India won't take Bangladesh lightly

Going by current form, Bangladesh will need nigh a miracle to pull the rug from under India's feet in Thursday's tri-series match. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his teammates sound cautious enough not to step on the banana skin.
India certainly look every inch the tournament favourites after thumping Pakistan by 140 runs and snapping their 12-match winning spree on Tuesday night.
Dhoni lauds openers after win
Indicating that the team will not lower its guard even against the minnows, Dhoni said he wants to maintain a clean slate.
Images: India vs Pakistan
"We got to win every match. In fact, it is not about winning and losing. It is all about going out there and playing to your potential and strength," he said.
"Everybody wants to win. It was a good game of cricket against Pakistan yesterday. Hopefully, rain will not interfere tomorrow," he added, almost indicating that only divine intervention can help the hosts, practically on the way out after Pakistan spanked them by 70 runs in the tri-series opener.
Dhoni though refused to underestimate Bangladesh, saying they are no pushovers.
"They have enough depth in both batting and bowling and they should not be rated by one innings, when they lost to Pakistan.
"We always look to the present. We will look to win over Bangladesh and then go in to the final, where we want to play to our potential. Then think about Asia Cup, our next tournament, and set a plan in place for a positive result," he said.
There, however, remains one worry in the Indian camp -- difficulty in sighting the soiled ball after 20 overs.
"They have used black soil on the track. The ball gets ruffed up after 20 overs. It was really difficult to sight the ball," he said.
Bangladesh's batting order has an obvious brittle look to it even though their bowlers did their best against Pakistan and shot out Shoaib Malik's team inside 40 overs.
In contrast, India appear invulnerable. The star-studded batting line-up looks rock solid and it needed half centuries from just three batsmen to post a mammoth total of 330 for eight against Pakistan.
If the Delhi duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir can put together yet another strong start, it will allow their batting colleagues play their strokes with unbridled aggression.
Among the bowlers, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla ran through the Pakistani line-up and, in all likelihood, Bangladesh should prove easy meat for both.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and M S Gony.
Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (c), Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees, Nazimuddin, Raqibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehrab Hossain (Jr), Dolar Mahmud.

India face tough task against Pakistan

India aiming for third place in ODIs
Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has already sounded the war bugle when he said that his wards would look to thump India by a bigger margin to make it 13 wins in a row.
India, severely under-strength because of pre-tournament injury woes, would be in for further trouble as opener Virender Sehwag is a doubtful starter due to high fever.
Besides, the team is still awaiting the arrival of pacer S Sreesanth's [Images] replacement Manpreet Singh Gony.
Schedule: Bangladesh tri-series
With seniors like Sachin Tendulkar recovering from a groin injury, and Harbhajan Singh, serving a ban for slapping Sreesanth during the IPL, not in the ranks, it would be anything but easy for Dhoni's young brigade against Pakistan.
The team had a feel of the ground and the conditions on Sunday and put in three hours at the indoor nets after rain prevented any outdoor practice session.
The short tri-series, being seen as a warm-up for the Asia Cup late this month in Pakistan, is crucial for the Indians as it provides an opportunity for players like all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, spinner Piyush Chawla and Gony to show their worth in absence of the seniors.
With the pitch at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium likely to assist the batsmen, India's new-look bowling attack, to be spearheaded by Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma, will be severely tested.
I relish playing under pressure: Yusuf Pathan
No doubt, the Indian team has the batting strength to score heavily on a strip like this but it remains to be seen how their bowlers contain hard hitters like Salman Butt , Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.
The much-anticipated contest meanwhile faces a major threat from the weather. The opener itself was truncated because of intermittent drizzle and this match too could see rain interruptions.
As for the Pakistani attack, medium pacers, particularly young talent Wahab Riaz, were impressive in the win over Bangladesh. But with Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif missing from the attack, it remains to be seen how Sohail Tanvir and his bowling colleagues fare against India's star-studded line-up.
Memorable moments from the IPL
In the batting department, though Butt, Yousuf and Misbah looked in good nick, Pakistan's line-up still sports a vulnerable look and even Bangladesh, with their limited options in the bowling department, shot them out in 39.3 overs.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir , Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and MS Gony.
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan, Rao Iftikar, Bazid Khan and Naumanullah.

