From Eden Gardens to garden city

Putting an end to speculations of Eden Gardens still salvaging the India-England World Cup game, the International Cricket Council on Monday officially approved BCCI’s alternate venue and gave Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium the go-ahead to host the February 27 game. The late switch was warranted after the ICC inspection team found construction and renovation work pending at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

“The ICC today confirmed its decision to relocate the venue for the India vs England match in the Cricket World Cup 2011, which had been originally scheduled for Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 27 February. It will now take place in Bengaluru on the same date. The BCCI has responded to the ICC nominating Bengaluru as its preferred alternate venue for the match, a recommendation the ICC agrees to. This decision now clarifies and gives us certainty over the fixture. We can now work with our various partners and stakeholders to make sure that match — along with the rest of the tournament — is all it should be,” ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

Monday’s statement though has started another debate in Kolkata — of saving hosting rights for the remaining three World Cup matches. The ICC will make a fresh inspection on February 7 to assess Eden’s preparedness and take a call on the other games. “In a letter to the BCCI yesterday, the ICC outlined a schedule of works that needed to be carried out at Eden Gardens ahead of the ground’s other scheduled fixtures on 15, 18 and 20 March,” the statement said. The remaining matches at the Eden are Ireland vs South Africa (March 15), Ireland vs Netherlands (March 18) and Kenya vs Zimbabwe (March 20).

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Australia must go for pace rather than spin in World Cup: Allan Border

Former Australian cricket captain and now Fox Sports cricket expert Allan Border believes that the best chance for his country to nail the ICC cricket World Cup for the third consecutive time rests with the fast bowling trio of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, and not the spinners.

"We can win the World Cup, especially if our quick bowling stocks hit their straps. That's what it is about, two, three or four guys peaking at the right time. Everybody says, 'It's India, you need spin', but that's not necessarily the case,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Border, as saying.

"If you start getting reverse swing and out-and-out pace, there are not a lot of people who enjoy facing that sort of bowling. I know the West Indies did well in India during the '80s. If you've got good-quality fast bowling, you're the side to beat,” he added.

"Brett Lee is bowling with good pace and getting back into some good rhythm, and he has the experience alone. I want to see Mitch and Taity, if they're anywhere near their best, that's a formidable attack. Throw in some part-timers and spinners, and that's a good side," Border said.

Border spent all day in the hot Blacktown sun overseeing the Sydney audition for Cricket Superstar, the new reality TV show which hopes to unearth the next Australia cricketer and will be shown on Fox 8 later this year.

Border said he had already identified some brilliant fast bowling talent at the West Australia auditions in Perth and Bunbury, and was delighted with his job to cull 100 kids to 15 in Sydney.

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India hopes Sachin Tendulkar can cap phenomenal career with World Cup win

As Indian little master Sachin Tendulkar heads into his record sixth cricket World Cup, a nation of 1.2 billion peoples are hoping he can cap a phenomenal career with a win for India.

Tendulkar is the player of virtually every major batting record in test and one-day cricket matches, including most runs and most centuries in either form, and most believe a World Cup win will complete his career of achievements.

Former West Indian batsman Vivian Richards said during a World Cup promotional event here last month that "the World Cup would be the icing on the cake for Sachin Tendulkar."

Just as Tendulkar's stability has been credited with India's superb recent form, runs from the Mumbai player's bat have had a direct bearing on the team's fortunes in the World Cup.

Video’s of 6 Sixes in an over (Gary,Gibbs,Yuvraj)

Yusuf Pathans IPL Century

Can't go into World Cup thinking about pressure: Pathan

NEW DELHI: Explosive all-rounder Yusuf Pathan concedes that Indian  cricketers would be under immense pressure during next month's cricket World Cup in the sub-continent but they will have to avoid thinking about the expectations to come good at the event.



"You don't go into a tournament thinking about the pressure involved with it. We will be playing the World Cup at home and it's natural that people will expect us do well", he said.



"We have prepared well and played some good cricket in the past few months and we are hopeful of carrying the good form in the event (starting February 19)," Pathan said.



The 28-year-old player has been in red-hot form and has clobbered the best in the business with minimum fuss.



"I am happy that I have been able to contribute to the team's cause. I have been assigned a specific role and I try to perform that to the best of my abilities," he answered.



Talk about outgoing coach Gary Kirsten and Yusuf's voice is filled with admiration for the former South African opener --- perhaps the most popular among the three foreigners ( John Wright, Greg Chappell being the other two) who have coached India.



"I have been fortunate to have got guidance from someone like Kirsten. He is a coach who will always have time for having one-on-one sessions after regular training. Even after my regular net session, Kirsten would be ready to give me extra practice.



"His (Kirsten) process of coaching and the manner in which he is able to iron out the flaws is amazing. I have improved a lot as a player due to him," he said.



Asked if he will miss Kirsten as he won't be coaching India after World Cup, Yusuf replied, "He is with us right now. That is important. Don't want to think about what will happen later."



He may surprise one and all with his ability to play risky shots like reverse sweeping a spinner for six but off it he wouldn't like to get into comparisons about his on-field efforts.



Asked which one of his two centuries (123 not out (96 balls) against New Zealand or 105 (70 balls) against South Africa at Centurion) is a better effort according to him, Yusuf said would not pick between knocks which proved important for

his team in different circumstances.



"You can't compare two innings which were played in two entirely different conditions. If you talk about satisfaction, it's bound to be there if you can perform for your country", Yusuf said.



"It's not that there was more pressure on me when I was playing against South Africa and any lesser pressure when I played against New Zealand at home. Both were tough situations in their own rights and I was fortunate that I scored in both," he quipped.



There are a lot of batsmen who use lighter bats when they play on bouncy tracks just to get the horizontal shots better but Yusuf doesn't have any such preferences.



"I play with the same bat whether it's in India or abroad. More than the weight of the bat, it's trying to adapt to the conditions that matters most," said Yusuf who boasts of a strike-rate of above 115 in ODIs.



Not only his explosive batting but his tidy off-breaks and penchant for being a partnership breaker will be important on the slow sub-continent pitches and Pathan said he is working hard to deliver with the ball as well.



"I have always taken my bowling seriously and spent time on fine-tuning my skills at the nets. It's the hours of hard work that I have put in that are paying dividends," said Yusuf who has taken 30 wickets from 45 ODIs.



As the discussion veered towards the Indian Premier League, he admitted that he would miss being part of Rajasthan Royals having represented the franchise in three previous seasons.



"I will miss the fans that I had in Rajasthan. I had a great time playing here and it was like family. But having said that I am really excited about playing in Kolkata which will give me an opportunity to play in front of packed Eden Gardens crowd. It will definitely be a different experience which I will cherish," Yusuf signed off.

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Gibbs' trophy up for grabs

Johannesburg: Cricket fans across the world will have an opportunity to win South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs' man of the match trophy which he won after a record run chase of 438 against Australia in 2006. Gibbs, who mutually finished his contract with Cricket South Africa last year, said he would give the prize to one of his Twitter followers. "Next week I'm giving away my 175 (run) man of match medal vs aus in 438 game. Stay tuned for details pls," he wrote on the social networking site.

Kirsten could join MI

Johannesburg: India coach and South Africa legend Gary Kirsten could be involved with Mumbai Indians team in the IPL, a report said on Wednesday. According to the report in The Times, Kirsten's good rapport with Little Master Sachin Tendulkar could lead to the former South African opener being appointed in a top position in Mumbai Indians which is to appoint a director of coaching before the IPL IV. "Indian cricket had hoped to persuade Kirsten to change his mind about not renewing his contract, but gave up on it this week. Future options for Kirsten could involve the Indian Premier League," the report said.

South Africa Won The Series

Centurion: South African captain Graeme Smith on Sunday said that winning the ODI series against India was all the more commendable as they had fought back from 1-2 down and this victory would be a morale booster for next month’s World Cup.


“It was lot more exciting than what I had thought. I think going in to Port Elizabeth match we were 1-2 down. We were the team under pressure and we were expected to do well under pressure. Obviously for me guys doing so well and we winning the series was very special,” he said at the post-match press conference after his side beat India by 33 runs.


“We have learnt some important lessons from this series. We could have been 0-3 or even 0-4 going in to this game. Some of the decisions we have made let us down. It has been hard cricket throughout the series. You have to be at your best to win the series and that is what we did exactly.


“So we are feeling very good team spirit going in to the World Cup. To do well in the World Cup guys need to get some good rest. Then we can start preparation and we are going to play two warm up games. Keeping yourself fresh is going to be crucial,” he said.


Asked about the prospect of his side in the World Cup, Smith said, “World Cup is going to be different proposition. It is nice to carry this confidence of series win. We will go to India with Jacques Kallis coming in the team. Because of that we will have many more combination to choose from. During the World Cup wickets will be more batting friendly and we need to adapt our mindset for that.”


Smith praised Indian batsman Yusuf Pathan who threatened to single-handedly win the game for India with his brutal 70-ball 105.


“He almost took the game away from us. We all know Yusuf’s potential. On Sunday he was incredible. He was timing the ball so sweetly. He was clearing the rope at will. All credit to Yusuf for fantastic knock he played,” said Smith.


Asked why Imran Tahir was not played in the series, Smith said he has been shielded to make him a surprise package during the World Cup.

“It was tactical decision not to play Imran during the series. We think that there is enough time for Imran to play in India. We are going to play two games before the World Cup. He is someone we want to keep fresh for the Word Cup,” said Smith.

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Ganguly may be headed to IPL Kochi

Former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly, who was disregarded by all 10 franchisees at the recent auction of players for the forth season Indian Premier League, may be heading to the Kochi team.

While the team management has approached the Board of Cricket Control in India, the offer needs to find no objection from the nine other teams since it would be an out-of-auction deal, reports Times of India.

While the IPL rules condition that players can be bought only through open bidding, Ganguly’s case came up fine after the auction was over.

Moreover, West Indian cricket batting legend Brian Lara, Ganguly was along with those former greats who found no takers at the auctions held in Bangalore 12 days before. It has even displeased his fans who thronged street corners in Calcutta to gripe the way their hero was given the cold shoulder.

The hatchling Kochi team – inducted with Pune Warriors as the two new teams for the 2011 edition – has only one specialist Test grade batsman in VVS Laxman.

For Ganguly, though, it would be a reappearance of sorts and may be able to join his old Kolkata Knight Riders team mates Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Owais Shah, moreover Sri Lankan stars Mahela Jayawardene and Mutthiah Muralitharan, and his own pet pacer Sreesanth.

In fact, Ganguly was the loudest – among the few – in criticizing the Indian cricket selectors’ decision to exclude Sreesanth from the Indian team for the future World Cup to be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The former captain credited for picking the young Kerala pacer – who hails from Kochi – to play for India, had said it was a reckless decision to drop an “in-form” bowler.

Indian World Cup 2011 team: Sreesanth, Rohit Sharma, Ojha dropped

The BCCI announced the 15-member last Monday for Indian team for the 2011 World Cup beginning 19th February.

The team has seven batsmen, one all-rounder, four pacers and three spinners.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina have been retained his place from the present team on a tour of South Africa. Virender Sehwag(Vice-captain), has made areturn for cricket's biggest event.

Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra will take care of bowling while Harbhajan, R. Ashwin and Piyush Chawla form the spinners.


Yusuf Pathan has been taken the all-rounder's job. Wicket-keeping has been as usual entirely to captain M.S. Dhoni.

Those who failed to find a place in the team include spinner Pragyan Ojha, pacer S. Sreesanth and all-rounder Rohit Sharma.

The selection sheet, headed by chief selector K. Srikkanth, chose the team out of a list of 30 probables. Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten, who are at present busy with the ODI series in South Africa, were also part of the consultations done through teleconferencing.


The 15-member team is:

• MS Dhoni (C)
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Virender Sehwag
• Gautam Gambhir
• Yuvraj Singh
• Suresh Raina
• Virat Kohli
• Yusuf Pathan (all-rounder)
• Zaheer Khan
• Ashish Nehra
• Munaf Patel
• Praveen Kumar
• Harbhajan Singh
• R. Ashwin
• Piyush Chawla

Chief K. Srikkanth said a well balanced team had been selected up keeping in mind the ground and wicket conditions in the sub continent.

"We have selected the best combination after consultations with the captain and the coach. I am confident this team will win the World Cup for us," Srikkanth said in Chennai.

He brushed aside concerns over fitness of the players, saying: "Every team has injury concerns. Why worry about it?"

IPL auction 2011: 18 Indian; 53 overseas players up for sale

BANGALORE: A total of 18 Indian and 53 overseas players will be up for grabs on the second day of the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Sunday.



On the second day, the franchises will have a remaining cumulative salary cap of USD 19.5 million to be used both in the auction room and to sign uncapped Indian players after the day's proceedings.



This effectively means that a maximum of 71 players, if all franchises do take their full allocation of overseas players, will be up for sale in the second round of bidding at the ITC Gardenia hotel, according to a BCCI statement.



After the first day of bidding, five of the franchises have retained a total of 12 players (seven Indians and five overseas players) in advance of the auction. The total salary cap available across all the 10 franchises at the start of the day was USD 72.3 million.



During the day, 72 players were sold for a cumulative hammer price of USD 52.8 million. Of these, 30 were Indians and 42 overseas players, according to the BCCI release.



On the opening day, dashing India opener Gautam Gambhir became the costliest cricketer in the IPL by fetching a whopping USD 2.4 million (approx Rs 11.04 crore) as Indian players proved to be the biggest draw with three others going for more than USD two million.



In a high-profile auction, where Bollywood stars and corporate bigwigs were locked in a bidding war, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought Gambhir for the mind-boggling sum, beating the previous high set by the English duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff (USD 1.55 million) last season.



KKR proved to be the big spender of the day by also buying hard-hitting all-rounders Yusuf Pathan (Rs 9.66 crore) and Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.06 crore) for the fourth edition of event to be held from April 8 to May 20.



Three other Indian players,- Yusuf (USD 2.1 million), Rohit Sharma (USD 2 million) and Robin Uthappa (2.1 million) also crossed the two million mark.



But there were some surprise names in the unsold list with former India and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly, West Indies batting star Chris Gayle and legendary Brian Lara failing to find a buyer.



In the fourth edition of the T20 league , each team will play seven matches at home, and seven away. Each side has nine opponents and will play five of those at home and away and will play two at home only, and will play the remaining two away only. This will produce a total of seventy league matches.



There will be one league table, as in previous years, and the top four teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the play-off matches. There will be four play-off matches.



Which team plays which opponents (home and away/home only/away only) will be determined by a random draw 1that will take place tomorrow before the start of day two of the auction.

For More visit: IPL Action 2011

IPL Auctions 2011

The words surprised and shocked sound as cliched as Ravi Shastri's commentary, if one tries to use them to describe the IPL Auctions. The team owners left no stones unturned as it looked like they had done their homework to perfection. Be it Vijay Mallya, who was adamant about picking the Daredevils, or be it Shah Rukh Khan's KKR who were desperate to look out for players who could change the franchise's fortunes - each side tried to outwit the other in every possible way.



When the 'Beauty' deserted her 'Brains'



Retaining the first player - $1.8 Million; retaining the second player - $1.3 million; retaining the third player - $9,00,000; not retaining any player, but still being willing to bid high for them, only to watch other teams outbid you - Priceless.



The not-so-pretty expression on Preity Zinta's face said it all, with the rather bemusing tactics of the Kings XI Punjab shown up, when they did not retain any of their players, but yet went aggressively - but unsuccessfully - after their big names.



Business is Everything. Ganguly - who's he? Lara - what's that?



Gracefully opting out of the auctions was Anil Kumble's way of looking at what the future has in store for the retired cricketers. Day 1 of the IPL auctions also witnessed the death of the word 'respect' and burial of the word 'belief' as the owners opted not to buy legends Sourav Ganguly and Brian Charles Lara. It was not just that - India's premier technician Rahul Dravid wasn't even on the 'hit-list' of his home team, the Royal Challengers, and neither did the Deccan Chargers bid for VVS Laxman.



The 'Monkeys' and the 'Maa-kis' meet



Stop the press, call the police and tell them that they've got a job in hand. In January 2008, the duo were involved in cricket's ugliest controversy with Symonds  accusing Bhajji of calling him a 'monkey' and Bhajji retaliating telling the world that all he muttered was a famous gaali in Hindi. Well, back to the future now, the duo will feature in the same team for the 4th edition of the IPL. Mrs. Nita Ambani, good luck on that.



