India’s preparation for the tri-series against Australia and West Indies in Malaysia is likely to include a few practice matches in Chennai, the Indian board (BCCI) has said.The matches have been planned owing to the cancellation of the Unitech Cup in Sri Lanka, after South Africa withdrew and rains ruined the planned bilateral series. It is rumoured that the matches will be played against local sides.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo that the venue had not been finalised. “The facilities in Chennai are not determined yet,” he said. “I will speak to Rahul [Dravid] and Greg [Chappell] tomorrow and an announcement will be made.”Chappell himself has denied suggestions of a preparatory camp ahead of the tournament: “We will not have a camp, but will try to do something different than what we did before coming to Sri Lanka.”The tri-series in Kuala Lumpur will be held at the Kinrara Oval from September 12 to 24.

Harbhajan Singh, India’s offspinner, has found himself involved in a different sort of controversy after leaving his hair uncovered in an advertisement. Members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the premier religious body of the Sikh community, took offence to Harbhajan’s action and sought an apology amid protests in Punjab.Activists of the Youth Akali Dal burnt an effigy of Harbhajan in Amritsar during a protest march led by the SGPC’s district president, Gurpartap Singh Tikka. Harbhajan was quick to issue an apology, but resented the SGPC going to the media. “If my action has hurt the Sikh community, then I feel sorry for it. I will take note of it [in future],” he told Press Trust of India. “It’s bad that the SGPC took up the issue in the media. If they had any problem, they should have called me like a son and told me. Their action was wrong. I respect the emotions of Sikhs and I never knew it will snowball into such a big issue.”Avtar Singh Makkar, the SGPC President who had sought an apology from Harbhajan yesterday, said he should have realised the importance of hair in the Sikh religion. “Our religion prohibits keeping one’s hair open,” he said. “We also strongly object to his appearing in the advertisement in this fashion.” Avtar Singh even suggested that Harbhajan take a leaf from Monty Panesar’s book, who despite being raised in England was a strict advocate of Sikhism.Harbhajan was quick to respond: “They compare me with Panesar, which is wrong. Comparisons should not be made in the first place, but if they have to, why doesn’t SGPC compare me with Yuvraj Singh and Gurdas Mann [both Sikhs who have trimmed their hair].”

Shane Warne has dismissed as “rubbish” claims that Australia were too friendly with England during last year’s Ashes series. Warne said it was ridiculous to believe his friendship with Hampshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen would affect the aggression he displayed on the ground.”I think it’s a load of rubbish,” Warne told the . “I haven’t been too friendly when I have played Test cricket for 15 years. That’s well and truly been documented. I wasn’t very friendly, but I showed sportsmanship.”When I took my 600th wicket at Old Trafford, Michael Vaughan came up and shook my hand when we were in the middle of our huddle. Andrew Flintoff came over to Brett Lee after we had just lost by two runs and said: ‘Well done, it was great, it was courage’.”I walked up to Kevin Pietersen on 150 and shook his hand and said to him: ‘Make sure you remember that and how it feels right now. It was a great knock’. When someone played well and scored a good hundred, we shook hands and clapped. I don’t see the big deal in that.”Warne, who picked up 40 wickets in the series at an average of 19.92, said displays of sportsmanship and the fact the Australians enjoyed having a drink with Andrew Flintoff would never affect their on-field efforts. “Out in the middle during play, there was gamesmanship, there was sledging, there was funny stuff,” he said.”I think you could tell by the way the teams played and the level of cricket that was on display. It was pretty high-standard cricket and that’s why everyone liked it..”

