Mashrafe Mortaza to miss out on ODI tri-series

Bangladesh on Thursday left out Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza for a one-day cricket tri-series that begins next week after he failed to recover quickly enough from a knee injury.

Mashrafe Mortaza, 26, injured his knee during the 1st Test of a tour of West Indies in July. The injury ruled him out of the rest of the tour and the following one-day series against Zimbabwe both home and away.

However, he was selected in a preliminary team for the tri-series and was named skipper for the tournament as well as the following two-Test series at home against India.

Chief selector Rafiqul Alam said Mashrafe Mortaza had yet to regain 100 percent match fitness.

"Mortaza is 80% fit for cricket. We are not taking any risk with him," he said.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who as a stand-in captain led Bangladesh to victories against the West Indies and Zimbabwe, has been named as the skipper. Wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim will be his vice-caption.

Opener Shahriar Nafees Ahmed and middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed make come back to the side after being banned for joining the rebel Indian Cricket League last year.

"They both performed well in the domestic cricket. Aftab is also a useful medium pacer," Alam said.

The tri-series, which has India and Sri Lanka as the other two teams, begins in Dhaka on January 4. It will be followed by two Tests against India at Chittagong (January 17-21) and Dhaka (January 24-28).

Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (Skipper) Mushfiqur Rahim (vice-captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Tamim Iqbal, Roqibul Hassan, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Shafiul Islam.

Archive 2009

England in South Africa 2009

Pakistan in Australia 2009-10

West Indies in Australia 2009-10

Pakistan v New Zealand in UAE 2009

Australia in India 2009

Zimbabwe in Bangladesh 2009

Champions League Twenty20

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in SA.

Tri-angle Series in Sri Lanka 2009

England v Australia, Natwest Series 2009

Archive 2009

England in South Africa 2009

Pakistan in Australia 2009-10

West Indies in Australia 2009-10

Mortaza and Tamim included in Bangladesh team

Bangladesh opening batsman Zunaed Siddique and left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr. from an 18-man team announced on Tuesday for next month's home Tri-series against India and Sri Lanka.

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and opening batsman Tamim Iqbal were included despite fitness concerns. Mashrafe Mortaza undergoes knee surgery in September and Tamim Iqbal is carrying a hand injury.

Fast bowler Shafiul Islam was the only uncapped player named in the squad.

Team: Mashrafe Mortaza (Skipper), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Tamim Iqbal, Syed Rasel, Roqibul Hassan, Mahmud Ullah, Nazmul Hossain, Naeem Islam, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kopali, Shafiul Islam.

Muralitharan ruled out ODI series due to injury

Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has more or less been ruled out of the ongoing ODI series against India due to a finger injury that he had continued during the 3rd Test match in Mumbai, according to Lanka team sources.

Muralitharan is expected to leave the team on Wednesday and head back home.

Sri Lankan Team Manager Brendon Kuruppu, however, declined to confirm or deny the development and said declaration will be made on the next day.

Muralitharan had injured his finger while playing football during team's training session at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, where Sri Lanka was playing 3rd Test match against India.

Due to his injury, Muralitharan had also been ruled out of the both Twenty20 international against India at Nagpur and Mohali and 1st ODI in Rajkot.

India win high-scoring humdinger

India beated Sri Lanka by 3 runs in the 1st one-day international here on Tuesday to take the lead in the five-match series

India are thrilled, Sri Lanka are gutted. Forget that there was no contest between the bat and the ball but for the last 10 overs, these two teams fought hard. One hundred and four boundaries hit, 825 runs scored, and only three runs separate them.

Spare a thought for T. Dilshan, Kumara Sangakkara and Tharanga, who - under the pressure of a huge chase - played such magnificent knocks. Celebrate the innings from Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni, the spin bowling from Harbhajan Singh, and the death bowling from Zaheer Khan and Nehra. But also remember that this was a substandard international pitch and a small ground.

Brief Scores

India: 414/7 (50 over)

V. Sehwag 146 (102)
MS Dhoni 72 (53)
S. Tendulkar 69 (63)

Sri Lanka: 411/8 (50 over)

T. Dilshan 160 (124)
KC Sangakkara 90 (43)
WU Tharanga 67 (60)

Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag

Yuvraj Singh doubtful for first ODI

Yuvraj Singh is a doubtful for the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka due to a finger injury and a final decision on his availability would be taken tomorrow.

"The Indian Team management will take a final decision tomorrow whether Yuvraj would play or not, after looking at the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon," said Shah told PTI.

The former BCCI secretary refused to comment further on the doctor's report.

However, BCCI sources said they are hopeful that the volatile batsman would be fit to play the 1st ODI on Tuesday.

"Yuvraj seems to have suffered a hairline fracture on his little finger and the team management is hopeful he will be able to play the 1st ODI at Rajkot on Tuesday," BCCI sources said.

Yuvraj was taken to Dr Dinkar Virparia's clinic late in the evening for check-up after the left-hander complained of pain in his little finger on his left hand due to an injury suffered during the 2nd T20i match in Mohali.

Later he was taken to the Rajkot Imaging Centre where an X-ray of his finger was taken.

Earlier in the day, India and Sri Lanka teams arrived at Rajkot for the 1st ODI of the five-match series, beginning Tuesday. The teams arrived on a chartered plane amid tight security.

Herschelle Gibbs may quit International Cricket

South African opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs may quit International Cricket after being left out of the ODI team against England, but will remain available for his IPL side the Deccan Chargers.

Quoting an unnamed basis close to Gibbs, Afrikaans daily 'Beeld' said Gibbs' conclusion had "nothing to do with the fact that he has been omitted from the national side for the umpteenth time."

"Although he still has to weigh up a few choices, Gibbs feels that he has had enough after such a long career," the source was quoted as saying.

Neither Gibbs nor his manager Donne Commins have commented on the report.

South African coach Mickey Arthur too has without any knowledge of the development, remaining adamant that Gibbs was part of his plan for the 2011 World Cup in South Asia.

Gibbs has had an exciting international career of 13 years, often at the centre of controversies ranging from match-fixing to stuff abuse. However, he is still regarded as one of the best opening batsmen in the world.

But Gibbs' batting has been contradictory in recent years, with his last one-day century coming in April this year against Australia in Port Elizabeth.

Tri-Series in Bangladesh 2010 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time	Venue
Jan 04	Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, 1st match Sri won by 7 wickets	2:ooPM	Dhaka
Jan 05	India v Sri Lanka, 2nd match Sri Won by 5 Wickets	2:00PM	Dhaka
Jan 07	Bangladesh v India, 3rd match Ind won by 6 wickets	2:00PM	Dhaka
Jan 08	Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, 4th match	2:00PM	Dhaka
Jan 10	India v Sri Lanka, 5th match	2:00PM	Dhaka
Jan 11	Bangladesh v India, 6th match	2:00PM	Dhaka
Jan 13	TBC v TBC, Final	2:00PM	Dhaka

India in Bangladesh tour 2010 Schedule

India can rise with SA fall in ICC ODI Rankings

South Africa's defeat would be India's gain as MS Dhoni's men stand to get back the 2nd spot in ICC one-day rankings if England beat the Proteas in a 5-match ODI series starting Friday in Johannesburg.

India had tripped to 3rd after losing a 7-match ODI series against Australia 2-4 a few weeks ago.

In individual rankings, South African Skipper Graeme Smith has the opportunity to put pressure on top ranked Indian foil MS Dhoni and 2nd-placed Michael Hussey in the list for ICC ODI batsmen.

An all-out triumph for the 6th-placed England would see them rise to 3rd and leave the 2nd-placed hosts 5th.

But if Graeme Smith's side manages to win the ODI series 5-0 it will close the gap with Australia to just two points. However, if the Proteas win 3-2, their triumph margin will not be enough to maintain 2nd place and they will slip to 3rd behind India.

If Andrew Strauss' side win the ODI series 3-2, it would rise to 5th in the ICC ODI rankings and South Africa would drop to 3rd, again providing India with 2nd place.

No victory situation can see either team putting any pressure on the current table toppers Australia.

In the Rankings for ODI batsmen, Graeme Smith is still the highest-ranked player of either side at the 3rd spot.

Afridi stars in a clinical Pakistan win

Shahid Afridi hits an aggressive half-century and getting two wickets to cap Pakistan's 138-run win over New Zealand in the 1st ODI day-night international here on Tuesday.

Afridi's 49-ball 70 supplemented by Kamran Akmal's undefeated 43-ball 67 and Khalid Latif's steady maiden fifty lifted Pakistan to an impressive 287-9 before they shot New Zealand out for 149 in the 40th over.

The victory, which gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the 3-match one-day series, was also cute revenge for the winners who lost to New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2009 semi-final last month.

The remaining two matches will be played here on Friday and Monday, before the two teams move to Dubai for two Twenty20 internationals on November 12 and 13.

Pakistan v New Zealand in UAE 2009

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Venue
Nov 3 - Tue	Pakistan v New Zealand, 1st ODI Pak won by 138 runs	11.00	Abu Dhabi
Nov 6 - Fri	Pakistan v New Zealand, 2nd ODI NZ won by 64 runs	11.00	Abu Dhabi
Nov 9 - Mon	Pakistan v New Zealand, 3rd ODI NZ won by 7 runs	11.00	Abu Dhabi
New Zealand won by ODI Serice 2-1
Nov 12 - Thu	Pakistan v New Zealand, 1st T20i Pak won by 49 runs	16.00	Dubai
Nov 13 - Fri	Pakistan v New Zealand, 2nd T20i Pak won by 7 runs	16.00	Dubai

Pakistan won the T20i Series 2-0

Dhoni Stars India's 99-run victory over Australia

A quickfire century by Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni set up India's 99-run victory over Australia on Wednesday as the home team leveled the one-day series 1-1.

MS Dhoni hit 124 runs off just 107 balls, putting on 119 for the 4th wicket partnership with Gautam Gambhir (76) and 136 for the 5th wicket with Suresh Raina (62) to push India to 354 /7 after they lost the toss in the day-night game.

After India amassed their highest ODI total against Australia, pacer Praveen Kumar took two early wickets including Captain Ricky Ponting for 12, to help India bowl out the visitors for 255 in 48.3 overs.

Michael Hussey (53) scored his 2nd consecutive half-century for Australia but young left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took 3 for 35 to trigger a middle-order fall down and fast bowler Ishant Sharma claimed 2 for 37.

"We lost Sachin Tendulkar early but Virender Sehwag (40) and Gambhir gave us the start we needed," said Dhoni referring to a second-wicket partnership of 46.

"They set the platform for me and I was able to play my own innings," he said at the prize-giving service.

Gambhir struck his 2nd consecutive half-century as he and MS Dhoni turned the heat on an Australia attack weakened by the absence of injured pair Brett Lee and James Hopes.

Gambhir was run out by a direct hit at the bowler end after being sent back by Dhoni but the Captain and Raina tear into the bowling, smashing 108 runs in the final 10 overs.

Dhoni cracked 9 fours and 3 sixes and reached his fifth one-day international century with a straight six off medium-pacer Shane Watson before falling in the final over to Mitchell Johnson (3-75).

Praveen Kumar then clean bowled Australia opener Tim Paine for (8) before Sharma forced Watson (19) to edge to Tendulkar at the 1st slip with his 1st delivery.

Ponting was trapped lbw in the 11th over before Hussey bogus useful partnerships with Cameron White (23) and Adam Voges (36).

Jadeja, though, dismissed Mike Hussey, Shaun Marsh (21) and Voges to end Australia's chances.

"Full credit to India, they outplayed us in every aspect of the game tonight," said Ponting.

"It was always going to be a hard run-chase."

The 3rd game of the 7 match ODI series will be in New Delhi on Saturday.

Man of the match : MS Dhoni

Zimbabwe in Bangladesh 2009 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Venue
Oct 27	Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 1st ODI Zim win by 5 wickets	07.30*	Mirpur
Oct 29	Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI Ban won by 7 wickets	07.30*	Mirpur
Oct 31	Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 3rd ODI Ban won by 4 wickets	07.30*	Mirpur
Nov 3	Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 4th ODI Ban won by 6 wickets	03.30	Chittagong
Nov 5	Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 5th ODI Ban won by 1 wickets	03.30	Chittagong

* - Day Night Match


Bangladesh won the ODI Series 4-1

Hopes ruled out, Lee and Johnson are doubtful for the 2nd ODI

Australian all-rounder James Hopes will miss the 2nd ODI against India, while the pace pair of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson are doubtful for the 2nd ODI.

The first ODI at Vododara took a toll on the Australian team with James Hopes suffering a right hamstring strain, Brett Lee complaining of right elbow soreness and Mitchell Johnson complaining of a left ankle problem.

"James Hopes, Lee and Johnson all undergo scans in Baroda this morning," Australian team physiotherapist Kevin Sims said.

"James has suffered a negligible right hamstring strain. He will therefore be unavailable for the next game however is expected to be available for the later games of this Hero Honda series."

"Brett Lee has a mild right elbow strain and will continue to be treated and assessed prior to the next game," he said.

"Mitchell Johnson suffered an inversion strain of his left ankle," Sims added after Johnson was forced from the field to have action during the game.

"He will now receive treatment and as with Brett, it will depend on how he responds to treatment over the next two days before a decision is made on his availability for the second game of the series," Sims mentioned.

Australia won the 1st match of the 7-ODI series in India

Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh's batting heroics took India agonisingly close to a sensational win before the hosts slumped to a 4 runs defeat against Australia in the 1st match of the 7-ODI series.

At 201 for seven in their pursuit of a 293-run victory target, India seemed heading for a comprehensive defeat before Praveen (40 not out) and Harbhajan (49) came up with a defiant 84-run stand off 57 balls for the eighth wicket that nearly took them home.

Much to the disappointment of the crowd, India eventually managed 288 for eight, put together by cameos from Gautam Gambhir (68), Virat Kohli (30), MS Dhoni (34), Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting (74) led from the front and was amply supported by Mike Hussey (73), Tim Paine (50) and Cameron White (51) as the visitors rattled up 292 for eight after opting to bat first on a featherbed track.

Faced with the daunting task of scoring at 5.86 per over, the star-studded Indian line-up came a cropper against some disciplined bowling and tight fielding to be left struggling at 201 for seven with the last 10 overs remaining.

Harbhajan and Praveen brought down the target to 30 from the last 15 balls and then nine from the last six.

But once Harbhajan departed off the second ball of the final over from Peter Siddle, India lost the momentum and Australia stopped the hosts four runs short of their total.

Sri Lanka in India Tour 2009 Schedule

The Sri Lankan cricket team will start for Mumbai on November 8 to play a full series against India featuring three Test, two T20 International and five ODIs matches.

According to the journey of the 51-day tour announced by the Lankan cricket board.

Date	Match Details	Venue
Nov 11-13	Sri Lanka Vs Board President's XI, practice match- Abandoned	Ahmedabad
Nov 16-20	India Vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Match Drawn	Ahmedabad
Nov 24-28	India Vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Ind won by an innings and 144 runs	Kanpur
Dec 2-6	India Vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test Ind won by an innings and 24 runs	Mumbai
India won the Test Series 2-0 Man of the Match & Series : Virender Sehwag
Dec 9	India Vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20 SL won by 29 runs	Mohali (D/N)
Dec 12	India Vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20 Ind won by 6 wickets	Nagpur (D/N)
Series is drawn 1-1 Man of the Series : Kumara Sangakkara
Dec 15	India Vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI Ind won by 3 runs	Rajkot
Dec 18	India Vs Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI	Nagpur (D/N)
Dec 21	India Vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI	Cuttack (D/N)
Dec 24	India Vs Sri Lanka, 4th ODI	Kolkata (D/N)
Dec 27	India Vs Sri Lanka, 5th ODI	Delhi

ICC announced World Cup 2011 Groups

India and Pakistan are in opposite groups and so are Australia and South Africa according the Team groupings for the World Cup 2011 released by the ICC.

The ICC held a board meeting at Johannesburg where they declared the groups for the World Cup 2011.

Group A	Group B
Australia	India
Pakistan	South Africa
New Zealand	England
Sri Lanka	West Indies
Zimbabwe	Bangladesh
Canada	Ireland
Kenya	Netherlands

England in South Africa Tour 2009 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time	Venue
November 2009
13 -Fri	South Africa v England, 1st T20i Eng won by 1 runs	21:30*	The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
15 -Sun	South Africa v England, 2nd T20i SA won by 84 runs	18:00	SuperSport Park, Centurion
20 -Fri	South Africa v England, 1st ODI Match abandoned	18:00*	The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
22 -Sun	South Africa v England, 2nd ODI Eng won by 7 wickets	13:30	SuperSport Park, Centurion
27 -Fri	South Africa v England, 3rd ODI SA won by 112 runs	18:00*	Newlands, Cape Town
29 -Sun	South Africa v England, 4th ODI Eng won by 7 wickets	13:30	St Georges Park, Port Elizabeth
December 2009
04 -Fri	South Africa v England, 5th ODI Match abandoned	18:00*	Kingsmead, Durban
16 - 20	South Africa v England, 1st Test Match Drawn	14:00	SuperSport Park, Centurion
26 - 30	South Africa v England, 2nd Test Eng won by an innings & 98 runs	14:00	Kingsmead, Durban
January 2010
03 - 07	South Africa v England, 3rd Test Match Drawn	14:00	Newlands, Cape Town
14 - 18	South Africa v England, 4th Test	14:00	The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Australia won the ICC Champions Trtophy 2009

The Kangaroo’s made history again! Defending Champion Australia beat New Zealand in the final to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Australia won the ICC Champions Trtophy 2008 too. The Aussies bounced back with a bang to reach the No. 1 of the ICC ODI Rankings, with their outstanding performance in Champions Trophy 2009. Shane Watson got a brilliant century in the final.

Australia started the final as the favorite against the Kiwis, who missed their skipper Daniel Vettori because of an injury. New Zealand won the toss and selected to bat first. But Australian bowlers did not give them a chance to settle down.

New Zealand get just 200/9 in 50 overs. Guptill was the top scorer with 40, while Broom made 37. Franklin contributes 33. For Australia, Hauritz took 3 wickets. Brett Lee took 2 wickets.

Chasing a winning target of 201, Australia lost RickyPonting and Paine for just two runs on board. New Zealand began to smell victory, as Australia are 6/2 at one stage. However, Shane Watson and White changed the way of the game with a partnership of 128. White ended 62.

Australia reached 206/2 in 45.2 overs. Shane Watson hit his 4th ODI hundred and second successive century and remained unbeaten on 105. For New Zealand, Kyle Mills took 3 wickets. Australia became the only team to win ICC Champions Trophy twice.

Ricky Ponting won the "Golden Bat" award for scoring 288 runs in the tournament. South African bowler Wayne Parnell, who took 11 wickets in the tournament, got the "Golden Ball" award. For the first time, all members of winning team get a Champions Jacket each.
Man of the Match: Shane Watson Man of the Tournament: Ricky Ponting

ICC Awards 2009 has been announced

Australian Faster Mitchell Johnson has bagged the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year, it was announced here on Thursday.

Mitchell Johnson getting 80 wickets in 17 Tests, the highest by any Test bowler in the year 2009.

Indian Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir won the Test Player of the Year award, warding off competition from Johnson, Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera and Andrew Strauss.

Indian Wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni pipped compatriots Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, and Chanderpaul to bag the One-Day Player of the Year award.

Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan won the T20 International Performance of the Year award for his unbeaten 96 off 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-final at the T20 World Championships 2009 in England.

Australian paceman Peter Siddle declared Emerging Player of the Year award.

New Zealand won the Spirit of Cricket award, presented to the team which, in the attitude of the ICC umpires and match referees and the 10 full member captains, has best performed itself on the field within the spirit of the game.

The awards were based on performances between Aug 13, 2008 and Aug 24, 2009.

The selection panel was lead by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd, with former cricketers Anil Kumble of India, Bob Taylor of England, Pakistan's Mudassar Nazar and New Zealand Stephen Fleming being the other members.

The list of winners:

Cricketer of the Year: Mitchell Johnson

Test Player of the Year: Gautam Gambhir

ODI Player of the Year: MS Dhoni

Women's Cricketer of the Year: Claire Taylor

Emerging Player of the Year: Peter Siddle

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year: William Porterfield

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Tillakaratne Dilshan

Spirit of Cricket: New Zealand

Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar

World Test Team of the Year:

Gautam Gambhir India
Andrew Strauss England
AB de Villiers South Africa
Sachin Tendulkar India,
Thilan Samaraweera Sri Lanka,
Michael Clarke Australia,
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), India,
Shakib Al Hasan Bangladesh,
Mitchell Johnson Australia,
Stuart Broad England,
Dale Steyn South Africa.

12th Man: Harbhajan Singh India

World ODI Team of the Year:

Virender Sehwag India
Chris Gayle West Indies
Kevin Pietersen England,
Tillakaratne Dilshan Sri Lanka,
Yuvraj Singh India,
Martin Guptill New Zealand,
MS Dhoni (captain, WK) India,
Andrew Flintoff England,
Nuwan Kulasekara Sri Lanka,
Ajantha Mendis Sri Lanka,
Umar Gul Pakistan

12th man: Thilan Thushara Sri Lanka