Rahul Dravid has said that experiments during the one-day series against Pakistan will depend on strategy and indicated that key players will play in their usual positions.”Shuffling of batting order will depend on strategy and other conditions but the postmortem of the Test series shows that we will have to play the key players in the positions suited to them,” said Dravid. “It [the ODIs] would be an altogether different ball game from the Tests. We have a young team and we will not make many changes in it. We would mostly be opening with Sehwag and Tendulkar. We also have Gautam Gambhir.”He ruled out notions of the team having low morale after the loss in the third Test at Karachi. “We do not need any extra motivation for the ODIs. That we are playing Pakistan is motivation in itself for the team. Pakistan are playing at home and we know that we are up against a good side. They’ve done well so far. It will be a nice challenge.”We didn’t do well with the new ball and we’ve to learn to play well under pressure,” said Dravid when asked to comment on Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism of India’s performance at Karachi. “We also need to have a bowler who can take 20 wickets in Test.”
Brett Lee has objected to claims made by Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, that the Australian team intimidated the umpires during the recent Pakistan series. Lee said that while forceful appealing was intended to influence the umpires’ decision, he felt that he and his team-mates had been well within the limits. Woolmer had claimed that the umpires were subconsciously pressurised by Australian appeals and the crowds, which resulted into close calls going 29-6 against Pakistan.”Hopefully being a bowler you can sway the umpire to give him out. I have not seen a problem with the way the Australian cricket team has been appealing and we only appeal when we think it should be out,” Lee told AAP. “There has been a lot written about it and sure umpires make mistakes, they’re only human.”Lee said that it was difficult for the umpires to make a judgment in a split second and that those that criticise them have the advantage of watching the slow-motion replays several times. “I think we should give them a pat on the back because they have done a pretty good job,” he said, before suggesting the selection of neutral umpires in one-day internationals to prevent allegations of home side favouritism.”Umpires don’t cheat, that is common knowledge,” he said. “It would be nice to put those rumours to bed and have neutral umpires in a 50 over match.”Lee also spoke about Billy Bowden, the New Zealand umpire, whose often comical manner of umpiring has grabbed much attention. “Sometimes when you do look around and you’ve bowled a wide and you see him stretch his arms out like a pelican it is not the most flattering thing,” he said. “You want to just go up to him and push his arms back down.”
Junaid Zia has pulled out of the Pakistan one-day squad to play New Zealand, citing the need to attend exams as the reason.Zia, the son of the board’s chairman, was a controversial selection in the first place, having taken only three wickets at an average of 42.33 in his four previous ODIs.However, he requested to be left out of the squad and his place was awarded to Umar Gul, who had been initially selected in the Pakistan A team for the one-day series in India, also involving Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.The first ODI is on November 29 at Lahore.
A diplomatic incident occurred at the ICC Under-19 World Cup today between the Indian and Pakistan sides – but it was not the sort of incident to cause antagonism or shame.It was a moment of pride, for both countries, as they put aside the differences being experienced on the Kashmir frontier.It was a moment of joy, as the two teams went into a marquee at the ground after the game and embraced, each player, manager, fitness trainer, the works.It was a statement for the moment, and it was a vision for the future, as the players who will surely be competitors again, if the politicians can allow two of the most competitive nations in the cricket world to play each other, when cricket ties between the two are normalised.They had each just played a rattling good competitive game. It was won by Pakistan by two wickets, but India also triumphed as they have qualified for the semi-finals.There was tension on the field, but there was delight also that the spirit in which the game was played was outstanding.Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who had led his side to victory with an unbeaten 85 summed it up afterwards when he said the players taking part in the match did not want the problems associated with the border tensions.”We don’t want this, this is our game.”We are not at the border, we are not at the war.”We are going to play at the next level of the game against each other. We want to play in a brotherly manner,” he said.The Pakistan manager Brigadier Javed Tipu said at the beginning of the day he had approached the Indian management to see if representatives from one side could address the others to point out that despite whatever else might be happening, they were here to play a game of cricket and that it should be played in the best traditions of the game.”After mutual consultation it was decided we should each speak to our own boys and that after the match we could get together,” he said.”We love our cricket on the sub-continent, in Pakistan, in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”Cricket is the game of the future and I feel cricket’s future is more in Asia,” he said.”These boys are the future of Indian and Pakistan cricket. Most of our players in these teams go on to represent the national side and they will face each other, hopefully, in tournaments many times in the future.”We wanted them to make friends and to be on friendly terms because they played each other.”Cricket should be kept away from politics, unfortunately we have not been able to do that.”We hope and pray that today’s match is the beginning of coming back to normal cricket relations between our two countries,” he said.
Railways got off to a winning start in the CricInfo Rani Jhansitournament at the AC Tech ground in Chennai today. The spin troika ofRupanjali Shastri, Deepa Kulkarni and Neetu David ran rings around theCentral Zone batswomen to restrict them to 116 in the morningsession. After losing two relatively early wickets in reply, a durablethird wicket association between Rajini Venugopal and Hemlata Kala putRailways on the victory trail and they closed out the match by sixwickets with almost ten overs to spare.In a change of tactics , Central Zone decided to bat first on winningthe toss rather than chase a target which they had successfullyaccomplished yesterday. The dependable combination of Bharati Varmaand Priyanka Sailey opened the innings . Priyanka was clearly beingthe more flamboyant of the two while Bharati played the anchor role.The strategy seemed to be to keep wickets in hand by waiting for thebad balls and in the meantime, taking the singles aggressively. Therunning between the wickets was not the most professional, a littlemore method in the madness would have been desirable, but they managedto avert tragedy.The score had mounted to 34 in 13 overs when spin made its firstappearance in the form of Rupanjali Shastri’s off breaks. In the nextover the left arm orthodox tweakers of Neetu David wereintroduced. She kept Bharati quiet for four balls before the latterlost patience, going for a heave against the spin to be bowled.Chitra Vajpayee tried another cross batted swipe off Rupanjali, a laBharati, and was lucky to see it miss the stumps. But the writing wason the wall and she tried to cut one outside off in the same over onlyto nick one through to the keeper. She was gone for a fourth ballduck.This started a procession as Rupanjali then packed off Arundhati andPreeti Dudhe in her next two overs, also for ducks, to put Central indire straits at 41/4 in the 20th over. Priyanka had watched thebloodletting from the other end and she now got a partner in RahulSingh, coming in at No.6, who seemed to possess the same steelynerves. Neetu gave the ball plenty of air, inviting Priyanka to cometo the pitch of the ball, and the latter picked up the gauntlet toloft her for two fours to wide long on. A fielder was quietly put backon the long on boundary and Priyanka just could not resist launchingherself into another flighted delivery and holed out to her. If everan object lesson was delivered in how to buy your wicket, this wasit. Priyanka had made 24 (63 balls, 3 fours), which remained the topscore in the innings.Skipper Deepa Kulkarni, another left arm spinner, had put herself onby now and Rahul, after striking three boundaries, gave a tame catchto Balvir Kaur at midoff. Varsha Raphael played some attractivestrokes en route to 21 from 31 balls and after she was bowled byDeepa at 90, captain Leena Muley and Bindeshwari Goel delayed theinevitable. The innings finally folded up for 116 in the 48th over,with Rupanjali and Deepa both finishing with 3/21 from 10 overs,while Neetu bagged 2/27 from ten.Railways began slowly with openers Rajini Sharma and Reshma Gandhijust getting their eye in and not trying to do anything daring. Rajiniwas especially strong on the off side as she stroked two boundariesthrough the covers off Central captain Leena Muley. Off break bowlerVarsha Raphael had opened the innings from the pavilion end ratherthan the more conventional medium pace option of Neetu Singh. In thetenth over Reshma came into her elements with a boundary to square legand a fluent drive to wide long off that was stopped just inside therope. But in the same over, Varsha flattened Rajini’s off stump asshe played back to one that kept a trifle low. She was thensurprisingly taken off and left arm spinner Preeti Dimri, who was notplayed yesterday, came into the attack while at the other end, PreetiDudhe, the bespectacled leg spinner was given a fling. Dimri has anice easy action with economy of effort and struck by drawing Reshmainto a drive and beating her in the flight. Keeper Arundhati had thebails off in one quick motion and Railways were down to 31/2 in the14th over.This brought two relatively new batswomen to the crease in RajiniVenugopal and Hemlata Kala. They gave the bowling a wide berth atfirst as the two Preetis despairingly attempted to make furtherinroads. Dudhe was getting good bounce and Arundhati collected one atchest height that just beat the outside edge of Hemlata’s bat. Thelatter had another close call as she drove Dudhe on the up to coverbut it just failed to carry to the lunging fieldswoman who took it onthe half volley. But the longer these two stayed at the wicket, themore emboldened they became.The running between the wickets was a class higher than anything elseseen in the match, with the ones being converted into twos withcheek. The same could not be said of the Central fielding though whichwas rather unedifying at times. The run stand was finally broken inthe 35th over by left arm spinner Rahul Singh when Hemlata stepped outto cart her away but played inside the line to leave her wickets in amess. Two balls later Balvir Kaur was bowled in identical fashion toleave the score at 93 /4 and Railways were making a struggle out of anordinary task. Captain Deepa Kulkarni brought some composure to theproceedings and with Rajini continuing to fire away at the other end,the win was finally sealed in the 41st over, with the latter unbeatenon 42 (87 balls, 4 fours).
Transfer insider Dean Jones believes that Manchester City could target Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix as an alternative to Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.
The Lowdown: Kane and Haaland linked with Man City
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of Tottenham star Kane last summer was highly documented as the 28-year-old made it known that he wanted to join the Premier League champions. City even made a £125m bid which was sensationally rejected by Daniel Levy, who was doing anything he could to keep his most prized asset.
Elsewhere, the Sky Blues are in pole position to sign Borussia Dortmund marksman Erling Haaland. It has been reported that the Norwegian has a £67m release clause in his contract, so this could prove to be a much cheaper addition compared to the Spurs man.
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The Latest: Man City could go for Felix instead
If Guardiola fails to secure the services of either of these strikers, Jones has claimed that Man City could turn to 22-year-old Joao Felix instead.
Speaking with GiveMeSport, he stated: “Manchester City have seriously looked at Joao Felix for some time, and if their main plans – Kane and Haaland – don’t work out, it would not surprise me at all to see them try to sign the Atletico Madrid star instead.
“People close to the situation have left me in no doubt about how much he is admired within City.”
The Verdict: Pep could get the best out of him
When the Portugal youngster joined the La Liga side in 2019, he became the fifth-most expensive footballer of all time, signing in a deal worth £113m.
Since then, however, Felix has struggled to live up to expectations. In 102 appearances for the club, he has netted just 24 goals, although his underlying stats illustrate his true potential. Over the past year, he has ranked in the 94th percentile for pass completion, the 93rd percentile for progressive carries and the 92nd percentile for progressive passes (via FB Ref).
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With a reduced market valuation of £54m and with the prospect of Guardiola working on the 22-year-old’s finishing ability, he could prove to be the perfect target for City if they fail to secure Kane or Haaland.
In other news: Bild drop Erling Haaland to City transfer update
Khulna started the final round of matches with a one-point lead over Rajshahi. The key game was in Dhaka where Rajshahi appeared to be on course for a draw until dramatically collapsing on the third afternoon as Dhaka’s left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain took 6 for 13 to bowl them out for 77. Dhaka, chasing 130, had problems of their own as they slid to 91 for 7 before Mahmudullah Riyad and stand-in skipper Mohammad Sharif guided them to a three-wicket win on the stroke of tea. Sharif ended the match in emphatic style, launching two massive sixes over long-off.Bizarrely, at the end of the game Khaled Mashud, Rajshahi’s captain, led his team’s celebrations, telling bemused reporters that they were happy as they had secured the one-day title with a week to spare.As news of that result filtered through to Khulna, where the home side had surrendered a small first-innings lead, the tension mounted as Barisal reached 187 for 5 in pursuit of a target of 302. Anything other than a win would still have handed the title to Rajshahi, but the bowlers kept their nerve and the last five wickets fell for 51 runs.”We were confident because it was difficult to score near 300 on the fourth-day pitch,” stand-in Khulna skipper Nahidul Haque told The Daily Star. “We were hardly bothered about what happened in Dhaka rather our main target was to win the match.”The third match was one played in almost complete anonymity as Chittagong beat Sylhet by seven wickets at the Fatullah Stadium. Nazimuddin, who finished the top scorer in the league with 720 runs, led Chittagong’s chase of a target of 237The only downer on the season finale was the absence of national players, on duty in New Zealand. “There had been too much talking about our strength without the national players but we have proved it all rubbish,” Haque told the paper. “We proved that we have a number of good players in the team.”
