CWC 2015 is fixed! WhatsApp reveals...

In what may serve as a big blow to cricket enthusiasts, a message on #WhatsApp that has gone viral claims that the ongoing ICC World Cup 2015 is fixed.

The shocking fact about this message is that all the results of the World Cup 2015 matches so far have come true and have matched what the message states.

According to the message, India will not be able defend their World Cup title and will also go on to lose against South Africa and Zimbabwe.

According to the message, India will beat New Zealand in the first quarterfinal, but will go down to Australia in the semifinal.

The message states that the second quarterfinal will be between Australia and Zimbabwe, in which Australia will be the winners, South Africa will beat England in the third quarterfinal and Sri Lanka will register their first World Cup victory against Pakistan by beating the 1992 champions in the fourth quarterfinal.



The message shows that South Africa will defeat hosts Australia in the final for their maiden World Cup title victory.

But Asian giants India and Sri Lanka won't progress beyond the semifinals as they will be beaten by arguably the two best teams in the competition - Australia and South Africa respectively, the message claims.

The message shows that South Africa will defeat hosts Australia in the final on March 29 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for their maiden World Cup title victory.

If this message is true indeed, then all the work done by the International Cricket Council against the fixers will clearly come to naught.

TOI Sports

De Silva urges Sri Lanka to copy Australia

Sri Lanka's outgoing chief selector and former batsman Aravinda de Silva on Thursday urged players to develop the never-say-die spirit shown by Australia.

"We are superior in talent to Australia, but it is the character and the fighting spirit which we must inculcate in our players," de Silva, vice-captain of the 1996 World Cup-winning Sri Lankan team, told reporters.

A three-member Sri Lankan selection committee led by de Silva quit on Wednesday, less than a week after the team's defeat against India in the World Cup final inMumbai.

De Silva, who scored 6,361 runs in Tests and 9,284 in one-day internationals, said he felt players became "emotional" during the final as the match tilted in India's favour.

"Maybe they were thinking about lost opportunities and became emotional," he said. "This is the difference between an Australian side and ours. They don't give up the match until the last ball is bowled.

"They (Sri Lanka) should know how to fight until the last ball and not to give up the game. These are the things that we don't have in our culture."

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara and vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene have stepped down following the World Cup defeat, while Australia-born coach Trevor Bayliss' four-year stint with the team also ended after the tournament.




Source : THE TIMES OF INDIA

India's XV Men Squad for ICC WC 2011

India announces their XV men squad for CWC 2011. M.S.Dhoni will lead the Squad. coached by Garry Kirsten.  No Rohith Sharma and Sreesanth in the squad. Sreesanth is annoyed with the announcement...!! And little bit surprise that Piyush Chawla comes in to the squad.....!
Here is the List :

• M.S.Dhoni
• Virender Sehwag
• Gautam Gambir
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Ravichandran Aswin
• Piyush Chawla
• Munaf Patel
• Yusuf Pathan
• Ashish Nehra
• Zahir Khaan
• Harbajaan Singh
• Virat Kohli
• Suresh Raina
• Praveen Kumar
• Yuvraaj Singh

India's second position under threat

Both South Africa and Sri Lanka have the chance to go ahead of second-ranked India in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship when the Proteas face Pakistan in the remaining three ODIs in Dubai and Sri Lanka goes head to head with top-ranked Australia in Melbourne later this week.

Sri Lanka and South Africa are currently locked on 115 ratings points – two behind India. But all this can change depending how their respective series pan out.

If Sri Lanka wins its three-match ODI series against Australia, it is guaranteed second place in the championship table while South Africa can only move ahead of India if it wins all the remaining three ODIs.

A 3-0 win for Sri Lanka will put it on 121 ratings points – four behind Australia, which will drop to 125 ratings points – while a 2-1 success for Kumar Sangakkara's side will take it to 118 ratings points.

On the other side of the coin, Sri Lanka will drop behind England on 112 ratings points if Ricky Ponting's side makes a clean sweep of the series while both the sides will retain their pre-series rankings and ratings if Australia wins the series 2-1.

The challenge for South Africa is tougher, particularly after a rejuvenated Pakistan's sensational one-wicket victory in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The Proteas now need to win the remaining three matches which will lift them to 119 ratings points.

In sharp contrast, South Africa's failure to win the series or the remaining matches of the series will have dire consequences on its standing on the ODI table.

If Pakistan's wins the series by 3-2, South Africa will drop below England on 111 ratings points while Graeme Smith's side will fall as low as sixth if Shahid Afridi's men win all the three matches which will be played at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai Sports City.

Pakistan's success in the remaining three ODIs will mean both sides will be equal on 107 ratings points but the home sides will be placed higher when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.


SOURCE : icc-cricket.yahoo.net

Bookie claims India-Sri Lanka Rajkot ODI was fixed

MUMBAI: Here's a lead for the International Cricket Council's ( ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit to probe into. A top bookmaker in India, who strictly maintains that he is not involved in the player-bookie nexus, says the December 15, 2009 India- Sri Lanka One-day match at Rajkot was suspicious. "Saaf nahi tha (it wasn't clean)," he told TOI on Friday.

Sri Lanka won the toss, elected to field and India ran amok scoring 414 runs on a placid track. In reply, Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan's massive 160 and almost chased the target before falling short by 3 runs. Sri Lanka bowled 27 extras in the game, India bowled 21 and a total of 825 runs were scored at the Madhavrao Scindia ground that day.

"Sri Lanka were 401/5 with just 14 more runs needed from seven balls. The bets were coming in fast because punters wanted to balance the stakes. At the start, India looked firm favourites and there were almost no takers for Sri Lanka win. But towards the end, it all became a frenzy," says the bookie.

Right then, he received a text message on his mobile. The sender was a 20-year-old boy from Rajasthan who earlier used to work for him as a cleaner. He wrote: "Sab saude kaat do, aur call mat lena. India match le jar raha hai (Cancel all deals and don't take any further bets. India is winning the game)."

The bookmaker says instinct made him listen to his former employee and he turned out right. India won by three runs.

What was behind the SMS may never be known but the bookie continues to harp on the rumour of the amount of money that was transacted that night. "I am told that money around Rs 28 crore ($ 7m) changed hands that night," he says.

It is for the relevant authorities to try and see if there was any truth to the allegations. The bookie also went on to add a little more after his 'fixing' theory. "That was the last match that I heard was suspicious. I can also say that Indian players are clean. They're among the most impeccable, especially the senior players," he says.

With skeletons tumbling out of the Pakistan closet, while that may be of slight relief, it is still disturbing that there is talk a fixed game being played less than a year back in India. And one man, claims he has circumstantial evidence to prove it happened. Will the authorities probe this claim?

 
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Dhoni Focus On their Fielding....

Dambulla: The two league matches between India and Sri Lanka were embroiled in controversies, the first a no-ball incident and the second one was ruined by dodgy umpiring decisions, but Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hoped that final will be played in good spirit.

India have beaten Sri Lanka in four finals in the past two years in the Island country, with the most recent being the Asia Cup in June, and the visitors would seek their fifth successive win in the Summit Clash on Saturday.

“I think it is a small thing that really matters, you know. If you take care of small things the big steps they take care of themselves. So it will be all the small and basic things,” Dhoni told a press conference which he addressed 45 minutes after the schedule time.

“Depends on what you are doing first, batting or bowling. If bowling first try to make use of conditions. There will be a strong breeze going across the field. If the bowlers can take help of that and if we get early wickets and restrict the opposition in accumulating too many runs,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s final.”

“Fielding will be crucial because we have seen every 10 runs the opposition scores it can really count at the end of the game. I think we will take care of the basics and stick to the basics,” he insisted.

Dhoni said all the three teams in the tri-series have struggled at the sporting pitch at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium and his side would not worry about their performance so far.

“We try to keep it simple. If you look worried about something then the players will always look worried. I think this has been a series of ups and downs. Not only for our batsmen but for all three teams which participated.”

“The new ball spell has been important. What we have seen is there have been batting collapses and sides have been bundled out for 100, 120 or 140 odd runs,” he said when asked about the poor form of the middle order batsmen.



“I think the new ball will be very crucial. It is important to just see the new ball off. How you do that it is not really important, whether it looks good or does not. I think it will be crucial not to lose too many early wickets. That will be one of the main strategies that will be used by both the teams,” he said.

Dhoni was also hopeful that Saturday’s final will be played in good spirit.

“We try to avoid as much controversy as possible. But in between we have seen some of the batsmen get fine. Either the skipper gets fined for bowling slow. You can go on with that. Hopefully no more controversies and as far as going hard is concerned we try to do things in our groove that is what our strength is,” he said.

“Our strength is not to go out and be really verbal. We have been a side that cheers up the bowler but at the same time try not to get very personal with the batsmen. So we have tried to keep a distance with the opposition batsman batting at the crease. I hope to keep it the same. Hopefully it will be a non controversial final and will be a good final for the spectators as well,” said Dhoni.

Asked about the inconsistent batting show of his side in the series, also involving New Zealand, Dhoni said, “Well of course it is. Specially if you see the number of runs scored by the batsmen. That is a major concern right now. But we are hoping it turns out well tomorrow.”

“We will get a par score that the bowlers can help us defend. How we achieve that par score, who scores does not really matter till somebody scores and we get those 220 or 240 odd runs,” he said.

“Our lower order batting has got affected as Harbhajan (Singh) and Zaheer Khan contribute with the bat also. However the role of the bowler is to bowl well,” he added.

• The key is to win matches consistently - Sanga
• Seamers take Sri Lanka to final...

Virender Sehwag has been the only batsman who has been performing in this tournament and Dhoni hoped the other batsman would also click tomorrow so that too much pressure is not put on the swashbuckling opener.

“We don’t want to put undue pressure on Sehwag. He is a free flowing cricketer. He is a natural aggressive cricketer. I think he should still back himself and bat the way he bats. As far as form is concerned, one gets back to form in one match and he could get out of form in two matches. Being the finals, a contributory effort will be needed.

“As long as you are there you try to make a platform wherein the other batsmen who come after you they are able to perform. I think it will be a very contributory effort. But if we win the final because of an individual brilliance the team wont really mind it. But hopefully it being a team sport everyone will try to do his job. I think it is the result that
will matter,” he said.

Asked about his strategy tomorrow, Dhoni said, “There is no fixed plan. Lot of time we slogged. After Asia Cup there were about 10-12 matches where there had been no chance to slog. We are just feeling the flow of the bat. It is not because of any strategy.”

Dhoni refused to reveal the team composition and whether Ravinder Jadeja would be be brought in or not, saying it would depend on the playing conditions tomorrow.

“Winning combination is important but we have to see what kind of wicket is given to us. And accordingly we will select our eleven. So if we feel that the wicket is dry and is not very hard and can assist spinners then definitely Jadeja will get a spot.

“But if we feel that the spinners will not get that much assistance and we will need another batsman then Jadeja will have to miss. We will see exactly and decide after we see the wicket before the game,” he said.

Dhoni was happy that his side had a good practice session ahead of the final.

“It was a good practice session (today). The centre wicket practice session is always a better one because you exactly know where the ball is going and whether you have fielders there or not. I think we made the most of it. We had a long practice session and we are just hoping that everybody gears up well,” he said.

Asked what has changed since winning four finals in Sri Lanka, Dhoni said, “Well we have won many tosses. Before the Asia Cup I think it was in Premadasa Stadium where we won four tosses out of five.

Before that we played at Dambulla in the initial part of the series. Even in that we won many tosses.

“I think in this tournament we have found that toss is not the factor unlike in earlier series when you win the toss and make 240-250 runs and the opposition finds it difficult to score under the lights while chasing. But we found a change when we played at the Asia Cup. I think when we played on a fresh wicket instead of a used up wicket then we found that chasing was not that difficult.”

SOURCE : ZEECRIC

Highlights IND vs SL [22nd Aug @ Dambulla]

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Nothing worked for us today: Dhoni

Dambulla: India were handed the worst ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining by Sri Lanka here and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded nothing worked right for his side in the tri-series match except for the fact that Yuvraj Singh returned among runs.

"Nothing worked today. We didn`t get the kind of start we needed and so not enough runs for the bowlers to defend after batting first. Sri Lankan bowlers bowled in the right channels and pushed us into making the mistakes," Dhoni said after his side`s eight-wicket defeat.

India now face a must-win situation against New Zealand in their last match to enter Saturday`s final and Dhoni admitted that it is now or never for his side.

"Next game is like a semi-final now. We have to do well in that match or we have to pack up and go back home," the Indian skipper said.

He said the only positive thing India derived from today`s match was Yuvraj Singh, who returned to the playing XI after missing a match due to dengue fever.

Yuvraj was the sole Indian batsmen to produce some resistance before the disciplined Lankan seam bowling attack with a gritty 64-ball 38.

"Yuvraj batted well. That was the positive thing. He is a crucial man at the middle order. He is the kind of guy who can graft for runs and also hit big shots. His performance today must have boosted his confidence," Dhoni said.

Meanwhile, Dhoni`s counterpart Kumar Sangakkara said his bowlers set up the platform for the easy win, which ensured Sri Lanka`s place in the final of the tri-series.

"We would have batted first had we won the toss. But our bowlers, from the first ball on, bowled great lines and great lengths. We have got a varied attack," he said.

He also said that opening with the batting Mahela Jayawardene was a tactical decision which paid off.

"We opened with Mahela Jayawardene because sometimes he is wasted in the middle order. If he bats that well, we can let him bat freely at the top. This might be something we might see more often," Sangakkara said.

Man-of-the-match Thisara Perera, who notched up his maiden five-wicket haul today, said, "I really enjoyed this match, these are my best figures. Hopefully I can carry on from this performance. I also work hard on batting and hard hitting too."

SOURCE : ZEECRIC

Seamers take Sri Lanka to final...!!

Sri Lanka came into the game needing to win to stay alive in the tournament. Their captain had made some prickly comments - "We don't try and hide behind the press or hide behind our board" - on the eve of the game. One of their players was coming back from a ban and another had lost his match fee the previous time these two teams faced. One expected this game to be spicy. One anticipated some heat in the middle. One thought there would be a great fight. However, India succumbed so meekly that Sri Lanka waltzed through to the tri-series final without breaking into a sweat. India, after slipping to their worst defeat in terms of balls remaining, face New Zealand on Wednesday in a knockout.

The Sri Lankan seamers, led by Thisara Perera, owned the first half of the game as India were shot out for 103. What stood out was Sri Lanka's discipline in executing their plan to perfection. What surprised you was how easily India fell into the individual traps. And the chase was over in a blink.

Sri Lanka had a plan for each batsman, simple in its thought and perfect in its execution. Far too often these days, Dinesh Karthik's plan to tackle the moving ball, while opening, has been too one-dimensional: He walks down the track in an effort to make the bowler change the length. Nearly always, Kumar Sangakkara counters it by standing up to the stumps. If Karthik has a plan B, it doesn't really come through with any sort of clarity. Today, again, Karthik began to stutter once Sangakkara stood up. Nuwan Kulasekara is known for his incutters but he kept pushing them away from Karthik's outside edge. Sure enough, he fell to a delivery that straightened outside off, though the replays didn't confirm the edge.

For some time now, Rohit Sharma's iffy foot work has dragged him into trouble. Time and again, he presses that front leg far too across and tries to get the bat around the front pad. Often, he doesn't manage to do it in time. Today, too, he fell, trapped right in front by Angelo Mathews. The discipline in the plan came through again: For five deliveries (four in the over before the dismissal), Mathews took it away from Rohit before he brought one back in to get his man. India's other young middle-order hope Suresh Raina was repeatedly tested with deliveries in the off-stump corridor. Raina, who's recently been in good form, struggled to get on the front foot and paid the price. He edged one from Mathews, which led to a fierce appeal from all the close-in fielders, but wasn't given out. He poked at a similar delivery from Perera and didn't seem to get an inside edge but was given out this time.

India slid further as MS Dhoni fell after a scratchy innings. In the recent past, he has developed a habit of walking forward and across and poking with uncertainty at seaming deliveries. Often, it has landed him in trouble. Today, he twice edged Perera just past the lone slip fielder placed slightly wide. On both occasions, Sangakkara was standing up to the stumps. As soon as Sangakkara went back, Dhoni walked forward and across, reached for another Perera delivery, got the outside edge and was caught.

