Indian Team for Asia Cup : Sachin rested and Yuvi Dropped

Cracking the whip on non-performers, national selectors on Monday axed the struggling duo of Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan and rested veteran Sachin Tendulkar from India's 15-member squad for this month's Asia Cup cricket tournament in Sri Lanka.

Tendulkar had sought a break to spend time with his children, while Yuvraj and Yusuf's ouster was on the cards after a series of disappointing performances in recent times as the selectors laid stress on form and fitness.

Flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag, who was laid low with a shoulder injury and missed the Twenty20 World Cup, returned to the squad while wicket-keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and leg-spinner Amit Mishra were axed.

"Sachin Tendulkar requested the Board not to consider him for the Asia Cup, as he wanted to spend time with his children, in view of the hectic cricket season ahead," BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement after the selection meeting which lasted close to two hours.

20-year-old Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary, who was quite impressive in the third edition of the Indian Premier League, was rewarded with a berth in the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led squad along with Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda.

"A lot of stress was given on the fitness of the players. Fitness and fielding are very important. We have gone through the record of last one year and put lot of stress on it. In recent past, we lost some matches or struggled in some matches because of poor fielding," chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth told reporters.

"We also put stress on consistent performance. Lot of players have done consistently well and apart from the seniors, we have blooded some youngsters as well so that they know what international cricket is all about," he explained.

Srikkanth said skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who attended the meeting, also gave his inputs.

"It was a happy meeting with captain (MS Dhoni) and secretary (N Srinivasan) and I think the captain is also convinced. This is the best possible side. I'm not going to speak about any individual player," Srikkanth said.

The selectors, who had opted to rest most of the seniors for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, chose a full-strength team which included seniors like pacer Zaheer Khan, opener Gautam Gambhir and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh.

Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin, who is also a decent batsman, has been retained in the squad. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha returned to the team at the expense of leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who failed to make much of an impact in the disastrous tour of Zimbabwe.

The team in Zimbabwe, which was led by Suresh Raina, couldn't make the finals of and suffered consecutive humiliating losses to the African minnows.

Although Raina has retained his place, other flops like Yusuf and Mishra have been shown the door.

The pace duo of Abhishek Nayar and Sudeep Tyagi who had featured in India's squad during the home series against South Africa in February have not found favour this time around.

The squad, a fine blend of youth and experience, has six specialist batsmen, four pacers, three spinners and an all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja.

Captain Dhoni is the lone specialist wicket-keeper in the squad.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag (Vice-Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, R Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary.

India Makes A Comeback Win Against Lankans

Rohit Sharma hammered his second successive ODI century as India crushed Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their second match to put their campaign back on track in the cricket tri-series here on Sunday.

Chasing 243, India made a rather slow start and lost both their openers inside 10 overs before one-down Virat Kohli (82) and Rohit (101 not out) resurrected the innings to help India romp home with 6.3 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club.

Earlier, the tidy Indian bowlers produced a disciplined effort to bundle out Sri Lanka for 242 after captain Suresh Raina had opted to field.

Today's win also marked Raina's first victory as captain.

Coming together in the 10th over, Kohli and Rohit added 154 runs from 168 balls for the third wicket to take the game away from Sri Lanka.

Rohit, who hit 114 against Zimbabwe in India's first match though for a lost cause, hit six fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 100-ball, his second ODI century in his 44th match.

He got a superb support from Kohli whose 82 came from 92 balls with the help of four boundaries.

After opening bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and Ajantha Mendis achieved early success by removing Murali Vijay (14) and Dinesh Karthik (18) respectively, the Sri Lankan bowlers were left high and dry with Kohli and Rohit stamping authority.

The duo initially dealt mostly in singles with occasional boundaries before opening up later on. They also did not allow the asking rate to jump over five.

Rohit took 60 balls to reach his fifty which came of a single off Ajantha Mendis in the 28th over and Kohli reached his seventh half-century an over later with a single off Dilhara Fernando.

Kohli, however, perished in the 38th over while trying to finish the game early. He came down the track to play a lofted shot off a Suraj Randiv delivery only to hole out to long-on fielder Dilhara Fernando.

When Kohli fell, India needed just 42 runs from more than 12 overs and Rohit ensured that they wrapped up the match without any hiccup.

Rohit took a four off Mendis in the 43rd over to reach his second successive ODI century while Raina hit the winning runs in the next over.

India, who lost their opening match against Zimbabwe on Friday, play the hosts again in their next match on Thursday at Harare Sports Club.

Earlier, save for Angelo Mathews (75) and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (61), the Lankan batsmen struggled for runs under tight Indian bowling after they were put into bat.

The Lankan innings eventually folded for 242 in 49.5 overs with three of their batsmen running themselves out.

Except for rookie Umesh Yadav (1/61), all the Indian bowlers bowled tight spells with Ashok Dinda (2/44), Pragyan Ojha (2/44) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/49) taking two wickets apiece.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra was also economical, conceding 40 runs from his 10 overs though without taking a wicket.

The Lankans were dealt an early blow when Upul Tharanga (1) became the first to get run out.

After hitting an Ashok Dinda delivery to the covers, Tharanga was left stranded when Virat Kohli, who initially fumbled in collecting the ball, threw it accurately at the Lankan's end while he was attempting a third run.

Thilan Samaraweera (19) didn't last long either and was stumped by Dinesh Karthik while trying to charge at a Pragyan Ojha delivery.

Dilshan and Mathews then steadied the ship and put on 58 runs for the third wicket before the Sri Lankan skipper became the second Lankan batsmen to be run out.

Dilshan, whose 81-ball knock comprised four boundaries and a six, took off for a single after hitting Mishra to the square leg but rushed back after a couple of strides only to find himself short of ground as the bowler had dislodged the bails by then.

But Mathews held one end together with a gritty knock that included a couple of sixes and an equal number of fours. His prized wicket ultimately went to Umesh Yadav, who bowled him.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja bagged two late wickets in Chamara Kapugedera (20) and Chamara Silva (5) to make sure that the Lankan innings never took off.

Thissara Perera's late 32-run cameo down the order did, however, help the Lankan to go past the 200 mark.

Indian team Squad for T20 World Cup

Karnataka speedster R Vinay Kumar was today rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic cricket while leg-spinner Piyush Chawla staged a surprise comeback into India's 15-member squad for next month's Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

The 26-year-old Vinay Kumar, who has been impressive in the ongoing IPL, was the only new face in the squad to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Barring Vinay's inclusion and the recall of Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Chawla, there were no major surprises in the squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a selection panel meeting in Mumbai.

Pacers Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and RP Singh, who were in the provisional 30-member list, failed to figure in the squad while spinners Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra also missed the bus.

Delhi batsman Virat Kohli, who was in the ODI squad against South Africa last month, was also left out of the squad for the event to be held in the Caribbean from April 30 to May 16.

"We have selected the best team for the Twenty20 World Cup. We are happy with the performance of every member of the team. They have shown consistency," chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth said after picking the squad.

"The Twenty20 World Cup is still one month away and we hope that this team will do well in the event," he said.

Srikkanth also said as of now there is no worry.

"Everyone is hundred per cent fit and all the fitness certificates have been submitted to the Board. All the members are fit and fine," he said.

Ashish Nehra, who has not played a single match in the ongoing IPL because of a rib cage injury, has been included in the squad with the selectors expecting the gangling paceman to be fully fit for the mega event.

Vinay has forced his way into the team on the back of his consistent performance in domestic cricket, claiming 46 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. He has so far captured 202 wickets in 54 first class matches with eight for 32 his best figures.

The diminutive Chawla pipped Ojha and Mishra for the second spinner's berth in the squad which has Harbhajan Singh as the spin spearhead.

Chawla returns to the Indian team after a gap of nearly two years, the 2008 Asia Cup in Pakistan being his last appearance.

Chawla, who plays for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, has done a decent job with the ball so far, which prompted the selectors to include him in the squad.

Gambhir, who is also carrying an injury, has been included in the squad and will partner his Delhi team-mate and vice-captain Virender Sehwag at the top of the order.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has also been named in the squad with the selectors preferring to have a cover for captain Dhoni who has just recovered from an injury.

In the run-up to the selection meeting, several former cricketers wanted Sachin Tendulkar, who has been in red hot form, to be part of the Twenty20 squad, but the champion batsman had made it clear that he had no intentions of playing the shortest format of the game for the country.

The squad has five specialist batsmen in vice-captain Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, two all-rounders in Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.

Jadeja had been banned from this year's IPL and the all-rounder has appealed against the decision. A verdict on the appeal is expected soon.

Besides Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar were the pacers in the squad.

Zaheer and Harbhajan were making a return after missing India's last Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in December last.

Others who were dropped from the 30-member provisional list announced earlier for the April 30-May 16 mega-event were Sudeep Tyagi, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay and Ravichandran Ashwin.

The Squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (v-c), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik.

Indian cricket Board to get richer

Even before the start of the third edition of the IPL, the BCCI bagged deals worth thousands of crocres of rupees.
With a number of brands fighting to make their mark in the Indian Premier League, the Indian Cricket Board's is set to get only richer.
Acording to the Economic Times, regardless of the T20 tournament's ability to keep the crowd interest going, the world's richest cricketing body is learnt to be richer by nearly Rs 750 crore, up 25% from last year, after sewing up a raft of deals.
The IPL has bagged three-year deals with internet giant Google and general entertainment channel Colors inked in January, which are worth at least Rs 80 crore and Rs 100 crore, respectively, as reported by the newspaper.
The Indian T20 Series also earned sponsorship deals with Swiss watch brand Banderlier, Karbonn Mobiles, Indiagames, Maxx Mobile, V Rock Mobile and Global Cricket Ventures for merchandising, which collectively are worth at least Rs 125 crore a year.
Tyre company MRF also joined the IPL brandwagon by sponsoring the blimp, a balloon that floats over the stadium, in a deal said to be worth Rs 15 crore a year.
"OUR estimate is that IPL-3 will witness a 25-30% growth in revenues," said Basabdatta Chaudhury, CEO, Madison Media.
He also told the national daily that new deals like the theatrical rights sold for Rs 330 crore for 10 years also helped boost IPL revenues this year, besides the many sponsorship deals.