Stephen Fleming said he was still the best option to captain New Zealand despite their disappointing CB Series in Australia, where they missed the finals after a resurgent England overshadowed them in the later stages of the tournament. Fleming endured criticism of his decision-making and his own personal form during the series and there were calls for Daniel Vettori to take over the captaincy.But as New Zealand prepared for the first game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy at Wellington, Fleming defended his role with the team. “Leadership and decision-making is a massive part of my game,” he told . “I love the job, I love being with the team.”What I find tiring is spending weeks when you know you’re copping it. That can be a little bit draining but it’s part and parcel of being New Zealand captain when you’re not performing well. When you lose you’re torn apart.”Steve Rixon, the former New Zealand coach, said Fleming’s body language in Australia was “flat”, while Adam Parore continued his criticism of Fleming’s leadership and said Vettori should replace him. Fleming declined to respond directly to Parore’s comments. “I think we’ve given Adam enough exposure this week,” he said.Fleming’s own form was disappointing until he scored a century in New Zealand’s last game of the tour. But his tactics in that match – his 106 came from 149 balls in an unsuccessful run-chase – divided opinion in New Zealand. “In some games I’d have loved to have had another go at it, you can do 20 different things during a game,” Fleming said.He said New Zealand were expected to win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with Australia’s line-up missing Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and doubt surrounding Michael Clarke’s fitness. “It’s an oxymoron to say there’s a weak Australian side — there’s no such thing,” Fleming said.
As openings go, this one was out and out one-sided. One team rejoiced after an inspirational century and two vital fifties, under sunny skies on a featherbed of a pitch, and took control. Another side started the day with a selection conundrum and ended it with several other riddles to ponder over.Pakistan made the most of their fortune at the toss. They saw off the new ball, consolidated in the second session, and finished with a mighty flourish, shredding the bowling to bits. India, not for the first time in the last year, ran into a red-hot Younis Khan and wilted in ideal batting conditions in a half-full, yet joyous, Gadaffi Stadium. No greentop, no wintry conditions; simply one jolly run-fest. Welcome to Pakistan.If it’s India it must be Younis. Carrying on from his heroic efforts on the Indian tour series earlier this year, he displayed his array of flourishing twirls and spanking straight-drives against an attack that failed to summon too much incisiveness.Cheering his partners with customary vigour – applauding, smiling, wrist punching – he propelled Pakistan right through the day, reached his tenth Test hundred with a magnificent straight-drive and entered a blistering zone as the light began to fade. Shoaib Malik had lent solidity earlier this morning and Yousuf gave him company through the afternoon merrymaking and Pakistan were wrenching away the momentum too early, too well. Forget the rest. When Anil Kumble finishes the first day with none for 93, you know that it’s been tough going.Walking in in the third over of the day, after a wandering Salman Butt had been run out by Yuvraj Singh in one of few inspirational moments India could manage, Younis latched on to the full deliveries with glee, driving assertively to the straight boundary. The paddle-sweeps against Harbhajan Singh and the classy cuts off Kumble put them off their rhythm, before cute late jabs, when the ball went finer and finer as the day progressed, and macho swipes took over. Amid all this, though, was some canny scampering as the fielders found themselves scattered in various parts of the park. Having had an indifferent series against England, Younis couldn’t have chosen too many bigger stages to stamp his authority, with the most emphatic of opening salvos.Just like at Kolkata earlier this year, he found an able ally in Mohammad Yousuf, the touch artist, who as always, handled the spinners with ease – paddling, sweeping, pulling the long hops and dancing down the track – as the attack slowly began to lose its bite. Kumble’s long hops were dismissed over midwicket, Pathan’s wide ones caressed through covers, and Harbhajan’s flighted offerings creamed through, well, anywhere on the off side. Cruising to fifty off 72 balls, he delicately dismantled the Indian attack, sometimes even summoning the courage to dance down the track to Kumble. He offered a chance when on 90, flashing at a wide one from Agarkar, but was smiling again when Virender Sehwag, at gully, reacted a tad too late.The importance of the third big knock of the day shouldn’t be under-estimated. Malik, who was retained as an opener, bided his time against the faster men and executing the glide to a nicety. Playing with soft hands, mostly in control, he regularly found a gap between the three-man slip cordon and gully. The flick was also one of his favourites and was helped by the fact that the bowlers slid down the legside on quite a few occasions.He was in no mood to get bogged down by Harbhajan Singh, who extracted some turn in his opening over, and waltzed down the track in his second over, tonking him over midwicket for a superb six. He brought up his fourth Test fifty, his first in nearly six months, with a similar stroke and gradually began opening up at the end of the first session. His aggression probably got the better of him and he fell soon after the break, driving uppishly against Pathan only for Harbhajan to take a simple catch.Rahul Dravid juggled his bowling options around, and tried a few innovative field settings – including two close in on the leg-side for Malik – but it was tough going all day. With the ball not swinging too much in the air, Pathan and Agarkar lacked the incisive edge while the spinners, though extracting a bit of turn, found it tough against batsmen who read the length of the ball early.Ganguly, who was included in the side at Gautam Gamhir’s expense, also tried his hand, keeping it tight and not experimenting too much, and all the bowlers were forced to do the same as the day progressed. It didn’t matter. On a day such as this, when the ignition refuses to switch on, nothing, yes nothing, will work.
Salman Butt run-out (Yuvraj) 6 (12 for 1) Shoaib Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 59 (136 for 2)
Glenn McGrath ruthlessly dismantled Pakistan’s flimsy top order to set up Australia’s VB Series victory before sealing it with the late dismissal of the dangerous Abdul Razzaq at the SCG. McGrath forced his opponents’ chase to follow a similar path to the first match at Melbourne with a blistering opening spell, and finished with five wickets as Pakistan fell 31 runs short of Australia’s total of 9 for 239.Australia’s fine bowling, which followed another inconsistent batting performance, wrapped up the series on a tricky two-paced pitch. Pakistan were 4 for 27 at Melbourne, where they lost by 18 runs, and suffered similar damage as McGrath claimed three wickets from his first six overs. As Pakistan resisted with a potentially dangerous ninth-wicket stand of 48 between Razzaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, McGrath returned to add the final two wickets for figures of 5 for 27 and the Man-of-the-Match award.Yousuf Youhana restored Pakistan’s chances with a run-a-ball half-century, and when Razzaq and Shahid Afridi started racing, Australia were nervous. Afridi had sprinted to 30 off 20 balls in the 35th over, in which he belted Brad Hogg for two sixes, when he risked a second on Brett Lee’s accurate throw from third man. Gilchrist’s quick take was ruled successful by the third umpire (7 for 133). It was an important moment in a match where only Gilchrist and Youhana managed to score comfortably.”We haven’t been at our best in the two finals but we’ve bowled really well,” Ricky Ponting said before lifting the trophy. “Pakistan pushed us all the way in the two games but we were lucky to keep our noses in front.” Ponting also signalled out McGrath for special praise.More expensive than his opening partner Lee in their first spells, McGrath stayed two overs longer and caused the most damage. The dismissal of Inzamam-ul-Haq was by far the most important as the captain has led the middle-order resistance. Inzamam walked out to another rebuilding exercise after his top three failed again, but for the first time in the series he wasn’t able to help as McGrath’s off-cutter caught him in front third ball (4 for 38).Kamram Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez departed to similar shots from eerily similar McGrath deliveries. Television graphics showed the balls hitting the pitch millimetres apart on a length too short to drive, but Akmal edged his to Gilchrist and Hafeez struck to Michael Clarke at a specially ordered short point (3 for 38). As has been his custom over the past month, Lee, the Player of the Series, made an early incision when Taufeeq Umar, playing his first game of the tournament after replacing Salman Butt, top-edged a pull to McGrath on the fine-leg fence (1 for 13).Unfortunately for Pakistan it was mostly their bowlers who were willing to fight for the trophy with bat and ball, and their first-innings performance rattled Australia. After Gilchrist made sure Australia blasted off as he rocketed to 40 off 30 balls with six fours and a six, the visitors fired an impressive comeback with a steady flow of wickets.Boasting all-round bowling contributors, Pakistan withstood the initial blast – 50 runs in the first 6.4 overs – and then, through Rao Iftikhar and Razzaq, applied the brakes. But it was the spinners Afridi and Hafeez who took the most advantage of the pitch, which became harder to score on as the ball softened, with 20 brilliant overs. Afridi collected Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann and conceded 38 runs and Hafeez gave away 34 as the middle order folded. Following a summer of dominance the home side were in disarray and even had a Pakistan-style run out when Katich and Damien Martyn both landed at the bowler’s end (5 for 166). Andrew Symonds, missing after injuring his Achilles tendon at Melbourne, was a big loss from the line-up and his absence left Martyn to calm a falling run-rate with a hard-earned 43.Not only did Pakistan restrict their opponents in the middle stages, they also reduced the danger of the late-innings rush and Naved narrowly missed a hat-trick when McGrath squirted him to fine-leg.Razzaq, who returned to uproot Martyn’s off stump, started Pakistan’s first recovery with two maidens and the crucial wicket of Gilchrist, who popped a drive to Shoaib Malik at cover (1 for 55). However, Rudi Koertzen ordered Razzaq out of the attack after his second high full toss in the 49th over. Razzaq was also lost towards the end of the second innings during a match – and a tournament – where Pakistan required much more from their top order.