Inzamam-ul-Haq will take a late decision on whether to make himself available for the VB Series against Australia and West Indies. Inzamam missed the last two Tests against Australia because of back problems, but has responded well to treatment.”I will decide then but I am trying my level best to be fit,” he told the BBC website. “The muscular injury was hurting deep when I was bending to take stance or while I was running. Now the pain has eased out but I have to make the right calculation about my comeback because I can’t afford to blow away my chances of touring India in March.”Inzamam has come under fierce criticism from former Pakistan players for his side’s 3-0 defeat to Australia. He scored only one run in his two innings at Perth last month, and Imran Khan, who was the captain when Inzamam first entered international cricket, condemned his attitude.”I have the highest regard for him but I wish Imran had seen the medical reports,” Inzamam said, responding to the criticism. “We are more disappointed and sad than our supporters because we are not as bad as the results reflect. We improved gradually but we played against the best team in the world in their backyard.”But Inzamam reckoned that some pride could be won back in the VB Series: “The players have been working extremely hard as they know this may be their last chance to win back the confidence and trust of their supporters. If we are a good and talented team, we have to perform well in this tournament.”
Chaminda Vaas is set to make his Frizzell Championship debut against Derbyshire at The Rose bowl on Tuesday. The Sri Lankan left arm bowler has impressed in the three National League matches he has played in, but has hist first taste of the 4 day game to come.Nic Pothas faces a late fitness test, and a decision will be made on this on Tuesday morning. Iain Brunnschweiler will stand bye. Jimmy Adams who suffered concussion in the last Championship match at The Rose Bowl is awaiting a specialist clearance before a decision is made.Hampshire chose from 14: Derek Kenway, Jimmy Adams, Simon Katich, John Crawley (captain), John Francis, Nic Pothas or Iain Brunnschweiler, James Hamblin, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Chaminda Vaas, Chris Tremlett, Alan Mullally, James Bruce
*Shafiq Khan props up HaryanaLargely thanks to Shafiq Khan’s gritty innings of 95, Haryana reacheda total of 275/8 by the close of play on the first day of their RanjiTrophy league match against Services at Faridabad.Winning the toss, Haryana’s captain Parender Sharma opted to bat.Three wickets fell for 59 before opener Chetan Sharma (73) and Shafiqstabilised the innings. Sharma departed with the score on 124, butShafiq put up solid stands with Ajay Ratra and S Vidyut, fallingfinally with the score on 270.At stumps, Haryana were 275/8, with Sumit Narwal and Amit Mishraunbeaten on three and one respectively.For Services, Sudhakar Ghag picked up four wickets for 72 runs,bowling a marathon 35 overs in the day. Hari Prasad took 3-101.*Punjab struggle on Day OneA fighting knock of 94 from captain Reetinder Singh Sodhinotwithstanding, Punjab found itself struggling at the close of playat 269/9 against Jammu and Kashmir in their Ranji Trophy league tieagainst Jammu.The home side, with their wider knowledge of the conditions, opted tobowl first; they struck immediately with the wicket of Manish Sharmawith the score on six. Yuvraj Singh fell soon, but the onlysignificant partnership of the innings then developed between RavneetRicket and Sodhi.Ricky fell for 68, with the score on 165. Wickets then fell at regularintervals, with Ashwani Gupta (3-72) and Jagtar Singh (2-74) cleaningup the middle-order.At stumps, Gagandeep Singh was unbeaten on 28 and Sanjay Dhull on one.Only one wicket remains to fall in Punjab’s first innings, and theywill have to bowl well to avoid losing face to a less-endowed opponent.*Delhi bowl out Himachal on Day OneWith Amit Bhandari and Arun Singh picking up three wickets apiece,Himachal Pradesh were bowled out for 167 on Day One of their RanjiTrophy league match against Delhi at Bilaspur.Winning the toss, Delhi captain Mithun Manhas put his opponents in tobat. His bowlers backed him up beautifully; three wickets fell for 26and five for 39. At 89/7, Himachal were in real danger of being bowledout for less than 100, but Shakti Singh batted (43) well with hisfellow tailenders to take the score to 167.Delhi lost Akash Chopra at 29, but Gautam Gambhir and RS Sharma tooktheir side to the close of play without further mishap. Gambhir wasunbeaten on 32, while Sharma was on 24. For Himachal, Sandeep Sharmawas the lone wicket-taker.
Sky Sports News journalist Michael Bridge expects Rangers duo Ryan Kent and Joe Aribo to be the subject of interest ahead of the summer transfer window.
The lowdown
Both players have already been linked with moves to English Premier League clubs in recent months.
The Daily Mail have claimed that former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard is keen on a reunion with Kent at Aston Villa, while a report from Football Insider in the autumn claimed that Crystal Palace were eyeing up Aribo.
The Gers have already sanctioned one lucrative sale to a top-flight club south of the border in 2022, agreeing to let Nathan Patterson join Everton for £16m.
The latest
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Bridge said that Rangers could well receive approaches for the duo, feeling ‘sure’ that the form of Aribo in particular won’t have gone unnoticed.
The journalist claimed: “I do expect Kent, and I do expect Aribo to get interest, I really do. I know you’ve touched on Aribo before with Palace, and I’m sure clubs will look at him. He’s a really, really, really good player.”
The verdict
From Rangers’ point of view, there’s potentially a business decision to be made here.
At the end of this season, both Kent and Aribo will be into the final 12 months of their contracts. If neither of them has penned a new deal by January, then they will be able to negotiate pre-contract terms with clubs outside Scotland.
That could see the club lose two of their most valuable assets – they both rank in Transfermarkt’s top three in terms of market values for Rangers-owned players – for nothing.
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Their first choice may be to keep both Aribo and Kent at the club, but if that isn’t realistic, cashing in on them when they can maximise income from their sales could be a smart move.
In other news, read this injury expert’s claim on Aaron Ramsey
Having literally flung himself into injury in an ODI late last month, Brendon McCullum earned a four-week glimpse into his future. McCullum aggravated a back complaint when he dove into advertising hoardings, attempting to save a boundary in the second ODI against Sri Lanka.
Azhar hopes for bowling improvement
Azhar Ali said his team had dissected the Wellington loss and knew they needed to put in a more complete performance on Sunday. The bowling had been one area of concern, having had New Zealand at 99 for 6 at one point, before letting them reach 280 for 8. “In 22 overs we had picked up the best part of their batting line up, but it taught us a lesson that until we get the last wicket, it’s not over,” Azhar said. “We have the capability to take 10 wickets. These days you need to get wickets to stop the flow of runs. In the last game, the last five overs went for too many. We looked at that and we’ll try and rectify that in this game.” On the batting front, Azhar suggested Pakistan have no plans to move Sarfraz Ahmed up the order, although he averages over 40 when batting in the top three, as opposed to a career average of less than 30. “He’s a wonderful player and I always say he’s a wonderful team man. Wherever you want him to bat he accepts that and tries to perform well. But at this moment we aren’t looking to make too many changes. It’s not in our cards yet.”
Since then he has watched Kane Williamson lead the New Zealand side, and spent time on his horse racing hobby – both of which he seems destined to spend more time doing when he draws the curtain on his career at the end of February. He had decided horse racing was “a tough business” on the eve of his likely cricketing return, against Pakistan, but was more impressed with the New Zealand team’s performance in his absence. They had won two out of three ODIs and four out of five T20s under Williamson this season.”I thought Kane did an outstanding job as captain,” McCullum said. “You’re pretty proud when you step back and see that the team still has the same strong values that you tried to instill within the group over the period of time.”Henry Nicholls hit his first international fifty, and Corey Anderson made a successful return from back injury, while McCullum was unavailable.”It’s hard because you don’t want to pry too much either. You want to give guys the space to operate without you. I’ve been really impressed with what we’ve seen from the younger guys as well. They’ve taken to the environment really quickly. They’ve had some clear role clarity as well, which is easily seen when they come in and have success in their positions.”New Zealand’s success has come despite a slew of injuries to key players. McCullum said the constant change in personnel over the past few weeks did not necessitate a substantial change in strategy, thanks largely to the depth in New Zealand’s stocks at present.”We’ve tried to play a reasonably consistent brand of cricket,” he said. “Credit to the selectors and the coaching staff on being able to implement a gameplan which has built up some depth. When guys do come in, they don’t have to differ their roles greatly from what they’ve done at domestic cricket. That’s why we’ve had some success this year with guys on the periphery of the squad as well. They know what their job is, and can go out and execute.”McCullum has four ODIs and two Tests remaining in his international career, and he said the break had not dulled his desire. He spoke of his decision to retire as having given him mental freedom.”If anything, it’s probably a release of pressure when you know that the time in the spotlight is starting to come towards the end,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the last month of being around the boys, playing amongst the New Zealand cricket team, and having a good time. Hopefully if we can win a few games and continue what we’ve done over the last 12-18 months – the things that have put smiles on the faces of New Zealand fans.”Those that know me know I’m either all-in or all out. I’m committed through to the end of the Australian series. I’m really excited about that. I’ve got a little bit of fight left in me for that series.”
South Africa will long remember this day, one when they sealed a major series in the subcontinent after seven years. Pakistan will hurt after the reversal but will evoke memories of one of their finest batsmen, Inzamam-ul-Haq, bringing down the curtains on a resplendent career. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf ensured Pakistan won the day; South Africa had done enough to secure the series.Well as they tried, South Africa’s bowlers couldn’t get past a set of batsmen who had steeled themselves for the rearguard. The story might have been different had Younis not been reprieved on 83 or had the new ball been taken earlier or had some of the edges not eluded the slip fielders but to Pakistan goes credit for hanging on. Younis’ aggression during his second century of the series blended well with Yousuf’s caution and Pakistan saw out the day with six wickets to spare.”Inzamam’s Test”, however, didn’t live up to its name. If the first-innings 14 was short, this one, a two-ball 3, was too abrupt. The anti-climax came a few minutes before tea when Inzamam, two short of Javed Miandad’s Pakistan record for the most number of Test runs, charged left-arm spinner Paul Harris, only to be stumped by distance. As South Africa celebrated, Inzamam walked off to a guard of honour from his side. The stunned silence at the Gaddafi Stadium soon gave way to a warm final applause, putting a full stop on a riveting chapter.Younis and Yousuf shone through the rest of the day. Resuming on 48, Younis showed no sign of reining in his aggressive instincts. He brought up his fifty with a streaky four, driving away from his body in the third over of the day, and celebrated it by crashing the next ball through covers for another four. He chanced his arm against Jacques Kallis: two airy scoops beat the short midwicket fielder set specifically for that shot. He enjoyed a large slice of luck when on 83, popping one straight to short midwicket only for Hashim Amla to spill the simplest of chances.
Younis was forced to slow down once Harris was introduced, the batsmen kept quiet with a defensive line from over the wicket, but occasionally attempted slog sweeps and innovative paddles. He was quick to pounce on anything off length, tucking anything slightly short in front of square, but preferred to play him out and take the attack to the rest. South Africa didn’t find it easy to dislodge him and it required Kallis to go round the wicket to induce an error, Younis nicking to the wicketkeeper while flashing outside off.Yousuf’s was a risk-free, stodgy innings, preferring caution to adventure. He occasionally cashed in on the loose offerings but didn’t try anything fancy. His 156-ball 63 held the innings together and he never really appeared to be going for the improbable win. The full-tosses and long-hops were dispatched but there wasn’t a moment when he tried anything out of the ordinary. It was a workmanlike effort, one that ensured that Pakistan ended the series on a positive note.South Africa’s previous big series win in the subcontinent was made possible by a left-arm spinner – Nicky Boje running through India in Bangalore – but another one couldn’t take them to 2-0 here. Harris snapped up two wickets in the day, forcing an indiscreet whip from Akmal and a reckless charge from Inzamam, but could have managed more with a bit of fortune. A couple of return chances fell short and a number of deliveries beat the outside edge of the bat without taking the snick.The rest of the attack wasn’t far behind. Andre Nel struck a probing length, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini hustled the batsmen, and Kallis created opportunities. The pitch didn’t deteriorate that much and the prodigious spin was thanks more to the rough than the crumbling nature of the track. Graeme Smith delayed taking the new ball, probably to shut Pakistan out of the game completely, but he was the first one to pluck out a stump when the umpires called time, becoming only the second South African captain after Hansie Cronje to triumph in Pakistan.
One of the few positives to emerge from the debacle at Kingsmead was thereturn of one of Indian cricket’s prodigal sons. Zaheer Khan may only haveimpressed in patches, but the manner in which he nipped out Graeme Smithand Loots Bosman suggested that he may yet have a big role to play on thistour. And though the Durban defeat met with hysterical over-reaction backhome – talk of pay cuts, and selectors being flown out to convey thefeelings of the nation are frankly laughable – Zaheer remained quietlyconfident that India could turn things around.”We are very positive,” he said, speaking after India had finished atraining session in the indoor nets at the University of Cape Town. “Theconditions have been tough, we have had a lot of indoor practice. It’s along tour, there’s a lot of cricket to play. We are looking to improve asthe series progresses.”The Durban game was Zaheer’s first for India since February, when he hadan appalling one-day series in Pakistan. Fat, allegedly lazy and with apoor attitude, it could have marked the end of the road for him. But tothe man’s credit, he went away and worked on what needed to be done topush himself back into the selectors’ thoughts.”For any player, playing at the highest level is most important,” he said.”I was missing playing for India after being dropped. I sat down andanalysed what had gone wrong.” One of the answers he came up with wascounty cricket, and a stint with Worcestershire that reaped rich rewards.”A lot of senior players also advised me to go and play County cricket,and I decided to give it a shot.”He took 78 wickets there, and by the time he returned, he had also tonedup his physique so that he once again looked like a fast bowler, and notsome rugby prop forward. “Even when I was out of the side, I had faith inmy ability,” he said. “I backed myself to come back to the Indian side. Iknew it was essential that I take my game forward, and playing countycricket was the right decision. Once I took those many wickets and gotthat many overs under the belt, a recall was certain. I now want to focustotally on my game and cement my place in the side.”When asked what specific gains he had observed as a result of the countysojourn, Zaheer said, “It helped me in terms of match fitness, and infinding my rhythm. Picking up wickets consistently meant my confidence wasback – it gave me a huge mental boost and a sense of stability. I feel Ihave grown as a cricketer and as a bowler, I have improved a lot after thestint with Worcester[shire].”South Africa’s bowlers were hugely impressive in the rapid dismantling ofthe Indian batting line-up on Wednesday, and India’s pace attack will needto conjure up similar performances to keep the likes of Jacques Kallis andGraeme Smith at bay. The likes of Munaf Patel and Sreesanth are relativelynew to the game, and even Irfan Pathan has never bowled in theseconditions before. Zaheer, who has, reckons that the secret to success isnot to get carried away by the pace and bounce.”It helps that I have been here earlier,” he said. “You have a fair ideaof what lengths to bowl here, especially when you have played here in thepast. I spent a fair amount of time in the nets working out the lengths,and I have shared my past experiences with the other quick bowlers in theside as well.”Though India couldn’t build on their bright start to the Durban game -they had South Africa 63 for 3 at one stage, before Kallis and AB deVilliers took the game away – Zaheer said that providing the initialstrikes had done wonders for his confidence. “It was my comeback game, andto get that early breakthrough calmed my nerves,” he said. “The pressurewas always there, and I was a bit tentative to start with. But Smith’swicket helped. In future, I need to build on this performance.”After so many false starts over the course of a career that started up inKenya in 2000, you’d like to believe that he will.
Jason Gillespie, the Australian fast bowler, has been included in the South Australian side that will take on Queensland in the Pura Cup clash, starting on November 4. Gillespie, struggling to reclaim his position in the national side, recovered from a bruising to his right lung, which he sustained during the ING Cup match against New South Wales on October 23.Mark Cosgrove, the Northern Districts batsman who has been impressive in the two innings he played this season (117 and 86), returns from a one-month suspension. Ryan Harris, Cosgrove’s all-rounder team-mate, has also been included in the side after recovering from knee surgery that he underwent on October 17.Nathan Adcock, Cameron Borgas and Gary Putland have not been included in the ING Cup side. Gillespie replaces Putland in the Pura Cup side, as the only change to the team which played New South Wales last week.South Australia ING Cup squad 1 Darren Lehmann (capt), 2 Graham Manou (vice-capt, wk), 3 Matthew Elliot, 4 Callum Ferguson, 5 Greg Blewett, 6 Mark Cleary, 7 Mark Cosgrove, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Daniel Cullen, 10 Mark Higgs, 11 Paul Rofe, 12 Jason Gillespie.South Australia Pura Cup squad 1 Darren Lehmann (capt), 2 Graham Manou (vice-capt, wk), 3 Cullen Bailey, 4 Matthew Ellitot, 5 Greg Blewett, 6 Callum Ferguson, 7 Mark Cleary, 8 Cameron Borgas, 9 Shane Deitz, 10 Daniel Cullen, 11 Paul Rofe, 12 Jason Gillespie.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has confirmed that the Indian cricket team will play in Chittagong after the venue was given the green light by the security delegation sent to Bangladesh. The first Test starts in Dhaka on Friday, but there had been question marks over Chittagong hosting the second Test and one of the three one-day internationals.Reuters quoted Rajiv Shukla, a vice president of the BCCI, as saying: “The government has told us that Chittagong is safe to play in.” The security delegation was drafted in by the government after the Indian embassy in Dhaka received a letter from a fundamentalist group called the Harkat-ul-Jihad, threatening to kill Indian cricketers.After the experts gave Dhaka the go-ahead, the Indian team arrived there on Wednesday afternoon, but the first Test was put off by a day. The Chittagong match will now start on December 17.
Contradicting president Pervez Musharraf, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said that cricket was not just a trivial issue between India and Pakistan, and that thawing relations between the two countries created a favourable atmosphere for cricketing ties to resume.”If there is animosity between the two countries, then cricket plays a divisive role. It further accentuates the animosity. And if the relationship is cordial or getting closer, then cricket plays a cementing part,” said Imran in an interview to , which will be telecast on .”You see, if there is tension – for instance, as it was after Kargil – then cricket would have made it worse. Because then cricket becomes the battlefield, and the supporters then are at each other’s throats,” said Imran. “I think because there is a perception in the public that a dialogue is starting, there is a first step forward. So once you go in that direction, cricket is going to help.””There seems to be light at the end of tunnel right now, so I think cricket helps. It is going to cement more. I am all for it. I think it is time to resume cricketing ties,” Imran added.Although he emphasised that he had never received as affectionate a response as in India during his first tour, Imran said that an India-Pakistan match is “a war. It is a friendly war if the countries are friendly and it gets quite hostile if there is hostility between the two countries.”