Dravid shortlisted for Champions Trophy
Rahul Dravid is the surprise inclusion among India’s probables for the ICC Champions Trophy in September this year. The selectors picked a longlist of 30 players for the tournament, to be held in South Africa, including Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan.
Dravid played his last ODI in October 2007 against Australia in Nagpur, where he managed seven runs. He averages 39.49 from 333 games with a strike-rate of 71.22 and is the third Indian to accumulate more than 10,000 runs in ODIs.
His inclusion follows the recent struggles of Indian batsmen against short-pitched bowling, brutally shown up in the ICC World Twenty20 where Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan were troubled by bouncers from the West Indian and England fast bowlers. The problem continued in the subsequent ODI series in the West Indies.
Dravid played a key role in the success of Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL’s second season, scoring 271 runs at a strike-rate of 115.81 as the team finished runners-up in the tournament held in South Africa.
The 16 members of the team touring the West Indies were also included, as are the regulars who missed that due to injury and fatigue concerns – Tendulkar, Sehwag, Zaheer and Suresh Raina.
Among the players who failed to make the cut are medium-pacers Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth. Irfan’s last ODI was against Sri Lanka in February, while a back injury has troubled Sreesanth for more than a year since the inaugural IPL.
Probables: MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, M Vijay, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni, S Badrinath, Ashish Nehra, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Pankaj Singh.
ICC to re-brand Champions Trophy
Aware that the Champions Trophy is gradually losing its relevance, the ICC on Monday said it had plans to “rejuvenate and re-brand” the tournament which features the top-eight one-day teams.
Several former cricketers have ridiculed the biennial event with Australian spin legend Shane Warne calling it a “joke”.
Other cricketers argue that the tournament is no longer necessary after the advent of Twenty20 cricket and the Indian Premier League and feel it crams the already crowded calendar.
However, ICC President David Morgan said the game’s governing body had no plans of scrapping it.
“We have no plans to scrap the Champions Trophy but we do have plans to rejuvenate and re-brand the event,” Morgan told PTI.
“When it is played in Johannesburg and Pretoria in October, it would be a top-eight event and I believe it would be hugely successful,” he added.
Morgan said restricting the event to just two neighbouring cities in South Africa would benefit it and would also save the players from tiresome travelling.
“It’s an important top-eight event over a short period of time in a single city environment. Johannesburg and Pretoria are two different cities but playing ground Wanderers and Centurion are quite close. For the players, it’s compact, travel is minimum,” he said.
Matches were taken away from Pakistan after a series of terror attacks in the country, including the one on the Sri Lankan cricket team, which left six of the visiting players injured.
Morgan also ruled out organising Pakistan’s share of matches at a neutral venue, an idea floated by the Pakistan Cricket Board, making it clear that the games would be shared by the remaining three co-hosts.
“The ICC Commercial Board has decided that all the matches scheduled originally in Pakistan would be hosted by other co-hosts, that is Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India,” he said.
Asked what the ICC would do in case of prolonged legal battle with the PCB, Morgan said, “Well, I can’t discuss that at this stage.”
Pakistan is also not too happy with the draft Future Tours Programme (FTP) and has accused India and Australia of sidelining it by not scheduling any bilateral series.
But Morgan said there was no such intent on BCCI’s part and the Indian Board was tied down by certain restrictions.
“BCCI clearly has some restrictions on it in playing bilateral tours in Pakistan. What I’m concerned about is that a cricketing nation, as powerful as Pakistan, should not be isolated”, he said.
“I firmly believe the ICC should do everything possible that FTP puts Pakistan in its rightful place as a powerful and influential cricketing nations,” Morgan assured.
Morgan said international cricket is incomplete without Pakistan.
“We cannot ignore the fact that Pakistan has produced world’s some of the most talented and attractive players over the last 20 years and it’s inconceivable that international cricket could prosper without Pakistan playing its full part,” he said.
Asked when he expected teams to agree to tour Pakistan, where security has been a perennial concern, the 71-year-old administrator said, “Not in the foreseeable future.”
“There has to be a significant change in Pakistan for the ICC and the visiting cricketing nations to be convinced that Pakistan is the place to play cricket.
Pak pacer Mohd Asif fined Rs 1 mn, cleared for Champions Trophy selection
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday paved the way for Mohammad Asif’s comeback in the national team for the Champions Trophy later this year after fining the controversial fast bowler Rs 1 million for his involvement in a drug case in Dubai.
The PCB said it had fined Asif on the recommendations of a three-member probe committee that found him guilty of bringing the country and Pakistan cricket into disrepute last year when he was detained in Dubai for possession of 0.23 grams of hashish.
Asif spent 19 days in detention in Dubai in June last year while returning from India after playing in the inaugural Indian Premier League where he had also failed a dope test.
“The fine of Rs 1 million is for his misconduct and possession of hashish in Dubai. But Asif will be clear to play for Pakistan once he completes his 12-month ban for the failed dope test,” PCB chief operating officer Saleem Altaf told PTI.
Asif was banned for 12 months by the drugs tribunal of the IPL for failing a dope test. His ban started from September last year although the pacer had appealed his suspension be considered from July when the PCB had also stopped him from playing cricket.
“We will be sending his name in the provisional list of players for the Champions Trophy to the ICC as his ban ends on September 22 and the event begins from the 24th,” Altaf said.
Altaf said he didn’t see any reason for Asif not to be considered for the Champions Trophy.
“On technical grounds his ban ends on September 22 after which he is a free man. So we will definitely want him in the playing squad,” he added.
He pointed out that as far as the Dubai case was concerned the Rs one million fine was imposed as a punishment although Dubai authorities had not pressed any criminal charges against the pacer. The committee was headed by former Test player Wasim Bari, who is also director human resources in the board.
The committee had delayed giving recommendations to the PCB as it had asked Asif to provide evidence from Dubai confirming he could enter the Emirates state again. Asif didn’t submit the documents but his passport has a valid UAE visa stamped on it.
Asif, who has played 11 Tests and 32 One-day Internationals for Pakistan, had also failed a dope test in 2006 before the Champions Trophy in India in an out of competition tests conducted by the PCB.
However, he escaped punishment along with fellow fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on technical grounds. Asif was relieved to know that his name was being considered for selection in the Champions Trophy squad.
“I am delighted I will be considered for selection again but as far as the fine is concerned I will consult my lawyer about it. But the most important thing for me is to resume my career in September,” Asif said.
Injured Sehwag may miss ICC Champions Trophy 2009
India opener Virender Sehwag could miss the Champions Trophy beginning September 24 as he would be out of action for 12-16 weeks following a surgery on his shoulder.
Sehwag, who was ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup without playing a single match, went under the knife on June 11 and will be under the observation of India team physio Nitin Patel during his stint at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Sehwag’s shoulder will be evaluated 10 weeks after the operation to check whether he can throw a ball, according to a report by a website.
Sehwag sustained the injury during Delhi Daredevil’s IPL semi-final against Deccan Chargers on May 21. Suspense over the Delhi batsman’s injury during the T20 World Cup led to reports of a rift between him and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
