Hard to pick winner for ICC World Twenty20: Lara

TRINIDAD (West Indies): Former West Indies captain Brian Lara lifted the ICC World Twenty20 trophy in Trinidad on Sunday and then admitted it was tough to pick a side that might do the same on June 21 at Lord's.

But if he had to choose a likely winner the batting legend said the finalists in the inaugural event in 2007, India and Pakistan, might be the ones to look out for because of their batting strength and an ability to innovate.

Lara displayed the trophy to a packed house at the Queen's Park Oval during the interval of the T20 International between the West Indies and England, part of the promotion of June's event that will take place in England.

And afterwards he said: "It was a great feeling to pick up the trophy before the winning captain and nice to be part of the build-up but, as for picking a winner, it's very hard to predict as in Twenty20 cricket you never know what will happen.

"In 2007 I supported the West Indies (to win) due to the fact that, as a team, we may have been short in Test cricket but very good over a shorter game and Twenty20 was a version of the game, with players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, I thought we would love.

"But then Bangladesh came and beat us and we didn't win a match so that shows how difficult it is to predict. A team like India or Pakistan, accustomed to good batting tracks, flat tracks and capable of being very innovative could be the ones to walk away with the trophy," said Lara.

Two years into his retirement from top-line cricket, Lara remains the holder of the highest score in international history thanks to his 400 not out in a Test against England in Antigua in 2004.

And although he said he still loved Test cricket above all the other formats of the game, he also agreed there was an obvious place for the Twenty20 version.

"I'm still a connoisseur of Test cricket as the true test of any sportsman," he said. "But I think Twenty20 cricket is a great invention, especially for the spectator. It's a great addition to the game and I look forward to seeing the ICC World Twenty20."

Lara also reflected on what it was like to lift silverware at an ICC event, having done that in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy when the West Indies produced a remarkable come-from-behind success in the final against England at The Oval.

"It was a great feeling and this from a captain not accustomed to winning anything," he said.

"We'd just lost four Tests against England and then came back from deep trouble in the final when we were seven or eight wickets down late on.

"Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw were able to pull it off for us and that was an excellent feeling.

"I've never done it (lifted the trophy) in a World Cup but to play against all the other international countries in one tournament and win was a great feeling and definitely one of the greatest moments of my career," he added.

The ICC World Twenty20 trophy is designed and manufactured by Links of London. It is made of silver and rhodium and weighs approximately 7.5kgs. It measures 51 cms in height with a width of 19cms at the top and 14cms at the base

The ICC World Twenty20 2009 sees 12 of the top men's teams and the top eight women's teams competing in a best-of-the-best event at four venues - Lord's, The Oval, Trent Bridge and Taunton (women's matches only).

Each of the men's and women's semi-finals and the finals will be played as double-headers at the same venues offering great value to spectators and great exposure to the women's game.

India won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 in South Africa when it beat Pakistan by five runs in the final in Johannesburg.

Soruce:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hard-to-pick-winner-for-ICC-World-Twenty20-Lara/articleshow/4270154.cms

Sachin, Sehwag move up in ICC ODI Rankings

DUBAI: Virender Sehwag broke into top 10 and Sachin Tendulkar returned to top 20 in batsmen's chart while Yuvraj Singh rose to a career-best third place in the all-rounder's table following India's 3-1 series win against New Zealand.

Sehwag and Tendulkar were the biggest movers in the ICC ODI Player Rankings after their splendid performance in the recent series against New Zealand.

Sehwag, who scored 299 runs against the Black Caps, jumped nine places to sixth position in the latest rankings for ODI batsmen, headed by his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It is the first time in nearly six years that Sehwag has occupied a place in the top 10.

Tendulkar has also made a movement in the right direction as his series scores of 20, 61 and 163 not out have helped him vault eight places to 13th spot.

Yuvraj and Gautam Gambhir, however, dropped one and four places respectively in the batsmen's chart. Yuvraj now sits in fourth place while Gambhir shares 16th spot with South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs.

However in the all-rounders' table, Yuvraj entered the top five for the first time in his career. He has leapfrogged West Indies captain Chris Gayle and Jacob Oram of New Zealand to share third place with Pakistan's Shoaib Malik.

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan leads the field with Andrew Flintoff in second place.

Meanwhile in the rankings for ODI bowlers, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has fallen off the top spot and now sits in fifth place after managing just two wickets in the series which was dominated by the Indian batsmen.

Vettori's drop has benefitted Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara who, for the first time in his career, has surged to the top. Australia fast bowler Nathan Bracken is in second place while Kyle Mills of New Zealand is third.

In the ICC ODI Championship, India has gained two ratings points for its 3-1 series win. It has lifted it to 122 rating points and puts it just two ratings points behind second-placed Australia and three behind leader South Africa.

In contrast, New Zealand has conceded two ratings points for the series loss and is now only one rating point ahead of Pakistan.

Source:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sehwag-rockets-into-top-10-in-ICC-ODI-Rankings/articleshow/4270560.cms

Bouncy track awaits India in Test opener

HAMILTON: A bouncy track with a good sprinkling of grass awaits India in the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand starting on Wednesday, casting the die for a veritable war of attrition between bat and ball.

One look at the wicket would convince anyone that the Kiwis, who had the Indians in a spot of bother on a lively Eden Park deck in the last ODI at Auckland, would use swing and seam to arrest the Indian batsmen who have been on a rampage on this tour.

Though curator Karl Jackson said he would eventually shear the pitch of its "excess" grass, there should be appreciable assistance for seamers, who could be lethal if the conditions are overcast.

The conditions would demand great discipline from the Indian batsmen to collar a seam attack, spearheaded by Franklyn James, an ace at swinging the ball.

Kyle Mills, who on his day can trouble established batsmen, Iain O'Brien and either Chris Martin or new-find Brent Arnel could form the seam quartet.

The wily Daniel Vettori (286 wickets in 89 Tests) could provide fizz and turn in case the quicks fail.

However, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag have the skill and experience to quell the Kiwi attack, though they had had a deplorable tour in 2002-03, when India had mustered a series-high score of 219.

Any extravagance could hurt the Kiwis as well, as they have an inexperienced batting line-up, which has yet-to-be-christened Martin Guptill.

Interestingly, Ross Taylor (14), Jesse Ryder (6), Daniel Flynn (9), Tim McIntosh (2) and Brendon McCullum (41) have played barely 72 Tests between them, half the number of matches that Tendulkar (156) has played in.

The young Kiwis would have to contend with the likes of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, who had rocked Australia and England even on docile wickets back home. If the duo, assisted by Lakshmipathy Balaji, could seam and cut the Kookaburra ball, the hosts could be vulnerable under pressure, as they were in the ODIs.

Keeping this in mind, Kiwi coach Andy Moles said, "We don't want to play on a green seamer. We want to have a good game of cricket and I am sure that is what we will get."

If the Blackcaps had complained about being tormented by Sehwag, they will now have to deal with the batting might of Sachin Tendulkar (12,429 runs), Rahul Dravid (10509) and VVS Laxman (6446), who have a staggering gross aggregate of 29,384 Test runs among them.

The celebrated trio apart, India could also bank on Gautam Gambhir, who has arguably been India's best batting find in recent times, Yuvraj Singh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to put the runs on the board.

Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Balaji too can be handy with the willow.

Given the wealth of experience and talent, self-belief and an enviable track record over the last 18 months, India begin the three-Test rubber as the favorites.

Nevertheless, they would have to perform at their best to score a Test series victory in the antipodes, their first since the Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi-inspired 3-1 triumph in 1967-68.

Source:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bouncy-track-awaits-India-in-Test-series-opener/articleshow/4271353.cms

Govt, IPL hold meet; no decision on dates yet

NEW DELHI: The fate of the Indian Premier League season two still hangs in balance with the meeting between the home ministry and the IPL authorities ending inconclusively in New Delhi on Monday.

A three-member team led by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan met special secretary (internal security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Raman Srivastava, on Monday to discuss the IPL matches’ dates.

The special secretary conveyed the ministry’s concerns and limitations and requested the working of a new schedule for IPL-II in consultation with states where the IPL matches are to be played.

The home ministry also told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it would not be able to spare central forces for the Twenty20 tournament, PTI reported.

Asking the organisers of the high-profile tournament to hold serious consultations with concerned state governments, ministry expressed its "concerns and limitations" in sparing para-military forces for the cricket extravaganza because of the Lok Sabha elections.

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"We have had discussions. Home ministry explained its concerns and we have also explained our difficulties and our own concerns and the importance of all the stake holders," N Srinivasan, BCCI secretary told reporters in New Delhi.

"Once the new schedule is received, the ministry will look at it in consultation with the state governments," a home ministry spokesperson said.

A tentative schedule was earlier expected to be released after the meeting today. The IPL 2 tournament is scheduled to begin from April 20.

Before submitting the revised schedule, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had said at a media briefing that before chalking out the new fixtures, all states concerned had been taken into confidence.

However, the ministry was taken in for a surprise when the states denied that they had been consulted by the IPL organisers.

The ministry had on March 13 rejected the revised schedule of the IPL organisers and said it "may not be feasible to play matches as per the submitted schedule".

