India Winning Start for Asian Cup -2014

After flounder in South Africa and New Zealand, India returned to their relieve zone the slow, low wickets of Asia. A match with the Asia Cup Series hosts was just the confidence-boosting workout India needed after being routed in South Africa and New Zealand. India Captain Kohli led the plan with a near-perfect 139 while adding a match-winning 213 runs for the 3rd wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (73), as India chase down 280 with an over to spare.

The score was set up by Mushfiqur Rahim’s excellent 117 and his 133-run stand with the wicket keeping opener Anamul Haque, who made a stroke-filled 77 taking the attack to India’s bowlers.

CAPTAIN’S Rocks

the pitch at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium was as slow, low. There was no turn, no seam movement, just a hint of swing that irregularly caused deliveries to move sharply, but enough to considerably trouble batsmen.

Mohammad Shami (4 for 50) produced edges off the bat that flew through vacancies in the slips. Bangladesh could easily have been 50-5 had India grabbed those chances. Yet, Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ensured a miserly start (36-1 in 10 overs) that you no longer associate with Indian bowlers. It helped that the opponent posed a lesser challenge.

Despite these theatrics, Anamul Haque went after Ashwin and Aaron in a fast ride to 50 runs. Aaron had a terrible day. Welcomed to the crease with 2 boundaries, he continued to bleed runs through the day. Anamul swung him for 2 sixes over long-on. Mushfiqur then hit the shot of the day – an easy pick-up over midwicket for six in an over that went for 19.

Aaron followed that six with a beamer to the Bangladesh captain who took it completely on the ribs. It was Aaron’s second waist-high full-toss of the day and he had to be taken off. Just to round off a bad day, Aaron hurt himself going for the catch that dismissed Ziaur Rahman.

Anamul slowed down after his fifty while Mushfiqur started to speed up. Their 133-run stand was full of clean hits: down the ground, through the covers, over the leg-side arc. But it always gave the feeling it wasn’t going to be enough.

Bangladesh-279/7(50)

M Rahim (C, †)-117(113)

A Haque -77(106)

India-283/4(49)

V Kohli (C)-136(122)

A Rahane -73(83)

India Won the Match by Six Wickets

Men of the match-Virat Kohli (India)

Raina out Pujara in Action for the Asia Cup series announced

India will play against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup to be hosted in Dhaka and Fatullah from February 25 to March 8-2014. Ishant Sharma has been dropped from the Asia Cup and World T20 squads. Yuvraj and Raina have been named in the World T20 squad only.

Raina has paid the price for his patchy form in ODI, as the left-hander has been out of India’s squad for the forth coming Asia Cup to be held in Bangladesh. Pujara has come in the squad instead of Raina, while Ishant has been axed not only from the Asia Cup but also from the World Twenty20 squad.

Yuvraj and Suresh Raina are however, part of the World Twenty20 squad that was named on Tuesday. Stuart Binny, who played in only one ODI in New Zealand, finds a place in both the squads.

Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma were part of the India squad that was thrashed 0-4 by New Zealand in the ODI series that preceded the ongoing Test series, but surprisingly, they are the only casualties of that humiliation.

Raina, who has scored just one half-century in his last 24 ODI innings, was dropped from the last 2 ODIs against New Zealand, after scores of 18, 35 and 31 in the first 3 games. Ishant Sharma had figures of 9-0-72-1 and 6-0-46-1 in the first 2 ODIs, after which he warmed the bench for the remainder of the series. Ishant Sharma has taken 37 wickets in his last 24 ODIs, but they have come at an average of 30.02 and a high economy rate of 5.81.

Pujara has played only two ODIs, both against Zimbabwe in August 2013, where he had scores of 13 and 0 at the top of the order. Pujara, however, has an impressive List a record with 2947 runs (9 centuries and 18 half-centuries) at an average of 54.57 in 68 matches.

India played only one T20 International in 2013 - against Australia at Rajkot on October 10. Yuvraj blazed his way to a 35-ball 77* as India chased down the stiff target of 202 for the loss of 4 wickets and with 2 balls to spare.

India won the inaugural edition of the World Twenty20 in 2007, but hasn’t progressed beyond the Super 8 stage in the last 3 editions.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will stay back in Bangladesh for the World T20 that opens on March 16. India has been drawn alongside Pakistan, Australia, West Indies and a qualifier in group two.

ICC Awards nominations list leads by M.S.Dhoni

MS Dhoni leads the honours list for the upcoming 2013 ICC Awards. The India skipper has been nominated for the important Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for The Cricketer of The Year along with the ICC ODI Cricketer of The Year award.

Dhoni has also been named the winner of the People’s Choice Award, complete through online voting. The accolades don't stop there: Dhoni is also the good captain and wicketkeeper of ICC's nominal ODI Team of The Year, and the wicketkeeper of the ICC Test Team of The Year, led by England Alastair Cook who has led his team to Test wins in India in December and during the Ashes this summer.

The individual awards will be decided by a 32-member panel comprise of previous cricketers, media persons, match officials and be headed by Anil Kumble as the ICC Committee chairman. The time frame of performance to be considered for the awards is August 2, 2012 to August 25, 2013. 

Since most cricket teams will be busy playing in different corners of the world, this year's awards will be declared through a television event on December 14. 

On winning the People’s Choice award, Dhoni said: “This is one of the awards that have given me tremendous satisfaction, since it comes from the key stakeholders of the game - the fans. Thanks from the people who support and encourage us day in and day out, only inspires me to put in that much more, and go the extra mile for them. I would like to thank all those people who have voted in my favor.

It's been a period of wildly variable fortunes for Dhoni. He had the disappointments of losing the home Test series to England and an ODI series to Pakistan. India had also failed to qualify for the 2012 World Twenty20 match knockouts. Dhoni had to witness the near breakup of his IPL franchise during the spot-fixing and betting scandal. He has put all of that behind him to lead the Indian team judiciously to key wins, including the ICC Champions Trophy in England and the twin wins in Tests and ODIs against Australia.

• Mahela Jayawardena (SL). Mahela Jayawardena, batting on 91 with Sri Lanka on 229-7, gloves Jeetan Patel’s delivery and is caught at the wicket by New Zealand wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk and starts walking before the umpire raised his finger. The nomination has come from a member of the New Zealand squad who felt Mahela’s actions were deserving of reference for the award as it happened at a very crucial stage of the match and Mahela, whose side was in some bother, walked without even waiting for an umpire’s decision. 

• Farhad Reza (Bang): Pakistan v Bangladesh, ICC World Twenty20 -2012, Group Stage matches, 25 September 2012. Farhad Reza of Bangladesh, in an attempt to catch Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed, touches the boundary. Before the on-field umpires refer the catch to the third umpire, the 26-year-old Bangladeshi signals a six, confirming that his foot had touched the boundary. This was finished with minimum fuss. 

LG PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD (via internet voting): Alastair Cook (Eng), Clarke (Aus), MS Dhoni (Ind), Virat Kohli (Ind), AB de Villiers (SA). Winner: Dhoni.

NOMINATIONS — INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Michael Clarke (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng), MS Dhoni (Ind), and Kumar Sangakkara (SL).

ICC TEST CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind), Michael Clarke (Aus), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Dale Steyn (SA).

ICC ODI CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Shikhar Dhawan (Ind), MS Dhoni (Ind), Misbah ul-Haq (Pak), Ravindra Jadeja (Ind), Kumar Sangakkara (SL). 

ICC WOMEN’S ODI CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Suzie Bates (NZ), Charlotte Edwards (Eng), Meg Lanning (Aus), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Anya Shrubsole (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI).

ICC EMERGING CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Trent Boult (NZ), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Joe Root (Eng), Mitchell Starc (Aus). 

ICC ASSOCIATE AND AFFILIATE CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Kevin O’Brien (Ire), Kyle Coetzer (Scot), Ed Joyce (Ire), Nawroz Mangal (Afg).

ICC TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR:

• Umar Gul (Pak) (SL) – 2.2-0-6-5 v South Africa, Centurion, 3 March 2013

• Martin Guptill (NZ) – 101* (69b, 9x4, 6x6) v South Africa, East London, 23 December 2012

• Brendon McCullum (NZ) – 123 (53b, 11x4, 7x6) v Bangladesh, Pallekele, 1 October 2012

• Ajanth Mendis (SL) – 4-2-8-6 v Zimbabwe, Hambantota, 18 September 2012

ICC WOMEN’S T20I CRICKETER OF THE YEAR: Suzie Bates (NZ), Shanel Daley (WI), Deandra Dottin (WI), Meg Lanning (Aus), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI).

DAVID SHEPHERD TROPHY FOR ICC UMPIRE OF THE YEAR: Aleem Dar (Pak), Steve Davis (Eng), Kumar Dharmasena (SL), Marais Erasmus (SA), Ian Gould (Eng), Tony Hill (NZ), Richard Illingworth (Eng), Richard Kettleborough (Eng), Nigel Llong (Eng), Bruce Oxenford (Aus), Paul Reiffel (Aus), Rodney Tucker (Aus).

Vettori injury out of West Indies Tests

Previous New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori has ruled himself out of the upcoming West Indies test series starting next week due to fitness worries as he comes back from a serious injury.

The 34-year-old player all-rounder had operation on his left Achilles in June and, despite returning to the domestic arena this month, is unsure if he can cope with five-day matches. International cricket, and in main test cricket, places enormous demands on the body and I simply haven't played enough recently to be confident of meeting those demands, Vettori said in a statement on Tuesday.

The left-arm spinner said his short-term plan would be to concentrate on his domestic side Northern Districts and Brisbane Heat in Australia Twenty20 competition before re-evaluating his fitness in the New Year. What I cannot afford to do is throwing myself back into the international arena prematurely and re-injures myself, added Vettori.

Vettori, who boasts 4,516 runs and 360 wickets in test cricket, played the last of his 112 tests against West Indies in July 2012.

The 3-test series starts in Dunedin on December 3, with matches in Wellington and Hamilton to follow. New Zealand then hosts India in February.

Johnson Speed of the storm England all out

Australia Paceman Mitchell Johnson returned to his brutal best Friday as Australia blew away England for just 136 all out to turn the 1st Ashes Test on today. 

Australia, castigated for a top-order failure on day one, roared back to rattle the trophy-holders with 6 wickets for nine in one of their worst Ashes collapses. By stumps on the 2nd day in Brisbane, the home side had cruised to 65 without loss, 224 runs in front, with Warner on 45 and Chris Rogers not out 15.

And it was Mitchell Johnson, who has been unreliable in his Test career and was targeted mercilessly by England Barmy Army fans in the 2010/2011 series, who sparked the turnaround. The left-armer, steaming in and bowling at hostile pace, captured four for 46 off 13 overs, taking the wickets of Jonathan Trott, Michael Carberry, Joe Root and Graeme Swann.

The confidence flooded back into the Australians, coming off a 3-0 series loss to England 3 months ago, with Ryan Harris taking 3 wickets, spinner Nathan Lyon denied a hat-trick and Steven Smith holding 3 catches. They will now be confident of extending an unbeaten record at the Gabba ground which goes back to 1988. Australia is also trying to avoid losing four Ashes series in a row for the first time in 123 years.

England, who lost 6 wickets for just 9 runs, were left to contemplate their heaviest collapse since Melbourne 1990, when they gave up nine wickets for 47.Steven Smith dives to catch the ball played by Ian Bell. Their lowest first-innings score since the 102 against Australia at Headingly in 2009 came after the key scalp of Kevin Pietersen triggered a clatter of wickets.

Kevin Pietersen, playing his 100th Test, was dropped on 8 in a sharp caught and bowled chance by Peter Siddle. England were pinned down for 13 dot balls before Kevin Pietersen, on 18 from 42 balls, lost attention and flicked Harris off his pads to mid-wicket, where debutant George Bailey accepted a fine catch.

Johnson struck again three overs later when he peppered Carberry with some short deliveries before getting him to edge to Watson at second slip for 40.Then Lyon struck, removing the dangerous Ian Bell (5) and Matt Prior (0) with consecutive deliveries.

Smith snapped up a bat-pad catch to dismiss Bell, the man of the last series in England, and took a magnificent sprawling catch again next ball to send Prior on his way after a DRS review for a golden duck. 

Root played away from his body and nicked to third slip, where Smith took his third catch in two overs to leave England shell-shocked at 89 for 7. Graeme Swann was next to go, caught close in by Bailey off Johnson for a duck, while Harris dismissed Chris Tremlett (8) and Siddle finally finished Broad's spirited knock of 32, caught in the deep by Chris Rogers.

Before lunch Australia had removed England captain Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott cheaply.

Harris coaxed an edge off Cook to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for 13 and Mitchell Johnson followed up snaring the wicket of Trott, who tickled one down the leg-side to Haddin for 10. The first innings by Australia had ended on 295 when wicketkeeper Haddin was run out chasing a century. The veteran wicketkeeper, 78 not out overnight, attempted a risky second run on 94 but was beaten by Carberry's throw from deep point to Prior behind the stumps.

Broad, England's hero of the first day walked off the Gabba holding the match ball aloft in tribute to his 6 for 81 off 24 overs.

Sehwag, Zaheer, Harbhajan Name No BCCI 2013-14 contracts

Zaheer Khan, Sehwag and Harbhajan have been dropped from the Indian cricket board list of contracted players for 2013-14. Tendulkar, who retires on going the Mumbai Test, remains in Group A.

The list has been cut down to 25 players from 37 last year. 

Tendulkar, India captain MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ashwin, Suresh Raina form Group A.

The BCCI will pay them Rs.1 crore for the year.

The axe does not augur well for Zaheer Khan, Sehwag and Harbhajan, who are trying to make a national comeback. 

Yuvraj and out-of-form Gautam Gambhir remain in the BCCI's scheme of things but have been demoted to Group B where a player draws Rs.50 lakh per annum. 

Keeping them company in the grade are in-form Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rohit Sharma. The likes of Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra and Ajinkya Rahane are in Group C and get Rs.25 lakh each for the central contract.

The players who do not figure in these lists will be placed in Grade C if they represent India in Tests/ODIs/ T20 Internationals during the season, said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel in a statement Thursday.

The grade list:

Grade A (Rs. 1 crore annually): Tendulkar, Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ashwin, and Suresh Raina. 

Grade B (Rs.50 lakh a year): Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rohit Sharma. 

Grade C (Rs.25 lakh): Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Vinay Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat, and Mohit Sharma.

WI three-match ODI series Squad Against India Tour

India Tour WI three-match ODI series Squad
Dwayne Bravo	Chris Gayle	Darren Sammy
Lendl Simmons	Marlon Samuels	Tino Best
Darren Bravo	Johnson Charles	Narsingh Deonarine
Jason Holder	Sunil Narine	Veerasammy Permaul
Kieran Powell	Denesh Ramdin	Ravi Rampaul