Only Yuvraj Singh looked in any sort of control. He unfurled a couple of gorgeous drives - one was caressed through extra cover and the other sped away between the bowler and mid-off. He hit a stunning six over wide long-off but fell, given out lbw when a Lasith Malinga delivery not only hit him outside the off stump but was also missing it. And the lower order didn't last long - Ravindra Jadeja squeezed out to gully, Praveen Kumar fell to an over-ambitious hit, Ashish Nehra was bounced out, and Perera completed his maiden five-for when he bowled Ishant Sharma.

India's troubles had started early once their best batsman Virender Sehwag fell, trapped lbw by a trademark incutter from Kulasekara; the replays showed it would have clipped the leg stump. And Sri Lanka closed in.

When the TV cameras cast their digital eye on the stands at the start of the morning, it caught a banner: 'Randiv we are with you '. As it turned out, he didn't have to bowl in the end. Another one went up at the half-way mark: "Tandoori chicken for Lion's dinner- Rs 104". Back in India, at least one news channel screamed - "Umpires cheat India". It was a day when emotions ran high.

Sri Lanka 104 for 2 (Dilshan 35, Jayawardene 33) beat India 103 (Yuvraj 38, Perera 5-28) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

SOURCE : ESPN

Modi has to appear in court in broadcast right issue: MSM

Mumbai: Indian Premier League broadcast right-holder MSM Satellite, Singapore said its dispute with WSG Mauritius can be sorted out only in an Indian court which will have to summon suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi as a witness.

MSM, which has entered into a fresh agreement with BCCI for media rights license for IPL, has alleged that WSG accepted facilitation fee for transfer of rights when it did not possess any rights.

MSM had paid Rs 125 crore to WSG for the IPL broadcast rights in the subcontinent, but later the Cricket Board said that WSG did not possess these rights.

Last week, Justice Roshan Dalvi of Bombay High Court accepted WSG`s plea that the dispute should be taken to international arbitration forum at Singapore -- as per the original agreement between MSM and WSG.
But MSM, which has filed a suit here claiming back the money paid to WSG, does not want arbitration and has now filed appeal before a division bench.

"This can be sorted out only in a civil court. We will need to examine BCCI officials and Lalit Modi in the case. An arbitrator has no powers to summon witnesses," said senior counsel Dushyant Dave.

"This is a case of fruad ... WSG sold us something which it did not have," Dave said, adding that in such a situation arbitration was not the remedy.
However, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing WSG, said as per Supreme Court rulings, "an accuser" can not avoid arbitration.

"By alleging fraud, they cannot bypass the agreement (which provides for arbitration)," he argued.

The Court is expected to give its ruling next week.

BCCI, while suspending Modi, had accused him of keeping it in the dark about the "facilitation" agreement between MSM and WSG.


SOURCE : ZEECRIC

India make a strong comeback into the tri-series

 Dambulla: Virender Sehwag`s scintillating knock of 99* couple with a tremendous show by the bowlers helped India make a strong comeback into the tri-series, defeating host Sri Lanka by 6 wickets after the disastrous outing in the first match against New Zealand. 

But the match ended with high drama as Sehwag, who was batting on 99, needed a single to give India a huge win with a bonus point. But, Suraj Randiv, it seemed, deliberately over-stepped and the delivery was declared a no-ball, which ultimately denied the Indian batting genius a well-deserved century. Sehwag hit 11 fours and two sixes during his stay at the crease. 

Sehwag, like always, tried to give India a whirlwind start. But as soon as he realized that the wicket was not helping his kind of strokeplay, he went into the shell and built his innings with ones and twos with occasional boundaries. 

Despite losing three wickets early on, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag joined in the middle and forged a valuable 59-run stand that inched India towards a victory. But in their pursuit to earn a bonus point, Raina tried to up the tempo of the run-rate which ultimately proved disastrous for him as he was caught on the on-side boundary for 21. 

