Champions trophy - 2009

India Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, R.P.Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amith Mishra, Dinesh Karthik. 

Hoping that Gambhir is back, Virat Kohli may be a replacement if Gambhir doesnt make it.. 

Sachin is at his ever best, classic century at the emerald isle  is a good example to show the elegance  and the ease with which Sachin plays these days.. 

Rahul's inclusion is great for the side. MSD and Yuvi have been more than consistent.. The only cause of worry could be the inexperience in the lower middle order and the fast-bowling is a bit weak.. Though Nehra is back to form, the fast bowling doesn't have enough experience to handle an onslaught..

South Africa Squad: Graeme Smith (Captain), Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (WK), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robbie Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Great line up on paper yet again.. On numerous occasions SA gone into a major tournament with a match-winning combination but have fallen short of everyone's expectations and have earned the title "CHOKERS".. 50 over cricket on their backyard, hope they perform a little better this time around.. Amla is back, mostly as opener or may have to sit out with 11players picking themselves.. The spin duo of Botha and Roelof may prove more than handy against NZ and England while the Lankans may play it easily..

Pakistan Squad: Younis Khan (Captain), Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (WK), Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Mohammad Asif.

With the ex-ICL players back in the fray, Pakistan look more potent now.. Imran Nazir, Yousuf, Rana Naved are back.. Yousuf and Younis lend solidity while Nazir, Afridi, Akmal providing the fire power at the top and Umar Akmal lower down the order should be enough.. Aamer will be tested in SA.. As usual, the dual side of Pak is always there, no team can lose as badly as Pak and come back winning.. Overcoming India and Australia may be tough though..

Sri Lanka Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dammika Prasad, Lasith Malinga.

40 year old Sanath is still fit and raring to go.. Murali is back after resting himself for a couple of weeks.. Lower middle order is a bit fragile.. Samaraweera has had a tremendous year in test matches that has prompted the selectors to give him a go in the ODIs and should we say he has grabbed it with both his hands.. Kandamby is proving to be an Asian Bevan, though it is too early to confer him with such a title but looking at his performances one is prompted to see the glimpses of Bevan in him.. Bowling is alright, Kulasekara and Thushara and later Mathews and Malinga would prove potent at the swinging conditions and bouncier wickets..

Australia Squad: Ricky Ponting (Captain), Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine, Michael Hussey, James Hopes, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Bracken, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz. 

A changing Aussies, no more invincible and they do not seem to have the aura around them but do not discount them off too soon.. Brett Lee is in great form + a few wides and no balls ; Watson at the top is useful; Fergusson has been in good form ever since he made his debut.. The main 3- Ponting, Clarke and Hussey are not in great form.. Ponting's century against England in the 5th ODI is a welcome sign.. Will face a tough competetion from India.. 

New Zealand Squad: Daniel Vettori (Captain), Neil Broom, Brendon Diamanti ,Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond, Ian Butler.

The workman like team.. Extremely poor series in Sri-Lanka, have to leave that behind and move ahead or else they will be the first team to exit.. Batting lacks depth and experience.. Bowling is ordinary., will face serious tests against Lankans, Africans..

England Squad: Andrew Strauss (Captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (WK), Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann,  James Anderson,.

Looking at the way they have played against the Aussies so timidly, one would be encouraged to call them a weaker side.. ICC rankings don't come to their support either, they are just above Windies and Bangladeshis.. The batsmen do not want to take risk and score runs and if this continues they will be in for a shock.. Their selection policy also needs to be questioned.. Their group is not that easy either, SA, SL and NZ will offer tough fight..

Luke Wright has been removed from the squad due to injury.. Replacement yet to be announced.. 

West Indies Squad: Floyd Reifer (capt), Darren Sammy, David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kevin McClean, Chadwick Walton (WK),  Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge.

A 'B' side from Windies.. The other sides will have it easy against them. Having said that if a team is too complacent, then an upset is on cards.. Sammy, Bernard, Richards hold the key.. They have lost to Cape Cobras failing to defend 327 and later won against North West by 103 runs..

A late news from the ICC that they are willing to accept a "revised" line-up in the event the industrial relations dispute between the board and the players is resolved.  

KPL

Yet another cricket tournament in India and another one in the same format as that of IPL..

ICL was the first to roll out city based teams all owned by the Zee group, IPL took it to unimaginable heights based on city loyalties and teams being owned by franchises..

The latest addition to that is Mantri KPL, 8 teams, 8 owners, 8 districts in Karnataka.

