All-round India beat England by 6 wkts

NOTTINGHAM: Ambati Rayudu slammed an unbeaten 64 as India relied on an all-round display to thrash England by six wickets in the third cricket one-dayer and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series here today.

Rayudu, who was drafted in place of an injured Rohit Sharma, stitched 87 runs with Suresh Raina (42) from 14.5 overs for the fourth wicket as India chased down the modest target of 228 with 42 balls to spare.

Ajinkya Rahane, who was promoted to opener's slot, made 45 while Virat Kohli struck 40, his highest innings score of the tour so far, as Indian batsmen had an easy outing against a pedestrian-looking England bowlers at Trent Bridge.

Rayudu grabbed his chance of making it to the playing eleven with both hands as he scored his third half century in his 14th ODI. He hit six fours in his 78-ball unbeaten knock.

Rayudu himself struck the winning runs -- a two -- off James Tredwell as India reached 228 for four in 43 overs to fashion a clinical win to the celebration of the Indians at the dressing room and seizable supporters at the stand.

Ravindra Jadeja was the other unbeaten batsman on 12. The visiting batsmen played sensible cricket without taking much risks after their bowlers, led by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/39), had put them on top by dismissing England for 227.

Shikhar Dhawan was the lone Indian batsman who did not make a substantial contribution in the match which saw home side paceman James Anderson being booed by Indian supporters.

Anderson was involved in an ugly spat with Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test at the same venue here. India had lost the five-match Test series 1-3.

The first ODI at Bristol was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rains. The remaining two ODIs of the series will be played at Birmingham (Sept 2) and Leeds (Sept 5).

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Indian spinners restrict England to 227

NOTTINGHAM: England squandered away a good start as the Indian spinners restricted the hosts to 227 all out in 50 overs against India in the third one-day International on Saturday.

Put into bat, England started on a brisk note courtesy an 82-run opening partnership between Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42) but the spinners checked their surge by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Hales, playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, was caught behind off part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1-37) while Cook was stumped off the bowling of Ambati Rayudu (1-8).

Spinners continued to have a field day as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-38) got Joe Root stumped for 2 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-39) got Eoin Morgan caught behind for 10.

Ian Bell (28) hung around for a while only to be run out at the non-strikers end as Mohit Sharma's direct throw caught the batsman well short of his ground.

Ashwin got another wicket after Raina took a beautiful swooping one-handed catch at first slip to send Ben Stokes out for 2.

Mohammed Shami (1-40) also joined the party after picking up Chris Woakes for 15 as the hosts slipped further.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (42) showed some grit but failed to read Ashwin's off spin in the 48th over to give the bowler his third wicket.

James Tredwell (30 off 18 balls) played a brisk cameo in the final overs to give England some respectability as the left-hander hit three fours and a six to help England snatch 18 runs from the last over of the innings.

Tredwell though was caught and bowled off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45) on the penultimate delivery while Steve Finn was run out on the final ball.

England did manage to hit 45 runs in the last 5 overs but considering their good start, the hosts may have fallen well short of a competitive score on this Trent Bridge track.

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Indian spinners restrict England to 227

NOTTINGHAM: England squandered away a good start as the Indian spinners restricted the hosts to 227 all out in 50 overs against India in the third one-day International on Saturday.

Put into bat, England started on a brisk note courtesy an 82-run opening partnership between Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42) but the spinners checked their surge by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Hales, playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, was caught behind off part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1-37) while Cook was stumped off the bowling of Ambati Rayudu (1-8).

Spinners continued to have a field day as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-38) got Joe Root stumped for 2 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-39) got Eoin Morgan caught behind for 10.

Ian Bell (28) hung around for a while only to be run out at the non-strikers end as Mohit Sharma's direct throw caught the batsman well short of his ground.

Ashwin got another wicket after Raina took a beautiful swooping one-handed catch at first slip to send Ben Stokes out for 2.

Mohammed Shami (1-40) also joined the party after picking up Chris Woakes for 15 as the hosts slipped further.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (42) showed some grit but failed to read Ashwin's off spin in the 48th over to give the bowler his third wicket.

James Tredwell (30 off 18 balls) played a brisk cameo in the final overs to give England some respectability as the left-hander hit three fours and a six to help England snatch 18 runs from the last over of the innings.

Tredwell though was caught and bowled off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45) on the penultimate delivery while Steve Finn was run out on the final ball.

England did manage to hit 45 runs in the last 5 overs but considering their good start, the hosts may have fallen well short of a competitive score on this Trent Bridge track.

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All-round India beat England by 6 wkts

NOTTINGHAM: Ambati Rayudu slammed an unbeaten 64 as India relied on an all-round display to thrash England by six wickets in the third cricket one-dayer and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series here today.

Rayudu, who was drafted in place of an injured Rohit Sharma, stitched 87 runs with Suresh Raina (42) from 14.5 overs for the fourth wicket as India chased down the modest target of 228 with 42 balls to spare.

Ajinkya Rahane, who was promoted to opener's slot, made 45 while Virat Kohli struck 40, his highest innings score of the tour so far, as Indian batsmen had an easy outing against a pedestrian-looking England bowlers at Trent Bridge.

Rayudu grabbed his chance of making it to the playing eleven with both hands as he scored his third half century in his 14th ODI. He hit six fours in his 78-ball unbeaten knock.

Rayudu himself struck the winning runs -- a two -- off James Tredwell as India reached 228 for four in 43 overs to fashion a clinical win to the celebration of the Indians at the dressing room and seizable supporters at the stand.

Ravindra Jadeja was the other unbeaten batsman on 12. The visiting batsmen played sensible cricket without taking much risks after their bowlers, led by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/39), had put them on top by dismissing England for 227.

Shikhar Dhawan was the lone Indian batsman who did not make a substantial contribution in the match which saw home side paceman James Anderson being booed by Indian supporters.

Anderson was involved in an ugly spat with Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test at the same venue here. India had lost the five-match Test series 1-3.

The first ODI at Bristol was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rains. The remaining two ODIs of the series will be played at Birmingham (Sept 2) and Leeds (Sept 5).
A change in partner did not bring about a change in fortunes -- or indeed -- approach for Dhawan as he was recklessly out in the eighth over caught by Eoin Morgan at point off Chris Woakes.

Kohli then came to the crease and did not look an out-of-touch batsman. He hit James Tredwell down the ground for a straight six.

He looked in good touch despite his poor run of scores and added 50 runs for the second wicket with Rahane. The make-shift opener too was scoring at a fair clip and just when the two were looking comfortable, a wicket fell against the run of play.

It was Rahane who threw away his innings as he attempted to play a delivery from Steve Finn down to third man, only to edge it to keeper Jos Buttler.

It brought Rayudu to the crease and he added another 35 runs with Kohli for the third wicket without much fuss. Kohli, who had been looking good so far, suddenly found the fielder at mid-on as he tried to flick one from Ben Stokes.

Kohli could not believe that he had been just dismissed and even had a heated exchange with the bowler as he walked back.

The in-form Raina then joined Rayudu at the crease and together they put on a sedate 87-run stand for the fourth wicket. The duo looked comfortable in the middle as the English bowling could not trouble them, bringing up the 150-run mark in the 32nd over.

They added 34 runs in the batting power-play without much fuss, bringing the 200-run mark in the 38th over. In that very same over, Rayudu had reached his half-century off 63 balls, with five fours.

Raina was out caught in the deep off Tredwell with just 21 runs needed for India to win. And Jadeja was sent up the order sensing the crowd's mood -- with a substantial Indian presence -- who had been chanting his name all day and booing Anderson (0/29). They added a quick-fire 21 runs to take India past the finish-line without much worry.

Earlier, England squandered away a good start as the Indian bowlers, led by the spinners, bowled them out for 227.

Put into bat, England started on a brisk note courtesy an 82-run opening partnership between Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42) but the spinners checked their surge by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Hales, playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, was caught behind off part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1-37) while Cook was stumped off the bowling of Ambati Rayudu (1-8).

Spinners continued to have a field day as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-38) got Joe Root stumped for 2 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-39) got Eoin Morgan caught behind for 10.

Ian Bell (28) hung around for a while only to be run out at the non-strikers end as Mohit Sharma's direct throw caught the batsman well short of his ground.

Ashwin got another wicket after Raina took a beautiful swooping one-handed catch at first slip to send Ben Stokes out for 2.

Mohammed Shami (1-40) also joined the party after picking up Chris Woakes for 15 as the hosts slipped further.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (42) showed some grit but failed to read Ashwin's off spin in the 48th over to give the bowler his third wicket.

James Tredwell (30 off 18 balls) played a brisk cameo in the final overs to give England some respectability as the left-hander hit three fours and a six to help England snatch 18 runs from the last over of the innings.

Tredwell though was caught and bowled off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45) on the penultimate delivery while Steve Finn was run out on the final ball.

England did manage to hit 45 runs in the last 5 overs but considering their good start, the hosts may have fallen well short of a competitive score.

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Indian spinners restrict England to 227

NOTTINGHAM: England squandered away a good start as the Indian spinners restricted the hosts to 227 all out in 50 overs against India in the third one-day International on Saturday.

Put into bat, England started on a brisk note courtesy an 82-run opening partnership between Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42) but the spinners checked their surge by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Hales, playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, was caught behind off part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1-37) while Cook was stumped off the bowling of Ambati Rayudu (1-8).

Spinners continued to have a field day as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-38) got Joe Root stumped for 2 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-39) got Eoin Morgan caught behind for 10.

Ian Bell (28) hung around for a while only to be run out at the non-strikers end as Mohit Sharma's direct throw caught the batsman well short of his ground.

Ashwin got another wicket after Raina took a beautiful swooping one-handed catch at first slip to send Ben Stokes out for 2.

Mohammed Shami (1-40) also joined the party after picking up Chris Woakes for 15 as the hosts slipped further.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (42) showed some grit but failed to read Ashwin's off spin in the 48th over to give the bowler his third wicket.

James Tredwell (30 off 18 balls) played a brisk cameo in the final overs to give England some respectability as the left-hander hit three fours and a six to help England snatch 18 runs from the last over of the innings.

