Indian team for West Indies tour

Mumbai, 17 June, 2009

The All-India Selection Committee picked the Indian team for the tour of the West Indies in June-July 2009 earlier today.
Two of the selectors – Chairman Mr. K. Srikkanth and Mr. Raja Venkat, were in the UK. They communicated with their three colleagues via a teleconference. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gary Kirsten, and Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Hony. Secretary of the BCCI and Convener of the All-India Selection Committee, also participated in the meeting from the UK.
TEAM:
1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Captain
2. Yuvraj Singh – Vice-captain
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Rohit Sharma
5. Harbhajan Singh
6. Pragyan Ojha
7. Yusuf Pathan
8. Murali Vijay
9. S. Badrinath
10. R.P. Singh
11. Praveen Kumar
12. Ishant Sharma
13. Abhishek Nayar
14. Ashish Nehra
15. Ravindra Jadeja
16. Dinesh Kartik

Suresh Raina was not considered for selection as he has sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb. He has been advised two weeks’ rest.
Zaheer Khan has been rested. Sachin Tendulkar had made a request that he be rested for the tour.

MEDIA RELEASE

ICC announces umpire and match referee appointments for semi-finals of ICC World Twenty20 2009

London, 17 June 2009

The ICC today announced details of the umpire and match referee appointments for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 2009, which will take place in Nottingham and London on Thursday and Friday with the women’s semi-finals to be followed by the men’s semi-finals.

Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team at Trent Bridge where the semi-final between New Zealand women and India women will start at 1300, to be followed by South Africa and Pakistan semi-final at 1730.

The on-field umpires for the women’s semi-final will be Mark Benson and Asad Rauf of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires with Ian Gould, also from the elite panel, as third umpire and Nigel Llong of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires as fourth umpire.

The men’s semi-final will be umpired by Steve Davis and Billy Bowden of the elite panel with Simon Taufel, also from the elite panel, as third umpire and Rod Tucker from the international panel, as fourth umpire.

The focus will then shift to London where the other semi-finals which will be staged at The Oval on Friday. Alan Hurst of the elite panel will oversee both the semi-finals between England and Australia women which will start at 1300 and Sri Lanka and the West Indies semi-final which will start at 1730.

The women’s semi-final will be umpired by Billy Doctrove and Tony Hill of the elite panel with Asoka de Silva, also from the elite panel, as third umpire and Marais Erasmus from the international panel, as fourth umpire.

The on-field umpires for the men’s semi-final will be Aleem Dar and Rudi Koertzen of the elite panel while Daryl Harper of the elite panel as third umpire and Amish Saheba from the international panel as fourth umpire.

Appointments for Sunday’s finals at Lord’s will be announced in due course.

ICC World Twenty20 2009 (semi-finals)

Thursday 18 June – India v New Zealand (1300-1600), Trent Bridge – Mark Benson and Asad Rauf, Ian Gould (third), Nigel Llong (fourth), Chris Broad (referee)
Thursday 18 June – South Africa v Pakistan (1730-2030), Trent Bridge – Steve Davis and Billy Bowden, Simon Taufel (third), Rod Tucker (fourth), Chris Broad (referee)
Friday 19 June – Australia v England (1300-1600), The Oval –Billy Doctrove and Tony Hill, Asoka de Silva (third), Marais Erasmus (fourth), Alan Hurst (referee)
Friday 19 June – Sri Lanka v West Indies (1730-2030), The Oval – Aleem Dar and Rudi Koertzen, Daryl Harper (third), Amish Saheba (fourth), Alan Hurst (referee)
ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Rolton and Edwards set up England v Australia semi-final at the Oval

Taunton, 16 June 2009

India faces New Zealand in other semi at Trent Bridge on Thursday

Skippers Karen Rolton and Charlotte Edwards set up a mouth-watering England v Australia semi-final in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2009 tournament on Tuesday with mirror-image performances in their final group matches at Taunton.

Both made 43, Rolton to set up Australia’s 24-run win over South Africa in Group A and Edwards to anchor England to a 63-run success against Pakistan in Group B. The sides meet at The Oval on Friday as the first part of a double-header with the men’s semi-final.

It was also a day for left-arm spinners, with England’s Holly Colvin taking 3-18 and Australia’s Shelley Nitschke 4-21.

Unbeaten England, though, ended the day with serious concerns after its middle order, highlighted by its rivals as the team’s Achilles heel, failed miserably again.

“We can do better than that,” said Edwards. “It’s still not good enough, it’s disappointing. The run-outs were schoolgirl errors. Every time we seem to have a telling off from our coach we seem to turn it around, so I’m hoping we will do that again.

“There is pressure on our top order to score runs but we have total belief in the whole of our batting line-up and I’m absolutely certain that these girls are going to come good.”

The other semi-final pits New Zealand against India at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Put in to bat by Pakistan, England looked in total control as Edwards and Sarah Taylor put on 43 inside six overs. But when Urooj Mumtaz’s leg breaks accounted for both Sarah and Claire Taylor – Sarah falling lbw and Claire chipping weakly to mid off - the innings deflated.

The World Cup winner still looked well placed at 71-3 at halfway but panic set in when Edwards was caught behind off spinner Sana Mir after a 32-ball stay. Extraordinarily, the last five dismissals were all run-outs.

Pakistan, though, was never able to mount a challenge in the face of fine England fielding. Restricted to 36-3 at halfway, it was dismissed for 60, the lowest total of the tournament.
In contrast to England, the Australians, who beat Edwards’s side in a warm-up before the tournament and are convinced they hold the psychological edge, showed great strength in depth after slipping to 79-5.

Rolton and the powerful Alex Blackwell, with a bruising 40 not out off 22 deliveries, hammered 68 off 6.3 overs to take Australia to a tournament-high total of 164-6.

All rounder Nitsckhe, giving the ball air, then took three wickets in an over on her way to the player-of-the-match award as South Africa ended on 140-7.

South African openers Shandre Fritz (39 off 23 balls) and Trisha Chetty (36 off 25), though, showed that the Australian attack can be put under pressure, sharing 73 for the first wicket inside eight overs.

“They put us under a bit of pressure but I wasn’t worried,” said Rolton. “It only takes a couple of overs to change a game. Shelley really got us back on track.”

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

An interesting piece of news

By Javagal Srinath

This morning I woke to see an interesting piece of news circulating on Dhoni. The news read “Javagal Srinath blames Dhoni’s media handling for the T 20 exit”. Generally one would want to know from where did this quote came from. Before even looking for who was responsible for such frivolous reporting, I knew I wouldn’t get the name of the reporter or even that one news agency from where this news has originated. All I could manage to get was “agency report”. Such news will never have proper coordinates for obvious credibility reasons. This is another classical example of “coward reporting” taking advantage of the situation. At the back drop of the India’s T20 exit, any news that too an ex- cricketer ridiculing skipper Dhoni gains momentum. This is an old practice and will remain to be an integral part of news journalism. So be it. I am not trying to serve a rejoinder through my columns, but only remind people that yellow journalism has value too.

At the press conference, Dhoni was humble and straight forward. He was honest and spoke not only about the Indian batsmen’s inability to cope short pitch but also his own form which wasn’t the best. He also went further to say sorry for the defeat. Somehow I felt Seeking apology for defeats is not a good practice. I understand if the team is doing badly for awhile, such lines may sound good but when the team is at the top, odd defeat is part of the game.

Back to the analysis, Gary Kirsten has lots on his plate all of a sudden. The short pitch problem has struck the Indian batting again. I felt the short pitch was only useful in the test matches and had lost its effectiveness in the short format of the game. To my disbelief, the same short pitch has come back to haunt the Indian batsmen that too in the shortest format of the game. The effectiveness of the short pitch balls is a combination of the wicket and the capability of a bowler.

The English coaches and the bowlers must have taken the cues from Fidel Edwards bowling in previous game. They very soon realised that short pitch aimed at the Indian batsmen not only created dot balls but also opened up the possibility of taking wickets. They bowled more than 3 short balls in an over playing well within the rules of the game. Indian batsmen predominantly good on the front foot, were found wanting when pushed on the back foot. I was quite amazed to see the diagram where more than 45% of the balls were pitched short in length. Suresh Raina problem with short pitch is just like any other batsmen who cannot play spin with ease. The challenge for Suresh Raina is to sort out the short pitch issues without losing his core front foot batting strengths.

Finally, it was quite evident that short pitched ball was the one which led to the defeat and not Dhoni’s love hate relationship with the press.

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS