International Cricket Council CEO Haroon Lorgat on Saturday criticised the police lathicharge on fans seeking tickets for the India-England World Cup clash in Bangalore, saying the fiasco was unfortunate and the governing body would not like to see such scenes again.
MS Dhoni's apparent ability to thrive on the pressure of captaincy will be tested and be critical to India's chances in this World Cup, says Anil Kumble.
The BCCI reacted cautiously to a sting operation which alleged pitch doctoring in three Test matches featuring India, saying it would consider action against implicated former cricketer Robin Morris only if he is found guilty in an ongoing ICC probe.
Batting would be India's strength in the upcoming World Cup but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wretched luck with the toss will also have to turn for the better if India are to break a 28-year-old jinx at the mega-event, feels 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev.
The ICC on Sunday rejected BCCI's appeal to reconsider its decision to take away India-England cricket World Cup match from Kolkata but its president Sharad Pawar said the Eden Gardens can host the other three ties if it is ready on time.
The ICC has scrapped Eden Gardens as a venue for India-England World Cup match due to preparation issues but West Bengal Sports Minister Kanti Ganguly on Friday asked the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) to continue its efforts to bring back the tie to the city.
Former India captain Kapil Dev feels that despite all his talent, speedster Ishant Sharma lacks the ability to bowl "wicket-taking deliveries" more consistently. Ishant, who missed the series against New Zealand due to Chikungunya, is back in the squad for the upcoming England Tests starting November 9 in Rajkot. The lanky pacer's Test statistics of 209 Test wickets from 72 games with a strike rate of 66.6 (nearly 11 and half overs for a wicket) stick out like a sore thumb and Kapil said he has to strive for consistency.
England captain Joe Root has said that their victory in the first Test at Birmingham last week, despite not being at their best, has energised the hosts with confidence as they prepare to take on India at Lord's, in the second Test, starting on Thursday.
'Out of 7 innings England played before the Oval Test, their bottom half outscored the top-half in 4!' notes Rajneesh Gupta.
The International Cricket Council General Manager Geoff Allardice all set to submit a presentation on upgraded Decision Review System before the Board of Control for Cricket in India in New Delhi on October 20 in presence of president Anurag Thakur.
The matches in the next edition of the cricket World Cup could be 40-overs-a-side affairs and Test matches reduced to four days if discussions between the chairmen of English counties and the England and Wales Cricket Board are proposed and ultimately accepted by the ICC.
The sight of a West Indian batsman stealing a cheeky single is a rarity in international cricket but skipper Darren Sammy does not mind as long as the fours and the sixes keep flowing from their bats. The Caribbean side flexed their batting muscle to storm into the World Twenty20 final against England who they beat in a group stage match in Mumbai. Sammy is aware of the criticism of his team's poor strike rotation but believes the power-hitters can more than make up with big shots. "People say we don't rotate our strike well, we'll talk about that but first thing is you have to stop us from hitting boundaries that has been difficult for oppositions once we get in that swing," the ever-smiling all-rounder told reporters on Saturday. The semi-final against India illustrated Sammy's point.
A resurgent Australia leapfrogged to third spot in the latest ICC Test rankings after whitewashing England 5-0 in the Ashes series on Sunday.
Former captain Kevin Pietersen is not expecting England to reach the semi-finals at the World Twenty20 in India. England have reached the final four at the Twenty20 showcase just once and that was back in 2010 when Pietersen helped them claim the trophy in the West Indies. Despite mixed results in Twenty20 internationals of late - England lost a recent series 2-0 to South Africa - a lot is expected of Eoin Morgan's men on the sub-continent as they attempt to make up for their embarrassing early exit at the World Cup in Australia in 2015 when they failed to make the knockout stages of the 50-over tournament after losing their decider against Bangladesh. But Pietersen is unsure whether England will be able to match their exploits from 2010 and has earmarked four other countries as the teams to beat in India. Speaking in a Q&A with the Telegraph newspaper, Pietersen declared India, the West Indies, South Africa and Australia as the top four teams at the World Twenty20. He also said that Morgan would have to fire if England were to go deep into the tournament. "I think England's game changer at the World Cup has to be Eoin Morgan," Pietersen said.
The online ticket sales for the ICC Cricket World Cup next year has got a phenomenal response, according to the official ticketing partner for the mega-event. If the initial response of India-England at Eden Gardens is any indication, the February 27 match is going to be a sell out, official partner KyaZoonga said.
When Ranchi makes its Test debut, Dhoni will be busy leading his state in the in the domestic one-dayers in Delhi.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Shashank Manohar has flayed the imbalance of power within the governing body and criticised last year's revamp which, he believes, allows India, England and Australia to "bully" the organisation.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur and coach Anil Kumble on Wednesday attended a meeting with ICC and Hawk Eye representatives, who made a detailed presentation of the upgraded version of Decision Review System (DRS). There are talks that DRS could be used during the upcoming India-England series, comprising five Tests, or during the series against Australia later. As per initial feedback, the BCCI bigwigs including the president and the coach have felt that there are "some improvements" which meant that some of India's issues have been addressed in the upgraded system.
Data from TAM, the audience measurement agency, show that in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy, the India matches had average ratings of 6.2, compared to 1.3 for the non-India matches. The average event ratings for India-Australia (6.6), India-England (4.8) or India-Sri Lanka ODIs (4.6) on Neo Sports were higher compared to the average event ratings of IPL-2 (4.17), ICC Champions Trophy (2.3) or Champions League (1.2 for games played between October 8-10).
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) moved quickly on Tuesday to distance itself from a "sons of pigs" reference to India, England and Australia made by former chairman Ijaz Butt.
Guwahati, deprived of international cricket due to reasons varying from weather to security, is among the seven cities picked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to host the India-Australia one-day series, scheduled for October-November. Delhi, Mumbai, Mohali, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Jaipur are the other six cities chosen for the series.
Favourites India maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament and eked out a fighting 2-1 win over a spirited South Africa in their final Pool D match to book a place in the quarterfinals of the men's Junior Hockey World Cup at the Major Dhyan Astroturf stadium in New Delhi on Monday. India scored both their goals from field efforts through skipper Harjeet Singh (11th minute) and Mandeep Singh (55th), while Kyle Lion-Cachet (28th) found the net for the Africans. India, thus, finished the pool engagements with possible nine points from three wins and will now face second placed team in Pool C, Spain in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday allayed visiting security expert Reg Dickason's apprehensions and oozed confidence of hosting the first Test match between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Chennai from December 11. Later, Dickason looked satisfied as he said, "We had some security concerns and those have been addressed."
Batting ace Sachin Tendulkar saluted the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying the stumper from Jharkhand has a sharp brain and is doing a fantastic job.
In February next year, Australia are scheduled to travel to India for a four-Test series and former captain Adam Gilchrist said going by their recent outing the Aussies need to work hard on identifying big moments where they lack consistency. The once formidable Australian team, has recently lost fourth Test on the trot after being overwhelmed by South Africa at home. And Gilchrist feels more often than not the Aussies are letting their opponents bounce back into a game.
Statistical highlights of the third One-Day International between India and England at the Green Park, Kanpur, on Thursday.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan feels India must fulfill its promise of 'rewarding' Pakistan for its support for the 'Big Three' governance system introduced in the International Cricket Council (ICC) last year.
In a heart-warming gesture, the Cricket Board on Monday donated Rs three crore for the security personnel who either lost life or sustained injuries during last month's terror attacks in Mumbai.
After the terror attacks in Mumbai, it is the Chennai weather that is now threatening to impact the first India-England Test starting on Thursday. Intermittent heavy rain since early morning has left the outfield at the Chidambaram Stadium slushy, delaying Indian team's morning practice.
No player has been arm-twisted to play in the Test series and it was a completely unanimous decision by the team to tour India, England's talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff said in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
'A string of prior losses, preferably humiliating ones, improves the chances of a World Cup win,' says Devangshu Datta.
With the last two matches of the India-England ODI series cancelled following the Mumbai terror attacks, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is now busy honing his shooting skills at home. Flush with India's 5-0 drubbing of England in the limited overs series, the relaxed Dhoni took turns with relatives and friends to hit the target with his air gun.
The last two first phase ties of the ONGC I-League, to be played at Mumbai's Cooperage football ground in South Mumbai on November 29 and 30, also have been cancelled, according to the All India Football Federation.
International Cricket Council elite panel umpires Simon Taufel of Australia and New Zealand's Gary Baxter will officiate in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament to be played at Chennai's M Chidambaram Stadium on December 10. India's S Venkatraghavan has been named as the match referee for the three matches to be held at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium on December 3, 4 and 5.
Down 0-2 in the five-Test series against India, England captain Alastair Cook feels his team needs to go back to the first match at Rajkot and pick a few pointers from that match.
English county teams will be barred from this year's multi-million dollar Twenty20 Champions League if they contain players from the unofficial Indian Cricket League, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Sunday. The competition, which follows the launch of the Indian Premier League this year, was to originally feature two teams each from India, England, Australia and South Africa.
The last two matches of the India-England seven-match one-day series have been called off over safety fears following a series of terrorist attacks in south Mumbai on Wednesday night in which around 100 people have been killed and more than 300 injured. An England Cricket Board (ECB) statement said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had agreed to its request to postpone the remaining two one-dayers.
The International Cricket Council inspection team foresees "no roadblock" in Eden Gardens hosting the ICC World Twenty20 final, even as it is learnt that they want two more dressing rooms at the venue.
A Twenty20 Champions League involving eight teams playing 15 matches will be staged this year either in India or the Middle East, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Saturday.
