June 2008: Mohammad Asif is detained
by authorities at Dubai Airport on suspicion of possessing drugs. He is
released, but the PCB begins its own inquiry.
October 2006: Mohammad Asif and
Shoaib Akhtar are withdrawn from Pakistan's squad a day before the
Champions Trophy in India after they test positive for nandrolone in an
internal PCB test. Asif and Akhtar were banned, but are let off after
appealing.
June 2005: Scotland bowler Asim Butt is banned for a year after he tests positive for Ecstasy, a recreational drug.
May 2005: Keith Piper, the Warwickshire wicketkeeper, is banned for the remainder of the season after failing a drugs test.
October 2004: Graham Wagg, the
Warwickshire and England A allrounder, is banned from cricket until
January 2006 after being found guilty of cocaine use.
February 2003: Shane Warne is sent
home from the World Cup in South Africa after it's revealed that he
tested positive for banned diuretics in samples provided to the
Australian Sports Drugs Agency in Sydney.. Warne is later handed a
one-year ban.
A sample taken from random testing at the inaugural season of the
Indian Premier League has tested positive, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi
has confirmed to Cricinfo. This is the first step of the verification
process, Modi said, and there are several stages before a player is
deemed to have failed the test.
The tests were carried out by IDTM, a
Sweden-based independent agency, in accordance with World Anti-Doping
Agency (WADA) standards after the IPL adopted the ICC's anti-doping
code. The samples were forwarded to a WADA-approved laboratory in
Switzerland for testing. "Two days ago the IPL received a letter from
the lab, mandated by WADA, which said one sample had tested positive,"
Modi said. "The IPL will follow set procedures from now on."
The first step, he said, is to match the
identity of the player with the sample. Next, the player's form, filled
out before the match, will be scrutinised for any pre-declared or
prescribed drug by the IPL medical committee, consisting of an IDTM
representative and Dr Anant Joshi; if that matches the drug found in
the sample, the matter ends there and the player's name won't be
revealed.
If the medical committee investigation
reveals the player had not applied or been granted an exemption for
using the drug found in the sample, the player, the concerned IPL
franchise and national board will be informed in writing of the
positive test that violates the anti-doping code. The player then has
the right to request that his 'B' sample [supplied at the same time as
the one that tested positive] be sent for analysis, which he and his
representative can attend along with an IPL representative.
If that, too is positive, the matter will be
taken up by the IPL's drugs tribunal, comprising of Sunil Gavaskar, Dr
Ravi Bapat (ex-Vice Chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health
Sciences) and lawyer Shirish Gupte. The tribunal will study the issue
and take a decision in accordance with the anti-doping code. "This is
just the procedure," Modi said, "as of now we are at the first stage
where one sample has tested positive. The issue is now with the IPL's
medical committee. The identity of the player will matter only after we
check on the pre-declared drugs."
The ICC, in a release, said it had been
informed of the "adverse analytical finding" and that it was the
responsibility of the ICC member, in this case the BCCI, to deal with
the process. The ICC stated it will "be closely monitoring the
situation to ensure the correct action is taken by the BCCI", and
"retains a right of appeal if any penalty that may be imposed is
inconsistent with the WADA code".
Anil Kumble, India's Test captain, has been cautioned by the BCCI for divulging details of the Sri Lanka tour selection meeting to a newspaper.
Kumble told Mumbai Mirror that he had
asked the selectors to pick two specialist wicketkeepers for the
three-Test series.. "As captain I am aware that there could be problems
if the specialist were to pull a muscle or have a runny stomach on the
morning of a Test," Kumble said. "There was a suggestion that Rahul
[Dravid] be the second wicketkeeper, but I persuaded the [selection]
committee to view things from Indian cricket's point of view and
advantage."
Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, censured
Kumble for his remarks. "I have been informed by the chairman [Dilip
Vengsarkar] that Mumbai Mirror, a newspaper in Mumbai, has published some story about the selection meeting which is attributed to you.
"You are aware that proceedings of the selection committee are not
supposed to be divulged and are certainly not meant for public
discussion. As a senior player, you should have restrained from such
interviews."
India had included wicketkeepers Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel in the Test squad for Sri Lanka after Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted out of the series.
WV Raman, the former Indian batsman, has been retained as coach of
Tamil Nadu for the next two seasons. Top officials in the Tamil Nadu
Cricket Association (TNCA) have expressed satisfaction with Raman's
work over the 2007-08 season, after he took over an inexperienced team
hit hard by an exodus to Indian Cricket League.
Raman had been offered the coach's position at Bengal as well, but he
had informed the TNCA that Tamil Nadu would be his first priority.
Tamil Nadu finished sixth in the Ranji Trophy
Elite Group A with one win, four draws and two defeats. The TNCA has
also, for the first time, expanded the coaching staff by appointing the
former allrounder D Gokulakrishnan as the assistant coach and TS Mohan
as the fielding coach. The move was primarily to ease the burden on
Raman.
"Raman is dedicated to cricket," N Srinivasan, the TNCA president, told the Hindu. "And he is dedicated to Tamil Nadu. We have decided to continue with him."
The association added that Raman will no longer be a part of the
selection panel he chaired for the last two years. Former Tamil Nadu
batsman R Madhavan will take over as chairman while M Senthilnathan,
also a former Tamil Nadu player, has been drafted into the panel.
"There was too much load on Raman and there
was a need to reduce some of it," KS Viswanathan, the TNCA secretary,
told the paper. "We believe we have done that. We have a good system in
place and the results should start coming. We have lost several players
over the last two years due to retirement and the ICL. We are happy
with the effort Raman has put in."
Giving international fixtures the priority, the PCB has said it won't
allow its players to take part in the next IPL season if it coincides
with Australia's rescheduled visit to the country next year. There are
11 Pakistan players in the IPL, including captain Shoaib Malik,
vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq, and Sohail Tanvir, one of the key players
in Rajasthan Royals' triumph in the inaugural season.
"We don't see any confrontation with the
players over the clash of dates, the IPL is a domestic tournament,"
Shafqat Naghmi, the Pakistan board's chief operating officer, told PTI. "International commitments take precedence over the domestic tournaments and the IPL is no exception."
Naghmi's comments come a few days after Sri Lanka Cricket
allowed its key players to feature in next year's IPL despite a clash
with proposed dates of the tour to England. SLC's decision even
prompted Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, to hint at the need
for an IPL window in the international calendar.
"We will work strictly under a principle that has been decided at the
ICC level," Naghmi said. "Obviously the home series against Australia
is very important for us and nothing will take precedence over it."
Australia postponed
their tour to Pakistan in March this year after several bomb attacks in
the wake of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination in
December 2007. Pakistan are to hold the Champions Trophy in September,
subject to the ICC determining the situation is safe for the tournament
to go ahead.
Besides ICC's security consultants, the
Australian, England and New Zealand boards have hired an independent
expert to assess the situation. Players such as Andrew Symonds have
already expressed their reservations, and Cricket Australia is yet to decide on the fate of those who refuse to tour.
Dale Steyn has called himself an 'idiot' for the comments he made about the Indian Premier League a few days ago.
Steyn said that "the IPL was only four overs a game and it was like a
paid holiday; you only had to work hard if you felt like it, which is
probably why we finished second-last." However, in response, he was
unreservedly apologetic.
"I was speaking just moments after being
named as South Africa's cricketer of the year at a gala banquet and I
was pretty emotional," he said. "I was trying to be funny and just
ended up being stupid - I was an idiot.
"I was asked whether the IPL had been hard
physically and I said 'no' because I only had to bowl four overs per
game.. The rest of my comments were meant to reinforce the fact that
Twenty20 cricket is very, very different from Test cricket as far as
wear and tear on the body is concerned.
"The truth is, I
tried my absolute hardest for Bangalore in every game and I was as
disappointed as anyone that we fared so poorly. I desperately regret my
naivety and look forward to the opportunity of helping the franchise
reach the semi-finals next year.
"I have written to
the franchise to express my unreserved regret and apologies and tried
to explain the circumstances of my comments. Sometimes, when you lose,
you try to make a joke of it to lessen the disappointment. It was a
stupid thing to say and a painful lesson for me to learn."
The ICC has taken the first significant step towards resolving the
contentious issue of unauthorised cricket - including the status of the
Indian Cricket League (ICL) - by setting up a high-powered committee to
study its legal aspects. It has also discussed the issue of global
agreements to prevent cricketers from appearing in such games, Cricinfo
has learnt.
The committee, which was formalised during
the ICC's annual meeting in Dubai last week, includes Giles Clarke, the
ECB chairman, Norman Arendse, the Cricket South Africa president,
Shashank Manohar, the BCCI's president-elect, Lalit Modi, a
vice-president of the BCCI [and the IPL's chairman and commissioner]
and David Becker, the ICC's senior counsel - business and commercial.
The committee was set up after officials were
made aware the ICL may explore the possibility of coming under the
governing body's umbrella as "a kind of authorised unofficial cricket"
under a specific rule that deals with exhibition matches and other
games of a similar nature. It is understood that preliminary
discussions took place in Bangalore during a meeting of key ICC board
members on April 18, before the inaugural IPL game.
When asked about the committee and its
objectives, an ICC spokesperson said, "The purpose of the group is to
ensure that whatever conclusion is reached is in the best interests of
the game."
The issue of the ICL and its status came into
focus on the sidelines of the ICC annual meeting last week when
officials from India, England, Australia and South Africa met for a
discussion on the proposed Twenty20 Champions League.
While India, Australia and South Africa are
clear that players associated with the ICL cannot take part in the
league, England will have to take a tough call on the issue as around
25 ICL players are currently playing for 15 English counties.
Officially, the ECB does not support any involvement with unofficial
cricket but, in this situation, has to operate within the stringent
trade laws in England.
The ICC, meanwhile, has also sent a letter to
the ICL seeking details of its correspondence with the BCCI on the
issue of their status in the game. An ICL official told Cricinfo the
letter was received last week and added the league is yet to send its
response. Himanshu Mody, the ICL's business head, confirmed the
development to Cricinfo but declined to comment on it. When asked about
the letter, the ICC spokesperson said, "Dialogue and correspondence on
the subject is ongoing."
According to ICL officials, they had first
written to the BCCI in April 2007 informing them about their plans to
hold a city-based Twenty20 league. "But they reacted harshly to the
issue," an official said.
The BCCI is very clear it would not budge on
the ICL. "We had received two or three letters from the ICL, but we
made our position very clear early that they cannot be recognised," a
BCCI official said. The BCCI has barred all official contact with
players associated with ICL and expects all other members of the ICC to
align with them on the issue.
The ICL has already organised three Twenty20
tournaments and a 50-over competition but its status was placed on the
international cricket stage this April by Malcolm Speed, the former ICC
CEO, who said the governing body had received a letter
from the league seeking clarity on their existence. Speed, who was
since told to go on "paid leave" by the ICC before his successor Haroon
Lorgat took charge last week, had also said that the issue was being
handled by the ICC's lawyers.
Later, Dave Richardson, who took over from
Speed on an interim basis, said the ICC would go by the BCCI's policy
towards ICL. "The ICL is a domestic event that takes place in India so
our rules prescribe that any decision as to whether an event be
regarded as official or not must be made by the country that event is
played in," Richardson had said.
The multi-billion-dollar Indian Premier League appears to have netted
another big name with Dilip Vengsarkar, the former India captain and
current chairman of selectors, reportedly set to join the league as its
Director of Operations.
Reports suggest Vengsarkar, whose tenure ends
in September, will join the IPL for a two-year period and is expected
to be paid an annual salary of around US$ 235,000.
The move will come as a major step in the
Indian board's relationship with Vengsarkar, one that has been strained
in the past. Vengsarkar had his share of run-ins with the BCCI,
including one over writing columns in newspapers. He even demanded a
hefty compensation for having to stop writing.
Now Vengsarkar is set to join two other former India captains in the
IPL roster - Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are already part of the
IPL governing council.
Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has said franchises will be allowed
to trade players before the 2009 season gets underway. He added that
the season could welcome more innovations, including that of the orange
neon ball.
"There will be a transfer window open early next year just ahead of the
2009 season to enable franchises trade players and bring in the ones
they require," Modi told PTI.
Following a highly successful opening season which concluded last week,
Sharad Pawar, the Indian board president, had ruled out Modi's proposal
to conduct two IPL seasons in a single year, owing to the busy
international calendar. Modi agreed that the Future Tours Programme
(FTP) made it difficult to implement the plan and that it could be
possible only after the 2011 World Cup. The first season lasted 45
days, though several international stars only made brief appearances
for their franchises, owing to national commitments.
"The second season as of now is a very distant possibility and will not
take place definitely until after the 2011 World Cup, given the FTP
commitments of the Test playing nations," Modi said. "By then, I firmly
believe, the IPL would have already established itself as a major event
and carved a niche for itself on the international cricketing
calendar."
Looking ahead to the second season, Modi said
the existing innovations will continue and that the use of the orange
balls - to help players sight the ball better under lights - will be
approved only after trials.
"One of the innovations to be introduced next
year would be orange neon ball," he said. "This would, however, depend
on how successful the trials of the same are.
"This year we already introduced the Orange
and Purple Cap innovations (for the top run-getter and wicket-taker
respectively) and the Kingfisher Team Fair Play award and will look at
continuing with this tradition of innovation in the subsequent
leagues."
Modi said he was overwhelmed with the success
of the league so far. "The TRPs that we have garnered in India are
quite frankly staggering to say the least. And all this is because we
have had some of the best cricketers from around the world. Frankly I
could not have envisaged a more successful inaugural season than this
year."
Sourav Ganguly has brushed off suggestions of his retirement after
being left out of India's preliminary squad of 30 for the Champions
Trophy in Pakistan in September.
"I've been out of India's one-day team for
the last three months and I am not going to play one-dayers for the
next three. So I'm not thinking about ODIs at the moment," Ganguly told
reporters in Kolkata. "I'm concentrating on Tests and the upcoming Sri
Lanka series.
"I'm still enjoying cricket," he said, "and as long as I do that, I'm not going to hang up my boots."
One of the challenges ahead would be facing
Ajantha Mendis, who rattled India's ODI team with figures of 6 for 13
in the Asia Cup final in Karachi. Mendis is also contracted with the
Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders, captained by Ganguly..
"He [Mendis] is an excellent prospect. Has a
lot of variety," Ganguly said. "But I have faced him in the nets when
he came here to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Also, players like
Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid], [VVS] Laxman are very good against
spin bowling.
"I'm doing some home work to counter his
bowling," Ganguly said. "I have special plans for him. We have to read
him off the hand. It will be too late if you start picking him off the
wicket.
"Watching him on TV, I got the impression
that he relies more on change of pace ... his legspinner doesn't turn
much." Ganguly also pointed out Sri Lanka had Muttiah Muralitharan in
their ranks. "But I think Murali would be a bigger threat. He has
variation and pace and can turn the ball a mile. He is in a different
league altogether."
On Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to sit out
of the Test series in Sri Lanka, Ganguly said: "It's his personal
decision. Being the captain and a wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni takes a
lot of pressure. So it's natural to feel fatigued. But very few
cricketers can afford to take a break.
"I don't remember pulling out of a Test
series because of fatigue when I was the captain," he said. "It also
depends on your position in the side; I'm sure not many players, with a
place in the side not guaranteed, will be able to do that. I know only
one player who has been able to do it successfully -- Sachin
Tendulkar."
Ganguly, though, played down the IPL factor. "I don't think it opens up
the IPL versus country debate." He also disagreed with the view that
ODI cricket was on the decline thanks to Twenty20. "I was in England
recently. I went to watch a one-dayer between New Zealand and England.
It was a full house.
"So I don't think people don't like ODIs
anymore. I'm sure when the ODI format returns to India, we'll see the
same packed house as it was earlier."
Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has insisted the US$5 million salary
cap on franchisees will remain in place for at least the next two
years. Modi said in a statement that the players are legally bound by
their three-year contract with franchises.
"The three-year contractual clause was made
public to both the franchisees and players prior to the auction (on
February 20 this year) and the player's participation," he said. "All
the parties will abide by the terms and conditions laid down by the
governing council and it is only up to the franchisee to trade players
as and when the trading window opens next year."
Ricky Ponting, Australia's captain, had earlier expressed concerns
that lifting the salary cap would be "detrimental to the whole set-up"
as franchises with deep pockets could end up with the best players,
leading to a loss of competitiveness.
Modi also said that rules for trading of
players will be issued early next year. "The IPL will issue a fresh set
of guidelines on the player transfer protocols for the next season
keeping in mind the transfer window," he said. "It would however, be
the prerogative of the franchisee alone to take a decision to trade
players, when the trading window opens in the early part of 2009 just
prior to the second season."
India have announced a 30-member probables squad for the Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in September.
The squad includes players on the fringe of national selection like S
Badrinath and Manoj Tiwary and also those on the comeback trail like
Mohammad Kaif and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Two members of the
Under-19 World Cup-winning team - captain Virat Kohli and allrounder
Ravindra Jadeja - get their first call-ups to the senior squad.
Several players who impressed during the
Indian Premier League and in the last domestic season such as
Rajasthan's fast bowler Pankaj Singh and Mumbai's allrounder Abhishek
Nayar have been included. Another Mumbai player Ajinkya Rahane, who
slammed a 142-ball 187 - the highest score by an Indian in a List A
match - is also in the squad.
Experienced batsmen
and former captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are among those who
did not make the cut. Dravid has not been a part of the one-day setup
since the home series against Australia last October while Ganguly's
last ODI was against Pakistan in Gwalior in November. Fast bowler Munaf
Patel was also omitted.
Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir,
Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan
Singh, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, RP Singh, Irfan
Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Singh Gony, Pragyan
Ojha, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Mohammad Kaif, Manoj
Tiwary, Abhishek Nayar, Pankaj Singh, Murali Kartik, Virat Kohli,
Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Yusuf Pathan, S Sreesanth
Haroon Lorgat, the new ICC chief executive, has raised concerns over
the future of international cricket given the growing financial
attraction of the Indian Premier League and hinted at the need for a
window for the league in the international calendar. His comments were
made during a media interaction at Lord's on Thursday, the day Sri
Lanka Cricket said it allowed its players to participate in the Indian
Premier League next year though it coincided with a tour of England.
SLC had agreed
to the series earlier this week as a replacement for Zimbabwe but gave
in after their players lobbied hard - involving the country's president
- for the right to play in the IPL. "If we don't manage this situation
we could be threatening the lifeblood of all member countries," Lorgat
said. "International cricket generates revenue that is essential to our
survival.
"My folks always told me to be careful
because money is the root of all evil. The root of this issue is the
sums of money involved - it is far more attractive financially to play
in the IPL."
With the status of the Sri Lanka tour still
unclear, he added: "It is up to Sri Lanka to sort out the situation. To
satisfy players financially by relying on their payments from IPL is
not sustainable. Players have short careers and they want immediate
rewards but we have to educate them about the development of the game.
All of us, players included, must be responsible during this time of
enormous opportunity.
"There is no doubt that there are inherent
conflicts in the situation. Each country would rather look after its
own interests and then you also have to get together to look after the
global interests. I would hope that the ICC has people with the
integrity to look after the game globally."
He also said that one of the solutions to the
problem could be the creation of an IPL window. "I suspect that the
prospect of a window for IPL is a subject that will not disappear from
the radar."
Left-hander Suresh Raina continued his rich vein of form, notching a hundred to steer India to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in an Asia Cup Super League match here Saturday.
Raina followed his maiden hundred against Hong Kong and 84 against Pakistan with an unbeaten 116 to help India overhaul Bangladesh's 283-6 with 6.4 overs to spare at the National Stadium.
For Bangladesh, Alok Kapali hit a maiden century but his brilliant work was spoiled by shoddy fielding, with three vital catches going down.
The 21-year-old Raina, dropped by Mashrafe Mortaza off Mahmudullah Riyad when on 16, took full advantage of the lapse, adding 139 runs for the second wicket with Gautum Gambhir (90) and then another 89 for the unbroken fourth wicket with Yuvraj Singh, who made 36 not out.
Gambhir, dropped on 56 by Farhad Reza off Mortaza, also punished the sloppy Bangladeshis with aggressive strokeplay.
Indian captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised his team for another clinical win.
"Most of the time we are chasing and it's good that we have done it again. The wicket was flat once again," said Dhoni. "We must keep up the good work and play every game with this rhythm because it's never easy."
Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful blamed his fielders for the defeat.
"It (dropping catches) is part and parcel of the game but had we taken those catches we would have been in a better position. Raina and Gambhir played well."
The win boosted India's chances of qualifying for the July 6 final. They now have four points after carrying over two points from the first round.
Sri Lanka meet Pakistan in the second match of the Super League on Sunday.
The four remaining teams in the Asia Cup all play each other once at the Super League stage to decide the finalists.
Raina and Gambhir came together after Bangladesh paceman
Shahadat Hossain dismissed Robin Uthappa (2) and Rohit Sharman (22) and they took the attack to the Bangladeshi bowlers.
Gambhir hit Mahmudullah over long-on for a six to reach his fifty off just 36 balls. He looked set for his hundred before miscuing a drive off Farhad Reza and was caught at mid-wicket.
Raina took 93 balls for his second one-day hundred. In all he hit eleven boundaries and three sixes during his 107-ball knock.
Earlier, Kapali lifted Bangladesh following a sluggish start after they had won the toss, putting on 112 runs for the sixth wicket with Mahmudullah (26 not out).
Opener Tamim Iqbal, with 55, made an early impression in an otherwise unimpressive start in which Bangladesh lost Nazimuddin (six) and Ashraful (20).
Iqbal kept one end intact and hit seven boundaries during his 67-ball knock, leaving the rest of the work to Kapali.
Kapali added 49 runs for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur
Rahim (22) and then lifted the innings during his 96-ball stand with Mahmudullah.
The 24-year-old Kapali, recalled after a gap of two years earlier this month, smashed Manpreet Gony for two sixes before taking a single to bring up his hundred off just 86 balls.
He smashed ten boundaries and five sixes during his entertaining 96-ball knock before he was caught in the final over.
His previous best one-day score of 89 not out came against the West Indies at Dhaka in 2002.
This was Bangladesh's highest score against India in all one-day matches, beating the previous best of 257-9 at Dhaka in 2004.
Kevin Pietersen will be allowed to carry on playing his extraordinary 'reverse slog-sweep' after MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), cricket's rule-makers, announced they would not be outlawing the 'switch-hit'.
"MCC believes that the 'switch-hit' stroke is exciting for the game of cricket," said a statement issued by MCC following a meeting at it's Lord's headquarters in London on Tuesday.
"Indeed, the stroke conforms to the Laws of Cricket and will not be legislated against."
Pietersen, who effectively became a left rather than right-handed batsman when using the shot to twice hit New Zealand medium-pacer Scott Styris for six during an unbeaten century in England's opening one-day international win at the Riverside on Sunday, welcomed the ruling.
"I am very pleased by the MCC's decision and I think it's the right one not just for me or England but the game as a whole.
"It's important that we as players are
innovative and if this shot helps make cricket more exciting and entertaining for spectators then that has to be good for the sport."
Some critics branded Pietersen's shot 'unfair' because bowlers, unlike batsmen, have to inform the umpire with which hand they will be delivering the ball and from which side of the wicket or risk being penalised.
"I don't agree with the argument that it is unfair on the bowlers," Pietersen, training at Edgbaston where the second one-day international of a five-match series takes place on Wednesday, said in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement.
"It's an extremely high risk shot and there will be plenty of bowlers out there who will think that it gives them a great opportunity to get me out," added Pietersen whose reverse sixes were the highlights of an innings of 110 not out, which propelled England to a 114-run victory.
His view was backed up by MCC which said: "MCC
acknowledges that while bowlers must inform umpires and batsmen of their mode of delivery, they do not provide a warning of the type of delivery that they will bowl (for example, an off-cutter or a slower ball).
"It therefore concludes that the batsman should have the opportunity - should they wish - of executing the 'switch-hit' stroke."
However, MCC accepted that consequences remained for both the interpretation of the lbw and wide rules by a batsman attempting a 'switch-hit', saying that they would "continue to research and discuss these implications".
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori did his best Friday to allay growing security concerns about staging the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in Pakistan this year.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said he doesn't yet know if his side will travel to Pakistan for the September 11-28 event and raised the prospect of individual withdrawals even if the title-holders do decide to send a team.
"We don't know if we're going. And if we do go, we don't know if individuals are going to pull out," Ponting was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers.
"It just won't be Australian players. There will be a few other teams who will be thinking long and hard if the tour does go ahead.
"I'm sure a lot of the New Zealand players who have been confronted with this stuff before, in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, will have some pretty serious concerns."
Australia put off a March-April tour of Pakistan after several
of their players hesitated after a series of suicide bombings in the run-up to Pakistan's national elections.
Vettori toured Pakistan in 2002 when a bomb exploded opposite New Zealand's hotel in Karachi.
But the left-arm spinner said that if the security arrangements in place when he returned to Pakistan in 2003 were introduced for the Champions Trophy this would calm a lot of fears.
"I was there when the bomb went off outside our hotel and I went back a year later on tour and the security they put forward that time was immense and overwhelming," Vettori said.
"I did feel safe so if they could promise that level of security it would appease a lot of guys," he added ahead of the third one-day international against England here Saturday.
New Zealand are set to discuss the security situation in Pakistan with their board chief executive, Justin Vaughan, when he arrives in London, where the final two one-dayers of this
five-match series take place, next week.
England coach Peter Moores, in contrast to Ponting's very public concerns, said his team would take their cue from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
"At the moment we haven't discussed it and we'll wait to see what pans out," Moores said. "We've had other things to discuss so it's not been on the agenda at all at the moment.
"We'll wait and see what is said and if that's where we're going and we'll take our advice from the ECB."
ICC acting chief executive Dave Richardson said on Wednesday that Pakistan would host the Champions Trophy in September provided there were no safety and security fears.
But the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations chief executive Tim May was reported on Monday as saying "absolutely nothing" had changed in Pakistan since Australia abandoned its tour three months ago.
The Champions Trophy, this year's leading international
50 overs per side event, is due to start on the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.
And former Australia off-spinner May said security risks to players and officials had also been "compounded" by the decision to hold the event during the Muslim religious festival of Ramadan "in such a landscape of unrest and volatility and opposition to western countries."
Scott Styris starred for New Zealand as the Black Caps finished their tour of England in style with a 51-run series-clinching victory in the fifth one-day international at Lord's here Saturday.
Man-of-the-match Styris's 91 ball 87 was the centrepiece of New Zealand's 266 for five, which also featured a rapid fifty from his fellow all-rounder Jacob Oram.
England in reply were bowled out for 215 as Kevin Pietersen's first match as captain ended in defeat and a 3-1 series win for New Zealand.
Opposing skipper Daniel Vettori took three wickets for 32 runs in his 10 overs of left-arm spin after teenage quick Tim Southee (three for 49), the man of the series in his maiden ODI campaign with 13 wickets in all, had again claimed key scalps at the top of the order.
Owais
Shah's 69 off 75 balls on his Middlesex home ground was the only significant innings of note as England's batting let them down again.
New Zealand, well-beaten 2-0 by England in the preceding Test series and thrashed by nine wickets in the lone Twenty20 international were hammered by 114 runs in the opening match of this NatWest Series at the Riverside.
They then suffered the frustration of a no-result washout at Edgbaston with the game an over away from being declared a match.
Despite being bowled out for 182 at Bristol, they won the third one-dayer by 22 runs before holding their nerve to clinch a one-wicket win off the last ball at The Oval on Wednesday.
They made a slow start at Lord's after losing the toss but added 96 runs in the final 10 overs, 61 in the last five alone. Veteran all-rounder Styris and Grant Elliott (23 not out) put on an unbroken 65 for the sixth wicket.
The 32-year-old Styris, appearing in
his 152nd one-day international, struck three sixes and five fours.
Together with big-hitting Oram he upped the tempo with a run-a-ball fifth wicket stand of 77.
England openers Ian Bell and Alastair Cook shared a fifty stand only for both to depart in quick succession as their side slumped to 60 for two.
Bell, aiming across the line, was plumb lbw for a 27 featuring five fours. Then left-hander Cook, recalled for his first ODI since February, was caught behind off the 19-year-old Southee's second ball for 24.
Star batsman Pietersen, leading England for the first time after regular one-day captain Paul Collingwood was banned for four matches following the team's slow over-rate at The Oval, fell for just six when his fierce square cut off Southee was well-caught by Oram at backward point.
And it wasn't long before 86 for three became 101 for four.
Earlier this month Ravi Bopara struck a magnificent double
century for Essex in a one-day match against Leicestershire.
However, thoughts of similar heroics at Lord's were cut short when he was deceived by Vettori and bowled for 30.
Vettori dismissed Luke Wright and Tim Ambrose for just eight runs between them and when Graeme Swann fell to a brilliant diving catch by wicket-keeper McCullum, England were 164 for seven with the game long over as a contest.
Shah holed out off a Southee full toss before Mark Gillespie ended the match by dismissing James Anderson.
Styris, dropped on 13 off a difficult chance, also survived a tight stumping call on 39.
He was content to play second fiddle while Oram struck 52 off 40 balls, including three sixes and two fours.
The tall left-hander eventually holed out to off-spinner Swann who finished with an impressive two for 33 runs in 10 overs.
An expert said Saturday that security in Pakistan for the biennial Champions Trophy needed to be fine-tuned, with several foreign players expressing concerns about touring the troubled nation.
Reg Dickason, a security expert hired by Cricket Australia (CA), completed his assessment of southern port city Karachi following the strong reaction of Australian players about competing in Pakistan.
"It's a reasonable start," Dickason said of his inquiry." Some fine tuning needs to be done and everyone acknowledges that. In time, the security situation will be enhanced."
Pakistan hosts the elite eight-nation event from September 11-28. Sri Lanka is the alternate if the International Cricket Council (ICC) deems Pakistan unsuitable to host the event.
With Sri Lanka in the midst of heavy fighting between government forces and rebels, South Africa was also selected as possible hosts, an ICC source told AFP on Friday.
The ICC
will discuss an independent security assessment -- done last month -- during its meetings in Dubai starting Sunday, before making a final decision.
It was on Dickason's advice that Cricket Australia (CA) called off their national team's tour to Pakistan for one-dayers and Tests in March and April following a series of bomb blasts earlier this year.
CA agreed to reschedule the tour split into two visits -- one-dayers in 2009 and Tests in 2010 -- after improvement in security in Pakistan following February's general elections.
But renewed fears have put the Champions Trophy in doubt despite ICC giving an all-clear to Pakistan during last week's Trophy launch.
"You don't have to be Einstein to figure there will be some concern among our team," Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying in the Australian media. "We'll know a lot more about it after a security assessment."
Players from New Zealand and
England have also said they were worried about safety in Pakistan, where government forces on Saturday launched an offensive against militants in the northwest and the country's top Taliban chief halted talks with the government.
Dickason, who said he met the Pakistan Cricket Board and some independent security consultants, said the board and others were working to improve security.
"I think everybody would like to play here and it is why Pakistan Cricket Board and others have put in so much work here.
"The Trophy is still two-three months away. There is still work in progress," he added.
The proposed 10-million-dollar Twenty20 Champions League was thrown into turmoil on Sunday after India rejected the participation of English counties that field 'rebel' players.
Indian cricket chiefs said they will host the League in September-October featuring the top two Twenty20 club teams from Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, England and India.
But English counties can take part only provided they do not include those players who had signed up with the rebel Indian Cricket League, a cricket India board statement said.
"Clubs from England who qualify can play provided the teams do not include players who are with ICL," said the statement signed by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.
At least 25 ICL players play in English domestic cricket and only three of the 18 counties do not have any 'rebel' players.
The BCCI does not recognise the ICL, which was started last year by Zee Telefilms, India's leading listed
media house, under the chairmanship of former World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev.
Indian cricket official Lalit Modi, who organised a BCCI-backed domestic Twenty20 league over the last two months, said Australia was drawing up the details of the Champions League.
A final decision on the schedule, venues and teams is expected to be announced on the sidelines of the International Cricket Council's annual meetings in Dubai from June 29-July 4.
Earlier, Malik added 90 for the opening wicket with Salman Butt (35) and another 129 for the second wicket with Younus Khan (59) to propel Pakistan who won the toss and decided to bat.
Butt and Pakistan were slow off the mark, managing just 58 runs off the first 15 overs. Once Butt went, caught off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla in the 22nd over, Younus and Malik upped the tempo.
Malik reached his sixth century, third against India, in one-day internationals off 104 balls. His last one-day century came against India at Lahore two years ago.
The Indians were scrappy in the field as they let off Malik twice in one over from Yusuf Pathan, first when Chawla grassed one with the batsman on 116 and then Gautam Gambhir five runs later.
Malik finally retired hurt after suffering cramp in his leg. He hit 16 boundaries and a six during his 119-ball knock.
Younus followed him in the next over when he holed out off Yusuf in the
deep. He hit five boundaries during his 60-ball knock.
Virendar Sehwag punished Pakistan's bowling with an aggressive hundred to lead India to a comfortable six-wicket win in the final Group B Asia Cup match here on Thursday.
Sehwag smashed a 95-ball 119 and Suresh Raina hit a 68-ball 84 during their 198-run second wicket stand to help India overhaul Pakistan's 299-4 with 7.5 overs to spare.
Earlier, Shoaib Malik hit his first century as captain to help Pakistan post a challenging target.
However it proved a cake walk for India who were indebted to some lusty batting by Sehwag and Raina as the duo tore apart the home bowling which lost its bite after frontline paceman Umar Gul broke down with a side strain.
Without Gul, who limped off in the third over, the Pakistani bowling looked a shadow of the side which beat India by 25 runs in the final of the tri-series held in Bangladesh earlier this month.
Sehwag hit five boundaries and five towering sixes in his ninth
one-day century before he holed out at long-off with just 68 runs left. Yuvraj Singh with a 47-ball 48 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni with unbeaten 26 saw the home team through in the 43rd over.
Raina was as ruthless as Sehwag, hitting 10 boundaries and three sixes during his 69-ball innings before he miscued a drive off paceman Rao Iftikhar and was caught at covers. The duo took just 149 balls for their partnership.
Raina made his maiden hundred in India's 256-run win over Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Both India and Pakistan reached the Super League stages of the tournament but India carry two points into the next stage by virtue of this win.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also qualified from Group A. The Super Leage starts from Saturday with India taking on Bangladesh.
Indian captain Dhoni said his batsmen clicked on "world's flatest track."
"It was a big total but the wicket was very placid and there was nothing for the bowlers. We were quite optimistic about chasing and Pakistan lost Gul and after that had not much to do," said Dhoni.
Malik agreed the loss of Gul was a blow.
"A target of 300
was defendable and we could have defended that but it was hard to come back after losing Gul," said Malik.
Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute said he could not understand why the likes of South Africa and England had frozen ties with his organisation while Zimbabweans continued to compete at international level in other leading sports.
Cricket South Africa's action last week in cutting bilateral links with its neighbour, after Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential election in order to prevent his supporters being subject to fresh attacks by Robert Mugabe's regime, set off a chain of cricket events.
Ray Mali, the South African president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), moved to have the whole issue of Zimbabwe's status added to the agenda of next week's meeting of the global governing body in Dubai.
Meanwhile English officials, with the backing of the British Government, called off Zimbabwe's planned tour of England next year.
Government ministers also called for
Zimbabwe to be excluded from the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England.
But Bvute, writing in a letter sent to all members of the ICC executive, said it was wrong to impose sporting sanctions for political reasons.
However critics, including former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, have repeatedly argued that ZC's close ties with the ruling ZANU-PF party mean it is not an independent sporting body.
"We (Zimbabwe) are a full member of FIFA and are currently participating in a World Cup qualifying campaign," Bvute told BBC Radio on Saturday.
"We have a swimming programme which has produced Kirsty Coventry, a recent winner in the world championships, so it would be strange that the only sport to take action on so-called current worries is cricket when all the other world sporting bodies have not taken that stance."
Looking ahead to Wednesday's meeting, Bvute said: "I cannot speculate on the outcome but we have obviously
noted the actions of others.
"Over the last few years there have been problems between England and Zimbabwe. This is not a new phenomena."
And as for the social turmoil within Zimbabwe, Bvute said: "I think at the end of the day that's a matter for the politicians to speak and decide on. We are not politicians and we are not qualified to speak on these issues."
