ICC has double standards: Dalmiya

A few days after Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, accused the ICC of a conspiracy to take the India-England match away from the Eden Gardens, he took his battle a step further and accused the ICC of double standards, claiming the that the venue for the World Cup final - the Wankhede Stadium - should not get clearance by means of hosting a Twenty20 match.

Reacting to reports that ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat was satisfied with Wankhede's progress after it hosted a T20 match recently, Dalmiya argued it's not a yardstick as per the Stadium Agreement of the World Cup. "It's in a bad taste to criticise.

But the fact remains that they are yet to host a Test, ODI or a first class match. You all know what is a first class match," Dalmiya said. "It's a question of damage of prestige. What is this, we all want to know. Be man enough and come forward," Dalmiya told reporters, challenging ICC's stand on Wankhede which will host the final on April 2. "I challenge the ICC's stand. One cannot do it. I've all the records with me to substantiate it.

Let them come forward and take my challenge. We want to know who are the (ICC) experts, from where they have come. "People who live in glass houses, should not throw stones at others. That's the only thing that haunts me. It's a case of double standards." Dalmiya also shot off a letter to BCCI secretary, N Srinvasan, on Tuesday. "According to the ICC's Stadium Agreement, at least two Tests or ODIs or an entire season of first class cricket or matches at the highest level will be played minimum six months prior to the commencement of the event," he stated.

"Twenty20 matches at the local level were certainly not a yardstick and that too the matches were played only in February this year. Surprisingly, the ICC experts cleared the venue, going beyond their ambit." Dalmiya also had a word of praise for the BCCI for taking up their case with the ICC. "We had asked them (ICC) to give us an extension till February 7 and the BCCI did not sweep it under the carpet. They took it up and we are grateful at them."

The Wankhede hosted the MCA T20 championship semifinal between Mumbai Police Gymkhana and Fort Vijay Cricket Club on February 27, in what was its first build-up match ahead of the World Cup. ICC chief executive Lorgat had earlier said: "I have said earlier there were Twenty20 matches that have been played there and the stadium has been inspected. We have experts whom I can assure you will not pass the stadium unless they are satisfied with its preparedness."

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37401/icc-has-double-standards-dalmiya

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Bangladesh score dramatic win over Ireland

Dhaka: Bangladesh stung flat-footed Ireland to resurrect their World Cup campaign with a 27-run victory in front of some 25,000 boisterous home fans on Friday.

Bangladesh, bowled out for 205 after taking first strike in the day-night match, hit back to dismiss the leading non-Test nation for 178 in 45 overs at the packed Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Former captain Mohammad Ashraful, who scored just one run, turned an unlikely hero with the ball by claiming two top-order wickets with his part-time off-spin.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan also picked up two wickets with left-arm spin before seamer Shafiul Islam polished off the tail in quick time with 4-21 from eight overs.

Bangladesh, who had lost their first match to India last week, lapped up the pressure in a game they had to win to stay in contention for the quarter-finals from Group B.

But the co-hosts, who play all their league matches at home, must still beat the Netherlands and at least one of the established teams among England, South Africa and the West Indies.

The win helped Bangladesh avenge two successive defeats by Ireland in major events, having lost during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and again in the 2009 World Twenty20 in England.

"It was a good game. I thought we played really hard cricket although we didn't bat well. Our bowlers and fielders showed great character and our support was excellent," said Shakib.

Disappointed Irish skipper William Porterfield said a poor batting display cost his side a crucial win.

"It's not hard to work out where we lost the game. We never settled down with the bat. The first 50 overs was pretty good," he said.

But he added: "You can't afford that many soft dismissals."

Shakib turned to spin after just one over from Shafiul, bringing on left-armer Abdul Razzak in the second over and off-spinner Naeem Islam in the third.

The move paid immediate dividends as Paul Stirling was stumped off Razzak for nine, before Irish captain William Porterfield fell to Shakib's first delivery for 20.

Ed Joyce and Niall O'Brien carried the score from 36-2 to 75 when Ashraful struck with the first delivery of his second spell.

Joyce, the former England batsman, made a fluent 16 when he was beaten in the air by a flighted ball and gave a delighted Ashraful an easy return catch.

Ashraful then bowled Andrew White for 10, while Shakib claimed his second wicket when Niall O'Brien fell to a diving catch by Tamim Iqbal at deep mid-wicket after making 38.

Kevin O'Brien slammed three fours and a six in 37 during a sixth-wicket stand of 41 with Andre Botha when he pulled Shafiul to mid-wicket to reduce Ireland to 151-6 in the 37th over.

Shafiul, who had recovered in time from a shoulder injury to play the key match, claimed three of the last four wickets to send Ireland crashing.

Earlier, seamer Andre Botha picked up three wickets and George Dockrell and Trent Johnston claimed two each to bowl out the hosts in 49.2 overs.

The hosts made a blistering start, racing to 49 without loss by the end of the fifth over, 37 of those runs coming from the blade of Tamim.

But the advantage was soon lost as four wickets fell for 33 runs in the next 10 overs.

Man of the match Tamim, who top-scored with 70 against India, began by taking 10 runs in Boyd Rankin's opening over and stroked seven boundaries in his 44 off 43 balls.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul Hasan lifted the hosts with a 61-run stand for the fifth wicket, before tailender Naeem Islam boosted the total with a defiant 29 towards the end.

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/bangladesh-score-dramatic-win-over-ireland/54709-13.html

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Bangladesh go into Friday's World Cup match against Ireland determined to resurrect their campaign by avenging two successive losses to their rivals at major events.

Ireland defeated Bangladesh by 74 runs in the now-scrapped Super Eights round in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and then won by six wickets in the World Twenty20 in England in 2009.

Bangladesh cannot afford another defeat, having lost their opening match against India by 87 runs last Saturday, setting the stage for a keenly contested day-night match.

"No one likes to lose, so yes, we want to beat them and take revenge," said wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim ahead of the Group B clash at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

"Ireland are a good team but we will try to spoil their party and make sure that it is not the other way around."

Ireland have trained hard over the last few months to adjust to the unfamiliar conditions of the sub-continent, but Rahim was confident the visitors can be beaten.

"No matter how much they practice here, they will find it hard to cope with our world-class spinners," he said of the leading non-Test side.

"We are expected to win against Ireland and will try to live up to everyone's expectations. The only pressure is the challenge to prove ourselves in big tournaments."

Playing before 25,000 boisterous Bangladeshi fans will test Irish resolve, just as it did in 2008 when Bangladesh won all three one-day internationals at the same venue.

Rahim's Irish counterpart Niall O'Brien, however, said those defeats will not make a difference as his side prepared for their first match.

"That was a long time ago," he said. "We have beaten Bangladesh three of the last four times we have played them. Our confidence is high because we know we have a good enough team to win here."

Ireland's squad includes nine players who took part in the memorable 2007 campaign, where they knocked out Pakistan from the first round before taking Bangladesh in their stride.

The Irish will be boosted by the presence of batsman Ed Joyce, who played 17 one-dayers for England before opting to turn out for the land of his birth.

Bangladesh must beat both the non-Test nations, Ireland and the Netherlands, and one of the established sides from England, South Africa and the West Indies, to progress to the next round.

Bangladesh emerged from the defeat against India with a few positives, including a spirited chase of the massive 371-run target as Tamim Iqbal made 70 and Shakib hit a fluent 55 off 50 balls.

But the Tigers' bowlers took a beating at the hands of the rampaging India, with seamer Shafiul Islam going for 69 runs in his seven overs and new-ball partner Rubel Hossain conceding 60 runs in 10 wicketless overs.

Former captain Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh's most successful one-day batsman with 3,360 runs from 164 matches, may be included in the side after being ignored against India.

Ashraful could replace off-spinner Naeem Islam, or even seamer Rubel Hossain if Bangladesh choose to attack Ireland with a three-man spin attack led by skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37046/bangladesh-gun-for-wc-revenge-against-ireland

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Dhoni on the cusp of greatness in this WC

New Delhi, Feb 23 (AP): Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in line to become India's most celebrated cricket captain if he wins the World Cup as fans of this cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion hope.

Expectations have risen with a balanced team and a powerful batting lineup that give India a chance to improve on the two previous World Cups held on the subcontinent in 1987 and 1996, when it made the semifinals.

Though India has won the World Cup before, in 1983 under Kapil Dev, Dhoni stands to go one better if he can lift the trophy in Mumbai on April 2, having already won an international title for his country at the World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007.

Despite the inevitable tension, Dhoni has been relaxed in his approach. And his side has responded with convincing wins in practice games over Australia and New Zealand, and a similarly impressive victory in its World Cup opener in Group B last Saturday against fellow co-host Bangladesh.

"There is pressure if you win, pressure if you lose," he said ahead of the game against Bangladesh. "I would have told you the exact figure (of pressure) if I had a machine to measure it."

Such a situation is inevitable given that India is both a co-host and a tournament favourite, when it was neither in 1983.

Dev led an unfancied team which shocked favorite West Indies in the final at Lord's, triggering a process that eventually made the country the financial epicenter of the game.

Now, Dev is bullish about the current team's prospects of hoisting the trophy again for India.

"Dhoni should do better than me," he said recently. "He is a very fine cricketer, a fantastic captain and I hope he can achieve everything he wanted."

"The Indian team for the World Cup is the strongest batting lineup we have ever seen in world cricket. It looks a balanced team, though the bowling is a bit weak. So if they can play to their abilities they can emerge world champions," he said.

The batting lineup led by the world's highest-scoring batsman Sachin Tendulkar also has names like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and captain Dhoni himself, who have all proved themselves over the years.

With Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan also going into the tournament in fine form, it is a batting lineup envied by rival captains.

Just as the landscape of cricket has changed since the last World Cup, with the advent of Twenty20 cricket, so Dhoni's stature has risen significantly in the intervening years.

India found a new leader when, with the country virtually in mourning after its shock exit from the 2007 World Cup, Dhoni led a young side to victory in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

He then gradually took over as captain of the one-day and Test teams with success.
Dhoni has led India to victory in 14 of 24 Test matches and 53 of 94 one-day internationals, with seven no results. His Twenty20 win-loss record for India stands at a humble 12-11 by his standards, but he has also led the Chennai Superkings to title victories in both the Indian Premier League and the Champions League.

Sourav Ganguly, who is the most successful India skipper in Tests with 21 victories and who also led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup, has only praise for Dhoni.
"I think he (Dhoni) backs his players and gives them opportunities consistently, which is very important," Ganguly told Hindustan Times in a recent interview. "He takes risks, which is also crucial for a captain because as a skipper you cannot just do things in the typical stereotyped manner."

The 29-year-old Dhoni is already an inspiration for a generation of cricketers from smaller cities as he hails from the state of Jharkhand, considered the backwaters of Indian cricket.

Now, he is only one step away from upstaging top Indian captains like Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/dhoni-cusp-greatness-this-wc-20110223/

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