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The combination of India and Champions Trophy has been a nightmare for Australia twice in the past, but Ricky Ponting and co. finally ended that jinx, thrashing India by six wickets to emphatically move into the semi-finals of the tournament. A target of 250 should have tested them even on a good batting strip, but their openers got them off to a frenetic start, while Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn ensured there would be no hiccups, both getting to fluent half-centuries as Australia ended the contest with 26 deliveries to spare. India, meanwhile, followed Sri Lanka and Pakistan in exiting the tournament, making it the first time since the 1975 World Cup that no team from the subcontinent has made it to the semi-finals of a major one-day championship.

Australia didn’t have a lot going for them at the start - they lost the toss, had to field first on a pitch which was quite different from the one on which Pakistan were demolished by South Africa’s pace attack, and then had to battle through an early onslaught from Virender Sehwag, another batsman who rediscovered his touch. Sehwag’s 65 and a superbly controlled 52 from Rahul Dravid put India on course for a challenging total, but Australia then took over, pulling it back towards the end with regular wickets. India finished about 20 runs short of the score they would have expected after the start, and then Australia never allowed India a sniff in the field, shutting them out of the contest with some destructive strokeplay in the first 15 overs.

Teams have struggled to bat under lights at Mohali, but the Australians waded into the listless Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel from the start. Taking full advantage of the half-volleys and short balls that were on offer, Adam Gilchrist - who had earlier become the first wicketkeeper…

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Also see Champions Trophy, 2006 

Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC, has blamed the ICC’s shortcomings with regard to implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code during the Champions Trophy on the lack of drug-testing culture in India.

"The current ICC Champions Trophy is our first tournament since we became signatories to the WADA Code and it has presented us with some challenging issues,'’ Speed said in a statement on Tuesday. "These issues are logistical ones and are understandable given no infrastructure or culture of drug-testing exists currently in India, and when these issues have been raised with us we have worked hard to ensure they have been dealt with."

Speed was responding to a top WADA official’s criticism on Monday that the ICC had an unprofessional attitude towards fighting the drug menace in the sport.

"We’ve been on many doping control testing missions with lots of federations," Yousef Hasan, the WADA official said. "We’ve been dealing with them professionally and they’ve been dealing back very professionally as well. But unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing about ICC."

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The night before the opening match against England in the ongoing Champions Trophy, India’s strike bowler Irfan Pathan looked tense.

The left-arm pacer had been told by the team management that he would be in the playing eleven and he was feeling the pressure of expectations. He knew he had to deliver.

But he smiled when asked about ‘pressure’: “Don’t worry, I’m ready for the show,” Pathan told TOI. He bowled with a lot of heart and rhythm the next day, rattling the England top order and getting two crucial wickets.

“It was a big occasion and we knew that we had to start the match with a bang. When I was given the new ball, I knew I could do the job,” Pathan said.

Pathan said that he was always confident of proving his worth as a bowler in the team again. “I wasn’t under any pressure.

There was talk outside that I’m short on confidence but it wasn’t true. My self-belief never suffered and I’m thankful to the team management for giving me the right support,” he said.

The Baroda speedster seemed to have rediscovered pace and swing with the white ball during Sunday’s match and that was bad news for England.

“Andrew Flintoff’s wicket was a special one. We knew he was the key man for England and getting him early would be a bonus. So I gave it everything and tried to pitch the ball in the right area. It worked,” Pathan said referring to Flintoff’s dismissal.

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Consistent performance and merit would be key factors for the selection of Indian squad for the forthcoming tour of South Africa and the World Cup, Chairman of BCCI’s national selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar said on Friday.

“Not just performance in this tournament, but consistent performance and merit will be the only criterion for the selection of the Indian team for the forthcoming South Africa tour during which the team will play five one-day internationals”, Vengsarkar, popularly known as ‘colonel’ said on the sidelines of ongoing four-day Duleep Trophy match at Usharaje ground.

After the South African tour, the team will also play five one-day matches each with Sri Lanka and West Indies.

“The team will be announced on October 30 after the selectors watch the current matches being played in the Duleep trophy and also India-Australia match at Mohali,” Vengsarkar said.

“Everybody has to create his position in the team. It depends how one fits the bill”, he said. “It depends on the composition of the team. We keep trying people all the time.

Nobody is indispensible”, he said, emhasising the importance of consistent performance for a place in the team. DEL “All the selectors are watching domestic cricket. Some of them are watching the match in Gwalior while Sanjay Jagdale and me are here”, Vengsarkar said.

On whether former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is performing well enough to be in the Indian team, Vengsarkar said: “It is for everybody to see, why you are asking me? Everybody has a chance to come back into the team”.

