Muralitharan to join Gloucestershire

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has been signed by English county side Gloucestershire as their overseas player for two Friends Provident Twenty20 Cup seasons.

The 38-year-old will join the domestic side after representing Sri Lanka in the upcoming World Cup and Kochi team in the Indian Premier League, the Skysports reported.

Murali will retire from all forms of international cricket after the World Cup.

"I am really looking forward to playing for Gloucestershire. It is a young and exciting team and I hope I can add some experience to the mix. The last time I played at Bristol I took five wickets and I look forward to an exciting T20 competition with the Gladiators," Murali told the county's official site.

Muralitharan retired from Test cricket last summer, signing off by becoming the first bowler to take 800 wickets in this format, in his 133rd match.

He had earlier played as an overseas player for Lancashire between 1999 and 2007, besides spending a summer with Kent in 2003.

Gloucestershire director of cricket John Bracewell, hailed the signing of Murali as a huge boost for the club.

"This is an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work and play with one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game. Whenever I have watched and observed Murali he has always had and shown an infectious love for the game of cricket. This is something that I personally am looking forward to working with." Bracewell said.
© PTI

World Cup warm-ups shifted from Pallekele

Heavy monsoon rains have forced the International Cricket Council to move World Cup warm-up matches from Sri Lanka's Pallekele stadium, tournament organisers said.

Sri Lanka has been hit by monsoon downpours since December hampering preparation of the pitches at the newly-built Pallekele venue in the island's central district.

Pallekele was to host practice matches between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands on Saturday and Kenya and the Netherlands on Tuesday. A new venue for the two matches will be announced shortly, the organisers said in a statement.

"The ground staff at Pallekele have had to contend with an extremely high volume of rainfall over a number of weeks, far in excess of what is normal for this time of year," tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said.

"This has proved to be a significant handicap in their efforts to produce pitches for the forthcoming warm-up matches," he said.

Shetty said the decision to move the warm-up matches would give ground staff time to prepare "excellent pitches" for the tournament.

The decision to shift the games will not affect World Cup matches, the ICC said.

Pallekele will be the venue for three World Cup matches, the first between New Zealand and Pakistan is scheduled for March 8.

The showpiece event, being co-hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, starts on February 19.

Heavy monsoon floods across Sri Lanka's central, northern and eastern regions have claimed at least 21 lives and affected over 1.2 million people.
© AFP

We will miss Praveen Kumar: Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday said they will badly miss "street-smart" Praveen Kumar in the upcoming World Cup as the pacer has been ruled out of cricket's showpiece event due to an elbow injury.

Praveen, who has been a vital cog in India's ODI scheme of things for a little over three years and was certain in India's seam attack in the World Cup, was ruled out on Monday after failing to recover from an elbow injury which he sustained during the South Africa tour.

"It is very unfortunate that Praveen had to miss the World Cup. He featured consistently in the ODIs for us. He is a street-smart cricketer and we will miss him a lot," Dhoni said during a pre-tournament press conference here.

"But you can't really restrict injuries from happening to players," he added.

Without mentioning the names, he also indicated that Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar all have recovered from their injuries and will be totally fit by the time India play their tournament-opener against Bangladesh in Dhaka on February 19.

"A few players are suffering from slight niggles, which is always there but nothing serious. Hopefully, nothing major happens to any player," the skipper said.

The World Cup has come in for its share of criticism from some quarters for its length which spans around 45 days, but Dhoni reiterated that a perfect scheduling is always difficult to churn out and the rest period between matches will help the players to recover from their niggles.

"As I have said earlier, it is very difficult to form a perfect schedule and format. A tournament schedule will be either too long or too short but I am quite happy with the schedule. It will give us time to recover from small niggles," he insisted.
© PTI

Sreesanth replaces injured Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the 2011 World Cup after failing to recover from an elbow injury.

Santhakumaran Sreesanth, who underwent a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy, was named as the replacement for the UP seamer.

"The International Cricket Council has confirmed that Praveen Kumar can be replaced in the squad by Sreesanth," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

Praveen Kumar, who returned early from the ODI series in South Africa to recover in time for the World Cup, went to England for further treatment but doctors took a final call on his fitness and ruled him out after the medical check-ups.

The Uttar Pradesh bowler underwent a fitness test at the NCA but it seems the injury had not healed as fast as was expected, a BCCI source said.

Praveen went to England to consult Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon who has treated many Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar, on his injured right elbow.

The pacer was under a rehabilitation programme at the NCA and had said that the injury was healing well.

© Cricbuzz

Junaid wants wicket to dismiss Tendulkar during World Cup

KARACHI: After earning a surprise call to the World Cup squad, rookie Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan cannot stop thinking about bowling to Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and getting him out.

The 21-year old left-arm pacer was drafted into the squad after fitness issues ruled talented Sohail Tanvir out of the tournament.
"Just getting a chance to play in the World Cup is a dream come true for me. But if we get to play against India in the World Cup it would be a blast to bowl at Tendulkar and get him out. It is an ambition for me," Junaid said.

Junaid, who has represented the national team at the under-19 and A levels, said he has always admired Tendulkar for his batting exploits.

"For any young bowler I think Tendulkar's wicket is a big prize," he told Geo Super channel.

The youngster said he had recently toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan A team and was familiar with the conditions which will help him if gets to play some matches there.

"I am very fit having played lot of domestic cricket this season and the confidence is high so getting a chance to play in the World Cup is a big bonus for me," he said.

Junaid, who has taken 167 wickets in 35 first class games for Abbotabad, said he was thankful to the cricket board and national selectors for posing confidence in him.

"God has been kind to me and I know this is a big opportunity. I don't know if I will get a chance to play but I will do my best to impress the team management that I should be given a chance and I will not let them down."

The southpaw is one of the finest fast bowling prospects in Pakistan and has impressed everyone with his pace and fire.

He joins left arm pacers, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz in the Pakistan bowling line up for the World Cup.

Pakistan lost two of their top pace bowlers -- Muhammad Aamer and Mohammed Asif -- to bans from the International Cricket Council anti-corruption tribunal.

TOI

World Cup ad rate can touch Rs 24 lakh per 10 secs if Team India does well

NEW DELHI: It could be a windfall for cricket World Cup broadcaster ESPN Star Sports if Team India reaches the knockout stages, as the spot rate for advertisements could then touch up to Rs 24 lakh per ten seconds.

The broadcaster, which has reserved ad inventory of nearly 5-6 per cent for the last few matches, is keeping its fingers crossed and hoping India plays in the title round.

"If India does well and reaches the knockout stages, ad spot rates could jump up significantly, as high as five to six times of the existing rate," ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd executive vice-president - Ad Sales & New Media Sanjay Kailash said.

While he declined to comment on the existing ad spot rate, as per industry sources, the broadcaster is charging around Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh per ten seconds spot.

If India, counted as one of the favourites to win the title this time by many cricket experts, features in the quarterfinals and beyond, then the ad rates could be as high as Rs 24 lakh per ten seconds.

"If India makes it to the semis then increased demand will be seen from new advertisers who have not bought already. Rates will be more driven by the demand and ESPN will want to maximise given that they are already the last two or three matches," ZenithOptimedia, senior vice-president Naveen Khemka said.

Cost efficiency can be overlooked if brand objectives are met, he added.

The company is also responsible for selling the ad spots for Doordarshan which will broadcast all the matches to be played by India plus the two semi finals and the final.

"The inventory for DD is sold out. We have got a very good response," Kailash said, adding ad rates on DD is much lower compared to its ESPN Software India's channels (ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket) but did not specify details.

Companies like Hero Honda, Parle Products, ITC, Jaypee Cement, Reliance Mobile, Pepsi, Tata Motors and Pidilite Industries have signed up as sponsors on DD.

Industry sources said ESPN is estimated to have garnered about Rs 75 crore from ad spots on DD, while it is targeting Rs 750 crore from the World Cup on its own.

TOI