Umesh Yadav aims to be India's McGrath
Ahmedabad: Inspired by Australian fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath, the newest addition to the Indian pace attack, Umesh Yadav, wants to be a line and length specialist.
"I like Glenn McGrath personally. In my life I will try that I get as close as possible to his bowling," Yadav said. © AFP
"I like Glenn McGrath personally. In my life I will try that I get as close as possible to his bowling," Yadav said ahead of India's third ODI against the West Indies at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera on Monday.
"McGrath is my hero and I am inspired by him and trying to bowl like him," said the Vidarbha bowler, who has struck a good combination with another up and coming bowler, Varun Aaron.
Yadav confessed that bowling alongside teammate Varun Aaron pushed him to do better.
"Bowling with Varun is good. We have our junior level connections. When he takes a wicket I have to tighten up my bowling at the other end and vice versa."
Yadav and Aaron were India's unlikely rescuers with the bat in the first ODI at Cuttack and guided the team home with a 12-run stand for the last wicket amidst mounting tension while chasing a modest 211.
Talking about that exciting one-wicket victory, Yadav said there was nothing much going through his head when he and Aaron were at the crease for the last wicket.
"We are tailenders and after the ninth wicket we thought what to do next. I was cool and wanted to play correct shots. Just single and double would be enough. Same was the case with Aaron," he said.
Yadav had been impressive in the preceding Test series against the Caribbean side too, and has taken that form into the limited-overs series with five wickets in two matches.
Yadav, who is set to leave for Australia with some senior members of the squad, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman a few days earlier than the rest of the squad for the eagerly awaited four-Test series, said the extra days would help him adjust to the wicket.
"Indian wickets are different from the Australian ones. If I get some extra days it will be better for me and I will get time to practice and get accustomed to the wicket. It is good that I am going early," he said.
The 24-year-old player said was not targeting any particular Australian batsman on the tour.
"The wicket of every player is important as it will benefit my team, be it (Ricky) Ponting or (Michael) Clarke."
Yadav also believes that Test cricket is the best format of the game as it examines a player's calibre to the fullest.
"In Test cricket one has to be consistent with the line and length and bowl in particular areas, whereas in ODIs, you have to pick quick wickets and at the same time restrict the opposition from scoring runs," the young pacer said.
Unpaid Lankan cricketers get support from South African players
Johannesburg: Unpaid by their Board for the past eight months, the Sri Lankan cricketers got the support of their South African counterparts, who feel it's a credit to Tillakaratne Dilshan's men that they have still carried on with national duty.
Unpaid by their Board for the past eight months, the Sri Lankan cricketers got the support of their South African counterparts, who feel it's a credit to Tillakaratne Dilshan's men that they have still carried on with national duty. © AFP
In a statement issued by the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA), Proteas Test captain Graeme Smith said the situation is "far from ideal".
The players have not been by a cash-strapped Sri Lanka Cricket, which is awaiting $4.3 million payments from the ICC for co-hosting this year's World Cup, and the South Africans hoped that the matter would be resolved soon.
"We want to show our support for Tillakaratne Dilshan and our fellow professional cricketers from Sri Lanka on this issue," Smith said.
"It is far from ideal that the Sri Lankan team is about to start a tough Test series and ODI series in South Africa without having been paid any of their remuneration for the last eight months," he added.
Proteas ODI captain AB de Villiers said non-payment of players' dues is not right given how professionally the sport is managed now.
"In this age of professionalism in cricket this kind of thing should not be happening," de Villiers said.
"It's a credit to the players that they've kept playing for their country since March despite all of this. We hope it gets sorted out soon."
The Sri Lankan Cricketers' Association (SLCA) has sought the Federation of International Cricketers' Association's help on the matter.
South Africa are set to host Sri Lanka for three Tests and five ODIs and SACA's chief-executive Tony Irish hoped that the matter would be resolved before the Dilshan and Co start their tour game against South Africa A on December 9.
"It's difficult to understand how a board which has just co-hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup can find itself in such a desperate financial situation that it can't pay its national team of fully contracted professionals for months on end," Irish was quoted as saying by a website.
"We know that the players association in Sri Lanka is doing what it can to sort this out for the players and we hope for some positive progress before the first match of the tour starts against," he added.
'Yuvraj will be back in three weeks'
New Delhi: Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who skipped the ongoing West Indies series due to a non-malignant lung tumour, would be fit to play competitive cricket in three weeks' time, his mother said on Monday.
Yuvraj Singh, skipped the ongoing West Indies series due to a non-malignant lung tumour. © AFP
"The world will see a new Yuvraj on and off the field when he returns to cricket in 2-3 weeks. Yuvraj's way of looking at life has changed. He has realised what he should do and what he should not. He was always a fighter but has become stronger and more brave. He has learnt so much in this time," Yuvraj's mother Shabnam Singh said.
Revealing the pain Yuvraj has been going through in the last six months due to a golf ball-sized tumour that was detected in his chest, Shabnam said, "Only he knows what he has gone through, how he has suffered. He knew it could have been so dangerous but he never shared his pain. It will take time to heal. There is no option but to face it."
Shabnam said her son had wanted to keep his illness a secret but had to reveal later as people would charge him for not being serious if he skipped the ongoing West Indies series without giving a reason, his mother said.
"Yuvraj is angry with me because he did not want anyone to pity him. He wants to be known as a player who played for his country. Then I said it is better that the world knows what he is going through or they will again say he is not serious (by deciding not to play this series)," Shabnam said.
"If they see him with a fan or someone else, they will say he has an affair. They will say he is enjoying himself so I said the world should know what he is going through and he is unwell. I asked my Guruji and he said it's OK to tell the world. Yuvi said everyone will ask him questions but I said if you don't play and not disclose the reason there will be more questions," she told a news channel.
Whatmore is frontrunner for Pakistan coach's job: PCB official
Karachi: A Pakistan Cricket Board official has confirmed that Australian Dav Whatmore, who currently in India's National Cricket Academy, is the front-runner to take over as head coach of the national team.
A Pakistan Cricket Board official has confirmed that Australian Dav Whatmore, who currently in India's National Cricket Academy, is the front-runner to take over as head coach of the national team.
© Getty Images
"Yes, we have held talks with Whatmore along with other potential candidates for the coaching positions advertised by us in the Pakistan team," the senior official, who declined to be named, said.
The PCB has said that it is looking to appoint a head coach and specialist batting, bowling and fielding coaches for the national team.
The board, since September, has been in the process of inviting applications from interested candidates and has shortlisted some of them for the prime positions in the team.
The hunt for the new coaches began after former Test captain Waqar Younis stepped down after the Zimbabwe tour in September due to personal and health reasons. When he resigned, Waqar had 14 months left in his contract with the PCB.
The official said initial talks had been held with Whatmore to assess his point of view and the committee appointed by the board and headed by Intikhab Alam was still in the process of preparing a list of final candidates for the board to approve.
Whatmore, a former Australian Test player, gained recognition as the coach of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 World Cup.
He later coached Bangladesh with no notable success and is presently working in India in the National Cricket Academy.
Whatmore was among the three candidates shortlisted in 2008 by the PCB for the position of head coach when Nasim Ashraf was chairman but later the board preferred to appoint former Australian pacer Geoff Lawson after reports emerged that some players were not comfortable with having Whatmore.
The source said the board would be taking into confidence captain Misbah-ul-Haq and other senior players before making a final appointment of the coaches.
Besides Whatmore, the source said former South African player Jonty Rhodes, Australian Julian Fountain and Englishman D Dunlop were also in the run.
"The PCB is facing a catch-22 situation with the team doing well and on a winning momentum under Misbah and interim coach Mohsin Khan. It has yet to decide when to bring in the new coaching staff," another source said.
England Beat India in Twenty20; Stay no.1
AppId is over the quota
England may have had a torrid ODI series in India. However, they will go home a happy lot after comfortably winning the one off Twenty20 match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata and may even make a pit stop at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida, New Delhi like some of the Indian cricketers are expected to.
The Twenty20 match at Eden Gardens turned out to an insipid affair for the scanty few fans that turned up for the Twenty20 match. The Indian cricket barely got going batting first, and managed only 120 after young fast bowler, Steven Finn, gave the cricket spectators a taste of what to expect in the future. Finn took two of the top Indian wickets, including that of Suresh Raina who topscored the innings with thirty-nine runs.
Tim Bresnan and Finn hit their marks and the Indian line up was left reeling until Raina and Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, briefly tried to make a go of things.The Indian innings ended on the last ball of their innings with the run out of Dhoni for twenty-one.
Set a relatively low total by Twenty20 standards, India never really had a hope while England sealed the deal with Kevin Pietersen returning successfully despite a fractured thumb to score a half century after only thirty-nine balls to steer England to the brink of victory which was not difficult thereafter as England stayed at the no.1 Twenty20 ranking with the win by six wickets.
Formula One Overtakes Cricket As No.1 Sports Passion in India. Likely?
Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One boss, believes Formula One is here to stay in India, a compliment echoed by fans in the country as well as some of the Indian celebrities including the Indian cricketers who were bowled over by the spectacle. At the end of the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida, there was a collective relief that Formula One had come to India had come only once to India as opposed to cricket that is played around the year these days.
There is undoubtedly a grand following for Formula One amongst Indians and the fact that the racing was brought to India made it more of a celebration of adrenaline that is not easy to get over as the weekend proved in plenty. However, that it can actually match the crazed following that cricket enjoys in India seems a task even the multi million dollar speed thrill would have earn over time. And that would not be easy with just the one race in India although it would have done a lot towards making more people aware of the sport and perhaps see more viewership from India for more international F1 races, although only two remain in the 2011 season.
While cricket cannot match steps with Formula One racing's worldwide following, it would certainly have a tough task sustaining interest in a sport that will see only one race a year.
Had India Won Test Series in India, Perhaps Test Championship Would have Been On
Former England captain, Michael Vaughan has already tasted plenty of backlash after his Twitter comment that perhaps Vaseline on the bat had something to do with V.V.S. Laxman beating the Hot Spot technology during India's tour of England for the Test series. The protests not only came from the Indian cricket contingent but also, from Hot Spot and Vaseline.
Now while he is taking on the ICC for its decision to defer the Test championship, he has also not ruled out the possibility that had the Test results in England been favourable in India's favour, the shape of Test championship could have been much different. The implications are rather obvious given that India has become the new Mecca of cricket and the money that flows into the game has been phenomenal, particularly when one looks at the model of the IPL. While the ICC has made no bones about the fact that the broadcast concerns of making the same kind of financial rate of interest that would successfully replace the ICC Champions Trophy could not be arrived at feasibly to push forth the agenda of a Test championship, the sponsorship revenue would also depend on those nations that can actually help generate that revenue.
India's financial clout when it comes to cricket is too loud to be ignored, which is perhaps Vaughan is of the opinion that a better case could have been made for the Test championship had India managed to sustained their Test success of the past three years to actually make a case for creating a legitimate championship that will make Test cricket and bilateral series more sensible in pointing in the direction of a championship culminating every four years. That now appears a distant dream as far as the original planned date of 2013 is concerned.
Kevin Pietersen Hears from ICC After On Field Argument with Umpire during T20 v India
Kevin Pietersen played a terrific knock to ensure that England did not return home disappointed from India, but not before catching the ire of the umpires and subsequently the ICC as well.
England all rounder, Kevin Pietersen, batted in the one off Twenty20 match between India and England despite battling a broken finger. In doing so, he scored the only half century of the match en route to taking England to victory, a welcome result after the 5-0 ODI drubbing at the hands of India.
However, Kevin Pietersen's uncanny ability to get into controversies was not spared on this brief tour either. First it was Graeme Swann's book in which he criticized KP's captaincy that brought the attention back to KP. And in the Twenty20 match, Kevin Pietersen managed to incur the wrath of the umpires who did not like the fact that Pietersen was carrying on and on about his dismissal.
