Ravi Shastri promises to get Suresh Raina back into Indian Test unit

Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri, who at present is the national Team Director said that he would try to get Suresh Raina back into the Test side. Since notching up a hundred on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2010, Raina has struggled to make his mark in the longer format of the game.

Raina once again gave ample display of his talent by smashing a strokeful century in Chennai Super Kings' victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the Champions League T20 last Saturday.

"The more I see him play, he is brilliant to watch. It will be my endeavour really to do something that will get him back into the Indian Test match team. He is a class act. When he is performing well, he is a treat to watch," Shastri said at a media interaction at the Press Club.

Shastri continued by saying, "Even at times when I see him bat at the nets, when the ball hits the bat, just that sound or sense of timing you know it is something different. Let's hope, fingers crossed."

The Uttar Pradesh player last played a Test match in 2012 in a home series against New Zealand. He has featured in 17 Tests in comparison to 196 ODIs and 44 T20I games he has played for the country.

When asked about players like Kuldeep Yadav coming into the side without much domestic experience, Shastri said that when a young cricketer has burgeoning potential, he should be given a chance to show his mettle.

"When there is talent, when you have something different like with Kuldeep, something special and if the selectors believe that yes, this could be the guy, if nurtured properly, given the right guidance one year or two years down the line will be a match-winner not just in India, but in overseas conditions as well. I am prepared to take that gamble."

The former India captain backed the under-fire Indian coach Duncan Fletcher and said he has a lot of knowledge.

"Absolutely, he is brilliant. He is a seasoned campaigner. He has over 100 Test matches as a coach for various teams. The good thing is that Fletcher and me go a long way back. We know each other. I captained the Under 25 team against Zimbabwe in 1984 when he was the captain of Zimbabwe. He has got a fabulous track record. It is how we use the knowledge that he has in the best possible way and communicate with the players," he concluded.

West Indies - T20 greats, but still a whole lot to do in Tests

West Indies versus India. If we go back in time to the 1980s, this was the biggest cricket series of all for an Indian cricketer. And for fans,there was nothing better than watching the worlds best fast bowlers in action. A hundred against the West Indies fast bowling quartet was considered a kind of coming of age innings for any batsman. That we regard Sunil Gavaskar as one of the best ever is because he was able to master the West Indians at their peak in the 1970s and 1980s.
Australia might well have had a more robust system and cricketing structure in place but they lacked the flair the West Indians, under Clive Lloyd,brought to cricket. And with cricket continuing to struggle with the problem of half-empty grounds around the world, the sport needs to get back the flair Lloyd and party brought to it.

In the course of researching West Indies cricket and in discussions with experts like Sir Hilary Beckles, the best known scholar of the game in the Caribbean, it was evident that one of the fundamental issues was the lack of money in the game. Players from the recent past were often left to do clerical jobs, like acting as the liaison officer for a visiting India A team. For current players and young talent,cricket did not seem a worthwhile career choice. Even the Allen Stanford experiment in 2008, which offered West Indian stars fast and easy money was short-lived and controversial.

All this began to change in 2008, and funnily, with something that happened in faraway India the advent of the Indian Premier League(IPL). The IPL soon created a superstar out of a certain Kieron Pollard. Not having played a single Test match for the West Indies,Pollard was a million dollar man. He was in high demand with the IPL franchises and earned money unheard of in the ailing economies of the Caribbean. Pollard wasn't alone. If Pollard started the Caribbean invasion of the IPL, it was Gayle who took over the competition in seasons 4 and 5. Winning matches single-handedly for the Bangalore franchise, Gayle was soon the toast of the IPL. Coming from Jamaica,a country plagued with serious socio-economic issues, Gayle brought hope to aspiring West Indian cricketers. On the heels of Gayle and Pollard followed Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine who won a $700,000 contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders and became Player of the IPL in Seasons 5, 6, 7. Seemingly from nowhere, West Indies had again become a force to reckon with in the shorter version of the game.