 

• The league shall have 8 teams from 8 locations that will compete in the KPL

• Each team shall be represented by a Franchisee and shall be a consortium of 3-5 districts allocated geographically, referred to as the catchment area.
• 16 day tournament with 2 matches every day from 16:00 to 19:00 hrs & 19:30 to 22:30 hrs (Day/ Night) 
• Each team shall play the other once, with the top 4 teams qualifying for the Semis and thereafter a final . Total - 31 Matches (28 League matches, 2 Semis and 1 final)
• The tickets are priced as Rs.49 and Rs.25, which is done in order to lure even the reluctant fans to the stadium.

The inaugural ceremony which ironically took place after a match was played comprised of laser show, "fusion" dance and the usual opening ceremony talks from the sponsors and organizers.. 

As has become customary, fusion dance supposedly a blend of traditional and modern dance hit the floors  but the latter was inconspicuous in its presence ..

 

  

It was no surprise that the eight participating teams lined up on the park for a ringside view of the cultural performances that were full of energy, if nothing else.

With fellow State Ministers Goolihatti Shekar and Katta Subrahmanya Naidu, as well as KSCA president Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar and secretary Brijesh Patel in attendance, Transport Minister R Ashok declared the KPL open.. (after a match was completed)..

Laser show was organized which was the highlight of the ceremony as that was the only part that was visible from all parts of the stadium..

 

  

This is the layout of the stadium, the white line in the ground indicates the place where the stage shown in a picture above with "yakshagana" artistes performing was put up.. ( the pic has a Mantri banner )

 

 Clearly, 3/4 the of the stadium was cut off from the action and moreover the stands in front of the stage was more or less vacant with only the dignitaries occupying the pavilion stand, (yellow in color in the layout)..

Poorly organized function.. KSCA and KPL have tried to emulate IPL in every aspect and have failed to do so.. The event lacked brilliance and was not well organized.. The controversial and debatable strategic time out is also a feature of this tournament.. "COPYING" couldn't get worse !! IPL had specifically put the time out in place to cater to the increasing demand from the sponsors for ad space, cricketing perspective of the time out was debated across all sections and many prominent international stars did not find any positives in it.. KPL is not of the stature of IPL and neither does it have a crowded ad space, the only "ad" that is played in between overs is KPL anthem.. 

KPL which is looking at

• An opportunity to encourage cricket talent from the districts of Karnataka.
• A competitive platform for young, aspiring cricketers at the grass root level. ;

did not feature any of the stalwarts of Indian cricket who were from the native Karnataka.. Fair enough, Rahul Dravid was away with national duty but Kumble, Srinath, Prasanna, Chandrashekar, Syed Kirmani could have launched the event but were not to be found.. GR.Viswanath though was at the event because he happened to be the match referee..

 

 

 

 

Pakistan in the news

Pakistan is in the news.. Now wait a minute, they aren't playing any international cricket then what takes them to the cricket headlines..

Wasim Bari is appointed as the new COO of PCB, barely a week after the former COO was unceremoniously ousted.. Bari was the PCB director of HR, formerly an interim selector in national selection committee headed by Abdul Qadir that was recently sacked by PCB chairman..

Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir and Aamer Sohail had resigned following problems with Butt, while the chairman sacked chief operating officer Saleem Altaf earlier this year.



The post of PCB chairman is an honorary post, no salary.. But he is entitled to get a lot of benefits-

• Rs. 100,000 as HRA per month, 4 servants, a security guard and cars
• Entitled to a land-line number and an international mobile phone connection with unlimited billing.
• The board pays for his electricity, gas and water bills, or Rs 40,000 monthly and also reimburses him for any medical expense on his own treatment or that of his spouse.
• Entitled to first-class international travel with his wife and business class domestically.
• Traveling allowance of USD 300 per day and USD 600 dollars for accommodation on international trips.

Aamir Sohail who quit as the director of National Cricket Academy recently after he differed with the chairman Ejaz Butt, has launched an attack on Butt stating that he is misfit to head PCB and that he was solely responsible for the WC2011 fiasco..

Sohail also accused the current Pakistan national team coach Intikhab Alam that he was fanning groupism and was responsible for the internal politics that has plagued the team.. He also called for the appointment of a younger man as coach of the national team which he felt had the potential to move ahead and become a top team..

Intikhab Alam on the other hand has said that there are a few former players in the PCB who do not want him to continue as the coach and are conspiring to oust him..

ICL has put Pak players dues on hold after learning that former test players were involved in match fixing and betting in the finals which saw Lahore Badshahs lose the 2nd finals against Hyderabad Heroes to ensure that the 3rd finals was played..

Qasim Umar has accused 2 senior players of match fixing and drug trafficking and has said that he would name those involved at a latter stage as the persons involved were highly influential and that he feared for his life if he were to name them.. He said while one was involved in match fixing the other had used drugs.. He also said that Viv Richards used to take drugs for relaxation and stamina enhancement..

Qasim Umar was banned for life by PCB in the 80s after accusing Imran Khan of smuggling drugs in the kit, which ended his career. He said that PCB destroyed his career to appease Imran..

The cricketing news from Pak is that they are going to play "home series" in NZ and are planning to schedule ODIs in Abu Dabi and Dubai..

Pakistan in New Zealand
November 18-20 - Warm-up match
November 24-28 - 1st Test at University Oval, Dunedin
December 3-7 - 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
December 11-15 - 3rd Test at McLean Park, Napier

Compaq cup - Sri Lanka

The Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka will feature New Zealand along with India in a tri-nation tournament starting tomorrow. India will start the Sri Lanka one-day tri-series with back-to-back matches on September 11 and 12, according to the revised tournament schedule. It was previously reported that India will play its first match against New Zealand on September 10.

Date and Time	Match
Tue Sep 8           14:30  IST	1st Match - Sri Lanka v New Zealand R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fri Sep 11           14:30 IST	2nd Match - India v New Zealand R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sat Sep 12           14:30  IST	3rd Match - Sri Lanka v India R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Mon Sep 14           14:30 IST	Final - TBC v TBC R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

India squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Suresh Raina, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, R.P.Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amith Mishra, Dinesh Karthik

New Zealand Squad: Daniel Vettori (Captain), Neil Broom, Brendon Diamanti, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Grant Elliot, Ian Butler, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Gareth Hopkins, Jeetan Patel.

 
Sri Lanka Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain & WK), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Mahela Udawatte, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, M.Muralitharan, Isuru Udana, Gihan Rupasinghe, Lasith Malinga, Thilan Tushara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

A match was abandoned due to rain last year around the same time against India without a ball being bowled.. Thundershowers are predicted during the match days.. Hope the matches are a full 50 over game..  As always toss is a crucial issue in any D/N games in the sub-continent and more so in Lanka as toss more or less decides the fate of the game.. 

ICC Champions Trophy 2002 - look back

This was the first time the mini-world cup was played in a round robin format.. The previous editions were of knock out type..

This edition was held in Sri-Lanka with 10 test playing nations + Netherlands and Kenya divided into 4 groups of 3 each..

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Australia	England	Kenya	Netherlands
Bangladesh	India	South Africa	Pakistan
New Zealand	Zimbabwe	West Indies	Sri Lanka

SQUADS

Australia Squad
Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain),Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne , Shane Watson

Bangladesh Squad
Khaled Mashud (Captain), Al-Sahariar, Alok Kapali, Fahim Muntasir, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya, Tushar Imran

England Squad

Nasser Hussain(Captain), Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Rikki Clarke, Dominic Cork, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, James Kirtley, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick

Indian Squad
S Ganguly (Captain), R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, D Mongia, M Kaif, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, AB Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, JP Yadav, A Nehra, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath

Kenya Squad
Steve Tikolo (Captain), Thomas Odoyo (Vice-captain), Joseph Angara, Jimmy Kamande, Brijal Patel, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Maurice Odumbe, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Tony Suji, Martin Suji

Netherlands Squad

RP Lefebvre(Captain), LP van Troost, Dan van Bunge, JJ Esmeijer, VD Grandia, JF Kloppenburg, TBM de Leede, HJC MolRF, van Oosterom, Adeel Raja, E Schiferli, RH Scholte, NA Statham, B Zuiderent  

New Zealand Squad
Stephen Fleming (Captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Glenn Sulzberge, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent  

 
Pakistan Squad
Waqar Younis (Captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Vice-Captain), Abdur Razzaq , Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana

South African Squad
Shaun Pollock (Captain), Dale Benkenstein, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Alan Dawson, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Hershelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Robin Peterson

Sri Lankan Squad

Sanath Jayasuriya (Captain), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Upul Chandana, Kumar Sangakkara, Kumar Dharmasena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Hasantha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pulasthi Gunaratne

West Indies Squad

Carl Hooper (Captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara, Runako Morton, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ramnaresh Sarwan

Zimbabwe Squad
Heath Streak (Captain), Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas T. Hondo, Douglas Marillier, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu, Guy Whittall
 
Points per win: 4

Group Pool 1	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Australia	2	2	-	8	+3.461
New Zealand	2	1	1	4	+0.030
Bangladesh	2	-	2	0	-3.275

Group Pool 2	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
India	2	2	-	8	+0.816
England	2	1	1	4	+0.401
Zimbabwe	2	-	2	0	-1.125

Group Pool 3	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
South Africa	2	2	-	8	+1.856
West Indies	2	1	1	4	+0.202
Kenya	2	-	2	0	-2.050

