'More than nervous, I was emotional' - Rayudu :
"It feels marvelous," said Rayudu after he shared a match-winning 159-run stand with Virat Kohli to help thump Zimbabwe by six wickets in the series opener at Harare Sports Club. Kohli departed before the match was won - though not before racking up a 15th ODI century - but Rayudu stood firm and hit the winning runs off a Tinotenda Mutombodzi full toss."It's been pretty emotional," he said. "More than nervous, I was very emotional." If that was the case, he hid his emotions well after entering with India at 57 for 2 with the openers back in the pavilion. India weren't exactly under intense pressure at the time, but the match was far from won.With Kohli stroking the ball supremely at the other end, Rayudu was afforded the luxury of time and space to play himself in, and left three of his first 10 deliveries alone. Placing the ball and running well, he left the bulk of the aggressive stroke play to Kohli and reached a debut fifty, off 74 deliveries, in the 39th over."I think he's playing the best cricket possible," Rayudu said of Kohli. "I definitely feel that he's the best in the world right now in the one-day format. He made it a lot easier for me, and I was just looking at the way he was constructing his innings. It's a very good learning experience."Rayudu's clashes with authority over the years have been well documented, and a large tattoo on the side of his neck completes the 'bad boy' image, but it was at the IPL that he found a support structure to temper his fiery side and harness his potential. Whether the tournament helps or hinders young cricketers' development is a deeply divisive issue, but in Rayudu's case the Mumbai Indians set-up seemed to bring out the best in him."My family, my friends and especially the Mumbai Indians support staff [have been there for me]," Rayudu said. "Sachin [Tendulkar] and Robin Singh especially. They've helped me a lot, and I'd definitely like to thank them for that."I always had the belief that if I could get things right and I could get my mind right I could make it into the team one day, and I'm really happy that I got my chance today."
Technology here to stay: Taufel :
Simon Taufel, the former ICC Elite Panel umpire, has warned that there is a "double edge" to using technology in decision making but officials should be more "pragmatic" in utilising all available tools.Taufel, who retired from umpiring after the World T20 in October 2012, delivered the 13th MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord's and warned that the highly intrusive nature of technology can put "pressure" on the umpire if not utilised cautiously. Yet, at the same time, Taufel said the match officials, who he called the "third team", needed to be more prudent about the use of technology.
Ramdin dropped from T20 squad
Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin continued to be left out of West Indies' limited-overs plans, as he was omitted from the 13-man T20 squad for the two-match series against Pakistan. The squad includes Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who missed the previous T20 series against Zimbabwe in March due to rest and injury respectively. Besides Ramdin, the only other player dropped is the allrounder Andre Russell.Ramdin was left out of the ODI squad in the ongoing five-match series against Pakistan, leaving the wicketkeeping duties to Johnson Charles. Ramdin has hit only one half-century since his recall to the West Indies one-day side in October 2011, and had been dropped in several recent matches, during the Champions Trophy and the home tri-series which also featured India and Sri Lanka. Kieron Pollard was retained despite his poor limited-overs form in 2013, making six ducks in ODIs.The two matches are scheduled on July 27 and 28 in St Vincent. This will be West Indies' last set of international matches for the season before the inaugural Caribbean Premier League begins on July 30
West Indies T20 squad
- Darren Sammy (capt), Samuel Badree, Christopher Barnwell, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons
CIC issues formal notice to BCCI :
India's Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the BCCI and all its 29 member units for details about the land and buildings occupied by them, including information on stadiums allotted by state governments, the annual rent paid by the BCCI, and its units and copies of lease deeds as part of their agreement. The Information Commissioner has constituted a full bench of the CIC to hear the case on July 25 and 26 in New Delhi.
The CIC is a government body formed to effectively shed light on the working of India's traditionally opaque public institutions by entertaining petitions from the public under the country's relatively new Right to Information Act (RTI); a ruling earlier this month sought to bring political parties within its purview. Under the law, the Central and State Information Commissions have the same powers as a civil court.The CIC's issuing of a notice to the BCCI is yet another step by the Indian government to establish the BCCI as a public body. The BCCI is currently registered as a private society. In its notice, dated July 10, the CIC has directed the BCCI and all of its affiliated units to attend the hearing either personally or through authorised representatives.The CIC's deputy registrar K L Dass, who is the signatory on the notice to the BCCI, said: "The question here is whether the BCCI is a public authority or not and [to this end] the CIC wants to check if the BCCI is getting any government funding? This is why [the] CIC has asked the BCCI and its units to provide details."The CIC has also instructed the BCCI and its member units to provide information regarding income tax, customs duty, entertainment tax exemptions, if any, for the last five years from the 2007-08 fiscal year. The full bench is also expected to examine the security expenses incurred by states government for organising cricket matches during the same period.The petitioner, Delhi resident Madhu Agrawal, says that bringing the BCCI under the RTI Act is a matter of national importance because the BCCI conducts cricket matches with various teams under their purview, and utilises facilities offered by the federal and state governments.
England will be ruthless: Prior :
England wicketkeeper Matt Prior is adamant that the hosts, leading 2-0 in the Ashes, will be unrelenting in their pressure against Australia. James Anderson had already sounded out a warning to the Baggy Greens, insisting that England would be looking to improve on their performance from a massive 347-run victory at Lord's once the two arch-rivals clash at Old Trafford from August 1.
Prior was also echoing Alec Stewart's views when he stressed on the importance of keeping the Australians down when they are actually hurting. Despite Australia's sixth successive defeat in Test cricket, fans and former cricketers are wary of their reputation of bouncing back from a corner. For me the minute we let up and ease off we will be bitten hard. Australia are going to fight to come back and if we let them in, they will kick the door down. We have to make sure we remain ruthless and grab the next match from ball one. Secondly, this is the Ashes. When has a team ever taken a step back? Australia never let up when they played against us in the 1990s," Prior wrote in The UK Telegraph.
A host of former English cricketers had called upon Alastair Cook's men to do to the Aussies what they did to them for decades. Prior, one of the most gusty characters in world cricket said there was no way the team could now think of letting the intensity drop. They are almost assured of retaining the Ashes with a clear lead over the struggling visitors but none of England's players are taking things for granted.
"They never took a backward step so why should we now? It is not the way we want to play our cricket.
We know our strengths. We know we have a good side and confident England team but it can turn very quickly. The important thing is to continue to perform well and look to improve."
The Ashes this summer has seen the emergence of a fine young talent in Joe Root, who announced his arrival as a Test opener with a breathtaking 180 at Lord's and Prior said the 22-year-old knows how to switch on and off at a young stage of his career.
"Obviously Joe Root put in a massive performance. He is just like a little kid in the dressing room. He is a bit of a prankster and has been brilliant for the team, fitting in well off the field. On the field you could not find a more serious bloke committed to his game. Away from it, he is very relaxed and chilled out. One of the reasons he has done so well at a young age is that he can laugh at himself," Prior wrote. Indian batsmen can tackle SA pacers : Rhodes
Former cricketer Jonty Rhodes gave a huge morale-boost to the Indian batsmen for their upcoming battle against the South African pace attack in the three-Test series later this year, saying they possessed the wherewithal to confront the high-quality home team bowlers led by Dale Steyn.
"In the IPL, they (Indians) are playing against the South Africans and Australians. They have a lot more confidence playing against them. They have the ability and the skill. They are not afraid of the pace," Rhodes said.
"Dale Steyn is fast but he is not going to kill you. Vernon Philander bowls 130 kmph but he bowls in good areas and Morne Morkel gets bounce. It needs different skills to face those three different bowlers, but the Indian line up certainly has the ability to outclass the South African pace attack if they put their minds to it," said the 43-year-old former Proteas player.
India are scheduled to play the world's highest-ranked Test team in three matches scheduled at Kingsmead (Durban), Newlands (Cape Town) and New Wanderers Stadium (Johannesburg) between December 26 and January 19.
The ex-cricketer, renowned for his extraordinary fielding at backward point and who has become a fielding coach after his playing days, termed Virat Kohli and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the real danger men for his home country as both were good players off the back foot.
"Kohli is a very strong player. He accumulates runs very quickly. He will be a real danger man in South Africa and don't forget the captain (Dhoni) batting down the order. He (also) scores runs at a fast rate and is not afraid of the short-ball.
"That is going to be another key in South Africa, the guys who pull and cut. Kohli and Dhoni play very well off the back foot," he said.
Rhodes said Kohli is the right choice for vice-captaincy and described Dhoni as a street-smart cricketer.
"I have only watched Dhoni during IPL and watched how smart he is. He has got a great record in winning matches and tough contests. He is street smart. His batting is definitely not traditional.
"Every time he brings on a bowler, every time a new batsman comes to the crease, he has got a specific plan for that. I have great respect for the way he has led the team in the last four seasons," said the Natal-born player.
He further said playing in South Africa will be tough for a sub-continental team but backed the Indian batsmen, saying that they should occupy the crease for long periods.
"Playing a Test series in South Africa is always difficult for a team from the sub-continent. South Africa are the number one ranked Test team currently. India have struggled a bit in the last year and and a half," Rhodes said.
"The key to do well in South Africa is to bat for long. There is bounce in the wicket. Even if you win the first session of the day, you could still be bowled out at the end of the day. You have to bat well in all three sessions.
"India has a team that is capable. They are batting long. Shikhar (Dhawan), Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, all these guys are used to batting for long periods of time. That will be the key when they tour South Africa.
"They have got a bowling attack that can get 20 wickets but can their batsmen get big runs, that will be the key," he said.
Rhodes said he looked forward to senior cricketer Tendulkar, who has played 198 Tests and all set to complete a mind-boggling 200th match, to do well.
"Sachin Tendulkar is not in the team because he wants to play 200 Test matches. He wants to do well for India. He still has got that ability.
"It is 24 years of international cricket, a record in itself. He is going to play his 200th Test match now. Most records are meant to be broken but I don't think this is going to broken, not for a very long time anyway."
Rhodes was diplomatic when asked to respond to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting's recent rating of retired West Indian great Brian Lara ahead of the record-setting Indian ace Tendulkar.
"Lara, Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are the three of the best players I have seen. It's difficult for me to pick one over the other, but all of them have different reasons for being such top players," he said.
"It is difficult for me to separate. I know Ricky Ponting would say Brian Lara is the guy who would bat quickly. But you have got to remember that Tendulkar batted for a long period of time and we had to grind ourselves and bat for a long period of time because the wickets were slow and turning, so you couldn't put bat on ball."
Rhodes, the fielding coach of IPL side Mumbai Indians, praised Rohit Sharma and said India's new ODI opener now needs to establish himself in the team and cement his place.
"He is now opening the batting for India, so it's a new position for him. He has to find his feet somewhere. As a player he can play anywhere. I really think he is a special player. Good to see him get the opportunity and hopefully convert that and establish himself in the side.
"If you watched IPL 5, he won us a lot of matches by playing through the innings. In a 20-over game scoring 50 or 60, that is winning the game. He has to convert that."
The South African advised Sharma to learn from the way Kohli converts his half tons into centuries.
"Virat Kohli's conversion rate from 50s to 100s is pretty amazing. Once he gets in, he certainly goes through. Maybe it's a skill that Rohit would take on. He is so gifted and being so talented he plays so many different shots."
Rhodes backed the much-debated Decision Review System which has come under the microscope with several debatable umpiring decisions occurring during the ongoing England-Australia Ashes rubber.
"I support technology. Innovation or technology, anyway you can make the game fairer to both teams. It might be wrong sometimes, but it is wrong for both sides. Unfortunately human error is something you can't get away from but if you can reduce that then you have a role within the game.
"You may say we are not going to use it because it is not 100 per cent foolproof but it does reduce the possibility of getting it wrong on the field. I think it is fair for both the teams," the former cricketer maintained.
Rhodes said though he had not watch all the matches of the ICC Champions Trophy, won by India, he had been impressed by the fielding of players like Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja during the IPL.
"I didn't see all the matches in Champions Trophy but from what I have seen from IPL, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, (Ravindra) Jadeja, they all are superb. What IPL has done is that it has introduced a whole new level of fielding," he added. Court order threatens more Pak cricket turmoil :
Pakistani cricket faced fresh turmoil Tuesday as a court cancelled all decisions made by the interim board chairman and demanded a member of the public be included on the national selection committee.
The ruling by the Islamabad High Court severely curtails the powers of Najam Sethi, appointed as temporary Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman after Zaka Ashraf was thrown out over his controversial election.
The court cancelled the appointment of former captain Moin Khan as chief selector and ordered the PCB to draft a "keen follower of the game" from the public onto the panel that chooses the national side.
The 30-page judgment seen by AFP nullified the appointment of a new selection committee by Sethi -- which means Pakistan cannot presently select a side to play Zimbabwe next month.
PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said Tuesday's judgment limited the interim chairman to a caretaker role with little authority to make decisions and the board was considering an appeal.
"We are reviewing the judgment and will decide the legal course of action soon," Rizvi said.
The court issued guidelines on the process to elect a new PCB chairman, which is to take place within 90 days, and demanded a shakeup of the selection committee.
"The scope of the selection committee is required to be enhanced by including one sports journalist, cricket commentator and one keen follower of the game of cricket having sufficient knowledge from the general public," the court ruled.
Cricket selectors are customarily drawn from the ranks of former players and coaches with personal knowledge of current cricketers and direct experience of the game at the highest level.
The court upheld an earlier court ruling suspending Ashraf from the chairman's job following complaints about the process to elect him.
Ashraf was appointed chairman by PCB patron and the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, in October 2011 under a previous PCB constitution.
But the board was forced to introduce a new constitution earlier this year after the International Cricket Council (ICC) ordered an end to government interference.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, who has also challenged Ashraf's re-appointment in the Sindh High Court, welcomed the judgment.
"I see this as a positive judgment but it will take some time to bring all the reforms in Pakistan cricket," Latif said. "We must improve our cricket set-up." Pakistan finish strongly to beat WIndies :
Pakistan claimed a dramatic four-wicket victory over West Indies with just one ball remaining in the fifth ODI in St Lucia.
Chasing a target of 243 for victory and with their run chase disrupted by a rain delay with 14 balls left, Pakistan crept over the line after needing two runs from the final over, in which Misbah-ul-Haq was also dismissed for 63 in a tense finale.
Saeed Ajmal completed the winning run off the penultimate ball of the match, his only of the game, after narrowly missing out on being run-out as Pakistan claimed a 3-1 series victory.
Ahmed Shehzad (64) and Misbah were the mainstays of the visitors' innings, with Umar Akmal also chipping in with 37, but two late wickets in the last three overs threatened to derail what had at one stage, looked to be a certain win.
However, the West Indies' total of 242, which had looked set to have been much less until Dwayne Bravo struck a quick-fire 48 at the end of the home side's innings, was not enough, even though Pakistan made hard work of securing victory.
Bravo had led a late recovery as the West Indies battled to set a competitive target after a stuttering innings in which Junaid Khan (three for 48) was the pick of the Pakistan attack.
Bravo, who made his way out to the crease when the West Indies were six wickets down for a score of 170 with less than six overs remaining, hit 48 from 27 balls to help his side to a total of 242 for seven.
The Windies captain struck five fours and three sixes in his short, impact innings before he was caught by Haris Sohail off the bowling of Saeed Ajmal.
After losing the toss and being put into bat, the West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals, causing their innings to stutter and fail to gain any real momentum.
Devon Smith was the first man out for just seven before Darren Bravo's dismissal left the home side on 44 for two.
Johnson Charles (43) and Marlon Samuels (45) offered some resistance, but Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons failed to get out of the 20s as Khan did most of the damage, while there were two wickets apiece for Ajmal and Mohammad Irfan.
Darren Sammy's late cameo of 29 from 18 balls assisted Dwayne Bravo's late blast as the West Indies added 53 for the seventh wicket to give themselves something to bowl at, but the target proved to be just short, as Pakistan claimed a dramatic victory. India 3rd In T20 rankings :
India held on to their third spot after the annual update of the ICC Twenty20 Rankings was announced on Thursday. Sri Lanka have retained their position as the number one ranked team in the list.
The annual update was released just two days before Pakistan take on defending ICC World Twenty20 champions West Indies in a two-match series, in Kingstown, St Vincent.
At the June ICC Board meeting during the Annual Conference week in London, the ICC Board agreed to change the T20I rankings period from three years to four years. The ICC Board also decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings should now take place on May 1, rather than August 1, to better align with the current international calendar.
This change has been incorporated in the latest update, and has been backdated to May 1, 2013. The updated table now reflects all T20I matches completed after August 1, 2010. All T20I matches played until the start of May 2014 will be added to this table.
There are no ranking changes as a result of this annual update and most countries' ratings change by no more than a point or two.
14 out of the 16 countries with T20I status are ranked, with Afghanistan and Canada yet to play the required eight rated matches. Afghanistan need to play one more and Canada two more prior to May 2014 in order to join the rankings.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have an opportunity to move to the second place in the ICC T20I rankings table if they win both the matches against West Indies in the upcoming series.
Fourth-ranked Pakistan are currently on 118 ratings points, but could potentially move up to second place with 124 ratings points, thereby swapping places with second-placed West Indies with 120 ratings points.
On the other hand, if West Indies win both the matches they could gain five ratings points to finish at 132, reducing the gap with number-one ranked Sri Lanka to just two ratings points.Gilchrist wants Australia to learn from England :
Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist advocated Michael Clarke's struggling batsmen to take a leaf out of England's book in wearing the opposition down after the visitors found themselves trailing 0-2 in the ongoing Ashes, owing to defeats at Trent Bridge and Lord's.
