role.

Rohit carved Iain O’Brien for a boundary in the first over and worse awaited the right-arm pacer who bled 18 runs in his second with Rohit hitting him for two massive sixes and a four with class written all over the shots.

The opening stand yielded 42 runs inside five overs when Gautam Gambhir (14) fell to Ian Butler but Rohit smote James Franklin for another six to signal he was not perturbed.

India, however, soon found themselves in a spot of bother with rival captain Daniel Vettori striking twice in his first over.

Coming at number three, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (6) had advanced so much down the track that even a fumbling Brendon McCullum had all the time in the world to dislodge the bails.

Two balls later, Rohit fluffed a shot and much to his dismay, the ball rolled on to hit the stumps, cutting short his 20-ball knock bejeweled with three sixes and as many fours.

Fortunately for them, Raina seemed to continue from where he had left it in the Indian Premier League. The left-hander hit Vettori for two sixes in a row followed by a four and ran many a cheeky runs with Jadeja.

Jacob Oram removed Raina in the 15th over and Vettori caught Yusuf Pathan (2) off his own bowling and the Kiwis then put a brake on boundaries with some lethal bowling at death that proved decisive.

Earlier, the Kiwis overcame a shoddy start and some hostile bowling from Ishant before reaching a modest total with Taylor (41), McCullum (31), Styris (29) and James Franklin (27 not out off 10 balls) shining with the bat.

Despite McCullum and Jesse Ryder (2), arguably two of the most hard-hitting batsmen in contemporary cricket, opening the innings, New Zealand had a rather subdued start after India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni put them in.

Ryder’s poor form in the recent Indian Premier League continued here too and the left-hander had his off-stump uprooted by Ishant Sharma in the third over.

At the other end, McCullum often stepped out, trying to unsettle the disciplined Indian bowlers, and had occasional success against Praveen Kumar, RP Singh and Ishant too.

But just when he started looking dangerous, McCullum miscued a skier to become his Knight Riders teammate Ishant Sharma’s second victim.

Taylor struggled initially before hitting Pragyan Ojha for back-to-back sixes to light up proceedings but the big-turning left-arm spinner finally had some balms applied on his wound when he had Martin Guptill (10) stumped in the same over.

Taylor had his share of luck as well and the right-hander got a reprieve when Dhoni dropped a thick edge off Harbhajan Singh.

Ishant returned to remove Jacob Oram (5) but Taylor found an able ally in Styris and the duo nosed ahead till the 16th over when Harbhajan removed Taylor with R P Singh taking a well-judged catch in the deep.

Taylor’s 33-ball knock included two sixes apart from three boundaries.

Ishant was not done yet and the beanpole pacer castled Styris in his final over to finish with a figure of 4-0-25-4. Down the order, James Franklin (27 not out off 10 balls) hit RP Singh for two successive sixes, followed by a four, to push the score.

KKR captain, coach not at fault: Ishant

Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Ishant Sharma on Wednesday refused to blame captain Brendon McCullum or coach John Buchanan for their IPL debacle and said the fact was that the team failed to deliver as a unit.

Knight Riders suffered the humiliation of losing eight matches in a row under the leadership of McCullum, who succeeded Sourav Ganguly, and celebrated former Australia coach Buchanan but Ishant said it would have met the same fate under anyone.

“Whoever would have been our captain and coach but the fact was that we failed to deliver as a team during the tournament. The captain is as good as his team,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Asked to compare Ganguly and McCullum, the 20-year-old said “They are different types of captain and both have different ways of handling the pressure”.

On the personal front, Ishant admitted IPL-II was the most difficult phase of his career.

“I have never seen my side losing so many matches at a stretch like what happened in the IPL in South Africa. It was certainly the toughest phase of my cricket career so far.

“Since the day I started playing cricket, I have never seen my side losing so many close matches for such a long period. But I think, it was a learning experience for the whole team as well,” the lanky bowler said.

However, the Delhiite is now ready shrug off the IPL’s hangover before going to the World T20 Championship in England and vehemently dismissed speculation that the 37-day event had tired the Indian players.

“I don’t think that there will be fatigue factor during the World Cup. We are professional cricketers and prepared to play that much cricket. We keep doing trainings and also look after ourself,” the 20-year-old cricketer said.

“The T20 cricket is all about momentum. If we continue with the right momentum like the team did last time, India can well defend the title,” Ishant exuded confidence.

“The couple of practice matches before the main event are going to be crucial from that point of view as they will give us the idea about the condition in England,” he added.

Gilchrist rightly replaced Laxman in IPL: Afridi

Pakistan’s hard-hitting batsman Shahid Afridi says the appointment of former Australian Test wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist as Deccan Chargers captain played a big part in the team’s victory in the second edition of the Indian Premier League.

“VVS Laxman was a defensive captain (last year) and the management rightly changed him with Adam Gilchrist,” Afridi was quoted in leading Urdu language newspaper Daily Jang on Tuesday.

Deccan Chargers became the 2009 IPL champions after Gilchrist led the team to a six-run win over Bangalore Royal Challengers in Sunday’s final at Johannesburg’s Wanderers Stadium.

Afridi represented Deccan Chargers in the inaugural edition of the IPL last year, when they finished at the bottom of the points table in the eight-team competition. His IPL contract was canceled this year after the Pakistan government refused to allow its players to compete in the lucrative Indian Twenty20 tournament in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai.

“The real problem (with Deccan Chargers) was the quality of leadership,” Afridi told Jang.

“Gilchrist was a bold captain in this year’s tournament and led from the front.”

Afridi said it was sad he could not represent his team this year, “but I am happy that they won the tournament.”

Gilchrist finished with 495 runs from 16 matches in the tournament - second behind his former Australian teammate Matthew Hayden (572).

Laxman had a poor run of form in South Africa and managed only 19 runs from five matches.

“I haven’t seen many captains (like Gilchrist) who not only encourages other players, but his own performance is an example for others,” Afridi said.

Mohammad Asif has decided to challenge the ban IPL

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided here on Thursday to form themselves a three-member committee to probe into reasons and causes of the Oval Test dispute. This committee will review the loss of the PCB and the Pakistan … Published: on February 12th, 2009 By: Admin in: Sports News .

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Mohammad Asif has decided to challenge the ban IPL

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