Group Pool 4	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Sri Lanka	2	2	-	8	+2.861
Pakistan	2	1	1	4	+1.245
Netherlands	2	-	2	0	-4.323

Pakistan  200 (49.4 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 201/2 (36.1 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Sanath Jayasuriya
Saeed Anwar 52 (82) Muttiah Muralitharan 3/29 (10 overs)		Sanath Jayasuriya 102* (120) Wasim Akram 1/42 (8 overs)

West Indies  238/8 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 242/8 (49 overs)	South Africa won by 2 wickets Man of the Match: Jonty Rhodes
Chris Gayle 49 (55) Jacques Kallis 2/41 (9 overs)		Jonty Rhodes 61 (70) Mervyn Dillon 4/60 (10 overs)

India  288/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 274/8 (50 overs)	India won by 14 runs Man of the Match: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif 111 (112) Douglas Hondo 4/62 (9 overs)		Andy Flower 145 (164) Zaheer Khan 4/45 (10 overs)

Australia  296/7 (50 overs)	v	New Zealand 132 (26.2 overs)	Australia won by 164 runs Man of the Match: Glenn McGrath
Damien Martyn 73 (87) Jacob Oram 2/60 (10 overs)		Shane Bond 26 (22) Glenn McGrath 5/37 (7 overs)

Sri Lanka  292/6 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 86 (29.3 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 206 runs Man of the Match: Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Atapattu 101 (118) Adeel Raja 2/50 (10 overs)		Tim de Leede 31 (43) Muttiah Muralitharan 4/15 (5.3 overs)

West Indies  261/6 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 232 (49.1 overs)	West Indies won by 29 runs Man of the Match: Brian Lara
Brian Lara 111 (120) Steve Tikolo 2/49 (7 overs)		Steve Tikolo 93 (91) Pedro Collins 3/18 (9.1 overs)

England  298/8 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 190/9 (48 overs)	England won by 108 runs Man of the Match: Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick 119 (102) Douglas Hondo 4/45 (6 overs)		Heath Streak 50* (58) Ronnie Irani 4/37 (10 overs)

Bangladesh  129 (45.2 overs)	v	Australia 133/1 (20.4 overs)	Australia won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Jason Gillespie
Alok Kapali 45 (75) Jason Gillespie 3/20 (10 overs)		Matthew Hayden 67* (70) Mohammad Rafique 1/32 (5 overs)

South Africa  316/5 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 140 (46.5 overs)	South Africa won by 176 runs Man of the Match: Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs 116 (126) Collins Obuya 2/77 (10 overs)		Steve Tikolo 69 (97) Dale Benkenstein 3/5 (3.5 overs)

Netherlands  136 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 142/1 (16.2 overs)	Pakistan won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi
Roland Lefebvre 32 (70) Shahid Afridi 3/18 (10 overs)		Imran Nazir 59 (40) Feiko Kloppenburg 1/23 (2 overs)

England  269/7 (50 overs)	v	India 271/2 (39.3 overs)	India won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag
Ian Blackwell 82 (68) Ashish Nehra 2/49 (10 overs)		Virender Sehwag 126 (124) Ian Blackwell 1/46 (8 overs)

New Zealand  244/9 (50 overs)	v	Bangladesh 77 (19.3 overs)	New Zealand won by 167 runs Man of the Match: Shane Bond
Mathew Sinclair 70 (122) Mohammad Ashraful 3/26 (5 overs)		Tushar Imran 20 (16) Shane Bond 4/21 (5 overs)

Semi- Finals

• IND vs RSA - India pulled off a stunning 10-run win over South Africa at Premadasa Stadium and entered the final of the Champions Trophy. By retiring hurt on 116 (119 balls, 16 fours) with his side still needing 70 runs for victory and 9 wickets in hand, Gibbs gave India the tiniest window of opportunity. SA did not play spin well and IND won a thrilling match. Virender Sehwag took 3 wickets in no-time and SA were found wanting..

IND- 261-9 Yuvi 62, Viru 59 Pollock 3-43
SA-  251-6  Gibbs 116, Kallis 97 Viru 3-25
Player of the match V Sehwag (India)

• AUS vs SRL - crushing semi-final victory over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy SF. All out for 162 in 48.4 overs with 2 wickets to Dharmasena, 3 to Murali.. The top 3 were enough to finish the match..

Finals- marred with rain.

Two days the finals was played, the first day SRL scored 244 and when IND batted rain poured down after 7 overs.. The second day SRL again won the toss and batted and managed only 222.. Rain poured down when IND had batted 8 overs.. Poor management, the game could have continued on the reserve dAy rather than playing it all over again..

India and SriLanka shared the trophy..
While Murali topped the wicket takers list, Sehwag topped run charts.

Surprisingly, Man of the series was not awarded..