India can be No. 2 with win in England ODIs

Dubai: Going by the present form, it looks highly unlikely but if India can manage to beat England by a 4-1 margin or better in the upcoming one-day series, they can climb to second spot from third in the ICC ranking chart.

World champions India (117) are placed third behind Sri Lanka (119) in the list, headed by Australia (130)

Australia's 3-2 series win has restricted Sri Lanka to earn only one rating point which, in turn, has given India a chance to reclaim the second position.

To achieve the number-two position, India will have to beat England by 4-1 or whitewash the hosts in the five-match series, starting at Chester-le-Street on September 3.

Meanwhile, in the rankings for ODI batsmen, Virat Kohli has entered into the top five with a gain of one position and sachin Tendulkar re-entered into the top 10 with a similar gain.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost a place to find himself at number nine.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian bowler in the top-10 as he lost one position to be at 10.

Australia's fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson, who along with Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga was the leading wicket-taker in the recent series with 11, has jumped four places to claim third position while Malinga, who recorded the third hat-trick of his career in Monday's ODI, has jumped 19 places to claim 11th position.

Dough Bollinger's nine wickets in the series has helped him return to the top-10 in seventh position after vaulting 15 places while Brett Lee has been rewarded with a jump of four places after his eight wickets in four matches which has put him just behind Malinga in 14th position.

Graeme Swann of England is on top of the bowling chart but leads New Zealand's Daniel Vettori by just six points.

In the list of batsmen, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has returned to the top 20 in 17th position after rising five places following his series contribution of 180 runs which made him the fourth most successful batsman in the series behind Michael Clarke (242), Ricky Ponting (196) and Shane Watson (185).

While Watson and Ponting have retained their third and 15th positions, respectively, Clarke has moved up two places to seventh position.

The batting table is headed by South Africa's Hashim Amla while his captain, AB de Villiers, is in second position.

There is no change in the top three of the rankings for all-rounders which are still led by Watson

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Younis to undergo treatment in Australia

Lahore: Outgoing national coach Waqar Younis will have to undergo a rehabilitation programme in Australia for around five months to treat his health problems which forced him to step down as Pakistan coach.

Sources close to the former Test captain said that Waqar's decision to resign as coach and end his tenure after the Pakistan team's tour to Zimbabwe was solely because of his health issue.

"He is facing some liver problem and specialists in his now adopted hometown, Sydney have advised him to start an immediate treatment/rehabilitation programme to prevent the health problem from turning into a more serious disease," one source said.

"Waqar only learnt that he will require to undergo the rehabilitation programme after coming to Pakistan to prepare the team for the Zimbabwe tour because the results of the tests he underwent before coming to Pakistan only came out earlier this month after which he informed the PCB about his personal and health problem," the source said.

He said PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt didn't want Waqar to go and the former Test pacer has assured the board that once he is 100 per cent well he will be available for Pakistan cricket again.

"Don't rule out the possibility of Waqar returning as coach sometime next year or even being given another top responsibility by the board as even while resigning Waqar made it clear he wanted to serve Pakistan cricket in any capacity," the source said.

The source said the possibility of the board appointing a coach on interim basis until Waqar is well again is also a strong possibility and for the time being Aaqib Javed, who served as assistant coach with Waqar, might be the interim choice.

There have been speculations that Waqar's resignation might be related to some problems with the board but the sources close to him denied this and said the pace bowler had faced lot of pressure from his family and doctors to return to Australia immediately and start his treatment.

"But because of the PCB requesting him to at avleast carry on for the Zimbabwe tour he agreed and he will return to Pakistan with the team to collect his belongings and sort out all matters with the board before returning to Sydney to start his rehabilitation program," one source added.

The 39-year-old former Test captain has won a lot of praise and appreciation from former players and greats, who felt Waqar did a good job rebuilding the Pakistan team despite the several controversies and scandals that Pakistan cricket had to undergo since last year.

via Cricketnext

Trouble brewing for Pak batsman Shahzad

Lahore: Discarded Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shahzad could find himself in trouble after questioning his ouster from the national team and criticising the selection process.

Shahzad said on Geo News channel that he could not understand the logic behind dropping him from the Zimbabwe-bound squad and omitting him from the central contracts list.

"I don't know the reason behind my ouster despite having scored runs recently," said the young batsman.

He also insisted that he was not responsible for any misunderstanding between former national one-day team captain, Shahid Afridi and now outgoing coach, Waqar Younis on the last tour to the West Indies.

"I was not responsible for this dispute between the captain and coach in the West Indies. Yes Afridi is like a mentor to me and I have learnt a lot from him and he has guided me a lot," said Shahzad.

The sudden omission of Shahzad from the Pakistan team and the central contracts list had led to speculations that the PCB dropped him because he created misunderstandings in the team on the West Indies tour.

Former Pakistan manager, Intikhab Alam also claimed that Shahzad was dropped because of disciplinary and attitude issues and he had not improved despite being personally advised by the board chairman, Ijaz Butt to focus only on cricket.

Shahzad conceded that the PCB chairman had called him and told him that he should just concentrate on his cricket.

"I have learnt from my mistakes and that is the way you move forward. But now I am out of the team."

Under the PCB code of conduct for players, anyone who has been on the central contracts list can't speak to the media without the permission of the board or his immediate team manager even three months after the expiry of his contract.

A PCB official said they would look into the matter and find out exactly what Shahzad had said.

via Cricketnext

My heart bleeds to play for Pak: Afridi

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has confessed that he is dying to play for the national team once again.

Speaking on a show on Geo TV, Afridi also made some scathing remarks on the resignation of Waqar Younis as Pakistan team coach after the Zimbabwe tour.

   The flamboyant all-rounder announced his retirement from all international cricket in protest in late May

"My heart bleeds to play for Pakistan and I am dying to play for my country. I even wanted to go to Zimbabwe and hopefully at the right time I will make a comeback to the team," Afridi said.

The flamboyant all-rounder announced his retirement from all international cricket in protest in late May after the Pakistan board removed him as captain of the national one-day team after a dispute with Waqar on the West Indies tour which was highly publicized.

Afridi has repeatedly said that he can make a comeback only when better people come into the team management.

Interestingly some cricket analysts point out that since Afridi's retirement the entire team management of the national side has been changed and indications are now he will return to the team soon.

Earlier this month, the board removed Intikhab Alam as manager and also changed assistant coaches, Aaqib Javed and Shahid Aslam while yesterday Waqar announced his resignation due to personal and health reasons insisting he had no complaints against anyone and his decision was not cricket related.

But Afridi said that he failed to understand that if Waqar had resigned why was he being sent as coach on the Zimbabwe tour.

"I don't know but I feel if he has any issues he should have faced them. He didn't look to have health problems to me but now if that has changed I don't know about that," Afridi said.

The allrounder said he owed a lot to Pakistan and wanted to represent the country but retired because the environment in the team was not congenial.

"They need to bring in more sensible and good people into the team management and if that happens I will reconsider my decision to retire," he said.

"I have been moved by the support shown to me by the people. I owe them a lot."

The former captain said that it was unfortunate but the board had not treated players well and didn't have proper communication with them that led to lot of problems in the team.

via Cricketnext

Aussie trio, Malinga climb rankings

Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee and Lasith Malinga are the biggest movers in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers on the back of Australia's three-two series victory over Sri Lanka. Rubel Hossain, meanwhile, has a achieved personal best after Bangladesh endured a three-two loss at the hands of Zimbabwe.

Johnson, who along with Malinga was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 11 scalps, has jumped four places to claim third position, while Malinga, who recorded the third hat-trick of his career in Monday's ODI, has jumped 19 places to claim 11th position.

Bollinger's nine wickets in the series has helped him return to the top 10 in seventh position after vaulting 15 places, while Lee has been rewarded with a jump of four places to 14th spot after his eight wickets.

Malinga on top

In Zimbabwe, Rubel and the home side's debutant Brian Vitori finished as the leading wicket-takers in the series with 11 victims each. While Rubel earned a jump of 71 places, which put him in 54th spot, Vitori entered into the rankings table in 126th position.

Among the spinners, Bangladesh pair Shafiul Islam and Mohammad Mahmudullah, and Australian Xavier Doherty have achieved career-best rankings to date.

Shafiul, who took five wickets in Zimbabwe, has moved up 28 places to 73rd position, Mahmudullah has climbed 28 places to 84th spot after bagging six wickets, while Doherty's eight wickets have helped him rise 61 places to 87th position.

The majority of the bowlers sliding in the latest rankings are spinners and include Zimbabwe's Ray Price in eighth position (down by five places), Sri Lanka's duo of Abdur Razzak in 14th (down by four places) and Shakib Al Hasan in 17th (down by four places) and Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis in 19th (down by seven places).

The only fast bowler failing to maintain his position is former number-one ranked Nuwan Kulasekara, who has slipped to 30th position (down by 10 places) after managing just two wickets.

Graeme Swann of England is on top of the bowling chart, but leads New Zealand's Daniel Vettori by just six points. The two spinners are the only bowlers beyond the 700-point mark, which, in rating terms, is the benchmark for any bowler.

In the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has returned to the top 20 in 17th position after rising five places following his contribution of 180 runs, which made him the fourth most successful batsman in the series behind Michael Clarke (242), Ricky Ponting (196) and Shane Watson (185).

While Watson and Ponting have retained their third and 15th positions respectively, Clarke has moved up two places to seventh position.

Also moving in the right direction are Shakib Al Hasan in 24th position (up by three places), Upul Tharanga in 40th (up by three places), Mushfiqur Rahim in 60th (up by six places), Hamilton Masakadza in 65th (up by eight places), Mahmudullah in 72nd (up by four places), David Hussey in 78th (up by five places) and Vusimuzi Sibanda in 97th (up by 53 places).

Batsmen dropping in the latest rankings include Michael Hussey in eighth (down by three places), Tillakaratne Dilshan in 11th (down by two places), Imrul Kayes in 52nd (down by 11 places), Junaid Siddique in 80th (down by nine places) and Shahriar Nafees in 95th (down by six places).

The batting table is headed by South Africa's Hashim Amla, while his captain, AB de Villiers, is in second position.

Meanwhile, top-ranked Australia enjoy a comfortable 11 ratings-point lead over second-placed Sri Lanka. Australia's three-two series win restricted Sri Lanka to earn just one ratings point which, in turn, has given India a chance to reclaim second position.

However, to achieve the number-two position, India will have to beat England by four-one or better in their five-match series, which starts at Chester-le-Street on 3 September.

Bangladesh have dropped from 70 to 63 ratings points and Zimbabwe have jumped from 38 for 46 ratings points after the end of their series. However, both the sides have retained their pre-series positions, with Bangladesh in ninth and Zimbabwe in 10th.

via Cricket365

Tendulkar's tribulations, and the nervous 290s

Jack Kerr (extreme right), who survived more than 75 years after his Test debut in 1931, with Bert Sutcliffe, George Rabone and Lindsay Weir on his 90th birthday © Jack Kerr

There has been much made of Sachin Tendulkar's struggles to complete his 100th international hundred. Is this the longest barren spell he has endured in Tests without a century? asked Pratap on Ask Steven Live during the Edgbaston Test
The anticipation of Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international hundred certainly makes it seem like a long time since his last one in Tests, but actually he has had only nine innings (including the second one at The Oval) since making 146 against South Africa in Cape Town in January. The longest ton drought during his Test career was a spell of 17 innings(including the whole of 2006) between scoring 109 against Sri Lanka in Delhi in December 2005 and making 101 against Bangladesh in Chittagong in May 2007. He also went 14 Test innings between centuries against Australia in Adelaide and Nagpur at either end of 2008.

If my memory holds, Alastair Cook became the third batsman to be dismissed in the "nervous 290s" in a Test innings following Viv Richards's 291 and Martin Crowe's 299. Am I right? asked Nair Oppotalam from India
Actually Alastair Cook, with his 294 at Edgbaston, was the fifth batsman to be dismissed in the 290s in a Test. Viv Richards did indeed make 291, against England at The Oval in 1976, but another West Indian, Ramnaresh Sarwan, was out for the same score, against England in Bridgetown early in 2009. India's Virender Sehwag made 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai in December 2009 - just missing out on an unprecedented third triple-century - and, as you said, Martin Crowe was heartbreakingly dismissed for 299 for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1990-91. The only other innings in the 290s in Tests is Don Bradman's 299 not out - the last man was run out - for Australia against South Africa in Adelaide in 1931-32.

Virender Sehwag bagged a king pair in the third Test at Edgbaston. How many openers have suffered this fate in a Test? asked Firdaus Mohandas from India
The only other opener to bag a king pair in a Test, apart from Virender Sehwag at Edgbaston earlier this month, is Javed Omar of Bangladesh, against India in Mirpur in May 2007. Uniquely, Omar was out to the first ball of both innings, from Zaheer Khan each time. There are 14 other known cases of a king pair in Tests, the most recent one before Sehwag's being Ryan Harris' in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide last winter. Harris reviewed both decisions unsuccessfully, so was actually given out four times in the space of two balls. It's just possible there were one or two other king pairs in early Tests for which we don't have full balls-received details.

England won the Trent Bridge Test by 319 runs. Is this the biggest margin of victory for a team that had conceded a first-innings lead? asked Jude Franco from India
It is indeed: England's 319-run victory in Nottingham after being behind on the first innings broke the previous record, set 85 years previously. At The Oval in 1926, England won by 289 runs - and retained the Ashes - despite conceding a first-innings lead of 22 to Australia. Next comes a reversal of that - in Adelaide in 1907-08, Australia beat England by 245 runs despite conceding a first-innings lead of 78.

Brian Vitori took five wickets in each of his first two one-day internationals. Has anyone else ever done this? asked Steve Oehley from New Zealand
Brian Vitori, Zimbabwe's left-arm opening bowler, took five-fors in both his first two ODIs, against Bangladesh earlier this month. This is indeed unique - the best before Vitori was achieved by Australia's Ryan Harris, who took five wickets in both his second and third ODIs, while another Australian, Gary Gilmour, had two in his first four. Vitori was, not surprisingly, the first man to take 10 wickets in his first two ODIs - the previous record was eight, shared by Curtly Ambrose, Winston Davis, Allan Donald, Fidel Edwards, Adam Hollioake and Rusty Theron.

Norman Gordon recently celebrated his 100th birthday. He made his Test debut more than 72 years ago - is this the longest anyone has survived after their first Test? asked Sean Thomas from Belfast
Norman Gordon, the former South Africa fast bowler, did indeed become the first Test player ever to reach 100 years of age earlier this month. He made his debut in the first Test of the home series against England in 1938-39, the one that finished with the famous ten-day drawn Timeless Test in Durban. Gordon thus made his Test debut more than 72 years ago - but, rather surprisingly, he still has a little way to go to claim this particular record: the New Zealander Jack Kerr made his Test debut in 1931, aged 20, and survived more than 75 years after that, before passing away in 2007 at the age of 96. Four other deceased players are also ahead of Gordon on this particular list at the moment: Wilfred Rhodes of England, who lived more than 74 years after his Test debut; Bill Brown of Australia (73); and two New Zealanders: Lindsay "Dad" Weir and Eric Tindill (both 73).

via espncricinfo

Time to infuse new talent, say former India cricketers

India's drubbing in the just-concluded Test series in England has signalled the urgent need for youngsters to be blooded into the Test team, according to former India captain Anil Kumble. Kumble said that while it could take time for India to return to their best, players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh needed to be given an extended run to allow the rebuilding process to take place.

"They have to be given a long rope," Kumble told AFP. "You may not see India come back to the top in quick time. But we have to ensure that with these youngsters, we remain in the top three and climb to the top spot after a few years."

Arun Lal, the former India batsman, echoed Kumble's view. "You cannot go on with 35 or 38-year-olds till eternity," Lal said. "We need to infuse new talent. What happened in England was in a way good. We needed an awakening."

India's 4-0 loss is the their first whitewash since the three-match series in Australia in 1999-2000, and the first by a four-game margin since the 1967-68 tour of Australia. Since Sourav Ganguly took over the captaincy in 2000, India's overseas record has shown marked improvement - India have won 24 away Tests in the last 11 years as compared to only four between 1980-99.

However, the players responsible for several of these wins have already gone - Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly - or are close to retirement, while the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who were part of these wins, have been dogged by injuries recently.

Kapil Dev, another former captain, said several of these players would be hard to replace, making India's task that much harder. "We were fortunate to have such good players all at one time, but they can't go on forever," Dev said. "It won't be easy to replace them."

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said, during commentary, that while England were the better side, he had not expected India to cave in so meekly. "Losing is part of the game but for a top-ranked side to lose so badly is inexcusable," he said. "England were magnificent, they were much superior to India and much better prepared. But I did expect India to show more fight than they did in the four Tests."

With the Don Argus-led review of Australian cricket getting a lot of attention over the last week, there has been speculation over whether the BCCI will commission a similar appraisal in the aftermath of the England series. Former captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi said he didn't anticipate too many changes coming into place. "The BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision," Pataudi said. "Cricket will continue [in India] the way it is, but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in."

Ravi Shastri, another former captain, said it was time to look at different players for the different formats, with an emphasis on Test cricket. "It's time for Indian cricket to identify players who are specifically suited to the different formats of the game," Shastri wrote in the Times of India. "A way has to be found to encourage those cricketers who want to give Test cricket priority. There ought to be superior remuneration or compensation."