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Timing of the selection was wrong: Anil Kumble
2008-01-23 09:28:00
ADELAIDE: Indian skipper Anil Kumble on Wednesday admitted that the timing of announcing the one-day side was far from 'ideal' but hoped his axed senior players would shrug off the disappointment to stay focussed for the crucial fourth Test against Australia, starting here on Thursday."(The selection) is not in their hands. I have gone through it, it's not ideal (the announcement of the team before the Test) but that's the way. It's a bit disappointing."It's not easy on senior players, having said that we would keep our focus on this Test," the ace leg spinner said. Kumble said the senior players were mature enough to take the exclusion in their stride."It's a challenge (to get them around). People (not selected) would be disappointed but they have played enough cricket to understand, why this (Test) is important for Indian cricket and to stay in the series," he said.Shockingly Sourav Ganguly, and to a lesser extent Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have been left out of the one...
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Kumble hopes for a memorable farewell to Australia
2008-01-23 07:53:00
India captain Anil Kumble said on Wednesday he was hoping to end his Test career on Australia n soil on a high note with a series-equalling win in the fourth and final Test at Adelaide Oval. The 37-year-old veteran of 124 Tests is certain the Test starting on Thursday will be his last in Australia, as it is also likely to be for star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (both 34), Sourav Ganguly (35) and even VVS Laxman (33). "For sure, this will be my last one in Australia so it'll be nice to go back with a victory," Kumble said on Wednesday. "It's been fantastic, this is my third trip to Australia and I've really enjoyed all three visits." Adelaide holds a special place in Kumble's heart, for both personal and team reasons. It was here India won by four wickets in 2003 to level the series, and that a recalled Kumble produced his breakthrough performance on Australian soil with six wickets. He said that match was a turning point in a career that has now produced 603 Test wi...
More About: Hopes , Farewell

Team unaffected by Ganguly ouster: Dhoni
2008-01-23 07:50:00
ADELAIDE: Indian vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday dismissed any notion of disquiet in the dressing room over the furore which has followed the team in the wake of Sourav Ganguly ?s omission from the one-day squad.?I think it has affected journalists more than it has us. We are back in the practice session, we trained in the morning, it has not affected us anyway,? said a defiant Dhoni on whether the team?s preparation for the crucial fourth and final Test had been disrupted by the supposed disharmony after the Ganguly ouster.Dhoni did not want to field any question on Ganguly as he said the Adelaide Test was the team?s priority and the one-dayers could wait. He gave enough indications on the kind of leader he wants to be, as well as the batsman and wicketkeeper he was hoping to be in his yet fledgling career of 25 Tests. ?What Anil (Kumble) has stressed is that there should be a lot of communication between us. If somebody hasn?t been picked for the side you have to go ...
More About: Team , Ouster

We can be number one, declares Ganguly
2008-01-21 09:26:00
With a resurgent India gunning for glory, Australia's stranglehold as the numero uno Test playing nation is under threat, said former captain Sourav Ganguly .According to him, Australia are not the same force since bowling greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne called it quits. So while the Aussies are still on top of the table, India is closing in on the gap, he said."Australia is still the No. 1 team in the world but I think we have a very good side that could be No. 1," Ganguly told Australian daily Herald Sun.Ganguly believes India played better cricket throughout this summer and sounded confident of levelling the four-match series by winning the final Test in Adelaide."We have a side which has played better against Australia than any other side in the world, which is a good sign for us."To be honest, we have played better than them [this summer]. I don't want to talk about the past but I feel we were very unlucky not to win in Sydney," he said."We were happy to win in Perth and ...
More About: Number

Ganguly fans block rail tracks
2008-01-21 09:04:00
Train services in two sections of Eastern Rail way were affected on Monday as irate supporters of Sourav Ganguly put up a blockade at Barasat in North 24 Parganas protesting against the left-hander's exclusion from the ODI squad for the upcoming triangular tournament in Australia.The protestors, comprising mainly young men, started the blockade at 1005 hours local time, raising slogans demanding that Ganguly be reinducted into the team, according to an Eastern Railway spokesman."We want Dada back. It's a conspiracy," the protestors shouted.As a result, train services between Barasat-Bongaon and Barasat-Hasnabad sections were affected.The Indian selectors on Sunday dropped Ganguly and also left out two other senior pros, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, while announcing the squad for the tri-series in Australia, also involving Sri Lanka.Incensed at Ganguly being kept out of the team, around 40 cricket buffs gathered near his residence in Behala on Sunday and raised slogans against the s...
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No place for Dravid, Ganguly in ODI side
2008-01-21 06:37:00
It was MS Dhoni all the way. The ODI and T20 captain's imprint on the 16-man squad chosen on Sunday for the ODI Tri-series in Australia is loud and clear. The selectors went along with Dhoni's judgement - after consulting Test captain Anil Kumble - to pick a young squad with a major focus on fielding abilities because the bigger grounds in Australia require strong throwing arms and swift movers. It meant that both Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid find no place in the team, as reported by TOI on Sunday. The think-tank says it's trying to learn from the ODI series loss to Australia at home which it believes was lost due to poor fielding and slog-overs bowling. Also, Dhoni's deputy Yuvraj Singh has got a reprieve for now, but his attitude and fitness will be under the scanner. Manoj Tiwary, Munaf Patel and Yusuf Pathan have been named as standbys. From the team that last played an ODI series, Ganguly and Murali Kartik were left out while an unfit Zaheer Khan was not considered. In t...
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'Sir Sachin' if Brown has his way
2008-01-21 06:32:00
NEW DELHI: Can Sachin Tendulkar join the honoured ranks of Sir Don Bradman or Sir Gary Sobers? Well, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown certainly seems to think so. If he had his way, he would recommend the little master for a knighthood. "I would like to see some of the great players of the modern era ? like Sachin Tendulkar ? proposed for honorary awards so the British nation can salute their achievements in these sports." If Brown's remarks come true, we could be looking at the first Indian sports knight. In between courting trade and investment from India and China visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown showed where his heart really lay ? at the WACA stadium in Perth. Complimenting India on its test victory over Australia, Brown shed his normally grave countenance. "I congratulate India on a famous victory - beating an Australian side who have won their last 16 games and doing so away from home." England's long cricketing feud with Australia clearly fuelled Brown's ent...

Perth win assures India of second place in test rankings
2008-01-21 06:26:00
India is certain of moving up to second spot in the test championship table following their remarkable victory over top-ranked Australia in the third test in Perth on Saturday.An International Cricket Council (ICC) statement on Sunday said India would move ahead of second-placed Sri Lanka regardless of the outcome of the final test in Adelaide next week.India will move two ratings points ahead of Sri Lanka if the final test ends in a draw and by four points if they manage to square the four-test series which they trail 2-1."Even if Australia wins the match in Adelaide, India will sit above Sri Lanka when ratings points are calculated beyond the decimal point," the statement said.The table is updated at the conclusion of each series.India's 72-run victory brought Australia's world record-equalling 16-match winning run to a stunning end.It was Australia's first test defeat since the fourth Ashes match against England at Trent Bridge in Aug. 2005.The last time Australia lost a test ...
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Jayawardene hails India's victory, looks forward to tri-series
2008-01-21 06:23:00
Colombo - Sri Lankan cricket captain, Mahela Jaya wardene, has hailed India's historic victory in Perth against Australia and said he looked forward to facing the rejuvenated neighbours in the tri-series starting on February 3. "It is an excellent win for India," Jayawardene said, adding the game was played in a good atmosphere after the unsavoury incidents in Sydney. "After the setbacks in Sydney, the (Perth) game was played on a much better note, and we are happy that we will be there in this atmosphere," he said. Sri Lanka join India and Australia in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series starting on February 3 and the Lankan skipper said the shorter version of the game was much different from the Test cricket. "One-day international cricket is quite different from the established Test cricket and both India and Australia will be using different combinations of players and we are looking forward to join in the fray," he said. "Like the Aussies or any other side, India will definitely c...
More About: Victory , Series , Forward , Looks