After Raina’s departure, it was Dhoni who assisted Sehwag and the duo took India to an easy victory. Dhoni also played sensibly and remained unbeaten on 23. When Sehwag realized that the threat was over for his team, he cut lose and slammed some lusty hits on the on-side. 

It was a tremendous knock by Sehwag, considering the conditions and the opposition. He paced his innings so well that he never looked to be in a hurry but still scored almost a run-a-ball unbeaten 99.

Chasing just 171 for victory, India got off to a relatively good start, putting up 30 runs, but soon after that Dinesh Karthik threw his wicket away, trying to slash one out of the ground off Angelo Mathews. Karthik, who played a sedate knock, went for just 10, giving Sri Lanka their first wicket.

Virat Kohli, who was making a comeback, lost his wicket for a duck as paceman Dilhara Fernando induced an outside edge of Kohli’s bat which was cleanly taken behind the wicket by skipper Sangakkara.

Rohit Sharma’s poor form with the bat continued as he was removed LBW by Angelo Mathews, who gave two crucial blows to the Indian camp in two back-to-back overs, making India’s chase difficult on a not so easy Dambulla turf. Sharma also could not open his account.

Earlier, a superb show by the bowlers helped India bowl Sri Lanka out for a paltry 170.

First, Indian pace quartet of Praven Kumar (2/20), Ashish Nehra (1/39) and Ishant Shrma (2/32) wrecked the top order of Sri Lankan batting. Then, it was the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja (2/34) and Pragyan Ojha (3/36), who walloped the Sri Lankan late order and dismissed them for a low score.

It was due to Tilakratne Dilshan’s 45 and Suraj Randiv’s 43 that saved Sri Lanka from the ignominy of being skittled out for a total below 100.

Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka started inauspiciously as they lost four wickets before their score could reach 50 and from then on they could not recover, losing wickets at regular intervals as India tightened the nose around the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Indian new-ball bowlers- Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra- gave them a dream start, negating Sri Lanka`s intention of getting an early advantage of the conditions. However, it did not happen as Praveen Kumar bowled out star Lankan opener Upul Tharanga for a duck off the very first delivery of the match.

Kumar spoiled all plans of Lankan party as he pitched the ball beautifully on the middle. Tharanga lost complete track of the delivery as he came forward to defend it, which instead, found its way up to the top of the off stump.

Later, Nehra coaxed Sangakkara (2) to pull his short delivery, which went high up in the air and landed straight into the hands of Pragyan Ojha at fine leg.

A couple of overs later, Kumar struck again and had Mahela Jayawardene plumb in front of the wickets and dismissed him for 4.

Ishant Sharma inflicted yet another blow on the Lankan side as he sent Thilan Samaraweera packing for just 7. Sri Lanka, at that time, were tottering at 44/4.

Tillakaratne Dilshan was playing well at the other end, trying to give some stability to the shivering innings. But Dilshan’s patience finally ran out as Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha outfoxed him for 45, made off 62 balls.

Ravindra Jadeja, then, joined the wicket-taking party for India as he picked up all-rounder Angelo Mathews for 15, to give Sri Lanka their sixth blow. Jadeja, who was being criticized for not being able to perform well in recent times, deceived Matthews with a straight one that trapped him in front of the wicket.

Chamara Kapugedera (10) also did not last long as he was done in by the guile of Ravindra Jadeja’s spin.

Sri Lanka lost their 8th wicket as paceman Ishant Sharma removed Nuwan Kulasekara for 22. Kulasekara, who was trying to rebuild Sri Lankan innings along with Suraj Randiv (43), tried to steer one to third-man but gave wicket-keeper Dhoni a simple catch behind the wicket.

Suraj Randiv fought hard for his 43 that helped their innings gain some respectibilty at the end.

India went into the match without middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who was down with dengue fever, and pacer Abhimanyu Mithun. Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma were drafted in their place.

Sharma had recovered from a knee injury.

Sri Lanka dropped Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis and called in spinner Suraj Randiv and pacer Dilhara Fernando for the match.

The Teams:

India: MS Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra and Pragyan Ojha.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando.

SOURCE :Zeecric Bureau

Sangakkara wary of wounded India’s comeback....

Dambulla: India might have been robbed off valuable practice ahead of their second tri-series match, but Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara does not feel that the visitors will be under prepared for Sunday’s game and his side is wary of their sub-continental neighbours.

India’s Saturday practice session was reduced to a mere fielding drill as the visiting team preferred not to have any batting practice due to poor pitches.

An angry M S Dhoni had walked out of the session after finding the practice pitches damp and full of grass and Dinesh Karthik injured his thumb.

“I don’t think India are going into tomorrow’s match unprepared. Sides don’t practice one day, it doesn’t mean you aren’t prepared. We would like to practice properly every day but preparation is something sides do very differently,” Sangakkara said at the pre-match press conference.



“It will depend on what they are thinking about and the Indian team know that they are a good side.

“In ODI and T20 cricket, it doesn’t matter what you have done even the day before. If you come in and perform well the next day, you can still win. So we know how dangerous India is. We know what we have got to do, so we will try and do our disciplines better than India hopefully tomorrow,” he added.

Sangakkara said despite missing pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, Indian fast bowlers have done well on the tour so far.

“I think the Indian bowlers are all very good bowlers. It doesn’t matter whether (Abhimanyu) Mithun was new. I thought he bowled exceptionally well during the Test series and he didn’t do anything wrong in the first one-dayer either.

“I think the fatigue got to him maybe a bit. Whatever the bowlers do, I think they will enjoy bowling on a track like this,” he said.

Sangakkara emphasised the need to rotate pacers in the wake of increasing workload and put the onus on the selectors to take decisions in this regard.

The Lankan captain also said that the players have to be assured of their places when rotation policy is implemented otherwise it will create mistrust and rift in the side.

“From team point of view, we can recommend rest to certain players, especially fast bowlers because of their load. But the final call has to come from selectors, otherwise there is too much responsibility on individual player.

“And when you have a rotational policy, I think it is important that the player has the confidence that if you are rotated out of the team, you get first choice back. It doesn’t matter if your replacement scores a hundred or a double.”

“I think everyone must understand that and must be convinced about merits of rotational policy. Bowlers will be rotated more often and batsmen less because you want a batsman to be always among runs,” he said.

Source: ZEECRIC

‎"If you can't win batting under lights, you are not a good team". - Sanga

The recent contests between Sri Lanka and India have had an interesting subplot: Kumar Sangakkara v MS Dhoni. The Indian captain made his views clear about the floodlights in Dambulla, the poor practice pitches, the toss factor, and the difficulty of chasing a target. Sangakkara, on the other hand, said, "If you can't win batting under lights, you are not a good team". He wasn't responding to Dhoni at the time, but Sri Lanka chased a target with ease against New Zealand, after India had lost to the same team by 200 runs. Both Sangakkara and Dhoni are also planning for the World Cup, assessing the arsenal at their disposal. Monday's game gives them another opportunity to find answers to certain questions.

India's questions are several: Is Ravindra Jadeja good enough? Is there an in-form allrounder who can replace Jadeja, or should the part-time spinners fill the role of the fifth bowler in the subcontinent? Is medium-pacer Abhimanyu Mithun good enough? Should Virat Kohli play in the middle order, or should Rohit Sharma be persisted with? Will Ishant Sharma's form dip further if he is looted for runs in this format? And how long will Dinesh Karthik continue to squander starts?

For quite some time Sri Lanka, too, have had problems with their combination. Can Chamara Kapugedera grab one of his numerous opportunities, or it time to give Dinesh Chandimal a run? Is Thilan Samaraweera a good fit for ODIs or should he be replaced with either Chamara Silva or Thisara Perera? Should Suraj Randiv be played with Ajantha Mendis or with Rangana Herath? Should Dilhara Fernando be given a game here and there?

In the short term, however, Monday's match is crucial to India's hopes of staying alive in the tri-series but they have been dealt a blow by the absence of Yuvraj Singh, who has been diagnosed with dengue fever. Ashish Nehra, who has some trouble with his gluteus muscles, is also uncertain.

A second defeat, following the bonus-point loss to New Zealand, will make it hard for Dhoni's men to engineer a turnaround. An Indian victory will leave all three teams on a win each and the tri-series wide open.