BCCI WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING

CSK, RR escape termination

Last updated on Sunday, 18 October, 2015, 06:01 PM

CSK and RR will miss IPL 9 through suspension. © BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Sunday, that the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, will not face termination. Following their Working Committee meeting in Mumbai on Sunday, it was revealed the Board will now float tenders for two new franchises to take CSK and RR's place for the upcoming ninth edition of the T20 league.

An official release from the BCCI states, "BCCI will float tenders and invite bids for two new teams to replace CSK & RR in the Indian Premier League for 2016 and 2017 (2 years)." This could mean that the IPL will be a ten-team event when CSK and RR return after serving their two-year ban, in 2018. The other possibility is that the tenders floated for the two replacement teams is only for the next two years. 

In other major developments from the BCCI Working Committee meeting, PepsiCo. has amicably cut ties with the Indian Board, withdrawing as title sponsors of the IPL. Chinese mobile company, VIVO has replaced PepsiCo. The Indian Board also confirmed that their Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on November 9.

In an official press release, BCCI also made the following announcements: 

- The Treasurers Office will start operations from the BCCI Headquarters, Mumbai at the earliest.

- The Board has appointed M/S Price Water House Cooper as the independent agency to due the diligence for the utilisation of funds provided by BCCI to the state associations.

- BCCI rules regarding conflict of interest and the amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Board are being proposed for the consideration at the Annual General Meeting.

- Revival of the National Cricket Academy as the centre of excellence is the top most priority of the BCCI. 

- The IPL title sponsorship right has been assigned to M/S Vivo mobiles. Vivo is to give the Bank Guarantee in next ten days.

MS Dhoni laments two-paced wicket in Rajkot defeat

Last updated on Sunday, 18 October, 2015, 11:42 PM

• I thought 270 was a par score and we thought that the wicket will stay the same. However, that didn't happen: MS Dhoni.
• It was a bit two-paced and it was difficult to play big shots. There was no dew as such as well and that's why it became harder: Dhoni
• We are looking for batsmen who bat at 5, 6 or 7 and we want them to gain experience at those spots: Dhoni
  
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian skipper, pointed towards the two-paced wicket and the lack of dew as his side suffered their second loss in the series to allowSouth Africa take a crucial 2-1 lead on Sunday (October 18). Chasing 271, Dhoni and Kohli got their eye in but struggled to put the finishing touches as the visitors stifled them with a commendable display on the field. With both Dhoni and Kohli finding it tough to connect their big heaves, India suffered an 18-run defeat.
• "I thought 270 was a par score and we thought that the wicket will stay the same. However, that didn't happen and it kept getting slower. It was a bit two-paced and it was difficult to play the big shots. There was no dew as such as well and that's why it became harder. They batted when the wicket was the best, it kept slowing up as the game progressed and that didn't help. The bowlers did well but it kept getting slower and that made life difficult for us," Dhoni said, at the post-match presentation ceremony.
  After promoting Ajinkya Rahane to No. 3 in the last two One-Day Internationals (ODI), where he scored two impressive half-centuries, Dhoni brought back the out-of-sorts Virat Kohli to his favoured position. While Kohli rediscovered his lost touch to an extent - scoring his first 50-plus score since his century against Pakistan in the World Cup 2015 - there was an uncharacteristic failure on his part to take India through. Dhoni promoted himself to No. 4 too and despite scoring a 47, there was phase in the middle overs when the runs dried up and the asking rate crept up beyond India's reach. Dhoni, who has often maintained that team is lacking a solid all-rounder at No. 7, hinted that his work-in-progress middle-order makes his line-up a bit tricky. 
  "We are looking for batsmen who bat at 5, 6 or 7 and we want them to gain experience at those spots. It is a very crucial spot and let's see who catches that position. Kohli was unable to score runs down the order and that's why he batted at 3. I thought that with him coming in at 4, me at 5 and Raina at 6, it gives us the depth in the batting order. Our line-up is a little tricky with Axar coming in at 7 and there's pressure on the top 6 to do well," Dhoni said.
  The Indore victory seemed like India had turned the tide but have been pushed onto the back foot once again by a clinical South African performances. The action now shifts to Chennai on Thursday (October 22). With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set to name the squad for the remainder of the limited-overs as well as the Test series, it will be interesting to see if Ravindra Jadeja - the man-of-the-moment in the ongoing Ranji Trophy - makes a comeback to plug the gap that Dhoni has widely talked about.

SELF-CONFIDENCE

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: I can swing the ball more than the others

Last updated on Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 05:06 PM

• I believe I still swing the ball; but as a bowler you also need conditions to assist your swing bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
• I am very confident about my bowling at the moment. As a bowler, there are times when you do not get wickets: Bhuvneshwar.
• I have not intentionally tried to gain pace in my bowling. It is something that has developed with time: Bhuvneshwar.
  

        Bhuvneshwar has had a tough year of 2015 thus far, but he retains a lot of confidence in his bowling. © AFP

After a solid second spell in India's 22-run series-levelling victory against South Africa in Indore, Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has expressed his self-confidence in his ability to swing the ball. The Indore wicket, renowned to assist the batsmen, negated Bhuvneshwar's early attempts to get the ball to move, as a result of which, he conceded quite a few runs early on. The Meerut pacer, however, reckons he still can swing the ball more than the others around him.

"I believe I still swing the ball; but as a bowler you also need conditions to assist your swing bowling. If there is someone who is able to swing the ball, I believe I have it in me to swing it a bit more than the other bowlers. But I also need a bit of assistance from the conditions to swing the ball. I have not intentionally tried to gain pace in my bowling. It is something that has developed with time," Bhuvneshwar was quoted as saying by bcci.tv.

Bhuvneshwar has had a tough year of 2015 thus far, but he retains a lot of confidence in his bowling and feels he will eventually be amongst the wickets. On Wednesday, the scrawny pacer failed to give India an early breakthrough in his first spell of three overs as South Africa chased a relatively to low total. When he returned for his second spell, however, he bowled better line and length and got the ball to bounce a little extra to account for David Miller's first-ball scalp as the Proteas committed hara-kiri in an otherwise straightforward chase. 

"I am very confident about my bowling at the moment. As a bowler there are times when you do not get wickets and you don't have the numbers to show against your name. But never has the thought crossed my mind that I am not a confident bowler and the wickets are not coming my way. If you are confident you will end up getting wickets at the end of the day which is exactly what happened tonight. I did not get wickets at the start of the innings but we knew that if there were a few quick blows, South Africa would find it difficult to chase the total down. I was extremely confident of picking wickets when the game was well poised and heading towards a tight finish. It was all about being patient and bowling well which would get me wickets."

Bhuvneshwar eventually finished with figures of 3/41 in 8.4 overs as South Africa fell short in their quest for a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. With honours even at the moment, the action shifts to Rajkot for the third ODI on October 18.

           

Zaheer Khan announces retirement from international cricket

Last updated on Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 02:51 PM

Zaheer Khan has announced his international retirement. © AFP

Zaheer Khan, India's left-arm pacer, announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday (October 15). Zaheer, 37, one of India's leading pacemen, said in a statement: "As I was training for the upcoming season, it dawned on me that my shoulder may not last the rigours of bowling nearly 18 overs a day and that's when I knew it was time."

India's premier quick bowler said he will continue playing domestic cricket for one season before calling it quits from all forms at the end of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016."I look forward to signing off my last season in domestic cricket at the conclusion of IPL season 9."http://twitter.com/ImZaheer/status/654557895233671168/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

http://twitter.com/ImZaheer/status/654557895233671168/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Zaheer ended his career with 311 wickets in 92 Tests at an average of 32.94 after making his debut in November 2000 against Bangladesh. However, he has not featured in a match since the final Test of the two-match series against New Zealand in Wellington in February 2014. Having no success in the first innings, Zaheer returned figures of 5 for 170 in the second, which turned out to be his final international outing for India.

Zaheer made his One-Day International debut against Kenya in October 2000 and had just as much success in the format. In 200 ODIs, he scalped 282 wickets at an average of 29.43 with an economy rate of 4.93.Zaheer's records in both Tests and ODIs are overall, the fourth-best for India.

He has also played 17 Twenty20 Internationals where he will end with just as many wickets. Zaheer will, however, continue to feature in the Indian Premier League.

Among Zaheer's many accolades, the one that stands out is of him leading India's pace attack during the World Cup 2011. He ended up as the highest wicket-taker alongside Shahid Afridi in the tournament with 21 scalps at an average of 18.76 with an economy rate of 4.83.

Zaheer's international wickets tally will close with 610 international scalps in 309 games between 2000 and 2014, behind only Anil Kumble (956), Harbhajan (706) and Kapil Dev (687).

Worries aplenty for India as they look to bounce back

South Africa have had a splendid start to their tour of India, winning three out of the four games that has taken place so far. India lost a close match in Kanpur but will take heart from the fact that they managed to fight till the end. While the scoreline suggests a disparity in quality between the teams, a closer look will indicate that India have failed to come up trumps in crunch situations. Both teams will be aware of that fact. South Africa need to ride the momentum to put more pressure on the hosts while MS Dhoni and Co. will be gunning to turn things around quickly.

The last time India played in Indore, Virender Sehwag smashed a double ton. If the pitch is anywhere similar to how it was four years ago, then another run-feast is on the cards with both sides packing some explosive batsmen. The recent ODI rule changes, however, are aimed at restricting the boundaries scored in the death overs but South Africa still managed to amass 86 in the last six overs of their innings in Kanpur. However, that was as much a result of poor bowling from India and exceptional hitting by AB de Villiers in particular.

Date: 14th October, 2015

Time: 13:30 Local time

Venue: Holkar stadium, Indore

India

R Ashwin's injury came as a big blow midway through the first game. The absence of the in-form spinner will continue to hamper Dhoni's plans, robbing him of a genuine wicket-taker in these conditions. Harbhajan Singh's inclusion is aimed at stemming the difference and India will also be toying with the idea of playing three spinners. Axar Patel should be a straight swap for Stuart Binny while the pacers are expected to hold on to their spots.

India's batting order too warrants a reshuffle with suggestions from various quarters calling for Virat Kohli to return to the No. 3 spot. However, that would entail dropping Ajinkya Rahane who scored a valauble fifty in the previous game. Given that they fell just five short in the previous game, India are likely to give the combination a longer rope.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Axar Patel/Stuart Binny, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav

South Africa

Most things went right for South Africa in the first ODI. All their batsmen got off to starts while AB de Villiers converted it into something special. David Miller's form will be a cause of concern but not something that will give the team management sleepless nights. They can still afford to go in with an unchanged combination.

However, an area of concern will be the bowling unit getting used to the conditions better. India were on song in the chase for a large part of the innings and on a rather helpful wicket, South Africa were not able to restrict runs against Rohit Sharma and Rahane in particular.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

Quotes:

The number three, four and five are very crucial positions in any format. I feel it entirely depends on what MS (Dhoni) thinks about it - Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma: Bowlers need to be more pro-active

Last updated on Tuesday, 13 October, 2015, 07:26 PM

• Being a top-order batsman, it is a responsibility to bat through the innings and get your team to a winning position: Rohit Sharma.
• In the last two years, he has scored eight hundreds. I don't see any kind of concern with Shikhar Dhawan: Rohit Sharma.
  
• Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who has already scored two centuries in the home series against South Africa - albeit in losing causes, spoke of his intention to bat as deep as possible in a run-chase, irrespective of conditions. The classy Mumbai batsman also backed his compatriot Ajinkya Rahane to excel amidst growing pressure and spoke of the need for the bowlers to be more pro-active against the likes of AB de Villiers & Co.
  On batting in India
  See, if you ask me, it is not just about batting in India. I want to keep going, there is no doubt about it. Being a top-order batsman, it is a responsibility to bat through the innings and get your team to a winning position. I want to bat as much as possible, anywhere. In India, obviously, where we've played all our cricket, we know the conditions much better than any other place in the World. That's a slight advantage when you play in India. You know the conditions better, the outfield better. Whenever you bat you try and make most of it. I always try to bat as long as possible.
  On batting with Rahane
  When you are chasing big scores, you have to be ahead of the run rate a bit. You have to keep rotating the strike so that pressure doesn't build up too much. Now that rule has changed, with five fielders outside, you can't keep too many runs for last 5-6 overs. That was the idea when Rahane and I were batting. We spoke about the need to keep rotating the strike and we did that pretty well. But I felt we should've upped the ante a little bit more in the middle. We were in a good position but in the end we know what happened. But, it's part and parcel of the game. These things happen. There are no excuses. We want to strive hard as a team. If we want to be number one, we cannot make these kinds of mistakes. I hope we won't keep repeating them. That's what champions do - they don't repeat mistakes. I think we're all mature enough to go out and handle pressure.
  As far as Rahane is concerned, he was playing his first game. He was batting at a new position. I thought he batted pretty well, complemented me well. Coming from the same state, playing a lot of cricket together, we know each other's batting really well. That also mattered a little bit because we ran between the wickets very well and rotated the strike. He got off to a very good start and I am sure he will want to capitalise on it now.
  On Shikhar Dhawan's form
  Shikhar was the highest run-getter in World Cup, scored two beautiful hundreds. He was the highest run-getter in Bangladesh. A couple of poor games shouldn't be a worry. He's probably one of our better batsman in the last few years. In the last two years, he has scored eight hundreds - that's simply not a joke. I don't see any kind of concern with Shikhar Dhawan. He's batting as well as he was before.
  On repeated run outs
  In T20s you have to be alert, you have to put the pressure on the fielders and run hard. In doing that you may get a couple of run outs. I don't think that's a problem, these things happen. It's normal. 
  On the importance of concentration after a century
  It's been an effort. After you get a hundred, you tend to relax a little bit and lose your concentration. That's when you can challenge yourself as a batsman - how long can you push yourself? That's what I was trying to do. Specially on a wicket like Kanpur where we knew that it was not going to be easy for a new batsman to come in and start playing his shots. It was my responsibility to play as deep as possible after getting a 100, not throw it away. I am sure you guys are happy that I didn't throw it away after the 100. If you have one batsman playing all through the innings, it makes life a lot simpler in a chase.
  On the wicket
  The wicket looks good. There have been high scores. Virender Sehwag scored his double ton here so we know what needs to be done. Whether dew will play a part or not is not clear yet. 
  On bowling concerns
  It is a concern, we cannot run away from that. When you're bowling to players like AB de Villiers, you have to be extra-smart and more pro-active. All the fast bowlers are working on it. I feel they just need to be more pro-active, that will help us. In Bangladesh and Australia as well, we were making small, small mistakes in the last 5-10 overs. That shouldn't be a concern now because we have an extra fielder outside the circle. I know we can plan accordingly and get the best results.
  On selection dilemma
  It's a thought we need to look into carefully. What we do with our players as to the batting order, really depends on what MS thinks about it. I know Virat has scored most of his runs batting at No. 3 and Ajinkya has got the number 3 spot and scored some runs. I don't think it is a permanent solution. Time will tell what the ideal batting line-up is for us. The number three, four and five are very crucial positions in any format. I feel it entirely depends on what MS thinks about it. We also have Mr. Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun and Sanjay Bangar to get the thought process going. Whatever they decide to do, it will be best for the team. At the moment we are trying to find out the best combination going forward. 
  On big team totals
  It looks like a very good track but with new rules coming in, I don't think 350s will be scored more often. You need to bat very well. The average score here is around 300 so that will be the benchmark. I am not a firm believer in predicting scores. If we bat well, we can get 350-plus also.