ICC Women's World Cup to Starts with India-West Indies match

Untouched by the hype and hoopla that follows their male counterparts, India's women cricketers are all set to start their World Cup campaign when they take on the West Indies in a Group A match on Thursday.
   
The day-night clash would set the ball rolling for the event, which will also be held in Cuttack where the Pakistan team (placed in Group B) is based due to security concerns in Mumbai.
   
Group A matches are to be held in Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, MIG Club at Bandra and the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground of the Mumbai Cricket Association.
   
Group B matches, involving strong contenders Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan, would be held in two grounds in Cuttack.
   
The remaining Group fixtures for India, who finished third in the last championship, are against three-time winners (1973, 1993 and 2009) England at the Brabourne on February 3, and qualifiers Sri Lanka at the same ground on February 6.
   
Prior to that England will take on Sri Lanka on February 1 at the Brabourne.
   
Sri Lanka would lock horns with the West Indies side on February 4 at the MIG ground in Bandra while the England-Windies clash on February 6 is scheduled at the BKC.
   
Apart from Mithali, India would bank on former captain Jhulan Goswami, diminutive batter Poonam Raut, wicketkeeper Sulakshana Naik. The bowling attack would be spearheaded by Gouher Sultana and Niranjana Nagarajan.
   
"We have senior players like Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma, vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been among runs. We have two comeback players (Murugesan) Thirush Kamini, Karuna Jain, who have played the last World Cup. I am hoping that with this kind of combination, we will do very well," said world number one batter and Indian captain Mithali Raj.
   
England, led by Charlotte Edwards who is playing her fifth successive World Cup, are tipped to top the group and commence their bid to win the crown for the fourth time with a game against Sri Lanka on February 1 at CCI.

Virendra Sehwag to lead Rest of India in Irani Cup

Out-of-favour in ODIs, Virender Sehwag was named the captain of the Rest of India (ROI) squad for the Airtel Irani Cup match against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai to be held at the Wankhede Stadium from February 6 to 10.
   
Sehwag, who was dropped from India's ODI team for the recently-concluded series against England due to poor form, will lead a 14-member ROI squad.
   
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and maverick pacer S Sreesanth have also been included in the Rest of India line-up.
   
A significant development was out-of-form opener Gautam Gambhir being not selected in any of the squads. Gambhir's form has been shoddy and thus he won't get any longer version game before the squad for the first Test is selected. Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav have also not been considered as they are yet to submit their fitness certificates.
   
Manoj Tiwary, who has also completed his rehabilitation process, has been included in the Rest of India squad as well as India 'A' squad that will take on Australia.
   
According to team announced by the All-India Senior Selection Committee at Bengaluru today, the ROI side comprises of six batsmen, six bowlers, one all-rounder in Jalaj Saxena and a wicketkeeper in Wriddhiman Saha.
   
Apart from the ROI squad, in Tuesday's meeting the selectors have also handpicked the Board President's XI and India A team for practices matches against visting Australia.
  
 Left-handed Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund will lead the Board President's XI side against Australia in a two-day game at Chennai February 12-13.
   
Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh, who scored five centuries has been included in the India 'A' squad.
   
Promising Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasool once again got rewarded for his spledid performance in this season's Ranji Trophy as he has been included in the Board President's XI team for the warm-up game against Australia.

‘Injured’ Sushil Kumar to skip Dave Schultz tournament

Olympic silver medallist Sushil Kumar will have to wait for some more time to get back to action as the unhealed neck injury has forced him to opt out of the upcoming Dave Schultz tournament, where he was expected to defend his title.
    
A 33-member Indian contingent had left for a training camp in the United States on last week to prepare for the event, beginning January 31.
    
The Wrestling Federation of India  at that point had said that the Sushil would fly a week later due to some personal reasons.
   
However, the star grappler today confirmed that he would not be able to make it as the injury, he sustained during the London Olympics, is yet to heal completely.
    
"I will not be able to participate in the Dave Schultz Cup due to an injury on my neck and right hand. I have been advised rest by my coaches. Also, it is not such a big tournament. I had informed the federation about my decision a couple of days back," Sushil, who had bagged a gold medal in the 66-kg category of the tournament last year, said.
    
"I am nursing this (neck) injury for a long time now. It hasn't healed completely. Also, there is some trouble on my right hand. I am currently undergoing physiotherapy," the 29-year-old grappler said.
    

4th ODI ; India 258 runs to win the series against England

Mohali : India 258 runs to win the series against England at Mohali.But Indian innings starts slowly.
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was dismissed at the score of 10 in the fourth one-dayer against England at Mohali on Wednesday.

The unheralded Joe Root (57 not out) and Kevin Pietersen (76) provided the late sparks with some lusty hits as England recovered from a mid-innings slump to post a decent 257 for seven in their must-win penultimate cricket one-dayer.

Put into bat, England lost three wickets in quick succession in the middle of the innings after a reasonably good start but young Root unleashed a stunning counter-attack to steer the total past the 250-run mark, which looked doubtful at one stage.
    
Root, who clobbered eight boundaries and a six during his 45-ball blitzkrieg, and Pietersen were largely responsible for England recovery, while captain Alastair Cook laid the foundation with a solid 76.
    
The visitors scored as many as 100 runs in the last ten overs as the Indians, who had the game under control for most part of it, suddenly appeared to lose the plot with Root and Pietersen going on the offensive.
    
Spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3/39 while Ishant Sharma 2/47 and R Ashwin 2/63 were the other wicket-takers on a Mohali track, which appeared to be good for batting.
    
England started their innings on a cautious note as the two Indian new ball bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed got the ball to move around in the initial overs.
    
Both Kumar and Shami, who proved to be a little expensive in the first spell, troubled the batsmen as openers Cook and Ian Bell played and missed on a few occasions. But they were lucky not to edge the ball.
    