"It is not possible to exempt any state from its promise to release state police personnel for election duties because these have been taken into account in arriving at the overall availability of security personnel," the ministry had said while rejecting the revised schedule.


Source:http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/No_decision_on_IPL_2_dates_yet_BCCI_/articleshow/4268623.cms

I want to be World champion: Lewis Hamilton

PARIS, AFP: Lewis Hamilton has come a long way in his 24 years, from a humble English housing estate to a Swiss mansion, a popstar girlfriend and an MBE from the Queen.He is the youngest champion in Formula One history, its first black winner and a multi-millionaire who splits opinion both inside and outside the paddock.Now Hamilton is braced for what could be his most bruising battle as he defends the title he won by just a point in 2008's rain-drenched, knife-edge Brazilian finale."You can't live in the past. I don't say 'I am world champion', I say 'I want to be world champion'," said Hamilton.His F1 debut in 2007 in Australia saw him finish third, quickly followed by runner-up positions in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco

Source:http://racing.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/4270400.cms

Imperious Nadal romps through in Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Rafal Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

The Spaniard made mince meat out of world number 112 Berrer, marching through in just 67 minutes.

Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced.

Nadal broke Berrer's serve in the first game and never looked back, dominating the German from the baseline and outclassing him in every department.

The top seed will play 26th seed Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.

Serbian third seed Djokovic was never at his fluent best but eased past Vassallo Arguello to book a meeting with German Tommy Haas.

After trading early breaks, Djokovic broke the Argentine's serve for the second time in the 11th game, and served out for the set.

The vital break in the second set came in the seventh game and Djokovic held the advantage to clinch victory.

Djokovic has been struggling to repeat the form he showed in the first few months of 2008, when he won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and then triumphed in Indian Wells.

A switch in rackets in the off-season left him low on confidence but after winning the title in Dubai last month, the world number three believes he is getting back on track.

"The quality is there. The game is there. The fitness is getting much better. It's just a mental ability to play the best tennis," he said.

"I know that I cannot perform always my best tennis, but, again, my confidence has been raised in the last month and a half.

"I'm aware that still there needs to be some improvement, but I'm taking it step by step."

Last year's beaten finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6, 7-6 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Del Potro beat American wildcard Ryan Sweeting 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Nicolas Kiefer and Stanislas Wawrinka also advanced to the third round.
Rafa Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Rafa Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

The Spaniard made mince meat out of world number 112 Berrer, marching through in just 67 minutes.

Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced.

Nadal broke Berrer's serve in the first game and never looked back, dominating the German from the baseline and outclassing him in every department.

The top seed will play 26th seed Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.

Serbian third seed Djokovic was never at his fluent best but eased past Vassallo Arguello to book a meeting with German Tommy Haas.

After trading early breaks, Djokovic broke the Argentine's serve for the second time in the 11th game, and served out for the set.

The vital break in the second set came in the seventh game and Djokovic held the advantage to clinch victory.

Djokovic has been struggling to repeat the form he showed in the first few months of 2008, when he won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and then triumphed in Indian Wells.

A switch in rackets in the off-season left him low on confidence but after winning the title in Dubai last month, the world number three believes he is getting back on track.

"The quality is there. The game is there. The fitness is getting much better. It's just a mental ability to play the best tennis," he said.

"I know that I cannot perform always my best tennis, but, again, my confidence has been raised in the last month and a half.

"I'm aware that still there needs to be some improvement, but I'm taking it step by step."

Last year's beaten finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6, 7-6 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Del Potro beat American wildcard Ryan Sweeting 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Nicolas Kiefer and Stanislas Wawrinka also advanced to the third round.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?frm_TOIHome_top

Jeev Milkha Singh soars to career-best 29th in rankings

NEW DELHI: Jeev Milkha Singh continues to soar high, reaching a career-best 29th following his fourth-place finish in the WGC-CA Championship with compatriot Jyoti Randhawa giving him company in the top 100 list of Official World Golf Rankings issued on Monday.

Jeev had a fairytale campaign in the WGC-CA Championship where a sensational opening round of seven-under 65 put him in the four-way lead.

The seasoned Indian eventually finished fourth at the Blue Monster in Doral to collect a cheque of $360,000 and jump seven places from last week's 36th position.

Randhawa, who broke into the top 100 following his triumph in the Thailand Open, is placed 96th in the chart.

US-based Arjun Atwal is way down at 237th, while last year's Indian Masters winner SSP Chowrasia is placed 331st.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson's second title of the year at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship helped him move up one place to world number two and to within 0.52 average points of number one Tiger Woods.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?frm_TOIHome_top