T20I: England elect to bowl against India

NEW DELHI: Stuart Meaker helped England get the all important wicket of the in-form Virat Kohli in their second Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Saturday.

Scorecard

After losing Ajinkya Rahane early, Kohli and Gautam Gambhir recovered in brilliant fashion for the hosts in the second T20 match on Saturday.

The duo reached their 50-run partnership in just 25 balls with Kohli in particular blasting the English pacers to all parts of the boundary.

India suffered an early dent when debutant Joe Root gave the visitors their first wicket when he scalped Rahane right after England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl.

Rahane (3), in his attempt to swing, found the outside edge of a good length Root delivery and was caught comfortably by Jade Dernbach at third man.

India head into this match with just one change as Ravindra Jadeja makes way for Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Root comes into the England squad.

Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint.

Though India cantered home on Thursday, the home team has some issues to solve immediately in both batting and bowling to achieve their aim of a 2-0 whitewash.

It was Yuvraj Singh's experience and his ability to clear the rope at will that helped the home country steady the innings and then surge to a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.

Teams:

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, and Parvinder Awana.

England: Eoin Morgan (Capt.), Tim Bresnan, Jos Butler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell and Luke Wright.

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Root strikes early, dismisses Rahane

NEW DELHI: Stuart Meaker helped England get the all important wicket of the in-form Virat Kohli in their second Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Saturday.

Scorecard

After losing Ajinkya Rahane early, Kohli and Gautam Gambhir recovered in brilliant fashion for the hosts in the second T20 match on Saturday.

The duo reached their 50-run partnership in just 25 balls with Kohli in particular blasting the English pacers to all parts of the boundary.

India suffered an early dent when debutant Joe Root gave the visitors their first wicket when he scalped Rahane right after England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl.

Rahane (3), in his attempt to swing, found the outside edge of a good length Root delivery and was caught comfortably by Jade Dernbach at third man.

India head into this match with just one change as Ravindra Jadeja makes way for Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Root comes into the England squad.

Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint.

Though India cantered home on Thursday, the home team has some issues to solve immediately in both batting and bowling to achieve their aim of a 2-0 whitewash.

It was Yuvraj Singh's experience and his ability to clear the rope at will that helped the home country steady the innings and then surge to a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.

Teams:

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, and Parvinder Awana.

England: Eoin Morgan (Capt.), Tim Bresnan, Jos Butler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell and Luke Wright.

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T20I: Kohli, Gauti stabalise innings

NEW DELHI: Stuart Meaker helped England get the all important wicket of the in-form Virat Kohli in their second Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Saturday.

Scorecard

After losing Ajinkya Rahane early, Kohli and Gautam Gambhir recovered in brilliant fashion for the hosts in the second T20 match on Saturday.

The duo reached their 50-run partnership in just 25 balls with Kohli in particular blasting the English pacers to all parts of the boundary.

India suffered an early dent when debutant Joe Root gave the visitors their first wicket when he scalped Rahane right after England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl.

Rahane (3), in his attempt to swing, found the outside edge of a good length Root delivery and was caught comfortably by Jade Dernbach at third man.

India head into this match with just one change as Ravindra Jadeja makes way for Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Root comes into the England squad.

Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint.

Though India cantered home on Thursday, the home team has some issues to solve immediately in both batting and bowling to achieve their aim of a 2-0 whitewash.

It was Yuvraj Singh's experience and his ability to clear the rope at will that helped the home country steady the innings and then surge to a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.

Teams:

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, and Parvinder Awana.

England: Eoin Morgan (Capt.), Tim Bresnan, Jos Butler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell and Luke Wright.

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T20I: India lose Kohli, Yuvraj quickly

NEW DELHI: Stuart Meaker helped England get the wicket of Virat Kohli right before Luke Wright struck to dismiss Yuvraj Singh in their Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Saturday.

Scorecard

Kohli (38 off 20 balls) played a gem of an innings and blasted his way through the English bowlers to stabalise the Indian innings after losing Ajinkya Rahane early.

Meaker was able to catch Kohli plumb in front of the wicket after the Delhi batsman completely misjudged a slower delivery.

Yuvraj (4) on the other hand never looked settled when he pulled an outside off ball straight down the ground to give Root a simple catch to dismiss the southpaw.

Kohli along with Gautam Gambhir reached the 50-run partnership in just 25 balls by smashing the pacers to all parts of the boundary.

Early, India suffered an early dent when debutant Joe Root gave the visitors their first wicket when he scalped Rahane right after England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl.

Rahane (3), in his attempt to swing, found the outside edge of a good length Root delivery and was caught comfortably by Jade Dernbach at third man.

India head into this match with just one change as Ravindra Jadeja makes way for Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Root comes into the England squad.

