• Email
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Merv Hughes took a catch in Hyderabad!

The indecision over Sachin Tendulkar’s decision

Was he out or not? James Pattinson managed to extract an edge, by sending a ball down the leg side to Sachin Tendulkar. The appeal wasn’t vociferous, and umpire Erasmus had his own doubts, so he decided to get in touch with the third umpire. After a bit of cord-tugging, and a lengthy conversation through the ear piece, the finger was raised.

For the crowd, that had greeted him with a cheer when he came out, Tendulkar’s departure would have been as bad as skipping phirni after biryani.

Pattinson sends Pujara back with a handshake

Cheteshwar Pujara got on his toes, to hook a ball that was growing on him. While he had played the shot well before, things didn’t go as per plan this time around, as Doherty went forward with his hands outstretched, to complete the dismissal. If Pujara had scored another 34 runs, he would have scored more runs than what Australia put together in the first inning. That’s probably the reason why James Pattinson ran up to him, as Pujara was walking away to the dressing room, for a handshake that had ‘well done’ written all over it.

Three cheers for Dhoni

While all bragging rights were reserved for Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in a hurry, as he struck three fours on the trot off Xavier Doherty. With the declaration on his mind, the ‘Jharkhand Jadoogar’ was keen on getting some quick runs on the scoreboard. So much so, that he outscored Virat Kohli who was around for a much longer period of time.

44 off 43. If anybody wants a new skipper, here he is.

Left and not right

David Warner cut a delivery, as India’s best fielder got ready to take a catch at gully. It looked like Virat Kohli took his eyes off the ball at the last moment, as the cherry approached him. Dropped. Happens to the best, one must say.

Say that again.

Ed Cowan edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and the ball flew to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s right. The man put in a one-handed dive, but failed to get his glove around the ball. While Warner made his way out, Cowan remained unbeaten, matching his opening partner’s score (26) at stumps. Will he make India pay for this mistake?

Hughes takes a catch. Merv, not, Phil

David Warner stepped out to hit Ravichandran Ashwin, and the ball sailed over into the crowd, where a gentleman with a handle bar moustache took the catch, threw it back in the air, and caught it again. With a wide smile on his face, he threw the ball back, before giving away a high-five. The cameras made it a point to focus on him.

Ladies and gentlemen. Say hello to Merv Hughes.

Sweep and weep

Australia have only themselves to blame, for the two wickets that they lost on day three. David Warner tried to sweep, missed, as the ball beat the arc being made the bat. Both Dhoni and Ashwin celebrated with a raised right hand. One down.

Hughes would follow.

Like Warner, Hughes too got down on one knee, only to find the ball ricocheting off him. The ball would go on to hit the stumps, leaving the left-hander with nothing but a duck against his name on the scoreboard. It’s the shot selection that did them in, not the delivery.

Read more »

Hyderabad, (IANS): Australia's left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty is pleased with the effort of the tweakers on Monday but said his team still has a lot of work to do to be back in the second Test against India.

Doherty, whose selection came under criticism from former Australian cricketers, said the team needs to bat through the fourth day to take the Test to the fifth day.

Australia, ar 74 for two in the second innings, trail by 192 runs.

Doherty believes 150 could be an ideal target which Australia could set for India. "We know there is still lot of work to do. We got some quality players. Two of them are at the crease. We know that if we can find a way that works and keep the good balls out, eventually it will help."

Maxwell claimed four for 127 and Doherty three for 131 to play a key role in Indian collapse on the third day.

"It was a pleasing effort but obviously the damage was done yesterday," he said

The 22-year-old said he was not aware of from leg-spinner Stuart MacGill's comments that he was not a Test standard bowler.

"I had no idea. The good thing about being here is you avoid all that. I am well aware there are people that want me in the team and people that don't want me in the team but that is the nature of being at this level," said Doherty.

He said they knew that the series would be tough as India has very good players of spin. "We learnt from some of the things we did. We will sit and talk about that over the next few days so that we can fix them going forward."

Read more »

Hyderabad, (IANS): Relishing another superb knock, Cheteshwar Pujara said playing for the country and scoring a hundred always gives a different kind of satisfaction.

"It is always proud to play for the country. I always enjoy scoring hundreds whether I am playing for the country or club team. When you play for the country and score hundred it is a different kind of satisfaction," said Pujara, who scored 204 on the third day of the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

The 25-year-old, who made his first Test century at the same ground against New Zealand last August, said injuries have taught him a lot.

"When you are out of the team for a long time because of injuries and then when you get an opportunity again to score, it is a different feeling. I think injuries have taught me a lot. I love playing cricket and when you are not playing it is frustrating. It motivates you to work harder even," said Pujara, who made his debut against Australia in 2010.

About his good show on the Hyderabad wicket, Pujara said playing against New Zealand and getting a hundred in the past helped him as he knew the wicket well. He added that he pulled a hamstring in the first session on Sunday and it was difficult for him to run and focus on his batting.

"I just wanted to hang around. Afterwards I was much better and could concentrate on my batting as well. I think the injury is settling down and I hope that I will be better."

On his 370-run partnership with Murali Vijay for the second wicket, Pujara said their plan was to ensure that they don't lose wickets.

"Later on once I scored my hundred I was set. I was seeing the ball well. I just wanted to play my natural game. I didn't try doing anything extra."

Pujara believes the wicket is now helping the spinners.

"I think there is a bit of help for the spinners now. It started turning little more and the odd ball is jumping so it is good for spinners."

Pujara said India was trying to find the weaknesses of Australian batsmen and so far they have been successful. He believes the Indian spinners just need to continue what they are doing.

Read more »

Calcutta: Sourav Ganguly has never minced words. Neither as a player, nor now when he dons the commentator’s hat.

So it wasn’t a surprise when the former India captain said that dropping Gautam Gambhir from the squad for the first two Tests against Australia was a correct decision.

He in fact backed the selectors’ choice, the in-form Shikhar Dhawan, as one of the three openers in the squad.

“Gambhir wasn’t scoring runs… That’s why he has been dropped. Dhawan, on the other hand, has been amongst runs. So if you score, you will be in the team… And if you can’t, you won’t be considered.

“Now, Gambhir should try and get back among runs if he wants to return to the Indian team,” Sourav said on Monday, on the sidelines of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) working committee meeting.

Sourav said that the likes of Dhawan and Murali Vijay should make the most of the Australia series as tougher tests await later this season. “This is the platform for players like Vijay and Dhawan to make a mark and try and cement their places in the squad. In other words, this is a very good opportunity for them since India’s future assignments are far more tougher.”

Asked about India’s chances against Michael Clarke’s men, Sourav predicted that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. are the favourites to win the series.

Both teams will miss key senior batsmen who have retired — Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman for India and Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey for Australia.

But the visitors’ weakness in the spin department would give the Indians a definite edge, Sourav said.

“Both India and Australia are going through a transitional phase… At the end of the day, though, the team that plays spin better will be on the winning side. However, Australia’s spin attack isn’t too strong. (Nathan) Lyon and (Xavier) Doherty aren’t as good as England’s Graeme Swann and (Monty) Panesar. The English spinners were far better,” Sourav said.

He, however, warned that the Indians should be on guard against Australia’s superior pace attack. “Australia have some quality pacers, who can certainly come in handy,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean that he belittled the Indian pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashok Dinda.

“Both Bhuvneshwar and Ishant fared well in the recent ODIs (against England). Dinda, too, has been performing well. So at present, this is the best possible attack.

He also had some advice for statemate Dinda. “My advice to Dinda would be to just focus on accuracy,” he said.

Sourav welcomed the selectors’ decision to include Harbhajan Singh in the squad. But he wasn’t sure if the off-spinner, who is on the threshold of playing his 100th Test, will get a chance in the playing XI of the first Test, which begins in Chennai on February 22.

“It’s great to see Harbhajan back… He’s a world-class bowler and deserves a comeback… Whether he’ll play in the first Test depends entirely on Dhoni,” Sourav said.

Read more »

A spinner is as good as his repertoire and confidence. But looking at the three spinners Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin — picked for the first two Test matches against Australia, experts doubt they have the arsenal dismiss the Australian batsmen twice even on the turners likely to be on offer during the upcoming series.

While Harbhajan is definitely short on confidence having not done much in the last two years, Ashwin has been sorted out ever since India’s tour to Australia in 2011- 12.

The most surprising fact is that Ojha, who is now the leader of the spin attack, was till recently considered for the supporting role to Ashwin.

Ojha has been in good form and has shown that bowling a consistent line reaps rewards, but he lacks the guile and variation that spinner requires to dismiss quality batsmen.

