Tendulkar and Ganguly hail Rahul Dravid

Tendulkar called Dravid the "unsung hero of the Indian team" and said his value was reflected by the sheer amount of runs he has scored.

The 38-year-old Dravid, who has amassed 10,820 runs in 343 one-dayers, will play his last game on Friday in Cardiff against England. He announced his retirement before the start of the series after having been overlooked for limited-overs games for most of the past two years.

Former captains Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble also praised Dravid's contribution in one-dayers.

"He has had a fabulous career as a one-day player and has contributed so much to Indian cricket," Tendulkar said in an interview published in an Indian daily. "I have no doubt that he is and will continue to be a role model for all of us."

Tendulkar said Dravid's natural game was not suited for the quick scoring of one-dayers, but had worked hard to improve and excelled in his "finishing role."

"He may not give you a quick start, but he will surely make his innings count in terms of time spent at the crease. You need such players in the team, and he was the best man for the job," he added.

Tendulkar also praised Dravid for adjusting according to the team's needs and helping the team gain depth in batting by agreeing to keep wickets.

"He is the perfect team man; when he was asked to keep wickets we all knew that he will do well because he was initially a wicketkeeper. It later helped him, and came as a big help to all of us in the Indian team during the 2003 World Cup."

Ganguly said Indian cricket should be "thankful to Rahul" for being flexible.

"Rahul has a had a checkered one-day career and it took a new turn once he decided to keep wickets in 2002," Ganguly wrote in his column in an Indian daily. "His decision was absolutely for the team as it helped reorganize the middle-order and add more depth to it."

Kumble, who was Dravid's senior while playing for Karnataka in domestic cricket, called him an "exceptional team player" who was unfazed by criticism.

"I consider it a privilege to have played alongside him through most of my career," he said. "His contribution as a team player and mentor can't be quantified, and that will certainly be missed going forward."

Dravid, who played his solitary Twenty20 international during the ongoing tour of England, will continue to play in Test cricket.

He has scored 12,775 runs in Tests, which is the second highest aggregate in history behind Tendulkar (14,965). He has slammed 35 centuries and is fourth on the list of century-makers behind Tendulkar (51), South African allrounder Jacques Kallis (40) and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting (39).

@Times of India

England can't guarantee place for anyone: Cook

England one-day captain Alastair Cook has warned that no player is guaranteed a place in his side after Kevin Pietersen was rested for the forthcoming series against India.

Cook will be without flamboyant batsman Pietersen when he leads England into battle in a five-match limited overs series against India, which starts in Durham on Saturday.


Pietersen played a full part in England's 4-0 rout of India in the recent Test series and also featured in the Twenty20 victory over the tourists earlier this week.

But he has been left out of the India one-day matches and reports on Friday suggested he could also be excluded for the one-day tour to Asia, which would raise serious questions about his place in England's 50-over plans as they build towards the 2015 World Cup.

Cook insisted Pietersen, who has scored just two one-day half-centuries in the past two years, had only been left out due to England's rotation policy, but he did warn that no-one was safe as the selectors look to find a winning formula.

"KP is a world-class player. We said with the management of players he has been rested for this series," Cook said on Friday.

"He's part of the programme to rest players who are involved in all three formats of the game.

"There is no guarantee for anything, because we haven't had that selection meeting for India."

Asked if he would prefer someone like Pietersen in his team, Cook repeated: "There's no guarantee for anything."

In Pietersen's absence, 20-year-old Ben Stokes has been called into the squad to help fill the hard-hitting role.

The Durham all-rounder has proven a match-winner at county level and Cook admitted England would look to rest their regulars to allow them to have a look at the likes of Stokes as they begin their World Cup planning.

"It's a great chance as a side to do that," Cook said. "We've got four years until the World Cup. You want to win every game that you play.

"There is always an eye on when we do arrive in four years' time that we have a settled and experienced squad that can cope with those conditions.

" Meanwhile, England could be without spinner Graeme Swann for Saturday's game as he struggles with a stomach bug.

Swann took his career-best one-day figures of five for 28 at Durham two years ago against Australia, and Cook said a decision on his fitness would be made early on Saturday.

Kohli backs world champs India to silence Hussain

India batsman Virat Kohli insists the world champions will prove Nasser Hussain wrong after the former England captain labelled some of the tourists as "donkeys".

Hussain made the controversial remark about India's fielding while commentating during Wednesday's one-off Twenty20 international, which England won by six wickets.

The comment has prompted criticism in India with the Board of Control for Cricket vice president Rajiv Shukla describing it as "totally uncalled for".


India have endured a miserable tour to England, losing their position as the number one Test team after being drubbed 4-0 by Andrew Strauss's team, but Kohli believes Hussian's criticism was wide of the mark.

He points to India's successful World Cup campaign earlier this year as proof that the tourists have nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to fielding in hectic one-day games.

"Everyone has their opinion. We don't have to get angry about it and try really desperately to change it," said Kohli ahead of Saturday's opening one-day clash against England in Durham.

"I don't really pay attention to all of this. We just have to do what we have been doing for a while. We haven't become world champions just like that.

"If we fielded like the remarks that have been said then we wouldn't have been world champions.

"I don't think these remarks should be making a difference to us. It's up to us to perform at our level best - like we have been for a while in the limited-overs format.

"We are the ones playing in the field and we have to know that we've given 100 percent."

India head into the series without a win over England on tour so far but Kohli is among a number of new faces to join the squad following the Test series, and he believes they can turn around a forgettable trip so far.

"It's all about how you come back and fight," he said. "There is no embarrassment (in the Test series defeat) because that is part of cricket.

"We were beaten fair and square. We have no complaints about that.

"We have some new faces in the team now and they are fresh and up for the challenge.

"We are working hard in practice. We hope to win this series and turn things around."

Many of the changes India have made have been forced upon them by injury, with Ravindra Jadeja due to join the squad after Gautam Gambhir became the latest player to fly home.

Gambhir returned to India this week still suffering the concussion he suffered in the fourth Test to join star names Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma as early departures.

However, young opener Ajinkya Rahane took his chance with a blazing 61 from 39 balls in the Twenty20 and is set to make his 50-over debut on Saturday.

"Injuries are unfortunate but they present opportunities for the players coming in," Kohli added.

"We saw Ajinkya due extremely well on Wednesday. All those who have been called in are up for the challenge."

I told Dravid not to retire - Ponting

Ricky Ponting has said that he encouraged Rahul Dravid to fight through his struggles and continue playing when their sides met in the two-Test series in India last October. Dravid was going through a lean patch at the time - his only century in 2010 up till then had been against Bangladesh and he managed just one half-century during the series against Australia - but Ponting said he urged Dravid to ignore critics who wrote him off.

"I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished," Ponting told ESPNcricinfo. "I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said 'don't you even think about retiring' because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player. I just said 'don't let them wear you down, don't let them get you down'. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well."

After that home series against Australia, Dravid scored two centuries against New Zealand before a string of low scores in South Africa. Since then, he has been prolific in tough conditions, with four centuries in seven Tests spread across West Indies and England. In the second of those tours, where England humbled India to claim the No. 1 Test ranking, Dravid was easily India's best batsman, with three centuries and 461 runs over the four Tests.

Ponting, 36, has not scored a Test century since January 2010, said it was nice to see the 38-year-old Dravid doing well. He believed players like Dravid were as much an inspiration for senior players like himself, as for youngsters.

"There are a few [who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years]. Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Jacques] Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now. It's not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it's good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you've got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game."

While young players have role models to look up to, Ponting said he worried that an excess of Twenty20 cricket played at youth level would hinder the development of Test batsmen.

"The big worry I've had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids' careers is that it won't teach them the art of concentration. Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that's how long it took them.

"Now, even Under-17s and Under-19s are playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two-day games. Good state players these days are averaging 35; if you were averaging 35 when I was playing your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there are areas of concern there; I don't know how you change them."

Ponting is one of the few senior members left in what is a transitional Australia team that goes up against Sri Lanka in a three-Test series. He said India, who lost their No. 1 Test ranking in England, could also enter a similar phase once their experienced batsmen retired, but believed their barren bowling reserves were a bigger cause for concern.

"India still haven't reached that point that I thought they'd get to yet. They've still got that crux, those great batters in that side. Time will tell with India now. Dravid was probably one who was in the gun before the rest of them and he's found a way to come through. They [Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman] are all about the same age and they won't go on forever. They will be tested more than anything with their bowlers. I think we found even in the last few years that a lot of their spin bowling probably isn't as strong as it used to be, and if you take Zaheer [Khan] out of their fast bowling stocks there's not much left there either; so they've got an interesting couple of years ahead."

India's whitewash in England has led to criticism that there is too much emphasis on the shorter formats of the game in the country, and Ponting, who has not played in the IPL since the end of its first season, said the tournament was affecting India's cricket.

"They're probably prioritising Twenty20 cricket as much as anyone aren't they, with the IPL being based there and the commitment some players have to certain franchises and tournaments going on around that. I reckon a good example of where their cricket is now is the fact they played RP Singh in that last Test match, when he hadn't played a first-class game since January.

"While India have got the great players they've had they'll remain competitive, but once those guys move on it'll be really interesting for them, and I think South Africa will be exactly the same. Once [Graeme] Smith and Kallis and [Dale] Steyn go out of that team it'll be interesting to see how they rebuild as well."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Dernbach delivers in rain-dented contest

Dernbach delivers in rain-dented contest

The Report by Andrew Miller

England's new-look one-day team exacted a measure of revenge for their predecessors who were vanquished in that thrilling World Cup fixture in Bangalore, as Ireland's spirited bid for back-to-back victories against their nearest neighbours was thwarted first by the weather and then by a canny diet of slower balls and yorkers from Jade Dernbach and Ravi Bopara.

In what effectively became a match within a match after two lengthy rain delays had eaten 35 overs out of the day's allocation, Ireland were left needing 87 from the final ten overs of their run-chase, having gone into the second interruption on 42 for 2 after 13, following the early loss of both openers to Steven Finn.

In what looked suspiciously like a tactical decision, Will Porterfield ran himself out off the second ball of the resumption, whereupon the hero of Bangalore, Kevin O'Brien, monstered consecutive sixes off the debutant spinner, Scott Borthwick, to give a patient Dublin crowd the treat they had all turned up to see, and to give England an early reminder of the damage he could cause, following that seminal 113 from 63 balls at the World Cup.

While O'Brien was at the crease, anything seemed possible, as he bashed along to 26 from 15, with the pick of his strokes being an inside-out drive through extra cover off Samit Patel. However, Eoin Morgan, captaining England for the first time against his former countrymen, swiftly pulled his spinners from the attack, and turned to the seam variations of Dernbach and Bopara to regain control of the match.

The move was rewarded with three key wickets in as many overs. First, Niall O'Brien misread a slower-ball bouncer from Dernbach and holed out to deep square leg for 13; then Nigel Jones was exquisitely cleaned up by Bopara, whose back-of-the-hand delivery trimmed his bails as he went through his shot too soon. Kevin O'Brien added one more boundary to his tally when he picked a Dernbach slowie and pulled it through midwicket, but he wasn't ready for the change-up in pace, and was comprehensively yorked in the same over.

John Mooney, the unsung hero of that remarkable night in Bangalore, revived Ireland's hopes with a first-ball four and a crashing six over midwicket, but he too succumbed to Dernbach as he got underneath a lofted drive, and picked out Ben Stokes on the straight boundary.

With 12 balls remaining and 23 required, Patel returned to the attack with an exceptional over that went for four runs and included the wicket of Gary Wilson to an optimistic swipe, which left Dernbach to close out the game for figures of 3 for 30 in five overs, all but one of which came in the closing ten-over bash.

The frenetic finale was entirely at odds with the soporific start to the contest, in which Jonathan Trott - the only survivor of that Bangalore beating - dropped anchor in his habitual (and opinion-splitting) style to top-score for England with 69 from 105 balls. Morgan provided a spark of tempo against his former countrymen with a 65-ball 59, but Ireland's bowlers bowled with excellent discipline on a sluggish surface to restrict their opponents to 201 for 8 in 42 overs.

In showery conditions reminiscent of England's lucky escape in Belfast two years ago, run-scoring proved hard to master on a two-paced surface. Though he once again batted deep within his bubble in his first England appearance since he damaged his shoulder during the second Test against India at Trent Bridge, even Trott appeared frustrated with his progress at times, and when rain interrupted after 12.1 overs, he had reached 19 off 34 balls.

England lost two early wickets in that time. Craig Kieswetter's struggles against the moving ball continued in an unconvincing 26-ball 14, while James Taylor, the highly-rated young Leicestershire batsman, managed 1 from eight balls on debut before a short ball from Rankin got big on him, and he top-edged a loose pull to Wilson at midwicket.

Morgan's inventiveness, and a decent flurry from the tail, ensured England scraped over the 200-mark, but the rain prevented a proper contest from panning out. Given that Kevin O'Brien had been the one batsman all day to really get a grip of the surface, Ireland may well rue the overs that got away.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo

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Ponting 'fresher' without captaincy burden

Ricky Ponting has said he is enjoying his new batsman-only role after giving up the captaincy following Australia's disappointing World Cup earlier this year. Ponting handed the leadership to Michael Clarke but decided against retiring, and it's a move that has allowed him to concentrate solely on his run-scoring.

In the last year of his captaincy, Ponting struggled to have an impact with the bat, and averaged 30.23 in one-day internationals and 29 in Test cricket. But half-centuries in his two innings in Sri Lanka over the past week have been encouraging, especially an unbeaten 90 that helped Australia to an eight-wicket win in Hambantota on Sunday, where Ponting earned his first ODI Man-of-the-Match award in 18 months.

"It probably has," Ponting said when asked if relinquishing the leadership had allowed him to focus more on his batting. "The World Cup didn't go to plan as I would have wanted. The one-day series in Bangladesh that I played when I wasn't captain, I felt like a played well there and I've started this series well.

"There's no doubt that for me to just be able to turn up to training and focus on my batting and my fielding only has been nice. I've been able to be just that little bit fresher and I've felt in control in the two games I've played here so far. Hopefully that continues for the rest of the tour."

By playing on after giving up as skipper, Ponting bucked the trend of recent Australian captains: he was the first since Kim Hughes nearly 30 years ago to play on. At 36, Ponting remains unsure how long he has left in the game, but he said for the time being he was keen to keep making runs at No. 3 and help Clarke in any way required.

"I thought long and hard about the decision I made," Ponting said. "Once I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't the captain of the side anymore it was up to me to just be the best batsman that I could be for the side and another pair of ears for Michael if he ever wanted it. As the No. 3 batsman in the side there's a big responsibility for me to score runs more often than not. So far things have started well."

Australia have hardly been challenged in the opening two ODIs and they could wrap the series up with victory in the third match in Hambantota on Tuesday. So far their batsmen haven't had too much trouble against the Sri Lankan attack, so much so that the No. 6, David Hussey, has not yet been required to bat.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Carters ton denies India victory

A battling century from captain Ryan Carters helped Australian Institute of Sport force a draw against India Emerging Players at Endeavour Park No.2 in Townsville. However, India finished on top in the points table, thereby capping a successful series for them - they were also victorious in the Twenty20 tournament that preceded the three-day games.

Australia ended the second day at 93 for 2, still 236 runs adrift of India. Carters, who was unbeaten overnight on 56, continued to look solid. He and Glenn Maxwell had added 65 before stumps on day two, and they carried on the good work on the final day, adding a further 55 before Maxwell was dismissed for 73. Any hopes that India might have had of causing a collapse were dented as Tim Armstrong joined his captain and the duo put on 87 for the fourth wicket. Carters was finally dismissed for 115, but Armstrong (75) featured in handy partnerships for the fifth and sixth wickets to deny India a win, as Australia ended the day on 328 for 7.

Reeza Hendricks completed his double-century and Richard Levi reached a century but South Africa Emerging Players were not left with enough time to bowl New Zealand A out at Endeavour Park in Townsville. South Africa's only hope of notching up their first win of the three-day leg of the tournament was to score quickly on the final day and then hope for a New Zealand collapse. But Hendricks and Levi took their time, and South Africa used up 54.2 overs in the day to get 177 runs, which put them 169 runs ahead. New Zealand lost two wickets in the 34 overs they had to bat.

Hendricks' 218 was his second double-century of the tournament and his 566-run aggregate earned him the Batsman-of-the-Tournament as well as the Player-of the-Tournament awards. India's Iqbal Abdulla was named Bowler of the Tournament for his nine wickets.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Isaac backs Indian board on DRS

The ICC vice-president Alan Isaac has backed the BCCI's stance on the DRS, saying he too isn't convinced the technology works "well enough". The BCCI has expressed its reservations over the ball-tracking technology used for lbw decisions, saying it isn't fool-proof and Isaac felt the Indian board was "right". The BCCI, the other member boards and the ICC reached a compromise at the ICC's annual conference in Hong Kong earlier this year, making the use of ball-tracking optional for each series while agreeing to use Hot Spot for every international game subject to availability.

"In my experience they are very decent to work with," Isaac was quoted as saying in the New Zealand newspaper Southland Times. "Around the DRS [technology for umpires] for example the media have tended to give [India] the blame as to why the DRS is not being implemented, but it's not only them. I personally am not convinced the technology works well enough, so we've got to do something about that."

Isaac also claimed the BCCI was right about many issues concerning cricket but divergent views in the media tend to give the impression that they are muscle-flexing and difficult to work with. "Often when [India] hold a view, they are right, but various parts of the media have a different view, whether you're Geoff Boycott or whatever. So this perception has built up that A, [India] are hard to deal with and B, they control world cricket. But in fact they are good to work with and on the DRS I actually think they are right."

Cricket was hit by the spot-fixing controversy last year, plunging it into another crisis, and Isaac said a lot is being done to tackle the problem of corruption. "It is challenging. Allegedly there is a whole lot of money being spent betting on sport, not just on cricket and betting on sport in India is illegal so it's not like you can manage it.

"In New Zealand, Australia or Singapore it's legalised betting and you can monitor more closely where bets might take place.

"Part of what we are doing is making sure the education is there, making sure the sanctions are there, there's a heck of a lot of monitoring that takes place. You will be aware that guys are not allowed to take their cell-phones into the dressing room environment and all those types of things. There's a lot of surveillance in place."

Isaac, a former left-hand batsman who captained Wellington's second team, took over as chairman of New Zealand Cricket in 2008 and was nominated for post of vice-president of the ICC two years later. He will succeed Sharad Pawar as ICC president next year. 

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Vitori gets five again as Zimbabwe make it 2-0

Zimbabwe 191 for 3 (Sibanda 67, Taibu 61) beat Bangladesh 188 (Nasir 63, Vitori 5-20) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

    Brian Vitori made it ten wickets in his first two ODIs, Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, 2nd ODI, Harare, August 14, 2011
Brian Vitori made it ten wickets in his first two ODIs © Associated Press
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Zimbabwe stormed to another easy victory against Bangladesh, with another commanding all-round performance giving them a 2-0 series lead. After Brian Vitori carved up the Bangladesh line-up, with his second ODI five-for in as many games, Vusi Sibanda built the foundation for the chase, before Tatenda Taibu's half-century sealed the win.

The hosts rectified their problem of losing too many wickets in the middle order and held firm where they could have wobbled. Bangladesh also made gains, although much smaller. They bowled with a little more consistency, although failing to find enough bite, and only managed to score four more runs than they did in the first ODI. Their batsmen failed to apply themselves and succumbed to poor shot selection against a particularly precise attack.

Bangladesh started positively with Imrul Kayes pouncing on width from Chris Mpofu at the first opportunity. But the encouraging start proved to be a false dawn as Vitori's golden arm struck again. He bowled his usual tight line and was rewarded with his fifth ball, when Tamim Iqbal tried to smack him through point without moving his feet, gifting Ray Price a catch at first slip.

Mushfiqur Rahim was promoted to No. 3 in an attempt to repair the early damage, but the experiment failed. One ball short of completing five measured overs at the crease, he mistimed a pull to be caught at square leg. Instead of consolidating, Kayes followed Mushfiqur, trying to force a length delivery through extra cover, and offering Hamilton Masakadza a simple catch.

Shahriar Nafees was dropped in the slips off the next ball, giving Bangladesh a bit of a lifeline. But Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful withdrew into their shells as the run-rate stagnated though they managed to see off Mpofu's bounce and Vitori's movement, before Prosper Utseya provided respite. Elton Chigumbura's introduction offered them the ideal opportunity to forge forward, but instead, they regressed.

Nafees gave his wicket away, to the fielder extra cover, and in Chigumbura's next over, Ashraful, who had displayed real patience, gave up. He hung his bat out to a wide delivery and got an edge through to Taibu. The wicketkeeper snapped up his second catch when Mahmudullah misread the line from Utseya and played for turn that wasn't there.

At 58 for 6, Bangladesh were in a familiar mess, having slumped to 43 for 5 in the previous game. Shakib Al Hasan found an unlikely but welcome partner in debutant Nasir, who had a good tour of South Africa with the A side in April. Nasir showed the maturity that those before him should have employed. His handling of the short ball, and execution of the pull shot against Mpofu were of particular distinction.

Shakib's ability to come to Bangladesh's rescue is well documented and the captain's efforts were, once again, praise-worthy. His fault is that he hasn't been able to convert his starts into bigger scores and he stumbled again when Vitori returned for his second spell. Nasir was the senior partner in his time at the crease with the captain and continued in that vein when he was joined by Abdur Razzak.

Their partnership flourished at a run-rate of over six, with both application and assurance against the spinners. They found themselves needing to accelerate when Vitori returned for a third spell. Nasir took him on, but lofted straight to the fielder at long-on.

Vitori's dream introduction to the international arena continued with another stunning effort when he bowled Razzak with a full delivery. Bangladesh's innings ended limply when Rubel Hossain was run out, 15 balls short of their allotted 50 overs.

Bangladesh's effort in the field was a little more promising. Shafiul Islam struck early, removing Taylor in his second over, inducing him to push outside off stump. The ball took the edge and was dying on Nafees at second slip, who completed a good catch.

The early breakthrough gave Bangladesh something to work with, but as was the case in the first ODI, they were unable to maintain pressure, although their use of the new ball was markedly better. Abdur Razzak, however, had less success with his left-arm spin, with Sibanda using his feet well against him.

Shakib and Mahmudullah operated in tandem with better results, managing to squeeze and force the batsmen to work them around the field. Sibanda and Masakadza were up for the task and found the gaps without needing to play a shot in anger.

Shakib could have had Masakadza stumped when he was on 30 but Mushfiqur could not collect the ball. Mahmudullah ensured that the team only paid eight runs for their error. He lured Masakadza forward by tossing it up, and made him play for turn that wasn't there. Mushfiqur didn't repeat his mistake and took the bails off.

Sibanda struggled at times against the short ball, but his mistimed pulls did not cost him and his driving remained impressive. His half-century came up with a lofted shot over Shafiul's head. Taibu took eight balls to get off the mark but when he did, with a single, it opened the floodgates and his next scoring shot was a six over extra-cover.

Rubel was only given two overs and even Ashraful was allowed to turn his arm. He dismissed Sibanda, who was stumped after going too far down the track. Taibu took his time when he needed to, but showed off the footwork that he is renowned for, taking on the spinners and playing a dominant role in his partnership with Craig Ervine.

Taibu was dropped at deep midwicket on 46, a wicket that would have made no difference to the result, but it was fitting that he was there at the end. His exquisite pull off Ashraful took Zimbabwe home with 35 balls remaining.
Innings     Dot balls     4s     6s     PP1     PP2     PP3     Last 10 overs     NB/Wides
Bangladesh     182     13     1     32/3 (1 - 10)     14/0 (11 - 15)     29/3 (44 - 47.3)     57/3 (41 - 47.3)     0/4
Zimbabwe     186     16     2     41/1 (1 - 10)     21/0 (28 - 32)     -     32/0 (41 - 44.1)     0/10


© ESPN
       

Dravid to quit ODIs after England series

    
Rahul Dravid has announced his retirement from international limited-overs cricket following the England series. In his announcement, which came hours after he was handed a shock recall to the one-day side for that tour, he said he wanted to retire from the shorter forms and concentrate on Test cricket.

Dravid, 38, is the seventh highest run-getter in ODIs, with 10,765 runs in 339 matches, averaging just under 40. He hasn't been a regular in the Indian one-day side since late 2007 - a couple of months after he reached his career-high ICC ranking of No. 5 - though he made a brief comeback during the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa. He admitted he hadn't expected a recall for the upcoming England series.

"Since I had not been picked for one-day cricket for the last two years, I was obviously a little surprised," he said after India's tour match against Northamptonshire. "To be honest, because I had not been picked, I had not informed the selectors or the board of my desire to solely focus on Test cricket.

"At the end of this one-day series, I would like to announce my retirement from one-day and Twenty20 cricket and concentrate only on Test cricket. I am committed, as always to give my best to India in this one-day series and obviously the Test series that follows.

"In the short term I am committed because now I have been picked for the series, but in the long term I think it is best for me and Indian cricket that I focus on Test cricket."

Dravid recently became the second highest run-getter in Tests, and has had a resurgence in form over the past couple of months, scoring three centuries in five Tests to end a relatively lean run in the last few years.

When he started his international career in 1996, he was seen as a batsman more suited to the longer form but he soon adapted to the challenges of one-day cricket. Among the highlights of his ODI career was the 1999 World Cup, where he was the top scorer and put on the then largest partnership in a one-dayer, 318 with Sourav Ganguly. Six months later he bettered that with a 331-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar that is still the biggest in the format.

As in his Test career, he routinely fitted into roles the team needed him to, notably in the 2003 World Cup, where in order to accommodate an extra batsman in the side, he took over the wicketkeeping duties. One of the lows of his career was the 2007 World Cup, when under his leadership, India crashed out in the first round.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Sachin Tendulkar Profile

Full Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born: April 24, 1973, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow medium pace and spin

Achievements:
Most runs and most centuries in ODIs
Highest number of Test centuries
First cricketer to make 10,000 runs in ODIs
Most runs in World Cup history
Highest individual score by an Indian (186 not out)
Most Man of the Man awards in ODIs
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 1997-98
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, generally known as Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian Cricket player who is considered to be one of the all time greatest batsmen to have ever played the game of Cricket. The renowned Cricket magazine Wisden ranked Sachin Tendulkar the 2nd all time greatest Test Cricket batsman, only after Sir Donald Bradman at the 1st place in the year 2002. Also, the magazine ranked him the 2nd all time greatest ODI batsman after Viv Richards at the first spot.

Accolades
Shane Warne, the leg spinner from Australia had once remarked Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with, and Tendulkar, also known as the Little Master has also to his credit the honor of being the only player of the current generation who was included by Sir Donald Bradman in his dream team named Bradman’s Eleven.

Sachin Tendulkar is the batsman to have scored the biggest number of runs both in Test Cricket and ODI Cricket the world over, and has also to his credit the biggest number of centuries in both the forms of the game. He has scored over 80 centuries in the game of Cricket till now, and is the first batsman ever to score more than 50 centuries.

He is the first Cricket player who has scored over 10,000 runs in the One Day International (ODI) Cricket. Sachin has been conferred upon the Padma Vibhushan award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for his services to the nation as a sportsperson.

Early Life
Sachin Tendulkar was born on 24th of April, 1973 in Mumbai to a Marathi Novelist, Ramesh Tendulkar. Sachin got inspired to play cricket from his elder brother Ajit, and started playing the game at an early age in his school, Sharadashram Vidya Mandir. Under the guidance of his coach, Ramakant Achrekar, he learnt the basics of the game and showed his prowess along with his school mate and another future batsman of the Indian team, Vinod Kambli.

Test and ODI Debut
Sachin Tendulkar made his Test Cricket debut with a Test match played against Pakistan in Karachi in the year 1989, in which he scored 15 runs before being bowled out by Waqar Younis, a yet another Cricketer who debuted with this match. He began his ODI Cricket career in a match against Pakistan played on 18th of December 1989 at Gujranwala, Pakistan. He could, though, not make a single run in this match and just after facing 2 balls was caught by Wasim Akram on a Waqar Younis ball.

Remarkable Achievements
Tendulkar has shown some of his best batting performances against the Cricket team of Australia, one of the strongest teams during his period. As a matter of fact, the legendry Sir Donald Bradman had at one time reportedly told her wife that the playing style of Sachin reminded him of his own game in his youth.

Sachin has always created new records and destroyed innumerable of them that had been already established. At the age of 17 years he scored his first Test century, and by the age of 25 he had scored 16 of them. At the moment he is the Cricketer with largest number of Test and ODI centuries to his credit, and outclassed Brian Lara as the biggest Test scorer in the year 2008.

Captaincy
Twice in his Cricket career, Sachin had been nominated the Captain of the Indian Cricket team, but none of them proved to be much successful. Also, the pressure of Captaincy took a toll upon his performance as a batsman.

Overall Performance
In his overall Test Career till April 2009, Sachin Tendulkar has played 159 Test matches and has scored 12773 runs in them, including 42 centuries and 53 half-centuries, with an average of 54.58 runs and a highest score of 248 Not Out. In these matches, he also grabbed 44 wickets giving away 2272 runs at an average of 51.63 runs.

In his One Day International (ODI) Cricket career, however, Sachin has played 425 matches till April 2009, and scored 16684 runs including 43 centuries and 91 half-centuries, with an average of 44.37 runs and a highest score of 186 Not Out.

Awards and Recognitions
For his great capabilities as a Cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar has been bestowed upon the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. The Cricket magazine Wisden named him the Cricketer of the year in 1997, and according to Wisden 100, he is the 2nd Best Test Batsman and the Best ODI Bestman of all times.

Stuart Broad takes hat-trick against India at Trent Bridge

Stuart Broad revitalises England on the second day of the second Test against India with a remarkable hat-trick.

Broad, who finished with 6-46, first saw off India captain Mehendra Singh Dhoni then dismissed Harbhajan Singh before sending Praveen Kumar back to the pavilion.

He becomes the 12th Englishman to take a Test hat-trick, while his spell helped dismiss the tourists for 288.

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My aim is to be a good Test player: Rohit Sharma

Aware of the difficulties of breaking into the star-studded Indian Test middle-order, talented Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma is optimistic of grabbing the chance with both hands whenever it comes his way. 

"Right now there is only one place in the top seven available. Rest all is covered. There are four-five players competing for the same spot. So it is a little bit difficult (to make it to Test team). But ultimately my aim is to be a good Test player," the 24-year-old batsman said. 

While he did not take any names, he was apparently referring to the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Chesteshwar Pujara and himself. 

Sharma, who narrowly lost out a chance to make his debut in the longer version of the game against South Africa at Nagpur due to a freak injury just before toss while playing football in 2010, said it was a disappointing moment for him. 

"It was a big disappointment. You can't predict injuries. Injuries are not in your hand. It can happen anytime. Like it happened with Zaheer (Khan) in the first Test (at Lord's). It was unfortunate." 

"It (my career) would have been different had I scored runs in that match. Let's just say I will be a more mature player when I make my Test debut. It's not about when you play your first Test match, it is how mature you are when you do that," said the batsman, who has scored 1,505 runs in 66 ODIs. 

Sharma, player of the tournament in the just concluded five-match ODI series in the Caribbean, said he had started practicing for ODI leg of the ongoing England tour, for which he is expected to be selected. 

"I have been working on my batting as of now. I have been practising at the BKC premises (in Mumbai) and am working on a few strokes. In England, the conditions will be difficult. There will be bounce and swing. Luckily, we have two-three practice matches before the one-day matches. Hopefully, I will acclimatise soon," said Sharma. 

He had scored 257 runs in five matches, including an unbeaten 86 in a difficult chase at Antigua in the third ODI, to help India secure a 3-2 win. 

Sharma expressed confidence and said that the Indian squad, which lost the first Test against England at Lord's by 196 runs, will bounce back. He also mentioned that the No 1 team could take inspiration from its 2010 tour to South Africa where they fought back after a similar loss in the opening match. 

"I'm sure India will bounce back. The next Test is at Trent Bridge where we won the last time around with Zaheer picking up about 4-5 wickets in each innings. Though he may not be around we have got quite a few other good bowlers." 

"There is no doubt about India's batsmen. They must have acclimatised by now. They didn't have many practice games (before the first Test) and England bowlers also bowled very well." 

"If you look at India's tour of South Africa, India lost the first Test (at Centurion) and won in Durban and almost won the series. Conditions are similar in both places. I'm sure India will do well here too," he said. 

Stating that not being part of the World Cup winning side was the biggest disappointment of his life, Sharma said missing out on the mega-tournament gave him time to work on his skills and fitness. 

"It was the biggest disappointment for me. It has gone now. India have won the World Cup. It's not the end of the world for me. I have to move forward." 

"(The omission) It also helped me in a lot of ways as I got time to work on my skills and fitness which showed during the IPL and the West Indies tour," he added. 

Stating that scoring runs in the West Indies was satisfying, the right-handed batsman said playing in the Indian Premier League helped him adjust to the conditions. 

"It was very satisfying. I was very much looking forward to the West Indies tour after IPL. It was important that youngsters took the responsibility as many senior players were rested. And we did well to win the ODI as well as the Test series." 

"The conditions (in the West Indies) were similar to what we had here. I would like to mention that playing in the IPL in the hot conditions too helped as the weather was similar there," he said. 

On being in and out of the team in the past, Sharma said, "It was a difficult phase. Every cricketer has to go through that. I'm not special. I have learnt a lot from that phase. Having said that I don't want to let go off the opportunities I get." 

© PTI

Kevin Pietersen - 6000 by numbers

That Kevin Pietersen is a special player has never been in doubt. Whenever he's been faced with a challenge, he usually comes out on top. Before the first Test against India got underway, there were some murmurs about his flashy lifestyle, his liking for fancy cars and the odd grumble about not enough runs in recent times (his average in 8 innings after a double hundred at Adelaide was just 31.5). In the event, Pietersen rose to the occasion magnificently. Playing against the best sides always brings out the best in him and he reached 6000 test runs during the course of his superb unbeaten double ton.

Pietersen is now the 12th Englishman to reach the landmark, and while he doesn't have the same imposing average that the great Sir Len Hutton or someone like Ken Barrington had, he still averages almost 50. For someone who has had to deal with sky high expectations from the time he made his debut, Pietersen has done well so far to live up to them.

Englishmen with 6000 Test runs

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	0
GA Gooch	1975-1995	118	215	6	8900	333	42.58	20	46	13
AJ Stewart	1990-2003	133	235	21	8463	190	39.54	15	45	14
DI Gower	1978-1992	117	204	18	8231	215	44.25	18	39	7
G Boycott	1964-1982	108	193	23	8114	246*	47.72	22	42	10
MA Atherton	1989-2001	115	212	7	7728	185*	37.69	16	46	20
MC Cowdrey	1954-1975	114	188	15	7624	182	44.06	22	38	9
WR Hammond	1927-1947	85	140	16	7249	336*	58.45	22	24	4
L Hutton	1937-1955	79	138	15	6971	364	56.67	19	33	5
KF Barrington	1955-1968	82	131	15	6806	256	58.67	20	35	5
GP Thorpe	1993-2005	100	179	28	6744	200*	44.66	16	39	12
AJ Strauss	2004-2011	85	151	6	6111	177	42.14	19	24	13
KP Pietersen	2004-2011	75	128	7	6030	227	49.83	18	23	7

It is true that Pietersen has endured a slump of sorts recently, but some of that can be attributed to injuries too. Losing the captaincy in demoralizing circumstances also played a part in Pietersen losing some of his dominating touch. However, the best always bounce back and the unbeaten double ton against India showed how tough Pietersen is mentally.

Amongst all opponents he has had, Pietersen has enjoyed batting against the Aussies and the Windies the most, while his stats against India have also received a major boost courtesy the 202 not out. He hasn't had the best success against Pakistan though.

Pietersen against all opponents

Versus	Span	M	Inns	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0
v Australia	2005-2011	17	30	1476	227	52.71	3	8	2
v Bangladesh	2010-2010	4	7	342	99	68.4	0	3	0
v India	2006-2008	9	16	912	202*	60.80	4	2	0
v New Zealand	2008-2008	6	10	445	129	44.5	2	0	0
v Pakistan	2005-2010	11	19	688	135	36.21	2	2	2
v South Africa	2008-2010	8	14	598	152	42.71	2	2	1
v Sri Lanka	2006-2011	9	15	648	158	46.28	2	2	0
v West Indies	2007-2009	11	17	921	226	57.56	3	4	2

Pietersen started his Test career with a bang with an Ashes winning 158 at the Oval in his first series. Big knocks followed regularly after that, but Pietersen hasn't been the same batsman ever since he was thrown out of the captaincy after the tour to India in 2008. Since the beginning of 2009 and before the Lord's game, he had played in 30 tests and had scored only two tons. His average which hit the 50 mark for three consecutive seasons from 2006-08, had come down to the forties. A drop of about 10 points in the average showed just how much he was struggling to reproduce the big knocks which used to flow consistently earlier.

Another reason for his average show during the past three years has been his performance against left-arm spin. Overall, he has been dismissed 20 times by left-arm spinners during his Test career, and it came as no surprise that he found the Indian attack in the first Test to his liking, since there was no left-arm spinner in it.

Pietersen had been very consistent till 2008, but the next two years were relatively dull ones for him. 2011 too seemed to be following the same script, but he has turned it around with the double century.

Pietersen over the years

Year	M	Inns	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0
2005	8	16	674	158	44.93	2	3	1
2006	14	26	1343	158	53.72	4	6	1
2007	11	21	1007	226	50.35	4	1	1
2008	12	20	1015	152	50.75	5	1	0
2009	11	17	760	102	47.5	1	5	1
2010	14	22	831	227	41.55	1	5	3
2011	5	6	400	202*	80.00	1	2	0

A measure of Pietersen's dominance in his early days as a Test cricketer could be seen in the way he raced to his 1000th, 2000th and 3000th test runs - doing so in his 12th, 22nd and his 33rd Tests respectively. But since then, there has been a slight dip in form, which have delayed the corresponding landmarks. While he took 12 Tests to go from 3000 to 4000, it has taken him 15 tests to subsequently get to 5000 and another 15 to 6000.

Pietersen's run progression summary

Run progression	Opposition	Venue	Match date	Debut date	Time	Matches	Inns
1000	Sri Lanka	Lord's	11th May 2006	21st Jul 2005	294 days	12	23
2000	Australia	Melbourne	26th Dec 2006	21st Jul 2005	1 year and 158 days	22	41
3000	Sri Lanka	Galle	18th Dec 2007	21st Jul 2005	2 years and 150 days	33	63
4000	India	Mohali	19th Dec 2008	21st Jul 2005	3 years and 151 days	45	83
5000	Bangladesh	Dhaka	20th Mar 2010	21st Jul 2005	4 years and 242 days	60	107
6000	India	Lord's	22nd July 2011	21st Jul 2005	6 years and 1 day	75	128

It is perhaps no surprise that Lord's was the venue for him to roar back to form, because Pietersen has a special affection for Lord's. In 13 test matches at the home of cricket, he has made 5 tons including a double ton. He averages almost 70 and crossed 1000 runs at Lord's during the course of his double ton. He is the 6th Englishman to have achieved that feat after Gooch, Stewart, Strauss, Gower and Boycott.

Pietersen's tons at Lord's

Versus	Runs scored	Ground	Year
Sri Lanka	158	Lord's	May 2006
West Indies	109	Lord's	May 2007
India	134	Lord's	July 2007
South Africa	152	Lord's	July 2008
India	202*	Lord's	July 2011

Pietersen chose his moment well, reaching the landmark of 6000 runs in the 2000th Test. His return to form was well timed in the context of the series also, with the third ranked England looking to usurp the top rank from India. For Kevin Pietersen, the signs look good at the moment.

© Cricbuzz