India drop Ganguly for Australia tri series
2008-01-21 06:21:00
MUMBAI, India , Jan 20 (Reuters) - Indian selectors have dropped experienced batsman Saurav Ganguly for next month's triangular series in Australia , which also includes Sri Lanka.Rahul Dravid was also left out as selectors opted for youth in a 16-man squad on Sunday, with left-handed batsman Suresh Raina earning a recall after a year out of the team following some fine domestic performances.The same squad will play in the sole Twenty20 international against Australia on Feb. 1 before the one-day series."Looking towards the future team of India the selection committee has provided the youngsters who have done well in domestic cricket an excellent platform," India board (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.The 35-year-old Ganguly has performed well after he was dropped from the one-day and test sides in the wake of a public spat with then coach Greg Chappell two years ago that led to the batsman losing the captaincy.However, the selectors decided to revamp the one-day sq...
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Gavaskar leads Indian praise after Perth win
2008-01-21 06:20:00
India hailed their team's superb win over Australia in the third test in Perth on Saturday, with former batting great Sunil Gavaskar dubbing the performance as one of the greatest in the nation's test history.India, the last team to beat Australia at home in 2003, won by 72 runs to dash the hosts' bid to break their own world record of 16 consecutive test wins."To win over here, this has got to be without doubt the greatest win Indian cricket has had over the last 35-40 years." Gavaskar, who was commentating on the match, said.Australia, chasing 413 for victory, folded with over a day to spare. The victory was particularly sweet for the Indians as it was achieved barely a week after the second test in Sydney ended in controversy.Gavaskar rated the performance, India's fifth win on Australian soil, ahead of memorable 1-0 series victories in West Indies and England in 1971.The Indian cricket board praised the team and pacers Irfan Pathan, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma, who shared 14 ...
More About: Leads , Praise

Australia will bounce back, says Ponting
2008-01-21 06:13:00
PERTH - Australia are confident they will regroup from the 72-run defeat by India on Saturday to win next week's fourth and final test in Adelaide."Australian teams historically have been able to bounce back," captain Ricky Ponting told a news conference. "If we lose a game or have things not go our way we can turn things around pretty quickly."That's what our whole focus will be now. We played some great cricket in Melbourne, we played some great cricket in Sydney. We've let ourselves down a little bit in this game but it's about how we bounce back from that now."Ponting said the visitors deserved to win the third test here and keep alive their hopes of squaring the series 2-2 in Adelaide but warned Australia would learn from their errors.He said the home team were not at their best at the WACA, misjuding the pace of the pitch and making a string of fundamental mistakes."It was a tough four days, India deserved to win the game the way they did. They outplayed us for the majorit...
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Pakistan's Inzamam says controversies got to Australia
2008-01-21 06:08:00
KARACHI - Former Pakistan captain Inzamam -ul-Haq said Australia were affected by the controversies from the second test when they lost to India in the third match of the series in Perth on Saturday."I think the Australians were unnerved by the criticism they came under after the Sydney test. They were not at their best in this test," Inzamam told Reuters after India's 72-run win reduced their series deficit to 2-1.Inzamam, who retired last year after playing 120 tests and 378 one-dayers, said India deserved credit for bringing down captain Ricky Ponting's team at the WACA, one of the fastest pitches in the world."I think what happened in Sydney, the poor umpiring decisions and the (alleged racial abuse) complaint against spinner Harbhajan Singh, united them and made them more determined to beat Australia," he said."The final test in Adelaide (next week) will be a cliffhanger because the Indians have now smelt blood and know this Australian team is fallible."Pakistan's chief selec...
More About: Controversies

Australia come crashing down at Perth as India clinch glory
2008-01-19 13:07:00
Very few teams come to the Western Australia n capital and inflict heavy defeat on the Australians. The West Indies did that, 16 years ago, when Curtly Ambrose' inspired spell of 7 wickets for 1 run destroyed the Aussies. But, that was a different era. India , came into this match with a big point to prove. Bruised and battered in the previous two Test matches in the series, they left the baggage of controversy behind and moved on to Freemantle territory to put up a spirited performance in the Third Test and clinch a historic victory by 72 runs.The Indians had a single digit number in the minds as they took the field in the morning - 8 i.e. the number of wickets needed to claim victory. And eight, they got after some inspired captaincy decisions by Kumble, superb bowling by the quicks and luck. Their charge to victory came to a pause, when the ninth wicket partnership between Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson had other intentions for a while, but it only looked as though they were de...
More About: Perth , Glory , Clinch