Legendary spinner Erapalli Prasanna said that it was more a case of hoping that the inexperienced Australian batsmen — with the exception of skipper Michael Clarke — will fail stand up against the Indian spinners rather than them dismissing them with their guile.

I don’t know if our spinners have the quality to bowl out quality batsmen twice. But luckily, the Australian team is going through a transition phase and I don’t think that apart from Clarke, any of the other batsmen has the quality to face spinners on turning tracks,” the legendary off- spinner told MAIL TODAY . Ashwin needs to realise that one needs to attack and buy wickets in the longest format — deceive the batsmen with loop and penetration.

He needs to work on his basics.

His stock delivery isn’t top class and at the international level, you can’t succeed if your stock delivery isn’t up the mark and you rely more variations.

Comeback man Harbhajan also does not inspire Prasanna with confidence.

“Harbhajan doesn’t seem to be the spinner he used be. I don’t think he has been selected on the basis of powerpacked performances. He didn’t impress much in the Irani Cup either. I don’t think the wickets took had much to do with trapping the batsmen with guile.

As for Ojha, I think he is a very good bowler when it comes to bowling a steady line. But he can’t be your attacking option. Neither does he have the variations, nor the loop,” Prasanna said.

“I also don’t think Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been too good in using three specialist spinners — as was evident in the fourth Test against England. It looked like the third spinner was redundant and India would have done better to go in with two fast bowlers and two spinners.” Former spinner Maninder Singh feels that while the three picked for the Test series are the best in the country at present, it is difficult to predict if they will dismiss the Australian batsmen twice in a match.

“Harbhajan, Ashwin and Ojha are definitely the best we have in the country at present. But I think they need one of the former spinners to guide them,” he told MAIL TODAY . “ Harbhajan is definitely looking better and I was told that the selectors have had a long discussion with him. But he should be prepared to sit out as I don’t think Dhoni will go in with three spinners.

“Ashwin has a lot of talent, but needs to work on his flight, penetration and action. As for Ojha, I think he bowls a steady line and that is his strength. He might not be in the classical mould, but then sometimes you tend to stick with what works for you.

“On many an occasion, you lose your confidence if you try too many things. So it is better not to tinker much with him,” the left- arm spinner of the 1980s and 90s said.

Read more »

HAMILTON (Reuters) - Captain Brendon McCullum led the way with the bat while his bowlers produced a disciplined display to beat England by 55 runs in the second Twenty20 international at Seddon Park on Tuesday and level the three-match series.

McCullum had anchored New Zealand's innings to power them to 192 for six with 74 runs from 38 balls as he plundered England's attack for six boundaries and five sixes.

Mitchell McClenaghan, who took two wickets in successive balls in the second over, Trent Boult and Ian Butler then put the power-packed England batting line-up under constant pressure with aggressive pace bowling.

Butler finished with two for nine from four overs, while McClenaghan had two for 24. James Franklinmopped up the tail to finish with 4-15 off 3.3 overs.

Jos Buttler produced a cameo of 54 but received little help as England were dismissed for 137 in 19.3 overs.

England had won the first match at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday by 40 runs, which was their sixth successive victory over New Zealand in the shortest format of the game and McCullum said he was pleased his side had put that behind them.

"It was good. The other night was disappointing and England blew us off the park," McCullum said in a televised interview.

"The boys are very happy with the performance (and) ... to bounce back from the other day. We knew we were short (on Saturday) and today was a really good performance from us."

Unlike Auckland, openers Hamish Rutherford and Martin Guptill kept the run rate above nine before Rutherford feathered a catch to Buttler off Luke Wright for 40 to leave the hosts well placed at 75-1 in the ninth over.

The run rate however dropped markedly after Rutherford fell as England's bowlers varied their length and pace with Wright and Jade Dernbach adept at disguising their slower deliveries.

Guptill (47), Ross Taylor (four) and Colin Munro (seven) all fell when they failed to pick slower deliveries and lofted mistimed shots into the deep, while Grant Elliott (four) was bowled by a Dernbach delivery that was 30kph slower than the previous one.

McCullum, however, took 22 off the 19th over from Stuart Broad, which included three sixes, before he became Dernbach's third wicket on the penultimate delivery of the innings.

The series decider will be in Wellington on Friday.

"It was obviously a disappointing performance throughout but Twenty20 cricket can be like that," Broad said.

