Sunday, May 31, 2009

Team India lands in London for T20 World Cup 2009

The India cricket team arrived at London Heathrow Airport on Friday to participate in the second World Twenty20 tournament that begins on June 5.

Before the team's departure from Mumbai earlier in the day, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who won the cup in 2007, said he was confident about retaining the title, as the current team had enough experience of 20-20 cricket.

India plays their opening match against Bangladesh on June 6 with Ireland being their other opponent in Group A of the 12-team tournament.

The 15-member India squad has a deep batting line-up and a potent pace and spin attack.

Beaming with confidence, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday that he was hopeful of retaining the World Twenty20 title with a balanced team having some outstanding talent.

Dhoni also said his team was not under pressure as the defending champions as they leave for the second edition of the prestigious event, beginning in England on June 5.

"We have a very balanced side, very strong in batting. We bat right down to 8 or 9. This is not to say we lack in bowling. We have a strong bowling attack too," he told reporters in a pre-departure match conference.

"We have some outstanding talents in our team and we need to focus on playing to our potential without worrying about the result. We have to give 100 per cent and hopefully we can defend the title," the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman said.

Dhoni, however, admitted that his players were tired after the hectic IPL schedule in South Africa but said the Twenty20 extravaganza had only helped the players hone their skills ahead of the World Cup.

"When you play so many matches you do get tired, after all it's a human body, but it (IPL) helped us a lot in terms of exposure and skills. So it was more beneficial for us. There was no time to rest for the players. But fatigue is a part of Indian cricket. Till now Indian players have done well with it," he said.

Dhoni also said he was pleased with the fact that he had plenty of options with regards to non-regular bowlers, especially in spin department and that all his players have the experience of handling pressure by playing in the IPL.

"We have plenty of options with our part time bowlers, especially spinners. We have Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh who have taken hat-tricks in the IPL. We also have Suresh Raina. Yusuf Pathan is there too," he said.

"International cricket is about handling pressure situations well and the team that handles pressure better would do well.

"We have someone like Ravindra Jadeja with limited international experience but with high talents. He has played against some top fast bowlers and spinners in the IPL and has learned to handle pressure," he added.

The 27-year-old Indian skipper was not too concerned about the team's opening combinations in both batting and bowling when queried about the indifferent forms of opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and bowlers Ishant Sharma and an injured Zaheer Khan.

"I am not at all worried. Both the openers (batsmen) are very talented. As regards opening bowling combination we have not yet decided who will do it. You have seen spinners too opening the bowling in the IPL. Teams have to take gambles," he said.

Dhoni said the team members would have to make best use of the days they have at their disposal after reaching England prior to India’s opening match.

"It's good we have warm-up games against tough sides like New Zealand and Pakistan. We also have practice sessions and need to make use of these," he said.

Dhoni confident that good cricket-playing wickets would be in evidence during the competition that ends on June 21. "The wickets would be helpful to swing bowlers in England and would also help spinners. I am confident that for a tournament of this stature good wickets would have been prepared," he said.

Dhoni also brushed aside concerns that the team would be fatigued by now after playing non-stop cricket since the tour to New Zealand earlier this year and the IPL.

"We are all used to it by now. I came into international cricket in 2004 and have slowly got used to it. The weather in India is such that we can play cricket almost right through the year at various parts of the country. It's not a concern."

Asked which team would be the biggest challenge for Indians, Dhoni said everyone will have their chances. "No team is a dark horse, everyone will have his chances. It's just that if we have one bad day, we can be beaten by a weak team also. So every game will be important for us." Dhoni was urged Indian fans to accept whatever fate they meet in the tournament, saying "We get appreciated like anything when we do good and criticised when we go wrong. But you have to accept whatever is the result".

India Squad: MS Dhoni (Capt/Wk), Virender Sehwag (Vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, R P Singh and Yuvraj Singh.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

2020 World Cup 2009 Warm-up Game Schedule- India will play Pakistan in the warm up game

India will play two warm-up games before beginning their 2020 World Cup campaigns. First warm-up game they will play against New Zealand on 1st of June and then they will clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on 3rd of June.

India will play New Zealand at Lord’s London and then they will take on Pakistan in Kennington Oval, London. That means we can expect a match something similar to twenty20 World Cup 2007 Final. India came out as winner in both occasions in twenty20 world cup played in South Africa.

India will start their 2020 World up campaign on 6th of June with the game against Bangladesh and Ireland on 10th of June. India will play both of their games at Trent Bridge. Top two teams from Group A will then qualify for the Super Eights stage. and then they will take on

Not only India but other teams will also feature in warm-up games before starting their 2020 world cup campaign.