It was actually a pretty decent day for Australia. According to the coach John Buchanan the bowlers did well as a group, especially Brett Lee and Shane Warne,and Australia will just have to score 700 and dismissEngland for 150 on the last day to win.England were actually the ones who made the major mistake by batting Kevin Pietersen at five instead of higher up the list. “Rather than have other playersblunt the new ball for him, I can’t understand why he’s not up the order,” Buchanan said. Pietersen got 158 and Paul Collingwood, who holds the No. 4 spot, claimed a maiden double-century.Taking a look at the old-fashioned Adelaide Oval scoreboard, Australia are definitely suffering after England declared at 6 for 551 before Andrew Flintoffremoved Justin Langer to maintain the impressive drive. Glenn McGrath and Warne both earned records they would be wishing to forget, McGrath giving up more runs without a wicket than in any time in his career and Warne collecting his most expensive figures against England.Despite the one-sided nature of the opening two days Buchanan was upbeat. “When I look at all the bowlers I’m very happy with what they did,” he said, “the strategies that they chose, the execution of them.”McGrath spent time off the field fixing his boot inthe opening session to ease a heel problem. Althoughhe has not been complaining about the injury, hiseffectiveness was limited and his speed has droppedsignificantly on the flat surface. “He pounded down20-plus overs,” Buchanan said, “so, so far so good.”He returned 0 for 103.Warne gave up 167 runs for the wicket of Geraint Joneswhile Brett Lee also won praise from Buchanan for his1 for 139. “I think Brett’s bowled exceptionallywell,” he said. “He’s held his pace and bowled goodlines. It’s encouraging for the second innings and therest of the series.”The measure of Shane’s bowling is how many bad ballsthere were. He bowled a couple late yesterday when hegot tired and maybe a few today. His control has beenexcellent, he hasn’t got the rub of the green, a bitlike Brett.”Stuart Clark was the only bowler not to wincompliments from Buchanan and he was the man whoperformed the best. Throughout the first two days hetroubled England with short and full deliveries andadded three victims to continue his strong series.When Australia resume at 1 for 28 on day three theywill have heard Buchanan’s plan for success.”Hopefully we get a foundation partnership going,minimise risks and therefore your error rate issmall,” he said. Buchanan was realistic enough to noteit will not be his team dictating the terms.

Hanumant Singh, the former Indian batsman, died at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on the morning of Wednesday, November 29. He had been in hospital for more than 20 days, in intensive care, battling renal and lung failure caused by Hepatitis B and Dengue, which led to his kidneys and lungs failing. He was in the intensive care unit on life support – ventilator and dialysis. The funeral is to be held in Mumbai at 4.30 pm today.Hanumant was in good health as recently as the beginning of November. He returned from Rajasthan, the team he coaches in the Ranji Trophy, earlier this month with the intention of watching the Champions Trophy final. However, he took ill soon after returning and could not attend the CK Nayudu awards function on November 4 or the final on November 5.A career spanning more than 20 years was highlighted by a century on Test debut (against England) and prolific run-scoring in the domestic game but was blighted when he was unceremoniously dropped from the Test team while at the top of his game.A dashing strokeplayer with immaculate footwork, Hanumant (known as ‘Chhotu’ for his diminutive size) followed up the debut Test century with good batting against Australia and the pace of McKenzie and co, making 94 in the second innings of the first Test at Madras. He did reasonably well in the Tests against New Zealand and West Indies at home and on the tour of England in 1967. Then at the peak of his career, he was inexplicably dropped for the 1967-68 tour of Australia.Vijay Merchant , then chairman of selectors, was instrumental in bringing Hanumant back into the national team for the 1969 series against New Zealand but the return was ill-timed. Personal problems occupied his mind and, as a result, he suffered against the pace of Dayle Hadlee in Mumbai. That was the last time he played for India.While his Test average of 31.18 belied his class, his statistics in the Ranji Trophy were more reflective. He amassed 6170 runs with 15 centuries at 43.90 and came close to breaking Vijay Hazare’s then record total of 6312. The 1966-67 season was his crowning glory as he totalled 869 runs at 124.14 and scored 109 and an unbeaten 213 in the final against the might of Bombay. A shrewd captain, Hanumant led Central Zone to their first Duleep Trophy triumph in 1971-72 and ended up with more than 12,000 runs in first-class cricket.Srinivas Venkataraghavan, former India offspinner and later an international umpire, rated Hanumant very highly against spin. “His greatest quality was the suppleness and his wristwork,” he said. “Hanumant would work on the bowler without offending him, he would cleverly play in the gaps, pushing and nudging the ball away and collecting runs. He had soft hands and was always in control of the shot, always on top. As a bowler you had to keep the ball away from his leg stump because he was very strong in that direction. He could place it at will if you drifted towards his pads, a bit like Azhar. Perhaps the best strategy against him was to peg away at the off stump, bringing the ball in because he was not strong on the cut. Which is why I would bowl outside off, slanting it in to keep him quiet. But he had solid defense and a very stable temperament.”After retiring as a player, Hanumant continued with the game as coach, administrator, selection committee chairman and ICC match referee. He was also an insightful commentator on the changing nature of the game, believing, for example, that deception in spin bowling was on the decline of late. “People are bowling the straight ball in a different way,” he said. “They are over-spinning it, bowling top-spinners, some of which go the other way, which only Prasanna used to bowl in my time. But the subtleties of pace variations are definitely not as good. This and the trajectory go together. And too much one-day cricket is affecting use of the crease.”Known for his straight-talking, Hanumant held strong views about chucking and believed umpires should be given the authority to call it as they see it. “They say it’s only after 15 degrees that the eye is first able to see a throw. That itself solves the problem: The moment you see it with the naked eye, you call it.”Hanumant, a teetotaller and non-smoker, was known for his health and fitness, and even at the age of 67 was an active member of the cricketing fraternity. He suffered a devastating tragedy four years ago when Suryaveer, his elder brother, two sisters and a niece were killed in a motor accident near Ahmedabad.

On how it unfoldedJust prior to the electricity problem, the light was deemed to be bad, andit was offered to the batsmen. They wanted to stay on the field. When thelights went out, they decided they would continue. The first ball afterthe lights went out, when VRV Singh almost got a wicket, they tried to stay ona little longer. But eventually they decided they wanted to go off thefield.Then, the lights came on after electricity supply was restored. When wewent out, the light had deteriorated and was at a lower reading from whenit was initially offered. Asad [Rauf] and I decided we would see what itwas like. We had an over from my end [Zaheer Khan]. Then, when [VRV] Singhbowled from the north end, it was decided that the light had deterioratedto the extent that it was unfit for play.There is a perception at times that it is only the batting side that needsto be taken into account, and that is correct to a degree. They are theones that will be offered the light, which they were. But sometimes, itgets to the stage that the umpires have to make a call, whether it’s unfitfor cricket or not.On whether the reading was the same as the initial oneI can’t give you a correct answer on that as replacement umpire. Asad wasleading the situation. He was using those guidelines that were used forthe past two days as well.On whether the batsmen were offered light the second timeThe light wasn’t offered to them again. We get to a stage when we’reunhappy with the lights and we offer it, and they say yes or no.On what conditions they deem unfit for playFor picking up the line of the ball, background plays a role. For the overthat came from my end, Asad was struggling to pick up the ball from sideon.

7 for 41 – India’s collapse in the last 17 overs. After 33, they were 227 for 3; at a similar stage in their innings, West Indies were 217 for 3.4 – The number of boundaries for India after the 20th over. In the first 20 overs they slammed 20 fours and two sixes.316.67 – Robin Uthappa’s scoring rate against Dwayne Bravo. In six deliveries, he hammered Bravo for 19 runs.4 for 39 -Bravo’s bowling figures, which are his best in an ODI and a testament to how he came back after the initial mauling. These figures beat his earlier record of 3 for 14 against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy last year.42.22 – Marlon Samuels’s ODI average against India in India, which is much better than his career average of 29.37. In only 11 such games, he has hit one hundred and three half-centuries.33.50 – Brian Lara’s ODI average against India. His 83 at Chennai was only his sixth fifty-plus score in 41 games against them.16 – The number of ducks for Chris Gayle in ODIs, which puts him level with Brian Lara as the two batsmen with the most number of zeroes for West Indies in ODIs.7.73 – Sreesanth’s economy rate in the West Indian innings (67 runs in 8.4 overs). It was the sixth time in 24 ODIs that he has gone for more than seven runs per over.

In the short period where play was possible there was one big gain forIndia as Munaf Patel, recovering from an injury to the ankle of hislanding foot, bowled seven overs without any obvious discomfort. What’smore, he was easily the most effective of the bowlers on display, gettingmovement in the air and hitting the right areas, troubling batsmen.Munaf, who picked up 2 for 25 from seven overs, nailing Upul Tharanga andMahela Jayawardene, came in for praise from Rahul Dravidwho addressed a brief press conference shortly after play was called offjust after 8.30pm. “Munaf bowled extremely well today and I amdelighted,” Dravid said, soon after walking off the field where heinspected conditions along with umpires Simon Taufel and Suresh Shastri,and Jayawardene. “He hit the right areas, the right line and lengthstraight from the word go. It was most heartening to see him come back sostrongly after a long injury lay-off. With the amount of cricket that liesahead of us, that is a very encouraging sign.”But while Patel’s return to full bowling fitness was a high note forIndia, their two other mediumpacers were distinctly off colour. ZaheerKhan went for 32 in his five overs and S Sreesanth was even more expensiveconceding 36 in 4.2 overs. “It was a very good batting track,” Dravidsaid. “All credit to Sanath Jayasuriya for the way he batted in favourableconditions. In the end, we did very well to pick up three wickets.”When asked about the abandonment of the match Dravid’s answer was alongexpected lines. “It was most disappointing that the game had to endindecisively. The ground authorities did a great job to try and get theground ready for play, but the conditions were not good enough for play tocontinue,” said Dravid, who appeared to slip on a wet patch just near thepractice pitches when he went out for the final inspection. “I do feel forthe huge crowd, but there was no option but to abandon the match.”

Multan 211 (Saeed Anwar Jr 71) and 125 for 5 (Saeed Anwar Jr 60) lead Islamabad 180 (Naeem Anjum 67, Kamran Hussain 4-67) by 136 runs
ScorecardIslamabad who began superbly by restricting Multan to only 211 for 9 on the first day of their Silver League final match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, found themselves in serious trouble at the end of the second day, when they were bowled out for only 180, and conceded a first-innings lead of 31 runs.When the day began, Islamabad – who were on the receiving end of a battering when this match was originally played some time ago, where Multan scored 514 for 9 declared, and then had Islamabad at 212 for 5 before rain caused an abandonment and subsequent replaying of the game – had the upper hand. They managed to capture the last remaining Multan wicket without an addition to the overnight score, and from there on should have made it count.Instead, they kept losing wickets, mostly to Kamran Hussain, who picked up four of the top six, and were in danger of being humiliated at 69 for 7. Fortunately for Islamabad, whose top-order had failed en masse, Naeem Anjum, the wicketkeeper, fought back with 67 at No. 8 and was well supported by Rauf Akbar, who made 32. In the end, they mustered 180 from 45.1 overs.Multan’s reply, while not emphatic, was marked by an emphatic 60 from Saeed Anwar Jr., the man who had scored the bulk of the runs in the first innings. Other batsmen struggled and the score was pushed to 125 for 4 at the end of the day. Multan’s overall lead was 156, and if they can add more, it might just be enough in this low-scoring final.The winner of the final gets to be promoted to the first division Gold League circuit of the next season. This match is actually a replay of the Silver League final that was played in Lahore last month. There was no play on the last two days due to rain and the first innings issue remained unresolved. Multan were dominating when the match was called off. Now, they appear to be in the position to return to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League Championship, after having been demoted to the Silver League as they had finished at the bottom of the Gold League last season.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not travel to the Caribbean for the World Cup if they fail to take a dope test, according to Pakistan cricket officials. The Pakistan Cricket Board completed tests on 13 of its 15-man squad and five reserves this week but Shoaib and Asif have yet to feature, raising media speculation they might be forced out of the event starting on March 13.”PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf has a zero tolerance on the use of banned substances so any member of the team going for the World Cup has to pass the screening, the in-house dope testing,” Salim Altaf, the PCB’s director of operations, told AFP. “The chairman has directed that nobody can go on the tour if this screening is not done.”Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one year in November after they tested positive for the steroid nandrolone. But the new-ball pair’s bans were controversially overturned by a PCB appellate committee in December, on the grounds they did not take the banned substance knowingly. Experts have warned that Shoaib and Asif may still have banned substances in their systems after testing positive last year and face life bans if they test positive again.Altaf, however, brushed aside speculation over the dope tests on Shoaib and Asif. “Everybody will feature otherwise nobody can go and that is the instruction of the chairman and we hope all speculations die down after this,” said Altaf, a former fast bowler. He also rejected suggestions the PCB was risking life bans for the pair if they test positive a second time. “If they failed tests which took place in September 2006 and this is now February 2007, the process is the same for everybody.”Shoaib said he still hopes to be fit for World Cup despite battling to recover from knee and hamstring problems. “I am going for another reassessment of my knee and hamstring injury in England later this week and only after that I am able to know about my chances of playing in the World Cup,” he told AFP. Asked when he was due to appear for testing, Shoaib refused to comment and said his first priority was to get over his injury.”Right now I want my injury to heal and only after that I am going to think about anything else,” said Shoaib, who joined Pakistan’s pre-tour camp in Lahore on Friday but only took part in exercises. “My chances of playing in the World Cup are 50-50 and I will take a final decision only after having a reassessment of the knee. The doctor has stopped me from bowling until February 27.”Asif meanwhile also had an assessment in England last week after a recurrence of an elbow injury before returning home on Wednesday. “Both Shoaib and Asif are consulting the specialist over their injuries and once these problems are overcome they will feature in the tests,” said Altaf. Another paceman, Umar Gul, featured in the training camp and said on Friday that he “felt great” after recovering from an ankle injury sustained on Pakistan’s tour of South Africa last month.Altaf said all the squad members will have to pass fitness tests as well. “Before the departure of the team to the Caribbean all 15 players are going to subjected to a fitness test by a medical panel of the PCB,” he said. Pakistan has until March 2 to replace any injured player in their squad. After the deadline only the International Cricket Council’s technical committee is entitled to allow an injury replacement. Pakistan also has ICC permission to replace any player who tests positive.