India set Australia 413-run target
2008-01-18 09:27:00
RP Singh played what could be regarded one of the significant innings in India 's second innings after he helped the Indian lead swell over 400. He came out attacking right from the word go and his cameo might have given India just the right kind of target to defend. His innings consisted of three lofted boundaries and one huge six, which gave India some momentum after the twin-strike before tea. But, he was undone by a nasty one from Stuart Clark, which reared off a length and zooted off to Gilchrist at a height. The damage for Australia was already done as the duo added a brisk fifty run partnership. In his persuit of quick runs and extending India's lead, VVS Laxman sacrificed his wicket after Ishant Sharma stroked a boundary in the previous over. Laxman tried a back-foot cut, only to edge it to Gilchrist, ending India's innings at 294, with 412 runs ahead. Laxman dismissed for 79 after some brilliant strokeplay, filled with boundaries all over.Cometh the hour, cometh the man -...
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India paying back Australia in their own coin: Ranatunga
2008-01-18 06:42:00
Having been a thorn in Australia 's flesh during his playing days, former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga cannot hide his glee as India gives Ricky Ponting and his men a taste of their own medicine."I think this is the first time after I gave it back that Australia is now being paid back in their own coin," an amused Ranatunga told reporters on Thursday.Although he felt being head of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), he should be diplomatic and politically correct, Ranatunga looked amused with Australia getting a tit-for-tat from the visiting Indian team in the ongoing series Down Under.Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain said over the last decade, there have been issues with the Australian cricket team but he advised India not to get distracted by their on-field antics and leave it to the boards of both the countries to resolve contentious matters."Whatever happened in Sydney was unpleasant but the Indian team should not lose their focus. They should leave it to the Board to sort ...
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Wickets continue to fall for India
2008-01-18 05:52:00
Mitchell Johnson then struck a decisive blow as he removed Sourav Ganguly for a duck. He got that on the right spot, pitching just outside the off-stump and there was a hint of curl away. Ganguly did get his feet out to it, with his frontfoot in line with the middle as he smashed a thick edge off a drive. Clark at first slip made no mistake. India in trouble at 127/5.And standing tall amidst the ruins was the nightwatchman Irfan Pathan. He played some amazing strokes off the Australian bowlers and did not look like a No.7 in any form whatsoever. Some of his strokes were high on timing and placement. Another aspect of his innings was that he did not get bogged down after the wickets fell around him.Sachin Tendulkar then came in to stabilize things. He played some delightful strokes, but unfortunately could not extend his stint in the middle as Brett Lee trapped him leg-before wicket for 13. Tendulkar was decieved by the pace of a good-length delivery which ripped back in from outside...
More About: Fall

Kumble claims 600 Test wickets
2008-01-17 11:13:00
Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler and the third in the world to reach the milestone of 600 wickets on day two of the third Test against Australia in Perth on Thursday.Kumble achieved the record just after the tea break when he had Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid at first slip.Symonds (66) edged the ball which hit Dhoni?s gloves and went up in the air before Dravid pouched it safely.Symonds stood his ground while umpire Asad Rauf took some time to raise his finger even as the appeal grew louder. When the decision finally came in India?s favour, Kumble heaved a sigh of relief amidst the applause from the crowd.In a friendly gesture, Adam Gilchrist shook hands with Kumble and congratulated him.Kumble?s 600 wickets came in 124 matches at an average of 28.68. He is the third bowler after Sri Lanka?s Muttiah Muralitharan (723) and Shane Warne (708) of Australia to reach the milestone.Interestingly, in his career Kumble has captured most number of wickets against Australia. ...
More About: Claims

Rogers to open as Australia pursues record-breaking 17th test win
2008-01-17 06:10:00
PERTH - After days of waiting and batting, and waiting and batting, Chris Rogers finally got the handshake he had been craving from Australia n cricket coach Tim Nielsen.On standby since Sunday to replace Matthew Hayden in case the burly Queenslander failed to recover from a hamstring injury, Rogers has trained, and batted in the nets and for his club without any clue whether he would be playing or not.But after Hayden's run of 86 successive test appearances was officially ended in a pitchside meeting with Nielsen, skipper Ricky Ponting and trainer Alex Kountouris, Rogers was told he would be making a test debut on home soil, against India at the WACA ground today. Ponting confirmed that Hayden - who has not missed a test since 2000 - had not sufficiently overcome soreness in his right hamstring and that he was too great a risk to take into the match, where Australia chase a record 17th successive win."I am really excited at the moment, and hope I do the baggy green proud," Rogers s...
More About: Open , Test , Record , Breaking

India Reaches 297-6 Against Australia in Third Cricket Test
2008-01-17 05:53:00
India lost two late wickets to close on 297-6 against record-chasing Australia on the opening day of the third cricket Test in Perth. Rahul Dravid appeared set for his 25th Test century before top-edging Andrew Symonds while on 93, the 10th time he has been dismissed in the 90s. VVS Laxman was then caught on 27. India had earlier rallied from 59-2 with a 139-run partnership from Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. It lost four wickets in the last session after reaching 198-2 after tea. The Australians are seeking a record 17th straight Test win. Ricky Ponting's top-ranked team tied the mark of Steve Waugh's Australian side by taking a 2-0 series lead in Sydney. Mitchell Johnson made the breakthrough, removing Virender Sehwag for 29 when the batsman edged to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist. India added only two more runs before Wasim Jaffer edged a Brett Lee delivery to Gilchrist for 16. Dravid and Tendulkar, who made 71, steadied the innings before Lee struck again, trapping Tendulkar leg-be...
More About: Cricket , India

Sehwag may open at WACA
2008-01-15 06:15:00
PERTH: Had Gary Kirsten been in charge of the Indian team in Australia, Rahul Dravid would not have had to open the innings in Melbourne and Sydney. The former South African opener, who linked up with the team here on Sunday, will be advising the team management as a consultant and though he may not have the last word in selection matters, his voice will be heard with respect by skipper Anil Kumble. Asked whether India should go in with makeshift openers, Kirsten said: "Obviously, we have options in that. At a very informal level, after today we will have little more discussion about what to look at, but my personal opinion is that specialists in specialist positions is the way to go." Kirsten hinted that Sehwag , who got a hundred in the last game, may get the nod to open the innings, especially as he has the respect of the Australians in the way he plays. "I guess, Sehwag will become a factor and Rahul is certainly suited and more comfortable in the middle-order," Kirsten said. The...
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Captains? peace talks end on a happy note
2008-01-14 11:17:00
Team India captain Anil Kumble and Australian skipper Ricky Ponting met for peace talks in Perth on Monday before the third Test kicks off.Kumble said the two had a healthy discussion during the meeting, as reported by news channel Times Now.?It?s time to move on. We are looking forward to good cricket,? said the Indian Test captain.Ponting said, ?I am happy with the way the discussion went about.?The ICC match referee, Ranjan Madugalle said that the two captains are satisfied with the meeting.Madugalle called the two captains for a ?cool off? session after a controversial Sydney Test soured the relationships between the Indian and Australian cricket teams.
More About: Peace , Note , Happy , Captain

Show courage against Aussie pacers, Kirsten advises Indians
2008-01-14 10:51:00
India's coach-designate Gary Kirsten has prepared a document for the team to counter the bouncy track at the WACA where the conditions will be "mentally more demanding" for the batsmen."It takes a lot of courage to get into position on bouncy wicket to be successful. More than the technical it's the mental side and I am sure Indian batsmen are aware of it," said Kirsten as he faced his first press conference in India colours.The former South African opener revealed that he has prepared a document for the Indian team where he has put down his experience of travelling to this part of the world."I have put together a document on touring Australia...It is how to go about doing it. There is a definite style of playing technically on bouncy wickets."At WACA, it's a very tough cricketing environment. There is never an easy game and it's mentally very demanding. But the Australians also say it's the best place to bat. One needs to brace the challenge and give everything you have got."I...
More About: Indians , Show , Aussie

Ponting admits to making mistakes in Sydney Test
2008-01-14 08:36:00
The Australian team made a couple of mistakes on the field in the controversial second Test against India, Australia captain Ricky Ponting has admitted.The fallout from the Test, which Australia won by 122 runs, included India captain Anil Kumble accusing the Australians of not playing within the spirit of the game, while Ponting faced calls for his sacking.The Australian team have received support from numerous other international players for their hard-nosed attitude to the game, though Ponting said the team had examined aspects of their behaviour and reaffirmed their pledge to the spirit of cricket.However Ponting, writing in his column in Monday's Australian newspaper, said there had been two incidents on the field that his side could have handled better."I know when I was given out in the first innings in Sydney I should have left straight away instead of hanging around for a few seconds, and I know I should not have lobbed my bat into the dressing room," Ponting wrote."Michae...
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Sreesanth claims he is fit for One-day series
2008-01-14 08:07:00
MELBOURNE : Paceman S Sreesanth on Monday claimed he has recovered fully from a shoulder injury and was confident of playing in the triangular limited overs tournament, also involving Sri Lanka, which follows the India-Australia Test series. The Kerala bowler is confident that with a few matches under his belt, he would be fully prepared for the hectic One-day series. "It is my dream to play in Australia, and I hope God will allow me to do that. I am ready to play," he was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'. "I am heading to Mumbai and I will play a match for my company team. With a few games, I will be ready for the One-dayers," Sreesanth said. The bowler had a much talked about confrontation with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the One-day series in India last year, but did single out the burly Queenslander for special attention. "I am not scared of anybody, and I am hoping to show that in Australia. When I am playing my best cricket, I don't really care w...
More About: Series , Claims

