Cook wary of India revenge

Cook wary of India revenge

 

England one-day skipper Alastair Cook says beating MS Dhoni's India in their backyard in an ODI series October would be a tough task.

Stating that Indian team would be "itching" for revenge, Cook said, "Of course it will be difficult over there. They will have a point to prove and the conditions will obviously suit them. I doubt we will see much green grass on the wickets we play on.

"They are world champions at home and itching to get revenge. It is down to us and how we cope with conditions and how we play. The best players adapt to that. We have players who have never played in India in an England shirt.

"The learning curve will be so steep but they will handle it well," Cook told Daily Telegraph.

India suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat in one-dayers in England in a five-match series last month with a match washed out and another ending in a tie. England also humbled India 4-0 in a Test series that resulted in the latter losing their number one ranking.

Although Cook is aware that a number of key players in the Indian team - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh - have been ruled out of the first two ODIs due to injuries but he admitted that in their own backyard, India are a tough side to beat.

The tour of India is certainly going to be a litmus test for Cook, both as captain and as a player because England have not beaten India in a one-day series in India since 1985, with their last two series ending in 5-1 and 5-0 thrashings.

But Cook is drawing confidence from a good summer in one-dayers where he has averaged 58 and scored runs at a strike rate of 95.

"It could not have gone too much better for me," said Cook.

"As a batsman I always said I could play one-day cricket for England. I had to back that up with action straightaway and as a captain you want to start well as a player. It gives you that added sense of authority. It kind of ends doubts and helps your captaincy.

"It takes time for you to get used to being captain of the side and the coach and players get used to you. Really I have only done it for six weeks. It takes longer than that but people are working out how I do things and what I expect from players," he added.

Harbhajan dropped for first two ODIs

 

 

Harbhajan Singh has been dropped for the first time in year.

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh has been left out of India's squad for the first two ODIs against England on October 14 and 17. Karnataka medium-pacer S Aravind and Punjab legspinner Rahul Sharma have received their maiden international call-ups.

Fast bowler, Varun Aaron who was part of the ODI squad in England but did not play, retained his place in the 15-man team. Batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary are the other replacements sent to England who kept their spots.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was not part of the India set-up since the 2010-11 Test series in South Africa, also made a comeback.

The squad is missing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma due to injuries sustained on the recent tour of England. Fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who had declared himself fit after breaking his hand during the World Cup, and allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who was part of the World Cup squad, were not selected.

India's squad contained five batsmen - Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary - two wicketkeeper batsmen - MS Dhoni and Parthiv Patel - and one allrounder in Ravindra Jadeja. The bowling attack comprised five seamers - Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and Praveen Kumar - and two spinners in R Ashwin and Rahul Sharma.

Harbhajan's axeing came after his disappointing performance during the Test series in England, where he took only two wickets in 69.4 overs at an average of 143.50 and economy-rate of 4.11. He suffered a stomach injury during the second Test and was ruled out of the last two matches and the limited-overs series that followed. India lost the Test series 0-4 and the ODI series 0-3 in England.

Aravind had a strong 2010-11 domestic season; he was the second-highest wicket-taker for Karnataka with 26 scalps and also the second-highest wicket-taker for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy with 10 wickets. He followed that up with an impressive performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2011 to push his claims for national recognition. Rahul Sharma also caught notice in the IPL, where he picked up 16 wickets in 14 games for the under-performing Pune Warriors, at the eye-popping economy-rate of 5.46.

This selection meeting in Chennai was the first since the BCCI replaced Yashpal Sharma with Mohinder Amarnath as the North Zone representative on the panel.

Squad: 

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar.

Tendulkar and Yuvraj unlikely for England series

 

Sachin Tendulkar's toe is likely to keep him out of the series 

India will play its first ODI series at home after winning the World Cup in April when it takes on England next month in five ODIs starting in Hyderabad. Yet, rather than the series being a welcome return home for the current world champions, the squad is likely to look very different from the one that won the title as injury problems that stalked the team on its tour of England show no signs of abating. The team will be announced on Thursday but Total Sports understands that Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh are unlikely to be fit in time, while Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel are also set to miss out.

Tendulkar continues to struggle with his toe injury and his absence raises the question of how much more ODI cricket he will play, especially considering that outside of the World Cup, he has played only two ODIs this year.

Rohit's broken finger that ruled him out of the Champions League Twenty20 should also keep him out against England, while the ligament damage to Yuvraj's finger is not healing fast enough. Meanwhile Ishant's ankle is still ginger and he's unlikely to be risked for the series. Ishant has said the ankle needs surgery but he is holding off until after the tour of Australia. Keeping him out of the series could be a precautionary measure to have him ready later in the year. Munaf injured his ankle during the ODIs against England and missed the Champions League.

On the plus side, Gautam Gambhir has recovered from his concussion and is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League. With so many players out, Ajinkya Rahane, who impressed in England, should keep his place. It could also open the door for Yusuf Pathan to make a return to the side after he was not selected for the tour of England.

Given that Zaheer Khan is already missing, the big question is the composition of India's pace attack. Do the selectors fall back on Ashish Nehra, who has declared himself fit (no one from the board has spoken to him though) and has been bowling at full tilt in the nets over the last six weeks? Or do they plump for a completely new line-up fashioned around Praveen Kumar, with the likes of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar in the reckoning? The choices the selectors make will indicate how they plan to restock India's bowling resources and whether they are thinking about the future.

The identity of the spinners is also open to question, though to lesser degree. Harbhajan Singh is fit again and is the conventional, safe choice, but the pair of R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha could be worth a gamble. Ashwin played in the 0-3 series loss to England and the selectors might want to see how effective he is in helpful conditions.

India won the World Cup in April in grand style but have struggled somewhat since. They won the first three ODIs on the West Indies tour but lost the two dead rubbers, before going down 0-3 to England, though they did manage a tie in the fourth game of that series.

Gambhir: We played well in patches

Gambhir: We played well in patches

 

 

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir said his side played well in patches but praised opposition batsman Callum Ferguson and Daniel Christian for their match-winning efforts. 

 

 

Ferguson scored an unbeaten 40-ball 70-run knock and together with Christian (42) added quickfire 84 runs for the fourth wicket to propel South Australia to a competitive 188 for five after opting to bat.

The target eventually turned out to be too steep for KKR as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to 169 for nine, thereby handing South Australia a 19-run victory.

"I never thought they would get to 180-odd. It was a brilliant effort from Ferguson and Christian," a visibly disappointed Gambhir said after the match.

"Sometimes we've bowled well in patches, and sometimes batted well in patches. At times we haven't complemented our batsmen, sometimes our bowlers," he added.

His counterpart Michael Klinger was also full of praise for Ferguson and Christian, saying the two batsmen laid the basic foundation for South Australia's win.

"The innings from Callum (Ferguson) and Christian were unbelievable. Those two were fantastic, they pushed a lot of twos and ran really hard when the pitch slowed up," Klinger said.

Asked about the reason behind leaving out speedster Shaun Tait for today's match, the South Australia skipper said, "We left out Tait purely because of the conditions. Tait, with extra pace, on this wicket is slightly easier to way probably."

Man-of-the-match Ferguson, in turn, credited his partner Christian for his match-winning knock.

"It was difficult early on, took a while to get in.

Christian came in and made it easier for me by hitting some boundaries. We finished the innings well," he said.

Mumbai win a thriller against T & T

Mumbai win a thriller against T & T

The Mumbai Indians secured a last-ball one-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago in their Nokia Champions League Twenty20 clash in Bengaluru.

  

 Chasing a meagre 99 to win and go to the top of Pool A, Yuzvendra Chahal took two from Sherwin Ganga's last ball of the match to drive his side over the line.

Batting first after winning the toss, T&T started well and were nicely placed on 41 for one when Lendl Simmons was carelessly run out on 21, signalling the start of a collapse.

Harbhajan Singh (three for 22) was the main aggressor, well backed by Lasith Malinga (two for 22) as Jason Mohammed (23) top scored.

The tone for Mumbai's chase was set early, though, as Ravi Rampaul (three for 17) ripped through their top order to leave them almost out of the game at 16 for four.

But Ambati Rayudu stood firm for 36 and, despite nine wickets falling, there was just enough time left for Chahal to win the game.

 Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Aiden Blizzard, Sarul Kanwar, Tirumalasetti Suman, Abu Nechim, Dilhara Fernando, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Yuzvendra Chahal, Andrew Symonds, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Rajagopal Sathish, Ambati Rayudu, Davy Jacobs

Trinidad and Tobago: Adrian Barath, Daren Ganga, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Lendl Simmons, Dave Mohammed, Ravi Rampaul, Samuel Badree, Shannon Gabriel, Sunil Narine, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Sherwin Ganga, Denesh Ramdin, William Perkins

 

India's "Tiger Pataudi" is no more

India's "Tiger Pataudi" is no more

One of India's most charismatic cricket captains Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, popularly known as “Tiger Pataudi,” has passed away in a Delhi hospital.

 

The 70-year-old cricketer, one of India's early superstars and who was known as 'Tiger' in the cricket fraternity, was suffering from interstitial lung disease, a condition in which the passage of oxygen to the two lungs is less than normal.

He is survived by his wife Sharmila Tagore, his actor son Saif Ali Khan and his two daughters Soha and Saba Ali Khan.

His entire family was at his bedside when the end came at 5.55 pm (IST) on Thursday evening.

"He passed away around 5.55 pm. His condition had deteriorated since yesterday. He was suffering from interstitial lung disease (interstitial pneumonitis) which worsens rapidly inspite of the best treatment available," Dr S P Byotra, Department of medicine in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where Pataudi was admitted, said.

"He was unable to maintain his oxygen level in spite of maximal treatment. He continued to remain in the ICU for nearly a month. He had this disease which had been static since the last three months and worsened very acutely over the last four weeks, the doctor said.

Dr Sumit Ray, vice chaiman, critical care, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said he died of respiratry failure leading to cardiac arrest. He was was admitted on August 29 and was concious till Wednesday evening.

 "He was in the Intensive Care Unit for last three days and his condition did not improve. His family in all probability will take his body tomorrow morning", he said.

Pataudi, who lost his right eye because of an accident, played 46 Tests between 1961 and 1975 and was regarded as one of India's greatest captains.

Pataudi was given the leadership of the Test team in his fourth Test, when he was only 21, in Barbados in 1962, because the regular captain Nari Contractor was in hospital after getting hit on the head by Charlie Griffith.

Pataudi, who was also known for his amazing sense of humour, was the youngest Test captain, a record that stood until 2004. He led India in 40 Tests and had a successful career despite impaired vision in his right eye, which was damaged in a car accident. He also captained Sussex and Oxford University.

He scored 2793 runs in 46 Tests at an average of 35 and made six centuries, the biggest of which was an unbeaten 203 against England in Delhi in 1964.

However, many experts rate his 75 against Australia in Melbourne in 1967-68 as his finest since he played that knock with an injured leg. Pataudi retired in 1975 after West Indies' tour of India.

After retirement, Pataudi served as a match referee between 1993 and 1996, officiating in two Tests and ten ODIs, but largely stayed away from cricket administration.

Under Pataudi's captaincy, India won nine Tests but it was he who instilled the belief in the team that it could win international matches. India achieved their first overseas Test victory under him, against New Zealand in Dunedin in 1968. India then went on to record their first overseas series win by beating New Zealand 3-1.

The cricket fraternity reacted with shock and sorrow at the death of Pataudi and said his demise has left a huge void.

Current cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and a gallaxy of former stars paid tribute to Pataudi and recounted his immense contribution to Indian cricket.

Pataudi was the ninth and last Nawab of Pataudi until 1971, when the Indian government abolished royal entitlements through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.

He was also the editor of Sportsworld, the now defunct cricket magazine, and a television commentator in the 1980s but gradually withdrew from an active role, though he remained a strong voice in Indian cricket.

Since 2007, bilateral Test series between India and England have been contested for the Pataudi Trophy, named after his family for their contribution to Anglo-Indian cricket.

Pataudi's father, Iftikhar Ali Khan, represented both England and India in Tests. Pataudi had taken ill since his return from England this summer after presenting the Pataudi Trophy to Andrew Strauss at the end of the four-Test series.

He was also a part of the first IPL governing council but refused to continue in the role in October 2010, when the BCCI made significant changes to the league following the sacking of Lalit Modi as its chairman.

Dravid backs Sachin on new ODI format

Dravid backs Sachin on new ODI format

Test teammate Rahul Dravid has backed Sachin Tendulkar's suggestion to revamp the ODIs by splitting the format into four innings of 25 overs each.

 

 

"It is an interesting suggestion. I don't know why the ICC has rejected it (Tendulkar's suggestion via a letter to ICC), but it's a good idea that Sachin has given and is worth experimenting," said India's batting mainstay on the England tour, on the sidelines of a promotional event for 'Gillette' in Mumbai, Wednesday night.

"It has been tried out in Australia (in domestic cricket) and the plus and minus points should be looked into," he added.

Tendulkar had written a letter to the ICC to change the format of the ODIs from two innings of 50 overs to four of 25 overs, like a Test match, but the world council's chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, had rejected it.

"There is no need to change the format," Lorgat told reporters in Colombo on Wednesday.

"We did receive a written proposal from Sachin, but that was a long time back. I had spoken to him many times about it, the last one as recent as during the World Cup in April.

"The success of the tournament showed that the 50-over format was in sound health and there was no need for dramatic changes," Lorgat added.

"The executive board meeting after the World Cup decided that the present format was doing well. That has not changed," Lorgat stressed.

Tendulkar had argued that four innings of 25 overs would be a fair way to balance the advantage gained by the team which won the toss in conditions such as bad weather and sub-quality pitches, which historically had proven that a match can virtually be decided by the toss of a coin.

Dravid also backed the Board for deciding to put pressure on the ICC for revising the controversial Umpire Decision Review System, of which he got the rough end of the stick in the Test and ODI rubbers in England.

"It's not set in stone. Anything connected with DRS is a work in progress. There are new challenges and questions about it. It's up to the member Boards (of the ICC) to ask whether things are better with it in place," said the 39-year-old Dravid.

Dravid, who was the lone batsman to show consistently superb form in difficult conditions against a top-class England pace attack in the four-match Test rubber that India lost 0-4, was also controversially given out through the 'Hot Spot' image system on at least three occasions, leading to big debates over DRS.

Kolkata, Somerset in Nokia Champions LeagueT20 main draw

Kolkata, Somerset in Nokia Champions LeagueT20 main draw

Somerset defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 11 runs in a tight game in Hyderabad but both the teams qualified for the main draw of Nokia Champions League T20.

 

Peter Trego's innings of 70 led the English county side to 166 for six and the Knight Riders' total of 155 for eight meant they qualified with them, by virtue of a better net run rate than Pool B runners-up Ruhuna.

Trego batted throughout the 20 overs and put on 72 at eight an over with Roelof van der Merwe, who made 40 from 25 balls before he was caught by Jacques Kallis off Jaidev Unadkat.

Nick Compton hit two fours and a six in his 20 from 10 balls before a run-out which was largely down to Trego - who himself was also run out, from the last ball of the innings after a 61-ball knock which contained nine fours but, uncharacteristically, no sixes. Unadkat took two for 31 and Brett Lee two for 34.

In Kolkata's reply, Manvinder Bisla hit a huge six in Alfonso Thomas' opening over but was run out from the first ball of the next after a calamitous mix-up with opening partner Kallis.

Kallis made just one before chipping Murali Kartik to mid-on, where Hildreth took a good catch, but Manoj Tiwary and Shreevats Goswami rebuilt with a stand of 38.

But an unconvincing innings of 14 from the latter, who was almost run out twice and was then dropped by Hildreth on the square-leg boundary, was finally ended when he skied Max Waller to Compton at long-on.

Tiwary (27) played on against Waller but a drop on the boundary by Compton gifted Ryan ten Doeschate a six and he then hit another in a quickfire stand of 23 with Shakib Al Hasan, whose cameo of 13 was ended by Van der Merwe's stunning boundary catch off Trego's bowling.

Rajat Bhatia made a useful 19 but slapped a full toss straight to cover from the first ball of the last over. A two from Ten Doeschate took Kolkata past the qualifying mark but he was bowled by Van der Merwe for 46 next ball.