Indians recall Dravid for ODI series !!

Former India captain Rahul Dravid is to make a return to one-day international cricket after almost two years out.

The 36-year-old, who last played an ODI in October 2007, is included in India's tri-series trip to Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Rohit Sharma has been dropped for Dravid, while opener Virender Sehwag is still out with the shoulder injury he suffered in the Indian Premier League.

However, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina return from injuries.

The duo missed India's trip to the West Indies for four one-day games in late June, early July - the tourists won the series 2-1, with one match abandoned because of rain.

And the selectors have returned to Dravid after Sharma scored just 15 runs in three innings in the Caribbean on the back of a mediocre World Twenty20 tournament.

In the bowling department, leg-spinner Amit Mishra is preferred to left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, while paceman Zaheer Khan's shoulder injury keeps him out of the squad.

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India squad: Mahendra Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra.

IPL Kicks off tomorrow !!

Modi commits Heat is on !

Cape Town: Setting up the 2009 DLF IPLtournament in South Africa inside three weeks has been an effort that stretches well beyond a logistical task unparalleled in world sport to building a brand and a legacy of enduring support in record time, says IPLChairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi. He told at a news conference on Thursday that a key driving factor for the IPL has been to engage South Africans and build excitement and enthusiasm.

“Once the need to move the tournament had been forced on us, we were determined that playing IPL 2009 in another country should be far more than an exercise in finding venues suitable for television," he said. "For us, South Africa was always suitable from a logistical and infrastructure point of view. But it is the welcome we’ve been given by ordinary South Africans that is justifying our belief that we can build a brand and legacy of involvement that last for years to come. Of course, we needed the agreement of all eight teams and the owners understood immediately the potential for turning a problem into a great opportunity.”

Modi said one of the biggest challenges was to get the schedule right. “My team finalised the schedule within 48 hours of arriving in South Africa. We started out having to schedule a league season of 56 games with each team playing the other seven on a home and away basis – plus three days of play-offs – in eight venues over a total of 37 days. There had to be an equal number of games per team in the main centres, no conflict with other major sports and cultural events and team and television production travel schedules had to be taken into account.  I am very pleased with the way it has worked out so far.”

Government at national, provincial and local levels had been exceptionally accommodating, while the Cricket SA had welcomed the IPL with open arms and made its world-class stadiums available, said Modi.

About 700 people are currently working full time in South Africa on the DLF IPL, including an enormous team that has relocated from India to South Africa. This includes the Central IPL and IMG event team of 60, a television and digital media crew of over 200, the eight team franchises bringing about 30 playing staff each along with 20 coaching staff, executives and team owners for each team.

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Kangaroos stun Kiwis in the Twenty20 …

An Andrew Symonds special and some blistering pace from Brett Lee and Shaun Tait have helped Australia win its KFC Twenty20 clash against New Zealand by 54 runs at the WACA.

Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat in his opening match as Australian captain despite losing Brad Hodge before the match, and it was an explosive 85 not out from Symonds that set up the total of 6-186.

The Black Caps had no answer to the speed of Lee and Tait on a quick and bouncy WACA pitch, both picking up a wicket with their opening balls and two for the innings.

Mitchell Johnson also picked up two, while Ashley Noffke took 3-18 on debut.

New Zealand started at 1-0, advanced to 5-31, then 6-49 and finished all out for 132, with only Jacob Oram again showing any fight, left unbeaten on 66.

Lou Vincent might have made a century on his Test debut at the WACA, but there was to be none of those heroics when he fended Brett Lee's first ball straight up into the air to give the Black Caps a disastrous start.

Brendon McCullum (13) also skied a ball off Lee to Gilchrist, before Tait's first ball was gloved by Jamie How to Gilchrist, who palmed it down at first before turning and diving to catch it. How was out for four after struggling for 18 balls.

Tait's third ball was far too quick for Ross Taylor (0), who edged it onto his thigh pad and then onto his stumps.

Mitchell Johnson then got into the act, picking up Matthew Sinclair (0) and Scott Styris (18).

Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie and Jeetan Patel offered little resistance as Oram simply run out of partners.

He ended up 66 not out off 31 balls in an innings that included five fours and six sixes. Five of those sixes came in Andrew Symonds' two overs.

Hodge went down with a back injury an hour before play and was replaced in the side by Western Australia's Luke Pomersbach, despite him still being suspended by the Warriors.

Andrew Symonds hit his highest Twenty20 score to be 85 not out off 46 balls, with his innings including seven fours and three sixes. Australia scored 96 off the last eight overs to reach 186.

Gilchrist didn't get a start as he was out for one due to an acrobatic catch at point by Jeetan Patel off Gillespie, but Clarke (33), Michael Hussey (22), Adam Voges (26) and Pomersbach (15) all made solid contributions

Pomersbach was coming to the ground to watch the match with his girlfriend, but, as he was parking his car, was called by the Australian team manager and informed he was about to debut for Australia.

Pomersbach hit a quick fire 15 before Taylor took his third catch off the innings off the bowling of Gillespie, which brought Ashley Noffke in also on debut. He was run out without facing, and then Brett Lee didn't score off the final ball, leaving Symonds not out on 85.

Kumble retained captain for the Australian tour

The selectors on Wednesday retained Anil Kumble as India's Test captain for the tour of Australia and pencilled in the pace trio of Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma and VRV Singh for the third cricket Test against Pakistan starting on Saturday.

With a number of key players grappling with injuries, the selectors announced a list of 24 probables for the Australia tour, which would be pruned to a 16-member squad on December 12 after getting report on the players' fitness.

Among the pacers, Zaheer Khan has sustained a heel injury, S Sreesanth is nursing a shoulder injury and RP Singh is yet to recover from a side strain.

Former Test player Chetan Chauhan has been appointed as Administrative Manager for the Test Series in Australia.

MV Sridhar, vice-president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, has been appointed as Assistant Manager who will also look after media for the Test series.

Squad for Pakistan Test: Anil Kumble (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Vikram Singh, Murali Kartik.

Probables for Australia: Anil Kumble (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Vikram Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Ranadeb Bose, Pankaj Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ajit Agarkar, Parthiv Patel, Akash Chopra.

Kirsten almost certain to take over as India coach…

Former South African opening batsman Gary Kirsten will take over as new Indian coach next week, a top cricket board official told on Tuesday.

Kirsten will join the team on December 3, just two weeks before India leave for Australia to play four Tests and a triangular One-day series also featuring Sri Lanka.

"We have decided to appoint Kirsten as the coach. A formal announcement will be made in Kolkata," the official said on condition of anonymity.

India will take on Pakistan in the second Test in Kolkata on Friday. Kirsten, 40, was interviewed here on Monday by a coach selection committee comprising among others former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Srinivasan Venkataraghavan.

The left-handed South African opener quit international cricket in 2004 after scoring 7,289 runs in 101 Tests.

India have been without a regular coach since April, when former Australian captain Greg Chappell resigned after the South Asian nation's shock first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean.

Three men have been in temporary charge since then after South Africa's Graham Ford, who coaches English county Kent, turned down an offer from the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Former all-rounder Shastri managed the team for the tour of Bangladesh in May. Veteran Chandu Borde, 73, took over during the visit to Ireland and England from July to September.

Former Mumbai first-class cricketer Lalchand Rajput then took charge at the inaugural Twenty20 Worlds in South Africa in September, which India won, and continued for the home One-dayers against Australia and Pakistan.

Cairns supports Indian Cricket League …

New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns believes Indian Cricket League is a golden opportunity for youngsters to play alongside great players and should not be seen as a rebel body.

"Many people thought ICL would never happen. Its detractors thought it would never take off but now they are all set to hold the tournament," Cairns said.

"I do not see ICL as being in conflict with BCCI. It should not be seen like that. In fact, it's an opportunity for players to explore their talent," said Cairns, captain of Chandigarh Lions, one of the six teams playing in ICL's Twenty20 venture starting in Panchkula on November 30.

Another Chandigarh Lions player, Pakistan batsman Imran Farhat said ICL is doing a great job for cricket as it will provide a platform for budding players to hone their skills.

Asked about poor performance of the Pakistan team in the ODI series against India, 25-year-old Farhat said that captain Shoaib Malik should be given time to settle down.

"You cannot blame him. It is time when he needs support. I also believe that players have been shuffled which has resulted in their not performing to their optimum limit," he said in a media conference.

"I think Pakistan is still looking for a combination that will click for them," he said.

Both Cairns and Farhat praised India's ODI skipper MS Dhoni and said his mettle will be tested over the next few months.

"He is showing signs of a good captain. However, he is still going through a honeymoon phase and his real test will be over the next few months," 37-year old Cairns said.

On Twenty20 cricket, Cairns said it was exciting and pulsating.

"The complexion of whole game can change in just two overs. There is a lot of luck involved in this and the players also enjoy it as it puts less pressure on them. however, real mettle of a player can only be tested in the longer version of the game," he said.

In a lighter vein, each player of Chandigarh Lions were asked about their favourite Indian actress.

Cairns is bowled over by green-eyed beauty Aishwarya Rai, whom he described as a "wonderful actress".

Green park celebrates Indian victory …

India vice-captain Yuvraj Singh played a dominating knock of 77 runs and took one wicket to guide India to a 46-run victory against Pakistan in the third One-Day International here at the Green Park Stadium on Sunday.

Put into bat by the visitors, Yuvraj, who was adjudicated the man of the match, hit the ball hard for the big shots along with aggressive running between the wickets to guide India to a competitive total of 294 for 6.In reply Pakistan folded up for 248 in 47.2 overs.

The left-handed batsman, who was in devastating form, sent the visitors on a leather hunt and then bowled well to help India take a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series.

He also shared a solid 100-run partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a cavalier 49 off 52 balls.

For Pakistan, the highlight was Salman Butt’s sparkling innings of 129 runs from 142 balls studded with 17 fours. But it couldn’t translate into a win as Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Butt fought a lone battle on his way to his 4th ODI century against India playing some fine strokes in the process but didn’t get enough support from the other end.

In company of Misbah-ul-Haq, he tried to keep his team in the hunt by sharing a solid 80-run partnership but the required run-rate kept on mounting.

The loss of three top-order batsmen – Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf – pushed Pakistan right on the back foot.

The tourists were always fighting a lost battle with no specialist batsmen to take charge in the slog overs.

India opened the bowling with R P Singh, and Irfan Pathan who got the breakthrough claiming the wicket of the hero of the last match played here in 2005.

Shahid Afridi, who opened the innings with Butt, tried to hit one shot too many and perished for 12.

The wickets of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf gave India the much-needed impetus. The three pacers bowled with control; Zaheer Khan, who had a rather forgettable game at Mohali, returned with commendable figures (25 for 1 in seven overs).

Runs dried up when Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were introduced into the attack.

The target got stiffer as Pakistan were up against an asking rate of 10 in the last twelve runs. Eventually they fell short by 46 runs.

Earlier, the openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, got away with some streaky edges and largely struggled against the pace of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul.

Pakistan, as their wont, were sloppy on the field and missed a few catches. To start with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal dropped an easy catch of Ganguly on the very first ball of the match off Shoaib Akhtar, followed by Tendulkar getting a life off the bowling of Umar Gul when Misbah-u-Haq failed to get his hands to the ball.

After the initial jitters, India’s most successful opening pair found their touch as they went after the bowling. Ganguly was the first one to take the initiative as he charged down to hit a six of Gul over long-on. Though Gul extracted swing, the Indian opening duo took him on. India’s most reliable opening pair shared a stand of 68 in just over ten overs.

Sohail Tavir was introduced into the attack as the first change and that did the trick for Pakistan. He bowled with control and stifled the scoring rate and soon snared both the openers.

Tanvir induced an edge off the little master and this time Akmal took a fine catch behind the stumps. A few overs later he bowled Ganguly for 39 (46 balls, 4x4, 1x6); at that stage the Bengal southpaw was going great guns. Tanvir finished with 2 for 26.

Thereafter, some tight bowling by the Pakistanis kept Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh quiet for some time. Abdur Rehman, who replaced Rao Iftikhar, scalped Gambhir. The Delhi southpaw continuing his rich form looked good but failed to get a big one at Kanpur.

Skipper Mahnedra Singh Dhoni and deputy Yuvraj Singh took their time to settle down while Pakistan bowlers maintained a disciplined line.

Yuvraj subsequently released the pressure by spanking two sixes Abdur Rehman. Dhoni doubled the joy for India, biffing two more sixes off Shoaib Malik in the very next over.

Shahid Afridi and Abdur Rehman started leaking runs, with the former conceding 57 in 7 overs. Rehman too was expensive giving away 58 in his 7 overs.

Targeting the spinners both these batsmen went for their shots taking India past the 250 mark.

But Dhoni fell to Shoaib Akhtar, one run short of his fifty. Later Rehman claimed the wicket of danger-man Yuvraj who fell for a well-made 77 off 95 balls, hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes.

India maintained a high run rate even as they lost wickets towards the death. Irfan Pathan lit up the run riot in the last two overs scoring 17 runs off just 7 balls.

India to review strategy in the Kanpur One-dayer …

Having allowed arch-rivals Pakistan to snatch a thrilling victory and level the series, India will need to review their strategy as they go into the crucial third cricket One-dayer on Sunday.

The ploy to go in with just four specialist bowlers on a good batting strip in Mohali did not bear dividends as the Indians failed defend a massive 321 and the team management may consider brining back the in-form spinner Murali Kartik for the day match.

The hosts would do better to consider it now a three-match series that leaves them with no margin for error.

It would be interesting to see whether the Indians retain Virender Sehwag for the match. The right-hander did come up with a 25-run cameo in Mohali but India's bowling lost much of its sting in Kartik's absence. As a result, Harbhajan Singh looked a lesser threat.

If fast bowlers hunt in pairs, spinners do it in tandem and as Harbhajan and Kartik gave ample display in Guwahati that they can both etiolate the run rate and run amok through the batting order.

In fact, by bringing in an extra batsman at the cost of a specialist bowler, India not only over-estimated their bowling department but also underestimated their batting strength and repeating the folly on Sunday could well be the perfect recipe for a disaster.

An adamant Dhoni insisted India did not lack a specialist bowler in Mohali and pointed out how Sourav Ganguly chipped in there.

While Ganguly (9-0-55-0) did bowl better than Zaheer Khan (10-0-70-1), Dhoni missed the point that Ganguly's military medium pace does not allow him to really set a cat among pigeons and it is in fact unfair too, to expect him match Kartik's wicket-taking abilities.

India's bowing coach Venkatesh Prasad must be a harrowed man after his wards failed to defend a total as imposing as 321. Zaheer Khan was conspicuously off-colour in Mohali and by the time he removed Younis Khan, the Pathan had not only notched up his maiden century against India but also had laid the foundation for a successful chase.

Zaheer's pace colleague RP Singh looked better but six wides and a no ball meant he actually ended up bowling 11.1 overs. It's another matter that Shoaib Akhtar went worse, bowling seven wides and one no ball.

Thankfully, there is no major concern with the batting line-up for the hosts. In the top three, Gautam Gambhir is consistency personified, missing fifty by six runs in Guwahati before making amends in Mohali.

Ganguly looked good in the first match, while Sachin Tendulkar was in vintage form in the second. Though he fell victim to the nervous nineties for a record 15th time, his 99 was as good as some of his centuries and the Little Master would like to just continue in the same vein.

Following him is Yuvraj Singh, who strikes fear in the opposition's heart as India's middle order mainstay.

Dhoni, meanwhile, is due for a big knock. And the hosts still have Virender Sehwag's pyrotechnics and Robin Uthappa's belligerence to fall back on.

Pakistan too had plenty of positives to derive from last match's performance. Though there was just one century and no half century in the innings, Pakistan forged partnerships -- from decent ones to match-winning -- and though the asking rate kept climbing, they always had the wickets in hand to come up with a late charge and this was precisely the case in Mohali.

It allows late bloomers like Younis and Mohammad Yousuf to take their sweet time and guide along the score, before leaving the stage towards the end for Afridi to unleash those lusty hits and see the side through. And in Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan has found a shrewd player, who scores stealthily to inch closer towards the target.

Misbah, however, is yet to emerge as a finisher, partly because he looks hell-bent to play that doomed scoop shot and exercise the ghost of Twenty20 World Cup even though it's just not clicking for him.

Kumble to lead in longer version of the game …

After days of media speculation and hearsay, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble has won the two-horse race for the Test captaincy, edging out Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was billed as the popular favourite for the position.

India’s leading wicket taker will lead the country in the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan at home. Kumble is India’s 30th Test captain. He is the third spinner to lead India after Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

MP Pandove, Joint Secretary, Board of Cricket Control in India, made the announcement on Thursday after the second one-day match between India and Pakistan at Mohali.

The selectors didn’t want to cast MS Dhoni in the inferno for the two arduous assignments against Pakistan and Australia. Ex-cricketers had also felt that Dhoni still has to grow as a Test-match player.

Kumble was deputy to Sachin Tendulkar and was overlooked many times for the position. India’s old warhorse had led the country in a one-day game against England in 2001-02.

“It’s a great honour, something which every cricketer dreams of. It’s a high pressure job, a challenge and I am looking forward to it,” Kumble told media. “I thought I was pretty close to it when I was the vice-captain. But I just played my game and contributed to the team. It (the captaincy) has happened very late but it is better late than never,” Kumble told reuters.

Even as the feeling was sinking in, Kumble said, “I have played with everyone in the present team. The respect is mutual and I am sure I will get a lot of support.”

Kumble, it may be recalled, led Karnataka in the Super League Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai this week. When asked whether he was prepared for the captaincy, he had remarked that he would do the job if asked to.

It took Kumble 17 years to get his first Test hundred. And now in the twilight of his career, he has earned the most elusive feather in this cap.

Jacques gets the chance for the Gabba !!!

Matthew Hayden has given new partner Phil Jacques a huge vote of confidence by declaring his game a match for any opener in world cricket.

Jacques will make his first Test appearance since April 2006 after his stellar run-scoring form in the early stages of the Pura Cup saw off the challenge of Western Australian Chris Rogers.

Hayden said he was glad the perpetual speculation over Justin Langer's replacement at the head of the order was finally over and was looking forward to forging a brand new partnership with the NSW opener.

"I'm not worried about Phil's game at all. It's as complete as you're going to get for any opening batsman," Hayden said in Brisbane on Monday.

"I've got zero concerns about it. I'm exceptionally confident in his ability."

Hayden described Jacques as a seasoned cricketer with a wealth of domestic experience and said he would happily encourage the naturally attacking stroke-maker to play his own game.

"He's a very steady character and he brings such an enormous wealth of talent to this pool," he said.

"It's not like he's played three games for New South Wales. He's no rookie and that's a great thing for this side."

However, Hayden cautioned that Australian fans shouldn't expect their opening partnership to gel overnight.

"Justin and I, we'd played since 1990 together. It's 17 years of replacing knowing each other very intimately, either playing against each other or with each other," he said.

"You can't just replace that but I'm looking forward - over however long we've got together - to develop that relationship."

Despite their fledgling partnership and the prospect of facing a vastly improved Sri Lankan pace attack after a lean period of Test match cricket, Hayden insisted he would still prefer batting first to lay the platform for a large first innings total.

He added that although in Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga Sri Lanka had the foundation for a very good fast bowling attack, the Gabba remained his favourite wicket around the world.

The 36-year-old left-hander's hometown ground is recognised as one of the bounciest tracks in the country and, in Hayden's opinion, possesses every aspect of a challenging Test match pitch.

"It's such a good wicket but there's a lot of hard work to be done as an opening batsman there," he said.

"The ball does move and it does bounce so there's that element of surprise in the track."

"But then it does become a very good batting wicket and I'm looking forward to it if I get to that stage."

India Red thump Greens by 88 runs

India Red kept its chances alive in the Challenger series as they beat India Greens comprehensively by 88 runs at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. After losing to India Blues by 12 runs on Thursday, the Reds fought back on Friday to register a comprehensive win. Chasing 304 to win, the Greens were hardly in the hunt, as they could not recover from early setbacks.

Manoj Tiwary played a lone hand for India Green as they were bowled out for 215 runs in 47 overs. Tiwary was the only batsman for the Greens who looked at ease in the middle as the rest of the batting lineup struggled to find their feet chasing the stiff target. The Bengal batsman made 65 runs off 71 balls, hitting eight free-flowing boundaries.