It is important to mention here that the IPL isn't the only cash cow the West Indians are milking. They are also playing the Big Bash in Australia and a host of other T20 tournaments around the world. Such leagues have nurtured a new band of million dollar professionals who have become world stars without making a mark in the Test match arena. Samuels, Pollard, Narine, Bravo, even Gayle are all underachievers in Test cricket, but they are stars in the T20 format.
While the West Indies are now a real force in T20 cricket, Test cricket in the Caribbean continues to languish. Not only does T20 cricket give you more visibility, more eyeballs and, in turn, more money it also attracts thousands to the grounds in the Caribbean. So, while Test cricket fights for survival, T20 cricket is rapidly gaining momentum.

The truth is world cricket today stands polarised. While Test cricket continues to be the prestige format in England and Australia,the traditional power centres of the game, T20 is the format of choice in the Caribbean.

And like with all things cricket at the moment, India has had a major role to play in this transformation. Sample this statistic: at the start of play on Day 1 of the Test match India played against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in November 2011, there were less than a thousand people in the stands. The very same Eden Gardens had witnessed riots when the West Indies played India on 1January 1967, was packed to capacity when Sunil Gavaskar was snapped up by Malcolm Marshall in the first ball of a Test match in 1983 andhad 50,000-plus people present when Sachin Tendulkar scored a match-saving century in 2002. Now, they flock to watch Gayle turn out for the Royal Challengers from Bangalore, Pollard, when he leads the charge for the Mumbai Indians, and adore Sunil Narine for winning the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders. There is in fact much anger in Kolkata that Narine has been called for suspect action.

No Pakistan players for BPL

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.

'Passionate' Warne sorry for T20 bust-up

Warne was banned for one match and fined Aus$4,500 (US$4,700) over the row. But he expressed hope that "one little incident" wouldn't besmirch his reputation among cricket fans.

"I'd like to think of the 25 years I've been playing first-class cricket rather than just one game," he said.

"I'd like to think there's a lot of positive and good things I've done for Australian cricket and all that sort of stuff over the years.

"One little incident here or there (doesn't matter). I do apologise for my behaviour and I'm disappointed in my own reaction."

Warne claimed 708 Test wickets in a celebrated career but he has also courted controversy, notably when he was fined for accepting money from a bookmaker and when he was sent home from the 2003 World Cup for taking a banned diuretic.

Warne banned, fined after ugly T20 bust-up

Australian spin legend Shane Warne was banned for one match and fined Aus$ 4,500 (US$4,700) on Monday after an ugly, foul-mouthed clash with West Indian batsman Marlon Samuels during a Twenty20 match in Melbourne.

The spin legend, captaining the Melbourne Stars against city rivals the Renegades in the domestic Big Bash tournament on Sunday, was furious that Samuels pulled back David Hussey when the batsman was turning for a second run.

And when Samuels was batting later in the game, Warne confronted the West Indian by swearing at him.

India vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I, Ahmedabad

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field

The Indian batsmen have done their job this time. Yuvraj did the bulk of it. His career best score of 72 helped India recover from a tricky situation and finish strongly. Dhoni gave him very good support for a while and their stand was definitely one of the turning points of the innings. The wicket has stayed true and is very good for batting.

A cracking game of cricket and India deservedly level the series 1-1. Pakistan started off well and were kept in the hunt by some exceptional batting from their skipper Hafeez but Dinda ensured that India didn't have to worry by taking care of three crucial wickets.

Those 2 balls changed the entire complexion of the game. The ones that I'm referring to are the ones where first Umar refused the single and then he was bowled next ball. From then on it put immense pressure on Hafeez who succumbed. But still credit must be given to Dinda. He gave away 12 runs off his last two overs and took 3 wickets which ensured Ishant had enough in the tank for the last over.

India 192/5 (20 overs)
Pakistan 181/7 (20 overs)

India won by 11 runs

Yuvraj Singh is the Man of the Match for his 36 ball 72.

Hafeez is the Man of the Series for his back to back fifties.

Lehmann rapped, fined for Samuels remarks

Brisbane Heat coach Darren Lehmann has been officially reprimanded and slapped with a suspended fine by cricket officials after questioning the bowling action of West Indian Marlon Samuels.

Cricket Australia said Lehmann was convicted of breaching the Code of Behaviour with remarks in a media interview after the Heat's loss to the Melbourne Renegades in Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash League on Saturday night.

"At a hearing today, Commissioner John Price found Lehmann guilty of breaching Rule nine: Detrimental Public Comment," the governing body said.

"Lehmann received an official reprimand and a Aus$3,000 fine suspended for two years."

Brett Lee faces disciplinary hearing

Veteran Brett Lee faces a disciplinary hearing after criticising the New South Wales cricket administration and its chief executive David Gilbert, Cricket Australia said on Friday.

Lee is in trouble over comments he made that Anthony Stuart had lost his job as New South Wales coach because he was made the scapegoat for the alleged deficiencies of Gilbert and the Cricket NSW hierarchy.

"I think the blame for a lot of things has been unfairly dumped on Anthony Stuart," Lee, 36, told the Sydney Morning Herald last week.

India vs Pakistan, 1st T20I, Bengaluru

Yesterday was a thriller match between India and Pakistan after 5 year in India. Pakistan won the toss and elected to field. In this match from Pakistan Mohammad Irfan debut his career in T20 and he is the tallest ever international cricketer and also the tallest first class cricketer of all time. Also from India Bhuvneshwar Kumar debut his T20 career.

India get a slow start in first 3-4 overs in powerplay after Gambhir and Rahane settled their innings in strong position  for India. After 10th over India in Good position they were 75 for 0. Thats a good start for India. In next over Afridi get a breakthrough of Rahane he made 42 runs. After this wicket India never in the game. They lost 9 wickets in 56 runs. Gul gets 3 wickets and Ajaml gets 2 wickets. Gambhir make 43 and Rahane 42 runs, others players did not  play good cricket, they are in hurry to make a big target. In ends India sets 134 runs target.

Pakistan did not get a good start they lost 3 wickets on 12 runs, all three wickets taken by B Kumar. Hafeez and Malik settled  their innings well and take Pakistan to win. In ends Hafeez out after his outstanding fifty. Ishant and Kamran Akmal are going at each other. It has almost gone out of control. After this K Akmal trying to hit such as a big shot and he gone out. Pakistan need 10 runs in 6 balls. And Malik hit a six in overs 4th ball and they got 1st win on India in T20 history. Hafeez get man of the match award for his match winning fifty. Thats it :)

Hyderabad Sun Risers team new logo released

The Indian Premier League's Hyderabad Sun Risers new team which was bought by Sun TV Network. Now they released their new logo. This team retain 20 players form previews team Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. 

Pakistani players ignored for IPL 6

Even a as his the limited overs Pakistan team to embark on a tour of India, The sources revealed that their country's players can not take part in Indian Premier League (IPL) 6th edition.

IPL Governing Council released a list of players of the auction which held on the 3rd of February. Same list was circulated to between all the franchises and did not have contain the name of any Pakistani cricketers.

The franchises impression that Pakistan players will be part of the national team, given the current auction were visiting India. Some franchises some of the Pakistani players who had impressed in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka were really curious.

India vs England, 2nd T20I, Mumbai

England have won the toss and elected to field

Teams:
India (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda

England (Playing XI): Michael Lumb, Alex Hales, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan(c), Joseph Root, Samit Patel, Jos Buttler(w), Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stuart Meaker, Jade Dernbach

India 177/8 (20 overs)
India seemed to lose their track in the middle when Yuvraj, Gambhir and Rohit fell. Dhoni, however, came out and played a blinder to get India to this total. Raina played a fine hand. A word of appreciation to the English fielders who saved a minimum of 20 runs by diving and sliding around.

England 181/4 (20 overs)
England have squared the series 1-1. The chase was very professional from England. The openers gave them a great start. Yuvraj Singh pulled things back with a miserly spell where he picked up 3 wickets as well. A lot depended on Morgan who came in late to take England across and he did it in style.

Yuvraj Singh is the Man of the Series for his good showing with the ball in both games.

Eoin Morgan is the Man of the Match for his superb knock under pressure.

Lumb was in his elements right from the start of the chase, dealing in boundaries at a regular rate to reach his maiden T20I fifty. However, England felt the heat when four quick wickets went down and from a position of strength, the visitors were fighting hard to stay in the game. This was when Morgan took charge of the proceedings and came up with a brilliant piece of batsmanship. Boundaries came at will for the left-hander, who took a liking to Ashok Dinda, smashing him for 21 runs off just seven balls, which included a six off the final delivery of the match when England required 3 runs.

Ajmal says he is ready to bamboozle Indians

Beginning the mind games ahead of the limited overs series against the arch-rivals, ace Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal says he is ready to bamboozle the Indian batsmen with a new variety of deliveries.

"I have some varieties up my sleeves for the Indian batsmen," he said.

Ajmal said the series will be a tough test for his side since India have a formidable batting line-up.

"For T20s and ODIs, they have a strong batting set up and it is going to be a challenge against them. It does not matter whether I am bowling to Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli. My aim is to get wickets for my team," he said.

Ajmal, who has remained among the top three bowlers in the ICC Test, ODI and T20I rankings since last year, said he was prepared to bowl on batting tracks in India.

"I have always believed that a quality spinner shows his class on such pitches against good batsmen," he said.

The spinner said he did not see the series as any revenge series for the defeats Pakistan suffered at the hands of India in the Asia Cup and World T20 this year.

"Every match is a new match. We have a good strong side and we know that beating India in India will be a significant achievement for us. So we are focusing on this series as a new series," he said.

Ajmal was all praise for uncapped off-spinner Adnan Rasool, who performed well in domestic cricket this season.

"This guy has loads of talent and he is the future Saeed Ajmal of the team. Head coach, Dav Whatmore is also impressed with him and I think he should get his chance in the Pakistan team soon," he said.

IPL auction held on Feb 3rd and 1st game will played on April 3

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign at home against last year's semifinalist Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League VI at the historic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata on April 3.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), Raman Sundar tweeted that the auctions for the latest edition of the IPL would be held on Feb 3rd in Mumbai.

The 2013 season's lung opener could not have got any better as two of the strongest teams in the tournament will set the tone for the high-octane Twenty20 tournament that will go on for eight weeks.

One of the many highlights of the sixth edition of the tournament will be the debut of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who joined the IPL fraternity in October this year.

They will begin their IPL innings with a home game against Pune Warriors India on April 5.

The tournament will be played in the same format as the 2012 edition. Each of the nine participating teams will play the other eight twice -- home and away. The top four teams, at the end of the round-robin stage on May 19 will qualify for the Playoffs.

The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator games will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai -- the home ground of the IPL 2012 runners-up - on May 21 and May 22 respectively.

The Qualifier 2 encounter and the Final, will be played at the Eden Gardens -- the home ground of the 2012 edition winners -- on May 24 and 26 respectively.

As many as eleven venues have been confirmed to host the matches. The nine home venues apart, matches will be played at two arenas that will be making their ODI debuts in January. The last two 'home' games of the Kings XI Punjab will be played at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, which has hosted seven IPL matches since 2010.

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium Complex at Ranchi, will host the last two 'home' games of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Yuvraj Singh dedicates Man-of-the-Match award to Delhi gangrape victim...

Yuvraj Singh dedicates Man-of-the-Match award to Delhi gangrape victim...

"I came particularly to dedicate this Man-of-the-Match award to the girl who got gang raped in Delhi. It's very sad to know what has happened and the whole team is very concerned," Yuvraj said at the post-match press conference. Yuvraj prayed that the girl should recover at the earliest.

"I do not know what is the state of the girl now. I want to dedicate it to the girl and her parents. I have been reading a lot about this and this has been very disturbing. I am sure the whole of India is rooting for her recovery," Yuvraj added.

India vs England, 1st T20I, Pune

India have won the toss and elected to field

Teams:
England (Playing XI): Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan(c), Samit Patel, Jos Buttler(w), Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stuart Meaker, Danny Briggs, Jade Dernbach

India (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda

England 157/6 (20 overs)
After the end of 10 overs, England were 89/1. In the last 10 overs, England managed only 68/5. Yuvraj Singh was the star as he picked up his best haul in T20Is. Hales scored a magnificent half century but England lost their way in the middle overs. Samit Patel and Jos Buttler struck some lusty blows towards the end as they helped England reach 157/6.

India 158/5 (17.5 overs)
England were never in the game after they lost a flurry of wickets post a strong start. On a batting paradise a score well in excess of 180 runs was required. The fact that India's batsmen came out attacking made things difficult for them as well. Yuvraj Singh dazzled with an all-round performance.