England’s Kevin Pietersen has been officially reprimanded for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during his side’s six-wicket victory over India in the only Twenty20 International (T20I) of the series in Kolkata on Saturday. Pietersen was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the code which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”. Pietersen himself pleaded guilty and was let off with an official reprimand to add a touch of sour to an otherwise more celebratory finish to the England cricket season.
Batsmen need to hit form, says Misbah
"It is a matter of concern as we have failed to still come to terms with the different pitch conditions in Bangladesh," said Misbah.
Misbah said the way the Pakistan batting collapsed in the Twenty20 match and the first one-day international against Bangladesh, it is proving to be a cause of concern and the batsmen need to iron out their weaknesses if they are to go the distance.
"It is a matter of concern as we have failed to still come to terms with the different pitch conditions in Bangladesh," said Misbah.
"We are winning matches and doing well as a unit but the batting needs to show muscle and not be brittle. Because this might cost us heavily in the coming matches in Bangladesh or other upcoming series.
"We are winning because our bowlers are doing really well but if our batsmen also contribute properly we could win by more comfortable margins," Misbah told Geo News.
The Pakistan batting has struggled in the two matches against Bangladesh on sluggish and slow tracks, reigniting the debate about the consistency of batsmen.
Misbah, who now leads Pakistan in all three formats of the game, said the team is not worried or thinking about the upcoming series against England in the UAE.
"We are presently only focussing on our series in Bangladesh and taking it match by match," he said.
'Zaheer still needs to do lot of bowling to get fit'
New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan needs to bowl a lot in order to be fully fit for the first Test against Australia starting on the Boxing Day.
"I feel Zaheer is still not hundred percent fit and we can't afford to have a 50 percent fit Zaheer Khan in Australia. For India, Zaheer still needs to play a lot more matches and for that he needs to be fully fit. One Ranji Trophy game is not enough," Ganguly said. © AFP
"I feel Zaheer is still not hundred percent fit and we can't afford to have a 50 percent fit Zaheer Khan in Australia. For India, Zaheer still needs to play a lot more matches and for that he needs to be fully fit. One Ranji Trophy game is not enough," Ganguly said at launch of Wisden India in association with Fidelis World.
"Still there are 24 days left and I believe he will play another Ranji game as well as two practice matches in Australia. The BCCI has planned his schedule well unlike 10 years back when I had to appear for a fitness test only 10 days prior to an important tour," Ganguly added.
Ravichandran Ashwin may have had a dream start to his Test career but he maintained bowling in Australia conditions will be an altogether different challenge for the Tamil Nadu tweaker.
"Ashwin is a gifted cricketer. But bowling in India with SG Test balls against an inconsistent West Indies batting line-up is completely different from bowling with Kookaburra balls. Also the quality of batsmanship will certainly be higher," Ganguly assessed.
Asked about Praveen Kumar's ideal replacement, Ganguly didn't commit any names.
"We should have a good young pacer whoever it is. As far as Irfan is concerned, I have heard that he is bowling well but my question would be whether he is good enough to get into the team on his bowling alone."
Ganguly seemed delighted that Ashish Nehra is playing the longer version although the seamer himself is reluctant about playing day's cricket.
"It's nice to see Ashish playing day's cricket. Also he is getting wickets which is a good sign. I don't think that not being in central contracts is an issue. He is only 32 and still can play for India for sometime."
For someone who has always felt that skill has nothing to do with age, it was no wonder that he found former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns' jibe at Ricky Ponting being an "elephant in the dressing room" as a "ridiculous" statement.
"He (Cairns) said that yesterday and today I guess Ponting batting close to 70 (67 batting). I have always said this and I maintain, please don't judge a Ponting, Tendulkar or a Dravid by their age."
On a different note, Ganguly who is also the chairman of the BCCI technical committee feels that something needs to be done regarding the structure of Ranji Trophy format.
"I know there are times when the second innings becomes immaterial unlike our match today against Haryana. But certainly we need to look at possibilities whether we can make it a five-day affair," he said.
He has seen a presentation on VJD method the rain rule used for domestic matches and he replied with a smile, "I found it complicated just like the D/L method during my playing days."
PTI
