Talk about Cricket

Christmas Miracle

2013-12-09T20:56:00.000+00:00

Ishant Baba is back

2013-12-09T20:53:00.001+00:00

LAGE RAHO ISHANT BHAI

Australia winning the Ashes

2013-12-09T20:50:00.003+00:00

A ruthless Australia rattled through England’s final four wickets on Monday to complete an emphatic 218-run victory in the second Ashes Test and push the tourists to the brink of a humiliating series defeat.
The crushing win at Adelaide Oval puts Australia 2-0 ahead in the five-Test series, a stunning turnaround from the 3-0 Ashes defeat they suffered in England in August.
The hosts will fancy their chances of securing the famous urn in Perth, where England have not won since 1978 and where man-of-the-match Mitchell Johnson looms as an even greater threat on the WACA’s bouncy wicket.
‘It’s not a fluke that we have won the first two Test matches,’ Australia captain Michael Clarke told reporters after his team tore through England’s tail in less than an hour.
‘We’re finally getting the results for the hard work and commitment over a long period of time.
‘(Realistically) that’s our second Test win in the past 12 months. There’s a lot of work for us to get back to the number one position.’
The win proved Australia’s victory in Brisbane was no flash in the pan, while confirming a seismic shift in the balance of power between the teams.
Any hopes England had that rain might save them were quickly dispelled when a shower cleared to allow play to start only 10 minutes late.
Pacemen Peter Siddle (4-57) and Ryan Harris (3-54) combined with aplomb to seal the win in less than an hour on a gloomy morning at the re-developing ground.
In reality, however, England lost the Test on Saturday when their batsmen failed to stand up to another withering spell of extreme pace bowling from the resurgent Johnson.
The red-hot Queenslander took 7-40 in England’s first innings of 172 and twice dismissed their talismanic captain Alastair Cook cheaply to win his second successive man-of-the-match award after his nine-wicket performance in Brisbane.
Cook’s second innings dismissal, hooking Johnson to a man in the deep, was emblematic of his team’s poor shot selection throughout.
He has little time to restore his team’s battered self-belief before the third Test gets underway on Friday.
‘The only guys who can change it are the guys in the dressing room,’ said a shell-shocked Cook, who has gone from Australia’s tormentor in the 2010-11 series to becoming merely tormented.
‘No one else can change it for us. We can’t sit there moping around about it. It’s hurting us like hell but we’re the only guys who can change it.’
Having restored some pride on Sunday after managing to bat through a day under extreme duress, England resumed on 247-6, still 284 runs shy of their victory target.
Any sense of self-satisfaction would surely have been quashed, though, when Stuart Broad pulled the fifth ball of the day from Siddle straight to Nathan Lyon at deep square leg to be out for 29.
Matt Prior notched his first half-century to end a wretched run of scores, but appeared determined to get himself out by hooking at almost every short ball.
In the end he did just that, succumbing to Siddle for 69, with Harris taking a simple catch in the deep.
In between, Clarke threw the ball to Harris who dismissed Graeme Swann for six runs with his third delivery, the spinner driving at a short one moving away that he nicked straight to the Australian skipper in the slips.
Harris returned to seal the match by having Monty Panesar caught at short extra cover by Chris Rogers for a duck, and Australia embraced to a noisy ovation from the sparse fifth-day crowd.
Outplayed with bat and ball, England were also largely dismal in the field, with a rash of dropped catches during Australia’s first innings costing hundreds of runs and allowing the hosts to declare a mammoth first innings total of 570-9.
As holders of the urn, England need only level the series 2-2 to retain it, but Cook was under few illusions about the scale of the task.
‘A lot of people who’ll be sitting in this room and outside will probably give us no chance,’ he said. ‘But if we don’t believe that in our dressing room that the urn’s gone, then it might as well have gone.’

Tigers leave Bangladesh for Trinidad and Tobago (31.08.12)

2012-09-05T19:04:00.001+01:00

Ashes cartoon

2012-09-04T23:51:00.000+01:00

Pakistan not happy on Ajmal overlook in ICC awards

2012-09-04T23:49:00.003+01:00

Pakistan lodged a protest with cricket’s governing body Monday over the exclusion of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal from the shortlist of an annual award, saying they hope his name will be included after a review.
The 34-year-old’s name did not feature among the four nominees for the coveted ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’ award, despite being Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker in the period under consideration.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Australia’s Michael Clarke all made the list.
The International Cricket Council holds the annual awards ceremony to recognise the best players and umpire in international cricket.
The names are chosen by a 30-member jury comprising of former players, officials and journalists. This year’s ceremony will be held in Colombo on September 15.
Ajmal took 72 wickets in the 12 month period, including 24 in Pakistan’s 3-0 rout of then world number one Test team England earlier this year.
Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said they have written to the ICC on Ajmal’s omission.
‘Yes, we have shown our concerns on Ajmal’s name not shortlisted for Test player of the year award despite his excellent performance in Tests during that stipulated period,’ Sarwar told AFP.
‘We hope that the ICC will reconsider this and include Ajmal’s name,’ he added.
Graeme Swann was omitted from a shortlist in 2010 but was later included after England put up his case. South Africa also objected to the omission of their players and boycotted the 2009 ceremony held in Johannesburg.
Despite his omission from the award shortlist, Ajmal’s name has been included in ICC’s best Test team of the year.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-05&nid=22584#.UEaFNrLiaUE

day-night first-class match in the forthcoming National Cricket Leagu

2012-09-04T23:47:00.002+01:00

The Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Tuesday that it will introduce day-night first-class match in the forthcoming National Cricket League in line with the guideline of the International Cricket Council.
‘The opening game and the final match of National Cricket League will be a day-night affair and a pink ball will be used as per the rule of the ICC,’ BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters at a news conference after an emergency meeting.
Kamal added that the forthcoming NCL, which is expected to begin on October 14, will be franchise-based, something which they have planned for years but could not implement.
‘We are not sure if we have a franchise for one or two teams but let’s begin it from somewhere,’ said Kamal.
The lone first-class tournament of the country began in 2000-01 and since then the respective divisions used to run their team.
It was also decided that each division will have a cricket operation manager who will look after their respective divisions.
‘We will select those managers but they have to be from those divisions,’ said Kamal.
‘He will look after and be a part of the team as well as provide us with the development chart in those respective divisions,’ he added.
In the meeting, the disciplinary matter related to batsman Shahriar Nafees‘conduct during the Bangladesh ‘A’ team’s recent tour of India has been referred to the BCB’s disciplinary committee and the committee has been asked to submit a report in 14 days.
Shahriar was sent back home from the middle of the Shafi Dharashah tournament after team management reported against him for behaving rudely during a match against the host side.
The performance of the Under-19 team in the ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia was also evaluated and it was decided that the two top performers of Bangladesh in the tournament would be rewarded with TK 2, 00,000 each.
The other members of the squad will get Tk one lakh each. The BCB also announced a cash incentive for the national players who won 3-0 against Ireland in a recent Twenty20 series. The detail of the incentives for Ireland series, however, was not provided.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-05&nid=22577#.UEaE5bLiaUE

Bangladesh player banned

2012-09-04T14:28:00.002+01:00

Former Bangladesh cricketer Shariful Haque has been banned for an indefinite period after spot-fixing allegations made against him before the Bangladesh Premier League by Mashrafe Mortaza were substantiated, BCB president said after a board meeting.

Haque played one ODI for Bangladesh, against India, in 1998 and had unofficially retired from the game. He worked with Biman, the national airline, which Mortaza represents in the Dhaka Premier League.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh/content/current/story/580838.html

Tendulkar bowled

2012-09-04T00:26:00.002+01:00

Surprising as it may sound but senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s defence has been breached three times in a row in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.
After being bowled in the first innings of the first Test in Hyderabad and the first innings here, Tim Southee made it three in a row when he disturbed Tendulkar’s middle stump on Monday.
Revered worldwide for his record-breaking feats and his sound technique and temperament, the veteran batsman’s campaign in the two-match series got off to a poor start after Trent Boult cleaned him up for just 19, uprooting the middle stump in the first Test, and it continued in the second match here.
Doug Bracewell went through Tendulkar’s defence after he left a gap between his bat and pads in the first innings of the ongoing match.
Tim Southee then piled on Tendulkar’s agony as the Kiwi pacer knocked the middle stump after clipping his pad with a delivery that came back into the right-hander. That Tendulkar was playing across, did not help the batsman’s cause.
The batsman seemed quite frustrated with himself as he raised his bat in anger at the stumps.
Tendulkar, who has scored 15,489 in 189 Tests for an average of 55.31 prior to this match, has now being bowled 51 times in Test cricket. Rahul Dravid (55) and Allan Border (53) top the charts.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-04&nid=22482#.UEU8TrLiaUE

