Steady India thrash anxious Pakistan

India 129 for 2 (Kohli 78, Sehwag 29) beat Pakistan 128 (Malik 28, Balaji 3-22, Ashwin 2-16, Yuvraj 2-16) by eight wickets


India-Pakistan matches - never mind the tournament context - often tend to be a contest as much of nerves as of cricketing skills. Keeping in with recent times, where India have tended to come out the mentally stronger side, Pakistan's batsmen tried too hard and imploded to waste a dream start and post the lowest total of the Super Eights stage of this World Twenty20. Virat Kohli, who had scored 183 in his previous match against Pakistan, then steered the chase of 129 with his eighth fifty-plus score in his last 11 international innings.

This was a game where one of two jinxes would be broken. It was India, needing to win this to stay alive, who posted their first Super Eights win in World Twenty20s since 2007. Pakistan were still without a win over India in any World Cup match. Pakistan were every bit a team with a bogey attached to them. They tried flamboyance with the bat and failed, and didn't show heart to back up their talented bowling and attack. India, on the other hand, did the small things well after a nervous start, and were there to accept every opportunity that Pakistan presented.






Anxious more than enthusiastic, Pakistan began with 26 runs and five boundaries in the first two overs, but regressed in the coming overs. Some of their batsmen just froze, including captain Mohammad Hafeez who scored 15 off 28, and they took 6.5 overs to score the next 26. Pakistan played 53 dot balls against bowling that was steady at best. Add to that two balls they didn't even make India bowl.

It might look like a canter looking at the scorecard, but the match had got off to an edgy start. India even looked a little meek and Pakistan tried to intimidate them. Zaheer Khan brought back memories of his first over in the 2003 World Cup final, bowling three wides in his first over here. One of them, nearly a regulation take for the keeper, found its way to the boundary. The first ball Imran Nazeer faced he smoked away to the cover-point boundary. The first ball he faced from the other end, he inside-edged Irfan Pathan for four, but the bowler came back with a trademark lbw in the same over.







In the second over, out came the six-or-nothing Shahid Afridi. It was a pair of Pathans opening for India against one of the more celebrated Pathan cricketers, who was full of intent. The first ball: whacked away to long-on, the fourth: thrashed through covers. Even against Zaheer, Afridi kept swinging at everything. MS Dhoni went to the surprise pick, L Balaji, in the fifth over. Balaji began with a slower bouncer that Afridi didn't pick, and then got him caught in the deep with the regulation bouncer in the same over.

If this was a pressure match, it showed the most on Pakistan captain Hafeez, playing his 100th consecutive international for Pakistan. He would have had a perfect day had he gone to a shooting range. Almost every shot he played went straight to a fielder. As the dot balls piled on, it seemed the perfect time to introduce Yuvraj Singh, whose fitness has recently been questioned.

Yuvraj had set the tone for the day early when he dived full length to save four runs off the first legitimate delivery of the match. Now he teased the Pakistan batsmen with his slow tossed-up non-turners. With pressure mounting thanks to Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed was the first to fall, trying to slog-sweep Yuvraj. Dhoni showed he had recovered from his earlier slip as he caught the underside edge cleanly. Kamran Akmal, too, edged Yuvraj in his next over, Dhoni again pouching the sharp chance. Yuvraj would fill in with a direct-hit run-out from point later.







Shoaib Malik continued his love of playing India, and added 47 with Umar Akmal, but that was the last bit of fight Pakistan put up. When the time came to step up, R Ashwin's three remaining overs came handy, and he got them both caught at deep midwicket. The pressure of the dot balls earlier was too much.

All India's pre-match moves were working. The part-timers went for a combined 3 for 37 in their six overs, which justified playing only four bowlers. Balaji returned figures of 3 for 22. For a moment in the chase, though, it seemed it wasn't going to be all easy. Pakistan's new spinner Raza Hasan removed Gautam Gambhir for a duck, but they ran into a Kohli-sized brick wall.

Making his comeback, Virender Sehwag played a useful hand too, adding 74 for the second wicket, but it was his partner at the wicket who was the star of the show. It helped that it was Pakistan who were meek now. Attacking men were conspicuous in their absence, and when Kohli edged Afridi through the vacant slip in the ninth over, with the run rate still about a run a ball, the match had completely slipped out of Pakistan's hands.

Kohli remained calm even after Sehwag's fall, summing up India's calmness on the big night.

Watson stars in commanding win

Shane Watson dominated the South African attack to score 70, leading Australia to an eight-wicket win in Colombo.

The absurdity of making Irfan open

Knock knock? Who's there? Irfan. Irfan who? New-ball bowler? Bowling allrounder? Batting allrounder? None of these. For the moment, opener. If the sight of Irfan Pathan walking out with Gautam Gambhir to open the India innings against Australia does not seal the argument in favour of MS Dhoni primarily being a defensive captain, nothing will. On the day he took what he called one of his toughest decisions, Dhoni effectively nullified the rare selection decisiveness he had shown in leaving Virender Sehwag out by having Irfan open.

Irfan is no Shane Watson. He has a decent technique and can hit a few big shots, but he is nowhere close to being Twenty20 opening material. It was immaterial how many runs Irfan actually got against Australia. For the record, he made one of the scratchiest thirties you'll ever see. But it was never about how many runs Irfan could have scored anyway. He was opening not because Dhoni thought he was the best opener in the selected XI, but because Dhoni did not want any of his middle-order batsmen to. He was opening because Dhoni did not want Irfan to bat at No. 7, a position where normally Dhoni himself or Suresh Raina bat. It was the height of defensive compromise to needlessly cushion a brave, by Dhoni's standards, selection decision.






Dhoni invests a lot in setting an innings up for a final assault. It is evident in the way he bats, content to play out several dot balls initially with the confidence that he or someone like Raina can make up at the death. At times, he has been criticised for leaving it for too late, for letting the pressure build up. Gambhir made the point in the Australia tri-series earlier this year that Dhoni should not have taken the chase till the final over in an ODI against the hosts.

Whether Gambhir or the world agrees with Dhoni or not, that is the way he has approached limited-overs cricket increasingly over the years, and his record shows he has mostly been successful, especially in ODIs. The point is, can the need to have a potent batsman at No. 6 or No. 7 justify fiddling with the opening slot, especially in a format where there is little time to recover from a diffident start? The bigger point is, Dhoni's most-eggs-in-the-death-overs-basket batting strategy does not suit T20s as much as it suits ODIs. There is a limit to how much damage even the best finishers can cause in a T20 because of the sheer paucity of time in the format. That is why most sides have their best batsmen opening in Twenty20 internationals. Watson and David Warner for Australia, Chris Gayle for West Indies, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka, Tamim Iqbal for Bangladesh.






India had opened with Irfan against England as well, but that was an inconsequential game, and Dhoni wanted to give the fringe players in his squad a chance. But against Australia in the opening game of the Super Eights, a stage where India have famously struggled in the World Twenty20 in the past?

Will Irfan open against Pakistan as well? India had an optional nets session today at the beautiful Colts Cricket Club ground in Colombo for which the entire squad turned up. Most of the time was spent in playing a lengthy game of football after which a few batsmen practised in the nets for a short time. Sehwag was not one of them. Irfan was.

If Sehwag plays against Pakistan, the Irfan debate ends there. If Sehwag is left out again tomorrow, there is no justification in having poor Irfan open. It is not as if there is no one else in the middle order to do the job. Virat Kohli can and has done it before. If India feel he is too valuable a batsman to be disturbed from his No. 3 position, Rohit Sharma is another man who has done it before.






Will Irfan get the new ball tomorrow at least? Don't bet on it. He came on in the 10th over against Australia.

Shastri, Manjrekar question Yuvraj's hasty comeback

Drop Yuvraj, pick Sehwag, say Shastri, Manjrekar

Former India players Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar have questioned the hasty comeback of Yuvraj Singh after he recovered from cancer earlier this year. Both feel he is not back to full fitness. Shastri said Yuvraj should be left out for the crucial Super Eights match against Pakistan on Sunday, and Manjrekar said he should have been left out of the game against Australia too.

"My contention is, [for] eight months Yuvraj Singh has hardly played cricket, and when it comes to India vs Pakistan I'm not the kind to get emotional," Shastri told TIMES NOW. "I want to pick the best team and beat them. You can't be sentimental here, but be practical."

"My team would have Sehwag opening the innings, especially against Australia," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo. "I think it was an opportunity missed, because that was the kind of attack Sehwag likes on this kind of a pitch.






"I would have dropped Yuvraj Singh from my team in that last match, purely because we have seen in the last few matches Yuvraj Singh is still not quite 70% or 80%, maybe it is time now to slowly get him to work on his fitness, keep him involved in Indian cricket, but leaving out Sehwag was not such a good idea because he does what you need right at the start of the innings: put the opposition under pressure."

Yuvraj was included in the World Twenty20 squad, ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, even before he had had any serious match practice, and has played only a handful of T20s since undergoing chemotherapy in March. Shastri said Yuvraj's rustiness was obvious.

"We got to see if Yuvraj is 100% fit, and let's not think about Yuvraj 10 months ago," Shastri said. "No question that he straight away could have walked into any side in world cricket at that time, but having seen him he's still rusty and he's still a bit slow." Yuvraj has scored 60 runs in four T20I matches, and taken four wickets since his return.






Yuvraj is not the only thorny issue Dhoni has to grapple with. Sehwag's exclusion from the previous match, in which Australia thrashed India by nine wickets, has divided opinion. Shastri said he should be picked against Pakistan at the expense of Yuvraj. "If you go in with three fast bowlers and two spinners, then you have to think about your batting line-up and if Sehwag has to come - which I think he should - then who do you drop in that middle order, and one batsman that comes up is Yuvraj Singh.

"It's not the question of what Yuvraj Singh can do but what is his current state of mind after what he has done and you have to respect that. You can't be too greedy and ask too much from that body that quickly."

Shastri also talked up the impact Sehwag could have on the Pakistan match. "You just have to look at Sehwag's record against Pakistan - it's Bradman-like when you look at his average against them. So Sehwag will have the psychological edge when he gets out there plus the fact that he's been asked to sit out, and I think rightly so, in the last game against Australia, he'll be fired up." Sehwag averages 91.14 against Pakistan in Tests, but only 35.72 against them in ODIs, which is almost exactly the same as his career average. He has played only one T20I against them.







Sehwag's omission in the last game effectively facilitated the inclusion of a third specialist spinner, who had combined figures of 6.5-0-66-0 against Australia. Manjrekar was against going in with three of them for the Pakistan match. "The key is going to be the pitch, let's assume the pitch is going to be the same as we had in the last match, still three spinners is a bit too much, Sehwag has to come back in," he said.

"Even if they want Yuvraj Singh in there, they can get Virender Sehwag in and maybe drop one spinner, either Harbhajan Singh or Piyush Chawla, the choice is up to the captain who they want. I would go for a variation, because when you have Chawla you have a variation of R Ashwin and Chawla as the legspinner, but after his last performance I doubt whether Chawla will get another match if India is playing two specialist spinners."





Shastri said there was no need to play three spinners, given the number of part-time options India had. He also said there was no way India should be opening with Irfan Pathan, which denies their best batsmen the use of crucial overs of a 20-over match.

India's big defeat against Australia means their net run-rate has taken a beating, and they will probably need to win both their remaining Super Eight matches to qualify.

Franklin fifty lifts NZ total to 148

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Dhoni defends Sehwag's omission, says can't justify every move

MS Dhoni , India's captain, has defended his decision to leave Virender Sehwag out and play three specialist spinners against Australia, saying tournaments like World Twenty20 merited a "horses for courses" policy. Dhoni's omission of Sehwag was widely criticised - both after the toss when the team was announced, and after the match - and his team-mate, Suresh Raina, admitted that it would not be "easy" to get through the remaining Super Eights games without Sehwag in the XI.





Dhoni said after the defeat: "Regarding why Sehwag [was left out], we had only two options [in terms of players]. I don't like to take individual names, I think in such tournaments we should go 'horses for courses'. To exactly justify why a particular player was dropped is difficult."

Raina told the BBC: "For me I think Virender Sehwag can be very dangerous. I hope he'll play the next two games. I think it won't be easy to play the next two games without him."

Friday's match was India's first Super Eight match of this World Twenty20: they scored 140, which Australia chased inside 15 overs. Irfan Pathan, opening in Sehwag's absence, scored 31 off 30, failing to kick on after a good start. Piyush Chawla, effectively the extra spinner accommodated through Sehwag's omission, went for 14 runs in one over. The same combination, though, had worked well in the group game against England, which India won by 90 runs, with Chawla taking 2 for 13 against the hapless English batsmen who had little experience of quality spin.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar lamented the absence of a settled opening partnership and the fear factor that Sehwag brings. "Gautam Gambhir is a very good street smart cricketer," Gavaskar told NDTV. "He has a very good understanding with Sehwag and so breaking their partnership was not a good idea. He (Sehwag) has a fear factor against the opposition."

Gavaskar was more severe about Chawla's incusion. "Piyush Chawla, since the 2011 World Cup, has not figured anywhere in the Indian team," he said. "Has not even been in the back of any selector's mind. Why not go with Amit Mishra? What's wrong with Rahul Sharma? I sit in the commentary box and I look at his [Chawla's] face and I hope to God, 'Let him not be hit for a boundary.'" He also said Chawla's body language "does not inspire confidence".

Kevin Pietersen, now a pundit with the host broadcasters Star Cricket, was also disappointed Sehwag didn't play. "I feel sorry for Viru," Pietersen said. "I know Australia would rather face an Indian side without Sehwag in it."




However, Sourav Ganguly, another former India captain, said he could understand why the move was made. "I'm not surprised with that," Ganguly said. "It's the right decision, looking at the context of the game and the nature of the pitch. India have gone in with five bowlers and three spinners … It's a good decision, but a one-off decision I'm sure. Sehwag will come back, it's horses for courses."

Ganguly and Pietersen were speaking before the start of the game.

Watson and Warner destroy India

Australia's captain George Bailey doesn't think his side is over-dependent on Shane Watson. Who'd be able to tell? Watson has hardly given any of his team-mates a chance so far in this tournament, and that continued in Australia's first Super Eights match as they crushed India by nine wickets in Colombo. To be fair, David Warner was also outstanding and Pat Cummins played a key role with the ball. But Watson was again the stand-out performer, as he has been in all of Australia's matches in the World Twenty20.

Chasing 141, the Australians reached their target with 31 balls to spare. India's decision to pick three spinners - Virender Sehwag was left out to accommodate a fifth bowler - did not work, although there was little distinction between the slow bowlers and the fast men. They were all monstered by Watson and Warner. Yuvraj Singh picked up the only wicket, when Watson drove to cover with eight runs still needed and it meant India narrowly avoided their first ten-wicket defeat in a T20.

Watson had made 72 from 42 deliveries with two fours and seven sixes. He cleared the boundary straight down the ground, over midwicket and over square leg. A pair of enormous consecutive sixes pulled over midwicket off Irfan Pathan showed Watson's power, but also highlighted India's poor bowling. Short balls on the leg side to Watson made about as much sense as dropping Sehwag.

In slightly slippery conditions the spinners also failed to have any impact and were routinely dispatched by both Watson and Warner, whose 133-run partnership was their second century stand in a T20 international this month, and the Australian record for any wicket. Warner muscled three sixes of his own, including two in a row off Harbhajan Singh, whose two overs cost 20 runs. Rare though it may be, Warner was the quiet partner.

He still managed 63 not out from 41 deliveries, striking seven fours and playing a key role in demoralising India early in the chase. They remained disheartened throughout the innings, and the comprehensive nature of the result will make it hard for them to drag themselves back into form for their next match. But they must do so to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals. And to do that, they need not only to bowl much better, but to bat with more conviction as well.

Their batsmen struggled for firepower and stammered to 140 for 7, which seemed like just a moderately competitive total. That India managed only two sixes said a lot about their performance. Cummins was especially difficult for the batsmen to score from and his pace and accuracy brought him 2 for 16 from his four overs, while Watson picked up 3 for 34 and jumped to the top of the wicket tally for the tournament, with eight from three games.

A few late boundaries from R Ashwin and Suresh Raina helped India push their total up but at no point did their batsmen dominate. Gautam Gambhir picked up a few early boundaries before he was run out for 17 from 12 deliveries, the victim of a fine piece of footwork from the bowler Cummins, who soccered the ball onto the stumps at the striker's end in his follow through.

Pathan and Virat Kohli added 35 for the second wicket before Kohli top-edged Cummins and was caught for 15, and Yuvraj Singh (8) also succumbed to a top-edge when he was taken at deep midwicket off Watson's bowling. Watson struck again in the same over when Pathan (31) chipped to midwicket and things didn't get better for India any time soon.

Rohit Sharma was done in by the angle from around the wicket of the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who bowled him for 1, and at 74 for 5 India were in trouble. Dhoni and Raina steadied with a 30-run partnership but neither man really went on the attack and a build-up of pressure from the Australians eventually brought the end for Dhoni, who drove Cummins to cover for 15.

Ashwin clubbed Starc over midwicket for six and Raina found the boundary twice in the last over from Watson before he holed out to long-off. They at least gave India's bowlers something to defend, but the way India bowled and the way Watson and Warner batted, Australia could have chased down 200. Australia will now enter their second Super Eights match against South Africa full of confidence. And maybe someone other than Watson will get a go next time.

A grand final before the semis

An early grand final, Michael Hussey called this match. A loss won't end the tournament for either side but in a difficult Super Eights group also featuring South Africa and Pakistan, Australia and India are both desperate to begin with a victory. Both teams enter the match with a solid if not spectacular form-line behind them. India accounted for a plucky Afghanistan and then annihilated a lacklustre England in the group stages, while Australia thrashed Ireland and then did enough against a strong West Indies side to be ahead on Duckworth-Lewis when the rain came halfway through their hefty chase.

Australia have had a settled line-up so far in this tournament and that is unlikely to change now. Shane Watson in particular has been outstanding, both with the ball and at the top of the batting order, and has been Man of the Match in both games so far. India's team selections are much less obvious, especially after Virender Sehwag was left out of their second match. Zaheer Khan and R Ashwin also didn't play against England and finding someone to squeeze out of the side after their 90-run win won't be easy. Harbhajan Singh, who didn't play the first game, seems to have cemented his spot with four wickets against England.

The presence of Harbhajan will add an extra dimension to the match. These are teams with a history of fiery clashes, and Harbhajan has often been part of that. However, in recent battles between India and Australia the tensions have faded considerably. Australia's captain George Bailey still expects some verbal stoushes in the heat of a World Twenty20 contest, especially with Harbhajan back and Australia's mouthy opener David Warner unlikely to keep quiet. "We have players who probably engage in some of that and players who don't," Bailey told reporters on Thursday. "You'll find that most of those guys who like to verbal, they instigate it. That's the way they get their juices flowing. It gets them switched on."

Just as long as neither side allows such sideshows to distract them from the main game.

Form guide
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Australia WWWLL
India WWLWL

Sri Lanka prevail in Super Over

Sri Lanka sweat over Mendis fitness

Sri Lanka are still unsure whether their key spinner Ajantha Mendis will be fit to play their first Super Eights match against New Zealand on September 27. Mendis, who is suffering from a side strain, is scheduled to practice with the team today, and a call on his participation will be taken before the game.

Mendis picked up the injury in Sri Lanka's opening game against Zimbabwe on September 18, but completed his overs after being treated on the field. He has since then been under treatment and was left out of Sri Lanka's final group match against South Africa on September 22; Sri Lanka lost that rain-curtailed game by 32 runs. Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had said Mendis' omission from the South Africa match on Saturday had simply been precautionary but, despite having eight days to recover, Mendis is yet to regain full fitness.

"We are monitoring his progress carefully. We took an MRI scan on his left side and it showed a slight tear," Charith Senanayake, the Sri Lanka manager, said on Tuesday. "These injuries are quite common with fast bowlers, but because Mendis bowls at a fast pace may have strained himself," he said. "Mendis bowled a few overs at the nets today, but we will monitor him carefully and take a call whether he is fit enough to play against New Zealand."







Mendis marked his return to international cricket after a back injury had kept him out for eight months in Zimbabwe game with the best bowling figures by a bowler in T20 cricket with six wickets for eight runs.

Taufel to quit umpiring after T20 World Cup

Simon Taufel to quit umpiring after the 2012 T20 World Cup


REUTERS - Australian Simon Taufel will end his international umpiring career after the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka to groom the next generation of elite match officials, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old has umpired in 74 tests and 174 one-day internationals in his outstanding career, winning ICC Umpire of the Year award for five successive years from 2004 to 2008.

Taufel said in an ICC statement that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"In my new position as ICC umpire performance and training manager, I look forward to help create professional programmes and resources to support the current and future generations of cricket match officials," he added.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson paid tribute to one of cricket's most consistent umpires.

"Simon has been one of the most respected umpires for over a decade due to his excellent decision-making and man-management skills.

"He has been a role model for umpires globally who look to him for inspiration and guidance," he added.

Sachin dancing with Viru

A rare pic of Sachin dancing with Virender Sehwag

Its Time For Super Eight

ATTENTION EVERYONE

BLOCK THE DATES !!! BECAUSE ITS TIME FOR THE SUPER EIGHT !

Make sure you keep yourself free to watch India knock off all it's opponents.

Exciting days ahead!

Broad spins in England defence

found himself in a familiar position for England captains - trying to explain a calamitous display against spin bowling - as his side, dismissed against India for 80 in 14.4 overs, registered England's lowest total in Twenty20 internationals.

"It doesn't change our destiny a huge amount - we still hop on a bus to Kandy in the morning," Broad said. "It is not like tomorrow is going to be a different day. It is not as if we have to go home or anything."

It was understandable, indeed it was necessary, that Broad found consolation in the fact that both sides had already qualified for Super Eights and that, for the sake of their travelling supporters, England and India were already locked into matches in Pallakele (near to Kandy) or Colombo respectively, irrespective of whether they finished first or second in the group.

But that underplayed the psychological effect that a defeat of such magnitude will have on a relatively untried England batting line-up that had grown in confidence during the warm-up matches but which collapsed spectacularly when faced by the first real test against significant opposition.

As Broad had mentioned destiny, he did bring to mind Freud's theory of repetition compulsion - a psychological phenomenon in which a person (or in this case the England cricket team) repeats a traumatic event, or its circumstances, over and over again.

Freud's theory says the patient does not remember anything about what he has forgotten or repressed, but just acts it out until the end of time, which is a depressing thought for when England next face spin bowling in Asia as well as an intriguing challenge for the team psychologist. The alternative, of course, would be to listen instead to Mushtaq Ahmed, the spin bowling coach, and start hitting the ball down the ground.

"Our error today is we lost early wickets," Broad said. "Spinners always enjoy bowling to new batsmen. We talked the other day about how we need to hit straight and hard and today to lose the first couple of wickets across the line was a bit disappointing. Hitting straight was a much better option than going across the ball."


England's display was so woeful that when they lost their ninth wicket at 60 they were in danger of recording the lowest score in T20 internationals, undercutting Kenya's 67 against Ireland. Somehow, they avoided that. But this was their heaviest defeat, by runs, in T20 internationals.

There was no alibi for the batsmen and Broad was not about to give them one. There was no sharp turn - there may be as the tournament progresses so if England do reach the semi-finals and face India once more at Premadasa it could be worse - and India's 170 for 4 was, at most, 10 over par so the target did not demand the impossible.

"I don't think the wicket turned massively to be honest," Broad said. "The guys getting out said it was just skidding on a little bit. There was a little bit of turn, Harbhajan bowled very nicely with his top-spinner going well but no, I don't think it was a raging turner or anything.

"We made it easy for India in the end. We will have to learn from our mistakes and there were some pretty clear ones in the batting line-up. Young guys seem to learn pretty quickly."

He did not entirely exonerate the bowling, where England suffered in this match by giving Tim Bresnan a run out as a fourth seamer, in defiance of a dry pitch, because of their conviction that the ball will seam and swing in Pallakele and he will play in their opening Super Eight tie against West Indies or Ireland on Thursday as a result. The fielding was also scrappy by England standards, but these were details compared to the car crash of a batting performance.

"I think we were a little bit sloppy in places: we had a few soft twos in the outfield," Broad conceded. "We didn't hit our lengths as well as we could up front. But I think it was the lowest first-innings score on this ground so far in the tournament. We thought it was very chaseable. The wicket was pretty flat, although it didn't have the pace in it that it had the other night.

"It will be interesting to see what the Pallakele wickets offer. There has been talk that in the Sri Lankan Premier League it seamed around a bit. We knew it was a bit dryer at the start but we wanted to try a different balance of side with the four seamers in a game that we could afford to lose. It was a risk that we took and it didn't help us."

Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, was quick to point out England's deficiencies. "This is a sorry display from England," he said. "There's been a lack of footwork, application and the will to stick around and fight it out." It was accurate enough but England regard Gavaskar as a serial critic; perhaps this is a comment that will be heading for the dressing room wall.

Harbhajan Singh took 4

Harbhajan Singh took 4 for 12 on his international comeback

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Afghan journeymen aim to stall India's journey

Who will be the King of Spin today?

Today India takes on Afghanistan in World T20. Who will be the King of Spin today?

Pakistan won the thriller against the Indians

Pictures of Ind vs Pak

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, one man in form and the other out of form, powered to fifties in a century partnership as India surged to 185 in the warm-up game against Pakistan at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, their base for the World Twenty20. While Kohli continued his incredible run, Rohit's showing in both warm-up matches - he made 37 against Sri Lanka on Saturday - will be a big relief for the management. The only downside of Kohli and Rohit's dominance was that Yuvraj Singh has now faced just 17 deliveries in both warm-up games put together.

Kohli's supreme touch was evident when he nonchalantly clipped his first delivery through midwicket for four in the fifth over. His confidence spurred him to step out consistently to the Pakistan spinners, and also helped Rohit to bat himself into some form. Rohit found confidence as his innings grew, and even overtook Kohli on the scoreboard briefly. Their partnership of 127 came at close to ten runs an over, and despite Saeed Ajmal going for less than a run a ball, India breezed to a stiff score.

Both started quietly, not taking risks initially against the spinners. Kohli started leaving his crease almost every delivery, and most of his boundaries came down the ground when he charged out. Rohit was understandably more circumspect, but he put away the loose deliveries for boundaries with several cuts and pulls.

Kohli's control of the situation showed again when he coolly lofted Mohammad Sami over wide long-on for six in the 18th over. That too after having almost been taken out by a beamer previous ball.

Three of Pakistan's frontline bowlers - Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir and Sami - went for runs, with Virender Sehwag getting India off with his typical limited-overs innings that had powerful strokes, let-offs and was over soon. Sami was taken for three fours in a wayward first over and Saeed Ajmal was swung to long-on first ball, where Sami could not hold onto a tough chance as he arched over the rope. Sehwag departed next ball, cutting Ajmal to point. Kohli and Rohit took over quite capably after that.

India won the warp up match Against Sri Lanka

Indian Fast Bowlers statistics

	Bowlers	O	M	R	W	Econ								Mat	Wkts	BBI	Econ
	*Lakshmipathy Balaji (rmf)	3.3	0	28	3	8.00		(0nb, 0w)						1	3	3/28	8.00
	Irfan Pathan (lmf)	4.0	0	25	5	6.25		(0nb, 4w)						1	5	5/25	6.25

Match Statistics

	India innings (20 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	G Gambhir	retired hurt	5	4	1	0	125.00
	V Sehwag	c Eranga b Kulasekara	12	10	2	0	120.00
	4.5 caught Eranga 32/2
	SK Raina	c Munaweera b Kulasekara	12	15	2	0	80.00
	4.3 caught Munaweera 28/1
	V Kohli	c Munaweera b Mathews	8	10	1	0	80.00
	7.4 caught Munaweera 46/3
	Yuvraj Singh	c †Sangakkara b Herath	11	12	2	0	91.66
	8.3 caught †Sangakkara 51/4
	RG Sharma	c Jayawardene b Malinga	37	26	4	1	142.30
	19.1 caught Jayawardene 129/5
	MS Dhoni*†	not out	55	42	4	3	130.95
	IK Pathan	not out	2	2	0	0	100.00
	Extras	(lb 1, w 2, nb 1)	4
	Total	(5 wickets; 20 overs)	146	(7.30 runs per over)

Did not bat Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, R Ashwin, L Balaji

Fall of wickets 0-9* (Gambhir, retired not out), 1-28 (Raina, 4.3 ov), 2-32 (Sehwag, 4.5 ov), 3-46 (Kohli, 7.4 ov), 4-51 (Yuvraj Singh, 8.3 ov), 5-129 (Sharma, 19.1 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	SL Malinga	4	0	50	1	12.50	(1nb)
	19.1 to Sharma, caught Jayawardene 129/5
	KMDN Kulasekara	4	0	39	2	9.75	(1w)
	4.3 to Raina, caught Munaweera 28/1 4.5 to Sehwag, caught Eranga 32/2
	RMS Eranga	2	0	10	0	5.00	(1w)
	NLTC Perera	3	0	17	0	5.66
	AD Mathews	2	0	6	1	3.00
	7.4 to Kohli, caught Munaweera 46/3
	HMRKB Herath	3	1	8	1	2.66
	8.3 to Yuvraj Singh, caught †Sangakkara 51/4
	BMAJ Mendis	2	0	15	0	7.50

	Sri Lanka innings (target: 147 runs from 20 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	EMDY Munaweera	b Pathan	3	4	0	0	75.00
	0.6 bowled 5/1
	TM Dilshan	c †Dhoni b Pathan	1	4	0	0	25.00
	2.6 caught †Dhoni 15/2
	KC Sangakkara†	b Harbhajan Singh	32	32	4	0	100.00
	11.5 bowled 74/4
	AD Mathews	c †Dhoni b Balaji	16	11	3	0	145.45
	5.5 caught †Dhoni 45/3
	HDRL Thirimanne	c †Dhoni b Khan	24	27	1	1	88.88
	14.2 caught †Dhoni 92/5
	BMAJ Mendis	b Pathan	26	22	2	1	118.18
	18.6 bowled 120/8
	NLTC Perera	c Raina b Pathan	10	13	0	0	76.92
	18.3 caught Raina 118/6
	DPMD Jayawardene*	c Harbhajan Singh b Pathan	0	1	0	0	0.00
	18.4 caught Harbhajan Singh 118/7
	KMDN Kulasekara	c Kohli b Balaji	0	1	0	0	0.00
	19.1 caught Kohli 120/9
	SL Malinga	c Harbhajan Singh b Balaji	0	2	0	0	0.00
	19.3 caught Harbhajan Singh 120/10
	HMRKB Herath	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	Extras	(b 1, w 7)	8
	Total	(all out; 19.3 overs)	120	(6.15 runs per over)

Did not bat RMS Eranga

Fall of wickets 1-5 (Munaweera, 0.6 ov), 2-15 (Dilshan, 2.6 ov), 3-45 (Mathews, 5.5 ov), 4-74 (Sangakkara, 11.5 ov), 5-92 (Thirimanne, 14.2 ov), 6-118 (Perera, 18.3 ov), 7-118 (Jayawardene, 18.4 ov), 8-120 (Mendis, 18.6 ov), 9-120 (Kulasekara, 19.1 ov), 10-120 (Malinga, 19.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	IK Pathan	4	0	25	5	6.25	(4w)
	0.6 to Munaweera, bowled 5/1 2.6 to Dilshan, caught †Dhoni 15/2 18.3 to Perera, caught Raina 118/6 18.4 to Jayawardene, caught Harbhajan Singh 118/7 18.6 to Mendis, bowled 120/8
	Z Khan	4	0	29	1	7.25	(2w)
	14.2 to Thirimanne, caught †Dhoni 92/5
	L Balaji	3.3	0	28	3	8.00
	5.5 to Mathews, caught †Dhoni 45/3 19.1 to Kulasekara, caught Kohli 120/9 19.3 to Malinga, caught Harbhajan Singh 120/10
	R Ashwin	4	0	20	0	5.00
	Harbhajan Singh	4	0	17	1	4.25
	11.5 to Sangakkara, bowled 74/4

Match details

Players per side 12 (11 batting, 11 fielding)

Toss India, who chose to bat

Umpires SJ Davis (Australia) and SJA Taufel (Australia) Reserve umpire BF Bowden (New Zealand)

Match notes

G Gambhir retired hurt at 9/0 (5* off 4 balls, 1x4)

An old pic Yuvraj and Zaheer with SACHIN ♥

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

Sachin Tendulkar Memorable

SACHIN'S CRITICS TROLLED :D

Batsmen fire as England level series

Broad praise for 'game-changing' Buttler

Stuart Broad lauded Jos Buttler as a "game-changer" after his explosive 32 off 10 balls helped power England to a series-leveling victory against South Africa.

It was the first time Buttler had clicked at international level after six previous T20 innings had brought a top score of 13, to go with a duck on ODI debut. This time, however, he had equalled that after just three balls following two huge straight sixes off Wayne Parnell, which were followed by a brace of scoops for four and another pull over midwicket in an over that cost 32.

The innings had been less convincing until Buttler's intervention as both Luke Wright and Eoin Morgan struggled for their timing, leaving Craig Kieswetter to carry England before getting some crucial assistance.

"We knew we had hitters to come in and Jos played a game-changing innings," Broad said. "We've picked guys who can change the momentum of Twenty20 games. We've seen this fella do it for Somerset time and time again so to see him do it in an England shirt was brilliant. It pretty much won us the game."

"Going into the final three overs it looked like we needed a push, Jos got 32 in 10 balls and that would change most games. It was awesome to see and a great confidence for the squad going to Sri Lanka. To get on that flight with a win under our belt is brilliant."

AB de Villiers was also gracious about Buttler's innings which meant both limited-overs legs of the tour were shared following the 2-2 result in the one-day series.

"You have to give credit where it's due and he certainly took it to us," de Villiers said. "I thought he hit a few very inventive shots and that's what's needed in this format. It certainly wasn't our best performance, we came up short in a few areas and in the field as well it was not the smoothest display. We were pretty much outplayed tonight."

For both captains thoughts now turn to the impending challenges in Sri Lanka. Throughout the series there was plenty of attention on the World Twenty20, with the teams rotating their squads. England gave all 15 of their players an outing, bringing in Michael Lumb, Danny Briggs and Tim Bresnan at Edgbaston, while from South Africa only Farhaan Behardien did not get an game.

"We obviously wanted to give guys experience," Broad said. "I didn't want guys who maybe hadn't played for England for a couple of years to have to make a difference in the semi-final or something. We wanted to come away with victories from this series, and we're pleased to have drawn the series after the first game, but there was half an eye on the World Twenty20."

Part of that thinking was behind giving Briggs the new ball on his T20 debut. His first over went for nine, but he twice beat Hashim Amla, then he returned to have Faf du Plessis caught at cover. Opening with spin could yet be a tactic used in the coming weeks.

"We've not done that a huge amount as an England team, but other teams have done it," Broad said. "It was good to have that option. Finny has been fantastic with the new ball, getting early wickets but without him today I thought it was a good option to try spin."

De Villiers was also pleased with what his team had gained from the seris, even though the last two matches were reduced to nine and 11 overs by rain. De Villiers believes that the experience of playing in reduced matches could yet prove invaluable.

"At this level you have to adapt no matter what situation you find yourself in," he said. "I hear there is quite a bit of rain around in Sri Lanka at the moment and we might get a few rain-delayed games and it might cost you the World Cup. We have played a couple now, one good, one not so good, so we can take some learning out of that. There's no room for error that's for sure. We've had a taste for it now and will be better prepared now."

Pietersen future remains uncertain

It speaks volumes about the state of transition in which the England team finds itself that there is so much uncertainty about the make-up of the Test squad to tour India.

After several years of continuity of selection and predictability, England find themselves at the start of a partial rebuilding operation. Tellingly, the England selectors put aside two days to pick the side and have delayed the announcement of the tour party until September 18.

It is unlikely that Kevin Pietersen will be included. Unlikely, but not impossible. Alastair Cook, England's new Test captain, is understandably ambitious and knows full well that his side's hopes of success in India are vastly reduced by omitting Pietersen from his side. For that reason, several meetings have been held with Pietersen over recent days as both sides seek a resolution to a problem that, with a bit of common sense and humility, should never have been allowed to reach this stage.

Had Pietersen apologised without caveat, he might have been selected. But as soon as he expressed his lingering resentment over the parody Twitter account, the spectre of more unrest within the dressing room was raised. England will not risk that. If Pietersen is to come back into the England fold, he must do so on the management's terms, not his.

Pietersen's future is now uncertain. Currently without a central contract, he knows he can, as a free agent, commit to the whole 2013 season of the IPL. But he also knows that by doing so he risks increasing the divide between him and England. If he plays the whole season, he will not be available for all the Tests against New Zealand at the start of next summer. Or, just as importantly, been seen to be fighting to win back his place in county cricket. In the meantime, he should be available for the Champions League Twenty20 and the Big Bash League.

He will also be without a county from the end of this month. While Surrey have expressed a desire to retain his services, they will be waiting to see whether he is given another central contract before committing. With Chris Tremlett, who was omitted from the central contract list, already now added to their wage bill, the addition of Pietersen would take Surrey perilously close to the salary cap.

There is a possibility - no more than that - that Pietersen will never make it back into the England team. Should Jonny Bairstow or Eoin Morgan, whose award of a central contact virtually assures him a place, seize their chance, or even look as if they are worthy of longer-term investment, there will be no room for Pietersen's return. The lines of communication remain open and the sense is of a thawing of relationships, but Pietersen has risked ending his international career with this episode. For a man who moved continents to pursue his dream, who worked hard at his game for more than 20 years, who made endless sacrifices and who should, right now, be at his peak, it seems an awful waste.

England have a difficult enough job selecting a team to win in India even without the Pietersen issue. Not since 1984-85 have they won a Test series there and to do so with a side in transition and against a foe anxious to avenge the whitewash in England in the summer of 2011, will prove desperately demanding.

For a start, none of England's back-up spin options are ideal. Monty Panesar remains a poor batsman and worse fielder; Samit Patel is not quite strong enough with bat and nowhere near potent enough with ball to be considered an allrounder and James Tredwell, for all his admirable qualities with bat, ball and in the field, has the misfortune to be an offspinner much like Graeme Swann. Doubts about Swann's elbow might convince the selectors to include Tredwell, but Panesar, for the potency of his bowling and the variation he offers, remains the likely candidate. Patel, with his ability to bat at No. 7, may also win inclusion as he did for Sri Lanka earlier this year.

There are no ideal options for the opening batsman position, either. While Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell, among others, could move up the order, such a tactic would be moving a problem rather than solving one. Few of the new options are perfect - Joe Root and Varun Chopra are a little green; Michael Carberry has, perhaps unfairly, a dubious reputation against spin and Nick Compton has scored his mountain of runs this season at No. 3.

Chopra might be considered to have an advantage thanks to his reliable slip catching and he scored heavily in Sri Lanka last winter but, on the basis that he has been opening for the Lions, Root is seen as the next in line. He is highly rated by Graham Thorpe, the lead batting coach for the ECB, and is said to have improved markedly against spin over the last 12 months. His offspin should not be relevant - he has claimed only eight first-class wickets in his career - but he has the talent and the time (he is only 21) to develop into the man who opens with Cook in the Ashes.

That would mean no place for Compton, Carberry, Chopra or James Taylor. It may well mean no place for Ravi Bopara, too, despite the fact that his bowling would provide a valuable option. But the likelihood that Bell will miss one Test on paternity leave and the need for some back-up for a green opening batsman might persuade the selectors to include a 17th man. If so, the prolific Compton will be hard to overlook. Craig Kieswetter, despite one poor ODI performance recently, may also have moved in front of Steve Davies as reserve wicketkeeper and is an improving batsman against spin, even if his keeping standing up remains a work in progress.

More replacements will be available as required from the England Lions squad. The Lions also tour India this winter, though the first two Tests of the main series will probably have been played before their arrival.

All that still leaves England with one substantial problem. Their slip catching has been poor over the last six months - it may well have cost them the series against South Africa and, as a consequence their No.1 Test ranking - and it is far from obvious who might be pressed into service in the cordon on this tour.

One solution might be to recall Rikki Clarke, who now offers pace and control with the ball, reliability with the bat and the best pair of hands in county cricket, in place of Tim Bresnan who, since his elbow operation, has struggled to recover his nip with the ball. Sadly Clarke, like Pietersen and Panesar, is not seen as quite the sort of fellow that would fit into the increasingly homogenized England dressing room. At some stage, though, if England keep losing, that narrow thinking may be challenged.

Possible squad Alastair Cook (capt), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Craig Kieswetter (wkt), Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Steven Finn, Graham Onions