Aus to wait and watch for Pak tour: Symonds

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has expressed reservations about touring Pakistan next year saying there has been a lot of ‘bombs going off’.

“There do seem to be a lot of bombs going off over there,” Symonds was quoted as saying in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ today.

“At the end of the day it is only a game of cricket. But I suppose being the diplomat that I am, we are going to have to wait and see when we get closer to the time, how many bombs are going off over there. But it is being bombed,” he said.

Symonds comments have cast a shadow over Australia’s three-Test tour to Pakistan in March as political uncertainty remains in the nation due to the state of emergency.

Australia’s three-Test tour of Pakistan in 2002-03 was also moved to Colombo and Sharjah because of security issues.

India looking to seal series in Gwalior

A buoyant India will look to wrap up the five-match one-day cricket series against Pakistan when the arch rivals clash in the fourth tie of the five-match series in Gwalior on Thursday.

India took a 2-1 lead in Kanpur, when they defeated Pakistan by 46 runs, after failing to defend their mammoth total of 321 at Mohali. The hosts will look to carry forward the winning momentum at the capt Roop Singh stadium, which has been a happy hunting ground for them.

With India boasting a deep batting line-up and the wicket at the predicted to be “perfect for batsmen”, the task could be easier for the hosts irrespective of whether Mahendra Singh Dhoni calls the coin correctly or not in the day-night clash.

Indian batting has clicked well with Sachin Tendulkar’s leading from the front while Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have also shone with the bat on various occasions in the three matches played so far.

Tendulkar, after repeatedly falling in nervous 90s, would be desperately looking to break the jinx about his 42nd century.

Yuvraj, who scored 58, 34 and 77 in the three ODIs, has emerged as a major threat for Pakistan with to his superb timing and knack to switch on and off his attacking instinct to suit the team’s needs.

“Yuvi has always been a trump card for us. I want him to bat for at least 20 overs in all the matches. His knock is important in every match. He also bowled and fielded very well,” Dhoni said.

Indian bowlers also rose to the occasion in the last ODI by restricting the visitors to 248 while chasing 295 for victory.

Irfan Pathan drew special praise from Dhoni for his accuracy, which helped contain a blazing opener Shahid Afridi while spinners Harbhajan Singh exploited the spin-friendly conditions well to check the run flow.

However, with wicket here hardly having anything for spinners, it would be a matter to watch what combination the Indian team management picks for the match.

Fielding, however, was a cause of concern for the hosts as Dhoni admitted that dropped chances may end up costing them dearly in close matches.

“Fielding does matter a lot. We dropped a few catches and we know we have to work hard on this aspect,” he said after the third ODI.

The visitors, who face a do-or-die situation in the match to be played under the floodlights, would try to bounce back in the limited over contest to go into the Test series with an upper hand and put the onus back on India.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, whose tenure as the captain, has been extended by another year would be under pressure to avoid another series defeat after losing to South Africa at home.

Malik would be looking at his options to stop the hosts even as Pakistan would be contemplating whether to play their out-of-form wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who is said to have aggravated his finger-injury at Kanpur, or give Sarfraz Ahmed his ODI cap.

The young Pakistani skipper would also hope that opener Salman Butt continues with this sparkling form and lay a firm foundation for a big total.

“Salman (Butt) is playing just superb cricket. We want him to continue the way he is batting at the moment,” he had said after the opener’s 129-run knock in the Kanpur ODI.

Malik also admitted that his team lacked in the fielding department saying “we need to work hard on it”.

As international cricket returns to the Captain Roop Singh Stadium after over four years, fans can look forward to see fireworks in the 11th match of the venue with curator Samundar Singh Chauhan predicting a high-scoring match.

India have won six out of the eight matches, played at the venue with its last success coming against Australia in 2003. 

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (capt), Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal (wk), Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed, Sarfaraz Ahmed.

