Gambhir to make way for Sehwag in second ODI

PERTH: Virender Sehwag's arrival for the media briefing at the WACA on Tuesday raised a few eyebrows. His presence, though, was meant to clear the air over a few festering issues.

Sehwag, after all, had been dropped from the first game in order to play Rohit Sharma, but now it seems he will be back in the opening slot against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The dashing opener made it clear there was a rotation policy for seniors, meaning there is a policy of grooming youngsters in place now.

"We are giving breaks to the top three batsmen. So, I think, tomorrow it could be somebody else's turn (to be rested). Either Tendulkar or Gambhir will take a break so that I can come into the side," said Sehwag.

Having taken the first beating from Australia in the opening game, India cannot afford to take things easy. It has been learnt that Tendulkar and Sehwag will open on Wednesday, with Gambhir being 'rested' this time.

Interestingly, Sehwag also talked about the benefits of taking a break.

"Break does you good. It can help you recover from the physical and mental fatigue and that is why we decided that the top three players can be rotated."

Apart from Sehwag, veteran pacer Zaheer Khan also missed out on the opening match. Like Sehwag, Zaheer Khan too is expected to be back for the game.

With India's top stars in the twilight of their careers, it looks like some guidelines have been issued to the team management.

"We want to give chances to the youngsters because the next World Cup is going to be held here. It will help them get used to the conditions," explained Sehwag, who himself endorsed the idea saying, "I guess it's good thinking."

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IPL auction in 2009 was rigged in favour of CSK, claims Lalit Modi

NEW DELHI: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi on Tuesday claimed that the auction for the 2009 edition of the cash-rich T20 tournament was "rigged" in favour of Chennai Super Kings whose owner, N Srinivasan, is now the president of the Indian Cricket Board.

Srinivasan, however, rubbished Modi's claims by stating that there is "absolutely no substance or truth" in what he is saying.

Modi, who was the IPL chief at the time, has alleged that the rules were tweaked to allow former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff to remain with Chennai.

"Flintoff auction was rigged. I made it clear that time. That onus was on me and as chairman I should have not allowed that to happen then. I was arm-twisted to allow Andrew Flintoff to go to Chennai Super Kings.

"I'm to blame for that. It's a fact. Similar problem happened with the Pakistani players. Arm-twisting happened by senior BCCI officials that nobody should pick them," Modi told CNN-IBN on Tuesday.

Srinivasan, who was the BCCI secretary at the time, said it was surprising that Modi was making these allegations after three years.

"I haven't watched the television programme where he has said all this. All I can say is that there is absolutely no substance or truth in what he is saying. If he is talking about 2009 why is he saying all this in 2012," Srinivasan said.

Modi's allegations come close on the heels of Sahara India announcing its decision to pull out of its sponsorship of the Indian team and ownership of the Pune Warriors IPL franchise.

"Subrata (Roy, Sahara Group chief) is right when he says there is no level playing field. Over past few seasons we have seen rules being changed to benefit one team or the other. The IPL was built on the premises that there should be a level playing field.

"That's why we had auction, the capping - the maximum money one can pay and there should be no side trading. But over the years the auction rules have changed and it's to the detriment of some teams," Modi said.

Modi said that the BCCI stands to lose close to Rs 10,000 crore as a result of the Sahara pull-out and the terminations in recent times.

"With Kochi, Sahara, Nimbus and Sony contracts going down it's close to ten thousand crores loss to BCCI."

Asked about the conflict of interest with Chennai team and the favours to the two-time defending champions and Mumbai, Modi said, "The accusations are justified. We changed the rules in Champions league where we allowed five players to play. You should make rules for all teams that everybody benefits out of it.

"What Subrataji is saying regarding Yuvraj is not right. This problem should have been resolved prior to that. Not only two teams but also few more teams wanted to keep their key players. A lot of teams wanted their players to go back but more powerful teams could get the clause retain."

And about the chances of returning to India, he said, "The ED and other authorities are just throwing charges but in last two years they have not come up with any thing. I've been answering the questions but not a single allegation has turned into fact.

"I will be very happy to return to India but what about the witch hunt. All agencies would go after you without any proof. I will comeback if there is guarantee that there will be no witch hunt."

While raising doubts over the sustainability of IPL, Modi also hit out at the present management for lack of transparency.

"If you change the rules the business model won't work. I've been saying from the beginning that the rules have to be equal. BCCI has done certain things which are going to hurt cricket in long run.

"Why everybody is going away from the IPL today. There is lack of transparency now. Stick to the formula and we have a golden goose to cash on."

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Indian cricket star being treated for cancer

Yuvraj Singh is undergoing chemotherapy to treat a cancerous growth that may have been bothering him even while he produced his World Cup heroics last year.
The growth in his chest was originally thought to be benign, but has recently been diagnosed as malignant, and he traveled to the United States on Jan. 26 to seek treatment.
"It is a rare tumor and is cancerous, but it has been detected in stage-one," Singh's physiotherapist, Jatin Chaudhary, was quoted as saying Monday by the Press Trust of India.
"Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy, but since parts of the tumor are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running it could burst. But it is 100 percent curable," he said.
Dr. Nitish Rohatgi, an oncologist in New Delhi's Max Hospital who has been co-ordinating with Singh's doctors in the United States, said the cricketer had been responding well to treatment.

"His malignancy is curable and he has been responding well to chemotherapy that is being administered since the end of January," Rohatgi told a news conference in New Delhi on Monday. "The chemotherapy will continue till the end of March and we are confident he will be cured."
Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam said in November that her son probably carried the illness through the World Cup in March and April last year, saying that the allrounder suffered from constant "bouts of coughing and vomiting" during the tournament and medical tests revealed a "golf-ball size lump over the left lung."
India's sports minister Ajay Maken has promised help to Singh.
"Wish Yuvraj a speedy recovery! Asking officials to find the quantum and nature of help required. Government should and will help him," Maken posted on Twitter.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has wished Singh "a speedy recovery" in an e-mailed statement, in which it also asked the media to respect the privacy of Singh and his family members.
The 30-year-old Singh, man-of-the-tournament during last year's home World Cup-victory, last played for India during a home test series against the West Indies in November.
Singh has played 37 tests, 274 limited-overs internationals and 23 Twenty20 internationals.
He played a large part in India winning the World Cup for the first time since 1983, playing in all nine matches at the 2011 edition and contributing 362 runs at an average of 90 and taking 15 wickets at 25 with his left-arm spin.
Singh is also famous for striking six sixes in an over off England paceman Stuart Broad during the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.
Singh's absence on India's current tour of Australia has been noticeable. India was trounced 4-0 in the test series and won just one of two Twenty20 matches before losing its opening one-dayer against Australia by 64 runs Sunday.

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Hilfenhaus steps in for injured Lee

SYDNEY: Australia called up swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus on Monday to replace injured paceman Brett Lee for the one-day international against Sri Lanka.

Hilfenhaus was instrumental in Australia's Test whitewash of India, where he was the top wicket-taker with 27 scalps for an average 17.22, and selectors said he would stand in for Lee at Friday's one-dayer in Perth.

"The bowling attack for Perth is likely to be the same as the one that did so well in Melbourne and Ben will be in Perth to provide cover," said national selector John Inverarity.

Lee has been ruled out of action for up to six weeks after fracturing the little toe of his right foot when he was struck by a ball against India in Friday's Twenty20 in Melbourne.

Australia opened the tri-nation ODI series with a convincing 65-run win over India on Sunday. India meet Sri Lanka on Wednesday and Australia and Sri Lanka square off on Friday.

Inverarity said Mitchell Marsh, who stepped in for the then appendicitis-afflicted Lee in Australia's ODI series against South Africa in October, had also been confirmed for Sunday's ODI against India.

Marsh, 20, has been playing domestic fixtures in his native Perth

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Shoaib Malik included in squads for ODI, T20 series

DUBAI: Discarded former captain Shoaib Malik was also included in the Pakistan squads for One-day International and Twenty20 International series.

"On the request of Misbah, the selection committee has agreed to send Malik
to join the one-day and T20 squads," Pakistan Cricket Board said.

Malik's inclusion comes as a surprise after he flopped in his last five one-day innings, scoring a mere 33 runs. He managed just 22 in three Twenty20 innings.

Following are the revised squads:

One-day squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Shoaib Malik.

Twenty20 squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Awais Zia, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam, Shoaib Malik.

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PCB, ICC clarifies confusion over Ajmal's bowling

DUBAI: Pakistan cricket authorities and the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday clarified the confusion over Saeed Ajmal's bowling action, saying the spinner had been cleared within the specified limits.

Ajmal himself created more confusion, by claiming he has special dispensation from the ICC to straighten his arm beyond the allowed 15 degrees.

The 34-year-old off-spinner, who took 24 wickets in the 3-0 Test series whitewash of England, claimed that the ICC has allowed him extra leniency, up to 23.5 degrees.

As per the ICC rules a bowler can only straighten his arm up to 15 degrees, beyond which his action will be deemed illegal.

"I don't know about my bowling action, but somebody was telling me your action is bad. ICC has allowed me 23.5 because my arm is not good because of an accident, that is why a problem," Ajmal told BBC television on Monday after being declared man-of-the-series.

"Otherwise no problem, straightaway cleared by ICC."

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Ajmal was referring to elbow extension, and not the arm.

"Ajmal was referring to the angle of elbow abduction i.e. the angle of the upper arm to the forearm and not the degree of elbow extension. This angle is approximately 23 degrees in Ajmal's case," the PCB said in a statement.

"The ICC's level of tolerance of 15 degrees relates to the degree of elbow extension that is permitted in the bowling action i.e. the amount by which the arm is straightening," it added.

The PCB said the previous tests conducted on the action of Ajmal showed that the degree of elbow extension is well within ICC's tolerance levels.

ICC general manager cricket David Richardson also backed the PCB's stance.

"There is a big difference between the elbow carry angle (elbow abduction) and the degree of elbow extension. There is nothing preventing a bowler bowling with a bent arm, provided he does not straighten it beyond the permitted degrees of tolerance," said Richardson.

Pakistan won the third and final Test here by 71 runs.

Ajmal's bowling action, reported by match officials during a one-day series against Australia here in 2009 before it was cleared after remedial work by experts, once again came under suspicions following his career-best 7-55 in the first Test, also played in Dubai.

Former England paceman Bob Willis raised suspicions over his 'doosra' (second one) -- a ball which turns the other way than a normal off-break -- while England coach Andy Flower said he has his own opinion and left the matter to the ICC.

But after Ajmal's claim on relaxation, Flower on Tuesday showed surprise.

"If that's the degree, then there's a problem, said Flower when asked about Ajmal's claim of special dispensation. "That's ridiculous."

"That is an ICC issue, though. They are there to police the game, and make sure that it is played within the rules, so they've got to scrutinise his action.

"We've all got our own views, but our job is to combat whoever is put against us, and part of it is also to play the game in the right spirit."

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