Laxman, Tendulkar bag top honours at ESPNcricinfo awards

BANGALORE: VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar won the awards for best batting performances in Tests and ODIs while Dale Steyn bagged the top prize in Test bowling in the fourth annual ESPNcricinfo Awards on Monday.

Umar Gul, Michael Hussey and Tim Southee were the other winners.

Laxman bagged the award for best Test batting for his 96 on a bowler-friendly pitch in Durban last December, while Tendulkar won the ODI award for his unbeaten double-hundred against South Africa in Gwalior last February, the first in the history of the 40-year-old format.

Steyn took the bowling prize for his seven for 51 against India in Nagpur on a flat track.

While Tendulkar still remains the only player to have scored a double ton in ODIs, what helped Laxman and Steyn beat their rivals was that their efforts came on unfavourable conditions, and led their teams to historic victories.

This was the second time Tendulkar has won an award in this category -- he had won last year for his brilliant 175, though in a losing cause against Australia in Mohali.

Tendulkar faced stiff competition from Abdul Razzaq's hurricane 109, which took his side to miraculous win against South Africa after they were nine down and needed 30 runs to win.

Also winning his second award in two years was Umar Gul, the last year's T20 bowling winner taking the ODI prize for his six for 42 against England at The Oval.

In Twenty20, Southee was the runaway winner for his five-wicket burst in nine balls, which included a hat-trick.

Hussey's "freakish" innings of 60 in the World T20 semifinal against Pakistan beat Brendon McCullum's century against Australia.

The jury included former internationals Ramiz Raza, Kepler Wessels, Ian Chappell, Tony Greig, Geoff Boycott, Sanjay Manjrekar and Martin Crowe, and ESPNcricinfo's senior editors.

The jurors picked their top three performances in each category out of shortlists compiled by the site's editorial staff. Each performance ranked No 1 got five points, while No 2 and 3 got three points and one respectively.

Tendulkar's and Gul's performances were ranked No 1 by 10 jury members, Steyn's by eight and Laxman's 96 by five.

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Brazil great Ronaldo confirms retirement

SAO PAULO: Three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo, whose goalscoring genius led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, confirmed his retirement on Monday at the age of 34.


The tearful Corinthians striker announced his decision at a press conference in Sao Paulo.

"I'm stopping my career as a professional footballer," he said, his voice breaking. "It's been a beautiful, emotional, marvellous career.

"These last two years, I've had a long series of injuries, from one side to the other, one leg to the other, one muscle to the other. The pain pushed me to think about the end of my career."

Ronaldo also revealed that he suffered from a thyroid problem that had made it difficult to control his weight.

"Four years ago, in Milan, I discovered that I suffered from an under-active thyroid that slowed down my metabolism and that to control it, I had to take hormones that weren't authorised in football as they were considered a form of doping," he said.

"Lots of people must regret having made jokes about my weight. But I feel no anger towards anyone."

Having earlier indicated that he hoped to play on until the end of the year, injuries and Corinthians' early elimination from the Copa Libertadores prompted him to bring forward his retirement.

During a glittering 14-year spell in Europe, Ronaldo scored goals at a prolific rate for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, before returning to Brazil in 2009.

He won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and became the leading scorer in World Cup finals tournaments when he scored his 15th goal at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

He was twice named European Footballer of the Year, in 1997 and 2002, and finished his international career with 62 goals in 97 appearances.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, 'El Fenomeno' (The Phenomenon) won the World Cup with Brazil for the first time in 1994, though on that occasion the 17-year-old was part of the squad and did not play.

In 1998, he was among the losing finalists, beaten 3-0 at Stade de France by a rampant French side that included the inspirational Zinedine Zidane.

Brazil's star striker suffered a convulsive fit on the eve of the match and was removed from the starting line-up.

In a dramatic changing-room re-shuffle, he was reinstated just before kick-off but was a shadow of the intimidating forward who had scored four goals in the run-up to the final.

But the 2002 tournament was where he made history.

Shrugging off injury in the tournament, which was hosted by Japan and South Korea, he played a key role in helping Brazil to the trophy, scoring both goals in his country's 2-0 win over Germany in the final in Yokohoma.

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany he took his World Cup tally to 15 goals, surpassing the previous record held by Gerd Mueller by one goal.

Ronaldo, who began his career with Cruzeiro, had to fight back from three career-threatening knee injuries over the course of his career.

He was sidelined while playing for Inter by a knee injury in 1999 only to damage the same knee in his comeback for the club in February 2000, effectively keeping him out of action until March 2002.

In February 2008 he ruptured a tendon in his right knee playing for AC Milan against Livorno, an injury that ended his career in Europe.

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Top 10 batting knocks in the World Cups

NEW DELHI: Brief run-down of the top batting knocks in the World Cup (against Test playing nations only) ahead of the 2011 edition which starts on Saturday.

1. Sourav Ganguly (India) - 183 (158 balls, 17 fours, 7 sixes) v Sri Lanka, Taunton, 1999

Ganguly provided a taste of what T20 might be like with his towering hits that almost cleared the outskirts of the town, let alone Taunton's tiny ground. After stuttering in their opening encounter against South Africa and choking in a space of six balls from Henry Olonga against Zimbabwe, India needed to win big against Sri Lanka. Ganguly's innings ensured just that and provided the momentum for a place in the Super Sixes. However, the early setbacks cost India the chance of further qualification.

2. Viv Richards (West Indies) - 181 (125 balls, 16 fours, 7 sixes) v Sri Lanka, Karachi, 1987

Richards walked in to bat on a hat-trick and by the time he departed, he had scored the highest score (then) in a World Cup. He went about his business in such a savage manner that Desmond Haynes' 105 almost seemed pedestrian by comparison. It was a perfect riposte to two back-to-back losses in World Cups for the West Indies (1983 finals to India; opening encounter against England in 1987). Although, they exited before the semi-finals, Richards had once again stamped his authority on the World Cup.

3. Matthew Hayden (Australia) 158 (143 balls, 14 fours, 4 sixes) v West Indies, North Sound, 2007

Hayden imposed himself on the home side with an innings of various gears. It was an uncharacteristic innings, given it was Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson who provided the impetus while the big man almost played a 'sheet anchor' role by his standards. Having not opened his account for 18 deliveries, he got to his 50 in 72 deliveries, and it was only in the 45th over that he really went into overdrive. Despite a glimpse of Brian Lara's class, there was no stopping Australia.

4. Adam Gilchrist (Australia) 149 (104 balls, 13 fours, 8 sixes) v Sri Lanka, Bridgetown, 2007

Clive Lloyd (1975), Viv Richards (1979), Aravinda de Silva (1996), Ponting (2003) and Gilchrist (2007). It is a Who's Who list of batsmen who left their indelible mark on World Cup finals. After a rather tepid tournament by his standards, Gilchrist -- with a squash ball inside his gloves -- treated the cricket ground akin to a squash court. His brutal assault propelled Australia, and although Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakarra made a game of it, they could not stop Australia from winning the 2007 World Cup for the third consecutive time.

5. AB de Villiers (South Africa) 146 (130 balls, 12 fours, 5 sixes) v West Indies, St George's, 2007

With the West Indies already out of contention for a semi-final slot, Lara experimented with some debatable team selection and bowling decisions. But nothing can be taken away from the knock of De Villiers, who ensured that South Africa's shock defeat to Bangladesh was an aberration.

Although Sarwan tried gamely, South Africa eased through to the semis where, again, their fragile batting was exposed by the Australians, thus re-invigorating the tag of 'chokers'.

6. Rahul Dravid (India) 145 (129 balls, 17 fours, 1 six) v Sri Lanka, Taunton, 1999

Indian cricket is replete with Dravid's feats in some monumental partnerships and this extremely crucial 318-run partnership with Ganguly was no less momentous. The fact that he scored at a very impressive strike rate almost went unnoticed as he was finding the gaps and using his pull shots but not hitting the towering sixes that regularly came at the other end. However, Mr Dependable was there when India needed him most.

7. Andrew Symonds (Australia) 143* (125 balls, 18 fours, 2 sixes) v Pakistan, Johannesburg, 2003

In Australia's first match of the 2003 World Cup as defending champions, they were stunned by the Pakistani fast bowling attack with Gilchrist, Hayden, Damien Martyn and Jimmy Maher back in the hutch within the Powerplay. Ponting and Symonds rebuilt the innings and a sedate start assumed fierce proportions once Ponting departed. Symonds took a liking to Shahid Afridi's bowling and did not spare the Ws (Wasim and Waqar) in the death overs either. Pakistan never really got going and Australia were off and running.

8. Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) 143 (141 balls, 19 fours, 3 sixes) v New Zealand, Johannesburg, 2003

A feeling of deja vu must have crept in when Gibbs scored another century at the World Cup and lost another crucial match. Rewind to 'You just dropped the World Cup, mate' quip from Steve Waugh in 1999 when Gibbs dropped a sitter after having scored 101 and let Australia off the hook. Fast forward four years, and this time it was the Kiwi skipper, Stephen Fleming, who upstaged Gibbs' heroic effort with sheer class and grace. It was a tournament where bad luck, rain, Messrs Duckworth & Lewis, and common sense (or lack of it) conspired to eliminate the hosts.

9. Dave Houghton (Zimbabwe) 142 (137 balls, 13 fours, 6 sixes) v New Zealand, Hyderabad, 1987

Another heartbreak story for another valiant centurion. Zimbabwe had always threatened to be giant slayers in their performances against India and Australia in 1983. They nearly did it again, chasing a respectable 243 to win. Houghton played one of the most majestic innings and almost single handedly won the match for Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the rest of the batting line up let him down with tennis scores of 1-5-12-4-5-2-1. When Zimbabwe fell short by three runs, all neutral cricket fans must have been equally dejected.

10. Scott Styris (New Zealand) 141 (125 balls, 3 fours, 6 sixes) v Sri Lanka, Bloemfontein, 2003

To round off the theme with a hat-trick of centuries in losing causes, Styris was the sole survivor amidst a sinking ship with only a fighting 32 from Chris Cairns to prop up the New Zealand total. New Zealand never really came close to challenging the relatively imposing total of 272 from Sri Lanka.

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India will come in as favourites for World Cup: White

Bangalore, Feb 12(ANI): Australian batsman Cameron White reckons that the Indian team is one of the favourites for the upcoming World Cup.

"The Indian team is obviously full of very good players playing in their own backyard, in their own conditions, so everyone in the cricketing world understands why India would be a favorite," White said.

"We are playing well, but the Indian and many other teams have a lot of good players and they are probably favorites because obviously playing in their home conditions," he added.

The World Cup will take place between February and early April, with the first match to be played on February 19 with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

The opening ceremony will be held at Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium on February 17, two days before the start of the tournament. The final would take place on April 2 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

Shakib, Tamim star in Bangladesh's win

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan led from the front as World Cup co-hosts Bangladesh trounced Canada by nine wickets in a one-sided warm-up match on Saturday in Chittagong.

Shakib grabbed three wickets for five runs with his left-arm spin as Canada were shot out for 112 in 37.3 overs after being sent in to bat at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong.

The left-handed opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes then put on 106 by the 17th over to ensure the day-night match finished early.

Tamim smashed seven boundaries and three sixes in his 69 off 50 balls before he was bowled by Rizwan Cheema when just seven runs remained for victory.

Kayes remained unbeaten on 39 and Junaid Siddique was on one when the hosts surpassed the modest target in the 20th over.

Shakib was supported in the field by two wickets apiece from seamers Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain and off-spinner Mohammad Mahmudullah.

Canada were reduced to 22-2 by the seventh over before skipper Ashish Bagai (30) and Amarbir Hansra (22) added 39 for the fourth wicket. But the Canadians lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out with 12.3 overs still remaining in their innings.

The warm-up match, which did not have official status, involved all the 15 players from either side, but batting and fielding was restricted to 11.

Bangladesh take on co-hosts India in the World Cup opener in Dhaka on 19 February. Canada's first match is against the third co-host, Sri Lanka, in the island's southern town of Hambantota on 20 February.

Chawla poses selection headache for India

BANGALORE: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was grappling with a selection puzzle on Monday after a match-winning performance by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla in a World Cup warm-up game against Australia.

Chawla, who returned to the one-day side during a recent series in South Africa after a three-year break, was a surprise inclusion in a World Cup squad already including specialist spinners Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin.

With part-time spinners Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Yusuf Pathan further bolstering the slow bowling department, Chawla's selection sparked a debate.

But the baby-faced bowler forced the Indian team management into a serious rethink on their playing eleven after picking off four wickets for 31 runs to fashion India's unlikely 38-run win in Bangalore on Sunday.

"A leg-spinner can really trouble batsmen," Dhoni said after the match. "Chawla turns the odd one and has a very good wrong'un. He is consistent with line and length. Also, it gives you more options in bowling.

"One of the reasons for his selection was our need to have a spinner who can bat a bit. If he could contribute 15-20 runs then it would be good for the side.

"It's a bit of headache whom to play and whom not to play with the kind of talent we have in the team but it is good for the team."

Chawla said his warm-up performance could work in his favour once the tournament starts on Saturday with an India-Bangladesh match in Dhaka.

"We have a few good spinners in the squad," Chawla, 22, said. "If the pitch is slow and offers some turn, I will have a good chance to make it.

"When I came to bowl in the first powerplay, the ball was turning a bit and all I needed to do was pitch the ball in the right areas."

Chawla, who made his one-day debut against Bangladesh in 2007, has picked 28 wickets from 22 ODIs.

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Cramped calendar hampers mental preparation, says Dhoni

BANGALORE: India's jam-packed itinerary has not only taken a physical toll on the players but could also affect their mindset heading into the World Cup, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

Boasting some of the hottest young talent in the game, co-hosts India are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup which begins on Saturday.

But Dhoni warned that the team's mental preparation had been hit by the rigors of constantly switching between Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches in the run-up to the World Cup.

"The mindset was not really there. Mentally we were not ready, that's one of the reasons why we couldn't bat well," Dhoni told reporters after India defeated World Cup holders Australia by 38 runs in a warm-up match in Bangalore on Sunday.

"Of course for the warm-up game mentally it was very difficulty to prepare yourself.

"If you play 35 odd ODIs in a year and 10 Test matches and 45 days of IPL and Champions League, then all of a sudden you hear there's a warm-up game, it's a very difficult scenario to mentally prepare yourself for the game which really reflected on the field."

India's much-hyped middle order, which included big hitters Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni, failed to get going on Sunday and the only meaningful contributions were a half-century from opener Virender Sehwag and an uncharacteristically slow 32 from Yusuf Pathan.

Only a special effort from the spinners and an Australian batting collapse turned the game in India's favour.

In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested due to a hamstring niggle, the procession of India's specialist batsmen came and went without troubling the scorers too much.

This is proving to be a cause for concern.

HOME PRESSURE

Although the likes of Pathan, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are vastly experienced in ODIs, they are all making their World Cup debuts - a tournament that is gruelling enough mentally without the added pressure of playing at home.

With the old rearguards such as Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly gone, Dhoni will be looking to Sehwag and Yuvraj to draw on their experience in guiding the new crop of players through the tournament.

"You know the kind of talent we have got, we just need to get off to a good start and the middle order needs to contribute," said Dhoni.

Dhoni himself is a key player and will look to draw on his own experience of the 2007 World Cup, where India were eliminated in the group stages.

"I am talking about my experience to mentally play in a game like this especially after what we saw in the 2007 World Cup. The first two games were really good for us. After that I don't know where we lost," he added referring to India's unexpected defeat by Bangladesh.

With the Indian team boasting the sport's most prolific run scorer in Tendulkar, the joint second-ranked ODI batsman in the world in Kohli and an explosive hitter of the ball in Sehwag, besides others, it is a safe assumption that over the next seven weeks, all eyes will be on India's batting.

India play their final warm-up match against New Zealand on Wednesday, and then take on co-hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament in Dhaka on February 19.

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