India name Harbhajan for Pakistan Tests

India off spinner Harbhajan Singh has been handed a Test recall after selectors included him in the 14-player squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan.The 27-year-old was dropped from the Test and one-day teams after the World Cup in March due to poor form and missed the Test series win in England that concluded in August.

However, Harbhajan earned a recall to the one-day side after helping India win the Twenty20 World Cup in September and his strong recent performances have impressed the Test selectors.

Left-armer Murali Kartik was also included as the third specialist spinner after he did well on his one-day return in October.

Veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble leads the side for the three-Test series while wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named vice-captain, giving a clear indication the one-day and Twenty20 skipper will take over as Test captain in the future.

Squad: Anil Kumble (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Murali Kartik.

Gilchrist named Australia’s best One-day player

MELBOURNE : Wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has been voted Australia’s greatest One-day player, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) said on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old received 38 per cent of the vote from past and present Australian One-day players. Current captain Ricky Ponting was second with 19 per cent, while former captain Steve Waugh was third with 14 per cent.

The vote was open to the 163 players who have represented Australia since their first One-day international in 1971, with 110 casting votes.

“To be given this enormous honour by my peers is unbelievably humbling and ranks highly amongst the accolades l have received over my career,” Gilchrist said in a statement on the ACA’s Web site.

“I have been very fortunate to have played in such a successful era and with such a great group of players. I feel very fortunate to be acknowledged in this way.”

Gilchrist, whose swashbuckling batting style has garnered more than 9,000 runs in 275 matches at an average of 35.98, smashed 149 off 104 balls in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka earlier this year.

He has scored 15 One-day centuries and 52 half-centuries -with a high score of 172 – throughout his career at a strike rate of 96.66. He has also taken 400 catches and made 53 stumping and been a member of three World Cup winning sides.

“The ACA is thrilled to present this award to Adam Gilchrist,” said ACA chief executive Paul Marsh.

“It is a richly deserved honour for a player who has in many ways re-defined the role of the wicketkeeper and opening batsman in One-day cricket.”

‘Pak team has always wanted to play in Mumbai Says Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram tells about the Pak team’s request to L K Advani in 1999 that they be allowed to play in Mumbai, Andrew Symonds’ “over-reaction” to monkey chants and India and Pak’s major cricket issues.

The India-Pak Test series starts in a few days. Who do you think has the edge?
A lot depends on who wins the oneday series. The teams will also change. India will have a new captain who hasn’t played at all for many months.

Is that going to be a problem?
I would have certainly made Dhoni the captain. It is said ‘he should not have too much on his plate.’ I don’t know where this dialogue has come from; we never heard such things when we were playing. He’s 26, the right time to be captain is now. And if he’s doing well now, why not allow him to lead? Some players are better players under pressure; Dhoni is one of them. They (the selectors) probably thought, let’s wait, because Australia mein maar khane ke chances hain, and if they lose, his confidence might be hit. In fact Australia would have been the right place for Dhoni. A captain learns when his team is not doing well, not when his team is doing well. I hope Kumble is a short-term arrangement as captain.

Kumble may be retained captain for the Australia tour too.
A new captain will face a lot of pressure in Australia. Kumble’s fielding too is not good, he’s 37; that will put more pressure on him. And if the captain is under pressure, the entire team will be under pressure. Australia knows this.

Talking of slow-movers, Shoaib Akhtar has looked unfit in the one-day series…
Of course he is not looking fit. He is rusty and has not played cricket for six months. But with every game he’s getting better. Hopefully he’ll stay fit for the Test matches. This is his last hurrah. If gets injured or does something off the field, it will be bye-bye for him.

How is it that he just keeps doing something off the field?
I ask this question to him every time, and every time, he promises me he won’t do it again!

India and Pakistan have been playing frequently of late, and that has made cricket look normal. An incident like the exchange between Shahid Afridi and Gautam Gambhir could’ve become big earlier, when tensions were greater. Isn’t it true that the more we play, the more normal our cricket will become?
India and Pakistan should play once in three years. But of course the Cricket Boards want to make money, so they won’t let it happen! If we play once in two-three years, the level of interest will remain high; if we play every year, the contest will become like any other.

