CHENNAI: Opener Virender Sehwag is set to return, while off-colour all-rounder Yusuf Pathan is likely to be axed when the selectors pick the Indian squad for the first two One-dayers against Australia on Thursday.
Sehwag has been out of international cricket owing to a shoulder injury that required surgery and the opener missed both the Twenty20 World Cup in England and Champions Trophy in South Africa.
The right-hander, however, is set to make a comeback to the national team on Thursday when Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his colleagues in the Senior Selection Committee select the team for the first two of the seven ODIs against Australia.
Baroda all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, meanwhile, is almost certain to be dropped, especially with Yuvraj Singh likely to return from a finger injury that kept him out of the Champions Trophy.
The BCCI is yet to receive the details of his fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore but subject to his clearing the procedure, Yuvraj will be back to the squad, according to sources.
The selectors will also debate on whether to persist with Rahul Dravid, who made a come back to the 50-overs format after a two-year hibernation.
According to sources, selectors may drop Ishant Sharma as well, bringing in Uttar Pradesh pacer Sudeep Tyagi in his place.
Another pacer Zaheer Khan, who is recovering from a shoulder surgery, has not proved himself in match situation and hence is said to have been ruled out of contention.
Apart from Tyagi, Abhishek Nayar is also expected to get the selectors' nod for the ODIs in Vadodara (October 25) and Nagpur (October 28).
The selection committee would, in all probability, would suggest rotating the bowlers.
"We always go by the observations of the core group of coaches for the national team and we believe we have young, talented players in our three-graded contracted system," said a selector.
"We also believe that we need to rotate players in the bowling department. Accordingly, the seniors are likely to retain their spots, while the second spinner and the medium pacers in the team are to be rotated for the seven matches," he added.
In the spin department, Harbhajan Singh would remain the frontline tweaker, while Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha would play in turns in the seven-match series.
The Australians commence their campaign on October 25 at Vadodara and play the seventh and final tie at Mumbai on November 11.
BANGALORE: Local favourites Bangalore Royal Challengers will hope to maintain their upswing while Victoria Bushrangers are keen to put behind their defeat against Wayamba Elevens when they lock horns in the first League B match of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament on Thursday.
Both took the same stop-start route to the Super Eight stage, tasting both win and defeat before eventually making the top-eight cut. With little margin for error in the League segment, both the teams would be hoping to get off to a winning start.
For Kumble and his teammates, playing before home crowd can work both ways. While it would ensure that there would not be any dearth of support, it also means additional pressure, which the Indian Premier League runners-up would have to cope up with.
The local favourites did not start well, losing their tournament opener to Cape Cobras by five wickets before South African old warhorse Jacques Kallis inspired them to a comprehensive 80-run win over Otago Volts that cleared their Super Eight passage.
Bangalore's top-order is formidable enough to give sleepless nights to any attack and with Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli and Ross Taylor in good nick, Victorian bowlers have their task cut out on Thursday.
And even if the top order fumbles, the Challengers can rely on Rahul Dravid to bail them out, something the former India captain has done time and again in his illustrious career.
In comparison, their bowling unit may look a little low on glamour but Victoria would do well not to underestimate an attack that includes Praveen Kumar, Kallis, Kumble and Roelof van der Merwe.
Victoria Bushrangers, however, can draw inspiration from the fact that they bulldozed the mighty Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets with 20 balls to go in their tournament opener.
It was a surgical display by Shane Harwood, Clint McKay and Andrew McDonald who restricted the Daredevils to a meagre 98/8 before Rob Quiny and captain Cameron White saw them through.
The Victorian giant-killers, however, stepped on a banana skin in their next encounter against the lowly Wayamba Elevens, losing the low-scoring tie by 15 runs even though it could not halt their Super Eight march.
Once again, the Victorians bowlers did a decent job against the Lankans restricting them to 118/9 but their batsmen goofed up, managing just 103 runs even though they had lost just four wickets.
Squads (From):
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Balachandra Akhil, Rajesh Bishnoi, Mark Boucher, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Manish Pandey, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa, Roelof van der Merwe and Vinay Kumar.
Victoria Bushrangers: Cameron White (c), Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade and Damien Wright.
HYDERABAD: Reigning IPL Champions Deccan Chargers crashed out of the Champions League after suffering a narrow three-run defeat against Trinidadand Tobago in their do-or-die Group A match on Wednesday.
Scorecard | Match in Pics
The see-saw match witnessed pulsating action till the last ball at Rajiv Gandhi stadium.
Chasing 150 to win, the hosts could manage just 146/9 in their stipulated 20 overs.
The hosts required eight runs off the last over but they had no recognized batsman at the crease and the tail-enders could fetch only four runs.
The victory of the Caribbean side also cleared the entry of Somerset into the quarter-final league from group A.
Deccan had lost their first match to the English County Somerset early in the event.
Skipper Adam Glichrist (51), Y Venugopal Rao (30) and Rohit Sharma (25) batted well for their short knocks but that proved insufficient to pull through their side.
Opting to field, hosts did well to restrict Trinidad and Tobago to 149/7.
William Perkins top scored for the Caribbean side with his 38 (32 ball, 6X4) at the top and Kieron Polard played a blazing 31 off 14 balls down the order.
Polard uncorked some lusty shots towards the fag end to lift his side to a competitive total, hitting four sixes in his crucial cameo.
Fidel Edwards, who was barred from bowling in the last match for firing two beamers, made amends by taking three wickets for Deccan Chargers.
Dwayne Bravo (3/24) was the most successful bowler for Trinidad & Tobago, who entered the next stage with clean slate.
Qualification in mind, Gilchrist began on an explosive note, smashing a six over third man off Ravi Rampaul's in the first legal ball of the innings.
Laxman too was fantastic when he guided the first ball from Dwayne Bravo for a delicate leg-side boundary as the hosts were off to a flier.
Dwayne struck twice to reverse the script as he first trapped Laxman (4) and then saw the back of Abhinav Kumar (1) by getting him caught behind.
As if the double blow was not enough, Andrew Symonds became the third batsman to leave the field after a terrible mix up with Glichrist.
Rohit smashed two boundaries off Sherwin Ganga to give something to cheer to the home crowd.
Glichrist continued his awesome batting as he hit a massive six off Polard in the deep square leg and followed it up a four in the cover region to raise fifty of the team.
The duo added 55 runs for the fourth wicket to bring Deccan Chargers back in the match.
The hosts were in the drivers' seat at that time but both Gilchrist and Rohit departed in a gap of three balls, leaving his side reeling at 86/5.
Gilchrist went for a flat pull and Pollard plucked a stunning diving catch in the deep mid-wicket to get rid of dangerous rival skipper. Two balls later, Rohit gave a simple catch to Dwayne at point off Samuel Badree.
Venugopal took on the responsibility to finish the job for his side as he first hit a six off Dave Mohammed and meted out the same treatment to Badree.
Venugopal batted sensibly, picking up singles as well as boundaries and together with Scott Styris (14) raised 39 runs to get close to the target.
However, after run out of Styris, Ravi Rampaul dismissed Venugopal in the 18th over to end all hopes of Deccan.
Earlier, sent in to bat, the Caribbean side kept losing wickets at regular intervals to squander a flying start.
The Caribbean batsmen took some time to settle on the pitch which offered some resistance to paceman initially.
Edwards made a good start by trapping Lendl Simmons (7) in the first ball of his second over.
Next man in, left-handed Darren Bravo also struggled against a charged up Edwards for the first few balls before playing an exquisite cover drive for four.
RP Singh struggled with his run-up and bowled three consecutive no-balls, resulting in free-hits even though the batsmen could not make the most of those.
Perkins welcomed Scott Styris with consecutive boundaries and the Caribbean side was off to a decent if not spectacular start.
Darren (14) flicked one off T Suman to bring up fifty for his side but the spinner had the last laugh in the next ball when he pouched a return catch.
More shock was in store for Trinidad & Tobago as two balls later a direct throw by Andrew Symonds from mid-off found rival skipper Daren Ganga, trying to steal a run, short of crease.
Gilchrist shuffled his bowlers and by the ninth over he had used six different bowlers.
Perkins continued good batting from one end, hitting Pragyan Ojha for a four and Symonds for a six to take his team to 75 at the half-way mark.
Perkins also got a life when Y Venugopal Rao dropped him at deep-midwicket off Ojha.
Gilchrist called Edwards for his second and the paceman responded with the wicket of Perkins, trapping him in front.
Suman dropped Dwayne Bravo (11) off RP Singh at point but made amends as he swiftly grabbed the ball and with a direct hit ran the West Indian out.
Polard infused life into the Trinidad & Tobago innings by hitting Ojha and Suman for mighty sixes in consecutive overs.
He did not even spare Edwards, hitting him for a flat six, before being bowled by the same bowler.
MONTEVIDEO: Argentina scraped into the World Cup on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Uruguay as Diego Maradona finally celebrated missionaccomplished after a stumbling, lacklustre qualifying campaign.
The two-time champions needed a goal by substitute Mario Bolatti six minutes from time to earn the three points and secure the fourth and final qualifying spot from South America.
Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had already made sure of their places in the finals.
Uruguay finished in fifth and now face a play-off against Costa Rica, who finished fourth in the CONCACAF region behind USA, Mexico and Honduras, to decide their World Cup fate.
In a poor match with few opportunities, the crucial moment came when Uruguay were reduced to 10 men when Martin Caceras was red-carded for a foul on Jonas Gutierrez.
From the ensuing free-kick, Juan Sebastian Veron had a shot charged down, but Bolatti, on the field for just four minutes after replacing Gonzalo Higuain, reacted quickest to the loose ball to beat Nestor Muslera in the Uruguayan goal.
Maradona, who had used over 70 players since taking over a year ago, opted to leave Carlos Tevez on the bench alongside Martin Palermo, who grabbed the last-minute goal which saw off Peru on Saturday.
"I thank the team and the fans, who crossed the River Plate, for the privilege of taking Argentina to the World Cup," said Maradona, who was in combative mood at his post-match news conference.
"But there were people who did not believe in us and who treated me like rubbish."
Uruguay, needing a win to make sure of automatic qualification, were on top early with Argentina unsurprisingly nervous and defender Gabriel Heinze picking up a booking after just nine minutes.
Andres Scotti almost gave the home side the lead at the famous Estadio Monumental, but his header slipped by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero's post.
Lionel Messi, who has yet to shine under Maradona despite his scene-stealing performances for Barcelona, attempted to catch out Muslera with a long distance free-kick.
The goalless half-time stalemate suited Argentina as Ecuador, the only other rivals for the last qualifying spot, were also being held 0-0 at the interval by Chile in Santiago.
The low-quality affair continued after the break with the first opening not coming until the 73rd minute when Diego Lugano headed wide from a pinpoint Diego Forlan free-kick.
Uruguay continued to press against an Argentine team happy to pack seven defenders behind the ball as the clock ticked down before Bolatti, in just his third international, put his country into the finals.
In Santiago, Chile took the lead against Ecuador thanks to a 51st-minute strike from Humberto Suazo. Ecuador, who had Segundo Castilla sent-off, needed to win to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
Five-time champions, and group winners, Brazil were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Venezuela and they too finished with 10 men after Sao Paulo defender Miranda was red-carded.
Paraguay also ended on a low note, losing 2-0 at home to Colombia.
Rock-bottom Peru completed their programme with a 1-0 win over Bolivia, who had defeated Brazil at the weekend, thanks to a second-half strike from Johan Fano.
It was Bolivia's 38th qualifier away from their high-altitude fortress of La Paz without a win.
Fano, meanwhile, was later sent-off.
HYDERABAD: Aware that only an outright win with a healthy margin can clear their Super Eight passage, Indian Premier League champions Deccan Chargers would go for the jugular when they take on Trinidad & Tobago in their last Group A match of the Champions League Twenty20 on Wednesday.
Somerset is the only team in this group to have completed their league campaign, sneaking to a tense victory against the Chargers in their openers before crashing to a 44-run defeat against Trinidad & Tobago.
In such a scenario, Adam Gilchrist and his Deccan team-mates have little choice but to go for an outright win and hope their net run rate sees them through to the Super Eight stage.
Things would not have been so complicated for the IPL outfit had they clinched the thriller against Somerset.
The likes of Fidel Edwards, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha or Scott Styris could not break the 50-run ninth wicket stand between James Hildreth and Alfredo Thomas and that cost them the match.
Their batting looks formidable on paper but what the team expects from Gilchrist is sustained aggression and not just brief, brisk knocks.
His opening partner VVS Laxman, however, looks in silken touch and proved a batsman doesn't necessarily have to play ugly to score fast.
But to give their bowlers a good total to defend, Deccan need Andrew Symonds to fire and Rohit Sharma to replicate the same red hot form he had displayed in the IPL.
In their bowling unit, RP Singh looked dangerous while Ojha also got a couple of wickets against Somerset but Edwards and Harmeet Singh need to raise their game at a time when the team is staring at an early exit from the tournament.
While there would be desperation in the Chargers camp, Trinidad & Tobago would be high on confidence following their 44- run win against Somerset.
The team under Daren Ganga looked a close-knit unit in their lone outing so far. Openers Lendl Simmons and William Perkins proved they know their business, while Denesh Ramadin assured he could be equally reliable both in front of and behind the stumps.
Dwayne Bravo's presence lends a sharp look to their attack, while spin twins Dave Mohammad and Sherwin Ganga can also prove quite a handful for their opponents.
Squad:
Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris, Shoaib Ahmed, Rohit Sharma, Harmeet Singh, Chaminda Vaas, T Suman, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha and Azhar Bilakhia.
Trinidad and Tobago: Daren Ganga, Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Rayad Emrit, Sherwin Ganga, Dave Mohammed, Sunil Narine, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Navin Stewart.
NEW DELHI: Diamond Eagles defeated Sussex Sharks in a pulsating Super Over contest and joined New South Wales from Group B in the Super Eight stage of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Scorecard | Match in Pics
Riding on a six from Rilee Rossouw, Eagles scored nine runs in their Super Over and then Cornelius de Villiers bagged back-to-back wickets to seal the nail-biting victory for the South African side.
de Villers went through the defence of both Dwayne Smith and Rory Hamilton-Brown in the first two deliveries of the Super Over to ensure the win and also reserved for his side a berth in the next league stage of the USD six million event.
Earlier, pace duo of de Villiers and Dillion du Preez scalped two wickets each as Diamond Eagles restricted Sussex Sharks to a modest 119/7.
Luke Wright (19 off 12 balls) played a cameo upfront, while Edmund Joyce (21) and Joe Gatting (25) contributed in the middle to set the run-a-ball target on a tricky Ferozeshah Kotla wicket.
de Villiers and du Preez were the early destroyers for Eagles, picking two wickets each giving away 20 and 23 runs respectively.
Chasing the run-a-ball target, Rossouw made a flamboyant 65 that came off 62 balls to give Sussex an upper hand in the contest.
But some fine bowling display by Piyush Chawla (2/17), Michael Yardy and Hamilton-Brown (2/15) in the middle overs completely changed the complexion of the match.
Left-handed opener Rossouw went for kill from the very first over. He was merciless in his approach and hammered the Sussex bowlers to all parts of the ground and took Eagles to 47 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.
Rossouw was particularly severe on James Kirtley and Yasir Arafat as he treated both the bowlers with disdain. He first clobbered Kirltey for a huge hit over mid-wicket boundary and then followed it up with a four and a six off Arafat.
Chawla also took the brunt of Rossouw's aggression as the latter welcomed the leg-spinner with a first-ball boundary and then rotated the strike with to bring up his half-century in just 37 balls.
With the 20-year-old Rossouw in ominous mood, Adrian McLaren (16) was left as a mere spectator. The duo shared 72 runs for the opening stand before McLaren was given leg-before off Chawla.
The English side's cause was also helped by the two quick dismissals of Morne van Wyk and skipper Boeta Dipenaar.
Needing 17 of the last two overs, Eagles received severe blow when Rossouw mishit a Hamilton-Brown delivery and gave a skier to wicket-keeper Andy Hodd.
With 12 required of six balls, Yardy gave the ball to Arafat as Ryan McLaren hit a fours to drag the match into the Eliminator.
Earlier, Wright, in Chris Nash's company, gave an explosive start to the Sussex, who elected to bat.
Drafted into the squad in place of injured James Pattinson, Wright cracked two sixes and one boundary in the first three overs, but could not sustain the momentum as the English side lost wickets at regular intervals.
Wright clobbered de Villiers for a six straight over the head and then followed it up with a boundary before his over-aggression finally led to downfall. He went for a huge heave over mid-off, only to see de Villiers knocking down his stumps.
Looking to clear mid-on, Nash followed soon, giving a simple catch to Mpitsang off Dillon du Preez.
Hamilton-Brown opened his account in style, dispatching de Villiers through extra cover for four but the latter took revenge soon by pouching a brilliant return catch on his own run-up to see Sussex struggling at 35/3.
West Indian Dwayne Smith soon went for a wild swing off Victor Mptisang and gets an inside edge on to his stumps.
Captain Yardy (12) also departed without contributing much as he played a Ryan Bailey delivery on to his off stump.
Witnessing the fate of his partners, who perished in search of big shots, Joyce preferred to take the safe path and played sensibly along with Gatting to build the foundation.
But just when the duo started to open up, Joyce had to return after being given run out. Gatting played a quickfire innings with the help of one four and a six before going down to du Preez.
OSAKA: Sania Mirza became the first player to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Wednesday, beating Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine in straight sets.
The 22-year-old Mirza, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi this season, took advantage of a rash of double faults from Kutuzova on her way to a 6-4, 6-3 win.
In the last eight on Friday, Mirza will play the 2006 champion, Marion Bartoli of France, seeded second.
Bartoli, battling for the final spot in the season-ending championships, thumped Japanese wild card Kurumi Nara 6-1, 6-1 in just 61 minutes.
In other second-round action, fourth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy had an unconvincing 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 win over Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan.
Seventh seed Melinda Czink of Hungary hit seven aces and seven double faults in beating Vania King of the United States 6-4, 6-2.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the top seed and runner-up at the US Open, was due to play Katie O'Brien of Britain on Thursday.
KARACHI: Anguished and perplexed by the stinging criticism he faced after Pakistan's semi-final loss in the Champions Trophy, Younis Khan says a feeling of being betrayed by people in the echelon of power pushed him into resigning from captaincy.
"I did what I thought was the right thing. I have worked very hard to keep this team united for the last eight months despite problems. So when anyone accuses me or the team of fixing matches then I have no option but to resign," Younis said.
Younis said apart from being hurt by allegations of match fixing, there were some other issues as well that prompted him to hand over his resignation to Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt.
"I don't want to elaborate on them but the last eight months have been tough for me and I have still tried to do my best as captain and player to unite the team," he said.
"I played with a broken finger in the Champions Trophy because I wanted the team to do well. I have always tried to lead from the front. I may have made some mistakes but my intentions have only been for the betterment of the team and Pakistan cricket," he added.
Younis said after putting in so much effort, it was natural for him to feel upset when fingers were pointed at his decisions and the team's performances.
Younis also indicated that he was not satisfied with the board's way of dealing with certain issues concerning the team.
"I will have a very frank discussion with the Chairman of the board whenever he invites me to discuss my resignation because some issues need to be sorted out like the term of my captaincy," he said.
Younis said he was astonished by the sharp criticism as he had led the team to the Twenty20 World Cup title just a few months ago.
"As captain in the last eight months I have set certain goals for myself and the team and I just want to know what this criticism against me is about. Has the team not shown any improvement in the last eight months? Is there no difference in the performance of the side now?" he asked.
Sources said Younis is also upset at the way the board Chairman had been entertaining the team officials and some players in separate meetings without bothering to talk to him.
Younis said he would not like to be called for any hearing of the parliamentary body in future as his job was to perform as a player and not to give explanations to everyone about the team's performance.
"The board and team officials are the ones who are the right people to give answers if anyone wants to know anything about the team," he said.
NEW DELHI: Indian weightlifters' participation in next year's Commonwealth Games is in jeopardy as the national federation is facing the prospect of a one-year ban after a third positive dope test.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) secretary B R Gulati confirmed that after already-tainted Shailja Pujari and Vicky Batta were caught for the second time, woman lifter Priyadarshini too has flunked a dope test.
"Priyadarshini was tested in Pune on August 7 and 8 during trials and was found positive. The National Anti-Doping Agency report says she was using a masking agent to save herself from getting caught for taking banned substances," Gulati said.
Although Gulati refused to comment on the possibility of a ban, sources in the IWF said the penalty seems unavoidable.
"Piyadarshini has been caught for the first time and she might face a two-year ban for it," the source said.
According to the rules of International Weightlifting Federation, a national federation can be banned for a year if three of its lifters test positive for a banned substance.
"The rules are clear, the national federation can be banned for a year if there are three positive dope tests in a year. IWF can escape the ban if it can pay Rs one lakh fine," the source said.
Earlier, Shailja had tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid in a NADA test while Vicky had been caught by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
If IWF is banned, the Indian lifters would not be able to participate in the October 3 to 14 Games.
The Federation would also have to shell out USD 5,000 for every failed dope test.
IWF has been banned twice previously, the last time being in 2006 when Shailja, B Pramilavalli, Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh tested positive. The ban was lifted after six months after the IWF gave a USD 50,000 fine.
Meanwhile, sources said Shailja has not yet sought a test of her B sample. If she doesn't seeks one in the next couple of days, it would be taken as admission of guilt and she would be banned immediately.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand international Jacob Oram has retired from Test cricket in a bid to prolong his injury-blighted career in the shortened form of the game.
The 31-year-old all-rounder said his body could no longer cope with the workload of both batting and bowling in all three forms of the game for up to 10 months a year.
"For the sake of longevity I have had to make a decision that will decrease my workload, so I can concentrate all my efforts on the shorter forms of the game," Oram said in a statement.
"The decision to favour One-day and Twenty20 cricket was based around playing opportunities, with the chance to play events such as the World Cup, Champions Trophy and the Indian Premier League," Oram said.
Oram has played 33 Tests since his debut in December 2002.
Renowned as a powerful striker of the ball, he has scored 1780 runs at an average of 36.3, with five centuries and six half centuries.
His medium pace bowling has netted 60 wickets with a best of 4 for 41.
He has also played 132 One-Day Internationals and 20 Twenty20 matches.
