Friday, January 14, 2011

Battered India need to sort out problems in second ODI

JOHANNESBURG: Thrashed in the first game in Durban, India would hope to put up a far more inspired display as they go into the second one-dayer against South Africa on Saturday with a few problems to sort out in both the bowling and batting departments.

The Indians did well by drawing the Test series 1-1 and then winning the only T20 game on Sunday, but the humiliating 135-run defeat in the first match came as a big blow for the visitors who have to regroup before its too late.

Already plagued by injuries to key players, nothing seemed to have gone right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in Durban as both the batting and bowling left much to be desired.

The Indians have a track record of not doing too well in the first match on tours and Dhoni and his men will be looking to bounce back and level the five-match series 1-1 at the New Wanderers ground which is likely to aid the pace bowlers.

Already missing key players such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the injury list has only grown longer with paceman Praveen Kumar also returning home because of an injury.

Paceman S Sreesanth is also recovering from an elbow injury, which forced him to sit out of the first match, and it remains to be seen whether the Kerala speedster is fit enough to take the field on the morrow.

Batting has been India's strength but the top order collapsed like a pack of cards to be reduced to 43 for four in the first match, and the team could never really recover from that jolt.

Sachin Tendulkar, returning to the Indian one-day fold after close to a year, has a big role to play and the champion batsman has to take up the responsibility of giving India a competitive total on the board.

The Indian line-up has a number of young but talented players such as Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina but they have to fire when it matters most.

Kohli was the only batsman to score a half century in the last game unlike the South Africans who had three batsmen coming up with substantial contributions. The failure to build partnerships made India's chase all the more difficult.

For the off-colour Yuvraj Singh, it is the final chance to convince the selectors that he is the same destructive force which won India many a matches before the stunning slump in form.

Unlike the Indians, the South Africans put up a clinical show but captain Graeme Smith cautioned his teammates not to take the visitors lightly.

"I expect them to bounce back. We have to put our foot down in the next match," Smith said.

For the Indians, pacer Ashish Nehra was a big disappointment in Durban, and that forced captain Dhoni to use three part-time bowlers to try and contain the run flow.

But it is highly unlikely that the team management will drop him as the left-arm seamer had done well in the past.

"Honestly speaking, these are the four-five fast bowlers we have got. We do not have many options to play with. So we have to back them to do well. Whether they are in match practice or not what is important is that we take care of these bowlers and they should go in the World Cup without any injuries," Dhoni had said.

South Africa will miss prolific all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is nursing an injury. The veteran has been the key player in the South African batting line-up and has been more than handy with the ball as well.

But the Proteas still have a good batting line-up with skipper Graeme Smith, the explosive duo of A B de Villiers and JP Duminy and the consistent Hashim Amla to anchor the middle-order. Amla, de Villiers and Duminy struck half centuries in the first match and will be looking to maintain that form.

The Indians are aware that they could have done much better in the first game and captain Dhoni has promised to bounce back in the series.

"We could have done better. When you are playing with four bowlers, you are under a bit of pressure, that if one of the bowler does not bowl well then you have to make those overs with the part timers."

"We can bounce back. We can play better cricket than this. That way cricket is good game as in every match you start afresh. We have to click as a unit to win matches," Dhoni said.

It is the final ODI series that India and South Africa play before the World Cup starting February 19, and both sides would look to settle their squads for the big event through these five matches.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/keeper), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, S Sreesanth.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Match starts 1800 hrs (IST)

Read more: Battered India need to sort out problems in second ODI - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-south-africa/top-stories/Battered-India-need-to-sort-out-problems-in-second-ODI/articleshow/7282811.cms#ixzz1B5O9OYOq

KKR include Abdullah and Bisla in line-up for IPL 4

STAFF WRITER 14:18 HRS IST

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Kolkata Knight Riders have included Mumbai left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla and Himachal Pradesh wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla in their line-up for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.

Abdulla, who scored his maiden first class century in the 2010-11 Ranji season, has signed a two-year deal with the Kolkata outfit, it was learnt.

"We have signed deals with Iqbal and Bisla," a KKR official said..

"We needed a specialist Indian spinner to accompany Shakib [al Hasan] and Yusuf Pathan and we are happy to get Iqbal," a Knight Riders spokesperson said.

Abdulla has been with the Knight Riders since the past three seasons, but played in only four games. He now returns as an uncapped signing.

Bisla, who made his IPL debut with Kings XI Punjab, would be playing in his second season.

Collingwood predicts India, SA, Aus, Eng to reach World Cup semis

DUBAI: With little more than a month to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup, England middle-order batsman Paul Collingwood has predicted that India, South Africa, Australia and his native country will make it to the semifinals of the mega-event starting February 19 in Dhaka.

"On current form I'd hope to put England into a semifinal, it would be hard to not put India in there with the strength in their batting and in home conditions - they'll be tricky to play against," Collingwood said in an exclusively chat with ICC Cricket World audio show.

"I always think Australia can't be ruled out since they've had a good history in this tournament and finally I'd pick South Africa as the fourth semifinalist. But you never know I may be well off the mark!" he added.

The 34-year-old batsman, who announced his retirement from Test cricket last week, also said that after their triumphant Ashes campaign, England would seek to carry on the winning momentum in the upcoming ODI series against Australia as well as the World Cup.

