We will miss Sachin sadly, says Pakistan team

Bangalore, Dec 23 (IANS) The visiting Pakistan team was caught off guard Sunday by the dramatic announcement of Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to retire from One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

"We will miss Sachin sadly though we have been looking forward to play against him in this series," Pakistan T20 and ODI captain Mohammed Hafeez told reporters here after a three-hour practice session ahead of their first T20 tie Dec 25 at the Chinnaswamy stadium in the city centre.
The Pakistan team landed in this tech hub late Saturday to play two T20s and three ODIs over the next two weeks five years after their last visit to India.
"As a nation and players, we feel sad that Sachin has retired from ODIs ahead of this series, as he had his debut in international cricket on Pakistan soil (1989). The world will miss his artistry on the field as he has been a great entertainer of the game," Hafeez reiterated.
Echoing Hafeez, Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir said it was an honour and privilege to bowl against such a great batsman and a wonderful human being.
"I enjoyed bowling to him because the margin of error was so less that he could dispatch even good deliveries to the fence. Words are not enough to describe his achievements for India. He deserves the highest respect from the cricketing world," Tanvir said.
Clarifying that absence of Sachin would not make much of a difference for the team, Hafeez said though India had other great players, Sachin was Sachin and in that sense, none could equal him in many respects.
"We admire the man for his sheer domineering character who rattled all types of bowlers around the world. We all can praise his efforts to excel in international cricket. There is no doubt that he is a genius. We wish him good luck for the future," Hafeez said.
Tanvir also wished best of luck for Sachin and hoped he would hit many more centuries for India in Tests though he was out of form in the recent games against England in the home series.
Paying glowing tributes to Sachin, Pakistan speedstar Umar Gul said it was a challenge to bowl against Sachin and a delight to pick his wicket every time as he had an excellent reading of the ball.
"India should be proud of having a great cricketer like Sachin, whose presence in the team over the last two decades had inspired a generation of players and contributed in nurturing young cricketers like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. I am sure many more like them have learnt a lot from him," Gul recalled.
Pakistan's young batsman Umar Amin, who has been in and out of team, admitted that he would have loved to play against Sachin in this series if he had not retired and continued to play in the shorter version of the game.
"I played against India in 2010 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately Sachin wasn't there. I would like to say only one thing that if cricket is religion then Sachin is god," Amin asserted.

Indian squad for T20s, ODIs against Pakistan

Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian cricket team for the two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs against Pakistan from Dec 25 to Jan 6, the selection committee announced on Sunday.

India T20 squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain) Gautam Gambhir, Ajainkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu

India ODI squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Amit Mishra.

India seek to build on T20 boost

 

 

 

 

One-off or two-match Twenty20 series are usually lacking in context, and that's even more the case on this England tour which is taking place a couple of months after the premier, global T20 tournament has ended. But, for a side beaten in a home Test series for the first time in eight years, the positives have been few, and the limited-overs games offer an opportunity to push for more. There were encouraging signs for India in Pune; they fielded with intensity and Yuvraj Singh returned to his match-winning ways.

Described as a side in transition in Tests, India looked much more at home in the shorter format as opposed to England, under a stand-in captain and a new-look team. Alex Hales stood out for England with his display of clean striking at the top of the order - he's one of three Nottinghamshire players from the first T20, each of whom have been told by their county that they will not be allowed to the play in the IPL next season.

 

In the spotlight

Ajinkya Rahane has been made to wait for a Test debut but has been impressive in the shorter formats. He pulled off a couple of cleanly-struck straight sixes in the first game and looked good for more before he mistimed one to mid-on. Often talked up as a future member of the Indian Test top order, Rahane's opportunities in the international arena have been very limited, just four so far this year.

Samit Patel has had more chances but hasn't had the best of years. He lost his place in the Test XI this series, though chipped in with a quick 24 in the first T20 international in Pune. He's got another T20 game to finish 2012 on a brighter note.

Team news

Jonny Bairstow has left the squad and flown back to England for "family reasons". Jade Dernbach was expensive in his three-over spell in Pune and England could consider giving Glamorgan seamer James Harris a go in his place.

England (possible): 1 Michael Lumb, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Luke Wright, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Samit Patel, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 James Tredwell, 9 Stuart Meaker, 10 Danny Briggs, 11 James Harris.

Should India wish to make a change, they have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Uttar Pradesh seamer, or Abhimanyu Mithun, on the bench.

India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane 3, Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Parvinder Awana/Abhimanyu Mithun, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Ashok Dinda.

Yuvraj Singh's effort was the 16th instance of a player scoring 30 or more and picking up three or more wickets in the same game. He's done it twice.

IPL player auction on February 3

The player auction ahead of the Indian Premier League's sixth season will be held on February 3, it was announced on Friday. The decision was conveyed to all nine franchise representatives during a workshop in Jodhpur. Later in the day, IPL chief executive Sundar Raman tweeted the news.

Though the venue for the auction is yet to be finalized, the representatives were told it would be held "in a metro". The auction, which is likely to see 37 players going under the hammer, was earlier expected to be held on January 12. However, the IPL authorities decided not to let it clash with India's one-day series against England (from January 11-27).

Meanwhile, besides briefing the representatives about the auction date and Schedule, the workshop had the IPL organizers making various presentations related to player regulations, sponsors' obligations, etc. It was followed by one-on-ones with each of the nine team owners.

"It was a routine exercise, similar to what has happened during the earlier workshops," a franchise official said, preferring anonymity. "The workshop has kind of symbolized that the new season has indeed begun. It's time for everyone to start preparing."