Zimbabwe, which effectively suspended itself from Test cricket because of a collapse in playing standards brought about by a race row over selection remains an active one-day international side.
They have long enjoyed the support of India, cricket's financial powerhouse, and the Asian giant's stance in Dubai is likely to be critical in shaping Zimbabwe's immediate cricket future on the world stage.
India's upcoming Test and one-day tour of Sri Lanka has helped the cash-starved local cricket board wipe out its debts, an official said on Sunday.
"We paid off our 600 million rupee (six-million dollar) bank overdraft after getting an advance payment from television rights sold for the Indian tour," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) media manager Shane Fernando told AFP.
Fernando declined to reveal details, but local media reported that the Dubai-based Ten Sports, which holds the television rights for the tour, paid 50 percent of the 15.2 million dollar agreed for the tour.
India will play three Tests and five one-day internationals during the six-week visit, with the first Test starting on July 23.
India, with its vast cricket-crazy television audiences, is the
commercial superpower of the sport contributing almost 70 percent of the game's worldwide revenues.
"India's biggest passion is cricket. It's an advertiser's dream market," said Jude de Valliere of the Colombo-based Right Angle Sports Marketing.
"Any brand that associates itself with cricket is assured of a good return. Less affluent countries like Sri Lanka are not ashamed to cash in on India's financial muscle."
Sri Lankan cricket was not been short of sponsors after the island won its only World Cup under Arjuna Ranatunga's captaincy in 1996, but income has been running dry in recent times.
A major portion of the money that Sri Lanka Cricket, now headed by Ranatunga himself, earns these days is through sale of television rights to home internationals.
The SLC lost 11 million dollars when South Africa pulled out of a triangular one-day series in August 2006 after a bomb blast near the team hotel in Colombo.
India, the third team in the tri-series, stayed back to play one-day matches against Sri Lanka, but rain wiped out the hastily-arranged series.
LONDON (Reuters) - Stand-in captain Kevin Pietersen on Saturday blamed England's batsmen for their 3-1 defeat to New Zealand in the one-day series, which ended with a meek 51-run loss in the fifth match at Lord's on Saturday.
England, who won the test series convincingly 2-0, started the one-day matches strongly with a 114-run victory when Pietersen scored a match-winning century and grabbed the headlines with his unique switch-hitting.
Two weeks on and New Zealand were able to turn the series around with wins at Bristol, The Oval and Lord's after a no result at Edgbaston when they seemed to be heading for a win before he rain prevented a finish.
"It all started alright with the toss and then we did a great job with the ball," Pietersen, skipper in place of the
suspended Paul Collingwood, told reporters. "We just didn't bat well enough, not only today but throughout the series.
"Too many players have got in and not gone on and been the hero. The consistency in the batting has not been there and it's an area where we need to have a look at."
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, who led from the front with figures of three for 32, was pleased with how his team came back after the test series disappointment.
"From the second match at Edgbaston onwards we have played some really good cricket," Vettori told reporters. "To win any series is pleasing but to win against a pretty good team away from home and in convincing style means we have a very happy dressing room."
Although Pietersen has not yet been confirmed as England skipper for the next three matches of Collingwood's ban, he is keen to take on the role again.
"Today was great fun and if I get the opportunity (again)
hopefully I will do a good enough job," he said. "I'm a perfectionist and I strive on doing things really well and to the best of my ability and being successful.
"So finishing today without a victory gives me more of an incentive to get the stripes back again for the next game and to try and get a victory under our belts. I don't want to be an England captain who captains one game and loses it."
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori challenged his side to go on and win the Champions Trophy tournament later this year after they sealed a 3-1 one-day series victory against England here at Lord's.
The Black Caps, five times World Cup semi-finalists without ever reaching the final itself, last won a major international one-day tournament when triumphing in the 2000 Champions Trophy, 'the mini World Cup', in Kenya.
And Vettori believes it's high time a side ranked as the world's third-best 50-over team lifted another big prize, starting with the 2008 Champions Trophy which is due to take place in Pakistan in September.
"We are a good one-day side, we've got most areas covered," said Vettori. "Now it's about time for us to win one of these tournaments.
"Australia are still the team to beat but with the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg, who was a very good one-day bowler for them, and Adam Gilchrist, maybe they've come back a little bit."
The Black Caps, in only their second one-dayer at the 'home of cricket' beat England by 51 runs to complete an impressive revival after being thrashed by a massive 114 runs in the opening contest of this five-match series.
That loss at the Riverside was a heavy blow for a team featuring several inexperienced players to absorb, coming as it did on the back of a 2-0 Test series defeat against England and a reverse by nine wickets in the one-off Twenty20 international.
Then came the controversy of their no-result washout at Edgbaston, the game needing just one more over to be a 'live' match when the umpires, with Vettori's men on the brink of levelling at 1-1, called it off because of rain.
But despite being bowled out
for just 182 at Bristol, New Zealand did get on equal terms with a 22-run win.
And they managed to just do enough at The Oval to get over their anger following the controversial run-out of Grant Elliott, who made an immediate impact following his late call-up from English club side Weybridge, after the all-rounder was knocked to the ground by Ryan Sidebottom, to win by one wicket off the last ball.
"From Edgbaston onwards we've played some really good cricket, and to get a result 3-1, as convincingly as that, overseas means you have a pretty happy dressing room," said Vettori.
"It was good to see half a dozen of our senior guys have stood up at one time or another and been the leading performer."
Scott Styris led the way on Saturday with a dashing 87 off 91 balls and put on a run-a-ball 77 with fellow all-rounder Jacob Oram as New Zealand made 266 for five after losing the toss.
Then teenage quick Tim Southee,
named man of the series for taking 13 wickets at an average of under 19 apiece, again demonstrated his knack of getting rid of key batsmen by dismissing Kevin Pietersen for six on his way to a return of three for 49.
"Scott Styris and Jacob Oram took it away from England a little bit," said left-arm spinner Vettori, who weighed in with three for 32.
He added: "Kevin Pietersen is obviously their best batsman and when you get a marquee player like him in the opposition side, everyone lifts."
"We know Tim Southee's got the talent and he will have learned a lot."
The elated 19-year-old, who thanked seasoned team-mate Kyle Mills for acting as his "mentor" on the field, was delighted by his award.
"It's an awesome achievement and something I'll remember forever. I just tried to sit in, not go for too many runs and build pressure that way."
TAUNTON, England (Reuters) - South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has soared towards the top of the world rankings in the last year and is relishing the prospect of facing England and Australia over the next few months.
"I have done well but we are coming up against two big teams of world cricket who will be difficult to knock over," Steyn told Reuters in an interview ahead of the first match of their England tour in Somerset on Sunday.
"They are big challenges but I like challenges."
Steyn, who sampled English conditions with Essex in 2005 and Warwickshire last season, is due to face the world's top-ranked side at the end of the year.
"We are in England now, then we go to Australia after the Champions Trophy (in Pakistan) and Bangladesh at home so this is a
time where I have to stand up and be counted," he said.
Steyn was 31st in the test bowling rankings a year ago but is now second after briefly holding top place ahead of Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
It demonstrates the success he has enjoyed since South Africa's tour to Pakistan in October, a spell in which he has claimed 78 wickets in 12 tests to make it a total of 120 in 23 matches.
"It's all happened quickly but although I have had a fantastic season I know I have to continue this throughout my career to be considered a world great," Steyn said.
"It was fantastic to be rated number one but my average and number of wickets over an extended period, when I retire, is more important to me. Consistency is a big thing."
Steyn, who turned 25 on Friday, said he was trying to combine the sort of accuracy and movement Shaun Pollock used to display with the searing pace of Allan Donald.
TEST
DEBUT
The paceman showed evidence of this on his test debut in December 2004 when he bowled England captain Michael Vaughan, who shaped to play towards mid-on only to lose his off stump after the ball swung late and left him.
Steyn is well aware of the qualities that set him apart.
"Everybody can bowl at 135kph and put it in the right areas. You can get a school kid to do that," he said.
"But anyone who can run in and bowl at 150kph (90mph) is something special, especially if you can swing the ball at the same time. Pace is definitely my biggest weapon but pace combined with swing is deadly."
England beat visiting New Zealand 2-0 in their recent test series though the home team's batsmen were rarely tested against an under-strength side devoid of the fastest Kiwi bowler, Shane Bond.
South Africa will be a bigger test.
"We have a few guys who can bowl fast and swing it, like Makhaya (Ntini) and
Morne Morkel," Steyn said.
"It's important to me I am always outwitting the guy next to me ... because it raises the bar all the time. It's healthy competition within the team.
"The more they are pushing the better I have to become so it doesn't allow you to relax. It means I am always fighting for a spot."
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We all know by now why we were in that shameful position at the bottom
of the table.
Lets get one or two match winning bowlers who could get a couple of
wickets in the 8th-12th over period and who could also finish off the
opponents tail.
Anybody listening?
Q
In the end the rains ensured that even the mathematical chance of
making it to the semi-finals slipped away. Shah Rukh Khan will never
know if his real-life chin-up sms would have had the same effect as the
reel-life speech in ‘Chak De! India’. Kolkata Knight Riders are well
and truly out of the IPL.
But blaming the rain would be
erroneous. Captain Sourav Ganguly’s team played with plenty of heart,
especially in front of their adrenalin-raising home crowd at Eden
Gardens. But their think-tank, led by coach John Buchanan, showed
little understanding of the strengths of its own team.
Undeniably,
they have been bedeviled by bad luck at least on two counts. One,
explosive West Indian hitter Chris Gayle being injured and unable to
play even a single game. Two, losing the most proven Twenty20
specialist -Australia’s Brad Hodge - who was unexpectedly recalled for
the Test side’s West Indies tour following vice-captain Michael
Clarke’s family troubles.
"SRK will never know if his real-life sms would have had the same effect as the reel-life speech in ‘Chak De! India’"
But
that apart, many of Ganguly’s on-field troubles also have been
self-inflicted, arising from non-percentage selections. The think-tank
put its money on some rookies overlooking others with better
credentials. Few teams have been as muddle-headed in selecting its
playing XI as the Knight Riders, evident in the way they cluelessly
tampered with the opening pair.
In their first 12 games, the
Knights tried out seven opening combos; the Chopra-Hodge being the most
baffling. Check out this with the numericals indicating the match
number: McCullum-Ganguly: 1,3,4. McCullum-Saha: 2. Butt-Ganguly: 5.
Hafeez-Ganguly: 6. Chopra-Hodge: 7. Butt-Chopra: 8, 9, 10. Butt-Hafeez:
11, 12. In all, they have only one 40-plus opening stand.
The
team seemed to have little respect for the skills of Umar Gul. In the
Twenty20 World Cup last year, the Pakistani paceman was the top
wicket-taker, taking 13 wickets in seven games with a fantastic economy
rate of 5.60. Yet, the moment Shoaib Akhtar came in, he was dumped.
Akhtar,
in his inimitable style, won one game for the Knight Riders but broke
down two games later. The KKR thinktank made Gul an either/or issue
with Akhtar. The truth is that he is far more value both in money terms
as well as in performance to both Akhtar and Ishant Sharma.
"They seemed to have little respect for the skills of Umar Gul. In the Twenty20 World Cup, He was the top wicket-taker. The KKR made Gul an either/or issue with Akhtar"
Gul
could have easily been preferred for Hafeez, who looks incapable of
learning from mistakes. Whenever Gul played, KKR looked a potent
bowling unit. He also took care of bowling at the death. Gul first
played in KKR’s match 5 against Team Jaipur and took three for 31,
followed by two for 27 against Team Mohali.
He then returned
with none for 30 in three overs against Bangalore Royal Challengers -
the only game where he did not bowl well - and one for 43 against
Deccan Chargers. He was dropped thereafter but came back to deliver a
crucial two for 30 spell that ensured his team’s unlikely victory over
Team Jaipur. But it proved too late. The underutilisation of Gul is a
crucial factor in KKR’s misery.
That apart, sending back the
hard-hitting Cheteshwar Pujara and a compact middle-order bat like
Yashpal Singh without giving them a run when batting was the primary
cause of the team’s worries. In fact, a shaky top order was KKR’s worst
problem. And yet their last foreign signing is Ajantha Mendis, the
talented spinner from Sri Lanka. Talk about mixed priorities.
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