Pakistan look to draw first blood

KARACHI : Buoyed up by their series-winning triumphs in all three formats of the game against Sri Lanka in the UAE, Pakistan will be eyeing a comprehensive win against Bangladesh in Dhaka on today when they open a month-long tour with a one-off Twenty20 International.Pakistan landed in Dhaka just a day after beating better-ranked Sri Lanka in the three-match series...

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Yuvraj vows to return after lung tumour diagnosis

Crowd-pleasing batsman Yuvraj Singh has told cricket fans it is simply a matter of time before he is back playing again after being diagnosed with a non-malignant lung tumour.A wave of sympathy swept the country when his mother said in a statement at the weekend that the left-hander, who turns 30 next month, had a golf ball-sized tumour. Yuvraj played in the Delhi...

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New Zealand can rise above the West Indies in Reliance ICC Test Championship

New Zealand can rise to seventh in the Reliance ICC Test Championship table with a 2-0 win over Australia in the series that begins in Brisbane on Thursday.A win in both Tests would earn Ross Taylor's team 10 ratings points and move it above the West Indies on the log. In that scenario Australia would drop level with Sri Lanka on 99 points but would remain in fourth...

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Steve Bernard named as ICC Regional Referee for East-Asia Pacific

The ICC has announced that former Australia team manager Steve Bernard has been appointed to the role of ICC Regional Referee for the East-Asia Pacific (EAP) region. The job will involve acting as referee for a wide range of development and women's internationals and tournaments throughout the region.Mr Bernard was the preferred candidate due to his broad cricketing...

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Pakistan keen to build on winning streak in Bangladesh

DHAKA : Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan will look to continue their recent winning form when they open the tour of Bangladesh with a Twenty20 International here on Tuesday.The three-week visit, which also comprises three One-day Internationals and two Tests, is Pakistan’s first full tour of their South Asian rivals since 2002 Pakistan are buoyed by their emphatic success over...

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West Indies eye upward movement in Reliance ICC ODI Championship

It's all to play for a resurgent West Indies team as it takes on world champion India in a five-match ODI series, which starts tomorrow at Cuttack. A good showing for Darren Sammy's men will move them above New Zealand in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table.With confidence high after an encouraging Test series, coupled with the fact India will be without a number...

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Foreign Freshness vs Homegrown Experience

Should Intikhab Alam and his team search the globe for an illustrious foreign coach or juggle the bag of locals? Ashar Zaidi bats on this soggy wicket to target the right formula.To the naked eye Mohsin Hasan would appear to be the ideal coach for the Pakistan cricket team. Smartly groomed, proudly donning the green shirt, and scrutinizing each ball while sipping...

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India bank on youth in Windies ODI series

World champions India will count on their young stars to deliver when they take on fast-improving West Indies in a one-day series starting in Cuttack on Tuesday.The hosts have rested batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the five-match series, picking instead young batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.Kohli scored...

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Afghanistan chases World T20 dream with India camp

Afghanistan captain Nowroz Mangal is confident that his team's batsmen will be able to make the most of a training camp in India ahead of the ACC Twenty20 Cup, to be held in Kathmandu from 3-11 December.Afghanistan's batting group is in Pune and have been training at the Poona Club to get themselves attuned for the upcoming tournament which is a build-up to the ICC...

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N Zealand's Ryder equals innings record for most sixes

BRISBANE : Australia: Jesse Ryder and captain Ross Taylor hit a century each as New Zealand tuned up for next week's opening Test with a high-scoring draw with Australia A in a four-day tour match in Brisbane on Sunday.Ryder equalled the record for most sixes in a first-class game with 16 in his free-hitting 175 off 137 balls, while Taylor hit a more sedate 138 off...

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Yuvraj recovering from lung tumour

NEW DELHI : Cricket star Yuvraj Singh has been battling a golf-ball sized non-malignant lung tumour which first affected him during India's triumphant World Cup campaign, his family revealed on Sunday.Yuvraj, 29, who was declared the man of the tournament after the World Cup win at home in April, had opted out of the upcoming one-day series against the West Indies...

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Pakistan blind team claim historic win

Muhammad Fayaz excelled as Pakistan whitewashed India in three-match One-Day International series. The hosts won the third and final match by eight wickets at the Shalimar Cricket Stadium, Islamabad on Saturday.Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. India got the first shock when their in-form batsman Parkash was bowled by Anees. Venkateish and Vikas Patel...

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Ramiz Raja answers your questions

Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja took time out of his schedule this week to answer questions from the ICC's Facebook and Twitter followers.He spoke on a variety of topics including the present state of Pakistan cricket and world cricket in general.Watch out for upcoming Facebook and Twitter chats with other leading players and officials.Aamil Dharani: Why are Asad Shafiq...

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Misbah rewarded for match winning performance

Misbah-ul-Haq's match winning innings against Sri Lanka on Friday has seen him rise four places to 22nd in the Reliance ICC T20I Batting Rankings.His innings of 48 not out, from just 38 balls, has seen him be on the verge of reaching the top twenty in the standings, while Dinesh Chandimal's half century has risen to joint 64th, a rise of 53 places .Pakistan's Umar...

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Ojha breaks into top 15 bowlers

India spinner Pragyan Ojha has broken into the top 15 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in his career following a high-quality performance in the third Test in Mumbai, which concluded yesterday.Slow left-armer Ojha took seven wickets in the match, including 6-47 in the second innings, and as a result has earned himself 11 places...

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Chandimal and Hafeez breach ICC Code of Conduct

Dinesh Chandimal of Sri Lanka has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee and Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez has been reprimanded for Level 1 breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct during their teams' Twenty20 International at Abu Dhabi on Friday.In separate incidents, both players were found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the code which relates to "showing dissent at...

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Bravo doing well: Lara

Brian Lara has said that the talented Darren Bravo will have to play with more maturity from now since he will be the main target of rival teams due to his sheer batting talent.Bravo, whose style of batting is being compared to Lara's, has scored three centuries in his last four Tests - one in Bangladesh and two in India.Bravo seems to be going from strength to strength....

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Ashraful dropped, Reza returns to Bangladesh squad

DHAKA : Bangladesh dropped former captain Mohammad Ashraful and recalled all-rounder Farhad Reza on Friday for the limited overs series against Pakistan beginning next week. Vice-captain Mahmudulla also returned to the side, having missed the home series against West Indies through illness and injuries, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said in a statement. Reza, who...

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Pakistan upstage S.Lanka for T20 clean sweep

ABU DHABI : Pakistan put up another clinical performance to win the only Twenty20 by five wickets against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi stadium on Friday, blanking their rivals in all three forms of the game.Paceman Aizaz Cheema took 4-30 to bowl Sri Lanka out for 141 in 19.3 overs before skipper Misbah-ul Haq kept his nerves with a fighting unbeaten 48 to help his team...

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Wellington woo Zimbabwe star

Wellington have signed Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor and Surrey skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown as the remaining overseas imports for their domestic Twenty20 cricket campaign.The province's director of cricket Robbie Kerr confirmed the signings this morning.Batsman Taylor will play the full 10-match campaign, starting on December 18, and possibly also some 50-over matches...

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Sanath Jayasuriya blames poor batting for loss against Pakistan – Cricket News Update

Sanath Jayasuriya blames poor batting for loss against Pakistan – Cricket News UpdateFormer Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya blamed poor batting display for his side’s Test and One Day International (ODI) series loss against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Sri Lanka toured UAE with high hopes to deliver against the Men in Green, who are known to be inconsistent...

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Ponting confronts his cricket mortality

Ricky Ponting has conceded he does not have much time left in the game, saying he will quit as soon as he considers himself incapable of improvement, and will not wait for a "tap on the shoulder. However Ponting believes he is not yet ready to retire because he has not felt the same loss of drive common to the greats he once shared a dressing room with.In Ponting's time...

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World Twenty20 plans begin here

Twenty20 might have become the origin of everything that is bad (or good, depending on your affiliation) about cricket, but the international Twenty20 game has had almost no role to play in that development. Consider these stats: we have had 32 Tests so far in 2011 and 139 ODIs - a number inflated by the World Cup, no doubt - but only a piddling 19 Twenty20 internationals....

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Paceman Junaid Khan out of Pakistan's Bangladesh tour

ABU DHABI : Pakistan paceman Junaid Khan was ruled out of the team's tour of Bangladesh after injuring his abdominal muscle during the fifth and final one-day against Sri Lanka here on Wednesday.The 21-year-old left-arm paceman had a MRI scan after he felt pain during his three-over spell in the match, which revealed a partial tear."The scan revealed a partial tear of...

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England eyes 50-over domestic league

LONDON : English cricket is considering replacing its 40-over domestic one-day league with a 50-over tournament to replicate the international game, the ECB said on Wednesday.England are Twenty20 world champions and have risen to the top of the world test rankings but have struggled for years at 50-over one-day cricket."In order to compliment the Team England goal of...

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Tendulkar again falls short of 100th century

MUMBAI : Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar fell short of his 100th international century once again on Friday after being dismissed for 94 in the third and final test against West Indies.Tendulkar, playing his 184th test at his home Wankhede Stadium, has scored 51 centuries in tests and 48 in one-dayers. He recorded his 99th century in March during the 50-over World Cup.He...

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Pakistan eye clean sweep vs SL with T20 win

ABU DHABI : Pakistan will be looking to complete a clean sweep of all three forms of the game against Sri Lanka tonight after their comfortable three-wicket win in the final ODI on Wednesday night.Tonight the two teams meet in a one-off T20 international and, after having won both the Test and ODI series, Pakistan will be starting off as favourites in the game, which...

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Saeed Ajmal ranked number-one ODI bowler in the world

Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has rocketed to the top of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers following an impressive series performance against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.Ajmal took 11 wickets at an average of just 16.27 and an economy-rate of less than 4.00 to help his side to a 4-1 series win. That effort won him five places on the latest...

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Five Australia players unavailable for selection for first Test vs New Zealand

Cricket Australia has today advised that Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Pat Cummins will be unavailable for selection for the first Test against New Zealand starting at the Gabba on 1 December.The squad will be announced tomorrow.Cricket Australia General Manager Team Performance Pat Howard said:"We unfortunately suffered some injuries...

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Ireland and Bangladesh secure ODI status

ICC Cricket : Hosts of the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier 2011, Bangladesh, today secured One-day International status for first time for its women's side after Salma Khatun's side beat USA in a low-scoring fixture.Meanwhile, Ireland defeated fellow European qualifier and ODI side Netherlands, to retain its ODI status - the result means that Netherlands has lost its...

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Saeed Ajmal tops ICC ODI bowlers list

DUBAI : Pakistan’s spin bowler Saeed Ajmal has topped the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) ODI bowlers ranking at the end of Pakistan-Sri Lanka series that ended with Pakistan’s 4-1 victory. Saeed Ajmal took 11 wickets in the 5-match series. Pakistan has strengthened its no. 5 ranking in the ODI list. Ajmal grabbed that position from New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori...

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(ICC) President and India’s Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawa

NEW DELHI : International Cricket Council (ICC) President and India’s Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was slapped by a man in New Delhi.According to Indian media: “The man identified as Harvinder Singh slapped Pawar shouting slogans against price rise and corruption cases. He has been arrested by the police and taken to Parliament Street Police Station”.On being...

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Windies all out for 590 in third India Test

MUMBAI : The West Indies were bowled out for 590 in their first innings on the third morning of the third and final Test against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.The tourists added 15 runs off 3.1 overs to their overnight total of 575-9 before off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled Devendra Bishoo to finish with 5-15...

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Shakib Al Hasan on the ICC WWCQ 2011 and the upcoming series against Pakistan

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