PCB chief Ashraf backs Misbah for showing his worth in Asia Cup
Islamabad, Mar 28 (ANI): Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has backed captain Misbahul Haq, saying he has proved his worth by successfully guiding the team to victory in the Asia Cup.
Ashraf said that Misbah has been captaining the side really well and deserved the honour of leading the national team.
"Everyone talks against Misbah but he has captained the side really well. There was a lot of pressure on Pakistan in the Asia Cup but Misbah didn't let the team down," the Daily Times quoted Ashraf, as saying.
"The biggest plus point of Misbah as captain is that he does not wilt under pressure. He can face any situation, and at the same time keep the team's confidence high," he said.
Ashraf pointed out that it was unfair to criticize Misbah after he had had brought the Asia Cup home after 12 years.
"What more can one expect from him. He is also trying hard to perform as a senior player," Ashraf said.
Ashraf also said that the Pakistan team needed a cool and calm captain to handle pressures at the top level.
There has been talk that the PCB might restrict Misbah to captaining the Test side while appointing another skipper for the one-day and T20 formats.
Ashraf, however, said any such plans would only be taken after consulting experts and technocrats of the game.
"It is a decision that has to be taken by the experts and technocrats. If it is necessary then we will look into it," he added. (ANI)
Pakistan humiliate England to take series
Rehman takes 6-25 to shoot the No. 1 ranked side for 72
By Shahid Hashmi | AFP | Yahoo! CricketAbdur Rehman appeals for England captain Andrew Strauss' wicket on Saturday. (Reuters)
Abu Dhabi: Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman took a career best 6-25 to help Pakistan humble England by 72 runs in the second Test here on Saturday, to give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The 31-year-old twice took two wickets in successive overs to dent England's chase after they were set a 145-run target on a weary fourth day Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch, bowling them out for 72 - their lowest against Pakistan in all Tests.
Rehman's effort overshadowed Monty Panesar's 6-62, in his first Test for 30 months, which finished Pakistan's second innings at 214 in the morning.
This is England's first series defeat after being unbeaten in their previous nine since their loss to the West Indies in early 2009 -- a sequence which saw them rise to world number one in the Test rankings in August last year.
Pakistan won the first Test in Dubai by ten wickets. The third Test will also be played in Dubai from February 3.
Rehman was ably assisted by off-spinners Saeed Ajmal (3-22) and Mohammad Hafeez (1-11) in a match which saw spinners dominate from the first day.
Saeed Ajmal equalled the post-war record for the fastest 100 Test wickets.England lost their top four batsmen in the space of just 37 balls after an extra cautious start on a difficult pitch.England captain Andrew Strauss topscored with 32 before he became one of Rehman's victims during his maiden five-wicket haul.
In the penultimate over before tea, Rehman trapped Kevin Pietersen (one) and two balls later bowled Eoin Morgan (nought) to raise hopes of an unlikely win for Pakistan.
Sensing they could only upset their rivals through early wickets, Pakistan opened the bowling with off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez who responded well by catching Alastair Cook (seven) off his own bowling after England had edged cautiously to 21 by the 15th over.
Bell, promoted to number three after Jonathan Trott was unwell, was all at sea against master spinner Saeed Ajmal and his tentative push went through his legs to hit the stumps. He made only three.
Pietersen, who has been woefully out of form making just 16 runs in the series, managed one more before Rehman trapped him and in the same over had the equally out of form Morgan bowled to dent England's hopes of a victory.
Rehman then accounted for Trott (one) and Stuart Broad (nought) in the same over to leave England 7-68.
Ajmal dismissed Graeme Swann (nought) and Matt Prior (18) to complete his 100 Test wickets in his 19th match before Anderson was caught off Rehman to give Pakistan a sensational win. (See statistic box)
England's previous lowest against Pakistan was 130 -- made on two occasions at The Oval in 1954 and Lahore in 1987.
Earlier, Pakistan lost their last six wickets with the addition of 89 runs after resuming at 125-4, with all hopes pinned on Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.
Panesar took three of those wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.
Azhar Ali (68) and Asad Shafiq (43) added 88 for the fifth wicket before Panesar struck.
But England's decision to take the second new ball as soon as it was due paid rich dividends as Anderson removed the dangerman Ali with a sharp rising delivery which caught the edge and was caught behind by Prior.
Ali hit eight boundaries during his 195-ball knock.
Broad then had Adnan Akmal (13) caught by Strauss in the slips off an ambitious drive in the next over as Pakistan wilted.
Rehman (10) and Ajmal (17) added an invaluable 36 for the eighth wicket before Panesar wrapped up the innings by taking the last two wickets.
source:(yahoo cricket)
New Zealand win test after bowling Zimbabwe out twice in one day
REUTERS - New Zealand highlighted the gulf in international cricket when they bowled Zimbabwe out twice on Saturday to win the only test match of their tour at McLean Park in Napier by an innings and 301 runs.
The hosts declared their first innings at 495 for seven earlier on Saturday after wicketkeeper BJ Watling posted his maiden test century, then bowled the visitors out for 51 and 143 to record their largest victory by an innings in tests.It was the third time a team has been bowled out twice in one day. New Zealand also dismissed Zimbabwe twice in a day for 59 and 99 in Harare in 2005, while India were dismissed for 58 and 82 by England in Manchester in 1952.
New Zealand are eighth in the International Cricket Council's test rankings, while Zimbabwe are unranked. Only 10 countries have test status, with Bangladesh the ninth-ranked team.
The Africans only returned to playing test cricket last year following a voluntary five year absence after the country was engulfed in political turmoil, forcing many leading players to retire from international cricket.
The visitors had crashed to 19 for five in their first innings and looked in danger of being bowled out for the lowest total in test cricket though Malcolm Waller took the attack to New Zealand's bowlers and saw them past the mark before he was caught in the slips by Dean Brownlie off Tim Southee for 23.
The lowest score is held by New Zealand, who were dismissed for 26 against England at Eden Park in 1955.
Waller's dismissal left Zimbabwe on 50 for eight and they added just one run for the final two wickets to record their lowest score in tests, before stand in captain Brendon McCullum enforced the follow on.
McCullum took over the captaincy after Ross Taylor was ruled out of the rest of the matches against Zimbabwe, which includes three one day internationals and two Twenty20 matches, when he strained his right calf muscle while batting on Friday.
Zimbabwe again flirted with the lowest test score when Doug Bracewell took two wickets in the first over after tea to reduce them to 12 for five, but Forster Mutizawa saw them past the mark before he was dismissed for 18.
Regis Chakabva (63) and Graeme Cremer (26) combined for a stubborn 63-run partnership that temporarily thwarted New Zealand's victory push before Chris Martin cleaned up the tail to finish with six wickets for 26 runs.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Melbourne; Editing by Alastair Himmer;)
source:(yahoo cricket)
ODI/T20 SQUAD FOR AUSTRALIA SERIES
Indian team for the odi and t20 has been announced by the BCCI. Chairman of the national selection committee, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said a 17-man squad had been picked since the tri-series competition is a long one. Also keeping in mind the injury scare players in order to avoid the issues that were raised in England where india failed to send fit team out in the park.
Starting February 5, Australia, India and Sri Lanka will play eight ODIs each before the best-of-three final ending on March 8. Prior to that, India andAustralia will compete in two T20 Internationals. The top two teams will compete each other in best of three finals.
The players who are missing out are:
Ajinkya Rahane
He was not impressive in the last home series but was part of the test squad but he is yet to play a test down under.
Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma will take a break to seek treatment for his injured left ankle. In all the tests he has played he had bowled well without much success and gets the break to get into shape for the next series.
The players who have made the come backs are:
Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar, who had missed the cut for the Australia Tests, returns to the squad.
Manoj Tiwary
Manoj Tiwary, with a hundred in the Chennai ODI against West Indies will also feature in india’s middle order in the absence of senior proyuvraj singh who was unavailable for the selection due to fitness issues.
Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan who made his comeback against the west indies has also been given a place in the side.
Squad: MS Dhoni (C/WK), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel, Rahul Sharma, Zaheer Khan.
sahil (inputs:yahoo cricket)
15/01/2012
