Sport World
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th April 2013
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India to play 3 Tests, 7 ODIs and 2 T20s against South Africa
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott says Virender Sehwag is unlikely to play for India again and the opener will "sadly fade away" after playing a bit of Indian Premier League. Sehwag was dropped for the last two Tests against Australia in the recent series and was also excluded from the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy. "I don't think he'll play again. I think it's because India have gone the right way. It took a little while to come around to it. They've given youth a chance," Boycott told a cricket website. In eight Test matches since April 2012, he has managed to score just 408 runs at an average of 31.38, with highest being 117. In the six ODIs, in the same period, he scored 183 runs at an average of 30.5 and was dropped for the ODI series against England. His last ODI century was the double hundred against the West Indies in December 2011. Boycott said India have done the right thing by blooding youngsters in the national side. "After they lost to England, I kept
saying you have to give these young batsmen a chance. You have to get them in and you have to build again for the World Cup. I've never changed my
view on that. You are world champions in ODIs, you have to move on, and it doesn't matter who you are, I always say, age is not the barrier, it's about performance," he said. Boycott said Sehwag was one of the best batsmen of the last 20 years and lack of a defensive technique was his
only shortcoming. "He played it his way and his way, at times, on certain pitches, was highly successful. But when it comes to the ball moving around and it was a bit more bouncy, his defensive technique was exposed. But trying to tell him and make him play differently, how do you do that? Sehwag has got all his runs playing his way," Boycott said He also stressed that it was difficult for a player like Sehwag to change the way he played the game. "His nature, his personality, is a more happy-golucky, generous, easy-natured, friendly, affable sort of personality that fits in with the way he batted," Boycott said. "He used to bat freely, with lots of strokes. It's not in his nature to play carefully, steadily. I'm sure people have tried to say, 'Can you play a little more carefully? You are older now, you maybe don't pick the ball up quite as well or quickly, or you've still got lots of talent and use your experience.' You tell everybody all these things but it's very difficult to change people from what they are. And, it's too late now. I think he's just going to play a bit of IPL and then, sadly, fade away," he said.
India eves whitewash Bangladesh India to host this year's 3-0 to clinch ODI series Champions League T20
Indian women cricketers swept the three-match oneday international series against Bangladesh 3-0 beating them by 58 runs in the final match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. The series win underpins Indian eves’ dominance over their Asian neighbours. Besides the 3-0 ODI series romp, India also whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0 in the three-match T20 series as well. All the three T20 matches were played in Vadodara, while all the three ODI matches were played in Ahmedabad. Making first use of the wicket, Indian openers Poonam Raut and 16-yearold Smriti Mandhawa gave their side a pretty decent start raising 37 in the first eight overs before
Bangladesh made deep inroads into their batting line-up. Medium-pacer Panna Ghosh effected the first breakthrough as Mandhawa fell for 23 which came off 30 balls, containing four hits to the fence. Panna struck again when she got rid of Sneha Deepthi for 4. The Indian innings lost its way when Raut perished to Lata Mondal for 13 with her side wobbling at 49 for 3. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur held the innings together for a while, scoring a steady 29 but the innings got a jolt when she was prized out by Rumana Ahmed, who was settling down into a nice rhythm. Bangladesh were all out for 96 in 41.1 over, handing the hosts a well deserved win.
The Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which was played in South Africa last year, will return to India this season, the tournament's governing council said in a release. "The Champions League Twenty20 will return to India for the third time in five years in 2013 after the dates and format for this year's tournament were confirmed by the CLT20 Governing Council," the BCCI said in a statement. "The world's premier domestic T20 competition will be played from 17 September to 6 October. The tournament will follow a similar format to the two previous editions with a Group Stage preceded by a Qualifier. "A total of 29 matches will be played in the tournament by the best domestic T20 teams from around the world," it added. The CLT20 governing council also confirmed that the teams will compete for a total prize money of USD 6 million. Trinidad and Tobago,
who were the runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2009, have earned direct entry into the Group Stage this year after playing in the Qualifier in 2011 and 2012. "With some of the world's best T20 players, they are a deserving entrant in the main draw after winning the Caribbean T20 championship for a third straight time earlier this year," the BCCI said. But England teams will not participate in this year's tournament. "The competition, which will again feature leading cricketers from across the world and some of the established legends of world cricket, will be watched and followed by equally passionate fans," said CLT20 Governing Council Chairman N Srinivasan.
The Indian cricket team will play three Tests, seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches during their tour of South Africa, slated to start at the end of this year. Cricket South Africa and the Indian Cricket Board were contemplating accommodating one more Test but things could not materialise as both boards decided to stick to ICC's Futures Tour Programme (FTP). The Indian team will be short on Test cricket when they take on the world number one side, playing the first longer-version game since the 4-0 whitewash of the Australians at home in March. South Africa last played the format in February and will only meet Pakistan for two matches in the UAE before hosting India. Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg or Centurion could be the three possible venues for the Test series. There is a possibility of the Boxing Day Test returning to Durban after it was cancelled previous season because CSA opted to play three festive T20s instead. India drew their last Test series in South Africa 1-1 in 2010-11.
Sachin not playing up to his standards: Steve Waugh
Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh on Sunday said that it was for Sachin Tendulkar himself to decide whether it was time for him to retire from international cricket but his personal opinion was that the Indian master is not playing up to his previous standards. "What is your opinion," Waugh, who was in Kollam, Kerala, to attend a private function, shot back, when reporters sought to know from him how he rated Tendulkar's current performance. "He is playing better... but he is not playing up to his standards. He himself has to decide (whether it is time to retire or not)," Waugh said. Waugh said he believed that Test matches are important to maintain quality and standard of cricket though limited over events like IPL are medium for the young players to prove their talent. "Tests are important to maintain both quality and talent. That cannot be replaced by limited over matches," he said. Waugh said he did not subscribe to the view that coach was responsible for the recent defeat of Australia by India. "It is only temporary. Australia will rebound. Coach cannot be blamed for the setback," he said. Waugh, 47, led Australia in 15 of their world-record 16 consecutive Test wins and to the 1999 World Cup title, playing 168 Tests and collecting 10,927 runs. He has also scored over 7500 runs in 325 One-day Internationals.
Harbhajan Singh a backstabber: Sreesanth ive years after the infamous 'slapgate', one of the protagonists of the drama, S F Sreesanth, made an explosive claim, saying
that the entire incident was planned and that his former India teammate Harbhajan Singh was a "backstabbing person." The temperamental Sreesanth made a series of revelations on the 2008 incident on his twitter page on Friday, creating a fresh controversy in the IPL, a day after Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli were involved in an ugly on-field spat. "To be whr Iam ..I ve no complaints..but now I want u All to know the truth. He (Bhajji)never Slapped me.the video will show u all..wt he did," Sreesanth wrote in a series of expletivesladen tweets. "All blamed me for getting emotional ..??c mon who doesn't get emotional whn u know the person who u wor-
ship is a backstabbing person Nd ..," he tweeted. "Disgusting ..that's all I can say..u should get hold of the video..them u all will know te truth..wht he did is completely out of control," he said. Sreesanth, who is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals, demanded that the
videotape of the incident be made public. "I don't want Bhajji to feel bad now..I need to tell the truth to the world..wht happend was bad..it's not my fault at all..and all media ??? The pacer also claimed that Harbhajan did not slap him but elbowed him. "I want the world to c it..Whn I went to shake hands afte the match..he had lost it..he had already planned to hit me(elbow me)all his anger" he said. "It's not my fault at all ..Nd I keep getting compared to all this bull s##*..whn ever anything bad happens in ipl or cricket match..crazy "Nd whn u start to c the big change in person who u trust so much..the World comes down ..that's wht happ..;He Never slapped me," Sreesanth added. "Every one blaming me Nd always
writing and talking about slap gate??it really s**#s.the truth is in the video ..which is with ipl.." Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to square off on April 17 in Jaipur, when Rajasthan Royals play Mumbai Indians. BCCI warns Sreesanth: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday warned Sreesanth for raking up the 2008 'Slapgate' issue through the social networking website Twitter. The BCCI informed him that he would be issued a show cause notice if he repeated the activity. The BCCI also warned Delhi cricketers Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir over their angry outburst at each other during an IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore last week.