KHI 13-12-2012_Layout 1 12/13/2012 2:04 AM Page 16
thursday, 13 december, 2012
mcllroy could break major record: Norman Page 18
‘Dhoni sacking blocked by board chief’ M NEWSDESK
OHINDER Amarnath, the former India selector, has said it was the BCCI president, N Srinivasan, who overruled the selectors' unanimous call for sacking of MS Dhoni as captain after the two whitewashes in England and Australia. "The Board President did not approve the unanimous decision to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni," Amarnath told CNN-IBN. In response to the comment, the BCCI chose to stay quiet at the moment. "We don't wish to respond to these allegations at this point when the team is due to play a Test," Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary said. "But I want say that the BCCI has full confidence in the captain and the coach and we are fully supportive of the team. " Post the Test debacle in Australia, Amarnath said, the selectors wanted to appoint a young captain for the triangular one-day series that followed, but their decision was overturned. "We selected the team for the triangular series, selected 17 players but we did not select the captain," he said. "The captain was selected by somebody else." Asked whether he questioned the decision, Amarnath said, "When you re-
wade’s tenuous grip on gloves
spect a person you don't ask questions. But my question is, you have a selection committee those who think what is best for Indian cricket then why they are not given a free hand." There was massive speculation that this was the reason Amarnath's term as a selector ended abruptly when he was actually expected to be the new chairman of the selectors. When asked about that, all Amarnath said was: "I don't miss it." However, Ra-
jeev Shukla, the IPL chairman, denied any such events happened. "I will not go into what he [Amarnath] has said," Shukla said. "I don't think it is appropriate to give statements like this. Whatever one has to say, one can say while participating in the [selection] meeting. Making comments about it, I think, it is not appropriate as it creates some kind of perception in the minds of players and fans. Selectors are independent. They are not under any pressure." Amarnath was asked to clarify a rumour doing the rounds that he was cited the BCCI constitution that stated he could not sack Dhoni without the higher-ups clearing it. "Neither will I say yes nor will I deny it, okay," he responded. "I know the facts, and I will tell you the facts when I feel the time is right." He did go on to say, though, that he was not aware of the constitution. "When somebody becomes a selector, I don't think you are aware of the constitution of the BCCI," he said. "I was not aware. I don't think even the current committee is aware of the constitution." According to the Indian Express, Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani and Raja Venkat, during a meeting in January this year for selecting the squad for the CB Series in Australia, wanted to sack Dhoni.
Australia's wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is acutely aware of his tenuous place at the top of what is by far the national team's most competitive market. At a time when high quality batsmen and spin bowlers are in short supply and fast bowlers are almost as likely to drop with injury as they are to flourish, Australia has seldom had a more bounteous supply of glovemen. While Phillip Hughes was recalled after his first Sheffield Shield century of the summer, Wade knows that behind him in the queue lurks a small army of stumpers. His predecessor Brad Haddin, keen on one more Ashes tour, is swinging from the hip for New South Wales with a reconfigured batting grip. Tim Paine has battled back manfully from a serious finger fracture and took the Australia A gloves this year. Chris Hartley maintains a never less than fastidious standard behind the stumps for Queensland and has grown his batting notably. And this is all without mentioning the likes of Peter Nevill, Tom Triffitt and Peter Handscomb, all considered worthy of eventual national call-ups. Wade regularly runs his eyes across the competition, the resurgent Haddin in particular, and has resolved to play each match in the manner Ricky Ponting approached the Perth Test as his last. "Every time you walk out onto the ground for Australia you've got to live that moment. Every time could be your last," Wade said. "So in that regard, I do live the moment I suppose for Australia. I keep an eye on cricket games and, yeah, Hadds is playing really nicely and he was always going to. A world-class player.
NEWSDESK: The BCCI has chosen not to respond to the comments made by former selector Mohinder Amarnath in which he said that MS Dhoni's sacking from the captaincy role after the tour of Australia was blocked by the BCCI president. "We don't wish to respond to these allegations at this point when the team is due to play a Test," Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. "But I want to say that the BCCI has full confidence in the captain and the coach and we are fully supportive of the team." According to Amarnath, the selectors wanted to appoint a young captain after India's Test losses in Australia, but N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, intervened to overrule the selector's decision. There was massive speculation that Amarnath's disagreements with the board were the reason his term as a selector ended abruptly when he was actually expected to be the new chairman of the selectors.
Angelo Mathews ready for Test captaincy NEWSDESk
NEWSDESK
bCCi deadbats Amarnath’s comments
Angelo Mathews has expressed enthusiasm for the leadership role and appears ready to take over the captaincy once Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka's current Test captain, steps down. Jayawardene accepted the post reluctantly in January and has seemed eager to be rid of the reins ever since. He has hinted he will step down after the tour of Australia as long as Sri Lanka avert disaster there, and his deputy's apparent willingness to take over will only make that move easier. Mathews is already Sri Lanka's Twenty20 captain and has been groomed for the role in the longer formats. He arrives in Australia in form, having been the team's topscorer in the home series against New Zealand, and has seen his Test batting bloom over the last 18 months. He has been the vice-captain in all formats since July 2011, and in the SLPL, he led the Nagenahira Nagas to the final of the competition. Mathews' unflinching attitude and an expanding reputation for even-headedness under pressure have
made him appear much more like captaincy-material than at the end of Kumar Sangakkara's tenure, when he was considered for the role, but lost out to Tillakaratne Dilshan. "I think that's totally up to the selectors - if
they think I'm ready for the captaincy, I'm ready," Mathews said. "It doesn't really matter for now because Mahela's been a great captain for years and I think he's been serving the country for decades. But if the selectors think I'm ready - it's up to them." If he does succeed Jayawardene after the tour, and there are no retirements, he will lead a side with three former captains and several other players senior to him in age, if not always in international experience. At 25, Mathews may be leading one of Sri Lanka' oldest Test sides, but he said he sees the older players' presence as a boon, rather than a challenge. Indeed, the prospect of having time to mentor Mathews in the initial phase of his captaincy has been the reason Jayawardene has cited for wanting to relinquish the captaincy before he retires. "When I initially got into the team, there were so many captains. Sanath Jayasuriya was there, and now we have Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela. They teach us a lot and we can always go back to them to ask questions, and they're always willing to help out. There's a lot we can learn from Mahela."
india have the character to bounce back: Dhoni
NEWSDESK: MS Dhoni, India's under-fire captain, has said this is the time for the team to show character. India are 2-1 down against England and could lose their first Test series at home since 2004 if they don't win the Nagpur Test. In all they have now lost 10 of their 11 Tests against England and Australia, and almost every player in the side has had his place questioned in recent times. "Not only as a captain, but as an individual too you rarely get these situations," Dhoni said. "Against South Africa [in 2008], we were in a similar situation, when we were down in the series, going into Kanpur. I won't say this is a very good situation to be in, but you get to know the character of a team or a person only in tough times. In a way it's a good situation to be in where we have nowhere to go. We have to do well in this game." Dhoni said the team has been in good spirits despite the reverses over the last few weeks.
finn in doubt for Nagpur Test
NEWSDESK Steven Finn has emerged as a major injury doubt ahead of the fourth Test in Nagpur after suffering a back injury. Finn, who missed the first two Tests with a thigh strain, reported some soreness on the final day of the Kolkata Test. A scan has shown a minor disc injury in his lower back and he was unable to take any part in training on Wednesday. While the England team management are not ruling Finn out of the Test, his inclusion would appear to involve them taking an uncharacteristic risk. They are expected to pick just two seamers for the game, so will be loathe to go into it with any injury doubts over one of them. Stuart Broad has been ruled out of the Test after a scan on his left heel showed bruising.
I am number four: Watson SYDNEY aGeNCIes
Shuffled almost as often as a deck of cards in a poker den, Shane Watson's itinerant Test match batting career may finally have found a permanent home at No. 4. Since his debut in 2005, Watson has been tried everywhere from No. 7 to opening, but has only now settled into the batting position with which he first became familiar when playing for Tasmania and Queensland before his international career began. Following Australia's training session at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday, Watson confirmed that he would move down to No.4 to accommodate the recalled Phillip Hughes at No.3, and expressed hope that this would be the post where he would finally settle down as an international allrounder. It is no coincidence that No.4 is also the spot occupied by Jacques Kallis, as the coach Mickey Arthur has made no se-
cret of his desire to have Watson scoring runs with something like the South African's formidable consistency, while also offering substance with the ball. "I think this is more a permanent move. I hope so anyway," Watson said. "It has certainly tested out what my skills are. I certainly enjoyed opening but it meant I wasn't really able to bowl that much really, considering I was going to have to go in and take the first ball. Four hopefully will suit me really well. I know how important the No.4 spot is. "To be able to hopefully set up an innings when the platform has already been set for me, or come in and hopefully build a big total if we've lost a few early wickets. It's where I actually started batting when I was playing first-class cricket when I was younger. It's the position I probably know the best from a few years back anyway." For an Australian side desperate to have Watson graduate from the handy scores he delivered consistently when opening the
batting, and the mediocre ones he has turned out when tried elsewhere in the order, there is some useful history to his occupation of the position. No.4 was the site of Watson's highest first-class score, a doublecentury for Queensland in a Sheffield Shield
final, and the position from which he first pushed for international selection with Tasmania. "That's where I batted for Queensland, and it is where I batted for a bit of my time in Tasmania as well," Watson said. It just gives me that opportunity to be able to bowl the overs that my body allows me to and the captain wants [and] to then be able to freshen up and hopefully be able to bat for a long period of time as well. It'd be nice to be able to get into a position and make it my own by scoring the runs so that hopefully they don't really want to move me anywhere else." Critical to all this will be Watson's attitude, which has been at its most poised and confident when opening the batting. Regardless of where Watson bats, many of his innings have followed a familiar pattern of early free scoring followed by a gradual slowing in momentum and eventual dismissal for a less than satisfying score. Well aware of the flaw, Watson said he was determined to fight his way through it at No.4.