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Yuvraj Singh would be the cynosure of all eyes when he captains India A, a team on a roll after the cleansweep against New Zealand A, in an ODI series against the West Indies A starting in Banga-lore on Sunday.

The glory of thrashing New Zealand A 3-0 was achieved under the captain-cy of Unmukt Chand, who perfectly marshaled his team to victory.

All eyes, however, will be trained on how Yuvraj, who has been out of favour in the recent times, handles the team as a captain against the West Indians. The left-hand-er, who battled and won over cancer, would be aiming to get back into the reckoning.

Yuvraj is more often seen as a brutal force in limited

overs cricket than in Tests with his ability to hit the ball clean and long.

Yuvraj aside, India A has its share of stars. Unmukt has scored 164 runs at an average of 48 with 94 being his highest in the three ODIs against New Zealand A, while Robin Uthappa has also scored a century in the lung-opener.

The Under-19 World Cup-winning captain would look for another good show from his bat to help his team get a good start.

Uthappa, who is in ODI exile, would be hoping to produce another sparkling show after the opening ODI ton to catch the eyes of na-tional selectors given that a

limited overs series against West Indies and South Africa is in sight.

Yuvraj will be hoping for Uthappa and Chand to dazzle in the opening ODI to give a

boost to the middle-or-der, which came good in the last two ODIs against New Zealand A with the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Mandeep Singh rising to the occasion.

Jadhav has delivered consistently, making unbeaten 30, 37 and 57, respectively in the last series. The Maharashtra batsman will be hoping to get a chance to go up the order to showcase his talent.

Yusuf Pathan, who has been provided an-other lifeline by selectors, will hope to recover from

his steep fall since the 2011 World Cup. He is a powerful and aggressive right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler.

sunday september | 15| 2013zabarwan times6

Agencies

A day after he was hit with a life ban by the BCCI, Sreesanth has vowed to make a comeback. He called the ban the “biggest setback” of his life, and continued to maintain that he was innocent.

“The BCCI action is the biggest setback in my life and I am disap-pointed,” he told reporters in Kochi. “I will try to overcome the crisis and make a strong comeback.”

His brother Dipu Santh told ES-PNcricinfo that Sreesanth’s camp will wait on the court’s verdict be-fore deciding on a further course of action. “Sreesanth is not in a hurry to challenge the BCCI sanction,” he said. “He wants to wait on the Delhi court that is hearing the case of spot-fixing registered by Delhi Police against him and the other Rajasthan Royals players. The Patiala House Court is expected to hear the case on October 7 and Sreesanth’s camp is confident that he would be acquitted of the all the allegations pressed against him by Delhi Police. We will wait for the court decision on October 7 before deciding on our next step.”

Dipu Santh said his brother was more surprised than shocked by the BCCI disciplinary committee’s verdict: “He thought the BCCI might take action only after the court’s ver-dict. He did not expect the BCCI to

take a decision so early.”On Friday, the BCCI had handed

Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Ankeet Chavan life bans after ruling them guilty of spot-fix-ing during IPL 2013.

Sreesanth reiterated he was not guilty. “I can tell that I have not done anything wrong,” he said. “The only consolation for me now is that I am at home, not in a jail.”

On Saturday morning, he tweet-ed: “Plss have faith in me..I am sure I will prove my innocence soon....I will get through this..I ve full faith ..God is great.” Sreesanth, Chavan and anoth-er Royals player, Ajit Chandila, were arrested by Delhi Police on May 16 in Mumbai, for the alleged fulfilling of promises made to bookmakers, along with eleven bookies including Amit Singh. Royals later suspended their players and the BCCI set up an inquiry into the matter, headed by its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani. Apart from the action taken by the board, the players face possible prison sentences should they be found guilty in a court of law. They were among 39 persons named in the Delhi Police’s chargesheet on alleged corruption in the IPL in July, charged with crimi-nal conspiracy, cheating and dishonesty under sections of the Indian Penal Code

and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Sreesanth, Chavan and another Royals player, Ajit Chandila, were arrested by Delhi Police on May 16 in Mumbai, for the al-leged fulfilling of promises made to bookmakers, along with eleven bookies includ-ing Amit Singh. Royals later s u s p e n d e d their players and the

BCCI set up an inquiry into the mat-ter, headed by its Anti-Corrup-

tion and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani. Apart from

the action taken by the board, the players face possible prison sentences should they be found guilty in a court of law.

They were among 39 per-sons named in the Delhi Police’s chargesheet on al-

leged corruption in the IPL in July, charged with crimi-

nal conspiracy, cheating and dishonesty under sections of the Indian

Penal Code and the Maharashtra

C o n t r o l of Or-

ganised Crime Act.

Sreesanth vows to return from ‘biggest setback’

Agencies

Clint McKay has taken a hat-trick in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) be-tween England and Austra-

lia at Cardiff, Wales. Batting first, Australia were bowled out for 227 with George Bai-

ley leading the way with 87. In reply, England have been jolted early by the McKay hat-trick.

Bowling the third over of the innings, he trapped Kevin

Pietersen in front off the first ball. Jonathan Trott walked in at number three and chased

a wide one and edged it to Aaron Finch at second slip. Joe Root walked in to face the hat-trick ball. It was pitched full and Root tried to drive it, but he too ended up edging it to first slip.

M c -Kay has become the fifth A u s t r a -lian bowl-er to take a hat-trick in ODIs af-ter the likes of Bruce Reid, Anthony Stuart, Brett Lee and D a n i e l Chris-tian.

Clint Mckay becomes the fifth Australian to take a hat-trick in ODIs

Agencies

It took a long time coming. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test against a team other than Bangladesh was in 2001, but they stayed patient through the final day even as Misbah-ul-Haq threatened to dash their hopes to win the second Test and square the two-match series.Zimbabwe began the day just five wickets away. Pakistan weren’t too far either: they needed 106 with Misbah still around. By lunch it became two wickets and 47 runs with Misbah still fighting it out. However, despite some quick runs post lunch it took Zimbabwe just one over with the new ball to mop up the Pakistan tail and spark wild celebra-tions in the ground, in the dressing room, and possibly all over Harare. Tendai Chatara bowled that over, completing his maiden Test five-for.

When the teams started after lunch, there were still four overs to

come with the old ball, and Misbah was keen to make the most of it. He lifted the second ball of the second

session over the umpire’s head, but was fortunate it dropped just short of a diving mid-on fielder. Misbah cur-tailed his instincts for the next two

overs, taking singles towards the end of each as he shielded Junaid Khan from the strike. In the 79th over, he pressed forward and blasted a full delivery over extra cover, then stole a couple of runs to deep cover before walking down the pitch and driving another full delivery past midwicket to the boundary. Off the fifth ball, he took a single to make it 11 off the over. In the 80th, he scored two more boundaries, but crucially for Zimba-bwe, the second came off the last de-livery, which meant Junaid would be exposed to the new-ball.

Chatara, who had taken two wick-ets earlier in the day, was entrusted with the new ball and his first deliv-ery - an outswinger past the edge - set the tone as the cordon readied them-selves. It didn’t take long as Junaid got a thick edge of the fourth delivery, straight to Malcolm Waller at gully. Rahat Ali was the new batsman, and was on strike. He, too, got an away-going delivery and was lucky his edge fell just short of Waller.

Zimbawe square series with historic win

Agencies

England started and finished their bowling effort strongly in Cardiff to restrict Australia to 227 as they aim to keep the one-day series alive, but George Bailey’s 87 ensured the visitors at least posted something competitive after their top order had been knocked over by high-quality pace bowling.

Having been 57 for 4, Bailey led a recovery, firstly with Adam Voges and then with Matthew Wade, before the innings faded dramatically with Aus-tralia losing their last five wickets for 18 in six overs. James Tredwell, who like at Old Trafford was targeted with the short, straight boundaries on this ground, responded impressively after his first six-over spell went for 48 (35 of Bailey’s half-century came against the offspinner) to claim three wickets as part of the late collapse.

Eoin Morgan had gambled by giv-

ing Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin 15 of their combined overs within the first 21 of the innings, having seen early wickets fall. While that strategy brought Michael Clarke’s demise it left England vulnerable in the second half of the innings and added further weight to the argument they are a spe-cialist bowler short, although Morgan will point to Australia’s underwhelm-ing total as justification for the selec-tion.Heavy rain fell for much of the previous afternoon and evening, but a dry, bright morning brought much-needed relief after the poor weather that has already led to two abandoned matches in this series. With a 10.15am start, and the surface having been cov-ered for a considerable time, it was a more-than-useful toss for Morgan to win, akin to many a September one-day final at Lord’s.For the second time in the series, Finn made a break-through in his first over, this time

with his first legitimate delivery of the match - having started with a wide.

All eyes on Yuvraj Singh as India A take on West Indies A

Agencies

The upcoming Champi-ons League Twenty20 is all set to be Sachin Tendulkar’s

last appearance for the Mumbai Indians but chief mentor Anil Kumble feels the emotions related to the

veteran’s swansong should be kept in check to ensure that the side’s performance is not affected.

“Emotions can’t be

brought into a game. It won’t help players’ performance. Emotions would obviously be there, but they have to

be kept in check...these emotions have to be kept in check. Every player under-stands that,” Kumble told the team’s official website.

“He (Tendulkar) has been synonymous with Mumbai Indians right from the start of IPL. I have played a lot of cricket with him. It would be ideal for the boys to give him a fitting send-off. He has been a great contributor for Mumbai Indians all those years.

“Although he couldn’t play in the last four-five games in the IPL 2013, but his contribution to the over-all cause of the team has al-ways been very important,” he added.

Kumble lauded Rohit Sharma’s captaincy after he led the side to its maiden IPL trophy this year.

Rohit Sharma was the highlight of IPL-6: Anil Kumble

Injuries rule Praveen and Irfan out of India A squad

Agencies

Quick bowlers Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan have been ruled out of the limited-overs games against West Indies A over the next week due to injuries. They have been replaced in the India A squad by Vinay Ku-mar and Punjab’s Siddarth Kaul.

Irfan has been regularly troubled by injuries since a starring role in India’s ODI series victory in Sri Lanka last year. A hamstring injury had curtailed his Ranji sea-son, and another one ruled him out of the tri-series in the Caribbean in July. He was part of India’s squad in the Champions Trophy but didn’t get a game.

Praveen has also had a troubled year, highlighted by a suspension after a dis-ciplinary breach during the Corporate Trophy in Febru-ary. He hasn’t represented India in a year and a half, and hasn’t played competi-tive cricket since the 2013 IPL.

Both Irfan and Praveen

had been picked for the India A squad for the three

one-dayers and one Twen-ty20 against West Indies A, but were not in the squads for the four-day games. The first one-dayer will

be played in Bangalore, on Sunday.

The selectors made one other change to the squad, including Kerala batsman VA Jagadeesh for the second and third four-day games.

Agencies

Sri Lanka’s makeshift Twenty20 tour-nament was confirmed only two days before it began and was followed by the board’s public spat with Kumar Sangakka-ra, but Kandurata Maroons captain Lahiru Thirimanne believes Sri Lanka now sends the strongest ever side to represent the country at the Champions League.

Four members of Sri Lanka’s frontline Twenty20 side, which has remained atop the world rankings for almost a year, will also play for Kandurata in India. In addi-tion to Thirimanne and Sangakkara, Ajan-tha Mendis and Nuwan Kulasekara are in the squad, along with Rangana Herath, who is not always in the Twenty20 XI, but has bowled crucial spells for Sri Lanka in the shortest format.

Kandurata’s supporting cast includes sometime Sri Lanka players and domes-tic stalwarts Thilina Kandamby and Kaushal

Lokuarachchi, as well as earmarked youngsters like allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya and fast bowler

Vimukthi Perara.“I think this is the best team Sri

Lanka have sent,” Thirimanne said. “We’ve got some very experienced players - the likes of San-

gakkara, Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga and Ajan-tha Mendis. Whether you look at our bowling or batting, we have a lot of ability and the side is well balanced. We’re very happy that we have players like Sangakkara and Herath, who are among the best in the world at the moment.”

Spin bowling shapes as a particular strength for Kandurata, who have two slow-bowling all-rounders in their ranks in Jayasuriya and Milin-da Siriwardene, in addition to Mendis and Her-ath. Although Mendis’ statistics make plain his decline in the longer formats, he still averages 12.84 and has a strike-rate of 12.6 in Twenty20 internationals, where his variety has remained effective.“We will have a big advantage with the quality of spinners that we have. They will be playing in helpful conditions in India and may-be some of the teams aren’t very comfortable against spin - we’re playing the New Zealand side in the qualifiers. That said we’ll still have to

play very well as a team to go through.”

Modalities of 2014 Asia Cup discussed in Asian Cricket Council

meetAgencies Chennai: Top members of

the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) today discussed the modalities of the 2014 Asia Cup tourna-ment, which is to be hosted by Bangladesh for a second straight time, in February-March next year.

The tournament, to be held from February 24 to March 8, has gone to Bangladesh after India, who had earlier agreed to host it, backed out citing a packed international schedule.

Bangladesh had hosted the last edition of the tournament in 2012. The tournament host was announced during ACC’s meeting in April and the de-tails were discussed in today’s meeting here, according to ACC sources.

‘Best team Sri Lanka have sent’ - Thirimanne