Lee defends pace-dominated attack for World Cup

AHMEDABAD: Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee has no doubt that their fast bowlers would be effective even on spin-friendly sub-continent pitches during the World Cup, starting Saturday.

Australian attack is packed with fast bowlers and features just one frontline spinner in Jason Krejza.

Lee does not see a problem in adjusting to the sub-continent conditions.

"For pace bowling you got to get the ball in the right spot. I think that the way we bowled in the Champions Trophy, with lot of pace bowlers, we actually won that competition. Specially playing slow wickets like in Delhi, it tends to suit our pace attack," Lee told media persons.

"I don't see any problem with the pace side which we have got and playing at the slow wickets. As at the end of the day the ball is still coming at 150 kmph through the air.

"Pitch is massive part of the equation. But if you got bowler like Shaun Tait bowling around 160 kmph at the toes of the batsmen, it does not matter where you are playing. The ball is still going to hit the batsmen on the full," he said.

Lee said they are trying to create an environment, where each bowler backs each other in the team.

Lee said they had a great spinner in Krejza and there was David Hussey and vice-captain Michael Clarke who could bowl spin.

"With Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and me we have a very strong pace attack," he added.

"I am sure with the depth of the players that we have got and their talent we are playing the right kind of cricket. We have to learn how to play spin and learn how to bowl under these conditions," he said.

Lee said he got to learn a lot from the two warm-up games against India and South Africa.

"While playing against India and South Africa we learnt a lot. We have seen what they have got in attack, both pace and spin. Also in batting. Though Sachin did not bat well we have some plans for him too," he said, adding that he was happy with his performance during the practice matches.

Talking about his injury, which kept him in and out of the national side, Lee said that it was a difficult time for him to get back.

"It has been a long road back. It's been 15 months away from the game. Lot of players expect me to get back and play cricket. I am proud that I could survive the adversity to a certain extent, and get back to cricket," he said.

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India's knock-out punch: All matches at home

MIRPUR: Setting to rest all speculations, Haroon Lorgat, the CEO of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday made it clear that World Cup 2011 co-hosts, India would play their knock-out matches at home if they qualify for the quarterfinals.

Lorgat further specified that should two host nations come up against each other, the side placed higher in the pre-tournament seeding will get preference, which means India will play all its knock-out ties on home soil if they get past the preliminary stage. So will Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, unless they come up against India.

This effectively means the original schedule, according to which the specific World Cup quarterfinal matches were marked, will be changed depending on where the hosts finish. As per the schedule, the quarter-final matches are as follows: A1 v B4 (Mirpur), A2 v B3 (Ahmedabad), A3 v B2 (Mirpur) and A4 v B1 (Colombo).

But now, as per the decision, India will play their quarterfinal in Ahmedabad, irrespective of where they finish in Group B. The March 24 quarterfinal is between third-placed team in group B and the second team in group A.

So if India finish second, they will take on the third-placed team from Group A. But even if Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men do not finish third in Group B, they will still play in Ahmedabad against a side which will not know their venue till the last league match ends on March 20.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will play their final-eight match in Colombo on March 26, unless they face India. In such a scenario, India will get pre-tournament seeding preference and will play in Ahmedabad.

Similarly, Bangladesh will play their quarterfinal match at Dhaka on either March 23 or March 25 — first if they qualify, and secondly if they are not drawn up against either India or Sri Lanka.

ICC's host country rule will also hold good for the semifinal clashes in Colombo and Mohali on March 29 and 30 respectively.
Meanwhile, talking about ICC's decision to tinker with the format in 2015 edition of the World Cup, Lorgat said that the lower-ranked sides won't be a part of the 50-over game in future as it demanded more skills from the players.

Lorgat said the ICC has decided to cut down the number of teams in the 50-over World Cup to 10 from the current 14 and make the World Twenty20 tournament an affair involving 16 sides instead of 12.

"We have felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the best format to develop the game world-wide and it provides a better environment for competition," Lorgat said. "The 50-over format is more skill-based and suitable for the top teams," he added. Lorgat also felt the World Cup had become too long in recent editions. "The previous event was longer than was perhaps comfortable," he said about the 2007 edition in the Caribbean, which featured 16 teams.

"We have shed some days in this particular event. In a 14-team format, this was the most compact way we could produce the event. Regardless of T20 cricket, World Cup is our flagship tournament. We want to ensure that all three formats survive," said Lorgat, who also confirmed that the format in this edition was made to help top teams come through the group stage.

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Barath, Baugh out of World Cup

New Delhi, Feb 18 (AFP): Exciting opener Adrian Barath and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh were on Friday ruled out of the World Cup with injuries, dealing a fresh blow to the West Indies ahead of the mega event.

"Medical specialists have determined that in both cases the players will not be able to resume training for two to three weeks," the West Indies Cricket Board said in a press release.

Kirk Edwards, the uncapped batsman from Barbados, and Antigua wicket-keeper Devon Thomas were named as replacements, subject to approval by the International Cricket Council.

Baugh retired out on 29 during a warm-up match with Sri Lanka earlier this week, leaving Darren Bravo to keep wicket. Barath, 20, did not take any part in that game.

Barath, considered to be one of the most promising young batting talents in the Caribbean, had hit a a fine 113 in a recent one-day international against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

West Indies, placed in Group B, begin their World Cup against South Africa in New Delhi on February 24.

Weak teams not suited for 50-over format: ICC

Dhaka, Feb 18 (AP): ICC chief Haroon Lorgat defended on Friday the ruling body's decision to cut the number of World Cup teams from 14 to 10 in the 2015 edition, saying smaller countries would do better in a less-skillful Twenty20 format.

The International Cricket Council, which decided on the team reduction last year, has faced criticism for a move which is set to exclude the likes of non-Test playing nations Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands from the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.

ICC chief executive Lorgat told a news conference that 50-over cricket was "more skill-based" and that the world body wanted to spread the game through the Twenty20 format instead.

"We felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the format best disposed to develop the game and provides a better environment for competition," Lorgat said.

"Twenty20 is the format needed to develop the game and we plan to increase that (World Championship) to 16 teams."

The 2011 World Cup, which opens on Saturday in Dhaka with Bangladesh's game against fellow co-host India and closes on April 2, is a 14-team event.

The ICC maintains that countries like Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands will have a chance to qualify for 2015, though that process is only likely to be decided in April.

Lorgat's comments came a day after Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears criticized the ICC for having a 10-country tournament in 2015.

Sears told The Associated Press in a phone interview that a reduced tournament was "a farce" and that smaller countries "need to play at World Cups to improve."

Separately, Lorgat also felt the World Cup had become too long in recent editions.

"The previous event was longer than was perhaps comfortable," he said about the 2007 edition in the Caribbean, which featured 16 teams.

"We have shed some days in this particular event. In a 14-team format, this was the most compact way we could produce the event. Regardless of T20 cricket, World Cup is our flagship tournament. We want to ensure that all three formats survive," said Lorgat, who also confirmed that the format in this edition was made to help top teams come through the group stage.

"You can't predict competition, but this tournament gives a chance for best teams to qualify for the knockout stage," said Lorgat.

India and Pakistan both failed to make it to the knockout phase at the 2007 event, which used a different format to this year's edition.

I changed my game after being dropped in 2007: Sehwag

Mumbai, Feb 18 (PTI): Indian opener Virender Sehwag has conceded that his axing from the Indian team four years ago forced him to look inwards and make changes in his game which eventually paid him rich dividends.

"When I got dropped from the team in 2007, nobody expected the selectors to drop me but they did because of poor form. That's when I changed my game both in terms of thinking and playing style. I started thinking on how to make my way back into the team," Sehwag was quoted as saying in a media release.

The swashbuckling batsman, who very nearly scored a Test triple ton in a single day's play after his comeback, was responding to a query about 'Change the Game moment' in his career as part of soft drinks major Pepsi's World Cup campaign.

"I got a chance and that's when I proved myself again; I saved a Test match for India when I scored 150 not out in Adelaide against Australia."

"I had just scored 20 runs in 2 hours...can you imagine Sehwag scoring 20 runs in two hours? That was not how I played, but I changed my game just to save the Test match," he pointed out.

Sehwag, who was dropped in early 2007 from the ODI squad and later from the Test team too before storming his way back into the team, mentions improvisation as the key to his altered game.

"Change The Game for me is the self belief and self confidence that pushes one beyond the limitations. To change the game, one has to think beyond the limitations and improvise."

"I have that confidence and the self belief that I can do whatever is needed to be done and change the game on the field, especially in the crunch situations," according to Sehwag.

The upper cut or "upar" cut, the slash that sends the ball over the slip cordon to the third man region, has been mentioned as by Sehwag as one of the game changing shots though he had not practised it in the nets.

"There are things that come naturally to you and the Upar Cut is one of them. I never practised this shot in the nets and have always gone with natural instincts while hitting the ball."

"With the Upper Cut, I could easily hit third man six off a fast ball that would surprise the bowlers. Since, it came to me naturally, that made it easier for me to perfect it. I always try to think beyond the limits and the Upar Cut, especially has been a true game changer for me".

The India opener has also recalled the Chennai Test match against England when his pyrotechnics when chasing an imposing total of close to 400 helped India rocket off.

"I remember once we were chasing around 387 runs against England and I scored a quick-fire 85 off just 50 odd balls. Those quick runs particularly changed the game in favour of our team. And eventually we had to chase less than 200 runs on the last day of the Test match with six-seven wickets still in hand."

Sehwag, in fact, made 83 off only 68 balls with 4 sixes and 11 fours before Sachin Tendulkar scored a brilliant, unbeaten 103 and Yuvraj Singh got 85 not out that piloted India to a six-wicket victory on the final day of the first match of the two-Test series in December, 2008.

He mentions captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tendulkar among the game changers he admires.

"M S Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir are few players who change the game beyond the ordinary. Their thinking on and off the field helps achieve success and also excel in any format of the game".

Sachin not allowed to build gym in house

MUMBAI: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar's dream of having a gymnasium at his new under-construction home in Bandra has been "clean bowled" by the Maharashtra government. ( Read: Sachin Tendulkar bats for home gym, eyes state sop )

The architectural firm, in charge of Tendulkar's house, had requested the Urban Development Department (UDD) to allow the construction of the gym free of Floor Space Index (FSI) on the top floor of the four-storey building at Perry Cross Road.

However, the UDD is not in favour of the proposal as the FSI approved for the 8,998 sq ft plot is one, which means the constructed area cannot exceed the plot area. FSI is the ratio between the built-up area and the plot area.

"The construction has already consumed its full FSI and it also falls under CRZ rule 1967 of zone II, since the house was purchased in 2008," a source from the UDD said.

Also under the Development Control (DC) rules, only the cooperative societies are given additional FSI for a gymnasium but this is an individual's property and hence it is not possible to permit more FSI, the source said.

The UDD has moved the file of the request, with negative remarks, to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is also the minister of the Department, for a final decision.

Tendulkar's grand house will have a huge parking area, spacious guest rooms and a swimming pool on the top floor.

After reconstruction, it will have 10 rooms. The ground floor will have three rooms plus parking facilities, the first floor will have two large guest rooms, the bedroom and the children's rooms will be on the second and third floors respectively, while the fourth floor will boast of a swimming pool.

The house, which was built in 1920 and owned a Parsi family, was purchased by Tendulkar for Rs 39 crore in 2008.

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ICC insists on elite World Cup in future

DHAKA: The International Cricket Council on Friday backed their decision to restrict the next World Cup to 10 top teams, saying minnows were better suited playing the Twenty20 format.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the World Twenty20 will be increased to 16 teams instead of 12, while the 50-over World Cup will be trimmed down to 10 from the current 14.

"We have felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the best format to develop the game world-wide and it provides a better environment for competition," Lorgat said.

"The 50-over format is more skill-based and suitable for the top teams."

Lorgat's views, ahead of the 50-over World Cup starting on Saturday, is bound to further anger the minnows, who believe they are being muscled out in favour of the Test-playing nations.

Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears said on Thursday the ICC will not be acting in the interests of the game if the smaller teams were locked out of the next World Cup.

"If we have to improve on the standards, there is no point of denying us the opportunity of competing at the top level," Sears said.

"We had a meeting with the other associate countries during the World Cup training camp in Dubai last week, and we plan to raise the matter again at the World Cup.

"We are disturbed about the whole issue," he added.

In an interview with the Wisden Cricketer magazine, Sears termed the decision as "scandalous and bloody ridiculous".

"I've no desire to be diplomatic... Not to let anyone else in is scandalous. It's all about money, power and votes - and that's not good for cricket," he said.

Former Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo and batsman Collins Obuya have also voiced their concern, saying the World Cup remained vital for the development of associate nation cricket.

While there have been some hugely lop-sided contests down the years, there have also been some memorable "giantkillings".

Kenya became the first non-Test playing team to reach the semifinals in 2003, and Ireland produced their biggest upset over Pakistan in the 2007 tournament in the West Indies.

Ironically, a poll on the ICC's website showed 73 percent in favour of a 16-team World Cup in 2015 with only nine percent supporting a 10-team competition.

The ICC has already said that it has not been decided which 10 teams will take part in the 2015 World Cup, since the qualifying procedure had yet to be finalised.

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This Indian team is better than 2003: Kumble

NEW DELHI: Former India captain Anil Kumble feels that the current crop is better than the team which made the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

The legendary leg-spinner, who featured in just two group matches against Australia and Pakistan in South Africa, feels the team captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni is more balanced than the 2003 team, which was led by Sourav Ganguly.

"Overall, in terms of balance and conditions here, this is the better side (than 2003). If you look at the track record of this team, in the last one-and-half year or so they have done exceptionally well, especially at home. They have all the elements that a great one-day side needs," Kumble was quoted as saying by a TV channel.

Kumble, who is now the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), also pointed out that two seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, who were part of the team in 2003, have cut down on their pace.

"It is a better team overall than 2003, but if you go back to 2003 then Ashish and Zaheer and all these bowlers were younger and were bowling at the speed of 140 which does not happen now. But what has impressed me most is how they have won in losing situations. In South Africa, Munaf Patel won one match, Yusuf Pathan won a game, so it's not a one-man team at all," Kumble said.

"Whenever you embark on a World Cup tour the same 15 never play the next edition. It has never happened. So all the 15 members think this is their best chance and as a team you have an opportunity to create history."

India play Bangladesh in the tournament opener in the latter's backyard in Dhaka on Saturday. Kumble is excited about India's neighbours co-hosting their first ever World Cup.

"It is brilliant for Bangladesh. The first major event they hosted was ICC knockout in 1999. This is a great moment for Bangladesh to host the Cup and have the opening ceremony there," he said.

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India seek revenge against Bangladesh in World Cup opener

MIRPUR (Bangladesh): Title aspirants India will have revenge on their minds when they launch their 2011 cricket World Cup campaign against co-hosts Bangladesh in the tournament-opener on Saturday, fully aware that any slip-up could prove costly.

Minnows Bangladesh had ensured India's early exit in the first round of the 2007 edition at the Caribbeans and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men will be eager to settle the score and kick start their campaign on a positive note at the Shere Bangla National stadium.

Tipped as one of the favourites, the current world number two side, boasts off an exceptionally balanced team, but such a pool of talented players will also pose a few selection questions for skipper Dhoni.

Dhoni though seems to have sorted out his problem of plenty in the batting department when he tipped Virat Kohli ahead of Suresh Raina after their second warm-up match against New Zealand.

"The number four slot is very important for us. Right now it is a slot war. It is the number four slot where Kohli needs to bat with Gautam Gambhir at number three," Dhoni said.

"Kohli is sort of a player who likes to spend little bit of time early and then go after the bowlers. Still, there is a bit of chance where Virat may get an edge over (Suresh) Raina seeing the current form he is in," he added.

Dhoni also hinted that he would stand by Yuvraj Singh as his ability to spin the ball away makes him an asset to the team even though currently he is a bit short of runs.

"We are playing with four bowlers. A part-time spinner is really important especially if it is a left-arm away going spinner. That's the one big advantage he (Yuvraj) has got over others," Dhoni said.

The explosive batting line-up will be marshalled by Sachin Tendulkar, who would be participating in his sixth World Cup this time around and the senior batsmen will look to give India a flying start with Virender Sehwag.

Gautam Gambhir will be next, while the middle-order also looks rock solid with Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan -- all capable of playing big-shots and also rotating the strike.

In their second and last warm-up game, India scored a mammoth 360 against New Zealand and it will give a lot of confidence to the batsmen, especially skipper Dhoni and Gambhir, who hit an unbeaten 108 and 89 respectively.

Kohli and Raina also cracked half-centuries against New Zealand and Dhoni would be hoping his boys continue the good work.

In the bowling department, Dhoni will have to pick his options carefully since India is going with a four-pronged attack.

Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and surprise inclusion Piyush Chawla have taken five and six wickets in the last two warm-up games. Even R Ashwin and part-time spinner Yuvraj scalped two and three wickets respectively.

In contrast, the pacers have struggled with Ashish Nehra claiming two and Praveen Kumar's replacement S Sreesanth taking one wicket, while Munaf Patel remaining wicketless in the warm-up matches.

But with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who didn't feature in the two warm-up ties because of a minor niggle, returning to action on Saturday, a much better performance can be expected from the seamers.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, have so far been content with an odd upset and have been generally looked upon as underachievers but the tigers would look to shrug off that tag when they lock horns with India at home.

Though they have just five victories from 20 World Cup matches to show, Bangladesh has the distinction of beating Pakistan on debut during the 1999 edition and ousting India and defeating South Africa four years ago.

Skippered by Shakib-Al-Hasan, Bangladesh have a few good batsmen in talented Mohammad Ashraful, the pint-sized dynamic opener Tamim Iqbal and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim. Besides, captain Shakib-Al-Hasan, himself, ranks number one in the ICC's all-rounders list and knows how to wield the willow.

Bangladesh won their first warm-up match against Canada but lost to Pakistan in the second tie. However, their openers Tamim and Imrul Kayes have got runs under their belt in the two matches.

Though their pace attack will lack the fire-power of speedster Mashrafe Mortaza, 21-year-old pacer Rubel Hossain had claimed five wickets in the warm-up matches.

Besides, Bangladesh also have some good tweakers in left-arm slow bowlers Shakib and Abdur Razzaq, who can get handy support from many other part-timers.

Bangladesh can also take heart from the fact that they came into the tournament after having made a clean sweep against New Zealand, a full-fledged Test playing country and defeating Zimbabwe 3-1 at home, where they will play all their six league games.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Ashish Nehra.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (C), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Suhrawadi Shuvo.

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Fire officials unhappy with safety norms at Wankhede

MUMBAI: Expressing displeasure at the non-compliance of fire safety norms at the revamped Wankhede stadium, venue of the 2011 World Cup final, the city fire brigade department on Friday said it will seek a reply from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) in this regard.

"We will soon write a letter to the MCA stating there is a need to comply with fire safety norms at the stadium. Once they abide by the terms we would again conduct an inspection," chief fire officer Uday Tatkare said.

On Wednesday, two fire officials, who visited the stadium for the second time to inspect the fire safety mechanism in place, found some lapses in the arrangements.

"The team has found that the newly renovated stadium has many loopholes in its fire safety mechanism. The stadium must be in compliance with the fire safety conditions," Tatkare said.

"Among the mandatory fire apparatus are ring hydrant system, water hydrants, internal riser system for the stands, no-smoking indicators, fire alarms and extinguishers have to be installed. There are some lapses which they need to follow," a fire officer said on condition of anonymity, but refused to elaborate on the lapses at the stadium.

Meanwhile, MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput said the association had not received any sort of communication from the fire brigade department.

"We have not received any sort of communication be it written or oral from the fire brigade department," he said.

Wankhede Stadium, that went into the redevelopment mode soon after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League on June 1, 2008, is to stage two other World Cup ties, apart from the summit contest on April 2.

The matches would be held on March 13 (New Zealand vs Canada - a day match) and March 18 (New Zealand vs Sri Lanka - a day/night match).
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