Kohli, Dhoni saved the day

2012-09-04T00:24:00.004+01:00

India survived a mini collapse to sweep the series against a fighting New Zealand with a five-wicket victory on the penultimate day of the second and final Test in Bangalore on Monday.
The hosts slipped from 152-2 to 166-5 before achieving their 261-run target in the final session, thanks to a 96-run stand between man-of-the-match Virat Kohli (51 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 not out) under pressure.
India won the opening Test by an innings and 115 runs in Hyderabad.
New Zealand fought well as they twice neutralised India’s advantage to storm back into the match on a good pitch before Dhoni and Kohli steered their team home, much to the delight of the nearly 15,000 spectators.
The Indian captain finished the match with a six over mid-wicket off off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who took three wickets. Dhoni hit two sixes and three fours, while Kohli cracked nine fours.
‘Virat’s batting was superb. He fought well and soaked up the pressure. We all knew that after 40-45 overs it would easier,’ said Dhoni.
‘The spinners bowled brilliantly and the catching was good.’
India were 77 without loss after brisk knocks from Virender Sehwag (38) and Gautam Gambhir (34) and then 152-2 following a 69-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara (48) and Sachin Tendulkar (27) before New Zealand struck back.
The tourists came back strongly after tea, which was taken early due to rain, as they dismissed well-set Pujara, Tendulkar and Suresh Raina (0) in the space of 14 runs.
The 39-year-old Tendulkar was bowled for a third successive innings in the series, this time by fast bowler Tim Southee, after hitting five fours in his 34-ball knock.
The world’s leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket with an unprecedented 100 international centuries, Tendulkar finished the series without a half-century in three innings.
‘We had our chances and showed character to come back from a terrible Test in Hyderabad. We came with some standards we wanted to maintain, which we did in patches,’ said New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor.
‘They way Kohli and Dhoni batted was outstanding.’
Patel had Pujara caught by Daniel Flynn, who ran backwards from forward short-leg to take a superb diving catch, and then bowled Raina.
Tendulkar and Pujara steadied the innings after Sehwag and Gambhir had fallen in the morning in the space of six runs.
Pujara, who scored a solid 159 in the first Test, was on 37 when he survived a stumping chance off Patel as wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum failed to collect the ball.
McCullum kept wicket in place of Kruger van Wyk, who was injured after being struck on the arm by a delivery from paceman Umesh Yadav while batting on Sunday.
The New Zealand skipper pressed Patel into the attack in the 12th over after pacemen Trent Boult, Southee and Doug Bracewell had failed to provide the breakthrough in overcast conditions.
Sehwag lofted Patel over long-off, the first six of the innings, and then cut him for a four before falling in the same over. He stepped out to try another big shot, but missed the line and was bowled.
He smashed one six and seven fours in his 33-ball knock.
Gambhir went for his shots early in the innings, hitting Boult and Bracewell each for two successive fours before falling to a loose shot.
He was caught by Taylor at first slip off Boult after hitting seven fours in his 58-ball knock.
New Zealand were earlier bowled out for 248 in their second innings, adding 16 runs to their overnight total of 232-9.
Patel (22), the last man out, looked unhappy with the decision when given caught behind off left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, as the TV replays suggested he had missed the ball.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finished with 5-69, his third five-wicket haul in four innings against New Zealand. He was named man of the series.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-04&nid=22479

Superman Tendulkar

2012-09-01T20:17:00.004+01:00

No Deccan Chargers in Indian Premier League

2012-09-01T20:15:00.002+01:00

Deccan Chargers, the champions of second edition of Indian Premier League, is unlikely to feature in the next edition of the cash-rich league which may force the BCCI to lookout for a prospective buyer in the next few days.