There has been a lot of debate in India about three senior Indian players that you played against. There have even been calls to drop them.
The seniors can still play well. They are only 33. Two of them are very fit…

You mean Sachin and Dravid?
(Laughs) I’m not saying anything. Mera dost tha bada woh teesra bhai
(The third one — Ganguly — was my good friend). All of them are getting runs. Rahul got dropped and got a 200. People were saying ‘drop Sachin and Ganguly,’ and they came back with a bang. There’s a lot of cricket left in them. You can’t drop them, otherwise Twenty20 mein toh fluke lag gayaa, but try playing without them in the other forms of the game and you’ll know.

You think India’s victory in the T20 World Cup was a fluke?
Twenty20 itself is fluke cricket. I can play it even today. The ball arrives, and you have to just hit it. No technique, nothing. But it’s fun.

Of the seniors, Sachin Tendulkar has got out six times in the 90s this year. Do you think he has been nervous in the 90s?
Sachin has just been unlucky, and I don’t think it matters much to him at this stage of his career. For me it’s good he’s getting 90-plus; if he gets it in every game, India is always going to win. If your opener gets 90-plus, it means the team is going to get 280-290, and that’s what is happening. So he’ll be disappointed and yet also be happy because in the end, the team will win. The good thing is, he’s batting aggressively. That’s the way it should be, because whenever he’s playing shots, he is more dangerous. If he continues to bat like this, bowlers will want to run away from him. He should open in one-dayers and play his normal shots.

Why is it that the infighting in Pakistan cricket never ends? There was the Mohd Asif-Shoaib Akhtar incident some time ago, and in this series too, there have been reports of a fight between Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi.
Yes, sometimes there are differences of opinion, though I don’t know what’s happening in the dressing room now. But I assure you that whenever they are on the field, they play for the team. That’s what we did.

Like you and Waqar?
(Laughs) Yeah, yeah, that’s what I and Waqar did.

Pakistan has always had good fast bowlers, and you are considered by many the best leftarm pacer ever. India has got three good left-arm bowlers now. What is your assessment of them?
The three will do well in the subcontinent because the ball reverseswings. They are different. R P Singh is bowling well and has been impressive, Irfan is good at changing his pace, and now Zaheer is a different bowler than he was earlier. They’re being effective because they are changing their directions all the time — sometimes bowling over the wicket and sometimes round the wicket. But India will struggle in Australia with the same attack. That’s why they have to give confidence to Sreesanth, because he’s in the middle of the three left-armers.

Sreesanth, like Afridi, keeps doing a lot of controversial things on the field.
He can do all the drama he wants to do, but ultimately, he will have to take wickets to be effective.

You only played in Mumbai once.
In 1989.

After that, Mumbaikars missed the chance of seeing you running in to bowl.
Of course I missed playing in Mumbai. The entire Pakistan team has always wanted to play in Mumbai. I remember we landed at the airport in 1999, and [the then Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister] L K Advani came to see us at the hotel. He said, “Tum logon ko kya chahiye?” Saeed Anwar replied at once, “We want to play a match in Mumbai. In 1999 we were not allowed to come to Mumbai because of opposition from the Shiv Sena.

In the same year, the team led by you got a standing ovation in Chennai after winning.

I can never forget that standing ovation. I think the crowd across India is cricket-loving.

Andrew Symonds won’t agree.

I could not believe his complaints. If four people out of one billion have said something to him, toh kucch nahin hua yaar (nothing has actually happened). Humko Australia mein kitni awaazein lagti hain (We hear so much in Australia!). The whole thing wasn’t a big deal; Symonds made a big deal out of it. Cricket knowledge is huge in the sub-continent, and you have a full house even for a Test match. What else do you want? There are no full houses in Australia.