Twenty20 world cup 2009 Warm-up Games Fixtures
(All timings are mentioned in GMT+
05:30)

Wed 27 May

18:30

Ireland v New Zealand

County Ground, Derby

Thu 28 May

18:00

Bangladesh v Netherlands

St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury

Fri 29 May

18:30

Bangladesh v Scotland

Sir Paul Getty's Ground, Wormsley

Mon 1 June

18:00

Australia v Bangladesh

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Mon 1 June

18:00

Ireland v Netherlands

Lord’s, London

Mon 1 June (D/N)

22:00

India v New Zealand

Lord’s, London

Mon 1 June (D/N)

22:00

Pakistan v South Africa

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Tue 2 June

18:00

Ireland v West Indies

Kennington Oval, London

Tue 2 June

18:00

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Tue 2 June (D/N)

22:00

New Zealand v Australia

Kennington Oval, London

Tue 2 June (D/N)

22:00

England v Scotland

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Wed 3 June

18:00

South Africa v Sri Lanka

Lord’s, London

Wed 3 June

18:00

Netherlands v Scotland

Kennington Oval, London

Wed 3 June (D/N)

22:00

England v West Indies

Lord’s, London

Wed 3 June (D/N)

22:00

India v Pakistan

Kennington Oval, London

Bangladesh pick two new batsmen for World T20

Only two new faces this time. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 15-member final squad for the ICC World T20 Cricket to be held in June next in England, reports UNB. BCB selected two uncapped top-order batsmen and recalled three bowlers for the World Twenty20 championships in England next month.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Rafiqul Alam said Shamsur Rahman, 20, and Mohammad Mithun, 18, had been rewarded for their good batting form in domestic cricket.

"Shamsur has been batting tremendously in recent years," said Alam. "He can bat at number three which has been a weak link in our batting. He is also a brilliant fielder.

"Mithun also scored heavily in the leagues. He is a hard-hitting batsman and can also double up as wicketkeeper," he said.

The selectors recalled experienced left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who was reported for a suspect bowling action in November and suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Razzak, 26, reworked his action and was cleared to play international cricket in March.

"Razzak is our top spinner and has got a lot of wickets. He is an obvious choice in the team," said Alam of the bowler, who has 111 wickets in 81 One-Day Internationals and seven wickets in five Tests.

Seamers Shahdat Hossain and Syed Rasel were also recalled, while frontline batsman Mohammad Ashraful was retained as captain.

Bangladesh are drawn with Ireland and India in the preliminary round of next month's event which will be played in London and Nottingham from June 5-21.

Bangladesh's squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman and Mohammad Mithun.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Kumble said - Experience plays a part in T20 too

Twenty20 is definitely a format for youngsters but for them to shine, the backing and guidance of senior pros is imperative, says Anil Kumble, who led underdogs Bangalore to the IPL summit clash.

Retired players like Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchirst, Shane Warne, and Kumble himself were at par with the youngsters, doing extremely well in IPL season-II.

Hayden grabbed the Orange Cap for scoring highest runs, Gilchirst won the Player of the Tournament award and Kumble ended second highest wicket-taker with 21 victims.

Kumble believes that presence of senior players only help the youngsters perform better.

"It is a young man's game - yeah it is - you need to be fit, you need to be really athletic but you have six or seven guys who are like that - I think the senior and the experiences guys will take the pressure and use their skills to ensure that we handle the situation pretty well.

"In that sense if you look back the retired guys and also the senior professionals have done really well in the tournament," he said.

Kumble is enjoying playing the shortest format of the game and has already started thinking about the Champions League, slated for October.

"Definitely, you will see me three months from now in the Champions League. I was thinking that I will start training in January -February for the next IPL but I will have to keep myself fit for October," he said.

Watch World T20 Starting June 2009

Watch Twenty20 T20 World Cup is here...starting this June- Check out all important matches of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, SOuth Africa, West Indies, Netherland and Ireland.

The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in June 2009. It will be the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007. As before, the tournament will have 12 teams compete - the Test-playing nations and three qualifiers. 3fzv986eis

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Indian Team for T20 Worldcup Announced

THE BOARD of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the names for Indian team for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup starting in England from July 5.

The team comprises of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan.

Pragyan Ojha will be playing his first twenty20 world cup and RP singh got an entry into the team based on his recent performance in IPL 2009. Playing for Hyderabad Deccan Chargers he has been among the leading wicket takers of the tournament. There were no big surprises in the team though. Munaf and Karthik were not able to retain their positions.

India will play in the World Cup as the defending champion, having won the first T20 world cup in South Africa in 2007. The selectors announced the team just a day before the deadline for announcing the team was to expire, on May 5.

BCCI had shortlisted 30 probables, from which 14 players were chosen, based on their performance during the tournament as well as the experience fitness and skills.

Fast bowler RP Singh returned to the squad after winning the faith of selectors by bowling superbly throughout the current tournaments. Pathan brothers are also there because of their match winning prowess, whereas Munaf Patel and Prgayan Ojha are there owing to their improved performances in the IPL matches.

The surprising omission is Mumbai Indian’s Abhishek Nayyar, who was expected to make the cut, following his clean hitting and superb bowling ability

T20 World Cup trophy unveiled in Mumbai

Former Indian cricket captain and ICC ambassador Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday unveiled the trophy of Twenty20 World Cup 2009 in Mumbai.

The trophy has been designed in Australia and weighs seven and a half kilograms. Distinctive in its silver finish this T20 silver trophy weighing 7-1/2 kilograms, will be handed over of course, to the captain of the victorious team on the 21st of June at Lord's.

Impressed by the Indian team performance, as India are the defending champions and won the first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. For the first time the women's T20 world cup will be played alongside the men and former chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsakrar believes India will be hard to beat. Vengsarkar said that he was hopeful that India would defend its title successfully.

Schedule: ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2009

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
IndiaPakistanAustraliaNew Zealand
BangladeshEnglandSri LankaSouth Africa
IrelandNetherlandsWest IndiesScotland
Group EA1, B2, C1, D2Group FB1, A2, C2, D1

DateLord'sTrent BridgeThe Oval
Fri, 5 JuneOpening ceremony

England v Netherlands
22:00 IST

Sat, 6 June India v Bangladesh
22:00 IST
New Zealand v Scotland
14:30 IST

Australia v West Indies
18:00 IST

Sun, 7 June South Africa v Scotland
18:00 IST

England v Pakistan
22:00 IST

Mon, 8 June Ireland v Bangladesh
18:00 IST

Australia v Sri Lanka
22:00 IST

Tues, 9 JunePakistan v Netherlands
18:00 IST

New Zealand v South Africa
22:00 IST

Wed, 10 June Sri Lanka v West Indies
18:00 IST

India v Ireland
22:00 IST

Placement for the Super Eight stage is determined as follows:
The first two teams in each group are placed 1 or 2. They will retain this position for the Super Eight stage, irrespective of whether they finish first or second in their group, unless they are knocked out by the team 3 in their group. In this instance, team 3 replaces the position of the team they knock out.

DateLord'sTrent BridgeThe Oval
Thu, 11 June D1 v A2 (18:00 IST)
B2 v D2 (22:00 IST)
Fri, 12 JuneB1 v C2 (18:00 IST)
A1 v C1 (22:00 IST)
Sat, 13 June C1 v D2 (18:00 IST)
D1 v B1 (22:00 IST)
Sun, 14 JuneA2 v C2 (18:00 IST)
A1 v B2 (22:00 IST)
Mon, 15 June B1 v A2 (18:00 IST)
B2 v C1 (22:00 IST)
Tues, 16 June D1 v C2 (18:00 IST)
D2 v A1 (22:00 IST)

The teams finishing first and second in groups E and F, based on points obtained in the Super Eight stage will compete in the semi-finals

DateLord'sTrent BridgeThe Oval
Wed, 17 JuneREST DAYREST DAYREST DAY
Thu, 18 June Women's semi-final
A1 v B2 (18:00 IST)

Men's semi-final
E1 v F2 (22:00 IST)

Fri, 19 June Women's semi-final
B1 v A2 (18:00 IST)

Men's semi-final
F1 v E2 (22:00 IST)

Sat, 20 JuneREST DAYREST DAYREST DAY
Sun, 21 JuneWomen's final
14:30 IST

Men's final
19:30 IST

Closing ceremony

Ticket prices

Lord's and The OvalGoldSilverFamily Stand
Men's Prices (inc. VAT)AdultU16AdultU16AdultU16
Opening game and ceremony£60£15£40£12£30£10
Group game - double header£60£15£40£12£30£10
Super 8 game - double header£70£15£50£12£40£10
Semi-finals day (women/men)£90£15£60£12£50£10
Finals day (women/men)£90£15£60£12£50£10
Trent BridgeGoldSilverFamily Stand
Men's Prices (inc. VAT)AdultU16AdultU16AdultU16
Group game and single header£30£12£25£10£20£8
Group game - double header£50£12£35£10£30£8
Super 8 game - double header£60£12£45£10£40£8
Semi-finals day (women/men)£75£12£60£10£40£8