Read more »

Calcutta: Gautam Gambhir has urged his fans and well-wishers not to sympathise with him for being dropped from the Test team since he is ready to “fight” in order to earn his place back in the national squad.

“No sympathies plz,” the opener tweeted after the news of his exclusion.

The left-hander will be leading India A against the Australians in a three-day first-class tie and the 31-year-old is looking forward to that game.

”Lookin forward to training then d india a game. Chin up guys, its time to show some steel. Come on,” he wrote.

“Had my bak to d wall in d past 2, dis is no difrent. Will fight. Very hapy 4 vijay shikhar. Want India to win @ all costs, wid or widou me.”

Read more »

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar sparkled before a sparse gathering at the Palam Cricket Ground, but Services ended the first day of the second Ranji Trophy semifinal in a position of advantage. 

The unheralded home team struck crucial blows towards the beginning and end of play, leaving giants Mumbai struggling on 199/6 at close after they had elected to bat on a foggy morning. A delayed start and a premature conclusion allowed for just 78 overs to be bowled.

ALSO SEE: Sidelights — High profile stars, low profile venue

An 81-run stand between Tendulkar (56) and Abhishek Nayar (70) restored a measure of control to the innings and it was one of the two partnerships of note on the day. Not too many made it to the nigh unknown venue on Wednesday. The few who did were treated to a rare rearguard by Tendulkar. The maestro walked in to loud cheers from a handful of faithful followers after openers Kaustubh Pawar and Wasim Jaffer had departed cheaply.

EARLY INROADS

The match was delayed by 35 minutes due to foggy conditions. Medium Pacer Suraj Yadav began tidily and made the first inroad into Mumbai’s strong batting line-up when he trapped the Pawar (3) leg-before. The veteran Jaffer was out in the next over, having struck three crisp boundaries in the morning, when seamer Nishan Singh induced an outside edge that was gobbled up gratefully by wicket-keeper Sarabjit Singh. 

Worse was in store for the visitors. Hiken Shah was caught behind off Yadav for a 12-ball duck, leaving the scene for Tendulkar and Nayar, who was remarkably staid in his approach. Tendulkar’s modus operandi was quite the opposite. He began with a diligent inspection of the pitch and soon after hit a rasping cover drive to the fence, following it with another confident drive off Yadav for the same result.

SACHIN SPARKLES

The maestro was struck a blow on the right hand by a screaming Nishan delivery – warranting a two-minute injury time-out –  but he accelerated  furiously after lunch. Boundaries flew off his bat in the second session as he raced to a half-century in 70 balls. Then came the first over of spin for the day, the only six and the big wicket. A hoick off left-arm spinner Avishek Sinha soared over long on for maximum benefit, but on the very next ball Tendulkar was caught at mid on trying to repeat the shot.

Nayar, meanwhile, had plodded to another fifty in 125 balls. He had needed over 40 deliveries to his first couple of runs, but eased up as the day wore on. Nayar pinged fours through mid wicket, third man and square leg, adding a patient 65 with the equally laborious Aditya Tare. But Shadab Nazar struck twice in quick succession in the last session to peg Mumbai back again. 
The well-set Nayar snicked massively to Yadav at first slip. In the same over, southpaw Ankeet Chavan moved too far across and lost his leg stump, as Mumbai slipped to 169/6. Aditya Tare (26 batting) and skipper Agarkar (17 batting) took their team to close without further damage.

Read more »

Rajkot: The Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium looks like a home after a wedding. Ladies still cleaning up the stands, five days after it hosted the first India-England ODI, as the five-day semi-final between Saurashtra and Punjab got underway with the eerie echo of ‘Come on boys!’ hitting the concrete in the stands. To not see a spectator at an Indian cricket stadium is a sad spectacle. A first-class reality yet to be ‘tested’. But life goes on, asJaydev Shah won the toss, and asked his batsmen to pad up along with Punjab wicketkeeper Uday Kaul.

The bell rang, announcing the start of play, and umpires Chettihody Shamshuddin and Robert Bailey, the only Men-in-Black pants, made their way to the ground. Punjab’s field was set just as trains whizzed past like whistling caterpillars in the background. Sandeep Sharma who was seen measuring his line up with tape before the game, took the new ball. Openers Sagar Jogiyani and Shitanshu Kotak were keen to stay at the crease, but Siddharth Kaul got one to come in, with Jogiyani’s front foot nowhere in the picture, and the off-stump went for a walk, allowingHarbhajan Singh’s nails some respite at second slip, as the team huddled together to celebrate its first wicket.

ALSO SEE: Quotes | Services stretch Mumbai

The Kaul brothers then operated in tandem, to send back Rahul Dave, a caught-and-bowled wicket for the family archives. Old warhorse Kotak with his ‘I’ll show you my stumps, but not my wicket’ stance kept things going along with skipper Shah. Harbhajan’s off-spinners were promptly offered the front foot, and the off-colour tweaker could only put his hands above his patka, full-sleeved arms intersecting, as the two left-handers defended and drove to 93/2. At 12:00 P.M, it was time to fill up their plates with lunch. 

Match referee Raju Mukherjee went ding dong for the second time, and the post-lunch session began with three fours, all from Jaydev Shah’s bat at Siddharth Kaul’s expense. He soon brought up his half-century with another boundary, off opposite number Harbhajan, with the fielder at short cover diving only to find his hands going green. Kotak became the second to raise his bat, responding to the affection offered by the dressing room. A 40-year old who doesn’t have age on his side, but has a tidy average that has kept him in the side for long. However his longevity at the crease, was brought to an end by Harbhajan, partly by Kotak’s own doing, as he hit the ball straight into the hands of Mandeep Singh in the slips.

With the batsmen getting comfortable with the off-leg combination of Harbhajan and Ladda, the former took himself off, bringing in young Kaul to bend his knees at the bowling crease. The ball was coming on nicely to the bat, Shah and Jackson had no problem playing their shots, as there was lots of room on offer.  All that changed when Bipul Sharma came on to bowl his first over of the day.

Ten minutes before tea, Jaydev Shah tried to clear long-off with a cross-batted hoik, only to find the ball in the hands of Sandeep Sharma. Bipul celebrated with a Bhangra dance in slow-motion, as Shah walked offreluctantly. 70 of the man’s 87 runs came off boundaries, and his 18th attempt at clearing the fence, did him in. Numbers can tell a story, but this one stopped before it made it to the last page, of what should have been a 100-page notebook. 

After the third and final bell, thankfully, there was a small crowd that came in to watch from the pavilion stand, hooting and cheering for Sheldon Jackson and Aarpit Vasavada. The latter fell leg-before-wicket to a good in swinger from Taruwar Kohli, while Jackson (70*) completed a well-deserved fifty with Kamlesh Makvana (13*) for company. This status quo could have changed if Kaul hadn’t missed out on a three-wicket haul, when he had Jackson caught by Harbhajan in the slips, albeit, off a no-ball.  Saurashtra 274/5 after 87 overs.

Read more »

Bangladesh cricket chiefs said Wednesday that Pakistan had refused to release any of its players for a Twenty20 competition which begins this week after a planned bilateral series had to be scrapped.

Pakistan had been due to host Bangladesh for a Twenty20 game and a 50-over match in Lahore this month in what would have been its first home internationals since a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team bus nearly four years ago.

But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cancelled the tour, saying Pakistan was not safe for its players.

According to a BCB spokesman, Pakistan has now responded by preventing any of its stars from competing in the Bangladesh Premier League which begins Thursday.

"The chief executive officer of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) called our CEO today and informed him that they won't allow Pakistani players to play in the BPL until we send our team to their country," spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.

"We've now decided to host the event without Pakistani players," he said, adding the BPL's seven franchises would now find replacements for the 26 Pakistani players they bought in the auction last month.

The move represents a major blow for the second edition of the BPL since Pakistani cricketers have a big following in Bangladesh.

More than 50 Pakistani players took part in the auction for the second edition of BPL, with opening batsman Imran Nazir fetching $280,000.

Last year more than 20 Pakistani players took part in the inaugural edition, with all-rounder Shahid Afridi sold for the highest fee of $700,000.

No international matches have taken place in Pakistan since the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus that killed eight people in March 2009.

Spokesman Yunus said Bangladesh has not ruled out touring Pakistan in the coming months but wanted to reassess the security situation before sending a team.

Bangladesh was also due to tour Pakistan last April, but the tour was blocked by the Dhaka High Court on security grounds.

Anti-Pakistan sentiment still runs strong in Bangladesh, which was part of Pakistan until 1971 when it won independence after a nine-month war.

Read more »