Do you think the rebel cricket league will succeed?

The Indian Board has launched its own league now. Tell me, if there are current players playing in one tournament and retired ones in another, which one will you want to watch? (Smiles) I rest my case.

Chappell says racism behind assault in India

SYDNEY : Former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell believes he was subjected to a racist attack while coaching India and that the authorities there tried to cover it up, reports said on Wednesday.

He makes the charge in a documentary about his troubled two-year stint as India coach which is to be shown on national television next week, The Australian newspaper reported.

Chappell said he was punched and pushed by a disgruntled fan as the Indian team arrived in Bhubaneswar in Orissa state for a One-day clash against the West Indies in January this year.

“I got hit on the side of the head and my immediate reaction was ‘he’s broken my jaw’,” Chappell said.

“Indians are very quick to complain about racism. There are plenty of Indian cricketers the guy could have attacked but he chose to attack me,” he said.

“I don’t really buy the fact that he was talking about the lack of Orissa players in the Indian team.

“If that was the case why didn’t he accost the chairman of selectors or someone else who might have been involved in the selection process?

“Why would he attack one of the foreigners in the group – me as coach? There’s a bit more to it than that.”

Chappell, who left the post after India’s poor showing at the World Cup, said he was still upset about the attack and the lack of action taken by officials.

“As I said to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) in a letter, had it been one of the players who was attacked there would have been an outcry, but because it was me, no one seemed to care,” Chappell told The Australian.

“The reply came back talking about my racist comments. It was quite obvious it was a serious assault. It wasn’t just a push in the back as the media was led to believe. There was a cover-up. Everyone went into cover-up mode. The whole thing was played down.”

The accusation by Chappell follows Australian complaints that Indian crowds racially abused black Australian batsman Andrew Symonds with monkey chants and gestures during a tour last month.

Yuvraj or Laxman: Who’ll be at No 6?

MUMBAI  : As the euphoria over Twenty20 and One-Day International cricket dies down, cricket’s ‘real stuff’ – Test cricket – will start rolling from next week. A first dekko of the chosen ones can be had on Wednesday when the selectors meet in Mumbai to name the side for the first Test against Pakistan to be played in New Delhi.

The meeting originally was to be held on November 16 but was advanced by two days because Test captain Anil Kumble will be leading Karnataka against Himachal Pradesh in the second round of Ranji Trophy Super League in Bangalore.

Unlike the One-day and T20 teams, the Test side has a settled look with the senior pros holding fort in the XI as was evident during the historic series win in England. So, the selectors will have an easy job making the transition from ‘young India’ to the old guard.

While most of the squad, which did duty in England select themselves, there will at least be a couple of ‘forced changes’ in the 15 for the Pakistan series, mostly in the bowling department. India are unlikely to tamper much with the batting.

The openers (Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer) aligned successfully in England as they wore down the new ball. But, on current form, Gautam Gambhir is snapping at Karthik’s heels, like in England, by being in the XV.

“It is unfair for a makeshift opener like Karthik to be used only in difficult conditions like England. He is in good Test form and should be persisted,” advises former opener, coach and selector Anshuman Gaekwad.

But Chandu Borde, India’s cricket manager on the England tour is all for a healthy debate on the issue. “Jaffer and Karthik did well in parts. There is no harm if Gambhir is discussed,” says Borde.

The old firm of No 3 Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar will add muscle to the middle-order. Since his return in South Africa last year, Sourav Ganguly has been in consistent form and should take the No 5 slot.

Then comes the crucial No 6 spot. And the debate begins again. While both VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh are certain to be in the XV, only one of them will play.

Till he went out because of a knee injury, Yuvraj was the preferred Test batsman in place of Ganguly. But the tide has turned. Yuvraj sat out in Bangladesh in favour of an extra bowler and in England for Laxman.

Keeping Yuvraj out on current form will be difficult, but the selectors have been clear about who their Test and ODI players so far. On the other hand, for Laxman, life has taken strange twists and turns in the last year.

After being Test vice-captain in South Africa (Dec 2006-Jan 2007), he watched India thrash Bangladesh 1-0 from the dressing room.

But, in England, Laxman was preferred over Yuvraj because of the “demands of team combination”. Laxman’s excellent Test record also goes in his favour.

He then played county cricket for Lancashire to keep himself in the groove. Even those part of the think-tank till very recently are finding it difficult to provide an answer to the dilemma. The debate will go on until Wednesday.

BCCI more keen on IPL than coach

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) often drags it feet on cricketing matters, which is why the Indian team is without a coach and will be atleast for another month till they travel to Australia.

However, in marketing matters the board is right on top. The Indian Premier League, which promises to kill off the competition of the unofficial Indian Cricket League is their top priority.

Sachin Tendulkar among others is said to be interested in owning one of the teams and the board is out to ensure that this league modeled on the lines of club football is a huge success.

The kind of interest that the BCCI has generated in the IPL or the Indian premier league is such that film actor Rusell Crowe wants to own one of the teams or atleast have a stake.

The BCCI hasn’t confirmed the names of any of the bidders but they have fixed a date when they will decide on who gets the lucrative television rights for this event.

“In November, the media rights for the event will be decided. The bidders will give presentations. Then the highest bidders can buy the franchise. But all I can tell you is that it has had an overwhelming response,” said Rajiv Shukla – Chairman, Media Committee.

The BCCI is so determined to make the IPL a success that they will meet with the Asian Cricket Council next month to postpone the Asia Cup to June 2008. The Asia Cup is scheduled for April which is the same month that the IPL will launch.

Already the IPL has big names and big money. The floor price for each team franchise has been fixed at about Rs 200 crores. Sources in the BCCI have told NDTV that 20 bidders have expressed interest for the Mumbai team and nine for Delhi. Each of the players could be paid as much as Rs 40 lakhs to a crore.

“We have 49 players contracted and they are our strength,” said Shukla.

So the IPL tournament will be played at the cost of the Asia Cup. Once again the BCCI coffers are all set to swell with top companies expressing interest to own IPL teams.

And with the number of them increasing, it is likely that the number of teams participating in the first edition of the tournament will also go up.

For Indo-Pak fans, no such thing as overkill

SOMETIME BACK, I.S. Bindra, a senior BCCI official, said that people were not getting as much cricket as they wanted.”All that an association gets is one match a year, which is certainly less than what people want,” he said, scoffing at the notion that a packed international calendar and the planned Indian Premier League would amount to killing the golden goose.

One quietly laughed then, thinking that the officialdom would defend anything and everything to sell their product. However, one was actually forced to give a second thought to Bindra’s statement after watching the rousing welcome the Indian and Pakistan teams received here.

Fans had lined along the road leading to the airport well before the teams landed. And when the team buses went by, they went berserk, screaming the names of any player they spotted.

It reached a crescendo when the team buses neared the hotel. People were out on the roads, on the roofs, anywhere they could find place. Police actually had to scare away the fans with their lathis when they crowded the hotel gate.

The scene outside the stadium was no different. People had gathered there in large numbers, in the hope that the teams would come there for practice in the evening.

That did not happen, but they were more than satisfied to see Shoaib Malik, who came to have a look at the wicket. It was for the first time in the series that the teams did not have to rush to the venue of the next game.

After Guwahati, for instance, they arrived in Mohali much later than scheduled; and Kanpur was no different. The teams reached there on match eve and the Pakistan skipper could not even have a look at the wicket.

Malik, it seems, has made it a habit to decide to inspect the wicket late in the evenings — he did that at Mohali before Kanpur and, not surprisingly, turned up late here as well.

Anyhow, the players must be rejuvenated after the mini-break after Kanpur and the crowd here could well look forward to a cracking contest.