Tredwell though was caught and bowled off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45) on the penultimate delivery while Steve Finn was run out on the final ball.

England did manage to hit 45 runs in the last 5 overs but considering their good start, the hosts may have fallen well short of a competitive score on this Trent Bridge track.

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SL overpower Pakistan to win ODI series

DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka): Seamer Thisara Perera claimed 4-34 and Tillakartane Dilshan hit an unbeaten 50 as Sri Lanka trounced Pakistan by seven wickets in the final one-dayer on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.

Dhammika Prasad chipped in with two wickets as the hosts bowled Pakistan out for 102 and then surpassed the Duckworth-Lewis target of 101 in the 19th over of a one-sided game in Dambulla.

An hour-long rain interruption after Pakistan had slumped to 81-8 in the 26th over of the first session forced the umpires to reduce the game to 48-overs-a-side.

Sri Lanka galloped home in style to build on the 2-0 sweep in the preceding Test series and left Pakistan searching for answers ahead of the World Cup less than six months away.

Opener Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara fell cheaply before Mahela Jayawardene (26) and Dilshan put on a 41-run stand for the third wicket.

Dilshan cut Shahid Afridi to the fence to bring up his half-century and also seal his team's easy win.

Fawad Alam top-scored for Pakistan with an unbeaten 38, but eight batsmen failed to reach double figures as the tourists crumbled in 32.1 overs after electing to bat on the slow wicket.

It was Pakistan's lowest one-day total on Sri Lankan soil, falling below the 116 they made against New Zealand at the same venue in 2003.

Pakistan never recovered after losing opener Sharjeel Khan in the third over, caught at second slip off Prasad.

Prasad, who replaced the off-form Nuwan Kulasekara, then had the other opener, Ahmed Shehzad, caught at mid-on to make it 14-2.

The third wicket fell at the same total when Lasith Malinga had Mohammad Hafeez leg-before for one as the TV umpire upheld the decision following a review by the batsman.

It soon became 55-5 by the 19th over when skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was run out for 18 by a direct throw from Dilshan and Umar Akmal holed out off Perera for seven.

Pakistan lost the next three wickets in the space of 11 deliveries, including the important one of big-hitter Afridi who skied a catch to the point fence off Seekkuge Prasanna.

The low total ruined any hopes Pakistan had of snatching a dramatic win with the help of their spin spearhead Saeed Ajmal, who was back after missing the previous two matches to have his bowling action tested.

Ajmal had flown to Brisbane, Australia, for the tests after his action was reported by the umpires during the Test series. He is allowed to play on until the results of the tests are made known.

Ajmal picked up the wicket of Jayawardene, caught in the slips, but Sri Lanka were only one run away from victory at that stage.

The World Cup is to be played in Australia and New Zealand in February-March next year.

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SL overpower Pakistan to win ODI series

DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka): Seamer Thisara Perera claimed 4-34 and Tillakartane Dilshan hit an unbeaten 50 as Sri Lanka trounced Pakistan by seven wickets in the final one-dayer on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.

Dhammika Prasad chipped in with two wickets as the hosts bowled Pakistan out for 102 and then surpassed the Duckworth-Lewis target of 101 in the 19th over of a one-sided game in Dambulla.

An hour-long rain interruption after Pakistan had slumped to 81-8 in the 26th over of the first session forced the umpires to reduce the game to 48-overs-a-side.

Sri Lanka galloped home in style to build on the 2-0 sweep in the preceding Test series and left Pakistan searching for answers ahead of the World Cup less than six months away.

Opener Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara fell cheaply before Mahela Jayawardene (26) and Dilshan put on a 41-run stand for the third wicket.

Dilshan cut Shahid Afridi to the fence to bring up his half-century and also seal his team's easy win.

Fawad Alam top-scored for Pakistan with an unbeaten 38, but eight batsmen failed to reach double figures as the tourists crumbled in 32.1 overs after electing to bat on the slow wicket.

It was Pakistan's lowest one-day total on Sri Lankan soil, falling below the 116 they made against New Zealand at the same venue in 2003.

Pakistan never recovered after losing opener Sharjeel Khan in the third over, caught at second slip off Prasad.

Prasad, who replaced the off-form Nuwan Kulasekara, then had the other opener, Ahmed Shehzad, caught at mid-on to make it 14-2.

The third wicket fell at the same total when Lasith Malinga had Mohammad Hafeez leg-before for one as the TV umpire upheld the decision following a review by the batsman.

It soon became 55-5 by the 19th over when skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was run out for 18 by a direct throw from Dilshan and Umar Akmal holed out off Perera for seven.

Pakistan lost the next three wickets in the space of 11 deliveries, including the important one of big-hitter Afridi who skied a catch to the point fence off Seekkuge Prasanna.

The low total ruined any hopes Pakistan had of snatching a dramatic win with the help of their spin spearhead Saeed Ajmal, who was back after missing the previous two matches to have his bowling action tested.

Ajmal had flown to Brisbane, Australia, for the tests after his action was reported by the umpires during the Test series. He is allowed to play on until the results of the tests are made known.

Ajmal picked up the wicket of Jayawardene, caught in the slips, but Sri Lanka were only one run away from victory at that stage.

The World Cup is to be played in Australia and New Zealand in February-March next year.

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Indian spinners restrict England to 227

NOTTINGHAM: England squandered away a good start as the Indian spinners restricted the hosts to 227 all out in 50 overs against India in the third one-day International on Saturday.

Put into bat, England started on a brisk note courtesy an 82-run opening partnership between Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42) but the spinners checked their surge by picking up wickets at regular intervals.

Hales, playing his first ODI in front of his home crowd, was caught behind off part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1-37) while Cook was stumped off the bowling of Ambati Rayudu (1-8).

Spinners continued to have a field day as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-38) got Joe Root stumped for 2 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-39) got Eoin Morgan caught behind for 10.

Ian Bell (28) hung around for a while only to be run out at the non-strikers end as Mohit Sharma's direct throw caught the batsman well short of his ground.

Ashwin got another wicket after Raina took a beautiful swooping one-handed catch at first slip to send Ben Stokes out for 2.

Mohammed Shami (1-40) also joined the party after picking up Chris Woakes for 15 as the hosts slipped further.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (42) showed some grit but failed to read Ashwin's off spin in the 48th over to give the bowler his third wicket.

James Tredwell (30 off 18 balls) played a brisk cameo in the final overs to give England some respectability as the left-hander hit three fours and a six to help England snatch 18 runs from the last over of the innings.

Tredwell though was caught and bowled off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45) on the penultimate delivery while Steve Finn was run out on the final ball.

England did manage to hit 45 runs in the last 5 overs but considering their good start, the hosts may have fallen well short of a competitive score on this Trent Bridge track.

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Sachin helped Raina overcome phobia

MUMBAI: Suresh Raina's dazzling century off 75 balls in the second ODI against England in Cardiff was the result of meticulous preparation and a fierce desire to overcome his weakness against the short ball.

Before the ODI series, Raina, in a desperate attempt to "turn a corner," sent an 'SOS' to former India batsman Pravin Amre, currently a Mumbai coach and batting consultant to many top players.

The UP batsman then had a rigorous four-day 'camp' with Amre at the MCA's BKC indoor facility.

As luck would have it, Raina received advice not just from Amre but Sachin Tendulkar too. In fact, Tendulkar's son Arjun, a budding all-rounder, was the one chosen to test Raina with the short stuff in the nets.

Amre's agenda was simple - to get Raina to overcome his anxiety while facing the short ball.

"I had to work on his head position. I told him to remove his helmet. When I gave him throwdowns with the tennis ball, he was supposed to face them without headgear. Batting with a helmet makes us develop wrong habits," Amre told TOI on Thursday.

"Did Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar bat with proper helmets? I asked him to discover his own instinctive way of negotiating the short ball. The focus was on leaving the short ball well, as earlier he would look to be positive and play it anyhow. I am glad he did that well in Cardiff. Despite leaving the short balls, he was able to blast a century off just 75 balls. This is because he can play the big shots."

Raina, who smashed his first ODI hundred outside the subcontinent on Wednesday, has in the past struggled to overcome this weakness against genuine pace despite finishing off many games for India during his 192-match career.

Amre said he worked on boosting Raina's confidence.

"I told him, 'Forget about what people say about how you play the short ball. You are both physically and mentally strong, which reflects in your big-hitting ability and longevity in ODIs. You are our biggest match winner after MS Dhoni, and the next-best finisher. You can destroy an attack. If you can do it in the IPL, you can do it anywhere.

"Sachin too pepped Raina up, asking him to bat more often on the front foot outside India, since it helped him get hundreds on bouncy wickets in South Africa," Amre added.

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Sachin helped Raina overcome phobia

MUMBAI: Suresh Raina's dazzling century off 75 balls in the second ODI against England in Cardiff was the result of meticulous preparation and a fierce desire to overcome his weakness against the short ball.

Before the ODI series, Raina, in a desperate attempt to "turn a corner," sent an 'SOS' to former India batsman Pravin Amre, currently a Mumbai coach and batting consultant to many top players.

The UP batsman then had a rigorous four-day 'camp' with Amre at the MCA's BKC indoor facility.

As luck would have it, Raina received advice not just from Amre but Sachin Tendulkar too. In fact, Tendulkar's son Arjun, a budding all-rounder, was the one chosen to test Raina with the short stuff in the nets.

Amre's agenda was simple - to get Raina to overcome his anxiety while facing the short ball.

"I had to work on his head position. I told him to remove his helmet. When I gave him throwdowns with the tennis ball, he was supposed to face them without headgear. Batting with a helmet makes us develop wrong habits," Amre told TOI on Thursday.

"Did Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar bat with proper helmets? I asked him to discover his own instinctive way of negotiating the short ball. The focus was on leaving the short ball well, as earlier he would look to be positive and play it anyhow. I am glad he did that well in Cardiff. Despite leaving the short balls, he was able to blast a century off just 75 balls. This is because he can play the big shots."

Raina, who smashed his first ODI hundred outside the subcontinent on Wednesday, has in the past struggled to overcome this weakness against genuine pace despite finishing off many games for India during his 192-match career.

Amre said he worked on boosting Raina's confidence.

"I told him, 'Forget about what people say about how you play the short ball. You are both physically and mentally strong, which reflects in your big-hitting ability and longevity in ODIs. You are our biggest match winner after MS Dhoni, and the next-best finisher. You can destroy an attack. If you can do it in the IPL, you can do it anywhere.

"Sachin too pepped Raina up, asking him to bat more often on the front foot outside India, since it helped him get hundreds on bouncy wickets in South Africa," Amre added.

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McGrath set to work with Indian pacers

CHENNAI: Glenn McGrath might have predicted difficult times for India in Australia later this year, but the Aussie legend will work with some of the top pacers of the country in the lead-up to the high-profile series.

BCCI's tie-up with MRF Pace Foundation has already been formalized and the first batch of trainees will be in Chennai from September 1-10, working under McGrath. Leading the group of pacers is Varun Aaron, who made his debut in England, along with the likes of Ishwar Pandey and Ashok Dinda.

With the beginning of the National Cricket Academy in 2000, the BCCI had stopped sending their pacers to MRF Pace Foundation for training.

Many of the pacers, though, came on their own to train under Dennis Lillee, the former coaching director, and now McGrath. Aaron and Pandey, in fact, have been MRF products, learning their trade under the Aussie pace greats.

In the recent past, the relations between BCCI and MRF Pace Foundation have improved and the group of 11 pacers will be the first to be sent by BCCI to Chennai for training in 14 years.

"The boys will be sent to the MRF Pace Foundation. The ties between BCCI and MRF have been renewed and we are happy that our bowlers will be working under McGrath," a BCCI source told TOI on Thursday.

The other pacers who will be sent in the first batch are Rahul Shukla, Veer Pratap Singh, Deepak Chahar, Nathu Singh, Ankit Rajput, Anureet Singh, Shardul Thakur and CV Milind.

"We are looking at the best crop of pacers in the country to work under McGrath. I am sure it will stand them in good stead before a very important season, which includes the series to Australia and the 50-over World Cup Down Under," the source added.

The decision to send the pacers was taken in a working committee meeting of BCCI sometime back.

"The fast bowlers will be here when McGrath conducts his camps," the source added.

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McGrath set to work with Indian pacers

CHENNAI: Glenn McGrath might have predicted difficult times for India in Australia later this year, but the Aussie legend will work with some of the top pacers of the country in the lead-up to the high-profile series.

BCCI's tie-up with MRF Pace Foundation has already been formalized and the first batch of trainees will be in Chennai from September 1-10, working under McGrath. Leading the group of pacers is Varun Aaron, who made his debut in England, along with the likes of Ishwar Pandey and Ashok Dinda.

With the beginning of the National Cricket Academy in 2000, the BCCI had stopped sending their pacers to MRF Pace Foundation for training.

Many of the pacers, though, came on their own to train under Dennis Lillee, the former coaching director, and now McGrath. Aaron and Pandey, in fact, have been MRF products, learning their trade under the Aussie pace greats.

In the recent past, the relations between BCCI and MRF Pace Foundation have improved and the group of 11 pacers will be the first to be sent by BCCI to Chennai for training in 14 years.

"The boys will be sent to the MRF Pace Foundation. The ties between BCCI and MRF have been renewed and we are happy that our bowlers will be working under McGrath," a BCCI source told TOI on Thursday.

The other pacers who will be sent in the first batch are Rahul Shukla, Veer Pratap Singh, Deepak Chahar, Nathu Singh, Ankit Rajput, Anureet Singh, Shardul Thakur and CV Milind.

"We are looking at the best crop of pacers in the country to work under McGrath. I am sure it will stand them in good stead before a very important season, which includes the series to Australia and the 50-over World Cup Down Under," the source added.

The decision to send the pacers was taken in a working committee meeting of BCCI sometime back.

"The fast bowlers will be here when McGrath conducts his camps," the source added.

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Raina ton helps India crush England

CARDIFF: Suresh Raina smashed his first century outside the sub-continent as India began their one-day campaign on a resounding note when they trounced England by 133 runs in the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series at Sophia Gardens on Wednesday.

Put into bat, India, who are looking to put their Test debacle behind them in the limited-overs format, rode Raina's 75-ball 100 to post a challenging 304 for six in 50 overs.

The 144-run fifth-wicket partnership between Raina, who registered his fourth ODI century, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52) was the highlight of the Indian innings.

Rain forced a delayed start to the England innings and the Duckworth-Lewis method revised the hosts' target to 295 in 47 overs. The hosts were bundled for 161 in 38.1 overs as Indian bowlers for once made their presence felt in English conditions.

England opener Alex Hales (40), who was handed his debut cap by skipper Alastair Cook in the morning, was the highest scorer in a disappointing scorecard.

The hosts slumped from 54 for no loss to 85 for five and the slide continued with the overcast conditions doing little to save the batting collapse.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (4-28) was India's leading wicket-taker after medium-pacer Mohammad Shami (2-32) did the early damage.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38) took care of the finishing act while new-ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-30) and Raina (1-12) also picked up a wicket each.

Shami started the rot in his third over by sending back Cook LBW for 19 and cleaning up Ian Bell for 1.

Bhuvneshwar cleaned bowled Joe Root for 4 and Jadeja then turned on the heat to make short work of the England middle and lower-order.

The first match of the series was washed off due to persistent rains in Bristol while the focus now shifts to the third ODI at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

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De Villiers' century delivers SA victory

HARARE: AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis struck sublime centuries as South Africa chased down a massive score to beat Australia by seven wickets in the second one-day international of the triangular series on Wednesday.

The pair put on 206 for the third wicket, the highest South Africa partnership against Australia, as the Proteas reached their victory target of 328 with 20 balls to spare at the Harare Sports Club home of series hosts Zimbabwe.

It eclipsed the 187 put on by Herchelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith as they famously chased down 434 at The Wanderers in 2006, and was no less impressive for the skill shown by the pair as they scored all around the ground.

After South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl, Australia showed great acceleration at the end of their innings to post 327 for seven in 50 overs, with opener Aaron Finch crashing 102 from 116 balls.

But it was not enough as the Proteas recovered from a wobble at 51 for two to reach their target with some ease on a wicket that got flatter as the day wore on.

For Du Plessis it was a first ODI century as he recorded 106 from 98 balls and made a mockery of recent criticism over his slow strike-rate in limited overs cricket with a fine display of finesse and power hitting.

Captain De Villiers rode his luck after offering simple chances to Mitchell Johnson and George Bailey that were dropped when he had 78 and 85 respectively, and battled on through severe cramp to score 136 not out from 106 balls.

It is a welcome return to form for the right-hander, who had scored only 29 runs in three innings in test and ODI cricket on the tour before this match, and is the second highest score by a South African against Australia in limited overs matches.

JP Duminy scored an unbeaten 33 at better than a run-a-ball to help De Villiers steer the Proteas home.

Finch was the anchor for Australia's innings as they again had to do without injured captain Michael Clarke, while stand-in skipper George Bailey struck a brisk 66 and Phillip Hughes a more patient 51.

The third game of the triangular series will be played on Friday when South Africa tackle Zimbabwe at the same venue. The hosts lost their first match against Australia by 198 runs on Monday.

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De Villiers' century delivers SA victory

HARARE: AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis struck sublime centuries as South Africa chased down a massive score to beat Australia by seven wickets in the second one-day international of the triangular series on Wednesday.

The pair put on 206 for the third wicket, the highest South Africa partnership against Australia, as the Proteas reached their victory target of 328 with 20 balls to spare at the Harare Sports Club home of series hosts Zimbabwe.

It eclipsed the 187 put on by Herchelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith as they famously chased down 434 at The Wanderers in 2006, and was no less impressive for the skill shown by the pair as they scored all around the ground.

After South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl, Australia showed great acceleration at the end of their innings to post 327 for seven in 50 overs, with opener Aaron Finch crashing 102 from 116 balls.

But it was not enough as the Proteas recovered from a wobble at 51 for two to reach their target with some ease on a wicket that got flatter as the day wore on.

For Du Plessis it was a first ODI century as he recorded 106 from 98 balls and made a mockery of recent criticism over his slow strike-rate in limited overs cricket with a fine display of finesse and power hitting.

Captain De Villiers rode his luck after offering simple chances to Mitchell Johnson and George Bailey that were dropped when he had 78 and 85 respectively, and battled on through severe cramp to score 136 not out from 106 balls.

It is a welcome return to form for the right-hander, who had scored only 29 runs in three innings in test and ODI cricket on the tour before this match, and is the second highest score by a South African against Australia in limited overs matches.

JP Duminy scored an unbeaten 33 at better than a run-a-ball to help De Villiers steer the Proteas home.

Finch was the anchor for Australia's innings as they again had to do without injured captain Michael Clarke, while stand-in skipper George Bailey struck a brisk 66 and Phillip Hughes a more patient 51.

The third game of the triangular series will be played on Friday when South Africa tackle Zimbabwe at the same venue. The hosts lost their first match against Australia by 198 runs on Monday.

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Raina ton helps India crush England

CARDIFF: Suresh Raina smashed his first century outside the sub-continent as India began their one-day campaign on a resounding note when they trounced England by 133 runs in the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series at Sophia Gardens on Wednesday.

Put into bat, India, who are looking to put their Test debacle behind them in the limited-overs format, rode Raina's 75-ball 100 to post a challenging 304 for six in 50 overs.

The 144-run fifth-wicket partnership between Raina, who registered his fourth ODI century, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52) was the highlight of the Indian innings.

Rain forced a delayed start to the England innings and the Duckworth-Lewis method revised the hosts' target to 295 in 47 overs. The hosts were bundled for 161 in 38.1 overs as Indian bowlers for once made their presence felt in English conditions.

England opener Alex Hales (40), who was handed his debut cap by skipper Alastair Cook in the morning, was the highest scorer in a disappointing scorecard.

