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Brad Hodge scored a half-century to lead his team, Barisal Burners to an eight-wicket win over Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier League on Sunday

The Report by Mohammad Isam20-Jan-2013
ScorecardNew arrival Brad Hodge led from the front, scoring a half-century as his team Barisal Burners beat Khulna Royal Bengals by eight wickets in the Bangladesh Premier League on Sunday. It was the first win for Barisal after they were trounced by Sylhet in the first game on the opening day, while Khulna lurched to their second defeat in as many games.The Barisal captain struck 53 off 40 balls with five fours and a six, as he and Phil Mustard began their chase of 143 with a 78-run opening stand. Hodge opened up with a straight six and a boundary off Farhad Reza in the third over.The loss of Mustard hardly bothered Hodge, who continued to dominate the largely inexperienced Khulna bowlers, including Afghanistan’s left-arm fast bowler Shapoor Zadran. Hodge was also severe on Sanjamul Islam in the seventh over, hitting the left-arm spinner for two boundaries and a six. By the time Islam dismissed Hodge in the 13th over, Barisal had their chase under control.Another new player for Barisal, Englishman Joe Denly, also contributed, putting on an unbroken 45-run, third-wicket stand with Azhar Mahmood.Choosing to bat first, Khulna once again felt the absence of their Pakistan players, as they mustered a below-par score on a batting track. Captain Shahriar Nafees and Riki Wessels consolidated the innings with a stand of 58, after the loss of a couple of early wickets including that of opener Nazimuddin, who edged a cut off the first ball of the mach.Nafees started slowly before launching into Nazmul Islam’s left-arm spin in the tenth over, hitting him for four fours. Wessels, too, had his moment, hitting English pacer Kabir Ali for two sixes in the 12th over, before he was eventually dismissed for 48.Barisal’s bowlers, especially Alok Kapali and Elias Sunny, kept the opposition in check during the final overs with regular wickets.

David Warner is preparing to bat with a splint – and through pain – in the first Test in Chennai as he continues his recovery from a fractured thumb

Brydon Coverdale20-Feb-2013David Warner is preparing to bat with a splint – and through pain – in the first Test in Chennai as he continues his recovery from a fractured thumb. Warner faced pace bowling in the nets on Tuesday and was due to take part in a full fielding drill on Wednesday in what was effectively the final hurdle he needed to clear to prove his fitness after sitting out of cricket since he was struck on the thumb by Mitchell Johnson in the WACA nets late last month.Warner suffered a crack in the joint and he expects to feel pain and have limited movement in the thumb for some time, but that is unlikely to keep him off the field. Warner said only “a proper injury”, one that stopped him from running, fielding or throwing, would keep him out of Test cricket and he said he was prepared to put up with the pain he was enduring in the thumb to play for his country.”I am very confident of playing,” Warner said in Chennai. “I have had four long days of training. I have been hitting for an hour each session to get a feel of hitting the ball and putting myself under fatigue to see if I will get any pain as I go on. I have iced it every time after training. It has been sore, yes, but that’s what is going to happen with a break.”They said to me initially three to four weeks, it’s now coming up to the end of the third week and it is still pretty sore. I am having a full training session in the field [on Wednesday] so I will know then 100 percent if I can catch balls. I caught some balls at 50 percent and felt no pain at all. I have a splint that I can use when I’m in the field, which protects the thumb and while I’m batting. At this present time, I am 100 percent ready to go.”Warner is well aware that if he plays in Chennai, it will not be a pain-free experience. Although India are likely to use a spin-heavy attack, Warner will still need to face Ishant Sharma with the new ball and he is relying on his splint to help protect him from any further damage from rising deliveries.”There is a rubber piece which sits at the end of the thumb, I have a guard that sits halfway underneath and covers the top part so if I get hit, it gets protected,” he said. “I got hit yesterday in the nets on it by a spinner. It was a bit painful but I’m all right. I have a nice hard plastic case as well on the outside so touch wood I don’t get hit but, if I do, I will be right.”Provided Warner gets through the new ball, much of his work in this Test is likely to be against spin, with India considering including three slow men on a dry pitch expected to take plenty of turn. Despite having missed both the warm-up matches, Warner is confident he has the game to succeed against spin in Indian conditions.”It’s important to either get down the wicket or get real deep in your crease,” Warner said. “If you can put them off their game, then you know you’re in for a good day. My game is to be decisive – either go forward or go back. If I’m caught in between, that’s where my downfall is. I feel my game is better where I’m putting the pressure on the bowler. You’ve got to show intent, try and look to score, but that doesn’t mean scoring off every ball. You have to respect the good balls, and when the ball is there to be hit, use your feet.”One of his foes in the Indian spin department could be Harbhajan Singh, who in past series has riled the Australians with his chat on and off the field, and could be set to play his 100th Test in Chennai. Warner, who is arguably the most verbal of the current batch of Australians on the field, said he hoped he could use his bat to end any trash talk.”I don’t think there will be much chirp,” Warner said. “I think that we’re all good mates off the field. I think the IPL has set a good balance between all the nations, because everyone has played with each other in different IPL franchises. When we we’re on the field we’re very competitive. But there is a line there that no one ever crosses.”I know you’re going to get a little bit of banter from certain people but you’re going to have to learn to cop that and that’s how it is. We dish it out at home, we’ve got to be prepared to take it. Come game one, you’ve got your normal culprits as usual … we all know who they are. They’ll come out and start firing but you know what – it will only last probably half an hour if you get on top of them.”

A round-up of the quarter-final matches from the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2013
ScorecardDelhi crushed Gujarat in Visakhapatnam to enter the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, first rolling them for 126 and then knocking off the meagre target with over 21 overs to spare. Seamer Sumit Narwal triggered the Gujarat collapse, removing both openers after they had strung together a partnership of 40. Narwal went on to five wickets in an economical seven-over spell, and received support from new-ball bowler Parvinder Awana and Rajat Bhatia as Gujarat went on to score just 86 more runs in 25 overs after the opening stand was broken. Delhi lost opener Dhruv Shorey early in the chase, but the rest of the top order contributed cameos as they cruised home. Gautam Gambhir finished unbeaten on 44, the top-scorer in the game.
ScorecardKerala put on a dominating show with the bat, to ease past Punjab by 46 runs, and secure their place in the final four. Punjab chose to bowl, and made a decent start, reducing Kerala to 51 for 2 in the tenth over. However, one of the openers, VA Jagadeesh, hung in there and went on to make a career-best 119, that set a firm platform. Sachin Baby, batting at No. 6, launched from that platform, scoring a maiden List A century. He finished unbeaten on 104 runs from 70 balls to take Kerala to 320. For Punjab, Gurkeerat almost played a similar role to that of Jagadeesh, but was run out on 99 to dent Punjab’s chances. Their hopes took another big blow when Yuvraj Singh was out to Prasanth Parameswaran for a golden duck. Mandeep Singh kept them going with a steady 81, but they still fell well short, bowled out in the 48th over.

ESPNcricinfo previews the ninth match of IPL 2013 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bangalore on April 9

The Preview by Rachna Shetty08-Apr-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)

The Big Picture

With two wins in two games, including the remarkable Super Over victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad have begun IPL 2013 well. Their consistency will be tested once again in a rematch of that thrilling game, this time in Bangalore.For one, they will have to adjust quickly to a pitch that’s different from the sluggish surface in Hyderabad. The Chinnaswamy track is far more conducive to pace and movement, and while that could give Sunrisers an advantage – with their attack of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Thisara Perera – it could also expose the weaknesses in their batting early on. Perera’s and Hanuma Vihari’s innings aside, the Sunrisers have had no other contributions of note in their matches so far.Royal Challengers have similar problems. Like in their first match, their total in Hyderabad was built around two batsmen, as the others were dismissed in single digits. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s form is a worry for Royal Challengers and it remains to be seen if they will persevere with him.AB de Villiers, who missed Royal Challengers’ first two matches due to his cricket commitments in South Africa will arrive tomorrow. According to a franchise spokesperson, de Villiers “will be available for selection”. While his presence will boost a struggling batting side, it will mean a new combination of overseas players.Both teams have a settled bowling line-up. For Royal Challengers, Vinay Kumar has excelled in the death overs, though he slipped up in the Super Over on Sunday. Henriques and Jaydev Unadkat have been promising at the start. For Sunrisers, Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn have impressed, while Perera has bowled important spells, curbing the flow of runs.

Players to watch

Cameron White hasn’t had the most memorable season. He lost Australia’s Twenty20 captaincy to George Bailey after a run of poor performances in the Big Bash League. However, the two sixes in the Super Over might be the impetus he needs to score big for Sunrisers.Jaydev Unadkat has bowled well with the new ball and the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium should help him extract bounce and some movement. He bowled a good ball to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara at a crucial stage of the match and would look to continue in the same vein against Sunrisers on Tuesday.

Quotes

“From a batting point of view, myself definitely included, we have to make the bowlers’ job a bit easier and bat better.”

In a shocking move, veteran batsman Aditya Thyagarajan and fast bowler Usman Shuja were left out of the 14-man USA squad for the 2013 ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division Three beginning April 28 in Bermuda.

Peter Della Penna02-Apr-2013

USA Squad

Steve Massiah (captain), Sushil Nadkarni (vice-captain), Danial Ahmed, Timroy Allen, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Akeem Dodson (wk), Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Naseer Jamali, Rashard Marshall, Neil McGarrell, Japen Patel, Steven Taylor (wk).

In a shocking move, veteran batsman Aditya Thyagarajan and fast bowler Usman Shuja were left out of the 14-man USA squad for the 2013 ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division Three beginning April 28 in Bermuda. USA need to finish among the top two teams to have a chance of advancing to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier.The selection put a dampener on the jovial atmosphere in the team after they finished a 10-1 campaign in Florida across two weeks in March. Captain Steve Massiah could be seen having a long conversation with both men at the team hotel after the news filtered in, and it was hard to tell who was consoling whom. Before long, several other senior squad members made their way into the lobby trying to come to grips with the situation at hand.Thyagarajan, 34, is USA’s third-highest run-scorer in 50-over cricket after USA captain Steve Massiah and vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni and has been a member of the national team since his debut for USA in 2008 at ICC WCL Division Five in Jersey. He was the team’s leading scorer in 2010 but, in January 2011, he suffered a dislocated right knee during a WCL Division Three match against Denmark in Hong Kong.He made his return to the national team in September at ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia where he only scored 35 runs in four innings as he struggled to regain match fitness. However, Thyagarajan scored a century at the USACA 50-over National Championship in November and was in decent form last week against Bermuda, scoring 86 runs in three games at an average of 43.00.Thyagarajan has made his reputation by digging the team out of precarious situations. He played his best knock in Italy in the summer of 2010 in the last round-robin match of ICC WCL Division Four, which USA needed to win in order to guarantee promotion to Division Three. USA were 17 for 5 against Argentina, with four of the top six batsmen dismissed without scoring. In a remarkable fightback, Thyagarajan and Rashard Marshall produced a 205-run unbeaten partnership for the seventh wicket with both batsmen scoring centuries to steer USA to safety and an eventual win.Shuja is USA’s second-highest wicket-taker in limited-overs cricket, behind former captain Zamin Amin, and was expected to lead the bowling going into Bermuda having played 46 games since 2006. He has a strong record against Nepal, one of the favorites to secure promotion from Division Three, with 15 wickets at an average of 16.07 in eight matches and one five-wicket haul. In three matches against Bermuda last week, Shuja took 2 for 106 in 18 overs while battling the effects of pneumonia he contracted over the winter.According to several sources, USA coach Kumaran Thirunavukkarasu brought Shuja and Naseer Jamali together ahead of the team’s third 50-over trial match against Bermuda on Friday, and told them that this match “was the most important game of their lives” with the implication that they were in head-to-head competition with each other. Shuja finished with 1 for 52 in 7 overs, Jamali 2 for 63 in 10.In all, six players from the squad that finished runner-up at Division Four in Malaysia last September are absent from the squad being sent to Bermuda: Thyagarajan, Shuja, Ryan Corns, Aditya Mishra, Andy Mohammed, and Abhimanyu Rajp. Corns was USA’s leading wicket-taker two weeks ago at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament while also being one of only three players on the team to score a half-century, an unbeaten 61 against Bahamas.Marshall and Barrington Bartley make their return to the USA roster after extended absences. Marshall last toured with USA in 2011 but scored a half-century last week against Bermuda to secure his spot on tour while Bartley produced a spectacular 111 not out off 65 balls against Bermuda last Friday to earn his spot. The last time Bartley played in an ICC tournament for USA was at the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland.Danial Ahmed and Neil McGarrell are the two left-arm spinners being brought along for Bermuda. Ahmed has been impressive in limited appearances for USA since making his debut in November against Canada. McGarrell, a former West Indies Test player, is hoping to make an impact for USA playing at the age of 40 in his first ICC tournament for the country. USA tried to draft him in for the tour to Hong Kong two years ago but he was ruled ineligible at the time by the ICC.Jamali and Japen Patel are the other two changes from USA’s September tour to Malaysia for Division Four. In 20 career matches for USA, Patel’s highest score is 40 which he scored on Friday against Bermuda. Jamali, a former USA U-19 World Cup squad member, is also thin on experience at the senior level having played just eight matches for USA. The left-arm seamer took 2 for 82 in 14 overs during the 50-over series last week against Bermuda in Florida.Regardless of the quality of the other players in the squad, USA is now heading into Bermuda without adequate middle-order protection in an important tournament. A top-two finish would send them to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand and could open the door for a significant increase in ICC funding. Falling short of that would keep USA stuck in the Associate and Affiliate cricket stage for the foreseeable future.USA is expected to leave for Bermuda on April 25, three days ahead of their first match of the tournament against Nepal on April 28.One step forward and two steps back. That’s what the USA Cricket Association has achieved over the last two weeks by going undefeated as the host side of the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, only to follow up that success by dropping a pair of their most indispensable resources ahead of ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Bermuda.One of the great problems in USACA’s quest for professionalism is finding a way to properly evaluate players at the local, regional and national level to ensure that the best and most deserving eleven are representing the country on the field at all times. Instead of having paid staff accountable for a handful of important decisions relating to USA’s on-field performance, it’s left to volunteers who are often unsuitable and unqualified for the tasks they are expected to carry out. Most people involved in selecting the US national team have rarely, if at all, seen the team play in an ICC tournament. USA’s matches are not televised anywhere and few administrators have the time or the money to ferry themselves around the world to see the players compete in person. Unfortunately, USA’s on field competitors turn into faceless names on a sheet of paper as a consequence of that.USA was a rudderless ship in Hong Kong two years ago when Thyagarajan went down injured and there are now legitimate fears that without him the team could be headed for a shipwreck in Bermuda. Nepal and Italy, USA’s first two opponents at Division Three in Bermuda, have squads geared to navigate the tricky waters in front of them and could leave USA in their wake on the way to the World Cup Qualifier.It was somewhat fitting that the USA squad was announced on the same day that season three of the hit HBO television series premiered in the USA. Both Thyagarajan and Shuja have been longtime loyal servants of the national team, but witnessing their axing is as jarring as seeing Ned Stark cut down by the Lannisters. Spring may have begun while USA was in Florida, but winter is coming for the team as they head off to Bermuda.

Ravi Bopara had a mixed day. It started with him being named in the England Lions squad, then two wickets followed but he failed with the bat as Essex stumbled

Tim Wigmore at Chelmsford29-Apr-2013
ScorecardDavid Masters’ return boosted the Essex bowling attack•Getty Images

It was a day for comebacks. First Ravi Bopara heard he was in the England Lions squad to face New Zealand: a surprise comeback. Then Adam Wheater, returning to the club he left last winter in search of more wicketkeeping opportunities, misjudged a hook to fall for one: a comeback that disappointed. And finally there was Alastair Cook: a comeback innings that Essex will hope is not yet complete.Cook closed unbeaten on 25, playing circumspectly while lashing a couple of trademark cut shots through point. With Essex closing on 72 for 5 and trailing by 125, he will need to do plenty more batting tomorrow.One of county cricket’s many attractions can be, as The Kinks sang, “Lazing on a sunny afternoon”. But when the England captain is batting the chitchat stops; everyone shuts up and watches the game. After all, Essex do not see much of Cook: since his last Championship appearance almost a year ago, he has assumed the Test captaincy and scored three hundreds in England’s series win in India.Yet Cook’s most significant contribution of the day was an unfortunate one when a powerful straight drive was diverted onto the stumps by bowler James Tomlinson to run out Tom Westley, who had been playing nicely for 16. By the close Danny Briggs had trapped Bopara playing half-forward, bringing a sour end to his day, and Sean Ervine’s outswing had claimed two wickets to make Hampshire’s total seem far more significant.After Hampshire had won the toss and chosen to bat few would have expected seeing Cook do anything more than man second slip. Hampshire claimed maximum batting points in both of their first two fixtures. Meanwhile, Essex coach Paul Grayson was so appalled by their innings defeat to Northamptonshire that he issued an official apology.Cook may have had an invigorating impact, but the really significant Essex returnee was David Masters, whose experience and nous were sorely missed at Wantage Road. His pace might barely bother motorway speed cameras, but he troubles the batsmen rather more, nibbling the ball both ways with unrelenting accuracy.After a spell of 5-3-3-0 from the River End – hardly too shabby itself – Masters switched ends and ran through Hampshire’s top order with 3 for 10 in five pre-lunch overs. The most intriguing contest was with George Bailey. Mixing natural intent against the short ball and obvious frailty against seam movement it was possible both to see why he was Australia’s Twenty20 captain and he only averaged 18 in the last Sheffield Shield season. Uncertainly groping forward, Bailey was surprised by an inswinger that he inside-edged into his pads to be taken at second slip.With Bopara celebrating his Lions call-up with two useful wickets, Essex were able to deny Hampshire even the 200 runs necessary to earn a solitary batting point. Only Ervine and James Vince passed 23 against some testing bowling, with Ervine’s crunching square of the wicket shots dragging them to an eminently modest 197.Wheater would have hoped for something rather better on his Chelmsford return. After a warm welcome from the crowd – notably more so than that afforded to Rory Hamilton-Brown at the Oval last week – his natural attacking instincts were strangled by some impressive bowling until he hooked a well-directed bouncer from Reece Topley to long-leg.Topley, bowling a consistently threatening line outside off stump and using the short ball as a weapon of shock rather than stock, deserved his three wickets. They took him to 50 first-class scalps, only two months after his 19th birthday. As his career develops, he will receive much advice. That received from Masters should be heeded more than most.

Mahela Jayawardene emphasised the importance for Angelo Mathews to be among the runs and wickets, even as he learns the art of leadership

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Jun-2013There are few better experts on captaincy in Sri Lanka than Mahela Jayawardene, who was so well-respected in the role that the selectors effectively forced a second stint upon him.In his first four years in the job, Sri Lanka enjoyed a period defined as much by the allure of their cricket as their success in Tests and ODIs. Test series victories over India, England and South Africa (the 2006 loss remains their last defeat away from home), an Asia Cup title and an impressive 2007 World Cup campaign were among his achievements as a leader, and Sri Lanka rose to No. 2 in the world rankings across all formats soon after his initial resignation.Late last year, Jayawardene announced he would not captain Sri Lanka beyond the year-end tour of Australia, because it was time for Sri Lanka to produce a young leader while he and the other seniors remained in the team to provide guidance. Angelo Mathews has long been the heir for Sri Lanka, and he took over the ODI and Test captaincy in February.Mathews has the unreserved support of both seniors and the younger group in his side, and his nerveless temperament in high-pressure situations had made his leadership potential plain early in his career. He has only played five ODIs since taking the reins but, as Sri Lanka attempt to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, Jayawardene emphasised the importance for Mathews to be among the runs and wickets, even as he learns the art of leadership at the top level.”The most important thing is that Angie contributes as a player, which I’ve told him as well,” Jayawardene said. “He’s a part of the XI, so it’s not just about him as a captain – that’s a secondary thing that will naturally come to him when he is making calls around the field. There are a few senior heads out there as well, who can help him with that.”Mathews had had mixed results as captain before arriving in England. Bangladesh drew their first-ever Test against Sri Lanka on a flat pitch in Galle under Mathews’ watch, before winning their first-ever ODI on Sri Lankan soil, to draw the one-day series. Mathews had captained his side to a 2-0 Twenty20 victory in Australia in January, but the Twenty20 captaincy has since been handed to Dinesh Chandimal in the February leadership shake-up.He has seemingly grown more confident in his role during the Champions Trophy. He failed with the bat, and did not bowl in the loss to New Zealand, but marshalled his side with assurance in the field, as they almost defended 138. A leadership decision to promote Nuwan Kulasekara to No. 5 then paid dividends in the win against England on Thursday.”He looked pretty good, the way he handled the New Zealand game and the England game on the field,” Jayawardene said. “He’s not rattled by tough situations and every game that he plays, he enjoys his captaincy. He’s not trying to think too far ahead of himself and he’s handing situations in the moment. That’s the best way to go about it, because there’s less pressure that way. He’s gaining experience, so we just need to help him out. So far, everything looks pretty decent.”I’m sure we would have got a lot of criticism if the decision to promote Kule didn’t work, but that’s how the game goes and it worked for us.”Jayawardene also played a key role in Thursday’s victory, linking Sri Lanka’s secure start with their final flourish with a brisk 42. Before the tournament began, he had not played international cricket since January, due to a fractured finger, but appears to be finding form as the pointy end of the tournament approaches. In past campaigns, Jayawardene has been Sri Lanka’s big-match performer, having hit a World Cup final hundred as well as a semi-final ton. He also top-scored in last year’s World Twenty20 semi-final in Colombo.”It was very good to get on track and to be contributing like that because that’s what the team wants from me,” he said of the innings against England. “The finger is looking pretty good. A few hits here and there it swells up a bit, but other than that it’s pretty good. It was a good knock in the middle. I wish I could have finished the game off with Kumar, but hopefully I can do that in the next game.”Sri Lanka play a virtual quarter-final against Australia on Monday, and Jayawardene said Sri Lanka’s recent success against Australia will provide a psychological edge for them. In the last 10 ODIs between the teams – all of which were played in Australia – Sri Lanka have won 6. They drew the ODI series 2-2 earlier this year, but were favourites to win the fourth ODI in Sydney before 45 minutes of drizzle rendered the SCG playing area unusable in the eyes of the match officials.”I think in the last two years or so we’ve been very consistent against Australia and we’ve played them very well. We managed to handle a lot of situations better than them, so hopefully we can continue that. That said, in a tournament like this, things are different. We need to play to our strengths like we did in the England match.”

Gurunath Meiyappan and the owners of CSK and Rajasthan Royals will have to depose before the inquiry commission, Ratnakar Shetty said

Amol Karhadkar21-Jun-2013Gurunath Meiyappan and the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who were the focus of the corruption charges during IPL 2013, will have to depose before the inquiry commission, Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s general manager – game development, said after the first meeting of the commission on Friday.Justice T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, the two High Court judges comprising the commission, met with Shetty in Bangalore and discussed the procedure the inquiry would follow.”The procedures that the commission should follow and the rules and regulations were discussed,” Shetty said. “Explanations from the three – Gurunath Meiyappan, owners of CSK and Rajasthan Royals – were sought. They will all be given an opportunity to explain themselves in person by the commission.”Following the arrests of three Royals cricketers and that of Meiyappan, a Super Kings management member and BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law, the following week, the board had announced on May 28 that a three-member commission would conduct the internal inquiry against both the teams and Meiyappan.However, following Sanjay Jagdale’s resignation from the panel and as BCCI secretary, it was reconstituted on June 10. Since Royals co-owner Raj Kundra had allegedly admitted to his involvement in betting on his team’s matches to Delhi Police, the panel was also asked to look into the complaint filed against him.

Ravindra Jadeja, the Indian allrounder, has topped the ICC bowlers’ rankings in ODIs, level with West Indies spinner Sunil Narine, after jumping four places

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2013Ravindra Jadeja has topped the ICC bowlers’ rankings in ODIs, level with West Indies spinner Sunil Narine, after jumping four places.Jadeja is the first India bowler to top the rankings since Anil Kumble, who topped the table in 1996, and is the fourth India bowler to do so, Kapil Dev and Maninder Singh being the others.Jadeja took five wickets from five matches in the ODI series against Zimbabwe and is the leading wicket-taker this year with 38 wickets from 22 matches at 18.86. He also topped the wicket-takers list in the Champions Trophy with 12 wickets from five matches, and was named Man of the Match in the final against England. His team-mate Amit Mishra rocketed 47 places to 32nd spot after claiming 18 wickets against Zimbabwe in the bilateral series.Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who is ranked third after Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, equalled his career-high ranking in the batting list. Sangakkara, the leading run-scorer in the ODI series against South Africa with 372 runs at an average of 93, was last ranked third in 2005. Tillakaratne Dilshan gained two places and is now at the sixth spot. He scored 273 runs in the series and was second in the list of leading run-scorers.Meanwhile, India strengthened their position at the top of the ODI rankings after their 5-0 win even though it earned them just one rating point. Australia are ranked second, nine rating points behind India. Sri Lanka and South Africa swapped places and Sri Lanka are now ranked fourth, six rating points ahead of South Africa.The updated rankings were released after India’s 5-0 series win against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka’s 4-1 series win against South Africa at home.

The Bombay High Court’s order on the BCCI’s two-man committee investigating the IPL mess includes some scathing comments about the manner in which the board approached the task at hand

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Jul-2013The Bombay High Court’s order on the BCCI’s two-man committee investigating the IPL mess includes some scathing comments about the manner in which the board approached the task at hand, from the actual manner in which members were contacted to the breach of its own constitutional provisions in the process and its silence on several issues raised by the petitioner.In the 61-page order, a copy of which is with ESPNcricinfo, Justices SJ Vazifdar and MS Sonak also reveal how the BCCI was caught out while trying to sidestep questions on the composition of the committee.Tuesday’s order prompted the board’s interim president Jagmohan Dalmiya to concede that it created an “embarrassing” situation for the BCCI.Although the committee’s findings allowed N Srinivasan to resume as the BCCI president, a position from which he had stepped aside pending the probe, the High Court’s ruling has exposed the faulty methods adopted to appoint the probe panel. The most important question was whether the BCCI had broken its own rules in the appointment of the committee once Sanjay Jagdale, the then-BCCI secretary who was originally appointed to the panel, had resigned.The order hinged on Rule 2.2 of the IPL’s Operational Rules, which says: “The commission will comprise up to three members of the IPL Code of Behavior Committee as selected by BCCI.” The order quoted this, saying: “Rule 2.2 expressly permits a commission to be comprised of three members of the IPL Code of Behavior Committee as selected by BCCI. Rule 2.2 therefore mandatorily requires a member of the IPL Code of Behavior Committee to be on the commission. In other words a commission cannot be constituted without at least one member of the IPL Code of Behavior Committee.”However, Rafique Dada, arguing for the BCCI, told the court that the need to appoint only two independent members on the commission without having any of the five members from the code of behaviour committee was “born out of necessity”, since no one was available.With Jagdale, Ajay Shirke and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla tendering their resignations, the behaviour committee was left with only two members – Arun Jaitley, the DDCA president, and commentator Ravi Shastri. “There is no reason furnished as to why they [Jaitley and Shastri] were not appointed on the commission. There is no explanation why respondent No. 1 [the BCCI] did not appoint them. Respondent No. 1 did not even ask them to be on the commission,” the court observed.Dada, the order said, explained that Shastri, in his post as television commentator, was a frequent overseas traveller. “We do not accept this explanation,” the order said. “Most important is the fact that, as his name appears on the IPL Code of Behavior Committee, it must be presumed that he would be in a position to discharge his function as a member of the committee.”According to the court the onus was on the BCCI to prove and establish why no one from the code of behaviour committee could be part of the probe committee, making it necessary to appoint two independent members instead. “It must be held therefore, that the said commission was not duly constituted. It was constituted contrary to and in violation of the provisions of Rules 2.2 … of the Operational Rules,” the order read.The court also questioned the BCCI entrusting to a sole official – its game development manager Ratnakar Shetty – the task of coordinating the setting up of the committee, and that the process was undertaken without anything beyond bilateral discussions. “It does appear curious that in a matter as important as this the General Manager, Game Development, of the IPL and nobody else initiated the process and thereafter virtually orchestrated the same singlehandedly. Normally, in a matter of such importance, we would have expected the Governing Council to have met and deliberated the issue at a meeting or at least by way of video conferencing. There is no explanation why they did not do so … Even the alleged ratification of Dalmiya’s decision to constitute a commission of the learned Judges alone is not supported by any documentary evidence. In short the entire process leading to the formation of the commission was undertaken orally,” the court stated.According to an affidavit filed by Shetty, he was the one making the calls to set the committee in place. Shetty said he called Jaitley and the BCCI’s “legal advisor” before calling other members of the IPL governing council to inform them of the availability of T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, the two retired high court judges who eventually comprised the panel. However, the petitioner argued that nowhere during the hearing as well as in the affidavit was the name of the legal advisor mentioned, nor was it furnished to the court as the case was being heard. “Despite the same,” the order said, “respondent No. 1 has not filed a sur-rejoinder or cared even otherwise to furnish the details [of the legal advisor]. This would be necessary to refute the petitioner’s contention that respondent No. 2 [Srinivasan] was responsible for the appointment of the members of the commission.”Cricket Associatoin of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma’s petition also contended that Srinivasan was the BCCI president when the original three-man commission was appointed and he had decided to step aside only on June 2, three days after the formal appointment of the probe panel. Responding to this, the court said what role Srinivasan played exactly could only be conclusively established in a “trial” but did point to a “degree of probability” of him having had a hand in the appointment of the members of the inquiry committee.”These are indeed very serious allegations in a matter which is even more serious. On this issue, the most that can be said in favour of the petitioner at this stage … is that it has made out a prima-facie case that respondent No. 2 was involved in the formation of the commission. The least that must be said in favour of the petitioner is that the respondents have not established that respondent No. 2 had no role to play in the formation of the commission,” the court said.