9 problems for Pakistan

GWALIOR ON Thursday afternoon is when it all can start for Shoaib Malik’s men. Or all end. They can either begin a dramatic, now largely unexpected turnaround or cave in again and gift the series to India.For some time, despite their T20 final showing, Pakistan have seemed more than usually erratic and off tangent. Here, we take a look at nine areas of concern for Pakistan and their one big plus.

1) Missing Asif

Md Asif has been Pakistan’s best bowler by far for the last year or so. His ability to swing the ball both ways in most conditions and to take wickets up front has not only prevented the opposition from getting off to a good start but has also restricted them to a manageable total. Injured and missing, he is a huge loss here.

2) Shoaib in the dock

In Asif’s absence, Pakistan is relying very heavily on Shoaib Akhtar to make early inroads. At his best, Shoaib a match-winner, but he’s come back to international cricket after a long break. He might be fit enough to do all the drills in training but is looking rusty and something seems off. The prime example of this was that one over in Mohali where he started with his normal run-up and bowled wides, came off a shorter run-up and still bowled wides. He just couldn’t get it right.

 3) Lack of spinners

This is an area where India is miles ahead of Pakistan, whose spin department is almost non-existent. If Afridi is any team’s first (or main) spin bowling option, there’s a serious problem there. This is not to undermine Afridi’s ability but even at his best, he’s a more finely honed version of someone like a Yuvraj, Sehwag or Sachin. To do well in the subcontinent, a team must have quality spinners, as most batsmen here are good players of spin bowling. This is hurting Pakistan.

4) Over dependence on Afridi

Again, Afridi will always be remembered as someone who had immense potential but hasn’t lived up to it. He was an impact player when he first came to the scene but consistently inconsistent. He is brilliant one day and lacklustre in the next few games. That was the reason he lost his place in the side. With T20 cricket, a format that suits his game and temperament perfectly, he has once again become the most important player in the Pakistan side. But in a 50 over game, he can have only so much impact. Pakistan is banking heavily on him to either finish the game off with a flurry of strokes or give them a blistering start. They also expect him to bowl his 10 overs in every game. It’s a bit much.

5) No back up for Younis and Yousuf

Pakistan’s batting revolves around Younis and Yusuf. They’ve been consistent but remove them and no opposition bowler will worry about taking on the rest. Pakistan haven’t found a solution to their opening woes, Malik and Misbah haven’t graduated to the next level, putting too much pressure on the two Ys. Afridi can finish but he isn’t in the same category as Yuvraj or Dhoni, who are proper batsmen who have mastered the art of finishing games.

6) Akmal’s dismal showing

Kamral Akmal has been struggling a while, but Pakistan have persisted with him, perhaps because of his batting or the lack of options. He has dropped regulation catches that have hurt Pakistan badly, especially at the start of the innings. His poor form behind the wickets has affected his form in front of the stumps too. The keeper is also generally the livewire on the field and when he’s having a horrid time; it’s difficult to pick the team up during bad phases.

7) Poor fielding unit

They are probably the only team in the world that can make India’s fielding look good. Need we say more?

Malik out of his depth

It’s often said that a captain is only as good as his team. That’s probably true to an extent but a good captain will generally manage to get something extra from his players. Though it’s early days, he’s looked out of his depth, tentative and tactically unsound. To be fair, he doesn’t have the same resources as Dhoni but his own form with the bat has dipped too. This is affecting him and hurting his team. The team needs Malik, the batsman, as much as Shoaib, the skipper.

9) Lack of a system

Pakistan traditionally have been unpredictable, living off individual super-performers. This doesn’t seem to have changed. Now though, with other teams progressing and being more systematic, Pakistan’s erratic showing is showing them up badly more often. Like India, they had abysmal World Cup, but unlike India, they haven’t shown a steady improvement. While they’ve done well in T20 cricket, that seems to have swept their other problems under the carpet. Except in the pace department, they lack a feeder-line, as evinced by an inability to find a decent wicket-keeper, a proper opening combine, quality spinners etc.