Gony replaces Sreesanth in Indian Squad:

Punjab seamer Manpreet Gony was on Saturday included in the Indian squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh after paceman S Sreesanth [Images] was ruled out due to a side strain, sustained in an Indian Premier League [Images] match.
"Due to non availability of Sreesanth, it was decided by the selection committee to send Manpreet Gony for Bangladesh tri-series," Niranjan Shah, BCCI Secretary, said in a media release.
Sreesanth doubtful
"Sreesanth was yesterday assessed by Dr. Kinja at Bangalore. He has got a left-sided external oblique strain. He would require about 2 weeks for recovering from the current situation and getting back to his normal bowling routine," the press release added.
The Punjab bowler thus becomes the third player who has been rewarded for his good performance in the recently concluded inaugural Indian Premier League.
Gony, who has played just five-first class matches, had claimed 17 wickets in 16 matches for the IPL runners-up Chennai Super Kings [Images] at an average of 26.05.
Baroda all rounder Yusuf Pathan and Hyderabad spinner Pragyan Ojha were earlier given ODI calls for the tri-series.
The Kerala [Images] pacer would now undergo a two-week rehabilitation programme and will be available for the Asia Cup, to be held in Pakistan.
"He will be available for Asia Cup 2008 to be played at Pakistan. Mr. Sreesanth rehabilitation will be organised at NCA in Bangalore," the BCCI press release said.
Meanwhile, Gony said a successful IPL stint has made him a better bowler and he was looking forward to give his best in his first national assignment.
"IPL has given me great exposure. You rarely get a chance to bowl to so many world class batsmen and this experience has made me a better bowler. (Chennai Super Kings) coach Kepler Wessels made a slight adjustment to my action, helped me hit the deck harder and bowl at right areas.
"But, I will look to have a fresh start when I bowl in the tri-series, where I will also get opportunity to bowl a longer spell which should help me show my abilities," Gony, who has played just five first class matches, told PTI.
"It is like a dream come true. It was always my dream to play for my country. When I got the call from a BCCI official today informing about my selection in the team for the tri-series, my joy knew no bounds," said the 24-year-old right-arm seamer.
The 6'4" tall cricketer from Mohali, who took 17 wickets from 16 games in the IPL, does not seem to be bothered about pressure of making India debut, though he adds "only pressure on me will be to perform well".
Gony said he was surprised when he was bought in the IPL players' auction by the Chennai Super Kings team owners.
"After an ordinary first class debut, getting the call from an IPL franchise came as a surprise. However, I feel taking eight wickets in two Deodhar Trophy matches for North Zone helped me catch the eye of the team owners.
"IPL has been a great learning experience for young cricketers like me. Though schedule was hectic, but I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it," he said.
Gony praised his Chennai Super Kings skipper M S Dhoni [Images] for showing faith in him during the Twenty20 extravaganza.
"My skipper showed great faith in me. He is a real guiding force and all the players enjoyed playing under him.
In addition, (South African pacer) Makhaya Ntini [Images] used to interact with me regularly and I got the opportunity to talk to many international players which also helped me a lot," he said.

PCB wants Akram to take over as national bowling coach

The Pakistan Cricket Board wants former Test captain and legendary pacer Wasim Akram to take over as the national bowling coach.PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said Akram was offered the job last year but he refused citing his commitments as a commentator."He said due to his commitments he wouldn't be able to take up the bowling coach position on long term basis," Ashraf said."But he still took out time to hold a coaching camp for young bowlers last year where he spotted Sohail Tanvir and recommended him to us," he added.Akram, who is currently holding a specialised camp for young fast bowlers in Lahore, has said that if the board made him a proper offer he would give it a serious thought as he wanted to give back something to Pakistan cricket.Akram also denied denied reports that Indian Premier League outfit Kolkata Knight Riders had offered him a coaching job."Neither has any offer come nor have I approached anyone for this," he stated.Meanwhile, Ashraf said he would meet Akram soon to personally offer him the national bowling coach's job yet again."His feedback is very valuable to us," he said.

Live IPL: Hyderabad Vs Bangalore

See live scorecard and discussions of Hyderabad Vs Bangalore IPL match. Click here to have that live fun.

Chennai Super Kings loses too close:

Rajasthan Royals won Chennai by 10 runs at which Patel gathered 54 and Raina hits 45 of just 24 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Click here to see complete scorecard.
Scorecard

Bangalore's losing streak ends

Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] beat Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their Indian Premier League [Images] match in Chennai on Wednesday.
Scorecard Points table Images
The win was only Bangalore's third in the competition in 12 matches and moved them up from the bottom of the table to seventh spot with six points.
Chennai, on the other hand, suffered their fifth defeat in 12 matches and now have to win both their matches to qualify for the last four.
This was a much improved performance from Bangalore.
Chasing a modest 127 to win, Chennai began well with Parthiv Patel (24) and Stephen Fleming [Images] (45) putting on 60 runs in nine overs.
The former New Zealand [Images] captain looked impressive in his 39-ball knock that included three hits to the fence and two huge ones over it.
Parthiv fell in the first ball of the 10th over, bowled by Kumble and then followed a Chennai collapse.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] (4), Fleming, S Badrinath (1), Albie Morkel (1) and S Vidyut (0) fell in quick succession as the home team lost five wickets for an addition of 33 runs while eating up seven overs. Chennai never recovered from that collapse and ended up with just 122 for eight in their quota of 20 overs.
Anil Kumble [Images] (three for 14) and Dale Steyn (two for 28) were the most impressive bowlers for the Bangalore team. Vinay Kumar also chipped in with two wickets.
Punjab edge Mumbai by a run Pics
Earlier in the evening, Albie Morkel's four-wicket haul helped Chennai Super Kings restrict Bangalore Royal Challengers to a modest 126 for eight wickets.
After electing to bat, the visitors' pathetic batting again let them down and they banked on captain Rahul Dravid's [Images] 38-ball 47 to go past the 120-run mark.
Morkel, despite injuring himself while taking a spectacular catch, claimed four crucial Royal Challengers' wickets for 32 runs to ensure a smooth chase for the home batsmen.
The Royal Challengers' top order collapsed cheaply to leave the side in a soup at 41 for four in the 10th over.
Jacques Kallis [Images] (5), Shreevats Goswami (10), Virat Kohli (10) and Misbah-ul-Haq (4) departed tamely, but Dravid and Mark Boucher [Images] tried to revive the fortunes of the side by gathering some quick runs.
Boucher looked dangerous as he got 17 off 15 balls, including three fours, but was trapped by Morkel before he could make any further damage.
Dravid, however, stuck to one end and played some improvised shots to garner 47 invaluable runs, studded with five boundaries, for his side.
The Royal Challengers' skipper became Morkel's second victim as he was caught by his opposite number M S Dhoni at cover while trying an inside out shot.
A late order charge by Praveen Kumar (21 off 11) saved the blushes for the Bangalore outfit before Morkel came up with his two-wicket burst in the last over of the innings

Punjab beat mumbai in a thriller

Punjab beat mumbai by 1 run in which tendulkar scores glorious 65 of just 46 balls ans marsh hammered winning 81 of just 56 balls . For score card and discussions click here.

Rain reduces Chennai Super Kings grand victory:

Chennai Super Kings win the match by d/l method which reduces its chance for grand victory. For the second successive day, the weather played spoilsport and forced Duckworth-Lewis to decide what was shaping into a fascinating contest. This time, Chennai Super Kings were on the right end of the result, as their total of 55 without loss after eight overs, chasing 150, was three runs ahead of the par score when a severe dust storm descended upon the Eden Gardens, and the rains that followed ensured there was no chance for the match to resume. The two points to Chennai moves them up to 14, while Kolkata Knight Riders are stuck on ten points from 11 games.
The weather marred the contest, but through 28 overs the crowd witnessed a couple of fine performances. At the same ground where he had announced his arrival in international cricket, Salman Butt played another gem, scoring a classy 73 off 54 balls, to lift an otherwise subdued performance from Kolkata. Chennai had their own man for the moment, as Makhaya Ntini took the third hat-trick of the IPL, dismissing Sourav Ganguly in his third over, and then returning 11 overs later to bowl Debabrata Das - who had been involved in an 86-run stand with Butt - and David Hussey off successive balls.
That stand gave Kolkata's bowlers something to defend, but the most crucial moment of the match came three deliveries before the interruption. Their defence of the total had got off to a poor start as Shoaib Akhtar struggled with what seemed an injured ankle. Stephen Fleming, at last showing the form and fluency of old, and Parthiv Patel had eased to a half-century stand when Parthiv top-edged a pull, but Ashok Dinda put down the skier, and in the process allowed a single. Had that chance been taken, Chennai would have ended level with the par score, and with no further play possible, Kolkata would have gone away with one point.
The only positive for Kolkata was that their batting put together a reasonable performance after their abysmal display against Mumbai Indians, when they had been bundled out for 67. Butt's knock wasn't the fastest by Twenty20 standards, but considering the context - a pitch lacking in pace, and a batting line-up lacking in confidence - it was just what Kolkata would have wanted.
Their start was poor yet again, as Ntini struck twice in his first three overs - Mohammad Hafeez flicked to fine leg and Sourav Ganguly attempted an ungainly heave and found his middle stump knocked back.
At 28 for 2 after five overs, Chennai had taken the early honours, before Butt found a partner who was ready to play the support act. Das, drafted into the side in place of Aakash Chopra, creamed a couple of audacious straight sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan - who had a day to forget - but for the most part he was content to play second fiddle to the classy Butt, who played an outstanding knock.
As is his wont, Butt was all silken grace through the off side, either making room to cream drives through the covers, or getting behind the line to pepper the point and cover boundaries off the back foot. Manpreet Gony was crisply hit through the covers in his first over, while Ntini, who otherwise gave little away, leaked successive fours off two exceptional shots, as Butt moved away and lofted one through the covers, and then square-drove the next ball through point. Muralitharan was not spared either, as Butt slog-swept a six over midwicket, and then carved three successive fours through midwicket and third man in his last over, as Muralitharan finished with unflattering figures of none for 41.
Apart from that partnership, there wasn't much cheer for Kolkata. Ntini, bowling a full length and attacking the stumps, bowled both Das and Hussey to complete his hat-trick and ended with excellent figures of 4 for 21. Gony's control was exceptional as well, landing the ball on a length and allowing the batsmen no room. The fielding wasn't as impressive - S Vidyut was guilty of sloppy misfielding and a missed catch off Butt, while Gony dropped one late in the innings - as Kolkata managed to reach a competitive target. With Shoaib in the attack, there was plenty of hope for the home crowd, but his limp performance, followed by the rain, means Kolkata have plenty of catching up to do to win a semi-final berth.

Jayasuriya will be the key, says Sachin

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar is banking on veteran Sri Lankan player Sanath Jayasuriya to give the Mumbai Indians team a cutting edge in spin bowling in their Indian Premier League clash against Chennai Super Kings Wednesday.
"In the last three games (which his team won) the seamers have done a terrific job. Sanath got important wickets in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (at the Eden Gardens). Sanath will be a key bowler for us," said the champion batsman ahead of his first IPL tie.
Tendulkar, who missed the first seven matches of Mumbai Indians due to a groin injury, felt it has become clearer which are the sides to beat in remaining matches. "There were some teams which started off well but fell off a bit midway and there are others who started badly and then have done well. It's all a question of momentum. We now know who are in contention for the semis.’’

He was referring to the lead position in the table occupied by Rajasthan Royals led by Shane Warne and, Punjab Kings XI captained by Yuvraj Singh, who are strongly poised to reach the last four.
Tendulkar said though Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a very important player in the rival ranks, there were others too like S Badrinath and Albie Morkel and it was important not to focus on a single individual.
"There will be challenges. It's not only about Dhoni. There are other batsmen too. Badrinath has made some runs and there are others like Albie Morkel. We don't take anyone lightly," he said.
The champion batsman who opted out of the Twenty20 World Cup held last year along with fellow-seniors - Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid - said he would be at home playing this format having taken part in domestic Twenty20 ties last year and would be comfortable captaining the team's youngsters.

"I have played Twenty20 games last year and thoroughly enjoyed them. I will just have to go out there with other senior players and get into the group. I'm prepared for all the challenges. That's the reason I stayed with the team over the last three weeks (to develop bonding)," he said.
The Mumbai Indians captain declared that there would not be too many changes in the twelve that was named for the last match, with only his name being added to that list. "We will see the wicket and decide but there would not be too many changes," he said

IPL 2008 Match Schedule

Dhoni’s secret rendezvous with girlfriend?