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BCCI’s letter to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed

The statement of International Cricket Council Chief Executive Malcolm Speed in Jaipur that it would be a grave mistake to “talk of Azhar’s case and that of others in the same breath” is highly disappointing, if not outrageous.

His assertion that Shane Warne and Herschelle Gibbs had already been fined and suspended by their respective cricket Boards and that their cases cannot be compared with that of Mohammed Azharuddin who had been banned for life by the Indian Board sounds bizarre.

If he is reacting to the statement of some officials of the Indian Board that Azhar had undergone enough punishment for his purported sin, then it must be clarified that there is a feeling among Indian Board members that what the Indian board did when the scandal broke out might have been correct even if it was a knee-jerk reaction, but in retrospect they feel that the Board had been too harsh on its players considering the way the other Boards went about protecting the guilty.

The general opinion is that Azhar had undergone enough punishment and that he should be allowed to lead his life like cricketers who had faced similar charges in other countries but are going about as if they had done no wrong.

Yes, Azhar should not be compared with those who got away with murder, people who continued to play after serving a token punishment even after they had admitted that they had taken cash to under perform and those who unabashedly said they accepted money from bookies. One is being persecuted and condemned for life while others strut about as paragons of virtues!

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Irfan Pathan and Sachin Tendulkar added 50 for the second wicket before India tried to make a hash of an easy chase

India hiccupped their way to a nervy four-wicket win over England in their opening Champions Trophy encounter at Jaipur. Sixteen wickets fell for 251 runs on a day when neither team’s batsmen covered themselves with glory, but India just about managed to hold it together under lights after they had done superbly in the field, bundling England out for a paltry 125 in 37 overs.

Though India struggled in their run-chase, England had little chance once their batsmen had folded up so meekly. For the second time in two days, the team batting first came unstuck on a pitch which, while by no means a shirtfront, certainly wasn’t a minefield. In the early overs there was a fair amount of pace and bounce on offer for the fast bowlers, but soon there was also more than a hint of uneven bounce as a few deliveries shot through to the wicketkeeper, while some reared up from a length. The need of the hour was for the batsmen to knuckle down, graft their runs, and put away the premeditated strokes, but apart from Paul Collingwood and Jamie Dalrymple, none of the England batsmen were prepared to adopt that route.

The Indians, for their part, hardly got anything wrong in the field. Dravid’s decision at the toss turned out to be a masterstroke, while the biggest gain for them from this game was undoubtedly Irfan Pathan’s return to bowling form. In his last 38 overs - starting with the tour to the West Indies - Pathan has leaked 233 runs but here he rediscovered all the virtues which had made him such a matchwinner in his first 18 months in international cricket: he swung it appreciably, got plenty of bounce early on, and found more than an extra yard of pace, consistently touching 130 kmph. Munaf Patel bowled with the control which has now become a norm, the spinners backed the fast bowlers superbly, while the fielding was refreshingly energetic, with direct hits finding their target more than once.

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The ICC came up with a ridiculous explanation in defence of the petulant behaviour of Brian Lara during the first cricket Test against India when he snatched the ball from Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf and waggled his finger at him.

“Lara showed a little frustration but it was borne out of circumstances,” ICC’s General Manager-Cricket Dave Richardson said.

“Lara is a renowned player, a famed cricketer. He got frustrated (after) the umpire forced the players to make a decision. He did get a little frustrated, snatching the ball from the umpire, but he certainly did not show dissent,” he said.

Richardson also sought to justify the fine imposed on Virender Sehwag for prematurely celebrating a dismissal.

“The Sehwag incident was unfortunate. ICC wants to cut down on excessive appealing. We want to prevent players, tell them not to put too much pressure on umpires. In Sehwag’s incident, it was a case of not appealing. He slipped up (on that account).”

On the controversial Dhoni dismissal, he said he had never come across such an incident — be it in his playing days or as an administrator.

“It (the incident) was quite unique. No decision was made. The TV umpire said he could not make a decision, the on field umpires said we can’t make a decision either. Lara tried to facilitate an agreement (which) was not the right way.”

See also India vs West Indies, 2006.

Mithali Raj was on Friday named as captain of the Indian women’s team which is set to tour Ireland and England next month.

The Indian eves will play two One-day Internationals in Ireland before moving on to England to take on the hosts in two Tests, three One-dayers and a Twenty20 match during the July 25 to Sept 2 tour. One of the Tests has been scheduled to be played at Lord’s. It would be the first time that a women’s team will play a match at the historic ground.

Former Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad has criticised Greg Chappell for his comments on Irfan Pathan while hoping that the pep talk by legendary fast bowler Andy Roberts would boost the morale of the youngster.