ICL planning to add all-star Pak team
2008-01-14 06:35:00
Karachi : The rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) is planning to add an all-star Pakistani side to its list of competitors for the second edition scheduled in March-April. After hosting its inaugural twenty20 tournament last year, the breakaway league is considering adding two more teams with one of them being an all stars side from Pakistan. "There has been discussion on having either a Karachi or Lahore team from Pakistan take part in the next event along with an all stars ICL eleven," Former Pakistan skipper Moin Khan, who is ICL's main representative in Pakistan and also on their coaching panel, said. The former wicketkeeper said a clearer picture would emerge in next two weeks and did not rule out the possibility of an ICL official coming to Pakistan to sign up more players. Pakistan had six representatives in the ICL's inaugural edition with pacer Shabbir Ahmed getting man of the match award in the final. Moin said he was disappointed by the vindictive measures taken by Pakist...
More About: All Star , Planning , Star , Team

Sehwag blasts his way into Test contention
2008-01-14 06:04:00
CANBERRA ? Explosive opener Virender Sehwag made a strong case for a Test recall with a typically swashbuckling century on the final day of India's three-day tour match against an Australian Capital Territory XI here.And the man Sehwag is likely to replace in the third Test at the WACA Ground, Yuvraj Singh, again failed to reach double figures as his form woes mounted.The match ended in a draw, India declaring its second innings at tea at 281 for four, an overall lead of 314, with the ACT 60 for 3 in reply when both teams agreed to an early stumps.After making a scratchy 24 in the first innings, Sehwag capitalised on a flat pitch and modest attack to reach his hundred in well under a session, facing just 73 balls in the process.Sehwag, who was considered close to a recall for the controversial second Test in Sydney but hasn't played at the top level for over a year, made his intentions clear when he opened the day by belting three boundaries from the first over.He continued in tha...

Don't make cricket robotic: Hayden
2008-01-14 06:03:00
Test opener Matthew Hayden says it's important that emotion remains a part of cricket because he doesn't want the game to become robotic.Hayden, who is in a race against time to overcome a hamstring injury before the third Test against India starting in Perth on Wednesday, defended the actions of Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his teammates who celebrated wildly after pulling off the last minute victory in Sydney."When I finish cricket I don't want to have to be in a game where everything is robots and robotic," he told journalists in Brisbane."I want to see Ricky Ponting going like that when he wins and plays for Australia."That's the heat of the battle, that's Test cricket, that's the enormous passion and enthusiasm that gets played from all games of cricket, you see it even in backyard cricket."Fellow opener Phil Jaques agreed there was nothing wrong with the way Australia played cricket and was looking forward to the focus returning to on-field matters in next week'...
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Umpire Benson could have consulted Bucknor: Ganguly
2008-01-14 05:57:00
Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said on Friday that umpire Mark Benson could have consulted square leg umpire Steve Bucknor before adjudicating him out on the controversial catch taken by Michael Clarke during the second innings in the Sydney Test."I thought he (Benson) could have done a better job if he had consulted Bucknor. The moment I nicked it I turned back and saw it didn't carry. But that's the way it is. It was agreed to stick by the captain's word and we have to stay with that," Ganguly told the channel Star Cricket during the second day of the warm-up game against the ACT XI in Canberra.The former captain was batting on 51 when he edged Brett Lee low to Clarke at second slip who immediately claimed the catch and the Australians celebrated before awaiting the umpire's decision. Ganguly was convinced that the catch hadn't carried and waited at the crease. And to everyone's surprise Benson instead of consulting Bucknor asked Australian captain Ricky Ponting...

India will struggle to last five days at WACA: Chris Rogers
2008-01-11 09:56:00
CANBERRA: Visiting India ns have been warned that they would struggle to last five days at the WACA pitch in the third Test at Perth, starting January 16."I would hate to face the Australian quicks on that sort of wicket," said Chris Rogers , who is tipped to replace the injured Matthew Hayden as opener for the next Test.Rogers, who indicated he was ready for the job with a confident half-century in the tour match here on Friday, said it was difficult for guys at the top of the order to face the Aussie attack on a really quick wicket."My best at WACA has been 60 this season and I belong to Western Australia," remarked Rogers "The ball really flies through after the first day."The left-handed opener said because of the moisture on the first day, the pitch is not as hard as it usually becomes on subsequent days."You really have to play your best innings ever to survive on the WACA this season," opined the 31-year-old Rogers, who has an average of 47.93 in 104 first class games with 22 c...
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