The Gayle storm that died down midway



The destructive left hander from the Carribean, who can win matches single handedly wasn't picked by any of the ten franchises. Fitness, attitude and availability are the only three reasons that I could think of for him to be ignored during the auctions. It would be interesting to see what he has to tell about this on his twitter page.



'Money never sleeps', say the Indian cricketers



Money here, money there, there was money everywhere. Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan being sold for USD 2.4m and 2.1m wasn't quite a surprise, but Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan going out for USD 2.1m, 2m and 1.9m respectively did raise a few eyebrows.



How can the list be complete without a mention of the Indian fans' anti-superhero - Ravindra Jadeja? After being banned from playing the IPL in 2010, Jadeja more than made up for the money he lost as a result of the ban, walking away with a staggering USD 950,000 courtesy team Kochi.



Players love comebacks, even if it's just at the Auctions



We can call them the tailenders of the IPL Auctions, the franchises were interested in a few unsold players and they were brought under the hammer yet again. Jessy Ryder was bagged by Pune, Jonathan Vandiar was picked up by Bangalore, Dimitri Mascarehnas headed the Punjab way. Not that the final round was without its share of surprises: Loots Bosman and Jamie How, known for their T20 power hitting abilities, went unsold, while Mohammad Kaif, finally found a home in the Royal Challengers after being auctioned for the third time on the same day.

The shocker - Sourav Ganguly wasn't given a second change, and neither was Gayle. Time for them to say 'Bye bye, IPL.'

For More detail Visit cricbuzz.com

Cricket-India's Sreesanth fined for kicking boundary rope

Indian fast bowler Sreesanth has fined 10 percent of his match fee for kicking the boundary rope in irritation during the third and final test against South Africa, the ICC said on Thursday.

The unpredictable bowler pleaded guilty to a incriminate that related to "abuse of cricket equipments or clothing, ground equipments or fixtures and fittings", the ICC said in a statement.

"As Sreesanth accepted the decision without fight, there was no need for a hearing."
A irritated Sreesanth kicked the rope on Wednesday after he had two leg before wicket appeal turned down in the previous over.

ICC Cricket World Cup Previous Winners

Year	Host Country	Winner	Final Result
1975	England	West Indies	West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs
1979	England	West Indies	West Indies beat England by 92 runs
1983	England	India	India beat West Indies by 43 runs
1987	India & Pakistan	Australia	Australia beat England by 7 runs
1992	Australia & New Zealand	Pakistan	Pakistan beat England by 22 runs
1996	India Subcontinent	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka beat Australia by 8 wickets
1999	England	Australia	Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets
2003	South Africa, Zimbabe & Kenya	Australia	Australia beat India by 48 runs
2007	West Indies	Australia	Australia beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs

Kumble retires from all forms of cricket

Former India captain Anil Kumble on Tuesday pulled out of this weekend's Indian Premier League auction, citing his involvement in cricket administration and other commitments.


Kumble, who captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in two IPL seasons, in 2009 and 2010, said he was withdrawing from the January 9-10 auction because of business commitments, his association with cricket administration and wildlife in various capacities.

"I wish to withdraw from the players auction for IPL 4 scheduled for the 8th and 9th of January 2011 in Bangalore," said the legendary leg-spinner in an IPL release.


"I have enjoyed my stint at the IPL so far and thank all concerned for the support extended," said Kumble, who was elected as Karnataka State Cricket Association president in November last year.


Kumble was not retained by RCB for this season and was among those players put up for auction with a reserved price of $4,00,000.

The former Indian skipper was largely responsible for RCB's turnaround in the IPL. After being named captain for the 2009 season, Kumble led his team to the final of the Twenty20 league.


A year later, the leg-spinner inspired his team to a third-place finish. Consequently, the team qualified for the Champions League T20 tournament twice under his leadership. Kumble also took 45 wickets in the three editions of the IPL to prove his worth even in the shortest version of the game.

For More Visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/iplarticleshow/7214684.cms