Having gained the winning momentum again, the hosts would be eager not to let it go out of grasp especially with the high-profile series against Pakistan to follow immediately after the conclusion of the T20 stint.

Teams:

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, and Parvinder Awana.

England: Eoin Morgan (Capt.), Tim Bresnan, Jos Butler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell and Luke Wright.

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Delhi take on Kolkata in IPL 6 opener

NEW DELHI: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign at home against last year's semifinalist Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League 6 at the historic Eden Gardens on April 3.

The 2013 season's lung opener could not have got any better as two of the strongest teams in the tournament will set the tone for the high-octane Twenty20 tournament over the next eight weeks.

One of the many highlights of the sixth edition of the tournament will be the debut of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who joined the IPL fraternity in October this year.

They will begin their IPL innings with a home game against Pune Warriors India on April 5.

The tournament will be played in the same format as the 2012 edition. Each of the nine participating teams will play the other eight twice, at home and away basis. The top four teams, at the end of the round-robin stage on May 19 will qualify for the Playoffs.

The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator games will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai - the home ground of the IPL 2012 runners-up - on May 21 and May 22 respectively.

The Qualifier 2 encounter and the Final, will be played at the Eden Gardens - the home ground of the 2012 edition winners - on May 24 and 26 respectively.

As many as eleven venues have been confirmed to host the matches. The nine home venues apart, matches will be played at two arenas that will be making their ODI debuts in January.

The last two 'home' games of the Kings XI Punjab will be played at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, which has hosted seven IPL matches since 2010.

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium Complex at Ranchi, will host the last two 'home' games of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

"The countdown to PEPSI IPL 2013 has begun. We are poised to witness a competition that will be as, if not more, spectacular, than its predecessors," said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla.

"The greatest cricketers on this planet will join forces with the stars of the future, to deliver some exhilarating cricket for their respective teams. The teams will play hard, but fair, and the most consistent of the lot will be crowned the champion on 26 May 2013," he added.

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Pujara confident to excel in ODIs, T20s

JAIPUR: He is being looked at as a specialist Test batsman, but young Cheteshwar Pujara feels that his sterling performances in the four-Test series against England have given him enough confidence to excel in the other two versions of the game -- ODIs and T20s.

"I too want to excel in all three forms of cricket and all cricketers have to change their technique accordingly. I am confident of doing well in shorter versions of the game because I have already done well in the Challenger series apart from the tours of Australia and New Zealand," Pujara said.

Pujara, whose return to the side has bolstered the Saurashtra's batting line-up ahead of their Group A Ranji Trophy tie against two-time defending champions Rajasthan here, said that scoring a double century and a hundred against the quality England bowling attack has given him confidence to face challenges in the upcoming rubbers.

"The England team consisted of world class bowling attack given the likes of Graeme Swann, who is considered to be the best spinner in the world, Monty Panesar and pacer James Anderson, who can reverse the ball.

"To be able to hit a double century and a hundred and also the fact that I could spend much time at the crease has given me the confidence that I have the technique to do so. I wish to make more improvements and carry on with the same form in the future also," said the right-handed batsman.

Pujara was the top run-scorer for India against England with 438 runs under his belt at an impressive average of 87.60, with 206 not out in the Ahmedabad Test being his best.

Pujara attributed the 1-2 series loss against England to lack of partnerships and revealed that the issue was discussed in one of the team meetings.

"We lost the series because we lacked big partnerships. You need to have at least one 100-plus partnership to post a big total. The point was discussed too but unfortunately it did not happen.

Our bowling too was reasonably good as we could keep them down to a modest total on day one in Nagpur Test but the wicket did not assist the spinners. However, Ishant Sharma did bowl well," he said.

Though, the ever-modest Pujara felt that it was not right to compare him with Rahul Dravid, who retired from international cricket in March this year, the Saurashtra batsman conceded that he likes when people talk about him as a possible replacement for the legendary Dravid.

"I feel the comparison is not right. He has amassed more than 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs and I have just started my career. I am in his touch and often talk to him. I haven't discussed with him on how to prolong my career.

"But I feel if you are consistent, you can prolong your career," he said.

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Saeed Ajmal says he's ready for Indians

KARACHI: Beginning the mind games ahead of the one-day series against the arch-rivals, ace Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal says he is ready to bamboozle the Indian batsmen with a new variety of deliveries.

"I have some varieties up my sleeves for the Indian batsmen," he said.

Ajmal said the series will be a tough test for his side since India have a formidable batting line-up.

"For T20 and ODI's they have a strong batting set up and it is going to be a challenge against them. It does not matter whether I am bowling to Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli my aim is to get wickets for my team," he said.

Ajmal, who has remained among the top three bowlers in the ICC Test, ODI and T20 rankings since last year, said he was prepared to bowl on batting tracks in India.

"But I have always believed that a quality spinner shows his class on such pitches against good batsmen," he said.

The spinner said he did not see the series as any revenge series for the defeats Pakistan suffered at the hands of India in the Asia Cup and World T20 Cup this year.

"Every match is a new match we have a good strong side and we know that beating India in India will be a significant achievement for us. So we are focusing on this series as a new series," he said.

Ajmal was all praise for uncapped off-spinner Adnan Rasool, who performed well in domestic cricket this season.

"This guy has loads of talent and he is the future Saeed Ajmal of the team. Head coach, Dav Whatmore is also impressed with him and I think he should get his chance in the Pakistan team soon," he said.

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Saeed Ajmal ready to bamboozle Indians

KARACHI: Beginning the mind games ahead of the one-day series against the arch-rivals, ace Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal says he is ready to bamboozle the Indian batsmen with a new variety of deliveries.

"I have some varieties up my sleeves for the Indian batsmen," he said.

Ajmal said the series will be a tough test for his side since India have a formidable batting line-up.

"For T20 and ODI's they have a strong batting set up and it is going to be a challenge against them. It does not matter whether I am bowling to Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli my aim is to get wickets for my team," he said.

Ajmal, who has remained among the top three bowlers in the ICC Test, ODI and T20 rankings since last year, said he was prepared to bowl on batting tracks in India.

"But I have always believed that a quality spinner shows his class on such pitches against good batsmen," he said.

The spinner said he did not see the series as any revenge series for the defeats Pakistan suffered at the hands of India in the Asia Cup and World T20 Cup this year.

"Every match is a new match we have a good strong side and we know that beating India in India will be a significant achievement for us. So we are focusing on this series as a new series," he said.

Ajmal was all praise for uncapped off-spinner Adnan Rasool, who performed well in domestic cricket this season.

"This guy has loads of talent and he is the future Saeed Ajmal of the team. Head coach, Dav Whatmore is also impressed with him and I think he should get his chance in the Pakistan team soon," he said.

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Future of Indian bowling is bleak: Akram

NEW DELHI: As Indian pacers failed to make an impression against England, former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram says the future of Indian bowling looks "bleak" and it's time that the new faces get a chance in the team.

Apart from Pragyan Ojha (20 wickets) and Ravichandran Ashwin (12), no Indian bowler bagged more than five wickets in the series, which India lost 1-2.

"To be very honest, the future of Indian bowling looks bleak. Zaheer Khan looked average in the three Tests and then got dropped. Ishant Sharma was okay in patches but after five years at the international level you have to be more consistent.

"I am afraid he is going the Mohammad Sami way - a wasted talent. Umesh Yadav seems to be injury prone and the selectors don't pick Varun Aaron," Akram told espanstar.com.

Akram said time has come that the Indian selectors pick youngsters, who have potential to be successful at international level.

"It's time that India look for new faces or tell the present bunch to shape up or ship out. I will suggest a certain Shami Ahmed to get a look in. The Bengal pacer is just 22 years old but has tremendous potential. Having worked with him for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011 season, I believe bowlers like him are the forward for Team India," the KKR consultant said.

Akram also said that the England's support staff was better equipped than its Indian counterpart.

"The lack of planning in the Indian team was pretty visible even on the television screens and that reflected on the bowling front as well. It seemed the bowlers were going through the motion rather than planning their wickets.

"England's team director Andy Flower, bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmad and batting coach Graham Gooch were all in sync unlike the Indian backroom staff," said Akram.

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1st T20: Wright falls after brisk stand

NEW DELHI: Alex Hales slams half-ton after facing 26 deliveries as England look for a big total in the first T20 at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

Scorecard

Earlier, England's crossed 50-run mark on the fifth delivery of the fifth over.

Off-spinner R Ashwin gave India the first breakthrough by dismissing Michael Lumb (1) in the fourth over after England were invited to bat.

Ashwin trapped Lumb leg before wickets at the score of 21.

Parwinder Awana made debut for India as Rohit Sharma failed to make the cut.

England have handed T20 debut to off-spinner James Tredwell.

Under-fire for the first Test series loss to England in 28 years and with his captaincy under the scanner, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have to put these issues on the back burner and motivate his teammates for the shortest format of the game.

England have made wholesale changes in their squad with triumphant Test skipper Alastair Cook returning home and replaced at the helm by hard-hitting middle order batsman Eoin Morgan who was part of the Test team but did not play a single game.

India: Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Parwinder Awana

England: Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan (capt), Samit Patel, Jos Buttler (wk), Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stuart Meaker, Danny Briggs, Jade Dernbach

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