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India have made one change to their 15-member squad for the fourth and fifth ODIs against Australia, bringing in left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in place of offspinner Ramesh Powar, said BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.Kartik played for Middlesex during the 2007 season and took 51 wickets at 24.96 from 12 Championship matches, including 9 for 73 in an innings victory against Glamorgan at Lord’s. In the Pro40 competition, Kartik took 12 wickets at 20.75 from eight games. Based on his performances the county signed him up for the next season as well.Powar, who enjoyed a successful tour to Ireland and England earlier this year, wasn’t successful in the first two ODIs at Banglaore and Kochi, conceding 80 runs off 11 overs without taking a wicket and was dropped for the third game in Hyderabad. “A left-arm spinner is always helpful in Indian conditions,” said India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, “and since Kartik is also experienced, I am sure he will indeed be helpful”Shah also said that Sourav Ganguly was fit for the third one-day international but was not picked for the match because he did not fit into the best team combination. However, Dhoni put forth a contradictory view in the press conference that followed the third one-dayer in Hyderabad: “He (Ganguly) was very eager to play but the team thought that he should be rested for this match as well because anything can happen on the field and then we might have to rest him for more matches. So that’s why he did not play.”Ganguly had played the first match but missed the second ODI because of a hamstring strain. He took part in a training session on the eve of the Hyderabad match and was passed fit. He was, however, named in the squad for the next two games.Meanwhile, the selectors have retained the winning ICC World Twenty20 squad for the one-off Twenty20 international at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on October 20. However, legspinner Piyush Chawla is the only exclusion as he is yet to recover from an ankle injury which had ruled him out of all seven one-dayers. No replacement has been named.Squad for 4th and 5th ODIs
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Zaheer KhanTwenty 20 international squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Yusuf Pathan, Joginder Sharma

Zee TV has won the exclusive telecasting rights for next week’s DLF Cup between India and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. The two one-day internationals, which take place at the newly-built Zayed Cricket Stadium on April 18 and 19, will be in aid of the victims of the devastating earthquakes that hit the subcontinent in October last year.For the sum of US$219 million, Zee Sports has acquired the global media rights for the 25 matches that India are scheduled to play on neutral ground over the next five years, which works out at US$8.77 million per match.Yogesh Radhakrishnan, managing director and CEO or Real Media-Zee Network, said: “These international matches will definitely put Abu Dhabi on the world map of cricket, and Zee TV Middle East is proud to play a leading role in showcasing the capital’s sporting infrastructure.”Acquiring the global media rights is further proof of our commitment to promoting this game across the world and bringing exciting cricket right into the homes of cricket lovers.”

Canada face a stiff challenge from Bermuda in their bid to return to the Under-19 World Cup when the five-team round-robin Americas U-19 Qualifier begins at Mapleleaf CC, King City in Toronto on Monday.Argentina, Caymans Islands and debutants Bahamas are the other teams taking part in the week-long competition. The winner will join the ICC’s 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Ireland (who recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team U-19 World Cup to be played in Malaysia next February. Canada missed the 2006 event in Sri Lanka but participated in the 2002 and 2004 tournaments.Familiar home conditions, an improving infrastructure and more international exposure helps Canada to start as firm favourites and coach Courtney Gonsalves is optimistic that his players are ready for the event. “All the players attended the elite programme we started last October in which we set up talent hunt and training camps throughout Canada,” he said. “Our goal is to qualify for next year’s U-19 World Cup and I am sure that the combination of this elite programme along with exposure in the premier division will help us achieve our target.”However, Canada are likely to be tested by Bermuda who have been bolstered by the inclusion of allrounders Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly, who played in the recent full World Cup, while the youngsters’ captain Rodney Trott narrowly missed the event. The trio will rejoin the senior Bermuda team for the match against Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup after completing the Toronto assignment.Bermuda coach Arnold Manders believes his team’s hopes of earning a finals berth are better than ever. “I think our chances of winning are greater than previous years because we have played more matches as a team and the players are confident in their individual roles.”Bermuda prepared for the tournament by playing eight domestic 50-overs-a-side competition matches between May and June besides participating in the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Tournament in Barbados which was also used as a training camp for the Americas U-19 Qualifier.”We have worked tirelessly on the team concept, and the individual discipline of the players have really improved. Our team this year is mentally stronger [than previously] and combined with the intense training the players received from the coaches, this should result in a good team combination. The players have the knowledge and now they need to produce.”For Argentina, it will be their first appearance in this event as an ICC Associate Member. They have previously struggled at the junior level but it would be dangerous to discount them, particularly after the senior team’s heroics in Darwin in June where they earned promotion to the World Cricket League Division 2 by qualifying for the final of the Division 3 tournament.Middle-order batsman Pedro Bruno, left-arm seam bowler Santiago Irigoyen and allrounders Ignacio Redruello and Tomas Birnie were part of that successful campaign in Darwin, but instead of making big predictions, coach Hamish Barton has set his sights on winning at least once in Toronto. “Basically our main goal is to win one game. We feel this is a realistic goal for the Argentine team considering the team’s past performances and the stage of its development.”Barton said the sport is still in the embryonic stage in Argentina and the team has prepared as best it can in the tough winter season. “The players are very much in the development stage and we are aiming to do the basics right and achieve our specific goals for each skill area, the experience and exposure to international cricket.”The team has prepared as best it could as it is winter in Argentina at the moment and training has been extremely difficult at times. But the team has trained well and the development of the players over the last three months has been very pleasing.”Caymans Islands have always been very competitive at youth level and nobody is expecting them to be far behind this time. Captain Ramon Sealy, along with top-order batsman Darren Cato and bowler Kervin Ebanks, have played in the Caymans Islands domestic Division 1 tournament for the last two years.Sealy sees batting as his team’s strength. “I think the team has a good chance of winning because we have a strong batting line-up which is not only capable of setting high totals but chasing them as well.”Bahamas are the only Affiliate Member in the group and are fielding a team for the first time. The senior team will participate in next year’s ICC World Cricket League Division 5 to be played in Jersey in May.Bahamas captain Gregory Taylor hopes that the Americas U-19 Qualifier will help his country’s bid towards earning ICC’s Associate Membership. He said: “We hope to achieve recognition as an Affiliate power house and to show the ICC and the world that we are ready to become an Associate Member of the ICC. Two years ago we did not have a full U-19 team, but we worked hard under the guidance of coach John Welch to achieve this. Jonathan Barry, Jeremy Jesubatham, Rodrick Mitchel and I came up in the U-15 program from 2001 and have played a lot of cricket with the seniors.”The United States of America, who took part in their first U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006 are missing this time as the USA Cricket Association is currently suspended as an ICC Member.Argentina Juan Tomas Birnie (capt), Alejo Tissera, Augusto Mustafa, Facundo Duggan, Hernan Fennell, Horacio Esperon, Ignacio Fermani, Ignacio Redruello, Juan Pablo Bordacahar, Pablo Siracusa, Pedro Bruno, Ramiro Rodriguez Delgado, Santiago Iritxity Irigoyen, Santiago Paez Nicoletti.Bahamas Gregory Taylor (capt), Adrian Dean, Ambry Moss, Anwar Sawyer, Corie Frazer, Franz Taylor, Fritz Stubbs, Jeremy Jesubatham, Jermaine Adderley, Jonathan Barry, LaSalle Thompson, Marc Taylor, Rodrick Mitchel, Rudolph Fox.Bermuda Rodney Trott (capt), Christopher Douglas, Dennico Hollis, Greg Maybury, Hodsoll Kyle, Jordan De Silva, Khiry Furbert, Lamar Richardson, Malachi Jones, Marico Bassett, Stefan Kelly, Steven Bremar Jr, Tamauri Tucker, Terryne Fray.Canada Abishek Krisnamoorthy (capt), Chris Monohar (vice-captain), Arsalan Qadir, Asif Manjra, Hasan Raza Zaidi, Jaskeerat Singh Kalon, Kevin James, Khushal Gangopadhyay, Majid Usman, Pratik Patel, Riayzkhan Pathan, Rustum Bhatti, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Usman Iqubal.Cayman Islands Ramon Sealy (capt), Corey Cato, Dale Parker, Darado Thompson, Darren Cato, Earl Hart, Kervin Ebanks, Patrick McConvey, Robert Hewitt, Sacha DeAlwis, Shane Cato, Vincent Ebanks, Zachary McLaughlin.

A tap on the shoulder while fielding on the boundary’s edge at Lilac Hill today was the first that Adam Voges knew of his surprise call-up to the Australian squad, for Thursday’s third Test against England at the WACA.Voges, 27, a hard-hitting Western Australia batsman and part-time chinaman bowler, was the surprise pick in Australia’s 13-man squad, following the unexpected retirement of Damien Martyn. He duly celebrated with an impressive 71 as the CA Chairman’s XI overwhelmed their English counterparts by seven wickets.”It’s not quite sunk in,” said Voges. “To play a hometown Test at the WACA has been my boyhood dream. Obviously Andrew Symonds is in the 13 as well so I’ll just have to wait and see, but it would be amazing if it did come true.”Voges has enjoyed a fine start to the season with Western Australia, scoring two centuries and 320 runs at an average of 160 in his three matches, and Justin Langer, his state captain, described his selection as “outstanding”.”I always thought it was only a matter of time before he played cricket for Australia, either one-day internationals or Tests,” said Langer, “and it’s nice with the opportunity that has come up that he’s been selected.”I think it’s a very astute selection,” added Langer. “You pick character over cover-drives, and this bloke’s got a character. There are a lot of young blokes around who are very talented and can play all the shots in the world, but he is just a very strong character, a terrific young bloke with an outstanding work ethic, and he displays a lot of leadership traits.”Even if Langer did think his team-mate was in the frame for selection, Voges was completely taken aback. “I only learnt half an hour ago while fielding,” he said. “Tony Dodemaide tapped me on the shoulder and he said: ‘Come with me. You’re being substituted’. I thought I was in trouble. But instead I had a phone call saying I was in the 13. It’s all happened pretty quickly, and it’s been pretty amazing.”Voges holds the record for the fastest century in Australian domestic one-dayers, from 62 balls in 2004-05, but he insisted there was more to his game than big shots. “Over the past couple of years I was a bloke with a fairly attacking style of game,” he said, “but a winter over at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence tightened my technique, and hopefully I’ve got a reasonable game.”Voges was as taken aback as most of Australia by the news of Martyn’s retirement, and the first he heard of it was an announcement over the PA system at Lilac Hill, shortly before Dodemaide came looking for him. “I played a fair bit with Marto at WA,” he said. “He’s been a fantastic player, a legend of the game, and he played a big part in my development. Obviously it’s a shame his career has come to an end, but it’s definitely an opportunity for me.”Ironically, Voges was dropped by Western Australia only last month against Queensland, to accommodate the return of their Australian international players. “When you get Martyn, Gilchrist, Langer and Hussey all in one side, you can’t complain,” he said. “It was only for one game and if Marto hadn’t retired this opportunity wouldn’t have been here.”Andrew Hilditch, Australia’s chairman of selectors, said: “We are excited to give Adam this opportunity to join the squad. He is an outstanding young player and his inclusion in the squad is a just reward for his efforts to date.”

Whenever Glenn McGrath and Sachin Tendulkar come across each other on acricket pitch, things tend to happen. And it was no different on Friday,with McGrath’s very first delivery to his fellow legend providing for theday’s main talking point. Pitched short, it tempted Tendulkar into thepull, but he was too early on the stroke. The ball brushed his shoulderand ricocheted behind the stumps to Brad Haddin and theAustralian close-in fielders went up in appeal. After a moment’sthought, and to Tendulkar’s stupefaction, Mark Benson raised his finger.Tendulkar’s reaction was about as animated as he ever gets on a cricketfield, and it perhaps implanted the first seeds of doubt in Benson’s mind.And while Tendulkar trudged towards the pavilion slowly, he decided toconsult with his colleague, Asad Rauf. Once Rauf gave his opinion, Bensondecided that it was better to look silly than give the wrong decision, andto his credit, he recalled the batsman.While McGrath smiled ruefully and walked back to his mark, Ricky Pontingwas livid. Forgetting the fact that the umpire is well within his rightsto reverse a decision (Law 27.9), Ponting shared more than a few words, and it willbe interesting to see what view the match referee takes at the end of thegame. After his latest outburst against West Indies, Cricket Australia hadcome down hard on him, aware that the next offence would invite amultiple-game ban.The Tendulkar incident wasn’t the only topic of debate either. Haddin hadmade only two when Rudra Pratap Singh’s throw to Harbhajan Singh appearedto catch him several feet short of the crease. Haddin looked to be walkingoff to the pavilion when Benson decided to clarify whether Harbhajan hadbroken the stumps cleanly with ball in hand. It took several minutes ofreplays to establish that he hadn’t, and the waiting Haddin was thencalled back.While one of the commentators lamented, off the record, about decliningumpiring standards, it must be said that Benson got it right both times.After the umpiring controversies of the past few months it was refreshing to see an official do theright thing, even at the risk of having his competence called intoquestion.

As Bangladesh prepared to leave England, Mohammad Ashraful vowed to use the trip as a springboard for further, more consistent, success. Although Bangladesh twice went down by an innings in their two Tests against England, they rallied in the one-day internationals with Ashraful’s run-a-ball hundred setting up their shock five-wicket win against Australia in Cardiff.It is now four years since Ashraful, on the verge of his 17th birthday, became the youngest player to score a Test hundred when he reached three figures against Sri Lanka.Although he failed to live up to that promise during the Tests against England, Ashraful was pleased by the way he responded to early failures later in the tour by scoring 259 runs in the Natwest Seires at over 43.”I was not happy with the Test series against England but I’ve been happy to comeback in the one-dayers and score runs again. I had the thinking before that I could score 100 in every innings, so my thinking was not mature – but I am more mature now. I know I can’t get a 100 every game but I can continue my form.”I am more mature now in my thinking and batting. I want to continue being consistent in the next series. I think I can do that against Sri Lanka in our next series. If I do that, then I hopefully will have got rid of the inconsistency tag. I don’t just want to have scored runs in this series in England. I want to be a success all the time.”Bangladesh’s victory against Australia in Cardiff was their lone internationalsuccess of a tour that featured some heavy defeats. But an upbeat Ashraful insisted: “I feel Bangladesh can become an even better side. In two or three years we can challenge anyone. At the moment we get a good start to the innings and don’t always catch up in the middle or late order.”I think this can happen. If we can score runs all the time, then we can challengeanyone. To beat Australia gave us a big lift. Before that we were not in good form butafter that match everyone was changed mentally. It gave us self-belief.”Meanwhile Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said several of his players could dowell in English county cricket. “I don’t know if they are going to get any offers but I think Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed are capable of playing at that level. I’d be very happy if they get offers and the chance to play in the county games. I hope that the counties have been looking at some of our players.”Nafees, who won the man of the match award for his 75 against Australia atCanterbury on Thursday, and Ahmed will be returning to England with the BangladeshA team later this month along with Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Hossain.Nafees, 19, said: “We have to take good things out of every game on this tour and work out the areas which went wrong and improve on them. It has been a big learning curve for all of us.”

The Mental as Anything song used to belong to Stuart Law as he strode out at the Gabba, but this summer it could be heading Shane Watson’s way after he spent the off-season fine-tuning his batting fluency. Watson has had so many net sessions at Queensland Cricket’s Brisbane headquarters with Jamie Siddons, the national assistant coach, that state team-mates have joked they haven’t been able to book the bowling machine.Over the past couple of years Watson has employed a more rigid stance with a prominent, almost Graham Gooch-style back lift, but he has relaxed his approach as he looks to steal the No. 6 spot for the Ashes from Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds. “Absolutely, that’s my goal,” he said. “I’m never going to make any secrets about that. That’s what I’ve been working so hard for.”Watson is particularly satisfied with his development over the past five months in both disciplines, but he must earn a spot with his batting before he can provide the additional boost of regular overs of fast bowling. An impressive 161 not out for Australia A in the Top End Series was quick proof the changes were working and there has been pre-season talk that he is closing on a middle-order berth for the first Test on November 23.”I’ve spent hours on bowling machine,” Watson, who will tour Malaysia in two weeks with the one-day team, said. “I’m trying to be a bit more natural instead of rigid. Batting like that had its effect to lift me to a different level, but now I’m trying to progress even further.”While Siddons has been Watson’s batting light – “Jamie has spent so much time with me” – he has also been advised by Troy Cooley on his bowling action, which gains regular attention after numerous back injuries. Last summer Watson started strongly and had collected his second Test wicket when he partially dislocated his shoulder in the first Test at the Gabba, recovering late in the season to earn one-day spot for the tour of South Africa.”I’ve been working with the best coaching resources in the world and they’ve been working extremely well with me,” he said. “I’m giving myself the best chance to improve. When I become the player I want to be it will give the team a lot more options.”He starts this season in superb shape apart from a few of aches from the squad’s wilderness adventure over the past week. During the camp Watson realised he had been a consistent over-eater as he coped with scrawny dinner rations ranging from a piece of steak and a potato to half a can of cold soup with bread.”We didn’t get much food and I’ve always eaten a lot,” he said. “We did a lot of arduous stuff like six-hour walks that were pretty intense, and I learned that I probably don’t need as much energy in my body as what I normally get.”

Mohammad Kaif has recovered from his hamstring injury, which he sustained on October 14, and is set to play for Central Zone in their crucial Duleep Trophy clash against West Zone at Aurangabad, starting on November 4.Wing Commander Baladitya, the manager of the Indian team, confirmed this and added that John Gloster, the team physiotherapist, had declared him fit after subjecting him to various tests.Kaif, who suffered a muscle tear on his left hamstring during the finals of the Challenger Trophy at Mohali, is likely to return to the side for the sixth ODI at Rajkot, to be played on November 9.His presence at Aurangabad, though, will be a huge boost to the Central Zone side in what will be a virtual semi-final clash. Simultaneously, the Sourav Ganguly-led East Zone will take on Zimbabwe President’s XI at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and a victory will guarantee Central a spot in the final.

Allrounder Shane Watson has suffered an abdominal injury less than five weeks out from Australia’s opening match of the World Twenty20. The injury occurred while Watson was bowling for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League on Friday; he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament and was to fly home for assessment by Cricket Australia’s medical staff.Watson was named in Australia’s 15-man squad for the World T20 after he smashed 124 off 71 balls opening the batting in the third and final T20 against India at the SCG last month, the second-highest individual score in T20 international history. In that match he also became the ninth man to captain Australia in T20 international cricket, with Aaron Finch injured and Steven Smith and David Warner in New Zealand ahead of the ODI series.”I’ve unfortunately made this video because I injured myself last night bowling,” Watson said in a video posted on the Islamabad United Twitter account on Saturday. “Disappointingly I’m going to have to head home back to Australia to get assessed with the medical people back at Cricket Australia to try and get right for the Twenty20 World Cup.”Azhar Mahmood has been drafted in to the Islamabad squad as Watson’s replacement for the remainder of the PSL. Watson played each of Islamabad’s first six games, even leading the team in two matches in the absence of regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq. At the time of his injury, Watson was Islamabad’s leading run-scorer, with 194 runs at 32.33.Watson, who retired from Test cricket last September, has mainly been playing T20 matches in recent months and at the IPL auction last week he bagged the biggest deal, being bought for Rs 9.5 crores by Royal Challengers Bangalore. His absence will be a major setback to an Islamabad side that has won just two matches all tournament and is currently rooted near the bottom of the table.”Thankyou so much to my franchise, Islamabad,” Watson said. “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun … to be able to get to know all the local players has been a lot of fun.”

Match facts

Sunday, April 27, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

The bottom-ranked Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers are desperately chasing their first victory after three outings each. As if the absence of Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t bad enough, Mumbai have been further hurt by the temporary suspension of Harbhajan Singh, their acting captain, after his row with Sreesanth on Friday. Top-order failures have hurt their batting, adding pressure on the middle and lower-order that mostly comprises young and inexperienced batsmen.Deccan suffer from the same problem too, with the likes of Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman and Shahid Afridi failing to provide a rousing start yet. Laxman might feel his team was unlucky to have lost narrowly against Kolkata in the opener and then against Rajasthan Royals in the last game, but he has failed to be flexible if the original plan has not gone according to the script.

Watch out for …

… a final blast from Andrew Symonds before he returns to Australia for a preparatory camp ahead of the Caribbean tour next month. He won’t have to encounter Harbhajan, who had his number during the CB Series finals, which could make Symonds even more destructive.

Team news

Harbhajan’s suspension has compounded the problems for the team management, who now have to keep the dressing room atmosphere positive in addition to working out winning strategies. Shaun Pollock takes over as captain, while Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, could be Harbhajan’s replacement in the XI. The question mark over Tendulkar’s fitness still remains to further add to the worries. The only piece of good news is the arrival of Loots Bosman, who is coming off an excellent Twenty20 season in South Africa – he was the highest run-getter of the tournament, with 257 runs at an average of 42.83 and a strike rate of 143.57. Bosman is likely to replace Luke Ronchi, while Pinal Shah will keep wicket in that scenario with Saurabh Tiwary missing out.Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Pinal Shah (wk), 6 Shaun Pollock (capt), 7 Abhishek Nayar, 8 Musavir Khote, 9 Rajesh Pawar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Ashish Nehra.It is highly unlikely Hyderabad would change their line-up, but they might be tempted to open with Gilchrist and Afridi.Deccan Chargers (probable) 1 VVS Laxman (capt), 2 Adam Gilchrist, 3 Shahid Afridi, 4 Andrew Symonds, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Arjun Yadav, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 RP Singh, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 D Kalyankrishna.