The hosts slumped from 54 for no loss to 85 for five and the slide continued with the overcast conditions doing little to save the batting collapse.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (4-28) was India's leading wicket-taker after medium-pacer Mohammad Shami (2-32) did the early damage.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38) took care of the finishing act while new-ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-30) and Raina (1-12) also picked up a wicket each.

Shami started the rot in his third over by sending back Cook LBW for 19 and cleaning up Ian Bell for 1.

Bhuvneshwar cleaned bowled Joe Root for 4 and Jadeja then turned on the heat to make short work of the England middle and lower-order.

The first match of the series was washed off due to persistent rains in Bristol while the focus now shifts to the third ODI at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

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England elect to field against India

CARDIFF (United Kingdom): England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to field against India in the second one-day international at Cardiff on Wednesday.

As expected, England gave an ODI debut to Alex Hales, who would have played in Bristol on Monday had the first of this five-match series not been washed out.

Hard-hitting Nottinghamshire opener Hales has appeared in 32 Twenty20s for England and scored his country's first century in cricket's shortest format when he made 116 not out from 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in March.

The 25-year-old, who will partner Cook at the top of the order, has been tipped as the man to revive the team's often staid approach with the bat in the opening overs of a one-day game.

India, the 50-over world champions, were looking to bounce back following their 3-1 defeat by England in the recent Test series.

Last year, India beat England in the final of the 50-over Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, although rain reduced that match to a 20 overs per side contest.

This match marks the start of both teams lead-in to next year's one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Teams:

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wkt), Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (capt/wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS) and Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV umpire: Tim Robinson (ENG)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

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Usain Bolt to challenge Yuvraj in cricket

BANGALORE: The theory that ball travels faster than man will be put to the test on September 2 when world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt takes on India's Yuvraj Singh in a cricketing showdown at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Jamaica's Bolt, who has been roped in by his sponsor Puma, will play a tennis ball match with the Indian southpaw for about an hour. Yuvraj's friend and former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh too is part of the show along with another IPL player.

"We are expecting around 4,0005,000 pass-holders to watch them in action between 4-5pm next Tuesday," sources told TOI.

"The game is likely to be six players-a-side. Each team may play around 3-4 overs."

Clarity on the number of players and overs may emerge in the next few days but the organisers are excited about what Bolt and Yuvraj would do on the field besides playing cricket.

Bolt's cricketing skills and love for the game are well known, with West Indian batsman Chris Gayle, who was bowled by the sprinter in a charity match in Jamaica last year, saying that Bolt had very nearly "knocked my head off with a good, competitive bouncer."

While the tennis ball to be used at the Chinnaswamy will pose no such danger, sources expect light-hearted banter between Bolt and Yuvraj to keep the crowd entertained.

"Both are exuberant, lively persons. We would expect them to feed off each other's performance to come up with something spontaneous," they said.

The stars will also perform a few skills on the field after the match.

The entire show will be held closer to the stands for the spectators to get a better view of the action, it is learnt.

After a foot surgery and a hamstring injury, Bolt has run only four times this year. He clocked the world's best for an indoor 100m run with 9.98sec in Warsaw last Saturday.

Earlier, he ran on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro in a 'Mano-a-mano' race where he timed 10.06sec. At the Commonwealth Games, he was on the track twice, helping Jamaica to the 4x100m relay gold.

The IAAF Diamond League Final in Zurich was to be his final competition but Bolt withdrew from it before announcing that he had decided to end his campaign this season. He will resume training in October.

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England elect to field against India

CARDIFF (United Kingdom): England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to field against India in the second one-day international at Cardiff on Wednesday.

As expected, England gave an ODI debut to Alex Hales, who would have played in Bristol on Monday had the first of this five-match series not been washed out.

Hard-hitting Nottinghamshire opener Hales has appeared in 32 Twenty20s for England and scored his country's first century in cricket's shortest format when he made 116 not out from 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in March.

The 25-year-old, who will partner Cook at the top of the order, has been tipped as the man to revive the team's often staid approach with the bat in the opening overs of a one-day game.

India, the 50-over world champions, were looking to bounce back following their 3-1 defeat by England in the recent Test series.

Last year, India beat England in the final of the 50-over Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, although rain reduced that match to a 20 overs per side contest.

This match marks the start of both teams lead-in to next year's one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Teams:

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wkt), Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (capt/wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS) and Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV umpire: Tim Robinson (ENG)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

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Suresh Raina ton powers India to 304/6

CARDIFF: Looking for a change in fortune in the limited-overs version, Indian batsman Suresh Raina struck a belligerent 100 off 75 deliveries to power the visitors to a challenging 304 for six in the second one-dayer against England on Wednesday.

Put into bat, India lost a couple of early wickets after opener Shikhar Dhawan (11) and Virat Kohli (0) were scalped by Chris Woakes (4-52) with India reeling on 19 for two.

But Rohit Sharma (52) and Ajinkya Rahane (41) batted sensibly to lay a solid foundation for the middle-order to build upon.

Raina, registering his fourth ODI ton, then came good in the batting powerplays with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52 off 51 balls) as his able partner put on a 144-run fifth-wicket partnership to propel India to a challenging score.

The Men in Blue managed 62 runs in the batting powerplays (35-40 overs) without losing a wicket as Raina raced to his fifty in 49 balls.

Raina's knock was laced with 12 fours and 3 sixes but finally the aggressive left-hander fell to Woakes in the 47th over.

Dhoni, hitting 6 boundaries, took over from Raina to register his 55th half-century of his ODI career but was finally cleaned up by Woakes.

In the end Ravichandran Ashwin (10 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (9 not out) managed 13 runs in the final over to help India cross the 300-run mark.

Earlier in the innings, Rohit and Rahane also stitched a useful 91-run third-wicket partnership only to be sent back by England off-spinner James Tredwell (2-42).

England pace spearhead James Anderson (0-57), Chris Jordan (0-73), Ben Stokes (0-54) and Joe Root (0-14) went wicketless in the innings.

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Three bosses, one muddle in Team India

MUMBAI: It would make for a good Kaun Banega Crorepati question right now. Who exactly is the 'boss' in Team India?

Ravi Shastri the new director of cricketing affairs or captain MS Dhoni, who Shastri likes to believe is the leader? Or is it coach Duncan Fletcher, who Dhoni claims is in charge?

Or is it all three of them?

After Ravi Shastri's appointment a week ago following India's poor performance in India along with those of assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun (fielding coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach), Indian cricket board (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel had claimed that the team was Shastri's "baby".

A board official has told TOI, "You can say that Shastri is the captain, while Fletcher is the vice-captain."

However, the logic of this new structure sounded fuzzy when, days after Ravi Shastri said in an interview to Times Now that Dhoni was in charge, the skipper himself asserted before the first ODI in Bristol that coach Fletcher was still the 'boss' and would remain as coach till the 2015 World Cup.

It's also unclear if Shastri himself will stay on till the World Cup.

With confusion reigning and the protagonists speaking in different voices, it was left to an embarrassed BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel to clear the air, saying Dhoni's comments were his "personal opinion".

On Monday, a top board official told TOI, "What he (Dhoni) has said seems to be his own perception. He may not have understood our brief properly, or he may have put it in different words. Our stand is very clear. In this situation, Shastri is the boss to whom everyone reports. Fletcher may look after the day-to-day affairs of the team, but it is Shastri who will give a direction to the side and oversee everything.

"After the tour, Shastri's report will be the most critical document for us. If he observes that Fletcher isn't up to the mark, it won't be far-fetched to say we will sack him. The same goes for Dhoni. Now if Shastri is going to evaluate Fletcher's performance, then who is the boss?"

The source added: "It seems Dhoni feels Shastri will be some sort of administrative manager. That's not the case."

Shastri, according to the board, is on a 'fact-finding' mission to investigate what went wrong with India in the Tests against England.

In the press conference on Sunday, Dhoni had also talked about the 'unfair' removal of the support staff. "It's a bit tough on Trevor and Joe, especially when fielders drop catches and the fielding coach has to miss the series," he had said. The BCCI official said: "We agree it is a harsh decision, but then hard decisions need to be taken at times. How can you not question the role of the fielding coach if a young team drops that many catches? We are not here to do charity."

Has Dhoni, who is himself under scrutiny for poor leadership outside the subcontinent, ruffled too many feathers in the BCCI for his own good?

Clearly, the skipper and the BCCI are not on the same page anymore. To add to this, there seems to be no clarity on who is calling the shots in the India camp.

Going into an important ODI series, with the World Cup not too far away, India bear an unsettled look.

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Three bosses, one muddle in Team India

MUMBAI: It would make for a good Kaun Banega Crorepati question right now. Who exactly is the 'boss' in Team India?

Ravi Shastri the new director of cricketing affairs or captain MS Dhoni, who Shastri likes to believe is the leader? Or is it coach Duncan Fletcher, who Dhoni claims is in charge?

Or is it all three of them?

After Ravi Shastri's appointment a week ago following India's poor performance in India along with those of assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun (fielding coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach), Indian cricket board (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel had claimed that the team was Shastri's "baby".

A board official has told TOI, "You can say that Shastri is the captain, while Fletcher is the vice-captain."

However, the logic of this new structure sounded fuzzy when, days after Ravi Shastri said in an interview to Times Now that Dhoni was in charge, the skipper himself asserted before the first ODI in Bristol that coach Fletcher was still the 'boss' and would remain as coach till the 2015 World Cup.

It's also unclear if Shastri himself will stay on till the World Cup.

With confusion reigning and the protagonists speaking in different voices, it was left to an embarrassed BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel to clear the air, saying Dhoni's comments were his "personal opinion".

On Monday, a top board official told TOI, "What he (Dhoni) has said seems to be his own perception. He may not have understood our brief properly, or he may have put it in different words. Our stand is very clear. In this situation, Shastri is the boss to whom everyone reports. Fletcher may look after the day-to-day affairs of the team, but it is Shastri who will give a direction to the side and oversee everything.

"After the tour, Shastri's report will be the most critical document for us. If he observes that Fletcher isn't up to the mark, it won't be far-fetched to say we will sack him. The same goes for Dhoni. Now if Shastri is going to evaluate Fletcher's performance, then who is the boss?"