Aurangabad, Maharashtra: He flew in here secretly and managed to stay closeted in a five-star hotel for over 24 hours without a prying eye catching him. But star Indian cricketer Mahindra Singh Dhoni's hush-hush visit to the city became known when he was about to leave on Tuesday amid rumours that he had come for a rendezvous with a girlfriend.
Confirming Dhoni's visit to this city of archaeological marvels, an executive of Hotel Rama International said the batting wizard arrived from Delhi on Sunday evening and checked into a wing where entry was sealed for other customers. He checked out on Tuesday morning.

"He was inside his room for most part of the stay and we were under instructions not to speak to anybody about it," hotel executive Shrikant Jogdand said, adding that the passionate motorbike rider went out for a while on Monday evening in an auto-rickshaw.
Jogdand professed ignorance about any visitors Dhoni had, saying he only heard the rumour like others that a hotel management trainee, supposedly his girlfriend, met the cricketer in his room.
The Indian one-day international cricket team captain, who has always shrugged off reports about an affair with one or the other Bollywood starlets, was seen off at the airport by two girls, according to a local newspaper reporter.

Dhoni remained tight-lipped at the airport as the reporter repeatedly asked him the purpose of his visit to Aurangabad. A few cricket fans who got a whiff of Dhoni's visit on Tuesday morning managed to take a couple of video shots of the cricketer while he was leaving the hotel

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Three in a row:

Its three in a row loss for Chennai Super Kings. Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets at the M Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday to keep their hopes alive in the Indian Premier League.
It was only the second win in seven matches for the Hyderabad team while the loss meant, Chennai have now faced defeat in their last three games after wins in their first four.
The departure of Australians Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey and New Zealander Jacob Oram , all having to report on national duty, hasclearly affected the team’s morale.
Chasing 145 to win, the Deccan Chargers lost South African Herschelle Gibbs (10) early but stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist (54) put on 54 runs for the second wicket with New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris (36) to lay the foundation.
Gilchrist’s was a trademark knock, coming off just 36 balls with six boundaries and two huge sixes off South African paceman Makhaya Ntini.
Styris then combined with Rohit Sharma (23), the tournament’s highest scorer so far, to put on another 47 runs for the third wicket.
And he and Shahid Afridi (with an aggressive 20 not out off just six balls with two boundaries and two sixes) ensured no further damage was done as the Hyderabad team coasted home with two overs to spare.
Earlier, a disciplined show by the bowlers and some excellent fielding allowed Deccan Chargers restrict Chennai Super Kings for a modest 144 for seven wickets.
Playing without their regular captain VVS Laxman, nursing a hand injury, the Deccan bowlers responded well after their Gilchrist won the toss and asked the hosts to take first strike of the pitch.
P Vijaykumar removed Parthiv Patel (4) in the first over and his bowling colleagues ensured that the hosts subsequently did not get enough partnerships to keep going.
For the Chennai side, Suresh Raina (32), captain MS Dhoni (23) and Albie Morkel (29 not out) did bulk of the scoring.
Things could have been worse for the Chennai side had not Morkel and Manpreet Gony (15 not out of 6 balls) unleashed some lusty shots towards the fag end of the innings to swell the tally.
Morkel’s unbeaten 29 came off 19 balls and included two sixes besides a boundary.
RP Singh was the pick of the Chennai bowlers, claiming two for 12 in his three overs.
After Vijaykumar drew the first blood with his sixth delivery, RP Singh soured former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s son Anirudha’s (1) IPL debut.
Stephen Fleming (14) was contemplating steading the ship but an airborne Rohit Sharma intercepted his full-blooded drive off Scott Styris to cut short his stay, while Herschelle Gibbs pulled off a blinder to remove S Badrinath for a duck.
Raina was looking dangerous but Sanjay Bangar halted him in his stride and Pragyan Ojha then removed Dhoni (23) to nip the hosts’ hopes of a massive total in the match.

Yuvraj Enjoys his Captaincy:

NO BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR CAPTAIN SACHIN FROM THE TEAM - once again failing miserably .
The tenth Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab XI was not really a twenty20 calibre match . Some good catches - Bravo taking Yuvraj and Yuvraj reciprocating by taking a brilliant Pollock catch . Despite this there were no real fireworks . Sangakkara of the Punjab Xi was the only one who played a decent innings in the whole match ( 94 off 56 with one six ) . This makes Sangakkara the top scorer in the Indian Premier League tournament so far .
Some one commented that if you push the Punjabi's into a corner ( they had lost both the matches they palyed ) they will fight back - To me this win by Punjab XI was more like Mumbai Indians playing way below par and letting Punjab XI win . Jayasurya ( is he getting tired ) played like he was playing a different format - 1 run off 7 balls ! Disgraceful - for a player of his standing. You then had the tail enders of Mumbai Indians playing as if they were there to play for a draw - Kulkarni getting 2 runs off 16 balls and Nehra getting 2 runs off 10 balls . Don't they know that they are playing IPL Twenty 20 ? It would have been better if they had got out blasting away ( or at least trying ) rather than the pathetic performance . Navjot Singh Siddhu commented that it was like the cat ( Punjab XI ) playing with the mouse ( Mumbai Indians ) after the mouse was already dead - it was more like the owner of the cat letting him play with the dead mouse rather than the cat's choice - otherwise Punjab Xi would have got the last two batsmen out by 18 overs showing their superiority - which they couldn't .
Has Mukesh Ambani made a wrong investment - Can Tendulkar pull the team out from the duldrum ?
King's Xi Punjab have to improve a lot before they can be considered a team in par with the likes of Kolkata Dare Devils . On the whole this match between King's XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians was probably the least entertaing ( despite the presence of Preity Zinta ) so for in the Indian Premier League tournament.
Incidentally the scores were : Kings XI Punjab - 182 for 9 and Mumbai Indians 116 for 9 . At least the tail enders got to bat - was that the plan ? Good job the cheer leaders were not banned !

Super Kings aim to shine sans Aussies

Unbeaten so far, the Chennai Super Kings -- sans Australian stars Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey -- will face their toughest test yet when they take on Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.Former New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming is all set to replace Hayden in the opening slot and maintained that although the Aussie stars would be missed, the team had the strength to compensate for their absence. All the Australians participating in the league have left for a training camp that will be followed by a tour of West Indies."I am looking to the match and prove my keenness to perform," Fleming said.The Delhi team, which has suffered just one loss in four outings, seems to be least affected by the Aussie exodus as their top performer from Down Under -- Glenn McGrath - has retired from international cricket.Gautam Gambhir, captain Virender Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan have lent assurance to their batting order with their consistent performances.The Chennai team has been equally destructive with the willow but Hayden and Hussey's departure would not be easy to cope with. Bowling has been bolstered by Mahakhya Ntini and Albie Morkel, who have more than made up for the departure of New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram.On points, the Chennai team remains the lone squad to have won all their matches so far (eight points) but Delhi (six points) have a better run rate than the hosts.The host team will, however, miss an injured Manpreet Gony, the most successful bowler so far in the tournament, having claimed seven wickets for 134 runs in 19 overs.It is likely that they would play Ntini, Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Palani Amarnath and Muthiah Muralitharan and Parthiv Patel and Fleming would open their batting followed by Suresh Raina, S Badrinath.Coach Kepler Wessel is hoping that the departure of Aussies would not hurt the team too much and the replacements would come good."Makhaya brings in a lot of experience and will of course open with the new ball. Albie is fine all-rounder and then we have Stephen Fleming batting at the top of the order. So, I feel that our team has the kind of balance that it did not have in the previous four games," he said.Both teams will finalise their playing elevens only on Friday after taking a closer look at the pitch that is likely to be batsman-friendly.

Dhoni shines in Chennai Super Kings grand victory

It was a great day for Indian captain to once again prove his talent as a batsman and as a captain. He entered the ground late in innings but smashed for four and six to reach his 65 from just 30 balls. Dhoni and Hussey made a 95 run 4th wicket partnership of 47 balls when their team was in great trouble. Dhoni smashed for four four and a six to add 24 runs for their team off great bowler Steyn.Earlier Hayden and Parthiv failed to give huge start as Steyn and Zaheer done very well to their team. Hayden was unable to make a stroke and bowled out by Zaheer. Finally they got a defendable total of 178.
In the second innings it is the time for Dhoni to prove his excellent captaincy and he had done it very well. After a half-century scored by Jaffer and Taylor Royal Challengers lose wickets rapidly and finally after a great efforts they lose game by 13 run. Chennai Super Kings winning the four matches they have played leads all the team.