Australia's batsmen have under scathing criticism from their new coach Darren Lehmann and former cricketers, who have raised questions on their technique and mental ability against some quality English bowling. Australia's problems have been compounded by the fact that their late lower order have seemed more adept at scoring runs than the likes of Shane Watson, Chris Rogers and Phil Hughes. However, Gilchrist urged his countrymen, in the midst of their worst phase in Test cricket, for nearly 30 years, to learn how to wear bowlers down from England's in-form batsmen.
"Both teams have found themselves at 30-odd for 3 more than once already in this series, but the difference has been that England have had batsmen who then resorted to what these days would be called old-fashioned grinding, occupying the crease and forging a partnership. As the Australians have found to their detriment during the first two Tests, every minute that you resurrect your innings it wears down your opponents," Gilchrist wrote in his column in The Independent.
Experts have even suggested that the current crop of players representing Australia is not good enough but Gilchrist backed the existing talent pool in England and said it was all about mental strength in the face of such severe pressure.
"Australia's batting group certainly has the talent but now it's all about mental application, and that is such a difficult part of the game to apply when you feel under siege. That's how the Australians would feel now. Hopefully the batsmen, individually and with the expertise they have around them, will be able to work out their plans for Old Trafford and not lose focus. It is one thing to pounce on loose balls, but quite another to attack without regard for the bowling," Gilchrist wrote.
It is not like none of Australia's batsmen have tried to apply themselves and learn from their mistakes. While Watson, one of the most senior in the team, has been battling major technical flaws, Clarke got back to semblance of some form with a battling half-century in the second innings at Lord's, with strong support from Usman Khawaja, who found his feet too after a poor effort in the first essay. Gilchrist said it was important for batsmen to be sure of their approach in the middle, for "while your mind is swirling with uncertainty, the one certainty is you won't produce your best."
Khwaja's positive intent impressed the former glovesman, who wrote: "In the second innings, everything Khawaja did looked really positive, from his first ball to his first forward defensive, to his first scoring shot. It looked as though he was backing himself. He got to 50 and forged a good partnership with Michael Clarke and it was an example that a positive mindset, even in defence, is of paramount importance."
Gilchrist also relives his own horror tour of 2005, when England launched that sensational assault to regain the Ashes but hoped the current batsmen would do what he could not in the face of some oustanding spells against Andrew Flintoff, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. "For now, here's hoping Australia's batsmen can do what I personally couldn't in 2005 and get their heads in the right place." Hansie Cronje's father threatens legal action against Indian police :
After Indian authorities brought charges against former South African captain Hansie Cronje and five international bookmakers 13 years after the scandal that rocked the international cricket fraternity, father of the deceased Hansie Cronje responded by saying that he will take legal action the Indian police for filing a chargesheet which implicates his son in the 2000 match-fixing scandal.
The original charge sheet alleges that Cronje received more than Rs 12 million in two payments from bookmaker Sanjeev Chawla but Cronje senior said Hansie had received less than a quarter of that amount. A New Delhi court later ruled that charges against Cronje should be dropped because he died in a plane crash in 2002.
"It's nonsense. Where is the money?" Cronje told the Afrikaans daily 'Beeld' here.
"I'm considering legal action against the Indian police," he added.
He said he plans to move court because the Indian police had known since 1981 that match-fixing was occurring, but did nothing about it.
"Then they made Hansie the scapegoat," he said.
Cronje initially denied being involved in match-fixing, even convincing his then boss and South African cricket supremo Ali Bacher to dismiss the allegations by the Indian authorities.
Within days, Bacher announced Cronje's suspension even as the South African government instituted the King Commission of Inquiry to investigate the allegations following a confession by Cronje.
The Commission ended inconclusively but Cronje was subsequently banned for life from cricket at all levels.
Warner makes statement with 193 :
Controversial Australian batsman David Warner sent a timely reminder to the struggling Ashes team with a 193-run innings against South Africa A Wednesday in Pretoria.
Warner was booted out of the senior team before the five-Test Ashes series against England after punching home batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar after a Champions Trophy match during June.
Sent to Africa to rediscover his form, the Australian began disappointingly with innings of six and 11 in an 80-run defeat of a Zimbabwe XI in Harare.
But it was a very different story at LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria as left-hander Warner let loose against the South African second stringers in a 315-minute spell at the crease.
His venomous 226-ball knock included 29 fours and one six before being bowled by Marchant de Lange to leave Australia A 399-5 after 89.4 overs at stumps on day one.
Australia are 2-0 down in the series after some woeful batting and with the third Test starting at Old Trafford in Manchester next week there could be second thoughts about keeping Warner in Africa.