With Shami giving away 18 runs in his first three overs, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in Ishant Sharma from the pavilion end and the lanky seamer bowled a probing line and troubled the batsmen.
    
The opening pair put on 37 runs for the first wicket before Ishant provided the breakthrough by evicting Bell, who perished to a rash stroke.

3rd ODI ;Spinners take charge, England five down

Indian bowlers continue to dominate English batsmen as the guests lost their five wickets in early session in the third cricket ODI against England on Saturday .


Shami Ahmed continues to act as the ‘lucky’ charm for India. The new paceman gets important breakthrough against England in the third cricket ODI on Saturday by dismissing skipper Alastair Cook who was looking quite composed against India.

Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl in the third cricket ODI against England on Saturday.

India, who won the second match in Rajkot to level the series at 1-1, are unchanged for today's game.
    
England, on the other hand, have brought back fit-again pacer Tim Bresnan in place of Chris Woakes.

    

England need 286 runs to win 2nd ODI match at Kochi

Kochi : England need 286 runs to win second one-dayer against India at Kochi on Tuesday.

Electing to bat, India scored 285 runs for six in the second one-dayer against England.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played some aggressive shots and smashed half-century against England in the second cricket one-dayer on Tuesday.

Indian all-rounder Ravinder Jadeja too played a matured innings and completed his half-century against England.

In a major blow, India lost its fifth wicket in the form of Suresh Raina who added 55 runs to the Indian scoreboard before being dismissed in the second cricket one-dayer.

Raina played a clam and composed inning and smashed half-century against England on Tuesday.

Viart Kohli’s fine innings came to an end when the batsman was caught at covers against England.

India lost its third wicket in the form of Yuvraj Singh against England on Tuesday. Yuvraj paired with Virat Kohli to lift Indian innings after the early jolts. The duo also completed their fifty-run partnership.

Earlier in the game, England pacers launched strike against India and scalped openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane in the second cricket one-dayer.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against England on Tuesday.

India made one change to the side that lost the first one-dayer in Rajkot, replacing pacer Ashok Dinda with Shami Ahmed.
     
For England, Tim Bresnan has been forced out due to a niggle and his place has been taken by Chris Woakes.

Sachin wants his son Arjun Tendulkar to be treated as normal cricketer

New Delhi: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is exceptionally happy for his son Arjun Tendulkar’s selection in Mumbai's under-14 Team but the legend also fears that the budding cricketer will not be treated like ordinary players.

This might be the reason the father has requested fans to treat him just like a ‘normal’ cricketer.

Arjun has been selected to play for Mumbai U-14 in the West Zone league matches of the BCCI tournament which will be held in Ahmedabad from January 20 to February 1.
The 13-year-old, who bats left-handed, scored his maiden century at the U-14 level for Khar Gymkhana at the Cross Maidan against Goregaon Centre.

Born on September 24, 1999, Arjun often goes to the stadium to watch his father play.

India vs England head to head for ODI

The core of Indian squad remains pretty much the same with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina retaining their places. Virender Sehwag was dropped from the Indian squad as the national selection committee decided to include in-form Cheteshwar Pujara for the series against England.

The squads of both teams has been selected only for the first three matches schedule to start from January 11 at Rajkot.

James Anderson will be in the squad for first three ODI matches only. He will be replaced by Stuart Broad for the remainder of the five-match series.

Lionel Messi bags FIFA Ballon d`Or for record fourth time

 Lionel Messi added yet another record to his stellar list of achievements over the past 12 months when he won an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, Ballon d'Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich.
    
The accolade on Monday seals Messi's status as the greatest player of his generation after he saw off Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta for the prize.
    
Messi received a vote share of 41.60 percent to 23.68 for Ronaldo and 10.91 for Iniesta.
    
Messi and former French star, UEFA president Michel Platini, had prior to Monday been the only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards while Dutch greats Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten both won the accolade on three occasions.
    
Spain's Vicente del Bosque was named coach of the year for 2012, seeing off competition from Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and former Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola.
    
Messi's success crowned another landmark year for the Argentine who is already the top scorer in La Liga for the ongoing season with 25 goals, having also broken Gerd Mueller's 40-year record for the most goals in a calendar year.
    
He finished 2012 with an astonishing 91 goals in all competitions.
    
But Messi has insisted his scoring records will mean nothing if Barcelona do not go on to take the La Liga title off Real or fail to win the Champions League.
    
"It is incredible to receive this prize once again and it's impressive it makes it four in a row. Each one is special. You never come here thinking you are going to win.

"I would like to share this with my Barca teammates - particularly with Andres, who is here with me," said the ever unassuming Messi.
    
"I am proud to be able to train alongside him every day. I am also thinking of my teammates in the Argentina squad," he went on.
    
"Thank you to all those who voted for me, skippers, coaches and national coaches.
    
"Thank you too to my family, my friends and of course my wife and son, who is the best thing that ever happened to me," said the 25-year-old from Rosario, who in November became a father to son Thiago.
    
Barca coach Tito Vilanova had already eulogised his player in advance of Messi's win.
    
"Leo's great quality is that he plays as if he is still a child," Vilanova opined.
    
Portugal captain Ronaldo at least has the consolation of having won in 2008 before Messi's hegemony began while Iniesta can for his part bask in the knowledge that he has won a World Cup and two Euros - including Euro 2012 - whereas Messi still has to replicate such achievements at international level.
    
Until he can lift top honours with Argentina, some observers will insist he cannot be classed as the greatest player ever, moving ahead of Pele and Diego Maradona.
    
The award of best coach went to Spain's Vicente del Bosque, who beat off competition from Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho, the 2010 winner, and former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.