Gaekwad took objection to Chappell’s comment that Pathan lacked confidence and that affected the left-arm seamer’s performance in the one-day series in the West Indies.

Pathan was dropped from the first Test which ended in a draw at Antigua earlier this week.

“It is coach’s job to help rectify a player’s flaws in technique,” Gaekwad said.

The former Test batsman, who was a member of the Indian team that toured the Caribbean in 1976, said the tips that Pathan received from Roberts at the nets during the first Test would help the Indian spearhead as he attempts to return to the team for the second Test.

Gaekwad cited the instance of Wasim Akram helping Pathan during India’s visit to Pakistan in 2004.

“Same thing can happen here … Roberts sorted out Pathan’s run up and suggested some minor corrections. This will help Pathan a lot,” he said.

Pathan’s coach of junior cricket days, Mehndi Sheikh, said the 21-year old should have played in the first Test.

“Chappell should have boosted the morale of Pathan by allowing him to play in the Test. If the performance is the criteria, then it applies to everyone,” Sheikh said.

Cricket South Africa has confirmed India’s tour of the country in November-December as it announced the national team’s full schedule of home and away international fixtures till the World Cup in the West Indies next March.

CSA CEO Geral Majola, announcing the schedule, said SA’s 2006-07 season would begin next month.

“Cricket fans are in for a bumper season that includes the tour of Sri Lanka in July, the ICC Champions Trophy in India in October, tours by India and Pakistan in November and January respectively, and ending with the World Cup in the West Indies in March,” Majola said in a statement yesterday.

India will play five one-day internationals and three Test matches in South Africa after they visit the sub-continent for the ICC Champions Trophy in October.

CSA’s General Manager for Cricket Affairs, Brian Basson, who announced the itineraries, said: “We are delighted that after months of negotiations, confirmation of the outgoing tour of Sri Lanka and the incoming tours of India and Pakistan have been finalised.

“The reasons for the protracted delay can be attributed to full member countries having displayed reluctance in entering into any fixed tour arrangements prior to final confirmation of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme,” Basson said.

“Additionally, the incoming tours are scheduled to take place between the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Cricket World Cup which reduced the period for the allocation of the tour’s itinerary”. (more…)

Star Indian stroke-maker Virender Sehwag has hit a swashbuckling 180 to help his side to 4-361 at stumps on day one of the second Test against the West Indies at St Lucia.

The opener let loose with the willow early in the day and finished the morning session one run shy of his century.

Had he made three figures, Sehwag would have become the first Indian and only the fifth-ever player in cricket’s distinguished history, to hit a century on the opening morning of a Test.

Batting alongside opener Wasim Jaffer, the pair put on 159 runs before Jaffer fell on 43 after edging a loose delivery to first slip.

VVS Laxman (0) then suffered a similar fate to Jaffer when he was dismissed shortly after following an edge through to the wicket-keeper.

However, Sehwag steadied the ship with skipper Rahul Dravid before the centurion was caught and bowled by Pedro Collins with the score on 300.

The West Indies then found themselves celebrating a double breakthrough soon after when Yuvraj Singh was bowled by Collins for two, the recalled paceman nabbing all four wickets on the opening day.

But Dravid and Mohammad Kaif ensured there were no more setbacks for the tourists, with the pair compiling a solid stand of 55 by the time stumps arrived.

Kaif finished the day unbeaten on 18 while skipper Dravid, delighted with proceedings after winning the toss and choosing to bat, needs just five more runs to collect his 23rd Test hundred.

India 1st innings
Jaffer c Bravo b Collins 43
Sehwag c & b Collins 180
Laxman c Ramdin b Collins 0
Dravid not out 95
Yuvraj Singh b Collins 2
Kaif not out 18
Extras (4b,7lb,w3,9nb) 23
Total (4 wickets) 361
FoW: 1-159, 2-161, 3-300, 4-306

Bowling
Collins 20-4-75-4
Taylor 17-2-56-0
Bravo 10-0-66-0
Collymore 14-1-57-0
Bradshaw 14-4-45-0
Sarwan 10-0-51-0

See also India vs West Indies, 2006.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India adopted the proposed amendments to its constitution at a special general body meeting here on Thursday.

The motion for a straight three-year term for the principal office-bearers (president, secretary, jt. secretary and treasurer) and five vice-presidents and the senior and junior national selection committee was modified to two years, with a provision which allows them to contest for an additional year. “On the basis of their performance, they can contest for a third year,” said BCCI vice-president Shashank Manohar.

Mr. Manohar, who briefed the press, said a debate was held on the extra vote the chairman (BCCI president) to break a deadlock. “It’s been unanimously decided that the chairman would have the right to exercise his extra vote.”

Support to WCAI

The SGM also set a one-year time frame to each of its playing member associations to establish a women’s wing.

“We will support the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) for one year in all aspects, from offering all infrastructure support and assisting in their bilateral series in India and abroad. All associations except CCI and NSC, Kolkata, have to use the BCCI subvention money for the development of cricket, including women’s cricket in their respective States. We will not recognise the present State associations because most of them are defunct and in some a cases the secretary is not even a primary member of the State association,” said Mr. Manohar.

The BCCI also amended its aims and objectives to set aside a corpus for the development of other sports. “We had decided to set aside Rs. 50 crores at the working committee meeting. Well, it can be Rs. 50 or Rs. 100 crores. We will decide on the sum after the modalities to support promising sportspersons in other sports are finalised. We will give the money to the individuals, not to the associations,'’ said Mr. Manohar.

The SGM also authorised Mr. Pawar to appoint different committees for the 2011 World Cup.

India’s Test campaign in the Caribbean got off to an unconvincing start with the visitors making 235 for the loss of nine wickets at stumps on day one of the first test against West Indies at Antigua on Friday.

In fact, it was some fine rearguard action from Anil Kumble and S Sreesanth that saw the visitors cross the 200-run mark.

Sreesanth remained unbeaten on 24 while Munaf Patel was yet to open his account at the close of the day’s play.

The match saw a typical batting collapse with the batsmen failing against the moving delivery yet again after India won the toss and elected to bat.

Early blow

India’s hopes of getting off to a good start received an early blow when Jaffer edged a Fidel Edwards delivery to keeper Denesh Ramdin. It was only the third over of the match and India were 10 for one.

Jaffer played nine balls and made just one run.

Sehwag and Laxman then steadied the ship with a 41-run partnership before the Nawab of Najafgarh edged a Corey Collymore delivery to Brian Lara at second slip.

Sehwag made 36 off just 37 balls with the help of seven boundaries. The scoring rate became slow after his departure. (more…)

Admitting that excessive cricket was a matter of concern, India coach Greg Chappell Thursday asked the BCCI not to overburden its champion players as it could lead to premature end of their careers.

“It is important for BCCI and others to understand that there is a huge investment in these players. They are champion players and you must not finish their careers by overburdening them,” Chappell said at a press conference hours before the team’s departure to the West Indies.

Chappell said although at the moment the balance was pretty good, there was a need to be careful about breaks in between matches. “The balance is pretty good with 30 odd ODI and 12-13 Tests every year. (But) It is important to get breaks at regular intervals. The break we have now is ideal. Though the five-and-a-half month break Australia have now is a bit too long.

“Playing the England series after the series against Pakistan was tough. We had 3-4 series packed together which was very demanding. Getting the balance right is important.”

Chappell urged his players to reproduce their successful one-day methods in Tests in a bid to claim a rare series victory in the West Indies. “We have made good ground in the last 12 months, especially in one-day cricket,” Chappell said.

“We need to apply the similar processes to Test cricket, bearing in mind that Test cricket is more demanding,” he said before Friday’s departure for the West Indies where India are due to play five one-dayers and four Tests.

“We have got to be more aware of the flow of Test cricket, of the important moments, the important sessions in Test matches,” he said. (more…)

It might not turn out to be the greatest cricket series of all time, but India’s tussle with the West Indies holds the promise of a fascinating duel between two of the modern game’s batting greats.

Rahul Sharad Dravid and Brian Charles Lara have the ability to repeatedly inspire their teams from a state of hopelessness to a position of strength, putting up their hands when the occasion demands.

Going by personal form, both seem to be eternally in their prime. And, over the next couple of months, they will need to produce some of their vintage best. Dravid, to ensure his team takes their one-day form forward to the Caribbeans.

Lara, to pull together the faltering force that is his team, as well as rectify his own record against India. In 13 Tests, he has managed to put together 791 runs at just 37.67 — his lowest average against all international opposition. Just one out of his 31 Test hundreds have come against India.

That ton, 103, came on a bowler’s graveyard at St Johns almost 10 years ago even as the match petered out to a draw.

In 31 ODIs against India, he has failed to get a hundred. This will probably be the left-hander’s last chance to set the record straight.

Dravid, however, has had no problem finding his best against a team whose bowling attack has looked less penetrative with every new series.

The right-hander relishes getting runs off quick bowling and that, in part, explains his terrific Test average (60.80) against the Windies. Dravid doesn’t need much motivation to excel, especially while batting away from India but this time, he would be doubly keen to perform better. He is the skipper, after all. (more…)