The source added: "It seems Dhoni feels Shastri will be some sort of administrative manager. That's not the case."

Shastri, according to the board, is on a 'fact-finding' mission to investigate what went wrong with India in the Tests against England.

In the press conference on Sunday, Dhoni had also talked about the 'unfair' removal of the support staff. "It's a bit tough on Trevor and Joe, especially when fielders drop catches and the fielding coach has to miss the series," he had said. The BCCI official said: "We agree it is a harsh decision, but then hard decisions need to be taken at times. How can you not question the role of the fielding coach if a young team drops that many catches? We are not here to do charity."

Has Dhoni, who is himself under scrutiny for poor leadership outside the subcontinent, ruffled too many feathers in the BCCI for his own good?

Clearly, the skipper and the BCCI are not on the same page anymore. To add to this, there seems to be no clarity on who is calling the shots in the India camp.

Going into an important ODI series, with the World Cup not too far away, India bear an unsettled look.

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Why Dhoni batted for Duncan Fletcher

CHENNAI: MS Dhoni's open defence of under-fire coach Duncan Fletcher seems to have contradicted BCCI's line on the issue. But it hasn't come as a surprise to those who have seen the Indian skipper's method of operation up close.

Though Fletcher's managerial skills are not the greatest, Dhoni, they say, believes the 65year-old has sound technical knowledge and can offer great inputs.

Sources indicated that Dhoni, along with Rahul Dravid, feels Fletcher's technical inputs are top notch.

"According to Dhoni, Fletcher comes up with the right advice on the batting front. It is up to the batsmen to execute these tips on the field, which sometimes the younger lot has been unable to do," the source said.

Even when India lost in England and Australia in 2011-12 and questions were raised about Fletcher's role, Dhoni had defended the coach and termed it a "collective failure".

The coach again faced flak when India lost back-to-back series in South Africa and Australia but the skipper maintained that Fletcher had done his job as technical analyst. It went a long way in the coach getting a one year extension from the BCCI.

"There was a bit of a turnaround in South Africa in the Tests last year after a disastrous ODI series. Fletcher was apparently a useful contributor, coming up with the right suggestions," the source added.

Dhoni, in his six-year tenure as India captain, has shown that he believes in maintaining continuity, that performance is more about the process and drastic measures after a debacle don't always help.

Despite all the talk about his Test captaincy, Dhoni is expected be in charge in ODIs and lead India to the 2015 World Cup in February-March.

"In this set-up, the captain sees Fletcher as a technical analyst till the World Cup," the source added.

The BCCI, though, is not entirely convinced with Dhoni's theory. The bosses have lost their patience after the England debacle, sending out feelers to the coach to vacate his spot.

There is no guarantee Dhoni's wish of keeping Fletcher till the World Cup will materialize.

"If Fletcher doesn't go after the England ODI series, his performance will be assessed," the source added, indicating uneasy times ahead for the Zimbabwean.

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Why Dhoni batted for Duncan Fletcher

CHENNAI: MS Dhoni's open defence of under-fire coach Duncan Fletcher seems to have contradicted BCCI's line on the issue. But it hasn't come as a surprise to those who have seen the Indian skipper's method of operation up close.

Though Fletcher's managerial skills are not the greatest, Dhoni, they say, believes the 65year-old has sound technical knowledge and can offer great inputs.

Sources indicated that Dhoni, along with Rahul Dravid, feels Fletcher's technical inputs are top notch.

"According to Dhoni, Fletcher comes up with the right advice on the batting front. It is up to the batsmen to execute these tips on the field, which sometimes the younger lot has been unable to do," the source said.

Even when India lost in England and Australia in 2011-12 and questions were raised about Fletcher's role, Dhoni had defended the coach and termed it a "collective failure".

The coach again faced flak when India lost back-to-back series in South Africa and Australia but the skipper maintained that Fletcher had done his job as technical analyst. It went a long way in the coach getting a one year extension from the BCCI.

"There was a bit of a turnaround in South Africa in the Tests last year after a disastrous ODI series. Fletcher was apparently a useful contributor, coming up with the right suggestions," the source added.

Dhoni, in his six-year tenure as India captain, has shown that he believes in maintaining continuity, that performance is more about the process and drastic measures after a debacle don't always help.

Despite all the talk about his Test captaincy, Dhoni is expected be in charge in ODIs and lead India to the 2015 World Cup in February-March.

"In this set-up, the captain sees Fletcher as a technical analyst till the World Cup," the source added.

The BCCI, though, is not entirely convinced with Dhoni's theory. The bosses have lost their patience after the England debacle, sending out feelers to the coach to vacate his spot.

There is no guarantee Dhoni's wish of keeping Fletcher till the World Cup will materialize.

"If Fletcher doesn't go after the England ODI series, his performance will be assessed," the source added, indicating uneasy times ahead for the Zimbabwean.

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BCCI ready to accept RCA-free Rajasthan

CHENNAI: The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) may have been banned but the BCCI doesn't want the players of the state to face the music.

The Board sources indicated that they would be happy to include a Rajasthan XI for the Board organized tournaments, provided the Rajasthan State Sports Act permits that.

"We have nothing against the players and we want them to play. But the Rajasthan State Sports Act does not permit the use of term 'Rajasthan'. The matter has to be settled soon for the sake of Rajasthan players," a source close to the developments pointed out.

It was told that BCCI has an ad-hoc committee that can look into the matter, but for that a few legal hurdles have to be crossed. The Board is ready to go the extra mile to ensure that for the players, provided RCA is kept out of the equation.

"There's no way there can be a team under Rajasthan Cricket Association. Beyond that, we are ready to do anything for the players," the source added.

There is the option of some of the players signing up for other teams for the domestic season, but BCCI feels that is no solution at all.

"Of course there are some top players (like Robin Bist and Pankaj Singh) who will easily get other teams. But it can't happen for all players. The home players of other states might not be too happy either with that arrangement," the source said, adding that only three 'guest players' can be accommodated in every state side.

The last date of submitting the form for inter-state transfer is September 1 and time is also running out for the Rajasthan players.

"It's a matter of grave concern. We hope a solution is reached soon," the source added.

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BCCI ready to accept RCA-free Rajasthan

CHENNAI: The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) may have been banned but the BCCI doesn't want the players of the state to face the music.

The Board sources indicated that they would be happy to include a Rajasthan XI for the Board organized tournaments, provided the Rajasthan State Sports Act permits that.

"We have nothing against the players and we want them to play. But the Rajasthan State Sports Act does not permit the use of term 'Rajasthan'. The matter has to be settled soon for the sake of Rajasthan players," a source close to the developments pointed out.

It was told that BCCI has an ad-hoc committee that can look into the matter, but for that a few legal hurdles have to be crossed. The Board is ready to go the extra mile to ensure that for the players, provided RCA is kept out of the equation.

"There's no way there can be a team under Rajasthan Cricket Association. Beyond that, we are ready to do anything for the players," the source added.

There is the option of some of the players signing up for other teams for the domestic season, but BCCI feels that is no solution at all.

"Of course there are some top players (like Robin Bist and Pankaj Singh) who will easily get other teams. But it can't happen for all players. The home players of other states might not be too happy either with that arrangement," the source said, adding that only three 'guest players' can be accommodated in every state side.

The last date of submitting the form for inter-state transfer is September 1 and time is also running out for the Rajasthan players.

"It's a matter of grave concern. We hope a solution is reached soon," the source added.

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England-India 1st ODI abandoned due to rain

BRISTOL: The first of five one-day internationals between England and India has been abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain at the County Ground.

Rain began to fall before the start of play and the match was abandoned at 1:30 p.m., three hours after the scheduled start.

England, which recently beat India 3-1 in a five-match Test series, planned to give a debut to opening batsman Alex Hales.

The second match will take place in Cardiff on Wednesday.

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England-India 1st ODI abandoned due to rain

BRISTOL: The first of five one-day internationals between England and India has been abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain at the County Ground.

Rain began to fall before the start of play and the match was abandoned at 1:30 p.m., three hours after the scheduled start.

England, which recently beat India 3-1 in a five-match Test series, planned to give a debut to opening batsman Alex Hales.

The second match will take place in Cardiff on Wednesday.

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36 years on, Bindra quits as PCA chief

CHANDIGARH: One of India's senior most cricket administrators, Inderjit Singh Bindra has resigned as president of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) after being in charge for 36 years.

"I feel it is the right time to withdraw from the daily affairs of PCA," Bindra told TOI. "I will be leaving cricket administration a satisfied person. A day comes in everyone's life that one has to go through this phase and I have made my decision."

D P Reddy, an IAS officer who has been an administrator with PCA for the past 14 years, will take over as the new president. Just two months ago, he was relieved as principal secretary (finance), one of the top portfolios in the secretariat and the charge was given to principal secretary (health) Vini Mahajan.

At present the 1985-batch officer is principal secretary - excise, taxation, industries and commerce. The 56-year-old is currently the vice-president of the association.

Welcoming Reddy, PCA joint secretary G S Walia said, "Our immediate goal is to conduct the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 event successfully in Mohali next month."

Remembering his association with Bindra, PCA secretary M P Pandove said, "He played a big role in marketing the game successfully in India. Both the World Cup's that India hosted, whether it was the 1987 World Cup or the 1996 World Cup, it was Bindra along with (Jagmohan) Dalmiya who ensured that rights were awarded to the Indian sub-continent," Pandove reflected.

"Similarly, he also played a big role in opening up the Indian cricket television market when he was the board president from 1993 to 1996. His tenure as board president was used only to promote the game, not to fill the coffers as a status symbol," he added.

Bindra has always been a straight-talker and a fierce critic of the current Indian cricket board including present International Cricket Council president N Srinivasan. He had asked the ICC's executive board to investigate Srinivasan for allegedly violating the ethics of the game's governing body.

Bindra had said in July that Srinivasan should have resigned from the BCCI long back and added that his continuation as chief of India's cricket body had brought Indian cricket to a "sorry state".

The 70-year-old remembered the good times with PCA after stepping down.

"Our best moment, even if the most anxious one, was the 2011 World Cup semifinal when the prime ministers of India and Pakistan landed up in Mohali to witness the match and in the end everyone praised the arrangements. Every important visitor had nice things to say about our facilities and organization," Bindra reminisced.

For Bindra, the three most satisfying things were Punjab winning the Ranji Trophy in 1992-93, the construction of the PCA stadium in Mohali and PCA getting the best-run association award from BCCI for four years.

Besides playing key roles in the BCCI and PCA, Bindra was also ICC's principal adviser when Sharad Pawar was its president. Interestingly, in all his years as a cricket administrator he never had to contest an election to stay in office.

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Rajasthan left out of domestic calendar

JAIPUR: When the BCCI suspended Rajasthan Cricket Association, it was a foregone conclusion that the state body's teams would not be included in the domestic tournaments for 2014-15.

However, with Sanjay Patel assuring that Rajasthan players would not suffer, there was still some hope for the Pankaj Singhs and Ashok Menarias.

The BCCI, in fact, went a step forward by selecting Pankaj Singh, Deepak Chahar and Abhimanyu Lamba, all Rajasthan-based medium-pacers, for the national teams. For a moment, it seemed that the players would indeed be spared in this standoff between the BCCI and the RCA.

That hope, however, evaporated when the BCCI announced its domestic calendar. RCA's name was nowhere to be found. Despite assurances from the BCCI, Rajasthan's players were set to suffer.

The two bodies have been engaged in a legal fight over electing the BCCI-banned Lalit Modi as the RCA president.

So what went wrong? Sources feel this is the BCCI's "reaction to the slight shown by the state government towards its ad-hoc committee", led by Brijesh Patel.

"Three senior BCCI executives had come to Jaipur to meet government officials to sort out the issue," a source told TOI.

"However, the government officials did not even extend them basic courtesies, forget about help. The state's chief secretary hardly gave them any time and the sports secretary made them wait in the court yard before meeting them."

In fact, the government officials indicated there was little they could do. "Not only were the basic courtesies missing, these officials were quite bullish," the source said. "If nothing else, you are at least expected to treat senior BCCI officials like Brijesh Patel and Anirudh Choudhary with some respect."

Now, what happens to the players?

Clearly, they will have to cool their heels till a solution is found.

There were some suggestions that the BCCI could have formed a 'Rajasthan' team. However, that is not possible as the Rajasthan State Sports Act does not permit that.

There are clauses which bars the use of the term 'Rajasthan' and any breach of the law in this regard is a punishable offence. Neither does the BCCI constitution allow an additional team in the domestic tournaments.

There could be a legal solution but the process is long drawn.

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Rajasthan left out of domestic calendar

JAIPUR: When the BCCI suspended Rajasthan Cricket Association, it was a foregone conclusion that the state body's teams would not be included in the domestic tournaments for 2014-15.

However, with Sanjay Patel assuring that Rajasthan players would not suffer, there was still some hope for the Pankaj Singhs and Ashok Menarias.

The BCCI, in fact, went a step forward by selecting Pankaj Singh, Deepak Chahar and Abhimanyu Lamba, all Rajasthan-based medium-pacers, for the national teams. For a moment, it seemed that the players would indeed be spared in this standoff between the BCCI and the RCA.

That hope, however, evaporated when the BCCI announced its domestic calendar. RCA's name was nowhere to be found. Despite assurances from the BCCI, Rajasthan's players were set to suffer.

The two bodies have been engaged in a legal fight over electing the BCCI-banned Lalit Modi as the RCA president.

So what went wrong? Sources feel this is the BCCI's "reaction to the slight shown by the state government towards its ad-hoc committee", led by Brijesh Patel.

"Three senior BCCI executives had come to Jaipur to meet government officials to sort out the issue," a source told TOI.

"However, the government officials did not even extend them basic courtesies, forget about help. The state's chief secretary hardly gave them any time and the sports secretary made them wait in the court yard before meeting them."

In fact, the government officials indicated there was little they could do. "Not only were the basic courtesies missing, these officials were quite bullish," the source said. "If nothing else, you are at least expected to treat senior BCCI officials like Brijesh Patel and Anirudh Choudhary with some respect."

Now, what happens to the players?

Clearly, they will have to cool their heels till a solution is found.

There were some suggestions that the BCCI could have formed a 'Rajasthan' team. However, that is not possible as the Rajasthan State Sports Act does not permit that.

There are clauses which bars the use of the term 'Rajasthan' and any breach of the law in this regard is a punishable offence. Neither does the BCCI constitution allow an additional team in the domestic tournaments.

There could be a legal solution but the process is long drawn.

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36 years on, Bindra quits as PCA chief

CHANDIGARH: One of India's senior most cricket administrators, Inderjit Singh Bindra has resigned as president of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) after being in charge for 36 years.

"I feel it is the right time to withdraw from the daily affairs of PCA," Bindra told TOI. "I will be leaving cricket administration a satisfied person. A day comes in everyone's life that one has to go through this phase and I have made my decision."

D P Reddy, an IAS officer who has been an administrator with PCA for the past 14 years, will take over as the new president. Just two months ago, he was relieved as principal secretary (finance), one of the top portfolios in the secretariat and the charge was given to principal secretary (health) Vini Mahajan.

At present the 1985-batch officer is principal secretary - excise, taxation, industries and commerce. The 56-year-old is currently the vice-president of the association.

Welcoming Reddy, PCA joint secretary G S Walia said, "Our immediate goal is to conduct the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 event successfully in Mohali next month."

Remembering his association with Bindra, PCA secretary M P Pandove said, "He played a big role in marketing the game successfully in India. Both the World Cup's that India hosted, whether it was the 1987 World Cup or the 1996 World Cup, it was Bindra along with (Jagmohan) Dalmiya who ensured that rights were awarded to the Indian sub-continent," Pandove reflected.

"Similarly, he also played a big role in opening up the Indian cricket television market when he was the board president from 1993 to 1996. His tenure as board president was used only to promote the game, not to fill the coffers as a status symbol," he added.

Bindra has always been a straight-talker and a fierce critic of the current Indian cricket board including present International Cricket Council president N Srinivasan. He had asked the ICC's executive board to investigate Srinivasan for allegedly violating the ethics of the game's governing body.

Bindra had said in July that Srinivasan should have resigned from the BCCI long back and added that his continuation as chief of India's cricket body had brought Indian cricket to a "sorry state".

The 70-year-old remembered the good times with PCA after stepping down.

"Our best moment, even if the most anxious one, was the 2011 World Cup semifinal when the prime ministers of India and Pakistan landed up in Mohali to witness the match and in the end everyone praised the arrangements. Every important visitor had nice things to say about our facilities and organization," Bindra reminisced.

For Bindra, the three most satisfying things were Punjab winning the Ranji Trophy in 1992-93, the construction of the PCA stadium in Mohali and PCA getting the best-run association award from BCCI for four years.

Besides playing key roles in the BCCI and PCA, Bindra was also ICC's principal adviser when Sharad Pawar was its president. Interestingly, in all his years as a cricket administrator he never had to contest an election to stay in office.

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Kohli, Rayudu star in win over Middlesex

LONDON: Virat Kohli has spent close to 75 days in England and was expected to lead the run-scoring charts in the five-match Test series.

That though didn't happen as Kohli was terrorized by the seam and swing of James Anderson and could score just 134 runs in 10 innings. The talented batsman however found some form in the lone warm-up game against Middlesex at Lord's on Friday as the visitors thumped the hosts by 95 runs.

Stand-in skipper Kohli scored 71 off 75 balls (8x4, 1x6) and added 104 runs for the fourth wicket with middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu, who chose to retire after scoring 72 off 82 balls (8x4). Barring their knocks, the Indian batting effort was nothing to write home about.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni didn't play the game, but came out to field as substitute when the Indians were bowling. Perhaps, it was an indication of things to come in the ODIs where Sanju Samson could be asked to play the role of keeper-batsman.

Dhoni's presence on the field though did seem to inspire the bowlers as they defended 231 with gutso with young leggie Karn Sharma picking up 3-14 to bowl out Middlesex, who had England internationals Eoin Morgan and Steve Finn, for 135.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-7) and Mohammad Shami (1-13) struck early blows to reduce the hosts to 112 in the fourth over. They never really recovered and wickets fell at regular intervals to hand India victory in under 40 overs.

Mohit Sharma (1-20), Umesh Yadav (1-32) and Dhawal Kulkarni (1-13), who have been drafted in the ODI team, had a good work-out.

Scores: India 230 (Rayudu 72, Kohli 71; Rayner 4-32) beat Middlesex 135 (Karn 3-14) by 95 runs.

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Mama's boys rule cricket, not girlfriends

One is still not sure whether the issue even merits a debate. That Virat Kolhi's failure to comprehend the ball moving off the seam and outside his off-stump has something to do with his actor girlfriend staying with him officially on the tour is not only laughable, it misses the entire point of India's shambolic show in England. Furthermore, it is this lazy and convenient labelling that reeks of a chauvinism we seem to be very comfortable with.

Sunil Dev, a Delhi and Districts Cricket Association mainstay for as long as one can remember, is having a minor field day with this revelation. As manager of the Indian team for the eventful tour, he, as reported by a section of the media, has swiftly identified the problem, pinning it down to the presence of the lady friend of the struggling Indian star.

"Foreign players do take their girlfriends on tours, but India's culture is different," Dev is reported to have declared.

In this din, graver issues have not been addressed; for instance, how and why captain MS Dhoni skipped a vital round of nets for a spot of range shooting just after the fourth Test and ahead of the final Test, both of which got over in pretty much the same time of two-and-a half days.

The question of Anushka Sharma's presence does not even fully belong to the realm of the Wives and Girlfriends (WAGS) culture as is suffered by the equally-hapless England footballers at each World Cup. Maybe there is a latent Victorian influence here, but the Indian case gets amplified by our own medieval mindsets and regressive perceptions.

Teams from modern, forward-thinking societies do not baulk at the presence of female partners if things go wrong for the men. When Neymar got clobbered in his back against Colombia at the World Cup, the cameras instantly panned to his girlfriend, Bruna Marquezine weeping in the VIP stands.

It only later showed manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's shell-shocked face. Nobody asked why Marquezine, a much-sought after TV star herself, was so visible or even accompanying the Brazilian party.

In India, where the cricketers - and, Indian men - are always referred to as "boys" and seldom thought of as grownups, such moral wranglings and archaic questions of culture are bound to arise. One is reminded of the first-ever column that the once imperious Kapil Dev wrote after his retirement from international cricket.

It was on the eve of the 1996 World Cup and the much-married India skipper Mohd Azharuddin was under fire for being accompanied openly by his then girlfriend, whom he later married.

Many thought the distraction would harm India's chances in the tournament at home, and Kapil Dev, probably sensing the growing apprehension, set out to assuage the fears.

He wrote of how in his experience as an India cricketer, the forbidding rule which disallowed wives or partners on long tours and the closed atmosphere could have almost forced the men to turn to each other.

And before one is mistakenly attacked for homophobia here, all Kapil Dev was attempting to highlight was that the cricketers were adults like those from other teams and countries and should be allowed to live their lives as responsible adults. But, little it seems, has changed in the 18 years since.

While the more bandied about idea is that young Indian men are not adept psychologically at handling constant female 'intrusion' especially in such a high concentration task as Indian Test cricket, somewhere, it also has to do with the Kohli's girlfriend's high-profile status. Had it been an unknown face that accompanied Kohli to England, the Indian team manager would have struggled to come up with a similar gem.

But maybe, Sunil Dev is right.

It is fine for foreign players to take their girlfriends on tours, but in Indian culture, maybe it would have been all right, perfect actually, in his world, if mothers were allowed to accompany their star sons on tour. After all, the Indian team has had a rich history of cricketer mothers publicly vetting their sons' girlfriends. In India, and in cricket, it is better to be a mama's boy than to be your own man.

21.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mama's boys rule cricket, not girlfriends

One is still not sure whether the issue even merits a debate. That Virat Kolhi's failure to comprehend the ball moving off the seam and outside his off-stump has something to do with his actor girlfriend staying with him officially on the tour is not only laughable, it misses the entire point of India's shambolic show in England. Furthermore, it is this lazy and convenient labelling that reeks of a chauvinism we seem to be very comfortable with.

Sunil Dev, a Delhi and Districts Cricket Association mainstay for as long as one can remember, is having a minor field day with this revelation. As manager of the Indian team for the eventful tour, he, as reported by a section of the media, has swiftly identified the problem, pinning it down to the presence of the lady friend of the struggling Indian star.

"Foreign players do take their girlfriends on tours, but India's culture is different," Dev is reported to have declared.

In this din, graver issues have not been addressed; for instance, how and why captain MS Dhoni skipped a vital round of nets for a spot of range shooting just after the fourth Test and ahead of the final Test, both of which got over in pretty much the same time of two-and-a half days.

The question of Anushka Sharma's presence does not even fully belong to the realm of the Wives and Girlfriends (WAGS) culture as is suffered by the equally-hapless England footballers at each World Cup. Maybe there is a latent Victorian influence here, but the Indian case gets amplified by our own medieval mindsets and regressive perceptions.

Teams from modern, forward-thinking societies do not baulk at the presence of female partners if things go wrong for the men. When Neymar got clobbered in his back against Colombia at the World Cup, the cameras instantly panned to his girlfriend, Bruna Marquezine weeping in the VIP stands.

It only later showed manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's shell-shocked face. Nobody asked why Marquezine, a much-sought after TV star herself, was so visible or even accompanying the Brazilian party.

In India, where the cricketers - and, Indian men - are always referred to as "boys" and seldom thought of as grownups, such moral wranglings and archaic questions of culture are bound to arise. One is reminded of the first-ever column that the once imperious Kapil Dev wrote after his retirement from international cricket.

It was on the eve of the 1996 World Cup and the much-married India skipper Mohd Azharuddin was under fire for being accompanied openly by his then girlfriend, whom he later married.

Many thought the distraction would harm India's chances in the tournament at home, and Kapil Dev, probably sensing the growing apprehension, set out to assuage the fears.

He wrote of how in his experience as an India cricketer, the forbidding rule which disallowed wives or partners on long tours and the closed atmosphere could have almost forced the men to turn to each other.

And before one is mistakenly attacked for homophobia here, all Kapil Dev was attempting to highlight was that the cricketers were adults like those from other teams and countries and should be allowed to live their lives as responsible adults. But, little it seems, has changed in the 18 years since.

While the more bandied about idea is that young Indian men are not adept psychologically at handling constant female 'intrusion' especially in such a high concentration task as Indian Test cricket, somewhere, it also has to do with the Kohli's girlfriend's high-profile status. Had it been an unknown face that accompanied Kohli to England, the Indian team manager would have struggled to come up with a similar gem.

But maybe, Sunil Dev is right.

It is fine for foreign players to take their girlfriends on tours, but in Indian culture, maybe it would have been all right, perfect actually, in his world, if mothers were allowed to accompany their star sons on tour. After all, the Indian team has had a rich history of cricketer mothers publicly vetting their sons' girlfriends. In India, and in cricket, it is better to be a mama's boy than to be your own man.

21.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kohli, Rayudu star in win over Middlesex

LONDON: Virat Kohli has spent close to 75 days in England and was expected to lead the run-scoring charts in the five-match Test series.

That though didn't happen as Kohli was terrorized by the seam and swing of James Anderson and could score just 134 runs in 10 innings. The talented batsman however found some form in the lone warm-up game against Middlesex at Lord's on Friday as the visitors thumped the hosts by 95 runs.

Stand-in skipper Kohli scored 71 off 75 balls (8x4, 1x6) and added 104 runs for the fourth wicket with middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu, who chose to retire after scoring 72 off 82 balls (8x4). Barring their knocks, the Indian batting effort was nothing to write home about.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni didn't play the game, but came out to field as substitute when the Indians were bowling. Perhaps, it was an indication of things to come in the ODIs where Sanju Samson could be asked to play the role of keeper-batsman.

Dhoni's presence on the field though did seem to inspire the bowlers as they defended 231 with gutso with young leggie Karn Sharma picking up 3-14 to bowl out Middlesex, who had England internationals Eoin Morgan and Steve Finn, for 135.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-7) and Mohammad Shami (1-13) struck early blows to reduce the hosts to 112 in the fourth over. They never really recovered and wickets fell at regular intervals to hand India victory in under 40 overs.

Mohit Sharma (1-20), Umesh Yadav (1-32) and Dhawal Kulkarni (1-13), who have been drafted in the ODI team, had a good work-out.

Scores: India 230 (Rayudu 72, Kohli 71; Rayner 4-32) beat Middlesex 135 (Karn 3-14) by 95 runs.

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'Players looked jaded after second Test'

NEW DELHI: With the jury still out on the reasons behind India's abject surrender in England, sources close to the team told TOI that the players simply lost fizz after the second Test and there was no one to egg the young bunch on.

"All the players had been on the road for a long time. After the IPL, some of them even went to Bangladesh. It was clear after the second Test that the players were jaded," a BCCI official said, adding that coach Duncan Fletcher did very little to fire up the players.

"There were a lot of rest days and optional practice sessions. The players were struggling to push themselves and since Fletcher had very little to say, Dhoni had to make the decisions."

Sources also suggested the dressing room atmosphere got gloomy as the defeats piled up.

"The likes of Virat Kohli and Gambhir felt the absence of stalwarts in the dressing room. They missed the likes of Sehwag, Laxman, Yuvraj, Tendulkar or Dravid, who were instrumental in the past in keeping the morale high during a difficult series. They felt Duncan could have done more," said a source.

Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said the completely out-of-form Virat was "very disturbed by what was happening". In fact, Sharma was about to fly over to England in the middle of the series but couldn't manage a visa.

"I was going there to give him moral support. He was saying Dhoni was left with too much to do as the others couldn't contribute. It's so disappointing to see everyone failing and the captain taking the blows on and off the field," Sharma said.

Did BCCI think Virat was marrying his girlfriend?

Virat Kohli's decision to have his girlfriend - Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma - around on the tour has sparked controversy following his poor run of scores. TOI has learnt that BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel permitted Kohli to have Anushka around since he was under the impression the duo was about to tie the knot.

"There was resistance from certain quarters of the BCCI but Sanjay Patel said Virat was getting married to his girlfriend. Going by his words, the board allowed Virat to have his girlfriend with him," a BCCI official said.

The official added that teammates backed Virat later.

"The players asserted there was nothing wrong in what Virat did. They pointed out how the FIFA World Cup-winning German team had girlfriends on tour throughout in Brazil," the official said.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Players looked jaded after second Test'

NEW DELHI: With the jury still out on the reasons behind India's abject surrender in England, sources close to the team told TOI that the players simply lost fizz after the second Test and there was no one to egg the young bunch on.

"All the players had been on the road for a long time. After the IPL, some of them even went to Bangladesh. It was clear after the second Test that the players were jaded," a BCCI official said, adding that coach Duncan Fletcher did very little to fire up the players.

"There were a lot of rest days and optional practice sessions. The players were struggling to push themselves and since Fletcher had very little to say, Dhoni had to make the decisions."

Sources also suggested the dressing room atmosphere got gloomy as the defeats piled up.

"The likes of Virat Kohli and Gambhir felt the absence of stalwarts in the dressing room. They missed the likes of Sehwag, Laxman, Yuvraj, Tendulkar or Dravid, who were instrumental in the past in keeping the morale high during a difficult series. They felt Duncan could have done more," said a source.

Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said the completely out-of-form Virat was "very disturbed by what was happening". In fact, Sharma was about to fly over to England in the middle of the series but couldn't manage a visa.

"I was going there to give him moral support. He was saying Dhoni was left with too much to do as the others couldn't contribute. It's so disappointing to see everyone failing and the captain taking the blows on and off the field," Sharma said.

Did BCCI think Virat was marrying his girlfriend?

Virat Kohli's decision to have his girlfriend - Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma - around on the tour has sparked controversy following his poor run of scores. TOI has learnt that BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel permitted Kohli to have Anushka around since he was under the impression the duo was about to tie the knot.

"There was resistance from certain quarters of the BCCI but Sanjay Patel said Virat was getting married to his girlfriend. Going by his words, the board allowed Virat to have his girlfriend with him," a BCCI official said.

The official added that teammates backed Virat later.

"The players asserted there was nothing wrong in what Virat did. They pointed out how the FIFA World Cup-winning German team had girlfriends on tour throughout in Brazil," the official said.

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Are WAGs really a distraction?

"I would have objected to her (Anushka Sharma's) presence, but was helpless when I realised that permission was granted by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel. I doubt whether the secretary even spoke to the interim BCCI president Shivlal Yadav before granting permission. I am sure he (Yadav) would have turned down the request. Anushka stayed with Virat till the third Test. Foreign players do take their girlfriends on tours, but India's culture is different. Indian society doesn't allow girlfriends on tour like this."

This is what Sunil Dev, the manager for India's Test leg of the England tour, reportedly said after India's poor show. This has given rise to many debates, with many terming this as 'sports sexism'. Kavitha Krishnan, secretary of AIPWA, is one of them.

Krishnan took to her micro-blogging page posting, "Team India manager says girlfriends on tour 'not our culture'. Wives, GFs blamed for defeat, fatwa on their travel to matches. Sports sexism!" (sic)

Earlier, talking about India's 3-1 loss to England, a top BCCI official had reportedly stated, "Even if players wanted to focus on cricket, their wives were a big distraction. When some wanted to go to the gym or do nets, they couldn't do so because their wives wanted to explore the city."

Former Indian cricketer Bishen Singh Bedi, says he feels 'disgusted' at this 'primitve thought'. "We are all set to make ourselves look like a bunch of idiots. The foreign media and players must be having a field day laughing over such statements. How can wives be blamed for poor show by players? This is such disgusting primitive thought; most unwanted and irresponsible statement I have heard. Come on, for heaven's sake, we are in the 21st century and here we are blaming the wives and girlfriends? Sad!" he says.

Bedi further says that the least someone could have done is to act a little more responsibly. "It just looks like a way to hide the poor planning and preparation. If a player did defy team discipline, he can be hauled up. But the way things are being put, it seems it's wrong for a player to have a wife or a girlfriend! My wife has accompanied me on tours when I played, and she was never a distraction. Sportspeople keep travelling and have very little time to spend with family. But if wives and girlfriends are banned or hauled up for players' not performing on the field, it's really very stupid and like I said, primitive." Former India captain Kapil Dev says players should not be expected to live for months without meeting their partners.

"Wives and girlfriends cannot be blamed for a loss. I don't know today's cricket culture, so it won't be correct for me to comment on somebody else's opinion. But I can speak about our times. I think wives or girlfriends should accompany players on tours, but not in the first half. I always believed that. For example, if a tour is for three months, the wives and girlfriends shouldn't be there for the first month, because that's the time when the team should stay together, eat together, spend time together, so that they get to know each other and bond better. When we used to go to England, Australia, and West Indies, to play for 2-3 months, we used to decide this ourselves. In the second half, they must come, because you can't expect that we don't meet our wives or they don't meet us for three months. We used to travel for 10 months in a year and not getting to meet your wives... that's unfair. And now, you have lost a series, that does not mean you blame the wives and girlfriends! But it's for the Board to decide," he shares.

Shuttler Chetan Anand, who often travels with his wife on tours, scoffs at this suggestion, saying, "This is the most unreasonable excuse I have ever heard. Instead of talking about what actually went wrong, in perhaps planning and strategy, officials are busy blaming the wives and girlfriends! I travel with my wife, and I can say she isn't a distraction. We are professional sportspeople and I am sure cricketers know their responsibilities. If they have lost a series, it means the team and performance has to be evaluated and not the wives or girlfriends presence on the tour."

On a concluding note, Bishen Singh Bedi asserts that the need of the hour, is to "not shatter the players' confidence. It's a game. You win some, you lose some. Own it up and stay quiet. And don't act like idiots in pointing fingers at wives and girlfriends. They are not the distractions."

Twitterati takes:

Rounaq Nayak @rounaq_26: If bringing a girlfriend along for a match causes Team India to lose matches, they should start playing matches in traditional Indian attire

Pankaj Mishra @pankajmishra23: Another 'culture' lecture! 'Team India Manager: 'Our Culture Doesn't Allow Girlfriends on Tour'

Srijith @srijith: "Indian society doesn't allow girlfriend on tour like this." Can someone pass me the "Indian society" rule book?

Rajesh Ahuja @ManShunNot: We're a special breed of nincompoops. Our culture does not allow girlfriends on tour: Indian Cricket Team Manager

Sourav Pradhan @drsouravpradhan: Team India banned to take wives and girlfriends along... Aur kitna neeche giraoge in logon ko...

Rahul Bose @RahulBose1: Only more mystifying than India's form is the BCCI's decision to ban wives/girlfriends. Helps team play swing, catch, bowl better?

Nandagopal J Nair @Njnair: Really, this is the answer to Team India's woes? @BCCI diagnosis of defeat: restrict company of wives & girlfriends

KnottyGal @VNezz2: Most ppl wouldn't have noticed that @DineshKarthik was with @DipikaPallikal during the CWG when she won the Gold.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Are WAGs really a distraction?

"I would have objected to her (Anushka Sharma's) presence, but was helpless when I realised that permission was granted by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel. I doubt whether the secretary even spoke to the interim BCCI president Shivlal Yadav before granting permission. I am sure he (Yadav) would have turned down the request. Anushka stayed with Virat till the third Test. Foreign players do take their girlfriends on tours, but India's culture is different. Indian society doesn't allow girlfriends on tour like this."

This is what Sunil Dev, the manager for India's Test leg of the England tour, reportedly said after India's poor show. This has given rise to many debates, with many terming this as 'sports sexism'. Kavitha Krishnan, secretary of AIPWA, is one of them.

Krishnan took to her micro-blogging page posting, "Team India manager says girlfriends on tour 'not our culture'. Wives, GFs blamed for defeat, fatwa on their travel to matches. Sports sexism!" (sic)

Earlier, talking about India's 3-1 loss to England, a top BCCI official had reportedly stated, "Even if players wanted to focus on cricket, their wives were a big distraction. When some wanted to go to the gym or do nets, they couldn't do so because their wives wanted to explore the city."

Former Indian cricketer Bishen Singh Bedi, says he feels 'disgusted' at this 'primitve thought'. "We are all set to make ourselves look like a bunch of idiots. The foreign media and players must be having a field day laughing over such statements. How can wives be blamed for poor show by players? This is such disgusting primitive thought; most unwanted and irresponsible statement I have heard. Come on, for heaven's sake, we are in the 21st century and here we are blaming the wives and girlfriends? Sad!" he says.

Bedi further says that the least someone could have done is to act a little more responsibly. "It just looks like a way to hide the poor planning and preparation. If a player did defy team discipline, he can be hauled up. But the way things are being put, it seems it's wrong for a player to have a wife or a girlfriend! My wife has accompanied me on tours when I played, and she was never a distraction. Sportspeople keep travelling and have very little time to spend with family. But if wives and girlfriends are banned or hauled up for players' not performing on the field, it's really very stupid and like I said, primitive." Former India captain Kapil Dev says players should not be expected to live for months without meeting their partners.

"Wives and girlfriends cannot be blamed for a loss. I don't know today's cricket culture, so it won't be correct for me to comment on somebody else's opinion. But I can speak about our times. I think wives or girlfriends should accompany players on tours, but not in the first half. I always believed that. For example, if a tour is for three months, the wives and girlfriends shouldn't be there for the first month, because that's the time when the team should stay together, eat together, spend time together, so that they get to know each other and bond better. When we used to go to England, Australia, and West Indies, to play for 2-3 months, we used to decide this ourselves. In the second half, they must come, because you can't expect that we don't meet our wives or they don't meet us for three months. We used to travel for 10 months in a year and not getting to meet your wives... that's unfair. And now, you have lost a series, that does not mean you blame the wives and girlfriends! But it's for the Board to decide," he shares.

Shuttler Chetan Anand, who often travels with his wife on tours, scoffs at this suggestion, saying, "This is the most unreasonable excuse I have ever heard. Instead of talking about what actually went wrong, in perhaps planning and strategy, officials are busy blaming the wives and girlfriends! I travel with my wife, and I can say she isn't a distraction. We are professional sportspeople and I am sure cricketers know their responsibilities. If they have lost a series, it means the team and performance has to be evaluated and not the wives or girlfriends presence on the tour."

On a concluding note, Bishen Singh Bedi asserts that the need of the hour, is to "not shatter the players' confidence. It's a game. You win some, you lose some. Own it up and stay quiet. And don't act like idiots in pointing fingers at wives and girlfriends. They are not the distractions."

Twitterati takes:

Rounaq Nayak @rounaq_26: If bringing a girlfriend along for a match causes Team India to lose matches, they should start playing matches in traditional Indian attire

Pankaj Mishra @pankajmishra23: Another 'culture' lecture! 'Team India Manager: 'Our Culture Doesn't Allow Girlfriends on Tour'

Srijith @srijith: "Indian society doesn't allow girlfriend on tour like this." Can someone pass me the "Indian society" rule book?

Rajesh Ahuja @ManShunNot: We're a special breed of nincompoops. Our culture does not allow girlfriends on tour: Indian Cricket Team Manager

Sourav Pradhan @drsouravpradhan: Team India banned to take wives and girlfriends along... Aur kitna neeche giraoge in logon ko...

Rahul Bose @RahulBose1: Only more mystifying than India's form is the BCCI's decision to ban wives/girlfriends. Helps team play swing, catch, bowl better?

Nandagopal J Nair @Njnair: Really, this is the answer to Team India's woes? @BCCI diagnosis of defeat: restrict company of wives & girlfriends

KnottyGal @VNezz2: Most ppl wouldn't have noticed that @DineshKarthik was with @DipikaPallikal during the CWG when she won the Gold.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More