Two years on, Pakistan to host first international series

LAHORE: Afghanistan’s cricket team will become the first foreign national side to play in Pakistan, two years after internationals were suspended over security fears, an official said Saturday.

International cricket has been suspended in Pakistan since March 2009, when gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in the eastern city of Lahore.

“Afghanistan will send its national team to Pakistan in July and play the Pakistan ‘A’ team, and hopefully this will benefit our team,” Naseem Ullah Danish, chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, told AFP.

Danish met Pakistan Cricket Board officials in Lahore on Friday where they agreed to play a three-match one-day series, with games in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

Five Afghan regional teams and their under-19 string are playing their domestic matches in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar, as their main grounds are being renovated.

Danish hoped Pakistan’s second XI will also play in Afghanistan later this year.

“We have also invited the Pakistan ‘A’ team to Afghanistan for the inaugural match in Nangarhar where we have almost completed an international stadium,” he said.

Since many Afghan players learnt their cricket in Pakistan they owe a great deal to the neighbouring country, Danish said.

“Pakistan has always been helpful to us and have helped us reach this far in international cricket,” he said.

Most of the Afghan national team took up the game as refugees in Pakistani camps after Soviet troops invaded their country in 1979.

Afghanistan won the Inter-Continental Cup and the International Cricket Council’s divisions five to one in the last two years, earning ICC one-day status and qualifying for the World Twenty20 held in the West Indies last year.

International teams were reluctant to tour Pakistan even before the Lahore attack, and the troubled country has since had to play its home matches at neutral venues in England and the United Arab Emirates.

The attack, which left eight people dead and wounded seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach, forced the ICC to strip Pakistan of its share of World Cup 2011 matches.

But Danish said security in Pakistan would not be an issue for his team.

“Security is not an issue and by playing in Pakistan we want to send out a positive message to the world and hope that teams come to Pakistan and play here,” he said.

Botha’s all-round show in Rajasthan win

JAIPUR: Johan Botha put in an impressive all-round performance to guide Rajasthan Royals to a crushing seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday.

The South African off-spinner finished with 3-6 off two overs to help Rajasthan restrict Mumbai to their lowest IPL total of 94-8 and then scored 45 to shape his team’s victory with 11 balls to spare.

It was Rajasthan’s fourth win in eight matches and Mumbai’s second defeat in seven games of the Twenty20 tournament.

In another match, Virat Kohli smashed a 42-ball 67 with the help of four sixes and West Indies opener Chris Gayle a brisk 49 off 26 balls to set up Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 26-run victory over Pune Warriors.

Pune finished on 155-5 chasing a 182-run target to suffer their fifth defeat in seven matches.

New Zealander Jesse Ryder top-scored with a 34-ball 51 for Pune and skipper Yuvraj Singh cracked 41 off 23 balls with the help of three sixes.

Mumbai still lead the league table with 10 points while Bangalore and Rajasthan each have nine points.

Botha earlier struck with his third delivery when he trapped West Indies batsman Kieron Pollard lbw before accounting for Australian Andrew Symonds and Rajagopal Sathish in his next over.

Symonds top-scored with 17 in Mumbai’s dismal batting show. There were just two sixes and four boundaries in the entire Mumbai innings.

Mumbai’s Harbhajan Singh, who took a short first run and returned for a second in a bid to keep the strike in the final over, hit a last-ball six off seamer Shane Watson.

Rajasthan owed their victory to spinners, with Shane Warne and Ashok Menaria also playing crucial roles in restricting Mumbai.

Warne conceded just 13 runs off four overs and left-arm spinner Menaria 20 runs, sharing three wickets in the process.

Menaria, who opened the attack, bagged two of the first three wickets, including that of skipper Sachin Tendulkar, to send Mumbai reeling at 46-3 in the opening nine overs.

He had Tendulkar stumped for seven runs and then held a return catch to dismiss Ambati Rayudu (11) before Warne put more pressure on Mumbai when he had Rohit Sharma (13) caught by Botha at long-off.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 94-8 in 20 overs (A. Symonds 17; J. Botha 3-6, A. Singh 2-14, A. Menaria 2-20) lost to Rajasthan Royals 95-3 in 18.1 overs (J. Botha 45, S. Watson 26; M. Patel 2-18) by seven wickets.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 181-5 in 20 overs (V. Kohli 67, C. Gayle 49, AB de Villiers 26; A. Thomas 2-23, R. Sharma 2-27) beat Pune Warriors 155-5 in 20 overs (J. Ryder 51, Yuvraj Singh 41, R. Uthappa 23 not out) by 26 runs.

Players’ assets should be examined, says Zulqarnain

LAHORE: Wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider says the assets of every cricketer in the country should be examined regularly to curb the menace of fixing in cricket.

“Assets of the cricketers [in Pakistan] should be examined every year and the income tax department can play a vital role in this regard,” Zulqarnain said while talking to reporters at his residence here on Friday.

“In Pakistan where many people are struggling for two-time daily meals many cricketers own 15 houses. The whole nation should think about this to end the difference [of living standard] between the people,” added Zulqarnain.

Declining to mention the name of any player who might be involved in fixing business, Zulqarnain reckoned it was not good as the government was already investigating the matter.

He said the other players around the world should also come forward to help those who wanted to eradicate match-fixing and spot-fixing trend in cricket.

Zulqarnain claimed had he not sacrificed his career in Dubai by abandoning the national side to leave for Britain, no progress would have been made to check corrupt elements in cricket.

The player revealed he had given important information on fixing to the interior minister and there was progress in this regard.

Who is Duncan Fletcher?” Kapil Dev asks

NEW DELHI: India’s newly-appointed coach Duncan Fletcher on Thursday got a taste of the challenges he faces when two senior former players said a fellow countryman should have got the job instead.

Fletcher, a former Zimbabwean all-rounder who rose to prominence during his eight-year stint as England coach, was awarded a two-year contract Wednesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, former Indian captains and influential voices in the cricket establishment, expressed displeasure over Fletcher’s appointment.

“Who is Duncan Fletcher?” Dev told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

“I would like to see Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh (former India players) as coaches of the Indian team. Not because they are Indians but because they did a great job at the T20 World Cup in 2007.”

Gavaskar said former India all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath, who played a key role in guiding the team to their first World Cup win in 1983, should have been picked.

“Someone like Amarnath would have been a better choice for the simple reason that the core of the Indian team today is from the Hindi-speaking belt,”he told the NDTV news channel.

“He would have got on brilliantly with this group as well as the seniors. It would have been a lot easier for Amarnath to understand and interact with the players.

“There is a perception and a wrong one that an Indian (coach) can be influenced and that he will get involved in politics. You are presuming that he cannot be a strong person.”

Lasith Malinga bows out of Tests, will play ODIs and T20s

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga announced his retirement from Test cricket on Friday, citing a “degenerative knee condition” as the reason behind his decision.

Malinga, who Sri Lanka’s leading wicket-taker at the World Cup, said he will continue to play one-day international and Twenty20 cricket despite the knee problem.

The sling-arm action bowler is currently playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and had made himself unavailable for Sri Lanka’s tour of England, attracting criticism that he had chosen to play for club over country.

“In January this year I wrote a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket and released a statement to the media confirming that I planned to reassess my Test future after the World Cup,” he said in a statement.

“I decided that I needed to make myself unavailable for Test cricket in an effort to prolong my career as a national cricketer for Sri Lanka.

“Although I am sufficiently fit to play both ODI and T20 cricket, I have a long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee that needs to be carefully managed.”

Bishoo spins Windies to T20 win over Pakistan

GROS ISLET, St.Lucia: Leg spinner Devendra Bishoo claimed four wickets as the new-look West Indies beat Pakistan by seven runs in their Twenty20 international on Thursday.

The Guyanese spinner ran through the Pakistan middle order as they fell short in their chase of West Indies’ total of 150 for seven.

West Indies picked a youthful team for the one-off game and the upcoming ODI series, having dropped experienced batsmen Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

One of the young faces, opening batsman Lendl Simmons got West Indies off to a great start with a lively 65 off 44 balls and left-hander Darren Bravo struck 42 off 33 as the Caribbean side brought up their 100 in the 13th over.

But, as so often, Darren Sammy’s side failed to build on their good foundation and ended up falling short of a really strong total, with just two other players making double figures.

Pakistan lost both their openers, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, early but Umar Akmal’s 41 from 60 balls put them in with a chance.

Bishoo, who caught the eye of West Indies selectors with his performances in regional Twenty20 cricket, then showed his value in the shortest form of the game with some astute bowling.

The vital breakthrough came when Sammmy made a fine catch at extra-cover off Bishoo, to dismiss skipper Shahid Afridi (12) and break up what was a potentially match winning partnership.

Sammy then ran out Mohammand Salman and when Marlon Samuels caught Umar at deep midwicket off Ravi Rampaul, Pakistan were in trouble at 109-7.

But some loose bowling and some spirited resistance from Saeed Ajmal (21 not out) at the end gave the tourists a glimmer of hope and the last pair needed 14 from the final over.

Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell kept his composure, after a no-ball with his first delivery of the over, and the West Indies had cause for celebration at the start of their home campaigns which also includes two tests with Pakistan in May and three against India in June.

Cricket: India, Sri Lanka set to lock horns over IPL recall issue

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday urged Sri Lanka to reconsider a decision to recall their players midway through the Indian Premier League in the latest clash with the sport’s international schedule.

Sri Lankan cricketers playing for various IPL franchises have been ordered to return home by May 5, more than three weeks before the end of the money-spinning Twenty20 tournament, to prepare for an upcoming tour of England.

Sri Lanka’s tour starts with a warm-up game on May 14 before the first Test at Cardiff on May 26.

“According to us, the Sri Lankan players were to stay here till May 21 as they had promised and the franchises are also under the same impression,” the Indian cricket board’s vice-president Rajiv Shukla told reporters.

“But now they want to go back early and it is not appropriate.”Shukla said the Indian board would try to convince Sri Lanka Cricket to reverse their decision.