Lampard wants to be there till next World Cup

Frank Lampard wants to carry on playing for England despite their 2010 FIFA World Cup exit at the hands of Germany.

Lampard will be 36 by the time of the next World Cup in Brazil and the likes of Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Emile Heskey are already over 30.

But the Chelsea midfielder, denied a goal when his shot had clearly crossed the line, has no intention of quitting international football.

He said: "I want to carry on with England. I think there will be a lot of talking, not just about me.

"It's important players go away and don't listen to it and concentrate on our jobs now.

"The talk is great for the people who are involved in that sort of thing but it doesn't actually make any difference.

"We'll try and carry on, that's what we have to do.

"Only one team wins the World Cup and the rest go home at some stage and don't win it so the talking is by the by.

"We'll have to come back and try and perform."

But when asked if there should be major changes, Lampard said: "You know what, I don't really want to talk about it at the moment.

"We will worry about that when we start again."

Lampard has suffered his fair share of setbacks at international level and admits England's last 16 reversal is on a par with any of them.

He said: "There is bitter disappointment. It's right up there with other disappointments.

"You are at a World Cup and we felt we could have got a bit of momentum after the Slovenia game."

Sachin Tendulkar Wants To Play At World Cup Final's

Arguably the most accomplished batsman of contemporary times, Sachin Tendulkar still has unfulfilled dreams, one of them being to win the World Cup next year.

Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the Test and one-day format of the game, hopes to play in the final of the World Cup when it is jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh early next year.

"As far as the World Cup is concerned it is a process. We don't want to jump to the 50th floor straight away, we must start on the ground floor," he said.

"We must take it step-by-step but to get there would be a fascinating journey. It is our dream, not just mine but the entire nation, to get there. To play the final in Mumbai is something you can only dream of and everything has to come together," he added.

Tendulkar said if India played to their potential, there was a good chance of being in the finals of the event.
"I think we can do something we have been longing to do for quite some time," he said.

Part of the Test side which is currently the world number one in ICC rankings, Tendulkar said the tough part was not to get there but would be to maintain it.

"To be number one is special, it was our dream and our target to get to the number one spot in Test cricket," he said.

"We have had a good run in the last 20 months. Everyone wants to be number one and we cannot relax because there are other countries who want to be number one. It means a lot to us," he added.

The 37-year-old once again parried queries on his future maintaining that he would quit the moment he felt that he had stopped enjoying his game.

"I want to play for as long as possible and as long as I have the desire and the hunger I will carry on," he was quoted as saying by 'Cricinfo'.

"The day I do not want to get out of bed and do anything then I know it will be time to go in another direction," he added.

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.