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Amitabh Bachchan to make his commentary debut for India vs Pakistan World Cup match

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According to a report in 'The Asian Age', Amitabh will join Kapil Dev and Harsha Bhogle in the commentary box at Adelaide on February 15 for the much-awaited match.

According to a report in ‘The Asian Age’, Amitabh will join Kapil Dev and Harsha Bhogle in the commentary box at Adelaide on February 15 for the much-awaited match.

Mumbai: An India vs Pakistan match is never short of drama and to add to that intensity for the World Cup encounter at The Gabba on February 15 will be India’s most iconic film personality – Amitabh Bachchan.

According to a report in the The Asian Age, Amitabh will join India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev and commentary expert Harsha Bhogle as the commentary team for the much-awaited match of the showpiece event.

The newspaper quoted film-maker R Balki confirming the news. He said that Amitabh’s commetary debut will double as promotion for his movie Shamitabh, besides exciting millions on both sides of the border.

“Mr Bachchan’s voice is the star of my film Shamitabh. The plot revolves around the baritone. There’s nothing that Mr. Bachchan’s voice can’t do. I think two voices, Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bachchan, unite India and Pakistan better than anything else.”

India lose, fail to reach tri-series final

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Perth: In what was being being touted as the dress rehearsal for the World Cup, India miserably failed to reach the tri-series final Down Under as they lost the virtual semi-final by three wickets to England at the WACA here Friday. England will now play the final against hosts Australia here Sunday.

India failed to win even a single game out of four in the league stage with one One-Day International (ODI), against Australia, being washed out.

Put in to bat, India folded up for a mere 200 in 48.1 overs with opener Ajinkya Rahane top scoring with 73. Though England were made to struggle by the reigning World Champions, a 125-run sixth-wicket partnership between James Taylor (82) and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (67) guided them home in only 46.5 overs.

In the morning, Rahane was the standout performer. His and Shikhar Dhawan’s (38) opening-wicket partnership of 83 runs was the only bright spot in an otherwise dreadful Indian batting performance.

Rahane and Dhawan were slow off the blocks, playing with a lot of caution. But they gained confidence after negotiating the initial overs. Rahane was more aggressive of the two and lived a charmed life with most of his lofted shots landing in no-man’s land.

But following the first dismissal of Dhawan in the 21st over, India lost all other wickets like a pack of cards. Virat Kohli’s (8) wicket in the 28th over opened the floodgates with Suresh Raina (1) perishing just two overs later as India were reduced to 107/3.

Ambati Rayudu (12) looked sublime briefly but failed to capitalise on his start. Rahane’s wicket, in the 36th over, put tremendous pressure on the shoulders of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17), who also failed to cope with the pressure and was dismissed with the score at 164.

Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja (5) and Axar Patel (1) fell in the space of a run as India was reduced to 165/9.

However, Mohammed Shami (25) played a vital cameo in the end, adding 35 runs for the final wicket with Mohit Sharma (7 not out), to lend some respectability to India’s total. A few edges and some lusty blows from the bat of Shami helped India reach the 200-mark.

All English bowlers were amongst the wickets with Steven Finn taking three while Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali chipping in with two each.

England had bowled out India for 153 in the previous match and went on to win by nine wickets.

While bowling, India got the perfect start they needed to defend their meek total. Some good line-and-length bowling from Stuart Binny (3/33) and Mohit Sharma (2/36) saw England tottering at 66/5 by the 20th over.

However, Taylor and Buttler steadied the England ship by knocking around, taking the ones and twos. This kept the scoreboard ticking and also helped build their significant partnership which took the game away from India.

Taylor scored his fourth half-century playing in his 10th ODI while Buttler’s relatively aggressive innings made him reach his fifth half-century. Taylor patiently anchored the innings with a 122-ball knock which included four boundaries while Buttler stroked seven boundaries in his 78-ball innings.

By the time the two got out, England had already reached the 190s and were only a few runs away from the target which was achieved by the tail-enders.

Indian bowlers bowled well, restricting the run rate and picking up wickets but the score was too less to defend.

(IANS)

Rahane stands out as India bowled out for 200

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© Getty Images

© Getty Images

Perth: Another dismal batting performance by India saw them being bowled out for 200 in 48.1 overs by England in a deciding clash of the ODI tri-series at the WACA here Friday.

Opener Ajinkya Rahane was the standout performer, scoring 73 off 101 balls. His and Shikhar Dhawan’s opening wicket partnership of 83 runs was the only bright spot in an otherwise dreadful performance.

Pacer Mohammed Shami (25) played a vital cameo in the end, adding 35 runs for the final wicket with Mohit Sharma (7 not out), to provide some respectability to India’s total.

Following the dismissal of Dhawan in the 21st over, India lost eight wickets for just 62 runs.

All the English bowlers were amongst the wickets with Steven Finn taking three wickets while Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali chipping in with two each.

England had bowled out India for 153 in their previous and went on to win by nine wickets.

Earlier, England captain Eoin Morgan put India into toss after winning the toss and India looked shaky from the outset.

Rahane and Dhawan were slow off the blocks, playing with the lot of caution. They gained confidence after negotiating the initial overs.

Rahane was the more aggressive of the two and lived a charmed life with most of his lofted shots, in the begginning, landing in no-man’s land.

Virat Kohli’s (8) wicket in the 28th over, opened the floodgates for England. Suresh Raina (1) perished just two overs later as India were reduced to 107 for three.

Ambati Rayudu (12) looked good briefly but failed to capitalise on his start. Rahane’s wicket soon after put tremendous pressure on the shoulders of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17), who failed to cope with it and was dismissed with the score on 164.

Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja (5) and Axar Patel (1) fell in the space of a run as India was reduced to 165 for nine.

A few edges and some lusty blows from the bat of Shami helped India reach the 200-mark.

The winner of the match will go on to face hosts Australia in the final.

Brief Scores: India 200 all out in 48.1 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 73, Shikhar Dhawan 38; Steven Finn 3/36, Moeen Ali 2/35) vs England

(IANS)

Sania-Bruno enter Australian Open semis

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sania_bruno

Melbourne: Top-seeded mixed doubles duo Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares marched in to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, beating local pair Casey Dellacqua and John Peers 6-2, 6-2 in a last-eight match here Wednesday.

The Indo-Brazilian pair started the match on a bright note, breaking their opponents twice to claim the first set 6-2 in just 23 minutes at Melbourne Park.

They continued their ascendancy in the second set leading 4-2, going on to win the second set by an identical first set score, taking a mere 30 minutes to claim the second set on Court 2.

The victors hit 18 winners and committed 10 unforced errors on their way to victory. They are scheduled to play the winner of the quarter-final between third seeds Kristina Mladenovic of France and Canada’s Daniel Nestor and fifth seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia.

Meanwhile in boys’ singles, India’s Sumit Nagal went down to Australia’s Marc Polmans 1-6, 1-6 in the third round in just 45 minutes.

(IANS)

Australia beats England by 3 wickets in tri-series ODI

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Steve Smith

by AP

Hobart: Stand-in captain Steve Smith made an unbeaten 102 to guide Australia to a tense three-wicket win over England in the tri-series one-day cricket international on Friday, clinching its place in the final.

Smith, who led Australia in an ODI for the first time in the absence of George Bailey – suspended for one match for an over-rate infraction – won the toss, bowled, and saw England make 303-8 in 50 overs, thanks to Ian Bell’s 141.

He then helped Australia explore its depth ahead of next month’s World Cup by marshaling a depleted batting order in a difficult run chase. Australia was without Bailey and frontline batsmen David Warner and Shane Watson – both with hamstring injuries – but paced its reply well, and reached 304-7 with one ball to spare.

Smith continues to tap a rich vein of batting form: He made 769 runs — a record tally — in the recent test series against India, and has three centuries and three half centuries in his last 10 one-day innings.

He came to the crease in the 12th over after Aaron Finish (32) and Shaun Marsh (45) gave Australia a sound start, putting on 76 for the first wicket at almost seven runs per over.

Smith then controlled the run chase, carrying his bat for the remainder of the innings. He reached a half century from 51 balls, and his century, his third in ODIs, from 93 balls.

Smith had support throughout the innings: Glenn Maxwell made 37 before recklessly sacrificing his wicket in the 27th over, and James Faulkner made 35. Australia’s required run-rate lagged stubbornly at more than a run a ball throughout the innings, until wicketkeeper Brad Haddin hit 42 from 29 balls to make the target more attainable.

But there was still tension for Australia when Haddin was out with seven runs still needed with 15 balls remaining. England substantially tightened its bowling and fielding, and the incoming batsman, Moises Henrique, couldn’t get the ball away while depriving Smith of the strike.

There seemed plenty of time for Australia but its tally of balls remaining dwindled without it making progress towards its target. It came to the last over needing five runs to win, a seemingly easy task, but was left to face a tense finish when Henriques was run out with two runs needed and three balls remaining.

Smith and his last partner, Mitchell Starc, completed the win with a ball to spare but the manner in which Australia closed out the second-highest run c6hase at Bellerive Oval was of some concern.

It’s recent chasing has been less well-organized than it would hope with the World Cup looming.

“It did get tight,” Smith said. “It was nice to get home in the end.

“The boys played well throughout the middle of the innings after we got away to a good start. We just had to cruise through the middle so we could go hard at the end.

“Brad (Haddin) came out and really took the pressure off. He cleared the fence a couple of times and hit some good boundaries.”

Earlier, England batted soundly after being sent in to bat. Bell’s 141 and Joe Root’s 69 set it up for a challenging total.

Bell followed his match-winning 88 not out against India on Tuesday with his fourth century in 149 one-dayers, putting on 113 for the first wicket with Moeen Ali (46), and 121 with Root for the third wicket before he was out in the 42nd over.

England didn’t fully capitalize on the foundation set by Bell, losing its last five wickets for 49 runs, including three wickets for two runs — with two run-outs — in the 50th over.

Indians out of mens, women's doubles, mixed doubles hopes alive

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Leander Paes

Melbourne: The Indian contingent had a disappointing day in the men’s and women’s doubles competitions of the Australian Open, getting knocked out in their respective second round matches at the Melbourne Park Friday.

But Sania Mirza won her opening round match in mixed doubles to keep the country’s challenge alive.

In the women’s doubles contest, Sania and Chinese Taiei’s Hsieh Su-wei lost 6-7 (5), 4-6 against Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and Polish Alicja Rosolska. However, the 28-year-old partnered Brazilian Bruno Soares to defeat the mixed doubles pair of Hungarian Timea Babos and American Eric Butorac 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3) to advance to the second round.

The Indo-South African pair of Paes and Raven Klaasen lost 6-2, 4-6, 1-6 to Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, while Bopanna and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor went down 5-7, 3-6 to American Feliciano Lopez and Belarusian Max Mirnyi in the men’s doubles.

Paes-Klaasen started the match well, winning the first set and hit 29 winners but that wasn’t enough as Bolelli-Fognini outhit them with 31 winners. The Indo-South African pair made 21 unforced errors as compared to 22 by their opponents.

Bopanna-Nestor pair scored 25 winners as compared to 33 by Lopez-Mirnyi. The Indo-Canadian pair made 10 unforced errors against Lopez-Mirnyi, who made 12 unforced errors.

The Indo-Chinese Taipei pair of Sania and Su-Wei scored only 29 winners as compared to 45 fired by Dabrowski and Rosolska, who also made 23 unforced errors while Sania-Su-Wei did 18 unforced errors.

(IANS)

SC says Gurunath Meiyappan was involved in betting, tells Srinivasan to choose between CSK and BCCI top job

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Supreme Court, reading out a 130-page order, has said that BCCI functions are public functions, amenable to judicial law. N. Srinivasan has to choose between his IPL team Chennai Super Kings and BCCI president’s post.

File photo of Gurunath Meiyappan.

File photo of Gurunath Meiyappan.

by Soumitra Bose, NDTVSports

After almost 18 months of deliberations on the 2013 Indian Premier League betting and match-fixing scandal, the Supreme Court has said that N. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra of Rajasthan Royals were involved in betting. However, it also said that Srinivasan was not guilty of cover-up and “charges against him, at best, be regarded as suspicion.” It also said that “BCCI functions are public functions, amenable to judicial law.”

However, the top court has said that conflict of interest issues remain and Srinivasan has to choose between his IPL team Chennai Super Kings and the cricket Board. Srinivasan is also the first chairman of ICC.

Srinivasan is seeking a re-election as BCCI president and Thursday’s order will be a shot in the arm. In the wake of the IPL probe, Srinivasan was stood down last year by the top court from his position as Board chief. The BCCI has already postponed its Annual General Meeting and elections twice. As per its constitution, the AGM should have been held by September 30 last year. Srinivasan is seeking another term, this time as a candidate backed by the BCCI’s East Zone units.

The Supreme Court-appointed probe committee, led by Justice Mukul Mudgal, had in its first report indicted Meiyappan of betting and sharing team information. Srinivasan had mentioned that Gurunath was a mere ‘cricket enthusiast.’ Srinivasan was earlier charged with conflict of interest and not taking adequate action against involved in ‘misdemeanours.’

The case dates back to June 2013 when Aditya Verma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI’s original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue.

A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel “illegal”. The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.

The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan’s son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Raj Kundra, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.

(With inputs from A. Vaidyanathan)

Rahul Dravid unimpressed with World Cup 2015 format

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Rahul Dravid feels the fact that the final eight teams can be predicted with a certain degree of certainty in the current World Cup format makes the event less exciting.

File photo of Rahul Dravid, a veteran of three World Cups.

File photo of Rahul Dravid, a veteran of three World Cups.

Having been a part of three World Cup campaigns, former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid said that the current format of the 50-over showpiece event, starting mid February in Australia and New Zealand, is too predictable and should be improved upon.

“Don’t really like it. Reason is you can almost predict who the top eight teams are going to be. There comes a time in the tournament, and I sensed it in India in the last World Cup. I wasn’t playing, I was just watching. Everyone starts to wait for the quarterfinals, because you know that those are the three big games.

“The best formats for me would be the two World Cups I played in 1999 and 2003. They had the group stage, then the super six then you went on the play a semifinal and a final.

You had to play well through the tournament. It gave you bit of a chance to recover,” Dravid said in a video chat show on ESPNcricinfo titled ‘Contenders’, which also features former South African skipper Graeme Smith.

“The one in 2007, I didn’t like particularly well myself. Wonder why? But I think it gave you a chance to come back. The intention was right, get the best eight teams playing each other but sometimes if you started badly, you couldn’t recover,” he added.

Known as the ‘The Wall’ of Indian cricket, Dravid exemplified the No.3 spot in the batting order and scored runs in Test and ODI cricket despite sticking to the copybook style. Now an astute analyst, Dravid believes teams’ should put their best men at the top of the batting chart.

“Yeah definitely would be looking at batsmen that are not going to get nicked off early. You still want attacking batsmen, you still want guys who can play your shots even against faster bowlers, if the wickets have pace and bounce and you want batsmen that have good strong back foot game and I think that’s going to be important with the two new balls as well.

“Those are the kind of guys you want to push up in front and then maybe have your power hitters and your finishers at the back end of an innings,” said Dravid.

Always a keen student of the game, Dravid opines that spinners will have a role to play in the upcoming World Cup.

“Seeing some of the wickets in the Test series, those are the grounds we are going to be playing the World Cup in as well, they’ve been really slow wickets, and the spinners have come into play for those wickets. So you’re just going to have to balance it out.

“There can be conditions where spinners might not have such a big impact in a particular game, but you might go to Adelaide or Sydney and you’ll see it’s a lot dryer,” said Dravid.

Dravid, who scored 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs for India, said some of the new rules have been too harsh on the bowlers.

“Some of them are good ones, but some of them do make it very difficult for the bowlers. These rules have been on for a while now, they don’t impact scores in countries like Australia and New Zealand as they have done in sub continental conditions.

“The effect of reverse swing is reduced when you have two new balls that only last for 25 overs, but I don’t think it would be a huge impact in Australia because with the two new balls, the fast bowlers will get that level of assistance up front so that should benefit them, then the grounds are going to be bigger as well, so it’s not going to be that easy to clear the ropes,” he said.

“For example: When you have 5 fielders in the ring, it’s very hard to play a part time bowler, you are forced to play 5 specialist bowlers and for a country like India, that for a long time managed. I mean for the last World Cup, it was Yuvraj Singh bowling 10 overs every single game. That allowed them that advantage. It’s going to be hard to do that,” he added.

(PTI)

AB de Villiers cracks fastest ODI ton in 31 balls

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AB-de-Villiers

Johannesburg: Premier South African batsman AB de Villiers Sunday cracked the fastest century in One-Day International (ODI) history, reaching three figures in just 31 deliveries against the West Indies at the New Wanderers Stadium here.

The previous One-Day International record was held by New Zealander Corey Anderson, who took 36 balls to reach his ton playing against the same opponents a year ago.

However, Chris Gayle’s 100 from 30 balls in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2013 is the fastest century in cricket history.

De Villiers, who ended up scoring a 44-ball 149, hammered 16 sixes that also helped him share the record of scoring maximum sixes in an ODI innings with Indian Rohit Sharma.

Openers Hashim Amla (not out 153) and Rilee Rossouw (128) provided the platform for the 30-year-old De Villiers to explode as the trio helped South Africa register their highest total in an ODI of 439 for two — bettering the total of 438 for nine the Proteas scored against Australia in 2006.

Sunday’s total was just four short of the all-time ODI record score of 443 for nine set by Sri Lanka against the Netherlands in July 2006 and highest against a Test-playing nation.

South African skipper De Villiers, who bludgeoned nine fours to score his 19th century, reached half century in 16 balls. The innings also saw three centuries scored for the first time.

De Villiers forged a 67-ball 192-run partnership for the third wicket with the 31-year-old Amla, who scored his 18th ODI hundred.

Amid all this carnage, the 25-year-old Rossouw, who had six ducks in his first 16 international innings, recorded his maiden century.

(IANS)

Warner leads Australia to easy win over England

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Eoin Morgan

Sydney: David Warner helped Australia gain a bonus point after beating England by three wickets and 61 balls remaining in the opening match of the ODI tri-series, also involving India, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here Friday.

Warner smashed 127 off 115 balls as Australia chased down England’s 234 all out in 39.5 overs to take home the bonus point.

The hosts were coasting to victory but four wickets for 28 runs made the chase more stressful than it should have been.

Eoin Morgan’s fighting ton proved futile as the English bowlers struggled to contain the marauding Australians, especially Warner, who smacked 18 fours in his innings.

Chris Woakes was the pick of the English bowlers taking four wickets for 40 runs in his eight overs.

Earlier, after electing to bat, skipper Morgan’s 121 lifted England to 234 all out in 47.5 overs.

Australia bowled with discipline to put the visitors in trouble from the outset.

Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc removed opener Ian Bell (0) and James Taylor (0) early with fellow pacer Pat Cummins inflicting further damager by dismissing the talented Joe Root (5).

Morgan, who replaced Alastair Cook at England’s helm, walked in when the score read 12 for three in 3.4 overs.

Opener Moeen Ali (22) also lost his wicket to James Faulkner before Xavier Doherty made further inroads into the English batting line-up by removing right-hander Ravi Bopara (13).

However, Morgan first stitched a 67-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Jos Buttler (28) before the wicketkeeper offered a catch to David Warner off the bowling of Faulkner.

Even though he was running out of partners, the England skipper took his time to settle down before going for expansive shots.

His judicious shot selection saw him score 11 fours and three sixes as he recorded his seventh century.

Chris Jordan (17) supported the new skipper with a 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

For Australia, Starc emerged as the most successful bowler, picking up four wickets for 42 runs while Faulkner took three for 47. Doherty, Glenn Maxwell and Cummins picked up a wicket each.

Brief scores: England 234 all out in 47.5 overs (Eoin Morgan 121, Jos Buttler 28; Mitchell Starc 4/42, James Faulkner 3/47) lost to Australia 235 for seven in 39.5 overs (David Warner 127, Steven Smith 37; Chris Woakes 4/40, Chris Jordan 1/33).

(IANS)

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