Pravin Kumar, who grabbed five wickets in his nine overs giving away 45 runs did the early damage for the Reds by going through the gates of Yusuf Pathan to clean up the Vadodara all-rounder’s middle stump in the first over of the innings and then scalping Cheteshwar Pujara soon. Captain Parthiv Patel, coming to bat at number three struggled on his home ground as the wicket-keeper-batsman failed to get going in his 35-ball 19 before Gujarat pacer Siddharth Trivedi brought an end to his stay.

With the Greens stuttering to the pacers, young turks Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma strung a partnership of sorts, putting together 31 runs for the fourth wicket. But India’s Twenty20 world championship’s hero Sharma soon mistimed a Trivedi-delivery, which led to his undoing.

After Orissa batsman Niranjan Behera was dismissed, India Greens had lost half their side with just 101 runs on the board. Tiwary was the sixth batsman to fall and with him went the Green’s hope for a miracle.

The lower order batsmen, however put on some resistance for India Greens as Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (29) and leg spinner Piyush Chawla (26) put up a brave front with a fighting partnership of 41 runs but it was a little late in the day as the India Red bowlers tightened their stranglehold over the game and soon getting rid of the tail in clinical fashion.

Earlier, half centuries from Gautam Gambhir and S Badrinath propelled India Red to post a mammoth 303. Cameos from Karan Goel and Virat Kohli also helped India Red’s cause to set the greens the daunting task batting under the lights.

S. Badrinath made his knocks on the national side’s doors louder as the Tamil Nadu batsman smashed an unbeaten 82 in only 79 balls. Badrinath maintained the momentum of the Red’s innings after Gambhir’s dismissal and later on accelerated in fine style hitting seven fours and a six.

After choosing to bat first all-rounder Pravin Kumar gave India Red a rollicking start but Green’s opening bowler Pankaj Singh pegged the Reds onto the backfoot as the Rajasthan pacer removed Kumar and Mohammad Kaif early on. The India Red skipper, Kaif looked out of touch and played a scratchy innings of 8 runs taking up as many as 21 deliveries.

But Punjab batsman Karan Goel along with Gautam Gambhir held the fort for the Reds as the duo put together 69 runs for the third wicket. Fresh from his match-winning knock in the one-off Twenty20 match against Australia, Gambhir led India Red’s charge scoring 73 runs off 74 deliveries. The Delhi opener, who was run out without bothering the scorers against India Blue on Thursday, looked in impeccable touch, playing shots to all corners of the ground with seven hits to the fence.

The Gambhir-Goel partnership looked threatening for the Greens but the pendulum swung after the halfway stage as skipper Parthiv Patel’s ploy of applying spin from both ends worked. Goel, was scalped by part-time bowler Rohit Sharma for a well made 32 and leg spinner Piyush Chawla saw the back of Gambhir seven balls later.

With India Red in a spot of bother again, Badrinath and Kohli led the recovery adding 85 runs before Kohli perished for 40 in the 43rd over.

Paresh Patel and Mahesh Rawat, coming to bat at the death played quick-fire knocks to take Reds beyond the 300-run mark.

T20 match not about revenge: Gilchrist

The Australians find them in an unfamiliar situation. They will be starting the game against a world champion when they take the field for the Twenty20 match against India on Saturday.

"No, it is not revenge. We don't talk in terms of revenge and coming in and having to win games because we have lost something in the past. The Indian team has said that the Twenty20 is past and doesn't stand for anything. They are the world champions and all credit to them. We too know that game's gone and we have got another chance to take them on. It is not often that the Australian team has had the opportunity in any form of cricket to beat the world champions. Normally we have been holding the titles. That’s exciting and as I said Indian deserved that title. They won it fair and square. Now the challenge is up to us and as I say be the hunter and not the hunted," Adam Gilchrist said.

We very much looking forward to the match. It is nice way to finish off an intense series of One-Day. The chance to take on the best team in that form of the game and we have got a big buzz trying to win that game. I am sure that it will prove to be an intense and exciting game and hopefully at the end of the game spectators, administrators and players can sit together and congratulate each other on some great entertaining cricket in the last three weeks.

Indian batting is their strength. They have a strong batting line-up. We need to see how many of their Twenty20 champions play in that game or if they will continue with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who have scored runs in the One-day series. So we will wait and see. If Yuvraj Singh finds the form that he was in during the Twenty20 tournament; it is going to be a tough assignment for us. The Indian bowling did a great job too. I think Yuvraj's 70 but also the bowlers - Sreesanth and co - towards the end of that game played a huge part. So did the captaincy of MS Dhoni. So it is going to be tough challenge for us but one we are really excited.

Aussies to finish the series on high note with Symonds in good form

Amid all the excitement over Brett Lee and the wickets of Mitchell Johnson, one of the key differences between the two teams has gone almost unnoticed throughout the series, which Australia lead 4-1 with a game to play in Mumbai on Wednesday. Brad Hogg has played an invaluable role in the middle overs for Australia in the series so far.

Statistically, he is the best bowler, with the most wickets, 11, at the best average, 19.00, but that does not even go halfway towards telling the tale. Comfortable bowling both over and around the stump, to left and right-handers, Hogg has proved to be a real problem for the Indian batsmen.

When asked if Hogg had out-bowled India's spinners, Ricky Ponting was careful in answering. "I'm not sure if it means that our spinners have bowled better or if it means that our batsmen have played the spinners better," he said. And there is some truth in this, for it's not as though Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik have bowled badly. Both have put in good spells, unafraid to toss the ball up when the situation allowed, and capable of exerting control with flatter, quicker bowling when the situation demanded it.

But it's an undeniable fact that Hogg has had more of a say in influencing the outcome of matches. With his high left-arm action, he has made it very difficult for batsmen to get into any kind of run-scoring rhythm. Set batsmen have had their concentration disrupted, and newcomers to the crease, especially left-hand batsmen like Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan, have struggled.

From the outside it looks as though India's batsmen are having trouble picking Hogg out of the hand. When asked if the Australians could pick him in the nets, Ponting did not quite say yes or no, smiling impishly: "We've played a lot against him and practised a lot against him. He bowls a very good wrong'un, there's no doubt about that. Those sort of bowlers - legspinners who bowl with a high arm action from over the top - are always the hardest to read. Even in the World Cup he undid a lot of batsmen with his wrong'un. I think he's tending to bowl the wrong'un a lot more and a lot better in recent times. It just shows he's still learning and still improving though he's 36."

Troy Cooley, Australia's bowling coach, has worked wonders with fast bowlers around the world, but this does not mean he has no role to play with the spinners. "What works to his advantage is that he has a lot of variations," Cooley said of Hogg. "This helps him do well in any type of conditions."

If India's batsmen are not picking him, it's strange in one way, because they've not been consistently troubled by people like Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed or Shane Warne, all of whom possess excellent variations. Looking at the situation another way, though, there is a bit of an explanation, as it's impossible to come up with one chinaman bowler who played for India. The breed hasn't ever turned up. Even in domestic cricket, it's hard to name one.

But Wednesday's game is not about Hogg alone. There's certainly no thought of resting him, or anyone else, for the Australians, and Ponting emphatically said as much at the pre-match press conference. There could be one change, and that's if the "85 to 90%" fit Matthew Hayden is well enough to play. Then he'll come into the side, in place of either of the Brads, Haddin or Hodge. That will mean that Ben Hilfenhaus, who went through the World Twenty20 without playing a game, will have done the same in this seven-match series.

In the Indian camp, there's plenty of rumour over resting Rahul Dravid to make way for Rohit Sharma or Subramaniam Badrinath, but there's no hard news on the subject. Dravid certainly isn't overly bogged down over his lack of runs, or distressed, as there's plenty of cricket to come this season, in one-dayers and Tests. And it would be wise to look forward, for win or loss in the final game, this series is already well and truly finished

Harbhajan hungry for success in Australia !!

Off spinner Harbhajan Singh is keen to emulate his domestic success against Australia when India embark on their Test tour starting in December. Harbhajan, 27, proved a handful for the Australians on their last two trips to India, but has played just one Test in Australia.

He bowled 35 overs and took one wicket in the drawn first Test in Brisbane on India's last tour in 2003-04 before a finger injury forced him out of the remainder of the tour. The Sikh has an impressive haul of 53 wickets against Australia in his last six Tests at home over two series, but said outwitting them in Australia was his biggest goal.

"That's the tour that people want to go on and do well," Harbhajan said. "They (Australia) play tough cricket and it gives you a lot of satisfaction when you do well against that sort of a side, especially in their conditions." India are scheduled to play four Tests in Australia from December 26 before a tri-nation One-day series also involving Sri Lanka.

Although India next host Pakistan for a One-day and Test series, there is already fevered anticipation of the Australia tour following verbal exchanges between the players during the current seven-match One-day series in India. Australia have secured the series 4-1 with a game to spare after the opening fixture was washed out. The final game will be played in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Harbhajan was dropped following the shock first round exit from this year's 50-over World Cup in March, but featured prominently in last month's Twenty20 win after a useful stint with English county Surrey to stage a One-day comeback. Although the most economical Indian bowler in the ongoing series, he has taken just three wickets in five games.

He rejected criticism he was keen to restrict runs. "I always look for wickets, but in One-day cricket a lot depends on the situation you are bowling in. (Captain Mahendra) Dhoni wanted a few overs of me during power play, in the middle-overs and at the end in most matches," added Harbhajan, who has taken 238 Test wickets and 177 One-day wickets in a 10-year career.

Harbhajan, who captured 32 wickets in three Tests to spark India's comeback home series triumph over Australia in 2001, was hopeful the team would draw inspiration from previous Australia tours when they travel there. "The last time, I remember Anil (Kumble) had a great series there," he said of the leg-spinner who took 24 wickets in three Tests to help India draw the four-match series 1-1.

"Sure there will be some tough cricket on the field (this time), but they can expect the same from us." Harbhajan also took 21 wickets and Kumble 27 scalps on Australia's 2004 tour, but the tourists won 2-1 to clinch their first Test series on Indian soil for 35 years. "I did well in 2001 and 2004, and there will be a lot of expectations," he said. "I hope I can repeat it in their conditions."

Stop Sreesanth from becoming Akhtar: Chappell

Describing S Sreesanth as an "accident waiting to happen", former Australian captain Ian Chappell has urged the BCCI to discipline the Kerala pacer before he becomes another Shoaib Akhtar.

"If the BCCI needs any prompting on why they should discipline Sreesanth before he has a major crash, they only have to look at Pakistan's mishandling of Shoaib Akhtar in his early days," Chappell was quoted as saying in the 'Cricinfo'.

"The PCB has finally done what it should have a long time ago: brought the malcontent into line with a suspension and serious fine.

"If this had happened when Shoaib's erratic behaviour first started to undermine the Pakistan side then he may well have become what he should have been - a match-winning fast bowler - instead of what he has been, a serious disruption to team harmony."

Chappell said if Sreesanth continued with his aggressive ways one day he would be in serious trouble and the BCCI needed to control the bowler. "Back when I was playing, whenever a fiery red sports car would go whizzing past our team's more sedate mode of transport, the former Australian wrist-spinner Johnny Martin would say, "there goes an accident waiting to happen".

"Currently, Sreesanth appears to be driving a bright red V12 with mag wheels, twin carburettors and the latest E gearshift. He's already had a couple of minor scrapes but hasn't backed off the throttle, and if he continues down this bumpy road he's headed for a major catastrophe.

"The BCCI should do him a favour and take away his keys; in other words, suspend him for a meaningful period. Then he'll have time to think about his erratic behaviour and will hopefully realize he is wasting his undoubted talent by expending energy on things that won't help his team win," Chappell said. Chappell also advocated disciplinary action for the players who had initiated the process of countering the Aussies with aggressive body language. "If the BCCI does shift into disciplinary gear, they should also severely reprimand the person or persons who dreamt up the flawed tactic of India taking the Australians on at their own game.

"The first-class game in Australia is highly competitive and players regularly indulge in one-upmanship and the better ones thrive in this atmosphere. If the Australians wanted to do a Brer rabbit on India, they would have said: "Please don't intimidate us verbally."

For those who hate Sachin Tendulkar!!!

When many people say how many of Sachin's hundreds have come for a
winning cause, Here is analysis of each of those centuries he scored
when INDIA lost and reason why it went in vain.
Out of the 41 hundreds, 11 hundreds have gone in vain.

1. 137 off 137 (Strike rate 100) balls Vs SriLanka at Delhi in 1996 World Cup.
India scored 271/3 in 50 overs. The only other 50 score was from
Azhar. SL made 272 in 48.4 overs. Manoj Prabhakar had 4-0-47-0. He
also opened in the innings and scored 7 of 36 balls.

2. 100 of 111 Balls Vs Pak in Singapore- Apr 96.
India 226 all out in 47.1 overs, When Sachin was out score was 186/4
(We cant blame because next 3 are match fixtures) . Pak had a reduced
target of 187 from 33 overs.

3. 110 of 138 Balls (Slower but...) vs Sri Lanka In Colombo - Aug 96.
Again India 226 for 5 in 50 overs, Only other 50 score from Azhar (58
of 99 balls !!!) .Sachin has also bowled 6-0-29-1 , the second most
economical bowler and the only wicket taker (SL were 230/1 in 44.2 )
of the match next to Srinath. 7 bowlers were used by Azhar.

4. 143 of 131 Balls (!!!) Vs Aus at Sharjah, Apr 1998.
This was chasing under lights. The qualifying match before the final.
The whole world knows about this match. Still one interesting point,
when Sachin was out India were 242 at 5 at 43 overs. Target was 276 in
46. Still India finished at 250/5 scoring just 8 of the next 3 overs.
Great performance by Laxman and Kanitkar indeed.

5. 101 of 140 Balls against SL at Sharjah in Oct 2000.
Indian score was 224/8 in 50 overs. (No other 50 score). SL got 225/5
in 43.5, Sachin also bowled 5-0-22-0, better economy rate than
everyone except Srinath.

6. 146 of 153 Balls against Zimbabwe at Jodhpur - December 2000 (Game
of Douglas Marilier)
India made 283 / 8 in 50 overs. Sachin was the last man to be
dismissed, score was 235/8 at 46.3 overs when he was out. Agarkar and
Zaheer Khan propelled India to 283 in the last 3.3 overs. When Sachin
has scored 146 of 235 in 46.3 overs, you can guess what the other 8
great batsmen were doing against the World class Zimbabwe attack.
Second Highest scorer was Zaheer Khan with 32.
Zim got 284/9 in 49.5 overs. Kumble bowled the last over. Sachin also
got 6-0-35-1

7. 101 of 129 Balls Vs SA at Johannesburg - Oct 2001
India got 279/5 in 50, Ganguly made 127 of 126 balls. When Ganguly got
out, the score was 193-1 in 35.2 overs. Sachin was the last man to get
out at 263. SA got 280 in 48.4 overs. Sachin bowled 9-0-51-0, second
best in economy rate next only to Agarkar (10-0-45-1)

8. 141 of 135 balls Vs Pak at Rawalpindi, March 2004 .
India were chasing 329 and were 317 all out in 48.4 overs, 8 balls to
spare. No other batsman made even a 50 (when chasing 300 ) and when
Sachin was out, India were 245-4 in 38.4 overs. They needed 85 from 68
balls with 6 wickets in hand.

9. 123 of 130 Balls vs Pak at Ahmedabad, April 2005.
India made 315/6 in 48 overs (48 over match), again no other 50 score.
Second highest was Dhoni 47 of 64 balls, (third highest was extras -
39). Pak made 319 in 48 overs. The three quicks (Balaji, Nehra and
Khan went for 188 runs from 26 overs between them taking only 2
wickets). Sachin bowled 6-0-36-1. No Harbhajan and no Kumble.

10. 100 of 113 Balls Vs Pak at Peshawar, Feb-2006.
India were 328 all out in 49.4 overs. Pathan and Dhoni got 60 each.
When Sachin was out when India were 305-5 in 45 overs. Managed only 23
in the last 5 overs.Pak scored 311/7 in 47 overs and won by D/L
method. Could have been anybody's game. Sachin did not bowl.

11. 141* of 148 balls vs WI at Malaysia.
India made 309 /5 in 50 overs. Sachin was not out. Pathan was the only
other 50 scorer. WI made 141/2 in 20 overs and won by D/L method.
Again could have been anybody's game.

In the other 31 instances India has won 30 times and once there was no result .
Now, please think again when you say sachin's 100s were in the losing
cause and that he is not a team player. It is a fact that for the
entire 90's India played International cricket with 1 PLAYER and 10
JOKERS.

===> article from my friend Ketul Pitroda .

Kallis creates history ..

South Africa's leading batsman Jacques Kallis has become only the 23rd player in history to achieve 900 rating points in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Kallis joined the exclusive club following a prolific series against Pakistan in which he scored three hundreds and a fifty in four innings, playing a key role in his side's 1-0 success.

The right-hander's aggregate of 421 runs was the highest by any player in the series and his three hundreds have taken his career tally to 27, joint seventh in the all-time list alongside the Australia duo of Matthew Hayden and Allan Border.

Figures like that have lifted him to his career-high rating, as well as third place in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Kallis moved ahead of Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara and now has only Ricky Ponting of Australia and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf above him in the listings.

The quartet all stand at 900 rating points or above, a tally achieved only if the player is prolific over a long period of time, and it is the first time in history that four batsmen have stood at 900 points or more at the same time.

South Africa finished the series with three batsmen in the top 20 with, in addition to Kallis, captain Graeme Smith in 13th place (up four spots), one behind fellow left-hander Ashwell Prince.

Kallis also maintained his stranglehold on top place in the all-rounder Rankings for clear of England's Andrew Flintoff (who has undergone a fourth operation on his injured left ankle) and team-mate Shaun Pollock.

In the bowling list, Proteas' pace bowler Makhaya Ntini is still in second position behind Sri Lanka's talismanic spinner Muttiah Muralidaran but he lost ground and rating points during the series.

Pollock dropped two places to fifth after being left out of the side for the matches in KarachiSouth Africa bowlers on the rise - albeit still outside the top 20 - are fast man Dale Steyn and left-arm spinner Paul Harris.

Harris took 12 wickets in the two Tests to suggest the Proteas may have found a long-term spin option at last and those figures are enough to see him placed 34th in the updated listings, while Steyn, with nine wickets, now lies 28th, five spots behind team-mate Andre Nel. – Sapa

Mitchell Johnson packs the series to the Aussies ..

Mitchell Johnson destroyed India with a maiden five-wicket haul as Australia raced to a nine-wicket win in the fifth one-day international at Vadodara on Thursday.

Australia now have a 3-1 lead overall and need only one more win to clinch the seven-match series, with the remaining two games to be played in Nagpur and Mumbai. The first one-dayer was abandoned because of rain.

India were as good as beaten when they were all out for 148 after electing to bat on a dry pitch, failing to cope with man-of-the-match Johnson (5-26) and paceman Brett Lee (2-42).

Australia finished the match in the 26th over after a brief interruption because of crowd trouble, with some spectators throwing plastic water-bottles onto the pitch.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, who had earlier taken six catches, top-scored for the tourists with a blistering 77-ball 79 not out for his first half-century of the series.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a surprise move to defend his sides's small total when he tossed the new ball to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and then introduced left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in the eighth over.

But it failed to produce the desired results as Matthew Hayden and Gilchrist put on 54 for the opening wicket to ensure an easy victory. Hayden, batting with a runner because of a strained calf, scored a 39-ball 29.

"It was a very satisfying day for us. All the guys executed their skills very well, especially Mitchell, who is pretty pleased with his first five-wicket haul. He was outstanding with the new ball," said Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.

"We came to India to win all matches, but we have not done that. It will be nice to end the tour by winning the remaining two matches as well."

India earlier found Johnson and Lee too hot to handle as they could not even bat 40 of their allotted 50 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar was the lone specialist batsman to defy the attack as he top-scored with 47 in his 400th one-day international. But he received support only from Irfan Pathan (26), adding 49 for the sixth wicket.

"We just want to forget this game," said Dhoni.

"Nothing went right for us except winning the toss. I think 230-240 will have been a good score on this wicket but we just did not have enough runs on the board. The start they got with the new ball was a killer for us."

India looked clueless against the quality pace attack and never recovered after losing five wickets for 43 in the opening 10 overs.

Johnson removed three batsmen in quick succession in a sharp opening spell just after India had lost two wickets in Lee's opening over.

India's batting woes began when Sourav Ganguly was run out following a misunderstanding with Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid fell for a first-ball duck in Lee's opening over.

Tendulkar kept the Australian attack at bay before he was caught behind in Lee's second spell. He hit nine fours in his 73-ball knock.

He is only the second player to reach 400 one-day internationals after Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya.