England aim to dominate India in ODI Series too: Bresnan

England fast-bowler Tim Bresnan has sounded a notice to India saying that they will come hard at them in the upcoming ODI series. England, according to Bresnan, wants to inflict another whitewash on the World Champions.

India will go into the five-match ODI series, starting September 3, without five of their World Cup heroes due to injuries.

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have all been ruled out of ODI action and Gautam Gambhir is also likely to miss the series due to concussion.

Bresnan pointed out that India will go into the series as favourites following their victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 a couple of months ago. However, he added that England is a tough side to beat at home and they will be full of confidence following their 3-2 series win against Sri Lanka earlier in the summer.

"If we come out with confidence against India, we should get the result we're after. We sustained the assault during the Test matches and we'll be looking to do the same in the one-dayers," Bresnan said.

Bresnan maintained that England are eyeing nothing short of victory in all the remaining matches in the tour, which also includes a one-off Twenty20 Cricket match on Wednesday.

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Gambhir likely to be fit for ODIs

The uncertainty over Gautam Gambhir's contribution in the upcoming ODI series against England is all but over with the Indian opener likely to be fit for the five-match ODI Series, team manager Shivlal Yadav said here today.

Yadav said Gambhir should be fine for next month's ODI series after his MRI scan did not show anything untoward.

Gambhir is critical to India's plans in the ODIs now that his fellow opener Virender Sehwag has been completely ruled out for the five one-dayers and one-off Twenty20 match.

Gambhir suffered the concussion after he backpedalled at mid-on in a bid to catch a miscued pull off Kevin Pietersen during the 4th Test. The chance was fluffed when he fell back and hit his head on the ground with a thud.

Even though speculation over his availability has died down after the MRI scan, the left-hander did not come out to practice with his colleagues on Wednesday.

The present series has been one of misfortune for Gambhir. He was painfully hit on his right elbow while fielding at forward short leg during the 1st Test at Lord's.

He subsequently had to miss the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge. He did play the 3rd Test at Edgbaston and scored 38 and 14 in the two innings.

India can overtake Sri Lanka in ICC ODI rankings

Going by present form, it looks highly unlikely but if India can manage to beat England by a 4-1 margin or better in the upcoming one-day series, they can climb to 2nd spot from 3rd in the ICC ranking chart.

World champions India (117) are placed 3rd behind Sri Lanka (119) in the list, headed by Australia (130)

Australia's 3-2 series win has restricted Sri Lanka to earn only one ratings point which, in turn, has given India a chance to reclaim the second position.

To achieve the number two position, India will have to beat England by 4-1 or whitewash the hosts in the five-match ODI series, starting at Chester-le-Street on September 3.

Pakistan in Zimbabwe 2011 Series Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Place
Sep 01 - 05	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, Only Test	07:30	Bulawayo
Sep 08 - Thu	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st ODI	07:00	Bulawayo
Sep 11 - Sun	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd ODI	07:00	Harare
Sep 14 - Wed	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 3rd ODI	07:00	Harare
Sep 16 - Fri	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st T20I	12:00	Harare
Sep 18 - Sun	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd T20I	12:00	Harare

Dravid recalled for T20 and ODI series against England

Rahul Dravid on Saturday earned a surprise recall to shore up India's struggling batting line-up while an off-colour Harbhajan Singh was dropped from the 16-member squad for the T20 and one-day cricket series against England beginning August 31.

Rahul Dravid, the lone batsman who has been steady with two back-to-back centuries in the ongoing 4-match Test series, makes his way into the ODI fold after a gap of almost two years to provide stability to a brittle line-up struggling in the seaming English conditions.

Harbhajan Singh, who has been ruled out of the Test series because of an abdominal strain and has been been woefully out of form in recent times, was expectedly not considered for the ODIs along with another star injured player Yuvraj Singh, nursing a broken left index finger.

Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar and wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel were recalled into the 16-member squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.

"Zaheer Khan is suffering from a recurrent right hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement. He will require a surgery for his ankle, followed by intensive rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring. He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely. He will therefore not be able to participate in the ongoing Test series and subsequent Twenty20 International and ODI series against England," the BCCI said in a statement.

His loss has been RP Singh's gain as the pacer from Uttar Pradesh makes a comeback nearly after 3 years. He last played a Test match in April 2008 and an ODI in September 2009.

Paceman S Sreesanth, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also failed to find favour with the five-man selection panel.


Team Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh raina, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel.

Sourav appointed vice-chairman of WB Sports Council

The West Bengal government on Wednesday reconstituted the Sports Council by inducting former India skipper Sourav Ganguly as one of its its vice-chairmen.

Ganguly will work alongside former footballers Gouranga Banerjee, Compton Dutta, international paddler Poulami Ghatak and GM Dibyendu Barua.

"We are trying to bring everybody from all disciplines to revive the sports in Bengal," sports minister Madan Mitra told reporters while announcing the reconstitution of the Sports Council.

It was also decided to divide the council into two committees -- advisory board and working committee. Both would be headed by Mitra.

The advisory board will have eight vice-chairmen including hockey Olympians Gurbux Singh and Dr Vece Paes, football Olympian Chuni Goswami and Dronacharya awardee Syed Nayeemuddin.

The advisory board will also have former Test cricketer Arun Lal, footballers Shyam Thapa and Subrata Bhattacharya.

Former Indian football captain P K Banerjee and Leslie Claudius will be members in the working committee which will have representation from various sports.

Styris announced his retirement from international career

New Zealand all rounder Scott Styris has announced his retirement from international cricket, saying he wanted to concentrate on the domestic T20 competition and the IPL.

Scott Styris said the Black Caps were entering a new era under skipper Ross Taylor, who was appointed this week, and the time was right to leave the international Cricket.

The 35-year-old, who is currently playing T20 for English county side Essex, said he would continue to play domestic cricket for New Zealand's Northern Knights and the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

"I really enjoy the T20 format of the game and see it as a way to stay involved in cricket for another year or two if I can," he said.

"Not being on the international circuit means more time at home and I'm really looking forward to spending more time with my family."

Chris Gayle may leave WI cricket

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle is so frustrated and disillusioned with his Cricket Board officials that he might consider walking away from the national team, a media report here has claimed.

According to the 'Trinidad Guardian', the friction between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Gayle has only increased after a stormy meeting, which was ironically called to settle the differences after the batsman's controversial radio interview.

In that outburst, Gayle had lambasted the WICB for leaving him in a lurch during his recent injury crisis.

The WICB wants Gayle to retract from the statement but he has refused, heightening the tensions.

He was left out of the ODI Cricket Team squad for the just-concluded series against India, and could also be dropped from the side for the Tests starting Monday.

"Chris wants to play cricket for the West Indies. He wants to play really badly and this is why he turned up for the meeting. However, what was said and how it was said at the meeting has left him rather frustrated and he may now look at taking his game away from the West Indies," the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

"This is a man who has served West Indies cricket well in the past and he was also captain of the regional team. However, he was treated very badly by one individual at the meeting and this has left him in a state," the source added.

Gayle was accompanied by Executive President of the West Indies Players' Association Dinanath Ramnarine and WIPA Vice-President Wavell Hinds in the a near four-hour long meeting with the WICB on Saturday.

"Chris was penalised (by being dropped from the West Indies team) before he was given a hearing. This was totally unfair and was aired at the meeting.

"Also one official who represented the WICB was very provocative towards Chris and was not even allowing him to answer questions posed to him. This was very unfortunate," the source revealed.

Clinical India ease to win to lead 2-0

Half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel followed up Amit Mishra's career-best bowling to lead India to a seven-wicket victory over West Indies in the rain-affected 2nd One-day International on Wednesday.

Virat Kohli struck six fours and one six in 81 from 103 balls to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, and Patel made 56 from 64 deliveries, as the Indians, chasing a revised target of 183 from 37 overs due to rain, reached their target with 20 balls remaining.

India skipper Suresh Raina clinched victory, when he steered a delivery from Ravi Rampaul wide of point for two runs.

India now lead the five-match series 2-0, following a four-wicket victory in the first ODI two days ago at the same venue.

Amit Mishra had upstaged half-centuries from Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan, triggering a batting collapse with a career-best spell, as West Indies posted 240 for nine from their allotted 50 overs.

Mishra captured four for 31, as the Windies collapsed dramatically from a comfortable 175 for two in the 36th before the WI skipper Darren Sammy added some late order runs.

Munaf Patel bagged three for 35 from 10 overs, and Yusuf Pathan took two for 51 from eight overs to play their part in destabilising the West Indies' batting.

India suffered an early setback, when Shikhar Dhawan was caught at square cover off Ravi Rampaul for three in the third over. However, a second wicket stand of 120 between Kohli and Patel put India firmly on track, while enduring two stoppages for rain.

Patel was caught behind down the leg-side off leg-spinner Anthony Martin in the 27th over but he had made 56 off 64 by then, and Kohli was caught at long-off off Devendra Bishoo, the other West Indies leggie, in the 31st over. However, at that stage, India required only 10 more runs to achieve the D/L adjusted target and get a 2-0 lead, which Raina and Rohit Sharma duly delivered.

The 3rd ODI will be played on June 11 at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua.