Sehwag risking WI, Eng tour to play IPL

New Delhi: A World Cup win can bring satisfaction of a lifetime and champion players rummage around for a recliner to relax while the medal sits on the chest perpetually. But winds of change have refashioned perceptions, where the IPL money rules the roost and other issues move to the back-burner.

Virender Sehwag's niggling shoulder injury, which forced him out of the ODIs on the South African tour to be fit for the World Cup, is one such example where a player risks jeopardising his career for franchisee reputation and some extra zeroes.

Sehwag and BCCI's decision to delay the shoulder surgery until after the World Cup was in national interest, but postponing it for franchisee cricket defies logic.

In contrast, neighbouring giants Sri Lanka have issued marching orders to their IPL-serving players midway through the tournament to prepare for national duty for the tour of England.

This opens Sehwag's disregard towards his fitness to even severe scrutiny as India too have energy-sapping tour of the West Indies commencing just six days after the IPL final on May 28, followed by the tour to England.

What more, the delay has already cost India Sehwag's more than useful off-spin. Though it thankfully didn't hurt the team in the World Cup, the signs indicate his decision to delay can make it only worse.

So if the 'Devil' is planning to 'Dare' the scalpel after the IPL, it's almost certain that the most feared opener in world cricket has resigned to the fact that he won't tour the Caribbean.

Does it mean that Sehwag and BCCI have wilted under the pressure of big-spending franchises, treating national interest secondarily? Is India's tour of the West Indies trivial in comparison to domestic entertainment like the IPL?

These and many similar incisive questions are waiting to dissect Sehwag and the Indian board's decision to put off an imminent treatment. Hope it doesn't cost India a disaster in the West Indies after a fairytale in the subcontinent.

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/sehwag-risking-wi-eng-tour-to-play-ipl/56541-13.html

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Afridi vows to learn lessons after loss

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Wednesday urged his team to learn the lessons of the 110-run defeat against New Zealand. The Black Caps rode on a brilliant unbeaten 131 by Ross Taylor to post a challenging 302-7 before Tim Southee removed the top order with a burst of three early wickets to bowl Pakistan out for 192. "There were quite a few lessons to be learned from the defeat, especially those chances we gave to Taylor and when you give such chances to a player like him he makes you pay," said Afridi.

Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal let Taylor off twice in the same Shoaib Akhtar over - once when the batsman was on nought and then on eight - allowing two straightforward chances to slip past him. Afridi said his bowlers were poor in the death overs when New Zealand plundered 139 runs off the last 10 overs. "I think the way we started with the ball was good, but then the missed chances maybe demoralised the bowlers and they were very poor in the end," said Afridi. Afridi hoped his top order batsmen will show improvement in the next game, against Zimbabwe on Monday. "Our top order did not work well although we have given them the time to settle down and this was the first time we were chasing. We need to learn how to bat while chasing," said Afridi.

"Taylor took the game away from us although the bowlers had reverse swing. But the way he played was brilliant and he took the game away from us," said the Pakistan captain. Pakistan now have six points from four matches, second in Group A behind New Zealand who also have six points but a better net run-rate. Co-hosts Sri Lanka (five points from four) and Australia (five from three) are third and fourth respectively. Afridi hinted Kamran's younger brother, Umar can be handed the gloves, if needed. "Keeping with Umar is very much an option and we might try it in the next game," Afridi told GEO tv in Pakistan, of the same option which team used against South Africa in a one-dayer last year. He also defended Kamran's hard work. "If you see Kamran train, he puts in a lot of hard work. I don?t know why luck deserted him. He is also upset about his performance and he realizes it too."

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37943/afridi-vows-to-learn-lessons-after-loss

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Strauss benefits as Team India turns deaf

Bangalore: The Indian team seems to have a 'hearing problem' in addition to its bowling and fielding woes which led to its failure to defend a strong score of 338 in the World Cup match against England here last night.

Much has has been spoken and written about how poor bowling and fielding in addition to a late batting collapse that resulted in the fall of India's last seven wickets for 33 runs and nearly enabled England to win.

But two huge blunders committed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan appear to have gone unnoticed in the debate and discussion over the tied match.

England skipper Andrew Strauss, who was the architect of India's agony by hitting his highest ODI score of 158, should have been out when he has scored a mere 13 if wicket-keeper Dhoni, Zaheer or close-in fielders had appealed for a caught behind at that point. Strauss clearly nicked a Zaheer delivery but there was no appeal by the Indians.

98 runs later, the England skipper had another stroke of luck when he again edged Zaheer to Dhoni with his score at 111 but none of the Indians on the field appealed.

Some of the television commentators, who heard the replays of the clear nicks, thought that the Indian players probably did not hear the edges because of the crowd noise -- an unconvincing argument given the fact that Indian cricketers are used to noisy, boisterous crowds everytime they set foot on the field. No cricket ground in the world has as vocal spectators as Kolkata's Eden Gardens where over one lakh fans turn out for big matches.

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/strauss-benefits-as-team-india-turns-deaf/54802-13.html

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Sammy aims to revive pride of Windies past

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI): West Indies skipper Darren Sammy on Wednesday said his team would look to revive the pride and passion of the two-time former champions during their World Cup campaign which kicks off against South Africa from Thursday.

Sammy said his team received some useful tips from the former players of West Indies and they would look to implement them in their game and deliver with the "passion and fight of the 1980s".

"We received tips from a few former players. Clive Lloyd got in touch with me. Our manager (Richie Richardson) was also a part of the 1996 World Cup. So we would look to implement their advice in our game and deliver with the passion and fight of the 1980s to give something to our fans," Sammy told reporters ahead of their World Cup opener against South Africa.

Once the most dreaded team, West Indies have lost their aura and struggled to deliver as team. The 1975 and 1979 Champions have suffered a 5-0 whitewash at home against the South Africans, before losing 0-2 to Sri Lanka.

But Sammy said past records won't matter much in the World Cup and execution of plans and performance on that particular day will decide their fate.

"We have been in the sub-continent for more than a month and before that we played South Africa at home. We didn't do well recently but it is a prestigious tournament and we have a lot to play for," Sammy said.

"We have to play to our potential. Every game is a big match and cricket is played on a day and it doesn't matter if you are number one or number nine team. We have to go and execute our plans."

"We have self belief and we have to be consistent."

"Consistency is important in the World Cup to make it to the knock out stage. We have some potential match-winners in our side and we have to put them on the field and play 100 overs with confidence to get the best result," he added.

Sammy said some of his players have the experience of playing at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground during the IPL and Champions league and it would help on Thursday.
"Few of our guys played here during the IPL and Champions League and there inputs have been helpful. We have an idea about how the pitch will behave but we will have to wait and watch how it reacts tomorrow," he said.

Sammy said spin will play a crucial role in the matches here and exuded confidence that his team has two quality left-arm spinners.

"Spin has played an important part in the tournament so far. We have two quality left-arm spinner and also Chris (Gayle) bowls off-spin, so we have to consider all these options and choose the best team and perform," he said.

"The challenge would be to go out there and perform to the best of our ability. We are confident and we would look to take one game at a time. The objective is to reach the knock out stage and then focus on the game at hand," he added.

Sammy will have an unenviable task of leading an unheralded bunch of players to World Cup glory and the talented all-rounder said it is an honour to captain the side and join the legacy of the former greats.

"I didn't bring it (captaincy) on myself but it has been a massive honour to lead the side. West Indies has a greater legacy and to be part of that is an honourable job for me. Cricket is a uniting force for the Caribbean people. We would look to deliver with passion and fight of the 1980s to give something to our fans," he said.

Sammy said he handled the pressure of captaincy well and it didn't affect his game.
"I have been playing under pressure even before in my career and so the captaincy has not really changed my game. I have been handling pressure quite well. My idea is to just keep playing."

"I would be playing in the second half of the batting line up and would look to build long partnerships and also bowl economically. On the field, my job would be to inspire the players and also take important decisions when required," he said.
Sammy would be leading a side with four former captains,Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, - and he said it would help him in decision making during the World Cup.

"It is a good thing to have so many senior players around. They bring in a lot of experience and it would help me. The young can look upto them," he said.

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/sammy-aims-revive-pride-windies-past-20110223/

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