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Ahead of the tour to Sri Lanka, Anil Kumble, India’s Test captain, has played down the threat posed by spinner Ajantha Mendis, who scythed through India’s batting in the Asia Cup final earlier this week.”He must be a tricky bowler. But I cannot see how he can remain a surprise element for very long,” he told the . “To be honest I cannot see how someone like Rahul [Dravid] would not have sorted him out. Rahul would have played straight and not heaved across the line.”Kumble insisted he had nothing to say on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to withdraw from the Test series as “it was his (Dhoni’s) personal decision. He knows his mind and body”.However, he stated he had asked the selectors to pick two specialist wicketkeepers for the tour. “As captain I am aware that there could be problems if the specialist were to pull a muscle or have a runny stomach on the morning of a Test. There was a suggestion Rahul be the second wicketkeeper, but I persuaded the [selection] committee to view things from Indian cricket’s point of view and advantage.”I contended there was nothing wrong in taking the additional specialist wicketkeeper. I know Rahul would not like to be saddled with such a responsibility.”When asked whether he rued not getting the captaincy earlier in his career, he said: “After the Australian tour that was riddled with controversies, I told myself that I had handled the most provocative of situations well.”And maybe in that state of mind, I did think I could have served Indian cricket better had I been offered the captaincy earlier. Apart from Sachin [Tendulkar], I was senior in the team to others. But then these things happen and one has to learn to take these in one’s stride.” He said being made captain on a series-to-series basis did not provide him “much scope to plan”.India kick off the tour with a three-day warm-up match on July 18.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed Charith Senanayake as the manager of the national team following an intervention by Gamini Lokuge, the country’s sports minister. Hashan Tillakaratne, the former Sri Lankan batsman, was originally appointed to the post but Lokuge objected to that as SLC didn’t get his permission on the appointment.The week-long dispute was eventually resolved in the eleventh hour, following a lengthy interim committee meeting on the eve of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India at the SSC in Colombo.Senanayake, 45, played three Tests against New Zealand on the 1991 tour, and seven ODIs in total, with moderate success. Now based in Kenya, he was in Sri Lanka on a holiday when he was offered the job.The post became vacant when SLC decided to replace Air Vice Marshall Shriyan Samararatne, who had held the post since April 2007. Tillakaratne is currently the president of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers of Sri Lanka.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene and South Africa’s Dale Steyn have been nominated for both the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year categories for the ICC Awards 2008. While South Africa captain Graeme Smith is the fourth nominee for the Cricketer of the Year, Jacques Kallis completes the list for the Test Player of the Year.India’s one-day and Twenty20 International captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also picked up nominations in two categories. Apart from being shortlisted for The ODI Player of the Year, his captaincy while leading India to victory in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa last September has earned him a nomination for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.The fifth edition of the awards to be held in Dubai on Wednesday, will be presented in association with FICA and will take into account performances by players and officials in the period between August 9, 2007 and August 12, 2008.Apart from Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, nominated for the ODI Player of the Year, Ishant Sharma (Emerging Player of the Year) and Yuvraj Singh (Twenty20 International Performance of the Year) will be making up the Indian representation at this year’s awards.While Ishant will be up against Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, England all-rounder Stuart Broad and South African fast bowler Morne Morkel in the Emerging Player of The Year category, Dhoni and Yuvraj will face competition from Chris Gayle of the West Indies and Australia’s Brett Lee for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.Lee is one of the three Australian players who have picked up nominations this year along with Nathan Bracken (ODI Player of the Year) and Lisa Sthalekar (Women’s Cricketer of the Year).Sthalekar will be competing alongside Claire Taylor of England, New Zealand’s Nicola Browne and England captain Charlotte Edwards for the Women’s Cricketer of the Year award.Meanwhile, Thomas Odoyo of Kenya will be looking to win the Associate Player of the Year award for the second time, but will have to thwart challenges from team-mate Alex Obanda, Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands and Ireland’s Niall O’Brien.Simon Taufel will be also be eyeing his fifth successive Umpire of the Year award after being nominated alongside Mark Benson, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis and Rudi Koertzen.The nominations for six of the awards were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd and comprising Greg Chappell, Shaun Pollock, Sidath Wettimuny and Athar Ali Khan. The panel will also select the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year.The winners of the six individual awards will be voted upon by a 25-person panel from around the world, made up of renowned former players, respected members of the media, an umpire and match referee from the Elite panel.Meanwhile, the nominations for the Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award were decided after each of the world’s top 10 teams was given the opportunity to nominate two players. The award will be voted on by a separate 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women’s game.While the Spirit of Cricket Award will be voted on by all the international captains as well as all members of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, the Umpire of the Year Award will be voted on by the captains and the match referees.

Former England batsman Aftab Habib believes Hong Kong face a tough test in the ICC World Cricket League Division Four which gets underway in Tanzania next week. He also said that he harbours ambitions to become the first British Asian to coach a county team.Habib, who now coaches Hong Kong, is, nevertheless, confident. “We have a very good chance of getting in Division 3. It’s going to be a tough event,” he told the ICC. “It’s anybody’s game … it’s about who plays best on the day. Everybody is pretty much equal in this tournament.”Hong Kong’s preparations have centred on a ten-day tour to Sri Lanka where they played four practice games. “It was good to play against some really strong teams, against Academy and Development players who are knocking on the door of first-class cricket,” he said. “There’s no point playing against weak opposition and winning comfortably.”One problem facing his players is the lack of knowledge of their opponents. “It’s always quite difficult. We know Afghanistan and I know things about the majority of guys who play for Italy,” he said. “Against teams like Tanzania, who we know less about, it is much more important to your concentrate on your own game.”Habib, who made his two Test appearances almost a decade ago against New Zealand, joined Hong Kong as coach in October 2007 on a three-year contract after retiring in 2006. But he admitted that becoming a cricket coach wasn’t always an ambition when he was younger.”It was only at the age of 17 or 18 that I realised that I was going to be a professional cricketer and I just wanted to perform well for Leicestershire at the time,” he said. “Having the opportunity to play for England was a huge honour as there are so many great cricketers to choose from. I never really thought about going into coaching, but I used to go in the off-season overseas to places like New Zealand, where I played and did some coaching to earn some money and I got a taste for it.”My contract here is for three years – I have two to go – but my main ambition is to be first British Asian to coach a county team,” Habib admitted. “You’re seeing black managers in football in England. There aren’t main British Asians or Asian coaches in cricket in England. That would be my goal and build my way up to coach a county team.”

The ECB has announced a 33-day itinerary for the England Lions tour of New Zealand next February and March.The Lions, whose squad has yet to be selected, depart for New Zealand on February 14 and, a week later, take on the New Zealand Cricket Emerging Players in a couple of two-day games. The first of two Tests gets underway on March 1, followed by two one-dayers and a Twenty20. They return home on March 20.”The England Lions squad will comprise a mixture of England’s best players of the future together with those currently on the fringes of the senior team,” David Parsons, the ECB performance director, said. “In recent years New Zealand have proved to be strong on home soil, particularly in one-day cricket, so this tour presents a good opportunity for those players to test themselves against a quality opposition overseas.”The squad will play both four-day and one-day cricket during the tour offering those players selected the opportunity to push for a place in the senior team.”The Lions squad will be selected just before Christmas, so those on the England Performance Programme, due to go to India in November, are in a strong position.”

Match facts

Oct 17, 2008
Start time 7.30pm (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

It’s early days in the tournament but both teams will be looking to register their first points as the ICL party moves to Ahmedabad. While Ahmedabad looks for the home advantage having lost their two opening matches against the Delhi Giants and Chennai Superstars, Mumbai may have the slight edge after narrowly missing out against the Chandigarh Lions in their only match by two wickets.Clearly, chasing targets has proved to be the Achilles heel for Ahmedabad, who boast the likes of Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Damien Martyn, Ryan Campbell and Murray Goodwin. While Sodhi’s fireworks towards the end did narrow the margin of defeat against Delhi, Martyn ran out of partners during his 38-ball 52 in the chase against Chennai. The bowling department remains a concern with the Indian players yet to contribute significantly. More will be expected of Rakesh Patel, Sunil Kalia and Sridharan Sriram in the next game as they look to back Jason Gillespie and Heath Streak.Mumbai captain Nathan Astle has been disappointing with the bat, but he came close to puling it off for Mumbai in their first game with the ball (4 for 19). Together with Taufeeq Umar at the top, he will look to provide a flying start as Mumbai try to shrug off the disappointment of the first season. Michael Kasprowicz took 3 for 14 against Chandigarh, and Mumbai would hope for a good performance from both him and new-ball partner Johan van der Wath.

Players to watch

Damien Martyn: A relaxed, classical batsman, more in the Test mould, he has looked at ease in the fastest format of the game. The Ahmedabad captain is also an elastic fieldsman but is perhaps more famous for his brutal reverse-sweeps.Heath Streak: A complete package. A fast bowler with tremendous stamina and strength, he was the first Zimbabwean to reach 100 Test wickets. An extremely capable batsman, the Ahmedabad talisman is also a magnificent outfielder with a howitzer-like throw.Nathan Astle: Who can forget the fastest double-century against England in Christchurch (222 of 168 balls)? Clearly the pressure of captaining Mumbai after taking over from Brian Lara is a myth as is evident from the 229 runs he has scored in the 13 ICL Twenty20 matches so far.Kiran Powar: The left -and batsman was clearly the star for Mumbai in the last match with a gritty knock of 45 which helped post a competitive total. With his first performance displaying tremendous maturity, a lot of responsibility rests on Powar’s shoulders this season.

Quotes

“There is no ‘one’ stiffest challenge. Challenges in this tournament will come from all quarters.”

.”We tried to perform our best last year but unfortunately things did not work for us. This time we are concentrating on fitness. Last time we had an issue – we were not able to click as a team.”

ScorecardSri Lanka crushed West Indies by seven wickets in the fifth and final ODI at the Premadasa in Colombo to win the series 3-2. After Suwini de Alwis had ripped through the West Indies batting, it was upto captain Shashikala Siriwardene to once again lead her team to an emphatic victory with 12 overs to spare.Siriwardene would have been slightly worried with her decision to field first again, similar to the previous game which they had lost, as Deandra Dottin and Stefanie Taylor provided a solid start. Both were cautious in their approach, putting on 60 for the opening wicket by the 19th over.But de Alwis struck first to have Dottin (31) caught by Sripali Weerakkody. Taylor (26) fell next holding out to Eshani Kaushalya off Chamari Polgampola. Another quick wicket of Charlene Taitt followed before Merissa Aguilleira and Anisa Mohammed strung together a 34-run partnership to take Sri Lanka to 107.In a bizarre collapse that followed, the last six West Indian wickets fell for 13 runs. De Alwis accounted for three of them, including the dangerous Lisa Ann-King for two. She finished with 4 for 25, but it could have been a five-for had not last man Kirbyina Alexander been run out.The target of 120 was never going to be difficult, as Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Dedunu Silva and Polgampola looked at ease from the start. They coasted to 63 in the 17th over before both fell off successive overs from Mohammed. Siriwardene stroked a fluent 32 but she fell just as Sri Lanka were close to victory, with the score on 107. She had, however, done enough to completely negate the threat of a West Indies comeback, and went on to pick up the Player-of-the-Series award.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has been named as Chris Gayle’s deputy for the five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals on the tour of New Zealand. Ramdin, who was not part of the team for the recent ODIs in Abu Dhabi, replaces Ramnaresh Sarwan as vice-captain. Sarwan has been named vice-captain for the upcoming two-Test series, a squad which includes Ramdin.Besides Ramdin, fast bowler Fidel Edwards and allrounder Kieron Pollard make a return to the ODI side, with batsman Leon Johnson, fast bowler Kemar Roach and chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed left out from the team that was in Abu Dhabi.Ramdin’s appointment comes as a surprise. He had been dropped from West Indies’ ODI squad for the tri-series in Canada in August and the postponed Champions Trophy. Since January 2007, Ramdin has averaged 14.11 with only one half-century from 33 ODIs.He was also not part of the victorious Stanford Superstars squad at the Stanford 20/20 for 20; instead he steered Trinidad & Tobago to the US$280,000 prize in their clash with fellow domestic champions Middlesex. Ramdin, with 91 runs from three games, finished as the second highest run-getter in the Super Series.”When I was asked to do the job I immediately said yes, I did not hesitate,” Ramdin said. “We have a crucial series coming up and I aim to play a major role. This is an opportunity to be in a leadership position and I am hoping to lead by example. This has given me added confidence and I will be looking to improve my batting and keeping.”As in the Test squad, West Indies have named two keepers, with Carlton Baugh competing with Ramdin. Another Trinidad & Tobago player, Pollard, makes it to the team. Pollard scored 120 runs in two innings in the WICB Cup – the premier domestic one-day tournament – which T&T won, as well as taking nine wickets at 14.22. He made his ODI debut for West Indies in a World Cup match against South Africa last year but has since played only three more times, the last against Australia in June.Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn will stay on after the Tests for the two Twenty20 internationals on December 26 and 28. The five-ODI series begins on December 31.West Indies limited-overs squad: Xavier Marshall, Chris Gayle (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Kieron Pollard, Shawn Findlay, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Carlton Baugh (wk), Fidel Edwards, Brendan Nash, Nikita Miller, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn (only for the Twenty20 internationals).

After ceding the limelight to Sachin Tendulkar on the final day inChennai, Mahendra Singh Dhoni fronted up to the cameras and microphones inMohali, perhaps aware that no Indian captain has won three Tests on thetrot [excluding tours of Bangladesh] since Sourav Ganguly triumphed atKolkata, Chennai [Australia] and Bulawayo seven years ago. His record ascaptain thus far is perfect – four from four – and Mohali was the scene ofthe most emphatic victory, a 320-run drubbing of Australia two months ago.”Nothing is easy, I can assure you of that,” said Dhoni with a smile whenasked if this whole captaincy business was a lark. “International cricketis tough. Yes, if you do have a good side, if the side is doing everythingright, it looks a bit easy. I think it’s just that the team is playingreally well.”There was certainly cause for alarm in Chennai, with England dominatingthe first three days of the match. “In the first three days, I don’t thinkwe won too many sessions,” Dhoni said. “But the last two days, we were on themark, we won the sessions that mattered. We raised our standards, we tookthe responsibility as a team, and that’s what really matters. Viru [Sehwag] startedit in the second innings and of course Sachin and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh] batted really well.But at the same time, the bowlers were also fine. When there werepartnerships, they were willing to bowl and stick to the plans.The cracks on the Mohali pitch didn’t faze him unduly, and he said that heexpected it behave much like the surface on which Australia had beenbeaten. “It’s tough to say how different it is,” he said. “I can only sayhow different it’s looking right now. It’s quite dry, though a fractionharder than the surface we’d played on. But there have been quite a fewRanji Trophy games on the same wicket, and looks can be deceptive. Itcould be on the slower side.”Dhoni was unstinting in his praise for the batsmen who pulled off theChennai chase, and he stressed on how the big partnerships mattered.”I think a lot depended on the start,” he said. “I think it was a perfect start given by Viru, because if you don’t get such a start, you’d be playing to save the game, which is not easy. It looked easy when Yuvi and Sachin were batting. When they were through with theinitial stage, it looked a bit easy. But it’s really tough and getstougher when a new batsman is in. When a partnership gets going, it lookslike a flat wicket. But when a new batsman comes in, all of a sudden theballs seem to start to jump and everything seems to happen, especially ona fifth-day wicket.”In his mind, there were no doubts about Sehwag’s standing in the moderngame. “Whether it’s the last innings he played, or the way he plays, he isone of the most destructive batsmen in Test cricket and one-day cricket,” saidDhoni. The positive mindset within the team has also allowed the likes ofSehwag to play their natural game. “To keep it very simple, we back Sehwagto play his shots even if he gets out in a few innings. As a team, webacked him. We know the game he plays and we know how he’s got so manyruns in international cricket. So believe in the talent that everyindividual has got. That really makes us a real team.”Sehwag’s brilliance in Chennai largely obscured another significantcontribution from Gautam Gambhir, whose form since returning to the sidehas been nothing short of a revelation. “Both of them complement eachother,” said Dhoni. “They’ve played loads of domestic cricket together,they run well between the wickets. Both of them are aggressive, they playtheir strokes. They score at a brisk pace, over three an over. So if theystay together for 10 to15 overs, we know that they would get 50 to 60runs. But the one thing that stands out is their running between thewickets.”

There was some sympathy for the English bowlers who toiled without muchreward on the final day in Chennai, on a pitch where India too hadstruggled for breakthroughs.”They didn’t bowl badly, it’s just that at times things do not go your way,” he said. “When there was a partnership between Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss, nothing was happening for us. Even when the ball was bouncing, or hitting the glove, it wasn’t going to the fielders. It happens in cricket at times.”Maybe they could have done something different. They could have got Montyto bowl in the rough; they could have done something different, especiallywhen Sachin went for his chest pad, it was very obvious that he’d notplayed his shots from that region so at that time they could have gone forsome of their options. With a great player like him, you can see what theindications are, which basically in this case was that he would not play shotsfrom the rough, unless it was really pitched up, underneath his bat.”The euphoria surrounding the run chase temporarily stopped talk of theRahul Dravid crisis, but predictably, the questions were back in fullforce on Thursday. “I’ve said that each time, I’m not really worried,”Dhoni said. “I feel it’s just a matter of time. Once he passes the 30-runmark, he’ll get his confidence back. Nobody can question his talent anddetermination. We have confidence in him and I think he’ll get runs atsome point of time.”He didn’t, however, rule out a change in the batting order, with VVSLaxman moving up to No.3 and Dravid dropping down to No.5. “We’rethinking, but at the same time it’s not confirmed because we have to thinkof a few other things as well,” he said. “Shifting Rahul to No. 5 andasking VVS to bat at No. 3, it might seem okay – VVS is scoring runs andit would be easier for Rahul to bat at No. 5. But it might turn the otherway round as well. If on a good ball, VVS gets out, there is alreadypressure on Rahul, and if he comes in with three wickets down early, therewill be more pressure. It’s really tough to battle that. If you’re comingin at No. 3, you come in at one wicket down, and that gives you thefreedom to play your natural game.”Dravid apart, India certainly did that in Chennai. And after storming homewith 20.3 of the day’s scheduled overs still to be bowled, Dhoni wascertain that it would affect the sort of targets set for India infuture. “We were criticised when we didn’t declare in the series againstAustralia,” he said. “Well, the first preference is to save a game. Beingbrave is very important but you can’t be foolish. So from a point whereyou have the control of the game, you shouldn’t give the opposition even achance of winning the game.”Once the opposition knows that it can’t win a match, they just look todefend, and that’s the time when you can really attack them more, pushthem to the back foot. There was that famous Test match when the Indianteam was given the follow-on and it went on to win the game. And afterthat, we’ve seen a number of international sides not giving the follow-on.So it can start a trend, when people would like to be safe first.”With a series to square, Kevin Pietersen and England no longer have thatluxury.

What is an eliminator?
It is the tiebreaker for Twenty20 internationals. In July 2008 the eliminator, also referred to as the Super Over, replaced the bowl-out as the official tool to separate teams that finish at the same score at the end of a completed Twenty20 game.How does it work?
Both the teams get to play one over each after the match, and the team that wins that contest is the winner: in a way it’s a One1 to resolve a Twenty20 tie.How many players take part in the eliminator?
Both sides have to nominate three batsmen and one bowler each for the eliminator. A team can be bowled out in the traditional sense, if it loses two wickets. The bowler and batsmen, once nominated, cannot be changed. All the fielders take a part in the contest. The eliminator is played with the same fielding restrictions as those in place for the last over of a normal Twenty20 intenrational.Is there a toss for the eliminator?
No. The team that batted second in the actual match bats first.Is there a change in any of the other ground conditions?
The eliminator – conditions permitting – has to played on the same day, on the same pitch, with the umpires standing at the same ends as they finished the match, and with the ball that was in use at the end of the second innings. Both eliminator innings are played from the same end, which is chosen by the umpires. The usual cricket rules governing no-balls, wides etc apply to the eliminator overs.What if the teams are tied at the end of the eliminator?
In case of a second tie, the total number of sixes hit – in the main match and in the eliminator – becomes the tiebreaker. If the teams are still tied, the team that has hit the most boundaries – fours and sixes – in the eliminator is declared the winner.Has the need arisen for the eliminator so far?
Yes, the recent Twenty20 between New Zealand and West Indies in Auckland was a tie, and West Indies won the match after the eliminator. Chasing New Zealand’s 155 for 7, West Indies managed 155 for 8. In the tiebreaker, Chris Gayle hit three sixes and a four to take West Indies to 25 for 1. Jacob Oram and Ross Taylor managed a six each, but both got out with two balls remaining.Is the system here to stay?
The first experiment with the eliminator highlighted some inherent flaws. In the main match, both teams had managed seven sixes each. When New Zealand were bowled out in the eliminator, they had hit two sixes, as opposed to West Indies’ three sixes and a four. Since they had two balls remaining and were 10 short of West Indies’ total, New Zealand could well have tied the eliminator with a six and a four off those two deliveries – rendering the game a tie even after the eliminator.New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, is not a fan of the concept at any rate. “I think a tie’s a tie,” Vettori said after the game. “What’s wrong with a tie? I have no issues with it.”