GALLE: Muttiah Muralitharan was on Friday ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan with a knee injury, dealing a huge blow to Sri Lanka’s bid to win the emotionally-charged series.
The spin wizard hurt his patella tendon during training on Thursday and will sit out of the opening game of the three-Test series starting at the Galle International Stadium on Saturday. The series opener will be the first Test match between the two nations since gunmen fired on the Sri Lankan team bus during a visit to Pakistan on March 3. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said he was hopeful that Muralitharan, who boasts world records for his 770 Test and 505 one-day wickets, will be available for the second match from July 12. “He was doing his warm-ups and he suddenly felt a bit of discomfort in his right knee,” said Sangakkara. “The scan report showed a slight tear. The risk of him tearing his tendon in the first Test is very high. I don’t think we want to risk him getting injured for a long time just for the sake of one Test. Hopefully he will be fit by the second Test.”
Seven Sri Lankan cricketers were injured and eight local security-men were killed in the March attack in the city of Lahore that forced the cricket world to abandon Pakistan as a venue for international cricket. The series starts just 13 days after Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the World Twenty20 at Lord’s in London on June 21. The Sri Lankan selectors have summoned left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and rookie off-spinner Suraj Mohamed to join the squad in Muralitharan’s absence.
Herath last played a Test for Sri Lanka in December against Bangladesh, while Mohamed claimed four Pakistani wickets in the three-day tour opener in Colombo which ended in a draw on Wednesday. One of the two is expected to partner prolific wicket-taker Ajantha Mendis for the first Test on a wicket that has traditionally favoured spin. Muralitharan’s absence will hurt Sri Lanka, who have never beaten Pakistan in a home Test series and are hoping to avenge their defeat in last month’s World Twenty20 final.
Of their five series in Sri Lanka so far, Pakistan have won three – including the last two in 2000 and 2006 – and drawn the other two. Its an extraordinary achievement considering that Sri Lanka, led by Muralitharan’s amazing bowling feats, have proved almost unbeatable at home in recent times. Of the 19 home Tests Sri Lanka have played in the last five years, they have won 13, drawn four and lost just two – one of them to Pakistan by eight wickets in Kandy in April 2006.
However, Younis Khan’s Pakistan have not experienced the rigours of a Test match on foreign soil since a two-match series in India in December 2007. Even at home, Pakistan have played just one series over the last two years due to security concerns in the volatile nation, and that too had to be abandoned after the attack on the Sri Lankan team. After the Galle Test, the teams move to Colombo where the second Test will be played at the P. Sara stadium from July 12-16 and the third at the Sinhalese sports club from July 20-24. The rivals are also scheduled to play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match after the Tests.
Teams:
Sri Lanka (from): Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Suraj Mohamed, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, Kaushal Silva, Suranga Lakmal.
Pakistan (from): Younis Khan (captain), Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbahul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rauf, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal.
Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS). afp
By Muhammad Ali
LAHORE: Former Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Zakir Hussain Syed has blasted the present management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for ruing cricket affairs in the country. “The victory of the Pakistan team in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup brought great joy and relief for this beleaguered nation and may have provided some relief for PCB chief Ijaz Butt and his cronies. But the fact remains that cricket affairs in Pakistan continue to be very poorly managed, and at times one gets the impression that people at the helm of affairs have no clue about sports management concepts,” Zakir said while talking to Daily Times on Friday.
Zakir said when Ijaz took over he brought in a large number of cricketers giving a general impression that the PCB was a Cricketers’ Employment Board. “He then realised that all those cricketers had much better cricketing credentials than himself and he tried to sideline Javed Miandad. A fighter from his cricketing days, Miandad forced his way back with a vengeance. Dismissal of coach Geoff Lawson was not only crude but also needless with the PCB having to pay the fee of remaining period that was a great wastage. I wonder if Ijaz would have indulged in that sort of wastage in a personal concern,” he maintained.
Zakir said the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers was an unprecedented disaster not only for cricket but also for all sports in Pakistan as no other sports team was now willing to visit Pakistan. “The reaction of the PCB to this tragedy was unbelievably naive. Nobody went with the injured Sri Lankan players or visited Sri Lanka afterwards to express their regrets to the their families or pay some financial compensation to them.” He said the PCB had promised security arrangements provided to a head of a state. “Did the Sri Lankans get that security and if not then the entire blame rests with the PCB officials because it was they who had made this commitment.”
Zakir, a renowned sports commentator and columnist, said former Test leg spinner Abdul Qadir, who along with his selection committee members was responsible for selection of the team that won the Twenty20 World Cup, had resigned in disgust while the other members of his selection committee had been sacked on the flimsy grounds that they were employees of other organisations. “Everyone knew where they were employed and what was the source of their livelihood. Only the PCB chairman took six months to learn this ground reality! They could have been easily given an honourable way out but then people with complexes have to do such things to show their authority and to show who is the big boss.”
Perhaps very few people in Pakistan know that Zakir ran the PCB single handedly for nearly six months after the resignation of Abdul Hafeez Kardar, a former Test cricketer, in 1976 making all the arrangements for Pakistan cricket team’s tour to Australia and West Indies including securing enhanced guarantee money for the Australian tour from the Australian Cricket Board that comprised of Sir Donald Bradman and renowned banker Tim Caldwell.
“Some of the examples of administrative mess up in the PCB mentioned earlier can be attributed to lack of efficiency and management skills but what has now happened is unbelievable,” he maintained. Zakir said the PCB should have worked out a comprehensive strategy of damage control in the aftermath of the Sri Lankan team disaster but they did not. “Immediately after the crisis, I had suggested that Pakistan as current president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) should immediately convene an emergency meeting of the ACC, present its view point and seek institutional support from them. It would have also enabled them to assess their support base in Asia. Nobody bothered about it. But what Ijaz did was unbelievable and showed extreme clumsiness.”
He said the most important event in the ACC annual calendar was its Annual General Meeting that either preceded or followed the ICC meeting. “Because of the problems being faced by Pakistan, Ijaz should have done serious homework for this conference as its president. Instead he took the unprecedented step of abandoning the ship and flew to Pakistan to attend the functions hosted by Pakistan President, Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly. Can you imagine any other president of the ACC from any other country doing that?”
Zakir, a former ACC development manager for cricket, said when Ijaz first met the officials of the ACC, he is said to have raised issues that could not have been raised even by the most ill-informed persons: such as bringing the ACC back to its rotation system with respective cricket boards instead of the current permanent office in Malaysia, possible dismissal of staff and other non important issues. “What a brilliant attitude from a head of well established organisation! No wonder India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have all opposed Pakistan on critical issues, thanks to Ijaz’s lack of understanding of priorities.”
Zakir, who also served as a correspondent for London-based magazine ‘Cricketer International’ for 25 years, said Ijaz had informed media that the ICC had accepted 90 percent of demands of the PCB. “Is this so? One only has to look at the ground realities to reach the conclusion how people can live in a fool’s paradise.” Zakir said India was now squarely opposing Pakistan’s stated position and the country had no support, not even in Asia. “It is indeed a great pity and a sad day for Pakistan cricket. Let big names of Pakistan cricket like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja come forward and help restore the image of Pakistan cricket at international level regardless of the complexes of individuals. After all, the image of Pakistan cricket is far more important than keeping incompetent people in saddle regardless of their political connections,” Zakir concluded.
REPORT BY : VIJAY SHARMA (crazycricinfo)
West Indies: India kept their nerve on a frustrating day of rain delays to take a 2-1 series lead in St Lucia. It was still anybody\'s game when India needed 11 off the final over, but Dhoni slammed the second ball over deep midwicket to put the visitors on course for victory.
India threatened to lose their way in the chase after a solid start provided by Dinesh Karthik before Dhoni hauled them past the line. The rain-breaks initially readjusted their target to 195 in 27 overs before a further shower reduced it to 159 in 22 overs.
When Karthik fell after a fine 47 India needed a relatively comfortable 111 from 89 balls, and at the next rain-break they needed 64 from 51 balls with nine wickets in hand, but a succession of wickets left India requiring 34 in four overs. It came down to the last over. Curiously, Chris Gayle turned to Jerome Taylor, who had a poor game, instead of Ravi Rampaul, who had bowled a pretty decent 20th over. Dhoni killed the contest in the second ball with a six over deep midwicket. He picked the slower one and used his bottom-hand to swipe it with the wind over midwicket boundary. Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan got the remaining four runs with a ball to spare.
Dhoni had shepherded the tail end of the chase calmly, taking care to preserve his wicket even as his partners deserted him. Yuvraj Singh holed out to long-on and Rohit Sharma swung to deep midwicket but Dhoni hung around, hitting the occasional four to make sure the game didn\'t get away from India. And he effectively finished the game with that six in the last over. However, it was Karthik who set the platform with a fine knock, with a little bit of help from West Indies.
On this soft track, West Indies erred by bowling short to Karthik, who, unlike a few of his team-mates, likes playing the pull shot. It was slightly surprising that Jerome Taylor didn\'t repeat his first delivery - a gem that was full and shaped away late past the outside edge - to Karthik again during his opening spell. It was that delivery that had got Karthik in the previous game too but that length was rarely seen today.
Karthik looked in fine touch, unfurling several spanking pulls and cuts. He started with a pull, followed it with a caressed extra-cover drive before playing a fierce upper cut over backward point for three consecutive boundaries against Taylor. Karthik never let the momentum slip after that. Even Dwayne Bravo bowled short at him and Karthik pulled him for a four and a stunning six. In between, he kept the singles and twos coming. It was a polished performance which was cut short by an unnecessary scramble for a single after Gambhir had cut straight to Rampaul at backward point.
Gambhir played a sedate hand today. He didn\'t look too comfortable at the start, almost ran himself out on three occasions, and hit his first boundary only in the 12th over. However, unlike in the recent past, he didn\'t try to hit his way out of trouble; he was willing to look ugly. He eventually fell, edging behind an attempted cut Sulieman Benn but Dhoni made sure India won the game.
Just as they tried gamely in the end of the chase to create a flutter, West Indies had earlier batted well to post a competitive total despite the frequent rain breaks. Dhoni won a crucial toss and made the obvious decision to bowl as no one knew how many overs the team batting first will get to play on a rainy day at St Lucia. West Indies rallied through a frenetic start provided by Gayle and a composed knock by Ramnaresh Sarwan to reach 185 for 7 at the end of their allotted 27 overs.
Gayle started like a runaway train, putting immense pressure on Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra. Time and again, Gayle thrust his back foot back and across, opened his stance and depending on the line, hit to the on or off side. The stand-out shot, though, was when he disregarded the line and swat-pulled an Ishant delivery from well outside off to deep midwicket. Gayle didn\'t spare Nehra too, lashing him through covers before unfurling a delicate flick shot. However, Gayle fell to Nehra first ball after a break for rain, edging a cut against a short and wide delivery.
Sarwan, though, kept the scorecard moving along by maneuvering the ball into the gaps for singles and twos. In between, he whipped and pulled Yuvraj to boundaries but ran himself out, turning back for the second run after tapping to square leg. He kept his cool and tried gamely to adjust to the new scenario provided by the frequent interruptions.
Sarwan was helped by a lovely cameo by Darren Bravo. His innings was filled with several delicious strokes that had a touch of Brian Lara. There were two fine sashays down the track against Yusuf Pathan for lofted boundaries but his best shot, and the shot of the day that evoked memories of that great left-hander, was a fabulous cover drive off RP Singh. Up went the bat as he crouched on his knees before swinging through the line of the length delivery up and over covers. Denesh Ramdin swung his bat in the end to finish the innings with a flourish but it was to prove insufficient in the end.