"The IPL governing council members will be meeting on September 4 where a concrete decision regarding the future of Deccan Chargers will be taken. As of now, there is very little chance that DC will be playing in IPL VI as it is unable to resolve the financial problems. The Board will have to find a new buyer for the team," a top BCCI official toldPTI today.

In June this year, the Deccan Chronicle group had appointed Religare Capital Markets Ltd to advise it on selling of Deccan Chargers following approach "by multiple parties evincing interest in acquiring stake in the company's IPL team".

However, according to investment banking sources, financial liabilities of the franchise owner pushed away the prospective buyers and the matter has been intimated to the cricket board.

"None of the investors were really interested to buy a team with financial liabilities. Now, the owners have intimated the BCCI about their inability to sell the team. The BCCI has reportedly told them that they would now auction the team," a reliable source in investment banking sector informed.

The formal announcement will come within a few days but BCCI is likely to get a suitable replacement as many business houses are interested in buying a team.

"Obviously, for a new investor, the advantage will be that he would get a set team and also can buy a few more players. The BCCI will encash the bank guarantee and pay the salaries of the players," the Board official said.

The Deccan Chronicle group had acquired the franchise for USD 107 million (approximately Rs 588 crore) in 2008.
http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=773875

Roqibul shines in T20 warm-up

2012-08-28T20:41:00.001+01:00

Batsman Roqibul Hassan continued to shine in the warm-up games as it was his half-century that guided Bangladesh Green to a comfortable four-wicket win over the Red’s in the first practice match, ahead of the ICC World Twenty20, at the National Cricket Academy ground on Tuesday.
Earlier, Roqibul impressed everyone in a practice match at the very ground with a blistering 61-ball 140 to earn Bangladesh ‘A’ team a nine-wicket win against the national side before their Europe tour.
The performance eventually earned him a place in the 30-member preliminary squad of the World T20, but his lack of form with the ‘A’ team in the Shafi Dharashah tournament could not get him a place in the short-list.
On Tuesday, Roqibul’s 36-ball 50 and Mahmudul Hasan’s unbeaten 21 helped the Green to reach 103-6 in just 13.5 overs after pace bowlers Dollar Mahmud (3-9) and Shahadat Hossain (3-36) led the Red’s destruction to dismiss them for 101 in 14.1 overs.
Junaed Siddique made 34 from 15 balls while Elias Sunny scored 24 to give some respectability to the score of Red’s, a side mainly compromised with the national players.
National skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain and Mohammad Ashraful were missing from the line-up as they are involved in the Sri Lankan Premier League while Mashrafee bin Murtaza was out with illness.
However, Tigers coach Richard Pybus was not worried with the outcome of the result as the game was played in a picnic mood at a ground way below the standard size.
‘There is nothing to worry as it cannot be termed as a full-fledged cricket match. The ground is very small and does not fill all pre-requisite to play a proper game,’ Pybus told reporters.
Batsman Jahirul Islam, who had no meaningful contribution in Red’s total, echoed the coach and said that lack of ground available to play was the reason for playing at this field.
‘We’ve no alternative stadium to play practice matches at this moment. Even our national stadium is not ready so we are playing in this ground,’ said Jahirul.

IPL loses its title sponsor

2012-08-28T20:40:00.001+01:00

The Indian Premier League has lost its title sponsor after real estate giant DLF declined to renew its five-year deal, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
‘We have just stepped off the IPL,’ DLF group executive director Rajeev Talwar told the Press Trust of India.
‘Sponsoring the IPL over the last five years was a strategic decision wherein we wanted to establish our brand presence across India as the leading real estate player.
‘We believe that we have been able to achieve the desired objectives to a great extent.’
DLF reportedly paid $50 million to be the title sponsor of the glitzy Twenty20 league for the first five years, a deal which ended with the 2012 edition in March-April.
The last date for renewal of the contract was July 28, Talwar added.
There was no immediate comment from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which owns the IPL.

India wins U-19 World Cup

2012-08-26T20:41:00.003+01:00

A dazzling batting display by India saw them lift the ICC U-19 World Cup after beating the hosts and defending champions Australia by six wickets at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville on Sunday.
The victory gave India its third World Cup title, after Mohammad Kaif and Virat Kohli had lifted the trophies in 2000 in Sri Lanka and 2008 in Malaysia respectively.
India’s skipper Unmukt Chand led his troop to victory with a match winning unbeaten 111-run knock as India knocked off the target making 227 runs for the loss of four wickets with 14 balls to spare after Australia had posted a moderate 225-8.
India were trouble when they lost four wickets with 97 runs on the scoreboard, but Smit Patel joined Chand to add 130 runs for the fifth wicket and ensured the win.
Chand was twice dropped by wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson and Bosisto on 38 and
84 respectively while Patel also survived two missed-catches on zero and 51 respectively and both batsmen made full use of their dropped chances.
Chand clobbered seven fours and six sixes in his knock off 130 balls while Patel (62 not out) played an equally important role.
Earlier, Will Bosisto (87 not out) showed a lot of maturity when he steered Australia to a respectable 225-8 after the home side had plummeted to 38-4 before the completion of the 12th over.
Sandeep Sharma was the pick of India bowlers when he finished with figures of 4-54.
Chand received the player of the final award for his match-winning knock while Bosisto was adjudged as the player of the tournament.

Cricket to resume at SBNS next month

2012-08-26T20:39:00.003+01:00

The home of Bangladesh cricket, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, will be back with cricketing action on its renovated surface by hosting a One-Day International series followed by a Twenty20 series against South Africa women’s cricket team from September 7-15.
The South African women’s team is due to arrive on September 5 and would participate in a three-match ODI series along with three T20 Internationals at the home of cricket that has not hosted any match since May.
‘The three ODIs will be held respectively on September 7, 8 and 10,’ Jannatul Ferdous, Executive of BCB’s Women’s wing, told New Age on Sunday.
The T20 matches will follow on September 12, 13 and 15.
SBNS wore a deserted look after the Bangladesh Cricket Board took the initiative to burn the grasses of the entire field in order to plant new Bermuda grass on the outfield.
The step was taken in a bid to make it more comfortable and reduce the risk of injuries which the players suffered while diving to take a catch or save a boundary on the previous outdated grass.
The work also helped the ground to get some much-needed rest after hosting matches almost on alternate days since it became the country’s cricketing hub in 2006.
Syed Abdul Baten, BCB’s national manager of grounds and facilities, said the field is now almost ready and should face no problem in hosting the South African ladies.
‘We are ready to play matches at the SBNS as the ground is well prepared after the renovation work,’ he said.
‘Apart from planting new grasses we had also done top-dressing in all our wickets.
‘But it had also improved our drainage system as we could remove the layer of grass that had grown and used to block the free flow of water,’ he added.

Cricket to resume at SBNS next month

2012-08-26T20:39:00.001+01:00

Indian cricket board is like Fox news channel!

2012-08-25T21:18:00.003+01:00

Read this article. Please read this article. Tests are not the only cricket http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/560959.html?comments=all#comments And then think for about ten minutes. I know that it is not an easy job to think or analysis anything after reading indian cricket commentators article nowadays. Then if i may, please read this article. Don't blame the IPL for everything that's wrong http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/566915.html

Have you found a common trend? Like Fox news, BCCI is trying to manipulate the common feeling. To judge something if something is good accurate and quality information is essential. But with the help of former crickets and commentators BCCI is following the path as Fox news by publishing articles, interviews which suits their own agenda. Lets discuss it in more details.

1. Panic Mongering: Is it time to bury the ODI? http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/568997.html

This article is not the only example how BCCI currently hate ODI. It is really surprising. ODI makes BCCI so much rich. And makes famous to their most bankable player sachin tendulkar. Remove all records of ODI from him. He has a very good test cricket record. A very good one. But it is not the greatest. Mainly ODI records makes his best batsman in world history. Probably BCCI no longer need ODI as sachin tendulkar is not playing ODI cricket anymore.

2.Bullying: This is a favorite technique of several Fox commentators. Same is true for BCCI. Remember ICL. Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi made startling revelations that the BCCI forced the ICC to change its constitution to outlaw the now defunct Indian Cricket League. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi-says-bcci-bent-rules-to-outlaw-icl/1/142197.html

3. Confusion: DRS is the perfect example of the dirty tactics BCCI is used for its own purpose. At the beginning BCCI is happy about this technique. But when some decisions went against them they started a smear campaign. Dhoni asked question about the 2.5m rule. Quickly all the indian commentators asks the similar question. They played the tune like orchestra. Now DRS is out. Viva BCCI!

When somebody ask questions about the popularity of the twenty-twenty cricket. BCCI and its surrogate cricket commentators argue that a lot of people share the same perceptions. It is not a sign that something is true. It is sign that BCCI is selling lies.

Twenty20 cricket is a circus. Sometimes it is fun watch lions, elephants and zebras showing cheap tricks using balls and fire. People claps but as soon as they leave tent, the greatest show on earth is over. Like Rome this kind of circus will haunt cricket in years to come.

Ravichandran Ashwin took 6 wickets

2012-08-25T20:08:00.001+01:00

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a career-best 6-31 to put India in firm command on a rain-hit third day of the opening Test against New Zealand in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The 25-year-old was superbly backed by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (3-44) as New Zealand were dismissed for 159 in their first innings at the stroke of lunch in reply to India’s 438.
The hosts, who enforced the follow-on after taking a 279-run lead, reduced New Zealand to 41-1 in the second innings at stumps on a day when only 37.3 overs were bowled.

Bangladesh restarted their training for the ICC World Twenty20

2012-08-25T19:52:00.002+01:00

National cricketers are getting to know more about Twenty20 cricket as they are playing it a lot more in recent times, said experienced left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak on Saturday.
Bangladesh have played six T20 Internationals so far this year compared to only two in 2011 and three in 2010.
The Tigers also earned a place in the ICC Twenty20 rankings for the first time in their history after fulfilling the requirement of the ICC by playing eight matches within a specific time frame.
‘Playing a lot of games lately is helping us in understanding the game better,’ Razzak told reporters when the national cricketers resumed their training after the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation at Mirpur.
Bangladesh restarted their training for the ICC World Twenty20 on Saturday, though only nine players had reported.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, his deputy Mahmudullah, batsmen Mohammad Ashraful, Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain are currently busy in the Sri Lankan Premier League while paceman Mashrafee bin Muratza has yet to return from village home in Narail.
Razzak and fellow spinners spent some quality time with spin bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq before the southpaw spoke to the media.
‘Earlier we were not adept at playing this format and that’s the truth. We were not in the ranking and were never considered as a force by others and the reason for it is that we did not play a lot of T20 cricket,’ said Razzak.
Razzak said that sometimes due to this lack of understanding of the game our players fail to perform despite having the skills.
Bangladesh, currently placed eighth in the ICC T20 rankings, have played 24 T20 Internationals so far but could win only eight of them.
‘We have the skills but at times we tend to make mistakes for not understanding the game,’ said Razzak. ‘But as we play more games our batsmen and bowlers know how they should approach the game in order to excel in their respective departments,’ said Razzak.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-08-26&nid=21371

where is Zulqarnain Haider?

2010-11-08T10:01:00.002+00:00

Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has reportedly gone missing and did not arrive with the team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the deciding ODI against South Africa.

PCB officials refused to comment on the matter or talk about the reasons for his non-arrival. But a cryptic message left as a status update on the player's Facebook page said: "leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game." A TV reporter for Geo, a leading Pakistani news channel, said that he had received a similar text message from Zulqarnain earlier on Monday.

Zulqarnain had hit the winning runs for Pakistan in the fourth ODI, which levelled the series against South Africa 2-2.

http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/486103.html

Tigers take 2-0 lead

2010-10-11T11:55:00.001+01:00

Bangladesh won two successive ODIs against a major opposition for the first time in history as they thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets on Monday.

Shahriar Nafees put on 127 runs for the opening stand with Imrul Kayes after the hosts' spinners had dismissed lackluster New Zealand for 173 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.

Nafees hammered a swashbuckling run-a-ball 73 including 13 fours while Kayes stroked a fine 50 off 83 balls, inclusive of four boundaries. The hosts' spinners had earlier dismissed New Zealand for 173 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.

Nafees hammered a swashbuckling run-a-ball 73 including 13 fours while Kayes stroked a fine 50 off 83 balls, inclusive of four boundaries, as the Tigers made 177 for 3 in 42.5 overs.

Nafees got himself out trying to up the tempo as he came down the track to drive Nathan McCullum inside out, only to hole out to his brother Brendan in the 25th over. One over later, Kayes gave Nathan his second wicket in a similar fashion, scooping to Grant Elliott.

Raqibul Hasan was unbeaten on 18 and Shakib Al Hasan on 13. Junaid Siddique made 14.

The second game of the five-match series was washed out on Oct 8 while Shakib Al Hasan's match-winning performance on Oct 5 drove the hosts to take a 1-0 lead.

Earlier, Bangladesh's slow bowlers took eight wickets between them to take the match in their grip. The Kiwis were reduced to 101 for 7, before Kyle Mills and Ross Taylor raised the total to give their bowlers something to bowl at.

Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and chose to field, and brought the spinners into the game early, having let the two seamers bowl eight overs between them. Shafiul Islam had removed the dangerous Brendon McCullum in the first over of the match, but Jesse Ryder and BJ Watling built a good foundation.

The introduction of the trio of left-arm spinners put brakes on the New Zealand run-rate. Watling soon fell attempting to hit over mid-on in the 14th over. Ryder also departed soon after, holing out to deep midwicket for 33, to give Suhrawadi Shuvo his first wicket of the match. Grant Elliott was then bowled by a superb Shakib delivery that broke sharply.

Taylor, who eventually remained unbeaten on 62, attempted to rebuild, first with Daniel Vettori (9), and then with Shanan Stewart, both oof whom perished cheaply. But he combined with tailender Mills in an explosive 72-run partnership. He slammed three sixes and two fours to bring up his fifty in 66 deliveries.

After the fielding restrictions came into play in the 37th over, a Rubel Hossain over leaked 17, one from Abdur Razzaq cost 13. Kyle Mills hit two huge straight sixes off Shakib.

Suhrawardy Shuvo was the pick of the bowlers with his incisive, economic spell of 3 for 14 in 10 overs. He was backed up by Shakib with two for 45 and Mahmudullah, 2 for six.

India crashed by Kiwis

2010-08-11T11:34:00.000+01:00

India crashed to a humiliating 200-run defeat in the first match of the triangular ODI series against New Zealand with a pathetic bowling and batting display on Tuesday.

After the Kiwis put up a competitive 288 on the board, riding on skipper Ross Taylor (95) and Scott Styris (89), India suffered an inexplicable batting collapse to bundle out for a paltry 88 in just 29.3 overs, reports PTI.

In what turned out to be a totally lop-sided contest, only three Indian batsmen could score double figures as the Kiwis ripped through the young batting line-up to launch their campaign on a high.

It was a commanding show by the New Zealanders who relied on a 190-run stand for the fourth wicket between Taylor and Styris before Daryl Tuffey (3-34) and Kyle Mills (2-26) and Jacob Oram (2-15) shot out India to complete a convincing win.

Chasing 289 to win, openers Dinesh Karthik (14) and Virender Sehwag (19) made a watchful start but New Zealand struck twice in as many deliveries to get rid of the openers and reduce India to 39 for two in 7.1 overs.

Sehwag was the first to go when he failed to negotiate a short ball aimed at his body by Mills as the ball kissed his glove and landed safely at wicketkeeper Gerath Hopkins' hands.

Karthik then followed suit when he played Tuffey's delivery down the wrong line and missed the ball, which struck on his pads in front of the wicket.

Rohit Sharma (4) then joined Yuvraj Singh (5) but the former was sent packing in the 10th over by Tuffey and two overs later New Zealand dealt India another blow, removing Suresh Raina to leave India tottering at 50-4 in 11.2 overs.

Sharma, brought in to bolster the middle order, ended up giving catching practice to first slip of Tuffey's outside off-stump delivery.

Raina also followed his partner and edged one straight to second slip to award Tuffey his third wicket of the day.

The 32-year-old seamer came to haunt India again in the 14th over when his direct throw found skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni short of wicket as India looked down the barrel at 53-5.

Yuvraj and Ravindra Jadeja tried to stem the rot but Andy Mckay removed the former in the 17th over and eight balls later Praveen Kumar was also sent packing by Jacob Oram as India stared at an impending defeat.

Earlier, New Zealand had a disastrous start, collapsing to 28 for three in 6.5 overs but Taylor (95) and Styris (89) rescued the innings and helped New Zealand to reach 288 in 48.5 overs.

New-ball bowlers Praveen Kumar (3-43) and Ashish Nehra (4-47) shared seven wickets between them to strangle the New Zealand top and lower order and helped India bowl out their rivals inside 300.

The triangular series continues on Aug 13 when New Zealand take on hosts Sri Lanka at the same venue.

Waterboy Yuvraj Singh

2010-08-04T03:33:00.002+01:00

Three youngsters, aged between 24 and 25, were detained by the police for allegedly heckling Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh here on Tuesday.

Yuvraj, who did not figure in the Indian XI, was carrying drinks to the cricketers during a break on the first day of the third Test when the youngsters, seated close to the pavilion, allegedly taunted the player by calling him "Waterboy."

Yuvraj subsequently complained to the Indian team management. Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal said the team would take up the issue with the local authorities.

He said "The crowd was trying to misbehave with the player in question. The police was asked to intervene and the situation was brought under control. Yuvraj was not at fault, he did not try to provoke the crowd at all. I was sitting next to Yuvraj when this happened and I can tell you they were trying to provoke the player."

Mr. Biswal added, "It’s a basic human tendency to react to situations when you are being repeatedly provoked but Yuvraj was quite restrained. The police have taken the spectators out and we will definitely lodge a complaint with the police."

There have also been allegations that Yuvraj pointed a finger at the youngsters in question.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article550005.ece

Pakistan make Yousuf U-turn

2010-08-04T03:31:00.002+01:00

Four months after being banned for damaging team morale, Mohammad Yousuf was recalled to a Pakistan side simply desperate for his experience and batting prowess.

Without Yousuf or Younis Khan in their line-up, the Pakistanis were bowled out for 80 by England to slump to a crushing 354-run defeat on Sunday in the first Test of a four-match series.

It exposed the inability of Pakistan's raw batting line-up to cope with the swinging ball in overcast English conditions and hours after the match ended Yousuf was recalled from the international wilderness.

Yousuf and Younis, Pakistan's two most experienced batsmen, were each given indefinite bans this year for their part in alleged infighting within the team.

Younis had his ban overturned on appeal and made himself available for the tour but was overlooked.

Yousuf, who has scored 7,431 runs in 88 Tests including 24 centuries, did not challenge his ban and retired, but he has since changed his mind.

CHASTENING DEFEAT

New Pakistan captain Salman Butt could do little more than reiterate his faith in the young players after the chastening defeat by England but he must be delighted by the recall of Yousuf.

"Under my captaincy we have won one, lost one," Butt said.

"I can't be that impatient. What do you expect from (the youngsters) - win every game? That will not happen.

"This is the time when you back your players. It is just a matter of putting up a performance, whether it is bowling, fielding, batting. I know they can make a comeback."

Coach Waqar Younis offered a similar upbeat assessment.

"What I have seen over the last two or three months is a big improvement (in the team) Waqar told reporters.

"I want to make a good unit out of them. It might take a few more losses, though."

Matches against South Africa later this year on the featherbed pitches of Abu Dhabi would be better venues for the development of the youngsters.

For now, Pakistan are crying out for Yousuf, who showed on the 2006 England tour that the swinging ball was not to be feared but could be countered through hard work and application.

Butt pointed out that in 2006 Pakistan did not win a Test when Yousuf and Younis were in the team along with the great Inzamam-ul-Haq but they did not then possess such a strong bowling attack.

Mohammad Asif, 18-year-old Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul form a formidable seam unit and with Yousuf back to provide backbone for the batting order, England should face a much sterner test in the next match in Birmingham starting on Friday.