Warne's Shows his power

Captain Shane Warne [Images] hit the fourth and fifth ball of the final over for two huge sixes to ensure Rajasthan Royals a three-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League match at Hyderabad on Thursday.
Needing 17 runs to win off the last over, Warne clobbered a hapless Symonds to snatch the match away.
South African Graeme Smith [Images] (71), playing in his first match, and Yusuf Pathan (61) were the other major contributors for the Rajasthan team while Mohammad Kaif also chipped in with an aggressive 16-ball 34.
Shahid Afridi [Images] was the most successful bowler for the home team for three wickets.

Dravid joins 10,000-run club

India’s Rahul Dravid became only the sixth batsman in history to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket when he reached 80 on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here Saturday.The Bangalore-based Dravid, 35, is playing in his 120th Test and averaged 55.11 at the start of his 206th innings. He made his debut at Lord’s, London, against England in 1996.
The 10,000-run club:
B. Lara (WI) 131 232 11,953 400* 52.88 34 48
S. Tendulkar (IND) 147 238 11,782 248* 55.31 39 49
A. Border (AUS) 156 265 11,174 205 50.56 27 63
S. Waugh (AUS) 168 260 10,927 200 51.06 32 50
S. Gavaskar (IND) 125 214 10,122 236* 1.12 34 45
*R. Dravid (IND) 120 206 10,000 270 55.55 24 52

Pawar seeks ban on sledging

Sledging is set to be banned by cricket's governing body the ICC which has been prodded by the Indian cricket board to take tough action against unsporting behaviour on the field.In the backdrop of an acrimonious India-Australia series, the BCCI has been pressing for tougher laws to deal with sledging. The matter is before the ICC.The BCCI President Sharad Pawar told PTI here that the Board raised the issue in ICC's Executive Board meeting in Dubai this weekend and would pursue the matter further when it meets for its Annual General Meeting in June."The process is on to get a ban on sledging and it would be discussed again in the June meeting," he said.Since the war of words between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh in the acrimonious Sydney Test snowballed into a major crisis threatening to polarise the cricket world, India has been seeking a ban on sledging.Making it clear that the Board would do everything to stamp out the menace, Pawar revealed that the Indian players, especially the bunch of volatile youngsters, have been asked to learn from the seniors and mind their on-field behaviour."We have told our players they have to behave properly. I can't name certain countries, for we need to keep good relation with them but often a group of players from those teams take a conscious decision to target a particular Indian player to demoralise him," he said. "It's a strategy and sometimes our players become victim of it and react. But we ask them 'have you heard complaint about Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Kumble?' They have set examples for world cricket how to behave on and off the field," Pawar said.Asked what was the BCCI's recommendation to the ICC to stop sledging, Pawar said "we have to be very, very harsh and tough, irrespective of the player and that means even our players. Sportsman spirit has to be maintained and we have to take action.""We have told them enough is enough. Erring once is understandable but you can't go on doing it."Players like S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh have given ample evidence on the field that they would fight fire with fire and would not back out of any confrontation and both the players prominently figured in verbal duels with their Australian counterparts in recent past.On empowering on-field umpires, Pawar said the process was on and the ICC was also contemplating introducing a fourth umpire to assist the on-field umpires."...that process is going on. Because of the electronic media, small mistakes by an umpire get magnified. That's why ICC is seriously thinking about a situation where the umpires will get immediate feedback about a particular decision and on the basis of that information and what he had seen, he can decide," he said. "There might be a fourth umpire also who will sit with the television and there will be continuous communication between him and all three other umpires," Pawar said.On the notion that India was a big bully and usually gets its way with the ICC, Pawar said there were many instances when Indian players have been punished and the BCCI never made an issue."There are number of instances where action was taken against Indian players. Match fees were deducted from Sourav, Sehwag and Yuvraj but we did not say anything and accepted it. But here in this particular (Sydney racism) controversy, Harbhajan was not at fault, ultimately he only reacted, which was so typical of Harbhajan."Pawar also disclosed that unlike the previous years the ICC's next annual general meeting would not be held at the Lord's."I think it would be on June 27 and 28. Generally this kind of meeting takes place at Lord's but since England is not giving visa to Zimbabwe, it's likely to be in Dubai," he said.