"It's a huge motivation to do well against Australia in all formats of the game. We want to keep the momentum going from the Test series and we want to carry that into the ICC Cricket World Cup. We want to finish the ODI series in Australia filled with confidence and ready to take on anyone at the World Cup," Collingwood said.

Read more: Collingwood predicts India, SA, Aus, Eng to reach World Cup semis - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/icc-world-cup-2011/top-stories/Collingwood-predicts-India-SA-Aus-Eng-to-reach-World-Cup-semis/articleshow/7278526.cms#ixzz1B06kN1YA

India could face ban from Olympics: IOC

LAUSANNE ( Switzerland): The International Olympic Committee's executive board warned India on Thursday that it could bar the country from the Olympics unless a spat over Indian sports chiefs is resolved.

The board said in a statement after a two-day meeting here that "a number of points still have to be resolved".

"Consequently if the situation does not evolve positively, the IOC executive board will consider taking appropriate measures and actions which might seriously affect the representation and participation of India at the Olympic Games and international sports events coming up," it added.

The IOC insisted that India's government had agreed at a meeting in Lausanne last June to adopt a jointly agreed draft constitution for the Indian Olympic Committee and respect its autonomy.

India clashed with the IOC last year over new rules limiting the tenures of the country's top sports officials, according to letters seen by AFP in May.

The Olympic body has the power to impose sanctions including suspending the country from its membership -- a move that would prevent it taking part in the 2012 London Olympics.

Read more: India could face ban from Olympics: IOC - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/India-could-face-ban-from-Olympics-IOC/articleshow/7278258.cms#ixzz1B06O8zX7

Nadal test in bid for Grand Slam glory

MELBOURNE: World number one Rafael Nadal faces a likely Australian Open semi-final with Robin Soderling or Andy Murray as he bids to become the first man in 42 years to hold all four major titles simultaneously.

Soderling and 2010 finalist Murray were placed in the top half of the draw on Friday as Nadal chases his fourth consecutive Grand Slam after stringing together wins at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year.

The powerful Spaniard would become the first man since Australian Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once if he can win the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.

Nadal said while he was constantly reminded of that possibility, he did not feel the weight of history.

"Everybody asks me this question," Nadal told reporters on Friday.

"For me the pressure is the same every tournament and the pressure is my pressure, that I want to play well and do the right things.

"We will see what's going on, but (I don't feel) extra pressure."

Nadal's preparation has been hampered by illness and he said it was difficult to gauge how his performances early in the tournament would be affected by the setback.

"It is important to improve every day a little bit. A lot of times I didn't start a tournament playing my best and finished the tournament playing very good," he said.

"Sometimes you start very well, sometimes you don't play that well.

"It's very difficult to say if I'm ready or not ready."

Nadal will launch his title bid against Brazilian Marcos Daniel and could face Croatia's 15th seed Marin Cilic in the fourth round.

Sweden's Soderling, runner-up to Nadal at last year's French Open, has Italian Potito Starace first up, while Britain's Murray faces Slovakian Karol Beck.

Former champion Novak Djokovic was pitted in the bottom half of the men's draw with four-time champion Roger Federer.

The Serbian third seed, who beat Federer in the semi-finals of the 2008 Australian Open and went on to win the title, is in line for a semi-final with second seed Federer based on the seedings.

Federer has a first-round match against Slovakia's Lukas Lacko, while Djokovic lines up against Spaniard Marcel Granollers.

The feature first-round matchup is between two-time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt and Argentina's 27th seed David Nalbandian, whom the unseeded Australian defeated in the 2002 Wimbledon final.

Australia's Hewitt and Nalbandian have been locked in a fierce rivalry over the years, with matches including Davis Cup clashes and Grand Slam battles.

Hewitt beat Nalbandian in the 2002 Wimbledon final and in their epic 2005 Australian Open quarter-final, in which the Australian won 10-8 in the fifth set.

"It's a long rivalry through Davis Cups and on the tour and obviously they're not known as the best of friends," Hewitt's manager David Drysdale said.

"Both players will be desperately wanting to win this match badly, which is going to make it a hell of a first-round match."

Argentina's unseeded Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Federer to win the 2009 US Open final and is fighting back from a wrist injury, takes on Israeli Dudi Sela in the first round in Nadal's top half.

Read more: Nadal test in bid for Grand Slam glory - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/australian-open-2011/top-stories/Nadal-test-in-bid-for-Grand-Slam-glory/articleshow/7283229.cms#ixzz1B04sHRyI

India's World Cup squad to be picked on January 17

MUMBAI: The final 15-member Indian squad for the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in the sub-continent will be picked by the national senior selection panel on January 17.

"The selection committee is to pick the World Cup squad on the 17th at Chennai," a Cricket Board source said on Friday.

The selection panel, with Krishnamachari Srikkanth at the helm, has picked a preliminary squad of thirty members for the mega event, and the list would be pruned to the required number as per ICC regulations for the tournament.

The list of probables already picked by the selectors is as follows: M S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar.

The World Cup is to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19-April 2. India are placed in Group B in the preliminary phase along with co-hosts Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Netherlands.

India and Bangladesh will kick off the tournament in the latter's backyard - at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Read more: India's World Cup squad to be picked on January 17 - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/icc-world-cup-2011/top-stories/Indias-World-Cup-squad-to-be-picked-on-January-17/articleshow/7282466.cms#ixzz1B03IgGir