Yuvraj Singh is the Man of the Match

When a player like Michael Lumb is going great guns, having raced to a half-century to help England amass more than 80 runs in the first ten overs, the opposition is under tremendous pressure and making a comeback from that position is tough to say the least. However, Yuvraj Singh came up with a fine spell of bowling to restrict England even when they were looking set to score in excess of 180. Yuvraj picked up three crucial wickets and gave away just 19 runs off his 4 overs, which helped India restrict England to a total of 157/6.

Caribbean Premier League launched

A new franchise based Twenty20 tournament, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has been launched by Verus International, a merchant bank in Barbados, at the Cover Sring House.

The CPL will consist of teams built around caribbean players and will also feature a few international stars. The league is expected to be beamed across the world in a high-definition first class production and officials say the tournament will also be a showpiece attraction designed to enhance the Caribbean's tourism product.

"The realisation of the CPL is another landmark of the investor and commercial confidence which has been placed in the WICB and the brand of West Indies Cricket,"declared West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Julian Hunte Monday.

"The WICB is particularly pleased about the opportunities the CPL will provide to players but is equally elated with the agreement which will allow for regional retainer contracts for a broad pool of players," Hunt added.

Hunte was among officials present at the launch, including CEO of Verus International Ajmal Khan, WICB CEO Michael Muirhead and a host of legends of the game and cricket officials and administrators.

The CPL will soon be announcing its tournament dates, locations and partners in 2013 as well as launching their website.

"We are pleased to announce our long-term partnership and investment in the Caribbean here today. We are honoured to be in the position to partner with a region so rich in cricket history and tradition," Khan said.

Hyderabad IPL team named as Sun Risers

The Indian Premier League's Hyderabad team, which was bought by Sun TV Network, was named Sun Risers. The previous team Deccan Chargers was terminated by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) October and in the auction, Sun TV bought the team.

Later, the regional television network bought the Hyderabad Franchise for an amount of Rs. 85.05 crores per year for a five year deal. Sun TV, owned by the Chennai-based Maran group, put in the highest bid of 85.05 crore a year for the rights to the franchise in the lucrative Twenty20 league that was founded in 2008. Sun TV beat PVP Ventures, who offered Rs. 69.03 crore to buy the franchise. The franchise was initially bought by Deccan Chronicles for Rs 562 Crore in 2008.

The owners of the new franchise based in Hyderabad later to retain over 20 players who were originally a part of the Deccan Chargers team, including, among others, Kumar Sangakkara, Dale Steyn, Cameron White and JP Duminy.

PCB undecided on player's participation in BPL

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is still undecided on whether it will allow its players to take part in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) next year. The deadline to issue the No Objection Certificates (NOC) for the tournament is over but the PCB has still not given the NOCs to any of its players.

"We will soon take a policy decision on permitting players to play in the BPL as presently we are dealing with other more important issues like the tour to India," a PCB official said.

The next player's auction for the upcoming season is scheduled to take place on the 19th of December. 20 players from Pakistan had represented the various franchises in the inaugural edition of the BPL, raising the standard of the league to a large extent.

A PCB source stated that the board was awaiting a response from their Bangladeshi counterparts for the confirmation of dates for the country's pending tour to Pakistan.

"The PCB is also concerned because of the pay disputes that arose between players and franchises this year," the source said.

The PCB was not too impressed with the BCB after they retracted on a promise to play two matches in Lahore. Apparently, the Bangladesh Board had been directed by the Dhaka High Court against sending their players to Pakistan because of security reasons.

Interestingly, the BCB President, Nazmul Hasan has said that they are in talks with the PCB for a short tour to Pakistan in January. "We can't go in December so we will speak to the PCB, about whether we can fit in a small tour before the BPL," Hassan said.

Hassan had earlier stated that the BCB had made a written commitment to the PCB, giving their approval for the short tour.

Ahmedabad T20 postponed

The second T20I between India and Pakistan scheduled for the 27th of December at the Motera in Ahmedabad, has been postponed by a day after a request by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

According to reports, the PCB requested the Indian Cricket Board to reschedule the game, as December 27 is the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.

The rest of the itinerary remains unchanged. India and Pakistan play two Twenty20s and three ODIs between December 25 and January 6.